Leaving the dismantling of the Gamelion to Hasta, Rei returned to the Satisfied Stomach.

  Near the entrance, Arka was eating soup made from the failed prototypes of udon, cooked with vegetables and bacon into something like sujebi. At the same time, she handed bowls of it to Set, who gave a happy cry as he dexterously drank the soup with his beak. Rei entered the Sastified Stomach after glancing at Arka, who was happily combing through Set’s fur.

  As expected, since it was just past 10am and there was still quite some time before noon, the customers he had seen previously had all disappeared and there wasn’t a single customer around.

  There was just Enedra, who was wiping down the tables.

  「Ah, you’ve come back.」


  「Ahh. I’ve left the Gamelion to Hasta, so it should be fine.」


  「That is good. In that case, could go to the kitchen right away? He’s still working on the udon. It seems he’s made some progress since earlier.」


  「Heh~, he’s quite fast. To do so much in such a short period of time.」


  While muttering to himself, Rei turned to look at Enedra, who was still wiping down the tables, with a puzzled look.

  When Rei had returned to the city yesterday and came to the eatery, there had been several other waitresses aside from Enedra. But right now, only Enedra was here.

  Rei was puzzled and asked about it.

  「Weren’t there other people around yesterday as well?」


  「Eh? Yes. They come in at noon. Even though we’re busy in the morning, the number of customers is still something I can handle by myself.」


  「……Heh~. Is that so?」


  Getting the feeling it was something like a part time job, Rei headed for the kitchen so as to not interfere with Enedra, who was busily cleaning the eatery.

  「Whew, so it’s like this. ……Mm? Ah, you’re here.」


  The first thing Rei saw when he entered the kitchen was the figure of Dishot kneading and rolling wheat flour dough.

  「Weren’t you stepping on the dough to knead? It seems you were flinging the dough around when I was here earlier so I didn’t think you needed to bother with kneading the dough by hand.」


  「I was certainly stepping on it with my feet……anyway, if I stepped on it with my feet, wouldn’t it get dirty? No one would want to eat it if they knew how it was being made.」


  「No, it wouldn’t get dirty……ah」


  After saying that, Rei understood.

  In the city of Gilm……no, in the world of Elgin, vinyl did not exist. If you think about put the dough into a paper bag and stepping on it, the paper bag might end up rupturing immediately. In that situation, there would hygiene risks and customers who knew about it would probably not order it. Note: In traditional recipes, udon dough is very stiff and very hard to knead by hand. As a result, the dough would be kneaded by stepping on it and using your body weight to fold it.

  (If I think about it, it might be possible to tie fur coats around your feet for the sole purpose of stepping on the udon dough, there should be a way to do that……but since you’re still stepping on the dough, it might be pointless.)

  「Thanks to you, it’s gone quite smoothly. Did you call them noodles? They’re quite hard to make.」


  「I can only say that it’s been compensated by your experience. Aside from the ingredients, I don’t remember the exact proportions.」


  「I guess so. If there’s not enough moisture, the dough won’t form. But if there’s too much, it becomes sticky. If I don’t experiment with it, I won’t get anywhere. ……However, I have confidence in this dough. Take a look.」


  Saying that, Dishot placed the dough he had been working on onto the table.

  Certainly, the dough had some sort of glossy look to it, it seemed that it wasn’t much different from the udon dough in Rei’s own memories.

  「I will roll it out after this.」


  Saying that to himself in satisfaction, he took out a rolling pin……or something that looked like one.

  Looking towards the rolling pin, Rei felt that something wasn’t quite right. Looking closely at the rolling pin, he noticed that the rolling pin had a pointed tip.

  The rolling pin that Dishot was using was definitely not a rolling pin but a short spear.

  「Why are you using a short spear?」


  Speaking of unexpected things, this was certainly unexpected. Rei asked about it without thinking too much. However, the person in question responded as if it was nothing at all.

  「I was looking around for the necessary tools to make the udon you told me about yesterday. This was what Pamidor gave to me when I told him told him about the shape of the rolling pin I needed.」


  「Pamidor, is it?」


  The request with Hasta this time had been instigated by him. While thinking of the various connections the blacksmith with the bandit-like face had, Rei gave an expression of resignation before focusing back on the task at hand.

  「I’ve let the dough rest for about 30 minutes, so I’m thinking of starting the next step.」


  (He’s let the dough rest for 30 minutes, does that mean he’s been kneading the dough up until then?)

