CH 35

Episode 5-4

Alright! Next

Uplifted by the positive response to my pork cutlets, or rather, various kinds of cutlets, I head back to the kitchen with high spirits.

When I opened the door to the kitchen, the skeletons with aprons waiting by the side of the room faced me immediately.

“The three of them said the pork cutlets were delicious. Thanks for your help!”

I could tell they were in a good mood.

After all, the people who visit Aion Mall’s Otherworldly Store are ‘farmers who take their goods from the farm in the morning’, ‘merchants and guards who leave town in the morning’, and ‘adventurers who receive requests from outside the town’.

This means those who eat lunch outdoors.

In addition, customers who come to the store before evening are going back to the city, and they may ‘want to relax at home for the first time in a while, but cooking is a hassle, so they buy food to take home’.

“Therefore, I think that the take-out food is a good idea. But I’m sure they’ll get bored with just one dish, so we’ll have to see how they react to the next dish!”

I walk past the skeletons, who seem somewhat pleased with it, and stand in front of a particular machine.

I asked the skeletons to stop the machine when it was finished or if something was wrong, but they seemed to manage to stop it.

“Good, good. It’s wonderful that I can entrust them with a simple task. Thank you, Anna-san.”

Lifting up the vat that had been set on the machine, I filled a large bowl on the stainless steel table.

The skeletons and the ghosts in the ceiling above me peeked in with interest.

Wearing gloves, I put my hand into the bowl.

I stir it briefly.

I put the ground beef and the wild boar into the bowl.

“Yeah, it looks fine. I’ll have to try …… to find the right amount.”

Nobody around me responded to my words. It seems that they are just trying to get by. They’re skeletons and ghosts, you know!

The chopped onion, which I had sauteed in a frying pan and allowed to cool, was placed in a bowl of ground beef.

I mean, it’s an onion, or rather an onion-like, this-world vegetable.

They were quite small, but this is this world’s onion, or the native species of onion. That must be it.

I spoke to the farmer’s lady and she said you can grill it, fry it, or boil it.

Then, add bread crumbs.

It was the skeletons who scraped the breadcrumbs, for your information.

In the cooking of the pork cutlet, they played a major role in making the breadcrumbs, pounding the meat, cutting the meat, and other tedious and time-consuming tasks.

I was scared to hand them the knife, but they used it without hesitation and without pointing it at me.

“Rather, they were expert with their hands, though! I’m a little scared of the undead who are used to handling meat! What’s the point of me treating them as normal labor?”

Well, it’s too late now.

We’ve asked them to guard and clean the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store.

I took a moment to compose myself and sprinkled some salt and pepper.

I was a little unsure about it, but I didn’t put in any spices brought from Japan.

Salt and pepper were sold at the market in town, and I also bought some spices, but I would have to wait until the next time to try them.

If they don’t taste good or don’t react well, I’ll figure it out at that time.

Beat the eggs I bought from the farmer’s lady and put them in the bowl.

When I spoke to her this morning, she told me that the farmer lady has chickens, not monster combat chickens.

She built a shack next to her house and keeps her chickens in it.

They probably don’t feed the chickens as well as Japanese chicken farms, but they are definitely usable.

Actually, I used them to fry some cutlets a while ago.

It is a basic rule of thumb to choose dishes where you can use the same ingredients over and over again.

“Alright. Ah, Skeleton-san. Could you help me with the kneading?”

I showed the skeleton a few kneading steps, then handed over the place to the skeleton with the apron.

After listening to my instructions and putting on gloves, the skeleton puts its hand in the bowl.

“Yes, yes, mix it roughly with your fingers up like that, that way the temperature of your hands will melt the fat and the stickiness won’t …… fall out! It’s bone! They don’t have body heat!”

Skeleton stops moving and tilts its head.

I look into the bowl.

It is not sticky.

