Chapter 247: Chapter 231: Actual Tasting

When we returned to the inn, the sun was already about to set.

“Takumi-san, welcome back.”

When we entered the inn, Dunst-san’s wife, Sarah, welcomed us.

“We are back. Err... things seem to be busy over here.”

“Oh my, have you perhaps not eaten yet?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

I was going to have dinner at the inn, but the dining hall was already crowded. A big percentage seemed to be eating pizza, so it looks like pizza was a great success for the customers.

“”Will eat pizza~!””

“Pizza, huh? But there seem to be no seats available.”

“I can bring it to your room too.”

The children say they want to eat pizza, but it’s likely going to take some time. So when I was about to give up on the inn food and troubled where to go to eat, Sarah-san gave another option.

“Is that okay? Then, we will take two servings of pizza and two servings of salad please.”

“”Salad, don’t need~””

“You have to eat your vegetables. Would you like stir-fried veggies more?”

“”...... Salad.””

“Fufu, I will have it prepared immediately.”

We entered the room we were renting, I let the kids wash their hands, and the food arrived immediately after I organized our luggage.

“It’s not like you guys dislike veggies or anything, right? Do you not feel like eating vegetables today?”

“”The veggies here have no taste~””

Allen and Elena have no particular dislikes when it comes to food, so when I asked why they don’t want to eat the veggies, I found out that the cause was their taste.

The inn’s salad and stir-fried vegetables are fundamentally simple and seasoned with just salt. We occasionally have the inn cuisine and I enjoyed the simple flavors, but the children apparently didn’t like it.

“So that’s the reason. Then, would you like it with mayonnaise?”

“”Yeah! Like!””

I don’t think this would be a good move in a public place like the dining hall, but there’s only us in the room, so when I took the mayo out of the Infinite Storage, Allen and Elena’s opinion clearly changed.

That reminds me, mayonnaise has been popularized a little by little, but because it can’t be stored for a long time, I don’t see stores using it too much.

Oh, speaking of salads, I’d like to get some dressings soon~

“... Should I make it?”

“What.”

“Making~?”

“N? A dressing... erm, I was thinking that I’d like some salad sauce.”

“”Ohh~ let’s make!””

“Next time.”

“”Okay!””

Once we finished eating, I visited Rudolph-san’s room, to show him the soup he could make easily.

“Rudolph-san, are you free right now?”

“Takumi? What’s up?”

“I completed the soup you were asking about.”

“What!? Are you for real!!”

I was invited to Rudolph-san’s room, and I showed him how to make the freeze-dried soup.

“All you need is a cup and hot water.”

“Just hot water?”

“Yes, first you will put one of these in the cup.”

“What’s that, Takumi?”

“It’s soup. Rudolph-san, try pouring hot water in and stirring a little.”

I thought it would be better for Rudolph-san to actually do the work, so I gave him the freeze-dried soup, and had him pour hot water into the cup, which he did with a half-doubting expression.

“N? Nn!?”

As he stirred it with a spoon, Rudolph-san’s expression gradually turned into one of a surprise as he began to see the eggs, which were part of the ingredients of the soup.

“This is unreal. It really turned into a soup!”

“Try tasting it, Rudolph-san.”

“Yeah...——Tasty! What is this thing!?”

Finally, when I had him taste it, he opened his eyes wide as he shouted in surprise.

The taste apparently received with passing grades.

“”Onii~chan, Onii~chan.””

“N? What is it?”

“Allen, never drank this~!”

“Elena never drank this either, you know?”

“Nono, you’ve had the fresh soup for lunch today, did you not?”

“”Ehh~ we never stirred, you know~?””

Allen and Elena said they want to drink the freeze-dried cube they can turn into soup with hot water.

Did it look interesting to them when the cube turned into soup in no time?

“You just ate, so let’s leave it for the next time when we eat outside.”

“”Can’t now?””

“You can’t. Be patient.”

“”Okay~””

When I said no, the kids were clearly unwilling but obediently left the matter alone.

They have endured their curiosity, so I can’t forget to let them make a freeze-dried soup the next time we eat outside the town.

“And so, how is it, Rudolph-san? You can make this wherever you go, right? I haven’t tried how long the soup can be preserved for, but it’s dried well, so I believe it will last a long time.”

“... You beat me. This is far more than I expected.”

Rudolph-san’s expression seemed to be quite perplexed.

His expressions are changing constantly~

“... You can’t spread this around carelessly.”

“Eh?”

“Portable food that is too good to be true will have an impact on the military.”

“... Eh?”

Mi, military? Speaking of the military, he means war-use or something like that, right? Really?

“... You are kidding, right?”

“I’m far from joking. With this soup, the soldiers will have good meals even during long marches, and their baggage will decrease, right? I don’t want to say bad things, but it would be best to shelve this idea. Well, it would be fine to make it for yourselves when there are no people around. As for the rest... you could use it if you wanted to sell yourself to a country.”

Rudolph-san warned me with a serious look.

I never thought that a soup that is easy to carry and make could be this precious.

“It’s so easy to use, so as an adventurer, I really wanted to use it~ N~... if a bellwether that doesn’t support wars spread it all around the country, would the power relationship of the country remain the same?”

“Err... I don’t know much about the history and other country’s royalty, but are wars common?”

“N? The current leaders are virtuous, so there’s not much to worry about. But, there are several ambitious people standing in the way of the king every generation, so there’s some history. As for a close past... the former King of the Belfard Empire was apparently quite an ambitious person who tried to spread his territory by waging wars at every opportunity. Well, that happened before I was born, though.”

Two generations ago, huh~ I am really glad that it’s a peaceful era now.

“Takumi, do you have a way to get in touch with the upper echelons of some country?”

“Eh?”

“In order to spread the soup in a large scale, we need to consider a strong company.”

“... Rudolph-san, didn’t you advise me to shelve it?”

“That thing is too good to shelve it. That being the case, we ought to think of a way of distributing it rapidly. So, how about it?”

“Err... I can get in contact with a Count’s household.”

“Ohh! A Count is more than enough! Takumi, contact them right away!”

As expected, I can’t say that I am an acquaintance of the Guardia’s ruler, but when I said I can get in contact with the Risner and Ruven families, that are our guardians, Rudolph-san was full of expectations.

I told him that I will consult with them and decided to keep the freeze-dried soup shelved for the time being.

It may become troublesome, but I think I will consult with Matthias-san before I promise anything.