Chapter 284
Upon returning to the inn, [6] Elland-san followed me all the way to my door.
“You know, I’m kind of hungry…”
“Is that so?” I opened the door and found more hungry creatures waiting for me.
“Umu, you’re finally back.”
““Hurry up and make something!””
““Aruji~~ I’m hungry~~””
To be honest, I’d like to quickly hand Elland-san’s share of the profit to him as soon as possible [6] and send him on his merry way. However, I guess that’s not possible.
It can’t be helped, I’ll have to do it after lunch. [1] My familiars are staring at me with hungry eyes again…
I had better get something quick and easy out as soon as possible.
Let’s see, I’ll have to make another rice bowl dish.
Please don’t call me a one trick pony.
When you’re tired and want something quick and delicious, a rice bowl is the best.
Now, I have all those Red Boar meat from yesterday… Alright, let’s go with that.
Today’s star seasoning will be Gochujang [9].
Gochujang, [9] also known as the spicy miso of Korean cooking will decide the flavour of today’s Don.
After purchasing the desired vegetables and a couple of tubs of Gochujang from [Net Super], I got started immediately.
First, I cut the carrots and garlic chives into 3cm strips.
Next, the beansprouts were quickly rinsed and set out to drain.
By the way, I’m part of the faction that doesn’t take sprout roots off [2] mostly because it’s troublesome. Some people also believe that the root part of beansprouts is nutritious, but for me, I left them alone because I’m usually too busy and can’t be bothered.
However, if you’re that worried about the skin on root vegetables or the little hairs on daikons and carrots, you are welcome to take them off.
Once the vegetables are properly prepped, I heated some oil on a frying pan and began to fry up slices of Red Boar. [2] Once the meat has changed colour, I quickly added the strips of carrots and fry them until tender. Once everything was almost done, I added the beansprouts followed by the chives and splashed in some sauce made from soy sauce, sake, Gochujang, sugar, grated garlic and sesame oil.
The stir-fry is served over hot rice and sprinkled with white toasted sesame seeds to complete the Spicy Pork Don.
“Alright everyone, lunch is ready~” [5]
“Mu, this spicy taste increases the appetite,”
““Woohoo! Spicy food yum!””
““It’s spicy, but Sui can still eat it~~ Yummy~~””
I’ve given Sui the portion with less gochujang. [1] [8] It’s the same one that Elland-san and I are going to eat, in normal size bowls, of course.
[6] Elland-san was nearly quivering with anticipation over the reddish looking dish topped over rice.
“Please go ahead, Elland-san,”
“It certainly has a very appetizing fragrance~” [3] he looked like a happy hamster with his cheeks stuffed full of rice.
I guess I should eat too?
[8] Hmm, hmm, yes, having something spicy now and then really hits the spot.
“This ‘spiciness’ seems to make me hungrier than when I started!” [5] [6] Elland-san’s plate of food was half gone. Should I serve him using the same size tableware as my familiars?
Is serving them spicy food the wrong thing to do?
Thanks to these ‘appetite stimulating spice’ everyone, with the exception of Sui, ate more than usual.
After lunch, we had a bit of a break with cider and roasted green tea.
“Oh yes, I should give you your share of the profits now, Elland-san.”
“It’s fine, as long as you are willing to sell the rest of the Dark Spheres to Doran’s Guild, I’m happy enough,”
“No, no, you still cleared the dungeon with us, so you should have a share too,”
“Then, as mentioned before, a third of the Hydra’s treasure chest is fine.”
“Oh no, that’s too little, let’s split the profit by half,”
“No, no, that’s too much,”
“Then, how about a third? No less than a third,”
“No, no, a third is too much,”
“No, no, no, it’s not too much. You should get at least this much,”
After going back and forth for some time and exchanging many no, no nos and more no, no, nos, we finally came to an agreement of 50 platinum coins. [1] I really wanted to push a third of the profit to Elland-san but he was too stubborn to take it.
In the end, this was the best I could do.
I still ended up with a lot of money after the bargaining.
[6] I know I sounded like someone playing UNO complaining about having too many cards in his hands, but, while I don’t have issues with money, I’m scared of holding so much money in my hands because I’ve never handled so much money in my life before! [1] It just keeps piling up and I have no idea what to do with it.
[6] Will I somehow break this world’s economy hoarding all that money in my [Item Box]?
I have nothing I wanted to buy at the moment. The only thing I use the money for is buying ingredients off [Net Super]. I need to find a way to spend a whole lot of money and give back to the economy.
Anyway, let’s hand 50 platinum coins to Elland-san first and talk to him about his future plans.
“I guess we should leave for Doran as soon as possible,” I said.
“Ehhh~? Why don’t we take our time a bit?”
“What are you talking about? Shouldn’t Elland-san be in more of a hurry than us? Think of Ugor-san,”
“I guess you have a point, but Ugor-kun should be fine on his own,”
[4] “… I guess you’re not wrong, but aren’t there things that only a Guild Master could do that a Vice aren’t authorised to?” [5]
Suddenly, Elland-san paled.
Oh? That’s new.
“S-speaking of which, I just remembered there’s something I have to do once I get back…” [5]
In the end, we decided to leave the city for Doran the day after tomorrow.
Now, let’s use this time to cook up a storm and prepare for the trip.
[Gumihou: Lol, what an interesting bargaining technique.]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Creative Licence Taken
[9] Gochujang – a Korean chilli paste. Also called the ‘Spicy Miso of Korean Cooking’