Natural Products

I found a message engraved on the ring that seemed to indicate where treasure was hidden.

Following its directions, we searched for treasure atop the cliff overlooking Astrantia—and found it with surprising ease.

What we found beneath the owl-shaped statue was a bag stuffed with gold and silver coins, along with a grimoire of Explosive Magic—Explosion.

I had been holding on to this ring as collateral for the money I'd lent the Crotton couple, but it seemed I'd more than recouped that amount.

I climbed down the platform I'd set up on the cliff so we could eat lunch.

"Nyaa~!"

Bell, who had been patrolling the forest atop the cliff, came down with us. That forest up there was all hers, so she could explore it to her heart's content.

"Myaree, I got back the money I lent Crotton in a single day."

"It only worked out by chance, nya."

She still seemed firmly opposed to helping people when there was no money in it. That's life for you—though I suppose it couldn't be helped in a world like this.

When we reached home, we had a simple meal of bread and milk.

There was a dessert I wanted to try making. I'd made chawanmushi with spider eggs, but could I use them to make pudding?

I thought that if I left out the fillings, used milk instead of dashi, added extra sugar, and steamed it, it would turn into pudding even without gelatin or anything like that...

"Well, everything's worth a try. Shall we give it a shot?"

I poured milk into a bowl of ordinary eggs and added plenty of sugar. I wanted Myaree to eat it too, so I used ordinary eggs.

I used only a little milk; with more, it probably wouldn't set.

Then I took a steamer out of my Item Box and put it over the flame of a cassette stove.

Just like with chawanmushi, it would be done when the pine needles stuck into the top turned brown. If I steamed it too long, it would develop holes.

"It's a little different from the delicious dish you made before!"

"This is a dessert. It's my first time making it, but once it's done, we'll chill it and try it."

"Okay!"

Anemone seemed happy to hear the word dessert, and spun around and around the table with the stove on it.

I took her hand, and Myaree began dancing with us too. Those two really got along well. Then Bell began circling around them too.

Apparently, whenever there was something moving, she couldn't help reacting to it.

Once the pudding had finished steaming, I submerged it in the running water flowing from the waterfall. That should cool it down quickly.

――Thirty minutes later. It had cooled, so we decided to taste it right away.

"It's sweet, jiggly, and delicious!"

"It's good, nya! It smells like eggs, nya."

"Hmm, this is more like sweet chawanmushi, or maybe a boiled egg..."

To get rid of this smell and give it a more dessert-like aroma... vanilla essence, perhaps.

I bought vanilla essence from Shangri-La and added it to the pudding I was making.

This time, for the real batch, I used spider eggs for Anemone's and my servings.

"What's that, nya?! It smells incredible, nya!"

Myaree, whose sense of smell was particularly keen, reacted to it.

"Really! It smells so sweet!"

"It's a flavoring. It smells wonderful, but it tastes awful by itself."

I dripped some vanilla essence onto the back of Anemone's hand, and she sniffed it repeatedly.

I put the pudding back into the steamer, then cooled it in water once it had finished steaming—and it was done.

We would have it for dessert after dinner.

"Shall we try the magic tomorrow? Everyone should be here then..."

"Got it."

Anemone looked as though she wanted to try it immediately, but you couldn't casually test Explosive Magic—Explosion. We would need a wide-open space.

The only place like that around here would be the lake.

Besides, if we started doing things while Nyamena was away, she would probably sulk.

As evening came and the sun began to sink, I decided to go into the city to pick up Primula and Nyamena.

But what awaited me when I reached the road was—

"Moo!"

In front of me was what appeared to be a small calf with long legs and dark-brown coloring. It was probably a cow. After all, it was saying "moo."

Primula and Nyamena had brought a calf with them.

"Was this what Primula wanted to buy?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to keep it at home? But I don't think this one has been weaned yet..."

"That's right. A calf about this size is the only one that's useful, isn't it?"

"...Don't tell me you're planning to use the calf's stomach to find out whether cheese can really be made?"

"Yes. I can't believe it until I see it with my own eyes."

Unbelievable. She had really bought a calf to find out whether cheese could be made using the rennet contained in its stomach.

"Why did you want to verify it?"

"Because if it's true, I thought it would be an effective bargaining chip when dealing with nobles."

I see. Since the method of making cheese was apparently a secret, she planned to use it as a bargaining chip to negotiate an end to the harassment of her shop.