  While wondering to himself, Rei decided that there shouldn’t be any particular problems.

  「Ahh, don’t mind me. If anything goes wrong, I’ll let you handle it, I can’t really do too much. I can’t possibly match up to a professional chef.」


  「I’ll be grateful if you do that.」


  Because he was proud of his work, Dishot didn’t want an amateur like Rei interfering with anything.

  Of course, in some situations, he might appear to be arrogant. But fortunately, Rei accepted it as Dishot being a craftsman with confidence.

  In fact, Rei only taught him the dish because he wanted to eat the noodles he had eaten back on Earth. As Dishot had said, Rei knew he was an amateur and kept his own thoughts and advice to himself. Even if Dishot may have seemed arrogant because of it, Rei didn’t say anything because he understood the reasons behind it.

  「Let’s get started.」


  Declaring that as if a ritual or ceremony had started, he used the handle of the short spear to roll out the udon dough that was slightly larger than his fist.

  Of course, the short spear had been properly washed down after Pamidor passed it to him. Since it had been cleaned, there was no need to worry about hygiene.

  While watching the short spear stretch out the dough, Rei spoke up after the dough had been rolled out enough.

  「I think this is good enough. You just have to cut it a third of a finger width after this……」


  「I understand. A third of a finger width.」


  「Ah. Wait a moment. It will be easier to fold the dough after covering it in wheat flour.」


  「Mm? Ahh, I understand. Dusting it.」


  It seemed he knew about the process of dusting flour to make bread. Agreeing with Rei’s words, he gently spread some wheat flour before folding the dough.

  Once he was ready, he lined up the dough before cutting it to size with a kitchen knife……as expected of a professional chef, all the dough was cut into noodles in under a minute.

  「……I see, so this is udon. It’s quite different from what I made in the morning.」


  After nodding in satisfaction at the quality of his udon, Dishot promptly started boiling water.

  After that, he boiled the udon for 10 minutes and rinsed it in cold water before rinsing it in hot water to warm it up again. He then placed them in a soup filled with plenty of meat and vegetables, this was the first udon dish to be created in Elgin.

  「……Please try it.」


  Dishot served the udon in soup to Rei.

  Naturally, there were no chopsticks in this world, so he was given a fork.

  Rei asked as he received it.

  「Is it okay for me to try it first? Shouldn’t you be the first person to try tasting it?」


  「No, I believe that the person who gave me the idea of this dish is qualified to try it first.」


  Seeing his expression that he wouldn’t back down, Rei gave a small nod.

  Rei lightly rolled up the udon in the soup with the tip of his fork and brought it to his mouth.

  Suru~, sururururu~.

  The sound of slurping noodles echoed into the surroundings. Even nobles wouldn’t care about it in downtown……there was no way the owner of an eatery in the back streets would complain about it.

  He finished the udon without speaking and drank all the soup.

  Dishot, who had been silently watching, asked Rei about it.

  「How is it?」


  「I see. I think it would be better to shorten the boiling time a bit more……but that’s a matter of preference. I think that the taste of the udon is delicious by itself. It would be better to have a variety of soups. A rich and seasoned soup or a lightly seasoned soup. The taste of udon will change considerably with the soup.」


  「I see, I’ll think about it then.」


  Nodding at Rei’s words, he began to eat his own portion of udon and soup.

  Skillfully wrapping the udon around his fork, Dishot seemed to think about something as he took a bite. Watching him eat while nodding, Rei thought to himself.

  (Udon, udon. Without chopsticks, I can only eat with a fork. ……Speaking of eating noodles with a fork, isn’t that pasta? However, I don’t know how to make pasta at all. Before coming to Elgin, I had eaten dried pasta. Would I be able to make it with wheat flour? No, I don’t think the same flour can be used for both……it would be interesting to see Hasta trying to make pasta though because of his name.)

  While Rei was thinking of trivial things, Dishot seemed satisfied with the taste of his udon. With a small smile, he served some of the udon to different bowls.

  「Please wait a moment. I want to hear Enedra and Arka’s thoughts on the taste as well.」


  「Ahh, Sur……mm? No, you’d better make another serving.」


  「What?」


  「It seems your son is back. I guess he’s brought the Gamelion meat.」


  As soon as Rei said that, Hasta’s voice was heard from the eatery’s entrance.

