Chapter 45: Abandoned Dog’s Pasta IV & V (1/2)

< Abandoned Dog’s Pasta IV>

【72nd day】

『Is~ that so, the marinade was well received by the king as well, huh?』

「This morning’s marinade of cold pasta was also well received, I suppose. Or rather, raw vegetables are basically unpopular, aren’t they? Even though they’re pesticide-free vegetables……」

After breakfast, I was in the middle of exchanging information with Makina.

The sisters had gone to Gladvain’s dormitory. These days, they trained there whenever they had free time. I sympathized with how they felt.

We were taking a break from adventuring today as well.

After Irvin’s death, we had went once into the dungeon, arrived on the 14th floor, took a look at the guardian, and then returned.

Various thing happened after that, and we haven’t challenged the dungeon for as much as ten days.

Taking the sisters as a matter of course, Shuna and Bel also hadn’t complained. I ended up letting them spoil me. I also ignored the fact that I had been thinking that things can’t go on like this.

For that reason, I want to solve all the business related troubles today.

And, although tomorrow is impossible, if possible, one way or another, I want explore the dungeon about three days later.

『Souya-san, just because the vegetables are pesticide-free, it doesn’t mean that they’re healthy, delicious, and safe, you know?』

「Huh, seriously?」

That statement was shocking.

Some pesticide = bad. No pesticides = good. Was what had been implanted in my mind.

『Vegetables aren’t things that are happy about being eaten by insects, so they also have defense mechanisms. They’ll produce substances that have an insect repellent effect. Depending on the circumstances, those substances can be more toxic than some pesticides. Fufu~n♪ Did you not know that?』

「I didn’t know that」

Well, I guess I had been tricked by the promotional advertising for labor-intensive vegetables.

It’s a conspiracy by modern society.

『Many of the people in the alternate world have excellent senses, and probably understand this sort of toxicity intuitively. In addition, it’s a simple story, but the vegetable on this side haven’t gone through much selective breeding, so they’re not tasty. Souya-san, it appears that your taste buds have been clouded because you had been manipulated by the term “pesticide-free vegetables”』

「Ah, yes」

Speaking of which, I had felt like there was an astringent taste, but because of the fact that they were pesticide-free, I had eaten them without worrying about it. If anything, I had even felt appreciation for the natural taste.

『However, even though Makina said that they’re toxic, it’s at the level where there is no problem so long as the scum is removed. Unlike the food from the dungeon, there is no need for special means of detoxification. Souya-san, you had also prepared them properly by dipping them in vinegar and rubbing them with salt. Not every time though』

「Yeah, my deceased grandfather did it, so I grew into the habit of doing it without thinking too deeply about it. Only when I have the time though」

『From now on, if you are going to eat vegetables, please don’t skip the preparations, alright?』

「Okay」

It's a sound argument, but some~how, it's dull. It's dull, but it’s not wrong, so I’ll bear with it.

『Speaking of vegetables and insects, Souya-san! Do you want to see Makina's treasured collection?!』

「Huh?」

Ehh, an A.I.’s collection, what are you talking about? I'm a little bit intrigued, but these guys gathered stuff other than information, huh?

Moving upright, Makina entered the resource tent. She brought back a box shaped like a flat board.

『Janja, ja~n♪ This is Makina's treasured――』

「Wait a minute, you」

『Yes?』

「What is that?」

I pointed to the lower portion of the Makina・Unit.

There were round balls attached there. From what I could see, it looked like she could rotate them 360 degrees and move. Things like the detailed technology behind it was beyond an amateur like me.

Under the law and treaties of the modern world, it’s illegal for A.I.s to move autonomously. These guys had been making all sorts of excuses and ignoring it, but this was breaking the law far too blatantly.

As it is, I had become high-strung about her failsafe issues, and yet……

『It’s an emergency measure for the Makina Unit to avoid crises. Actually, two days ago, when Makina was rolling across the plain as usual to relieve stress, Makina just happened to get caught between rocks and became completely stuck. By chance, Makina got help from a person who passed by, but because Makina may not necessarily receive help by chance next time, it’s an emergency measure』

「No, but this is bad, isn’t it? If you break the treaty this conspicuously……」

『Souya-san, it’s something that is necessary for the adventures』

Wow, deja vu.

