Chapter 241: Chapter 225: Kelm Salt

“Takumi! You are back!”

When we returned to the inn, Dunst-san was laying in wait.

“Dunst-san, what’s the matter?”

“I heard from Zack that you have Kelm Salt?”

“Yes, I do, but...”

“Sell me a little please!”

From Zack-san? Ah, he must know from Rudolph-san, so it turned into a hot topic today?

“Ah~ sorry, Takumi. I leaked that. We had ‘The quality of ingredients doesn’t matter much if you have good skills’ kind of conversation today, you see. There, Iris said ‘One should be able to make great food by using the Kelm Salt’. Zack then replied with ‘Impossible’ which caused Iris wanting to test cooking with the Kelm Salt.”

“... Oh, so you knew that I am in possession of it, so you wanted to borrow a little?”

“We wanted to buy, to be precise.”

Rudolph-san roughly explained how Dunst-san got to know about the rock salt in my hands.

“Oh, did you perhaps overheard their discussion, Dunst-san?”

Dunst-san nodded to my question.

I heard that the rock salt found in Kelm mines——Kelm Salt, is quite popular, but I also heard that it’s mainly the nobility who puts out the demand. I mean, it can fetch quite a good price, after all~

Ah~ but even if expensive, it’s just salt expensive, so even common chefs could get their hands on it, no?

“I would like to see at least once how it affects the taste of food.”

“... At least once?”

Huh? Isn’t that a tad different from what I was imagining...?

Errr... he wants to see what kind of taste it has, right?

“Sure, I have a desire to make dishes with good ingredients, but my goal is to make dishes that are just as good using common ingredients!”

“Ohh!”

That’s the spirit Dunst-san, so cool!!

“The reason you want to try making a dish with the Kelm Salt is that you can’t aim for that taste without knowing it?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Yep, seems like I was right.

As I thought, it would be difficult to aim for a specific taste unless you know it.

“I will give you a dose of salt if you’d like. No need for payment.”

“But, that’s...”

“I would love to support your goal, Dunst-san. Oh, I can also provide you with the monster meat I have.”

Others have advised me against supplying meat of high-ranking monsters, but why don’t I pitch in and help with Dunst-san’s dream!

Err... How about the meat of Evil Viper, Orc General, Armored Buffalo, and Cockatrice?

“Waitwaitwait! Takumi, you better not let those thoughts in your mind out! Listen, don’t say anymore! Also, don’t take the items out!”

“... Eh, so it’s no good?”

“No good at all! Absolutely not!”

Eh~ so providing the ingredients isn’t good, huh~

Rather, Rudolph-san was able to guess what was going through my mind, I see~

“You know, it’s that. The qualities of the salt should be easier to understand by using simpler ingredients!”

Indeed, it’s as you say, Rudolph-san.

I truly couldn’t tell whether the salt made the Cockatrice better when I used it for the sandwiches.

“Ingredients that are easy to obtain, huh...”

“Something that’s eaten all year round like ena grass or maro potato. I can compromise with that.”

“Maro potato!”

Wouldn’t potato chips be great for this?

Maro potato is a popular ingredient that is inexpensive and available all year round. Moreover, sliced potatoes are simple so the taste of the salt would be easy to understand.

Above all, I want to eat potato chips!

“What? Did you think of a good dish or something?”

Hearing my mutter, Rudolph-san made an expectant expression.

“Yes, I would love to eat fried maro potatoes~”

Somehow, this explanation suggested fried potatoes, but... this is good for now. But, why does this feel like Rudolph-san wants me to cook?

“What do you mean by fried?”

Dunst-san was listening to my conversation with Rudolph-san in silence, but he joined in the conversation as soon as he heard about the cooking method.

“It’s a method of cooking in plenty of heated oil.”

“So there was such a method? That must use a lot of oil, no?”

“It does. By the way, you can use the same oil several times, but it will start smelling bad if you keep using it for a long time.”

“I see.”

Dunst-san listened with a serious expression.

“Dunst-san, are you finished preparing for the evening business? If you have time now, why don’t we try making it together?”

“All preparations are done, so there’s no problem. Let’s do it together by all means!”

That being the case, I decided to make potato chips with Dunst-san.

“”Got away~””

A well-washed peeled potato was sliced thin, washed again and well-dried. When it was finally time to fry, Allen and Elena let out cheerful voices.

“Takumi, what do they mean?”

“Frying could be dangerous, so they made sure to step aside.”

“Oh, I see.”

Err... I think it was when I was making Tonaktsu that I told them to step aside a little, so they must have remembered that. Even though they were helping us just a little while ago, they still stepped away from Dunst-san and me.

“Then, let’s get frying.”

I wanted to show Dunst-san how to do it first and will switch with him halfway.

We proceeded to fry until the plate was heaping. That’s because potato chips are quick to disappear!

“And lastly, the salt.”

I divided the chips into two heaps to compare the Kelm Salt with normal salt.

“Allen, Elena, please carry this into the dining hall.”

“”Yess~””

When I asked Allen and Elena to carry the plates with potato chips I further divided, they happily complied.

“Dunst-san, let’s go to the dining hall as well.”

“Ou, let’s do that.”

I also carried the plates to the dining hall where Allen, Elena and the Dragon Breath members were already surrounding the potato chips.

I didn’t see Rudolph-san for a while, so when did he get here?

“Takumi, let us eat already!”

“Dunst-san is first——Allen and Elena’s portion is this, so come here.”

“”Yea!””

When I addressed Allen and Elena, they happily ran over and I reminded them to eat slowly.

“Now then, Dunst-san. Go ahead. By the way, this one is with the Kelm Salt.”

“Then, I will have a taste.”

Dunst-san tried each potato chip with a nervous look.

“Are we good now? Dunst already ate, so we can start eating too, right?”

After seeing Dunst-san tasting, Rudolph-san swarmed over the potato chips and began crunching.

“Ohh! I can’t get enough of this crunchy feeling!”

“The hell is this, it’s great!”

“Yum! This is maro potato!?”

“It’s delicious!”

Rudolph-san and others ate while leaking out their impressions, but their vigor was incredible. I am glad I kept Allen and Elena’s share separate.

“... Delicious. It tastes great with the normal salt too, but the Kelm Salt... it’s a different kind of delicious.”

Meanwhile, Dunst-san quietly muttered his impressions.

“You can taste such a difference?”

“Yeah.”

I decided to also give it a try.

“Oh, you are right. Eating it like this, the taste is truly easier to understand.”

“”This is more delish!””

“Yep, that one is with the Kelm Salt.”

It’s difficult to put into words, but I felt the Kelm Salt was tastier.

To be honest, I did not think the difference would be this large. If this is the case, then the rumor that Kelm Salt can make any food taste better is credible.

“Well~ nonetheless... I can’t stop eating.”

It has been a while, but as I thought, potato chips are great~

Wouldn’t it be easy to make various flavors of potato chips by using the simple salt series? Ah, I have no Nori salt though! Nori salt and potato chips are inseparable!

N~ I wonder if Stefan-san would find me seaweed if I asked him for it?