Actual Tasting
When we returned to the inn, the sun was already about to set .
“Takumi-san, welcome back . ”
When we entered the inn, Dunst-san’s wife, Sarah, welcomed us .
“We are back . Err… things seem to be busy over here . ”“Oh my, have you perhaps not eaten yet?”
“Yes, that is correct . ”
I was going to have dinner at the inn, but the dining hall was already crowded . A big percentage seemed to be eating pizza, so it looks like pizza was a great success for the customers .
“”Will eat pizza~!””
“Pizza, huh? But there seem to be no seats available . ”
“I can bring it to your room too . ”
The children say they want to eat pizza, but it’s likely going to take some time . So when I was about to give up on the inn food and troubled where to go to eat, Sarah-san gave another option .“Is that okay? Then, we will take two servings of pizza and two servings of salad please . ”
“”Salad, don’t need~””
“You have to eat your vegetables . Would you like stir-fried veggies more?”
“”…… Salad . ””
“Fufu, I will have it prepared immediately . ”
We entered the room we were renting, I let the kids wash their hands, and the food arrived immediately after I organized our luggage .
“It’s not like you guys dislike veggies or anything, right? Do you not feel like eating vegetables today?”
“”The veggies here have no taste~””
Allen and Elena have no particular dislikes when it comes to food, so when I asked why they don’t want to eat the veggies, I found out that the cause was their taste .
The inn’s salad and stir-fried vegetables are fundamentally simple and seasoned with just salt . We occasionally have the inn cuisine and I enjoyed the simple flavors, but the children apparently didn’t like it .
“So that’s the reason . Then, would you like it with mayonnaise?”
“”Yeah! Like!””
I don’t think this would be a good move in a public place like the dining hall, but there’s only us in the room, so when I took the mayo out of the Infinite Storage, Allen and Elena’s opinion clearly changed .
That reminds me, mayonnaise has been popularized a little by little, but because it can’t be stored for a long time, I don’t see stores using it too much .
Oh, speaking of salads, I’d like to get some dressings soon~
“… Should I make it?”
“What . ”
“Making~?”
“N? A dressing… erm, I was thinking that I’d like some salad sauce . ”
“”Ohh~ let’s make!””
“Next time . ”
“”Okay!””
Once we finished eating, I visited Rudolph-san’s room, to show him the soup he could make easily .
“Rudolph-san, are you free right now?”
“Takumi? What’s up?”
“I completed the soup you were asking about . ”
“What!? Are you for real!!”
I was invited to Rudolph-san’s room, and I showed him how to make the freeze-dried soup .
“All you need is a cup and hot water . ”
“Just hot water?”
“Yes, first you will put one of these in the cup . ”
“What’s that, Takumi?”
“It’s soup . Rudolph-san, try pouring hot water in and stirring a little . ”
I thought it would be better for Rudolph-san to actually do the work, so I gave him the freeze-dried soup, and had him pour hot water into the cup, which he did with a half-doubting expression .
“N? Nn!?”
As he stirred it with a spoon, Rudolph-san’s expression gradually turned into one of a surprise as he began to see the eggs, which were part of the ingredients of the soup .
“This is unreal . It really turned into a soup!”
“Try tasting it, Rudolph-san . ”
“Yeah…——Tasty! What is this thing!?”
Finally, when I had him taste it, he opened his eyes wide as he shouted in surprise .
The taste apparently received with passing grades .
“”Onii~chan, Onii~chan . ””
“N? What is it?”
“Allen, never drank this~!”
“Elena never drank this either, you know?”
“Nono, you’ve had the fresh soup for lunch today, did you not?”
“”Ehh~ we never stirred, you know~?””
Allen and Elena said they want to drink the freeze-dried cube they can turn into soup with hot water .
Did it look interesting to them when the cube turned into soup in no time?
“You just ate, so let’s leave it for the next time when we eat outside . ”
“”Can’t now?””
“You can’t . Be patient . ”
“”Okay~””
When I said no, the kids were clearly unwilling but obediently left the matter alone .
They have endured their curiosity, so I can’t forget to let them make a freeze-dried soup the next time we eat outside the town .
“And so, how is it, Rudolph-san? You can make this wherever you go, right? I haven’t tried how long the soup can be preserved for, but it’s dried well, so I believe it will last a long time . ”
“… You beat me . This is far more than I expected . ”
Rudolph-san’s expression seemed to be quite perplexed .
His expressions are changing constantly~
“… You can’t spread this around carelessly . ”
“Eh?”
“Portable food that is too good to be true will have an impact on the military . ”
“… Eh?”
Mi, military? Speaking of the military, he means war-use or something like that, right? Really?
“… You are kidding, right?”
“I’m far from joking . With this soup, the soldiers will have good meals even during long marches, and their baggage will decrease, right? I don’t want to say bad things, but it would be best to shelve this idea . Well, it would be fine to make it for yourselves when there are no people around . As for the rest… you could use it if you wanted to sell yourself to a country . ”
Rudolph-san warned me with a serious look .
I never thought that a soup that is easy to carry and make could be this precious .
“It’s so easy to use, so as an adventurer, I really wanted to use it~ N~… if a bellwether that doesn’t support wars spread it all around the country, would the power relationship of the country remain the same?”
“Err… I don’t know much about the history and other country’s royalty, but are wars common?”
“N? The current leaders are virtuous, so there’s not much to worry about . But, there are several ambitious people standing in the way of the king every generation, so there’s some history . As for a close past… the former King of the Belfard Empire was apparently quite an ambitious person who tried to spread his territory by waging wars at every opportunity . Well, that happened before I was born, though . ”
Two generations ago, huh~ I am really glad that it’s a peaceful era now .
“Takumi, do you have a way to get in touch with the upper echelons of some country?”
“Eh?”
“In order to spread the soup in a large scale, we need to consider a strong company . ”
“… Rudolph-san, didn’t you advise me to shelve it?”
“That thing is too good to shelve it . That being the case, we ought to think of a way of distributing it rapidly . So, how about it?”
“Err… I can get in contact with a Count’s household . ”
“Ohh! A Count is more than enough! Takumi, contact them right away!”
As expected, I can’t say that I am an acquaintance of the Guardia’s ruler, but when I said I can get in contact with the Risner and Ruven families, that are our guardians, Rudolph-san was full of expectations .
I told him that I will consult with them and decided to keep the freeze-dried soup shelved for the time being .
It may become troublesome, but I think I will consult with Matthias-san before I promise anything .