They were my own words though.

「Do you intend to use those words to settle everything?」

『Souya-san, the actions necessary for Souya-san’s adventures have been recorded in video format, but showing them to madam――』

「It's an emergency measure! It can’t be helped!」

This isn’t good, she’s got something incredible on me.

『Yes! It’s an emergency measure! This is something that can’t be helped!』

「That's right! Or rather, it’s an alternate world! That doesn’t even count as cheating, right?!」

『Yes! That’s, not true』

「………………Yes」

Please go with the flow there.

『The race called elves, because they impose polygamy, consider the emotion called ”jealousy” to be very unsightly. It’s a race where beauty is the norm, so there’s probably also the feeling that being jealous means that you’ve lost. But while that may be true, you can’t really say that madam will feel good about seeing Souya-san flirting and acting lovey-dovey with other women. Makina doesn’t have the right to stop Souya-san’s sexual activity, but please think care～～～～～～～～～～～fully before messing around with women. Oh, have you also messed around with men?』

「No, I haven’t, alright?!」

I’m a heterosexual

In the first place, who are you talking about?! Is it Shuna?! But in a sense, I think that it's okay to put him in the female category. What are you thinking, me?!

『With that said, it’s Makina's treasured~ collection of alternate world insects!』

What do you mean “With that said”?

Well, whatever.

What Makina had raised up happily was an insect collection case. Insects that I had seen from time to time in the alternate world had been preserved and pinned.

『Insects have no human rights, so Makina made them into Makina’s toys』

「Scary, scary. That statement is scary」

That statement is a flag for you going out of control and making a human collection set, you know?!

『What do you care about these insects? Like this new one at the very bottom, it’s staple food is wheat and it’s an evil species that should be wiped out. Even though there are such insects, Makina has no idea how they haven’t suffered any damages until now. As luck would have it, Makina was able to find their colony and exterminated them using bug drones』

「What?」

I’ve not heard of anything like insect damage to wheat in the history of the kingdom.

「Makina, when did you find that?」

Time, number, and the location where the colony was found.

Lining those up in my head, my bargaining chips increased by one.

< Abandoned Dog’s Pasta V>

I made various preparations and it was noon when I finished.

Right now, a food-tasting event was being held on the second floor of the Zavua merchant company.

「Hmm~ this is pretty good. But I'm a little concerned about the smell……」

Said Lonewell, who was voicing his impressions.

「No, no no, Lonewell. This flavor that has been changed by that slight fishy odor. This will be popular. If you wash this kind of taste down with strong alcohol, it’ll become really delicious」

Came Karlgoff's impression.

Inside the pasta aglio olio e peperoncino, which the two of them were tasting, were salted sardines――also known as anchovies that had been soaked in olive oil.

While we were adventuring, Makina had been given a large amount of sardines by Geto-san, and had been making them in secret.

She had also taken the opportunity to make fish sauce as a substitute for the depleted soy sauce. As expected from a former cooking robot of the 21st century.

「For the time being, I tried only mixing it simply with pasta, and then dressing it with boiled vegetables and a mixture of vinegar, mayonnaise, pepper and so on. I think that mixing it with potato and tomato soup, or even something like frying it in olive oil is delicious. Putting it on bread together with cheese might work too. As for how long it can be stored, if the bottle is unopened, it’ll last for more than half a year」

The fact that I had made too many product for selling was a happy problem to have.

So long as the bounties of the ocean were the property of the fishmen, seafood would inevitably become luxury foods. Ordinary merchants didn’t have connections to fishmen to begin with.

「Well then, how much will you sell it for?」

Each bottle contained 500g.

「3 silver coins」

Said Lonewell.

「1 gold coin」

Said Karlgoff.

「Then it’ll be sold at the Eruomea merchant company」

「Osu!」

Karlgoff showed his spirit like a karate club member would.

