It had been several days since the rank up test had ended. Rain clouds covered the sky and there was a light drizzle falling. Rei and the others who had participated in the rank up test arrived at a warehouse like space in Gilm’s back streets.

「Wow, what is this. I’ve been living in Gilm for a long time, but I had no idea there was a place like this in the back streets.」

Roble muttered curiously as Stee slapped his back without agreeing with him.

「Rather than that, let’s get inside the warehouse. We don’t want to get soaked by the rain and catch a cold.」

「……」

At Stee’s words, Ons, who was also present, nodded before entering the building with Rei leading the way.

「The owner of this place calls it a dismantling room, if you know what I mean.」

「A warehouse this size……」

Roble muttered as he opened the door and stepped inside.

「Ahahaha. That said, doesn’t a dismantling room sound better than a dismantling warehouse?」

As they entered the building, a young man appeared as he spoke.

Both Roble and Stee knew him.

Ons didn’t know, as he was an adventurer from out of town, but didn’t show any sign as he stayed silent.

「Gurururu~」

Set, who went inside the building with Rei, gave a happy cry when he saw who it was, having not met for a long time.

「Hasta, sorry for borrowing this place so suddenly.」

Rei called out to Hasta, the adventurer they had gone with to hunt Gamelions, a giant carnivorous rabbit, last winter.

「Hasta!?」

「Eh? So this is part of the Satisfied Stomach……?」

Having lived here for a long time, Roble and Stee had both gone to the Satisfied Stomach many times in their lower ranking days and knew Hasta because of that.

「It’s been a while Roble-san, Stee-san. I heard you took the B rank test. Congratulations!」

Hasta bowed his head with a small smile, but Roble shook his head with a smile himself as he replied.

「Don’t say that. We haven’t passed just yet. Save that until they announce it.」

「That’s right. I might have taken the rank up test, but I don’t know if I will pass.」

「I’m sure Roble-san and Stee-san will pass. ……So, more importantly, did Rei-san say you wanted to borrow this place today?」

Seeing that greetings were over, Hasta looked over at Rei and asked.

「Yeah. We want to dismantle the monsters we hunted during the rank up test. Going out of the city is troublesome and, above all, it’s raining. ……Oh right, the silent one over there is Ons. He was an adventurer who took the rank up test with us.」

Turning to look at him, Ons bowed after Rei’s introduction.

「Oh, nice to meet you. I’m Hasta, a D rank adventurer. Um……I’ll be in your care.」

Seeing Ons bow his head, Hasta was a little puzzled at the unfamiliar face.

Of course, Hasta couldn’t remember the faces of all the adventurers in Gilm. Still, he thought that he should have known if it was an adventurer close to B rank.

He had no idea that Ons was an adventurer who had been called in from another city just for the rank up test.

「Well, I would like to use the warehouse right away if that’s okay with you.」

「Yes. I’ve already processed everything that was going to be used in the eatery today, it’s fine as long as you clean up properly. After all, it’s summer……」

「Oh, of course. I’ll take care of that and make sure everything is clean.」

Stee nodded in agreement and Hasta, who was relieved to see that, bowed his head slightly.

「Well, I still have to help out at the eatery. Please come around when you’re done here. My dad he wanted you to try a new dish he made.」

「A new dish?」

「Yes, he was boasting that it was the best food too keep cool with in the hot summer.」

「Ah, that’s true. I lose my appetite in summer when it’s hot.」

「Come on Roble, that’s never happened in summer. You’ve always had a big appetite.」

Stee lightly whacked Roble’s head from behind.

Seeing that, Hasta left the building with a small smile.

「In that case, I’ll prepare some for all of you and not just Rei-san, so please drop into the eatery when you’re finished.」

Saying that, he ran out through the drizzling rain.

「……Well then, let’s start dismantling the Bicorns. I’d like to finish troublesome work as soon as possible.」

Rei took out 29 Bicorns from the Misty Ring and laid them down on the floor.

「If there’s this many, is it fine for everyone to dismantle their own share?」

Everyone nodded at Rei’s question.

