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Volume 8 Chapter 4 Part 9

The main dish for today is going to be shiogama-roasted Whole Fish.

Because there was some room in the pan still, I put a pork belly next to the Whole Fish to cook it along with it in the mixture of juices. As for the second whole fish, I’m going to make a soup with it.

「I have never seen such a method of cooking. As expected of Master.」

「I’m seeing it for the first time, too.」

「Wow, desu.」

The girls are surprised to see shiogama-roast. They have never seen it before, it seems, which shouldn’t be all that surprising, since even in Japan, this method of cooking is actually not that common.

「It might look complicated, but it’s actually quite easy. You first put it on fire for thirty minutes. After that, you take it off fire and steam it for about an hour more. Miria, can you please monitor the fire for me?」

「Yes, desu!」

I put the pan on fire and entrust it to Miria. While the dish was being roasted, I heat the bath in the meantime. After heating the bath, I proceed to make the whole fish soup. When you use Dropped Items as ingredients, it doesn’t produce any lye, so it’s convenient.

「Alright. It should be ready pretty soon.」

Having carried the pot containing the soup to the dining table and returning to the kitchen, I announce so after having a look at the shiogama-roast. Since no cracks can be seen, the shiogama seems to have been roasted well. I just hope that it won’t taste like it has burnt in some places. I stick a knife into the salt, and notice that it’s pretty hard.

「Here master, let me do it.」

Sherry takes the knife from me. When she sticks the knife into the shiogama, it splits open right away, and from the inside of it comes out a nicely roasted whole fish.

「Ooh!」

「Amazing, desu!」

It’s pretty nicely roasted. Looks like everything went well after all. However, the salt is stuck to the pan pretty badly, so It’ll be quite difficult to clean it. O well, I just pretend that I didn’t see it.

I put the whole fish and the pork rib on a dish and bring it to the dining table.

The first dish that I serve is the fish soup. Starting from mine, I pour it in four bowls in order. I then put the whole fish in Miria’s platter.

「Here.」

「Thank you.」

「Time to dig in.」

「Thank you, desu.」

I insert my knife into the shiogama-roasted whole fish. The knife cuts through it like butter. It seems to be soft enough on the inside as well. I take a spoonful and put it in my mouth. The soft meat of the bream explodes inside of it.

This is delicious! Even though I used so much salt to make it, it’s taste was moderate at best, not spoiling the rest of the dish in the slightest.

「It’s delicious. Try it, Roxanne.」

I pass the dish with the shiogama-roasted fish to Roxanne. I try the soup next. The mellow and juicy boiled whole fish melts inside of my mouth as well. It tastes just as good as the roasted fish.

「It’s tasty.」

「The soup is good, too. Adding the whole fish to the soup was definitely the right choice.」

「Right choice, desu.」

While it was Roxanne’s and Sherry’s turn to try the shiogama-roasted fish, Miria takes some soup herself as the other two bite into the Whole Fish. Later, when it was Miria’s turn again, she grabs it immediately with everything she has as if she was obsessed with it.

「It’s a holiday tomorrow, right? Would Sherry like to go to the library? Assuming that it won’t be closed, of course.」

While waiting for Miria to calm down, I ask Sherry about her plans for tomorrow.

Tomorrow is the holiday, the day when one season ends and another begins. And also the day when the slave auction should be held.

「Is it going to be a day off for us?」

「Well, isn’t that what a holiday is for?」

「Yes, on the calendar, but…」

So what, it’s a holiday in name only?

When I was out, buying ingredients, I did hear that the bakery and the vegetables shop will remain open, so I already had my suspicions about it, but now Sherry basically confirmed them. The Guilds, however, will be closed.

Also, it that the holiday counts as a day off for regular people, but not for the slaves?

「Is it only like that in here, or is it the same around the entire world in general?」

「Generally, it is the same around the entire world.」

「However, shops conduct their business like they normally do. The library remains open every day of the year as well. And of course, there’s no such thing as 「being closed」 in case of the Labyrinths as well.」

「Is that so?」

Why can’t there be a holiday at the Labyrinth? Not that I am complaining, mind you.

Art is a blast, after all.

「The Knight Orders will also be unavailable during the holidays. The counters of guilds will be closed. Farmers will have a day off, too.」

「I’ll be going to the auction tomorrow. Because there’s participation fee, I’ll be going there by myself to cut the costs as much as possible. Like I said earlier, it’s in order to obtain more members for our Party and increase its battle strength.」

I offer the usual excuse of increasing the number of Party Members to the girls. Furthermore, it would not be a good decision to take these three with me to the auction as they’d definitely object to the addition of yet another female Party Member to our Party, and that is a scenario that I have to avoid at all costs.

「Is that so?」

「We will enter the Labyrinth early in the morning and do some grinding and exploration there. After that, it’ll be day off for you as I go to the auction.」

I make a proposal, at which Roxanne nods her head.

「Thank you very much for your kindness, master.」

「Thank you very much. Then, can I really go to the library tomorrow?」

「So Sherry wants to go to the library after all?」

I have no idea as to how large is the collection of books in the library of the Imperial City, but I’m sure that Sherry couldn’t possibly read them all in just two days. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.

「Then, I’ll spend some time shopping and relax for rest of the day.」

「As usual for Roxanne. What do you want to do, Miria? Is there any place that you’d want to go to?」

「The sea, desu.」

Now that was what I call a quick answer. Well, even if she said 「the sea」, it doesn’t necessarily mean that she’s planning to be swimming in it, right?

「Will you be fine on your own?」

「Fine, desu.」

Even though she said that she’ll be fine, I can’t help but feel uneasy about leaving her alone near the sea.

「It should be fine to let Miria go, but we have to make sure that she’ll only catch fish by fishing in the spots designated for it. If she tries to do it anywhere else, then we might have a huge problem on our hands if the worst-case scenario comes to pass.」

Looks like Sherry seemed to be thinking about the exact same thing that I did.

「I thought so. Does fishing exist here?」

「Yes, it’s a recognized hobby of nobles and retirees, both regular people and Adventurers alike. Because nobles and influential people catch fish through fishing, it has been recognized as an exception to the otherwise established fishery rules.」

「I see. In that case, is fishing at the sea allowed, too?」

「My grandfather used to go to the sea for fishing, so I believe that it’s allowed. There should even be a fishing shop in the Imperial City that should provide tackles and other kinds of fishing necessities.」

Sherry’s grandfather was a rich person, after all. If you are rich, then fishing might become your hobby, but does that mean that this world doesn’t have anyone who might choose to fish either to make money off of it or do so purely for their own pleasure?

I am not sure about that.

「Well then, Miria, are you going to try your hand at fishing? Now say it with me in Brahim. Fishing. F. I S. H. I. N. G.」