Chapter 79

Episode 79: Chicken Namban

Just after I finished testing my new magic powers Fer returned, carrying a Black Serpent securely in his mouth . It seemed his hunt was successful . Saying that I didn't really expect otherwise even though a Black Serpent is an A-rank monster . I'm not really surprised by what he can do any more . . . Fer dropped the Black Serpent he had caught in front of me .

"Thanks, Fer . " I put the Black Serpent in my Item Box .

"What's up with this?" Fer asked me when he saw the box-shaped house I had made .

"This is what I created with earth magic . " I was kind of proud of it .

"What's it for?" Fer was blunt as usual .

"Hey, I just wished I had something like this to sleep in when we're travelling . "

"You've got my Barrier, haven't you?"

"It's not that . " I explained . "Fer, your Barrier is strong and safe, it keeps the rain off, I'm really grateful for it . . . but it's transparent and when I go to bed I feel uneasy and I can't sleep properly . "

"Yeah, but is something like that thing better than my Barrier?" Fer was sounding peeved . I hurried to placate him .

"Look, there are times when you like an area and want to hang around or it's a nice place to hunt and you're going to stay there for a while, aren't there Fer?"

"Well, yes there are . " Fer conceded .

"When you do that what kind of place do you choose to sleep in?"

"There's usually a cave or a big tree . . . " Fer said slowly .

"Why do you choose places like that?"

"Why? I don't know but somehow I can sleep better in a place like that . . . "

"That's exactly why I made this house . " I said triumphantly .

"I see . . . " He still didn't sound convinced .

"Well, if we're on a journey I definitely want to sleep in something like this at the end of the day . "

OK, I had partially convinced Fer my little 'house' was a good idea but another problem had cropped up . How do I get rid of the 'house' after I've finished with it? I can't just leave little buildings like this behind me as I travel with Fer, it's not eco .

Oh, it seems if I made it just with my magical power it should disappear if I try to make it go away . I used Stone Wall on the 'house', thinking 'disappear' and it disappeared like it had never been there at all . Perhaps only the one who used magic to create it can get rid of it but I can do it without a problem .

I had a great time today learning about my magic but it was getting late .

"Fer, do you want to eat here or are you going to wait until we're back in town? It may be almost dark by then . "

"My belly's empty, let's eat here . " The glutton had spoken . I'll make dinner for Fer right away . So what will it be today? Hmmm, since I have fried chicken cutlets in my Item Box, I'll use them up to make Chicken Namban .

I opened the Net Super menu and purchased what I was missing, mainly vinegar and tartare sauce . I thought about cooking up some rice but it would take too long so why not bread . . . ? I chose hamburger buns this time .

First I had to make sweet vinegar by putting soy sauce, vinegar and sugar in a pan and warming it up . I soaked some fried chicken cutlets in the sweet vinegar letting them slowly absorb the flavour . I put them on a dish and finished off with plenty of tartare sauce on top .

Ah, I have to wake up Sui . "Hey Sui, we're going to eat . "

"Oh, dinner?-" Darling Sui-chan was awake instantly .

"Yes, dinner . " I confirmed .

"Dinner, let's eat-"

Now Sui was awake I put out another dish of Chicken Namban for her .

"It's kinda sour, but it's delicious when you eat it with this white stuff . " Fer said while gobbling the contents of his dish .

"Yah, this white stuff is delicious . -" Sui agreed .

They seemed to like tartare sauce . I think tartare sauce is delicious too, by the way .

My turn now . I put Chicken Namban on a hamburger bun and added lots of tartare sauce then I bit into the completed Chicken Namban burger .

"Tasty-" The Chicken Namban and bread went very well together . Chicken cutlets glazed with sweet vinegar and plenty of tartare sauce are delicious .

"Hey, what you're eating, it looks delicious . " Fer interrupted .

"Do you want to try Chicken Namban in a burger bun?"

"Yes, please . "

"Oh, Sui also wants to eat it-"

I made Chicken Namban burgers for Fer and Sui .

"Eating this with bread is delicious-" Sui said .

Yeah yeah, if you liked the Chicken Namban by itself then this combination will be pretty much the same taste . As for Fer . . . he scarfed down a complete Chicken Namban burger in a single bite . I guess he thought it was delicious too .

We took a small break after the meal to settle our digestion and then we made our way back to the town .

* * * * *

"Oh, can we stop by the Adventurers Guild?" I asked Fer . He agreed, not being particularly hungry any more . When we got to the Guild we went straight to the purchasing counter where there was a young man on duty .

"Ah, is Johan-san around?" I inquired .

"Whaddaya want him for?" The young man said very brusquely .

"Eh, I just need him for something . " The young man's attitude was rubbing me up the wrong way .

"Hang on . " Saying that, he turned to the warehouse door behind the purchase counter and shouted, "Ossan, there's a customer here-"

"Oh- wait, wait . " Johan-ojisan's voice came back . After a few moments Johan-ojisan appeared from the back of the warehouse .

"It's you, sonny?" he said . "You're gonna have to come back tomorrow, I'm not finished disassembling all those Bloody Horn Bulls yet . "

"Oh, that's not what I'm here for, I have something different to ask you . . . " I know you're busy and I'm sorry for asking you to do more work but I need it done as soon as possible .

"Well, seeing it's you come on through . " I followed Johan-ojisan back into his warehouse .

"So what you got for me today?" he asked expectantly .

"Uh, it's Black Serpent . " I pulled the Black Serpent out of my Item Box .

"Ohoho, I'm starting to enjoy seeing you turn up here, sonny . " Johan-ojisan said . "I never know what surprises you're gonna pull out of your Item Box . It's Black Serpent this time-"

I'm really sorry . "Please give me the meat and the skin and please buy the rest . "

"I gotcha . I'm still working on those Bloody Horn Bulls though like I said . I'll give you everything together once they're all done, OK?"

"Yes, that would be great . " I'm going to get a Black Serpent skin I can sell to Lambert-san as we had agreed earlier . Time to go back to the inn .