"Go ahead!" (Kaoru)
A variety of dishes were laid out on the table.
All of this was made by me and Reiko. Mine and Aral were just there to look around.
When had Mine practice making it slowly, when it was just us. It was not good to put unnecessary pressure on her or make her rush. Today we were entertaining guests, so we had to hurry and we made it just the two of us.
The dishes included horned rabbit offal hotpot, fried honed rabbit, horned rabbit teriyaki, stew, roast, and many more.
Of course, there was more to the restaurant than just rabbit—there were also vegetable and fish dishes available.
…Some of the food was just something I had taken out of my item box. For the stew, I just added some lightly roasted horned rabbit meat to the already made stew and simmered it again. The stew was still warm to begin with, so the meat cooked through quite quickly.
"It's already done! That was quick! And there are so many dishes..."
Yeah, if I didn't have the item box it would have taken a lot longer.
"Please feel free to eat them. We have plenty of meat left over for practice to make into preserved processed foods, and the hunters who have received requests will also deliver various other things, so a few horned rabbits are no big deal!" (Kaoru)
Some of them seemed a little hesitant, perhaps because they were bothered by the idea of eating something that they had delivered and received payment for, and that they were even being cooked for them, but in the end, everyone dug into the food right away. ...Well, it smelled good, so it was only natural. Mmm!
Even the organ dishes were seasoned with plenty of spice, so it was probably a taste that was a bit unfamiliar to the commoners around here.
...In the first place, no one would use expensive spices on offal dishes.
If I were to do something like that, I would rather use the highest quality ingredients in my dishes and use a generous amount of spices, rather than being stingy and saving and using only a little.
That's why, to begin with, there was no such thing as "Spicy organ dishes" around here.
Of course. There was a time on Earth when people used to say that pepper was worth the same price as the same weight in gold. Gold now costs over 6,000 Yen per gram...
By the way, the table pepper I used to buy when I was alive was 168 yen for 20 grams. Maybe it would be worth 120,000 yen here...
Too expensive! We couldn't afford it!!
...That's why I had excluded it from the "self-restraint of using abilities" rule, spices...
Oh no! If I don't eat quickly, it will all be eaten up!
Hey you guys, be a little more reserved...
Mine and Aral! Don't be tempted and gobble it up too!!
How is it that even though there are only eight people, all the food is gone before I get full!
And Mine, Aral, and Reiko, why do you all look so satisfied!
...Is it just me? Am I the only one who lost the competition and didn't get enough to eat, dammit!!
"Thank you very much!" (Hunters, x4)
Shut up! I'll sign the request completion certificate, so you guys just go home now!!
Then, the same process was repeated for each species, such as orcs, boars, and deer, and gradually Mine's_ dismantling ability improved.
Apparently the rumor that if you delivered to our place you'd get to eat delicious food had spread, and when I showed up at the guild, the receptionists were having a hard time turning people away because they were inundated with people wanting to place orders.
I had no choice but to give them three pieces of dried fish I had for sale and some prototype jerky for the bar owner to try and shut them up.
I told them, "If you think it's good, advertise it properly." Well, let’s just consider it as advertising expenses, upfront investment, a bribe, entertainment costs... whatever works, just think of it as 'expenses.' ...Damn it!"
Oh, Mine had asked for coaching on how to dismantle the fish several times when she couldn't master it the first time and we had been buying them for a long time, both for product trials and for the real thing. The receptionist (the one who gave the dried fish and jerky bribes) was arranging things so that too many come at once, so there was no problem even if deliveries overlap.
…What was the purpose of the item box?
Thus, our Little Silver officially launched its processed meat department.
And meat dishes began to appear on the dinner table in addition to fish and vegetable dishes.
...Well, I had served it occasionally before, buying it from the butcher in town.
I have two growing kids, that much I've thought about!
Oh, there are four kids?
Reiko and I won't grow any more, not in height or breasts...
Ugh, shut up already!
One day, things started to look up for the sale of processed meat products...
The door knocker sounded, and when I answered it, there were two dirty-looking boys around 10 years old standing there.
"I'm hungry..." (Boys, x2)
Something weird has happened!
"...orphans?" (Kaoru)
As I was standing there, Reiko, Mine, Aral arrived.
"Please, put it here..."
"Go home!" (Mine)
"Eh?" (Boys, x2)
She cut off the pleading words of the orphan-like child with a single slash.
...Mine.
"Whaaaat?" (Boys, x2)
My and Reiko's voice harmonized.
Well, if either Reiko or I were the ones saying it, I’d understand.
However, it was hard to believe that a former orphan like Mine would say these words to the orphans who had come to rely on this former orphanage.
In the first place, that was exactly the position they were in just the other day! And yet, there was no way they would say that.
The reason why Aral was silent and saying nothing seemed to be because he didn't fully understand the situation.
If that's what you're thinking...
"Get back home now!" (Aral)
"Whaaaaat?!" (Boys, x2)
And this time it was Aral who spoke in a disgusting, dismissive tone...
"Wh-w-w-why... You guys aren't that kind of characters, are you?"
Yes, Mine and Aral were not the type of children who would exclude other orphans for reasons such as increasing the number of rivals or reducing their food allotment.
"C-Could they possibly be from a rival faction at the orphanage?" (Reiko)
…What the hell are these opposing factions at the orphanage?!
Following my agitated words, Reiko blurted out some incomprehensible things.
However, the attitude of Mine and Aral was clearly abnormal...
"You guys come from good families! Do you really think that people who can be fooled by a disguise like that can survive to this age? Don't underestimate the orphan industry!" (Mine)
Wh-what is that!!!
No, I was totally deceived!
And so, an "industry", the world of orphans...
"W-w-what... We are really... Why are we in disguise... Do you have any evidence?"
Of the two, the child who seemed to be the older one snapped at Mine, but...
"Who's going to go out of their way to tell you the flaws in your disguise? You'll go home quickly and tell your employer, 'Our disguise and acting were so poor that we were found out, we made them wary, and now we'll never be able to use this trick again!'" (Mine)
"Ugh..."
The older child looked frustrated, while the younger one looked somewhat frightened.
…If they failed, the people who sent these children would probably scold them. Verbally and physically…
In fact, the attitude of the older children made it clear that what Mine and Aral said was correct.
Then...
"You have three options. One is to confess the name of your employer and testify before the guards. The other is to run away crying and turn us against you. And the last one is..." (Mine)
Here, she smirked...
"I guess you'll just die here, now..."
"Gyaaaaaaaaahhh!!" (Boys, x2)
Ah, they ran away.
No, aren't you being a bit too scared?
"...You've gone too far, Kaoru-sama..." (Mine)
"That look in their eyes... cowardly..." (Aral)
Shut up!
Both Mine and Aral were saying whatever they want...
Not here.
She must be using magic to secretly track those two.
Knowing the existence of the enemy and having been attacked preemptively, there's no way we could just let them go.
Let's follow Admiral Halsey's example here.