No matter how crooked the other party was, they couldn't ignore an order from the lord.

"Would that be all right?"

She stared intently at my face...

Well, even though it was knowledge from my original world, I didn't have an exclusive claim on it. It was a far more sensible deal than going into violence mode with heavy machinery.

"No, I don't mind. It would be better than making a big scene against those thugs."

"Personally, I'd prefer the latter."

Nyamena looked dissatisfied, but if we caused a huge commotion, we'd have to flee this city too.

"However, Primula, my Item Box can't hold living things."

"What, Boss? Is that all?"

Nyamena led the calf away from the road and into the forest, then took out a knife.

"Wait..."

Before I could say anything, Nyamena plunged the knife into the calf without the slightest hesitation.

With one swift, practiced motion, she killed it, and the calf collapsed on the spot with a faint groan.

"W-was it all right to kill it?"

"Yes. We were going to take out its stomach anyway."

Primula was remarkably calm about it too. She had turned pale at the sight of the enormous spider she'd never seen before, but apparently she often ate animals killed during hunting trips while out buying goods, so she was probably used to this sort of thing.

This really was a merciless world. But the meat sold in the market—and the meat sold through Shangri-La—was all processed this way.

For that matter, I had never butchered a four-legged animal, but once a colored chick I'd bought at a night stall grew huge in no time and became so noisy with its crowing that I had slaughtered it and made chicken hot pot.

I hadn't known it at the time, but all colored chicks are male, aren't they?

I put what had been a calf until moments ago into my Item Box. I had mixed feelings about it, but it was no different from putting a monster I'd killed into the Item Box.

"I see."

Putting the calf into my Item Box gave me an idea.

"Boss, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

This was something I couldn't tell them about. If I put a corpse into my Item Box and then threw it into the trash can on my status screen, it would vanish without a trace.

In other words, even the corpse would be gone... It was terrifying. As long as I left no bloodstains or other evidence, a perfect crime would be possible.

I could smuggle anything I wanted, and if I abused this ability, I could do just about anything. Of course, I had no intention of doing so.

I put Primula on the back of the off-road motorcycle and rode home.

"How are the employees at Primula's shop doing?"

"They're all behaving themselves. There's not much they can do for now, after all."

"That girl—Iris, was it? I heard her parents are government officials. Can't you use that connection?"

"Iris's parents, who had lost their source of income, tried to approach the upper ranks of the bureaucracy, but they were apparently asked for a large bribe..."

"The corruption is proceeding smoothly, I see."

"It certainly is... But more importantly, Boss, did you find any treasure atop the cliff?"

Nyamena walked behind us with her hands clasped behind her head.

"Gold and silver coins, and one grimoire."

"That's quite a haul."

"Yeah."

Myaree must have noticed the sound of my motorcycle with her keen ears, because she came out of the house with Anemone.

"Primula, it's already dark. Would it be all right to test the cheese tomorrow?"

"Of course."

"Kenichi~!"

Anemone came running out and hugged me.

"Hey, Blackie. I heard today's treasure hunt was a hit."

"It was pretty good, nya. But some walking bones came out, nya."

"Seriously? That made things pretty troublesome."

"But Kenichi's summoned beast crushed them, nya."

"Hahaha, true. A walking skeleton wouldn't be able to do much after getting crushed by that steel arm. So, did you get your share?"

"Nyaa? I didn't, nya."

"Boss~?"

Nyamena gave me a long, reproachful sidelong look.

"I tried to give her a share, but she said she didn't want it."

"I don't need it, nya."

"Oh, right! She's rich! Damn it, acting all high and mighty."

She must have heard the details of Myaree's partnership with me when we defeated Shaga's gang.

"Nyahaha."

Nyamena stamped her feet as she watched Myaree's smug expression.

"You just rode Boss's coattails the whole time. Today was the same, wasn't it? It was just luck, right?"

"Luck is part of skill, nya."

Myaree could eat her fill at my place, so I suppose she didn't need much of a share.

In fact, apparently she hadn't touched any of the reward money she'd received from the guild.

Nyamena looked frustrated when Myaree refused to rise to her jabs and provocations.

"Damn it!"

"Don't let it get you down. A good money-making opportunity will come your way eventually."

"I hope I can get in on it someday too."

"But Nyamena, you seemed to be quite popular with the men in the city today..."

Primula told me what had happened in the city.

"Really?"