「Karlgoff, isn't that too expensive?」

In response to Lonewell's question, he said,

「While it’s on a small scale, my merchant company is one of the few stores that sells seafood. However, since freshness is a problem, we cannot hold much raw stock. Even high-class restaurants won't buy without customer reservations. I had been waiting for something other than dried fish that has a long shelf life like this. As expected from you, Souya-dono」

「Well then, for the time being, is 50 bottles okay?」

「Yes, if it’s popular, can you increase the amount afterwards?」

「It’ll be one month later, but if that's fine with you……」

「That’s fine」

That's an unexpected price.

Half of it will go towards repaying my debt and the rest will become our adventuring funds. Our party doesn’t earn a profit at all from the dungeon.

「I’ll bring the goods tomorrow」

「Understood」

After knocking, a clerk of the Zavua merchant company poked her head through the door and informed us that Libera had arrived downstairs.

I got up from my seat.

「Well then, that’s it for today」

「Souya-san」

「Hmm?」

I was stopped by Lonewell.

「When I told my mother about the matter of working together with Libera-sama, she opposed. She said that when it came to men who got to the level of being called wealthy merchants, the way they quibble is also something that is largely irredeemable. Well, that's how it is」

「Sorry, that helps」

「No, don't worry about it」

「What’s going on?」

I left Karlgoff, who had a question mark floating above his head, in the room and went out.

I went downstairs and made eye contact with Libera,

「There is a place that I would like you to accompany me to for a while」

「Alright, anywhere is fine」

Libera answered with an expression that was hard to read.

He accompanied me as we walked through the city.

It was noon, which was a time when the streets were bustling with people.

「First, I’d like to thank you. With Lemuria’s permission, the slaves have all been moved to the farmland this morning」

「They’re not slaves. They’re farmers. If you say the wrong word there, you’ll hang yourself」

「Please excuse me. However, there is one thing that I can't understand」

So, it’s come.

「Making all of them farmers is a loss of profit. There are also those who aren’t suited for farming, and it’s never good to put people in jobs that they aren’t suited for. As I said before, they can cook and do menial work for all sorts of jobs. And there are beautiful beastkin as well. If you don't mind, please give them a try. Though it’s a problem as women of other races will no longer satisfy you………………for example, such as elves」

「Hmm」

The fact that I had married an elf is something that many people knew. I had also earned the enmity of those who didn’t look kindly on that. There were probably also tons of people who wanted to have dirt on me.

「But if I put the right people in the right jobs, you’ll benefit from it」

「What benefit are you talking about?」

He was feigning innocence with that question.

「It’s the trust of those former slaves. On your orders, they’ll be tyrannized thoroughly. They’ll be assigned work that’s completely opposite to what they’re suited for. Libera, I’ll have them hate you to the bone. Around the time when they’re even feeling an urge to kill you, my merchant companies will extend them a helping hand. Their trust will be ours. People’s trust is something that’s truly reliable and definite. It’s something that money can’t buy」

「………………I see………Certainly」

I shook him up a little.

I’ll have him spit out what it is that he’s hiding.

Leaving the streets and the throngs of people, we headed towards the outer edge of the kingdom.

We climbed up an observation tower and arrived on top of the outer walls.

From here, the entirety of the city could be seen clearly. And in my view once more, was the sight of the ridiculously big dungeon.

「Your eyes are good, aren’t they? In terms of eyesight, I meant」

「Yes, of course」

50 meters away in the direction that I had pointed, there was a two-story building.

There was no sign of anyone around, and from the desolate look of it and the adjoining buildings, they had been deserted for a long time.

「………………」

His true nature had finally showed up on his face.

It was the face of a wealthy merchant who had grown by devouring people.

「You’re familiar with those 13 beastkin, aren’t you?」

On the second floor of the building,

The windows and doors had been removed, making it easier to see into the building. There, blindfolded and tied to chairs, were male and female beastkin of all ages.

「Let’s see……………… Who are they?」

Perhaps he was taking a wait-and-see approach, but Libera tried to feign innocence.