Chapter 257: Let’s Get the Stall Ready – Once Again – Sequel Sequel

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After fileting the fish, I sprinkled the pieces with herbs, salt and wine, and let them rest. Then I added the batter (made out of the beans from before), deep-fried the pieces, deep-fried the potato slices as well, and voila, it was done after lightly sprinkling herbal salt.

I presented the finished dish to Sword, exploiting him as a test-taster.

“How is it?”

“It makes me crave for ale.”

………

Yeah sure, why not. As a side dish for Fish & Chips.

The children enviously watched him eat.

“…You guys are really incorrigible. Just a bit, okay? The staff meal will be made as such, so endure until then for a full meal.”

“””””Yahoooo!!””””””

They started to happily snack. Meanwhile Sword put an arm around my neck.

Is he already drunk?

“What else your makin’?”

“Ajillo…or to use the terms of this world, Darking Octopus boiled in oil. I’ll add bread to that. If you soak the bread in the oil, it’ll takes exquisitely. I’ll also make meatballs that combine beans and meat. I plan to provide a white sauce with fried onion and herbs.”

In response, Sword commented with a broad grin, “I’ll help with buildin’ Char-Non, ‘kay? Also, tomorrow your goin’ with me, right?”

Curse you, damn glutton. But well, it makes me happy to see him rejoice over the menu…

＊

We prepared most of the food, before I served the staff meal. Leaving aside the saint, I thought her high-handed attendant would clamor about him not wanting to eat food made by some lowly commoner, but contrary to expectations, he was all gung-ho about sinking his teeth into it.

Or rather, it looks like he wants to drink some liquor too. He even stressed that he’d also pay for it.

“Well, I have no problem with providing you with one cup for free. Today’s the last day, so drink whatever you want to drink. Children, yours is over here. Take some of it as a souvenir for the priest, too.”

It was alcohol-free cider.

The kids squealed in joy. The alcoholics ate bone crackers as snacks with their liquor while the kids drank their cider while eating pita bread stuffed with veggies, bean sauce, and fake falafels. The helpers, who didn’t drink any alcohol, and the kids were surprised by the cider.

“Wooow! It tastes awesome!”

“It’s the fruit of the brewing team at our base diligently pooling their efforts. They’re putting their lives on the line for this.”

But, joking aside, they’ve been brewing this stuff with at least that much passion behind it. Currently they seem to have split up into specialist teams to research further improvements or new methods. I also heard that one of the cooks was selected to be a general manager of sorts.

I’ve been lightly commenting that those are great ideas, but…seriously, the people of this world really love their booze, don’t they?

The saint was astonished by the cider she drank, just like her attendant got shocked by the ale.

“…Y-You are selling at this price while it has s-such a taste, Sir?”

The high-handed guy suddenly came at me with formal speech! Mr. Rob had also changed after drinking my liquor. Liquor magic is truly almighty!

“Pretty much. But, it costs heaps of gold coins at the capital, you know? This price was set when I felt like not wantin’ to drink bad booze ‘nymore and Indra wanted to open a bar matchin’ the flair of this town while also performin’ her music. So you’ll only be able to get the booze for this amount of money here and today. If you plan to buy it elsewhere, our acquainted merchant in the capital might sell it to you, but it’ll cost you gold. We don’t sell our booze at our base, but we serve it at the restaurant for rich commoners. But, that place got a membership system, so well, it’ll basically be over with today.”

Hearing Sword’s explanation, the high-handed guy apparently suffered a shock.

“This liquor falls behind in quality anyway. It’s something I made in my spare time while we were on the move, so it can’t compare to the liquor made at our base. This stall has been set up with the idea of having some chats over a light drink and food, before going back home, so we’re selling cheap liquor with low alcohol content.”

Everyone froze in shock.

“…Umm, normal ale tastes totally different, though? You might be still too young, Sir Indra, but Mr. Sword, you drank it before, didn’t you?” The high-handed guy timidly asked Sword.

“…Why are you callin’ me Mister while addressin’ Indra with Sir? Each and every damn single time!!! …Haaah, oh well, whatever,” Sword scratched his head, “I’ve obviously drank it in the past. Even I used to be a beginner at some point. I also had a hard life since my childhood was basically like that of an orphan. Either way, accordin’ to Indra, liquor sours if you let it stand ’round too long without controllin’ its temperature. Since most folks aren’t aware of that, they buy liquor in great amounts and storage it too long, causin’ it to spoil. Especially cheap bars are prone to this.”

Everyone looked flabbergasted after hearing this. Since I didn’t drink any liquor, I was looking after the children.

“Is it enough? Are you going to eat the potatoes and fish as well?”

“””””Yeees!!!”””””

I added bone crackers and Fish & Chips to their menu.

“I’ve been processing it so that it won’t get spoiled. Using magic. That’s why I can keep it at a state I believe to be perfect for its taste. If you try to reproduce that with normal tools, it’ll cost quite a bit of money. I won’t sell the method either. It’s mine after all. …Do you understand, children? People owning a technique only they can perform are valuable. I won’t tell you to not steal other’s techniques, but it’s important to properly understand, consider, and implement things, and not just copy them blindly. Got it?”

“””””Yeees.”””””

They probably didn’t understand, but that didn’t keep them from answering me cheerfully.

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