  「Father, mother, I’ve brought the Gamelion meat, please help me carry it in!」


  「……So it is the Gamelion meat」


  Rei looked towards his bowl of udon. As he mumbled to himself, he remembered the discussion about using Gamelion meat as a topping for dishes.

  While Rei was thinking about that, Hasta appeared, carrying meat in his arms.

  「Ah, Rei-san. How are the udon noodles?」


  「Well, you could call it complete for now. However, although it’s complete, that’s only as an ingredient. What kind of dish it will end up as in future depends on the skill of the chef.」


  「Eh? Really? Father is amazing. To learn how to make udon so quickly.」


  「Here, this is it. Eat it and taste it.」


  Putting the Gamelion meat onto the kitchen top, he took the bowl that was presented and coiled the udon around his fork before eating it the same way Rei did.

  「……Ah, it’s delicious. Mm, it’s delicious. This will definitely be popular. Did you call them noodles? It’s easy to eat and doesn’t take up much time.」


  Although he said so much, the contents of the small bowl soon disappeared. And……


  「Ah, onii-chan is sneaky! Arka also wants to eat some as well!」


  Arka clamoured as she brought a chunk of meat in. Although she was smaller than Hasta, she could still carry a sizable chunk of meat.

  「Oh my, I would like to try some as well them」


  「……Here. Let me know what you think.」


  Dishot cooked up two serves of udon and gave one to each of them.

  Arka seemed to be quite happy. Enedra received the bowl with a gentle smile and started to eat immediately.

  「For now, we’ll bring in the meat. There’s no point in staying here for now.」


  「Ah, yes. That’s right. I will be grateful if you could do that. As for the magic stones and other materials, I’ve left them in the dismantling hut, so please come to collect them later.」


  「Ah.」


  Nodding, Rei and Hasta carried chunks of Gamelion meat into the kitchen one after another.

  The passerby’s who saw that realised that it was now the season where Gamelion meat could be eaten and a larger number of customers started heading to the Satisfied Stomach for an early lunch.

  Dishot, who had been tasting the udon, noticed that and hurriedly began to cook the Gamelion meat as a stir fry rather than a slow simmered stew.

  Seeing that, when Rei and Hasta finished carrying in all the meat, the pulled the cart back to the dismantling hut.

  When Rei went back to the dismantling hut, he was met with the thick smell of blood, as a result of dismantling the Gamelion of course.

  While frowning slightly at the smell, Rei was led by Hasta to the workbench.

  「Here are the Gamelion’s materials and magic stone.」


  What was on the workbench were the materials that the guild would buy, including the fur, fangs that were used to inject poison, both blade like ears and the tail, which was both the proof of subjugation as well as a material that could be sold. More than anything else was the magic stone that Rei wanted.

  「……Thank you for collecting them.」


  Rei nodded at Hasta before placing them into the Misty Ring one after another.

  Hasta looked enviously at his Misty Ring as he watched Rei.

  For Hasta, who became an adventurer in could to provided monster meat to the eatery his parent ran, he really wanted an item box that he could use to store a large amount of monster carcasses without them rotting. However, considering the price of one, he wouldn’t be able to get one no matter how hard he tried. Because of that, he looked on with even more want.

  「……sta, Hasta!」


  「Eh? Ah, yes. What is it?」


  At Rei’s voice, Hasta finally returned to reality.

  Though guessing what Hasta was thinking off, he pointed to the ground of the dismantling hut.

  「Is it okay to dismantle the rare species? There is a considerable amount of meat in its larger body, so it might rot before you use it all up.」


  「Ah, its fine. Since it’s a seasonal thing, it will be sold in a blink of an eye as soon as we start selling the Gamelion meat. Because of that, we can dismantle it without worrying too much.」


  「I see. Well, its fine if you say so……」


  Saying that to himself, Rei took out the Gamelion rare species from the Misty Ring.

  Like that, Rei and Hasta dismantled the Gamelion rare species.

  In addition, aside from the magic stones and materials that he had been promised for helping out, lucky for Rei and Set, they were also given some of the Gamelion meat.

  Udon. A dish that originated from the Satisfied Stomach in the Mireana Kingdom and eventually spread to other countries. As it spread across Elgin, various noodle dishes including pasta, ramen and soba-like noodles were also created. Dishot went down in history as the『Founder of Noodle Dishes』, but that’s a story for a different time.