"You bet! Listen, Boss! I took a bath here, and once my coat was clean and looking a little better, all the men came swarming over! Even though they never gave me a second glance before."

I had used conditioner on her fur once before, and it seemed to have worked exceptionally well.

"Even so, aren't you happy to be popular?"

"The hell I am! Don't make fun of me!"

She was clearly displeased, but the fact remained that she'd been popular, so she didn't seem entirely unhappy about it.

As the area grew dark and became wrapped in purple, I brought a table outside and prepared dinner.

At everyone's request, I made stew. I opened a can of cat food for Bell too.

After dinner, we decided to try the milk pudding I'd made at noon.

"Oh! It's sweet! And this aroma..."

"It's so jiggly, nya~! And it smells better than the one we had at lunch, nya."

"Hmm, it seems tastier than the one at lunch. Is it because of the aroma?"

Anemone seemed to be comparing the version without flavoring that she'd eaten at lunch with this one in her mind.

"Chawanmushi was certainly a dish, but this is a dessert. It's so refined, almost like an exquisite confection meant for nobles..."

"It would probably be popular with nobles. Since it only requires milk and eggs, we might even be able to sell it."

"Kenichi, what is this dessert called?"

"It's pudding."

"Pudding..."

Primula stared intently at the pudding in the bowl. But pudding would probably be better served in a transparent dish, with caramel on the bottom, wouldn't it?

Personally, I didn't like caramel, so I would rather leave it out...

"No, let's start by selling the cheese-making method."

"Still, if we sacrifice an entire calf and fail to make it, we'd suffer a huge loss. How much does a calf cost?"

According to Primula, a calf cost about 100,000 yen. Once it became a full-grown cow, it would apparently be worth around a million yen.

That was a small fortune, but it was a living creature. It could get sick or injured, and anything might happen.

Especially since this world didn't seem to have veterinarians. They probably lost a lot of livestock.

"Boss~ What's that sweet smell?"

"Nyaa~ I'm curious too, nya."

"It's flavoring for desserts."

"Don't you know how it's made?"

Primula seemed curious about how the flavoring was produced.

"Huh? I heard it's made from flower seeds, but I don't know the details."

"I see..."

Maybe she was thinking of turning this into another business opportunity. I suppose almost everything I had could be used for business somehow.

The chawanmushi had been well received, and everyone liked the pudding too.

It only required milk, eggs, and sugar, so it could be made with ingredients from this world, but sugar was quite expensive, so I doubted it would become popular among ordinary people.

It was a dessert for nobles.

On a whim, I'd made steamed pudding, so I bought a dessert cookbook from Shangri-La and read it.

Hmm. Apparently, pudding made without gelatin was called custard pudding. I see—so this was custard pudding.

The book baked it in an oven, but steaming it should be fine. The finished result was the same, after all.

------◇◇◇------

――The next day.

After breakfast, we butchered the calf to test natural rennet. Or rather, we only took out its stomach.

"Does the guild butcher livestock too?"

"Yeah, they do. Leather processors will do it too, but the guild's faster."

In that case, it was safer to leave it to professionals rather than botch the job and make the meat unusable.

Nyamena slit open the calf's abdomen and removed its stomach. Since we'd put it in my Item Box immediately after killing it, it was still warm.

"Cows have four stomachs, but I don't know which one can be used."

"Then let's test them."

I prepared four stainless-steel bowls and poured milk into each one.

We dissected the cow's four stomachs, collected gastric juices from each, and added them to the milk in the bowls.

"Will it really set?"

Nyamena seemed skeptical.

"Cheese really is made this way."

"Ah! It's starting to set!"

Anemone shouted while stirring the milk.

"It really is setting, nya!"

"Seriously?!"

It was the fourth stomach. I'd heard about it, but it really did work. Since this was the original source of rennet, it was obvious when you thought about it.

"It looks like the fourth stomach is the one we can use."

"Amazing! It's exactly like the secret medicine Kenichi gave me! If I can use this as a bargaining chip..."

"If the cheese-making method isn't enough, I can teach you how to make that pudding too."

"Is that all right?"

"Sure. It's better than rampaging with a summoned beast."

I bought a small bottle from Shangri-La and handed it to Primula.

She gathered the secretion remaining in the calf's fourth stomach, put it into the bottle, and cradled it carefully in both hands.

Natural rennet was extremely valuable because obtaining it required sacrificing a calf.