……For some reason, Set nodded as well.

4 Bicorns were hung up on hooks for dismantling and each of them started on their own.

Rei brought out the dismantling knife he usually used. Cutting the skin from the body, he cut up the meat and removed internal organs as he took out its magic stone from its heart.

After that, he divided the meat into chunks after skinning and taking apart the first Bicorn.

As expected, Rei gradually took less time after doing the same thing several times.

However, it was still far from Roble’s rate of dismantling.

While Rei finished one Bicorn, Roble dealt with two.

「Wow, Ons-san is fast!」

As everyone silently handled the Bicorns while enduring the midsummer heat, a voice unexpectedly echoed out.

Rei looked over and saw Stee looking at Ons with surprise and respect.

However, it was no wonder that Stee had been surprised. While Rei had finished one, Roble handled two. However, Ons had dealt with three in the same amount of time.

「……It’s definitely amazing.」

Rei spoke his own admiration, following Stee.

It wasn’t just a matter of speed. There were almost no useless cuts on the skin, only those that were there when it had been killed, and the meat had been cut apart beautifully. Naturally, there were no scratches on the magic stones, which were neatly taken out and placed on the ground.

Compared to skin that Rei had cut, Ons’ method of skinning was so beautiful that you could see the difference in appearance. There were some things that could only be gained with experience.

「Guru~……」

Set, who had been watching Ons divide up the meat, gave a cry as he went over to him.

「……」

Seeing that, Ons gave Set a piece of meat from the Bicorn’s back, one of the most expensive portions, without saying a word.

「Guru~?」

Is this okay? Set seemed to say with a cry. Ons didn’t say anything but just went back to processing the rest of the Bicorns after putting the portion of meat in front of Set.

「Sorry about that. Thanks.」

「……」

Hearing Rei’s thank, Ons glances towards Set for a moment and nodded before moving onto his next Bicorn.

「I can’t lose!」

Feeling a sense of rivalry with Ons, Roble tried to start skinning his third Bicorn.

「Idiot, rather than going fast, be more careful. If you want to sell it, it will be worth less if the skin is damaged. Especially if you want to sell it to the guild, they’re very strict about that.」

「……Then, what if we sell it to another eatery?」

「You definitely might be able to earn more, but you would have to negotiate a price. Roble is no good at that and I’m not particularly good at it either.」

「Ugh, I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll do it more carefully.」

Roble nodded and restrained himself after his lover’s words as he carefully moved his knife to focus on quality rather than speed.

Like that, each of them focused on dismantling their Bicorns, and by the end of the day, there were all finished.

Of course, the first to finish was Ons, followed by Roble, Stee and Rei, who was last.

However, it was natural that Rei was last as he had more Bicorns to take apart aside from being the slowest to dismantle a Bicorn.

In the end, Ons, who finished first, helped with Stee’s share. After Stee and Roble were finished, the 3 of them helped to deal with Rei’s portion.

「……Phew, I can just put my share of the meat and skin into my item box, but what do the rest of you plan to do?」

Rei asked the others as looked over at Set, who was eating the leftover chunks of meat that Rei had cooked with his magic by picking them up with his beak and swallowing it.

「I’ve already got that handled. I arranged to rent a cart to carry the meat.」

「Eh? ……Ah-!?」

At Stee’s words, Roble realised that he hadn’t arranged anything to handle his own share. But……

「Don’t worry, I’ve arranged for your share as well.」

「Y-Yeah. I’m sorry. As expected of Stee.」

「I’d like you to be able to do that yourself soon. I’ve been the one to do this every time.」

「No, but isn’t it more reliable for you to do it than me?」

As Rei listened it to their conversation, which could only be best described as a lover’s quarrel, he turned to look at Ons.

「……」

However, Ons just nodded back without saying anything.

「It looks like Ons has his side handled as well. In that case, I’d better get on with my own share.」

Muttering to himself, Rei cut off the meat from the Bicorns, which were twice the size of ordinary horses, and stored them into the Misty Ring in chunks. Even discounting the skin, bones and internal organs, the meat from seven Bicorns still added up to several tons.