“It was impossible to knead these bones, wasn’t it? I mean, the picture of a skeleton stirring minced meat is quite disturbing! They will ask what kind of meat it is? I mean, it’s ground beef from a combination of horned beef and assault wild boar, but come on!”

Taking the bowl, I stir the meat meekly.

After mixing it with the vigour to retort myself. Oooops, that’s dangerous.

By the way, I am wearing a hat, mask and gloves.

No matter how much [purification] magic there is and no matter how much I say it’s not for sale to customers, hygiene is important!　Well, skeletons don’t have hair that falls out and they don’t spit!　They are bones!

“Once you get used to it, it’s very convenient. I’ll heat up the frying pan, so it can’t …… mould the mixture by moving its palms back and forth like this! Wait! No, it’s a bone hand!”

I’ll be the one in charge of …… cooking, I guess.

Anna-san said she could do simple cooking, and I’m sure she can do it,……Wait, Anna-san is undead too,…….

[Magnificent Lich handiwork] is too unappetizing.

I think I’ll be cursed if I eat it, or maybe people will wonder what kind of meat it is and won’t eat it. It will definitely not sell well.

“…… Meat!”

“Calm down, Barbera. What’s this? You’ve brought the tables in front of the kitchen, aren’t you too impatient?”

“It can’t be helped, Naoya-san. [I can smell the meat cooking!] Chloe-san and Barbera-chan were both amazing. ……”

“I can’t wait, Naoya!”

“It took a while because I couldn’t ask the skeletons to help me. Well, Once the things are made, all we have to do is cook them.”

“Hey, Naoya, you gave me the cold shoulder earlier when you said Once the things is done], and now you’re telling me [just cook it].　What do you mean by that?”

“I told you that I made it properly. Well, just try it once it’s done.”

I offered them a plate.

Unlike cutlets, there was no need to cut them into small pieces.

The sauce is a mixture of ketchup and sauce brought from Japan, which is a little disappointing, but that can’t be helped now.

One bite.

Juices started to overflow from the ham-bur-ger.

That’s right, following the cutlets, I made a prototype of a hamburger steak.

The texture of the roughly minced meat was also good.

I realized that I should have cooked white rice.

The three of them were out of voice.

I looked up and saw the three of them checking each other with their eyes.

They were aiming at my hamburger.

Their hamburger was already gone.

“I’m the former manager! I deserve to eat it!”

“My? Chloe-san, shouldn’t elves not like meat to begin with? I’m the elder here.”

“I want eat …….”

“Don’t worry, the hamburger is still there. If it suits your palate, I was thinking of having it for dinner tonight.”

“Ooooh! Way to go, Naoya!”

“Oh my my, what I have done is so immodest. Thank you, Naoya-san.”

“…… follow you for the rest of my life.”

Apparently, the hamburgers were delicious.

But Barbera, don’t follow me for the rest of your life just for one hamburger. Though it’s more expensive than a sweet potato dumpling.

I wonder how old is the lifespan of a dragon? Isn’t a lifetime too heavy?

“Hamburgers can be made from scraps of meat and other parts that are not tasty as they are. It is much cheaper than pork cutlets. There are high-class hamburgers, but they are originally a cheap and tasty way to eat meat.”

“This meat dish is cheap …… you say? Naoya, are you out of your mind?”

“I see, so you sell expensive but underpriced pork cutlets, cheap but luxurious hamburgers, and different price ranges! Impressive, Naoya-san!”

“…… Delicious, lots of it. God.”

The meat-loving elf with the crazy ideas has got me worried!　Maybe I’m smarter than Chloe!

As for Anna-san, who understands too quickly already, isn’t Barbera losing her intelligence?

After the cutlets, the hamburger steak also got a good response. It was too good. Okay, alright.

It’s my fifth day as manager of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store.

The number of customers today, 35.

Revenue, 31,000 yen.

I wondered if all the existing customers had already come to the store, but I sold almost none of the gardening supplies.

I need to either attract new customers or start selling food in the store soon.