I put the calf's carcass back into my Item Box. When we went to the city, we'd stop by the guild and have it turned into meat.

The cheese experiment had gone well, so next came the experiment with Anemone's grimoire.

The only open space around here was the lake. We all walked there to watch the magic.

"A grimoire doesn't mean you can use any magic you want, right?"

"No. I'm not very knowledgeable about magic, but personal abilities and aptitude seem to play a role too."

"I see... All right! Anemone, let her rip!"

"Okay!"

Anemone looked through the grimoire, then began chanting.

"O edge of the abyss leading to the hollow void beyond, grant me power from the souls that are fading away—Explosive Magic—Explosion!"

A blue flash streaked across the area, then transformed into red flames that swelled into a massive fireball. At the same time, a fierce blast and shock wave struck us.

Finally, the surface of the lake rose up and surged toward the shore like a tsunami.

"Eek! This is incredible!"

"Nya-nya-nya!"

"Kyaaah!"

Primula's long golden hair whipped about in the blast. Since it was a release of pure energy, it seemed that no gravel or debris came flying at us.

"Whoa! That's about as powerful as the spell the old shopkeeper used!"

But the old man had used an aluminum plate to amplify the spell's power...

"Huff, huff, huff..."

Anemone was exhausted and gasping after just one shot. She looked like she was in pain.

"Anemone, are you all right? Aren't you going to get a fever again?"

"I'm really tired... but I think I'll be okay."

"I see. Don't push yourself."

"Okay."

The old man had said that Explosive Magic—Explosion could only be used once a day at most, after all.

But after the blast, the beastfolk began making a commotion as they stared at the lake.

"Whoa! Fish! Fish! Whoooa!"

"Nya-nya-nya!"

The explosion had occurred on the surface of the lake, so a great many fish were floating there.

As the beastfolk ran toward the lake, I searched for a rubber boat on Shangri-La.

A slightly larger four-person boat was on sale for 18,000 yen. It came with oars too, so I decided on that one. If I bought something too cheap, I was worried about the quality.

When I pressed the purchase button, a folded rubber boat dropped down—but of course, I had to inflate it.

I took out a generator and compressor from my Item Box. The compressor was an expensive one I'd bought for a nail gun when I built the house.

I needed an adapter to inflate the rubber boat, so I bought one for 2,000 yen.

"Kenichi, what is that?"

Primula peered at the flattened, flimsy rubber boat.

"It's a boat that you inflate with air."

"This is a boat?"

When I switched on the compressor and pumped air into the rubber boat, it inflated rapidly and transformed into a round boat.

The air chambers were separate so it wouldn't sink if one was punctured, but even so, it took only about two minutes to inflate completely.

It would have taken a long time to do it by hand.

"Hey! Get in this boat and pick up the fish!"

I carried the rubber boat over to the beastfolk, whose fur had gone flat and soggy from the lake water.

"Boss, that's a boat?"

"It is."

"Will it really be all right when it's as thin as a piece of skin?"

Nyamena seemed concerned about the rubber boat's durability.

"It's soft, but quite sturdy. It'll be fine as long as you don't dig your claws into it or puncture it with a sword."

"Really?"

Nyamena looked doubtful, but she took the rubber boat from me, floated it on the lake, and climbed aboard carefully.

"Oh! It's fine! It's floating! It even has oars. Blackie, get in!"

"Don't order me around like you're somebody!"

Even as she said that, Myaree climbed into the rubber boat too and began rowing across the lake.

"Whoa! Grab them! It's a great haul!"

"Tiger! They're heading your way!"

"Idiot, there are still some over here!"

Even as they shouted at each other, fish were being hauled into the rubber boat one after another.

Once they'd picked up most of them, they returned to shore. A mound of fish had formed inside the rubber boat—about thirty, I guessed.

Some of them seemed to be fairly large, but most appeared to be varieties of trout. There even seemed to be some rainbow trout, like the ones Anemone and I had eaten before.

"We can eat trout."

"Put them in Boss's Item Box."

"Of course. But with this many, we might be better off making dried fish."

"That sounds great. Dried fish keeps well, and it's delicious too."

"Nyaa!"

As we stood before the mound of fish piled in the rubber boat and discussed what to do with them—

A black shadow appeared from somewhere, hooked one of the larger fish with its claws, knocked it out of the rubber boat, and fled like the wind with the fish in its mouth.

It was Bell—but her behavior really was exactly like a cat's...