Still, Rei didn’t have any particular issues as he stored the meat, skin and magic stones into the Misty Ring one after another.

(As for absorbing magic stones……I don’t think I can do that today.)

Rei thought to himself as he continued his work.

 

 

After each of them had dismantled their share of Bicorns and sold the meat to butchers, except for Rei, who kept the meat and materials, they went back to the Satisfied Stomach as they had promised Hasta.

It was bit late for lunch, so even though there were still customers, it wasn’t full.

As Set lay down out the front as usual, Rei entered the eatery.

「Oh, Rei-san! Everyone! Have you finished? You’re just in time, come on in.」

At the words of Hasta, who was serving customers inside the eatery, Rei and the others sat down at a table.

「Oh, Hasta. I’m sorry, but Set’s still out the front of the eatery, could you please get him something? For that……」

Saying that, Rei tried to take out a silver coin to pay for Set’s share, but Hasta shook his head.

「It’s my treat today. Set as well of course.」

「Wow, seriously!?」

「Is that really fine?」

「……」

Roble looked happy at Hasta’s words while Stee was worried if it was really okay with Hasta. Ons nodded silently.

However, Hasta just laughed as he spoke.

「Yes, it’s fine. Instead, I would like your thoughts on the new dish.」

「New dish? You did mention that back in the dismantling shed……is it an udon dish?」

The Satisfied Stomach was famous for being the birthplace of udon. That was why Stee, who had eaten udon before, had naturally asked whether it was a new udon dish when she heard about it and she was right.

「Yes, it’s udon. However, it’s a good dish to eat in summer. Do you mind?」

Everyone nodded at Hasta’s question.

「Hey, have you ever eaten udon? It’s become quite popular these days.」

Although Roble didn’t know who had created udon, Rei had no intention of telling him that and just nodded. Ons, who had only come to Gilm for the rank up test, shook his head.

「This is your first time Ons? As for what udon is……」

Stee and Rei looked at each other with a wry smile as Roble explained to Ons how to eat udon.

Although Roble was fundementally an impulsive and straightforward person, he was also surprisingly caring.

「Yes, here’s your food. Summer udon.」

In the middle of Roble’s udon explanation, Hasta came over with a tray.

It was not the bowl of udon that Rei was used to, but rather a dish on a plate. He couldn’t even feel any heat from the udon soup.

「……This is?」

Rei asked Hasta, his voice accompanied with some surprise. It wasn’t because it was the first time he had seen the dish……rather, it was because it looked familiar. Not in Elgin, but in Japan.

「It’s made by pouring cold soup over chilled udon noodles and topping it with various ingredients. Even people who lose their appetite in summer can eat it.」

「Wow, it looks delicious!」

「You’re right, I could eat this even when it is hot.」

Chilled udon with broth, the name of the dish went through Rei’s mind.

Of course, there were many differences compared with the chilled udon that Rei knew of. There was no soft cooked or raw egg and there were no condiments like dried bonito, leek, ginger or shiso leaves. The meat and vegetables had also been boiled before being chilled.

「How did you manage to chill it?」

Roble asked Hasta with a smile as he wound the udon around his fork and brought it to his mouth.

「It was a bit expensive, but I bought a magic item that can chill things. I told my dad that he shouldn’t go this far, but he said that he absolutely needed one for this dish. So I didn’t have a choice but to go get one……」

An embarrassed smile appeared on Hasta’s face as Ons and the others looked at him in surprise.

Magic items that needed magic stones to make were expensive, excluding basic household items like ones used to light fires.

For a magic item used to chill things, it would naturally cost quite a bit, which was why Rei and the others were surprised.

Ons didn’t know about the financial situation of the Satisfied Stomach, but he still knew that magic items used to chill things were expensive.

Like that, they all enjoyed the new dish at the Satisfied Stomach as Rei smiled at Dishot’s decision to create such a dish.

[Previous Chapter] [Table of Contents] [Next Chapter]