Chapter 58 (1/2)
Now then, is this black liquid made with Seu fruit?
「Is this the thing made with Seu fruit?」
「Yes, that’s correct」
「May I sample it?」
「Ah, go ahead」
I scooped out a little of the sauce from the small container with a spoon and licked it from my little finger. Un, this is a soy sauce. It’s a bit too salty, though. I wonder how it was fermented?
「How exactly did you ferment this? In a jar?」
The landlady brought a small porcelain jar from the next room. The jar was covered with a lid from the same porcelain, but it was clattering as if didn’t fit correctly.
When she lifted up the lid, she showed me the same exact black fruit I had seen in the fields tightly packed together, but…… it appears that the way of making soy sauce is different from that world. Un, it appears that it’s only the fruits tightly packed together. Completing the sauce…… just leaving it up to the time?
「Landlady-san, for how long do you leave it in the jar?」
「Umm, it’s three days after putting the salt in, if I’m not mistaken……」
Ah, so they put in the salt. Then…… but, three days?
「How does this rot?」
「Umm, after about ten days, it creates a membrane and emits a bad smell」
「Bad smell?」
「The scent of rotting」
「Do you have any rotten ones around here?」
「Eh? We throw them away……」
「No, we still have some…… there was no time, so I didn’t throw them away yet」
The master of the inn called out from behind the landlady.
「Please, show them to me」
「Eh? What do you want to do?」
「Ah, what kind of smell, how does it rot, I want to find see. Where do you have it?」
「This way」
I follow after the master who left the room.
There’s a staircase leading down below in the next room.
「The temperature is lower at the bottom」
That would seem like it. A bas.e.m.e.nt would be slightly colder just like a cave. It’s just that candles are used for illumination, so there’s not much light. It’s too dark to move. I’m scared of missing my footsteps on the staircase……
「It’s dark, isn’t it?」
「Because the temperature would rise if we use light that would brighten the room. This is used as a preservation storage for vegetables and meat, you see」