Ch 102 -- Wyvern Meat = Wagyu A5 Quality Beef
"Right then Fer, I have to deliver a Wyvern's skin to Lambert-san's store so I'll be stopping by there for a moment."
"I understand. Please do it quickly." Fer was drooling again. Was Wyvern meat really THAT good?
Lambert-san was the only person in the front part of the store when I entered. I got straight down to business, Fer's enthusiasm for dinner was starting to get to me too.
"Lambert-san, I brought the Wyvern skin as agreed."
"Oh, excellent. This way please." Lambert-san led me through to the drawing room at the back of the store where I laid the bundle of Wyvern skin on a table.
"I'd like a cloak and a belt with a sheath and shoes made from this, please."
"Yes, indeed." muttered Lambert-san, tearing his eyes reluctantly from the bundle of raw leather on the table. He didn't drool like Fer, quite. "Very well, can you please wait a moment?" He was quickly back to business and left the room before returning a few moments later.
"Right then, here is a receipt for your order and proof I have taken in the Wyvern skin."
Lambert-san handed me a wooden tag with the day's date and the details of my order burned into it. The fact I had handed over a Wyvern skin to Lambert-san was also recorded on it.
"Since we will give you the goods in exchange for this tag in half a year's time, please do not lose it." Lambert-san laughed. "Well, in your case even if you lose the tag it should be all right as I'm not likely to forget you or your order, Mukouda-san."
"No, I will be very careful not to lose it." I said. "I am looking forward to collecting my order in half a year's time." I thought for a moment. "I'm intending to leave this city soon, Lambert-san. If you need to contact me or know my whereabouts you should speak to the Guild Master of the Adventurers Guild. I've told him you may wish to get in touch with me and I said it's all right to pass on any messages from you through the other Adventurers Guilds in the cities I'll be visiting. I can pass any replies back to you in the same way."
"Oh, are you going to leave us?" Lambert-san said in surprise. "I am much in Mukouda-san's debt for various things."
"No no, thank you for your help. This city has been a delight to stay in." Well, apart from the Wyvern attack and rampaging Bloody Horn Bulls and the goblin village and... but those downsides were mostly attributable to Fer's battle mania. "I will return in half a year's time when the cloak and other items should be ready." I bowed to him. "Thank you again."
"No, it's me that should be thanking you. I will have your tailor-made goods ready for your return."
"Yes, thank you." After handing the Wyvern skin over to Lambert-san we left the store.
"Hey Fer, since we're heading to the ocean, should we just get started when I get the money for the Wyvern's subjugation and purchases the day after tomorrow?" I didn't know, maybe he wanted to hang around for a bit longer here.
"Yes." Fer replied promptly. "I got interested when I heard about the Dungeon City. I want us to go there right now, in fact."
"No, I don't care how many times you say it, I won't enter another dungeon. Anyway, we're going to visit a city called Claire before we get to Doran where the dungeon is. You're going to have to wait."
"Muu, that's right, that's what you agreed. We have to take those requests?"
"Yes we do. But are they really going to be so easy for you, Fer?" I was a bit worried although I'd seen Fer knock down assorted high-ranking monsters the way only a thousand-year-old super-powered Fenris monster blessed by a Goddess could.
"Hey, there's nothing out there I can't deal with. I'll polish off any requests waiting for us at Claire quick and then we can head straight towards the Dungeon City."
"We won't get there soon." I corrected him. "This country's given us permission to go where we want in return for handling a few requests. I'd like to indulge myself, do a bit of sightseeing while visiting Claire." I looked down at the drab clothing I was wearing. "That city's famous for spinning and weaving so I want to get some new clothes as well. I'm going to stay there for a few days."
"Muu, a dungeon..." Stop whining, Fer. It doesn't suit you and that expression isn't going to work on me.
"The dungeon in Doran won't run away so we don't need to be in such a hurry. It's a good idea to take a look around as we go and take our time." I said firmly.
"Nuu, it can't be helped." Fer moped.
* * * * *
We got back to the inn a few minutes later and Fer perked up.
"So then, what do you want to eat?" I asked, redundantly. I knew that Fer had been thinking of nothing else all the way back from Lambert-san's store, looking at the ropes of saliva hanging from his muzzle.
"Umu. Wyvern meat."
"Yeah yeah." I took some Wyvern meat out of my Item Box. No matter how you looked at it, this meat was obviously top-quality material. It looked exactly like Wagyu A5 ranked beef which you sometimes see in magazines and TV gourmet special feature shows. The fat marbled through the meat made it look truly exceptional.
It is said that the meat quality will depend on what the animal was eating and just looking at this meat I guessed Wyverns must have been regularly eating something good. It was a powerful monster though so I had to wonder about that. This kind of meat may just simply be the most delicious regardless of the creature's diet. Magic? I remembered the Wyvern mana stones Johan-ojisan had presented me with, did they have something to do with it? I tore my eyes from the vision of marbled Wyvern meat before me, thinking hard about what to cook but there was only really one answer.
"Steak." I muttered, opening the Net Super. Given the obvious excellence of the meat I'd only use salt and pepper, but it had to be the best salt and pepper for this dish. Looking through the sales listings for salt, one particular product caught my eye. What's this "sea salt evaporated in a salt pan for over a year by the Sun"? Okay, I bought a pack of this high-priced gourmet salt. After that, pepper. I chose black peppercorns, still in the bottle to keep them fresh. Turning the top of the bottle milled the corns and ground them directly onto the product below.
There would only be these two additions to the meat, no sauces or sides. I also bought some wine to enjoy with such a simple dish because, well, I would enjoy it. Time to get cooking. Firstly I cut the Wyvern meat thickly into steaks then I put a little oil in a frying pan, turning the heat up high. I figured the fat in the Wyvern meat would compensate for the small amount of oil I added. I dashed salt and pepper on both sides of a steak and cooked it. Meat of this quality cries out to be cooked rare so I quickly scorched both sides before removing it from the pan and letting it rest on the plate for a minute.
It looked really delicious. OK, first of all, a taste... Munch.
...Well. I couldn't believe it, how deliciously delicious it was. It melted between my teeth, the meat flavours filling my mouth. It tasted as good as it looked, no, better. I recalled the domestically produced Wagyu steak I ate once in a famous store when I got a bonus at work. This Wyvern steak was tastier than that.
"Hey, hurry up, I want to eat that too."
"Sui wants to eat it too-"
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'll cook it right now for you." I heated up the frying pan again. "Because this meat is delicious by itself I think that it's better to cook it simply with just some salt and pepper for seasoning." I explained unnecessarily. I felt unworthy, as if the Wyvern's meat was too good for the likes of me to be cooking it never mind eating it.
"Anything is good, just do it quick." Fer the Glutton ordered, the drool from his muzzle reaching down to the ground.
"Aruji, hurry-" Sui the Glutton chimed in, jumping around eagerly.
I grilled Wyvern meat steaks after quickly salting and peppering them and put them out on plates.
"Oh, Wyvern's meat is even more delicious cooked." Fer announced as his steak disappeared into his mouth.
"This meat is soft and delicious, isn't it?" Sui agreed, her own steak disappearing as if by magic too.
Wyvern's meat is truly delicious. That taste can not be imagined, only experienced. While I was cooking additional steaks for Fer and Sui even before they could demand "Seconds!" I dug into my own steak. Bliss. I sipped a glass of wine, red wine of course with steak. Melting delicious meat and red wine, I felt like a sybarite.
Thus we enjoyed the Wyvern meat. Fer and Sui kept eating until they were satisfied while I cooked steaks for them over and over again.