Chapter 323: Trio
「Hauron, did you make this carpet? 」
「Half, yes. I don’t actually have the patience to weave a carpet. 」
Hauron showed me the mechanism behind the flying carpet, which was intricate arabesques depicting several magic circles and incantations woven together.
「The craftsman who made this has already passed away, succeeded by his disciple. Unfortunately, the disciple’s mana was ordinary, so he couldn’t create a flying carpet even with my help. Even so, the colors and patterns he use are more splendid than his predecessor. 」
「So that’s how it is. Ahh, how nice, I also want a carpet. 」
I already purchased a few pieces in Es, but I also want at least one for the sanctuary house in the forest.
「By the way, I’m quite bothered that you’re sitting in that spirit. Does it have that kind of characteristic? 」
「Yup. It’s a cushion spirit. 」
「Hmmm? 」
It’s a half-hearted reply, but he seemed lost in his thoughts as he smoked his hookah.
The carpet moved quite fast and the smoke trailed behind us, disappearing into the distance. When we emerged into the plains, we saw Canum again; it temporarily disappeared from view while we were in the forest.
Hauron seemed to find walking a hassle, but he told me that ‘it might be a hassle, but we all dislike hassles, don’t we’ as he put the carpet away. We crossed the plains for a short while, then we’re finally back to Canum.
「Where are you staying for today? 」
「Noth must’ve arranged a room for me since I’ll be staying here for a short while. Well, I’d rather not have a bunch of boisterous, unruly folks around, but if it’s not that bad if it’s just occasionally. The furniture seemed to have changed quite a bit since I holed up, so I decided to enjoy it. 」
「Oh, must be the rental house, huh? Everyone there is great. Dean and Chris are a bit noisy, though. 」
If the furniture Hauron was referring to was the furniture in Ash’s house and my house, then it’s hard not to think that he might be extremely prejudiced against them, and it’d be reaffirmed by the fixtures in the rental house. Oh well, bathtubs and chairs like mine had slowly started circulating the market, so I guess it’s fine.
「I’ll cook first, so please enjoy a drink or two while waiting. Dinosso and Butler will probably be here by the time I’m done. Red or white, which one do you prefer? 」
I started the fire while asking Hauron.
「It’s new to me, so either is fine. Ah, I’m not fond of sour. 」
Hauron sighed.
Folks preferred drinking freshly made wine because this world’s food preservation techniques are mediocre. Actually, the concept of wine is very different here; they even have some with honey or spices, and they even drink wine in place of water.
Wines here are mostly stored in casks or jars. By the way, they also have these special wines made by borrowing the power of spirits. They’re usually in bottles and sold as something-something temple’s wine, but I hadn’t tried it yet.
「So anything is fine as long as it’s not sour, got it. 」
Alright, let’s serve the wine from 『Pantry』.
For hors d’ oeuvres, we’ll have swiss cheese — the holes are made because of air bubbles formed during the fermentation process. You know, I remembered trying to cut the cheese into triangles expecting it would look like those in manga and fairy tales, but the holes were too big so everything just crumbled and fell apart. Someone try coming up with a way to make cheese with even holes.
Garnish with jam and honey, olive oil — perfect. By the way, I also added some miso-pickled cheese and tofu on the plate too.
「Oh my, it’s bottled so it must be high grade… Wait, this wine, this fragrance — the taste is deeper than the wine from Bree Temple… But there’s no trace of magic? 」
Yup yup, that’s it, Bree Temple. I think there are other temples beside that one, but that particular temple’s wine firmly took the lead in Nalluahdid, so it’s treated as a luxury item.
「Enjoy~ 」
Hauron’s full attention and gaze was focused on the wine, so I let him be and went to the kitchen and lit the fire in the furnace.
Alright, crabs, crabs. Salad, chao fan, steamed crab… And pasta?
I mixed gorgonzola cheese, white wine sauce and crab meat. Tomato flavor too — Alright, let’s make handmade noodles for the gorgonzola pasta, and dried noodles for the tomato one.
「Jean, are you there? 」
「Yes, yes, come in, it’s open. Feel free to grab a drink. 」
I just finished gouging the crab meat out when the duo arrived.
「Ou. Oh, hey, Hauron! You have the nerve to leave us behind!? 」
「Oh my, welcome home. The 5 seater carpet isn’t suitable for the forest, and besides, it’s still out for repair. 」
「Ah, is it the burn from that time? 」
「Yup, that’s right. No one can weave it for me so I have to do it on my own. 」
I could sense that they were reminiscing about the olden days that they spent together as adventurers. The mood seemed nice as they chatted intimately, and I listened while cooking.
「It’s done. You two, can you stay for a meal? 」
Setting Hauron aside, Butler has Ash and Dinosso has his family, but even so, I’m anticipating they’re gonna have a drink or two after reuniting with their old buddy.
「Eat, eat. 」
「Yes please. 」
And so, dinner began.
「This wine is quite mysterious, but then, seafood is also generally served here, huh. These don’t look like river crabs no matter how I look at it, t… 」
「That’s right. 」
I extracted the dashi from the shells that I used for the tomato pasta, and I also piled them on top so that excuses won’t be necessary to explain the flavor. Ah, but the shells were already shucked, the meat already shredded and mixed with the sauce.
「What is this red one, I wonder? 」
「It’s a vegetable that’s becoming trendy nowadays. You’ll be left behind by the times if you keep living as a shut-in. Help yourselves while it’s still hot. 」
I topped the gorgonzola pasta with more shredded cheese and served it on the table.
「You’ll enjoy your meal more if you don’t think too much — ahh, so delish!! 」
Dinosso advised before shoving food into his mouth.
「Jean-sama’s dishes are delectable and exquisite. 」
Butler poured Hauron another glass of wine.
「Agree, what a shame you’re not interested in food. 」
Dinosso gobbled the pasta deliciously and gulped the wine.
「I’m already extremely interested as it is, taste aside. Seems like I’ll be overeating after a long while. 」
Hauron commented with a shallow sigh.
「I believe it’s better to let some minor things slide up to a certain extent. It is still incomprehensible no matter the struggle, after all. 」
Butler broke a piece of the garlic baguette and savored his wine.
「I can’t help but be bothered about the things that bother me! 」
Hauron swirled his wine.
We finished dinner early in this manner, and all that’s left is the drinking session.
I added some cream cheese topped with sea bream shutō* to their hors d’oeuvre. The shuto was delicately flavored; I gathered and pickled the intestines of sea bream to make it. It has that refined sweetness and is also oozing with umami. I hadn’t pickled it long enough yet, but that also has its own charm. Ah, and there’s some home as well.
I always have a little something prepared as a souvenir for when we drink together and play card games and today’s not an exception. Butler and Dinosso will be accompanying us tomorrow too, for sure.
「What, you’re not gonna drink? 」
「You’re the master of the house. 」
The duo looked at me strangely when I rose from my seat.
「It’s been a while since you got together, and the chit chat down the memory lane will get more fired up if there’s no outsiders, right? 」
I wanted to avoid it being like those class reunions where outsiders attend.
「I’ll be in your care starting tomorrow. 」
I grinned and【Teleport】 away.
It seemed that instead of the trio going down the trip to memory lane, they were busy with Hauron, who had become frenzied after I left. Oh well, maybe I’m just imagining things.
Notes
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T/N: Shuto is a specialty of Odawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, made with pickled innards of bonito fermented for more than 6 months, with various ingredients such as sake, honey and mirin.
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