"...You've got to be kidding me..."
Rei stared at the nikuman in his hand, his voice dumbfounded.
The appearance hadn't changed all that much. But with advice from those among Edwald's comrades who had deep culinary knowledge, the flavor had improved considerably. It was like going from around fifty points to about seventy, so to speak.
What surprised Rei, though, was what came after.
About ten days had passed since the mock battles when he happened to run into Edwald in town. Edwald told him the nikuman had been improved further and asked if he'd like to try one. Rei had nodded — but the place he was led to wasn't the same spot near the training ground as before. Instead, it was a reasonably well-located stall on the main street.
Seeing several customers buying nikuman was surprising enough on its own. But what astonished Rei even more was eating the one handed to him... and then being told by Edwald that the filling contained Goblin meat.
Goblin meat was notoriously foul-smelling and utterly inedible — the kind of thing only the destitute would force down, enduring the taste solely to avoid starving to death.
How could a nikuman containing Goblin meat produce this level of flavor?
If Edwald's comrades' advice had brought the nikuman to around seventy points, this one made with Goblin meat had been raised to about eighty. Naturally, in terms of raw improvement, the jump from fifty to seventy was larger. But if asked which was harder — going from fifty to seventy, or from seventy to eighty — most would judge the latter far more difficult, barring a few exceptions.
And the biggest reason they'd pulled off that difficult task was Goblin meat.
Hearing that from Edwald, there was no way Rei wouldn't be stunned.
"Hahaha, it's surprising, isn't it? I mean, it's Goblin meat. But strangely enough, it's perfectly edible. ...Though it seems it can't be used in just any dish."
"Even so, it's Goblin meat. How on earth did you manage to pull that off?"
"Actually, among the people training at that ground, there was someone who knew a person researching how to make Goblin meat edible."
"...Hm?" At Edwald's words, Rei looked up from his nikuman as if suddenly realizing something. "Would that happen to be Mayo at the Percy Item Shop?"
"Oh, are you acquainted with him?" Edwald wore an expression of considerable surprise.
Rei nodded. There was no way he wouldn't know. After all, it was Rei who had originally approached Mayo with the research proposal to see if Goblin meat could be made edible.
Of course, he had left the research itself to Mayo. Rei's involvement was limited to delivering any seasonings or ingredients that might prove useful, and he had been extremely busy on top of that. Between Gilm's expansion, the Reblurina affair, escorting those migrating to Gilm, restocking supplies, and conquering the newly formed Dungeon, there had been so much to do that he'd barely had time to visit Mayo at all.
...Well, despite all that, he had still found time for the occasional break, like catching fish at the sea.
"Yeah, he's an acquaintance of mine. I haven't been able to show my face there recently, but he actually managed to make Goblin meat tasty? ...That's impressive."
Rei didn't mention that he was the one who had made the request. In reality, he had only commissioned it — it was Mayo who had actually conducted the research and made Goblin meat edible.
Still, if Mayo had truly succeeded, that would be tremendously beneficial for Gilm in its current state. There were those who had come seeking work from the Expansion Construction, and then there was Sura's group, which had arrived with nearly a thousand people. With all of them, it was certain that more food would be needed than in a typical year.
Under those circumstances, if Goblin meat could be made palatable... it wouldn't completely solve the food problem, but it would undeniably help a great deal.
That's right. It's rare for me to have nothing in particular to do today, so maybe I'll stop by the Percy Item Shop. I'm curious about how he managed to make Goblin meat edible, too.
Finishing the nikuman, Rei felt satisfied that it had been crafted exactly as he had suggested — not just minced meat, but with larger cuts so you could actually enjoy the texture of the meat, which happened to be Goblin meat — and made his decision.
"Lord Rei, may I consider your request thus successfully completed?"
"Yeah, no complaints. No — it's beyond expectations."
At Rei's words of praise, Edwald smiled happily. He probably had never expected that the stall selling those thoroughly mediocre nikuman would become this successful. In any case, he had pressed Rei into doing the mock battles, so it was only natural that he felt relieved having properly fulfilled his end of the bargain.
From Edwald's perspective, he felt a strong sense of obligation toward Rei for conducting the mock battles under those conditions. Given that, he naturally felt that making the stall prosper this much was only fitting as compensation.
...In truth, if word spread that Rei would do mock battles for merely making a stall somewhat prosperous, many who heard it would not find it strange to challenge Rei themselves, thinking, "If those are the conditions, I could do that too."
In reality, it had been a stacking of coincidence upon coincidence. Rei happened to find a stall selling nikuman. It happened to be in front of the training ground. Schval happened to come buy nikuman while Rei was there. Schval happened to have deep culinary insight. And Schval happened to be greedy for strength and came up with the idea of a mock battle with Rei. It was only after this many coincidences overlapped that the mock battle came to fruition.
Normally, that many coincidences would never stack together. That was precisely why Edwald was glad he had been able to raise the hurdle for others who might try to request mock battles with Rei as a personal favor rather than a formal commission — in other words, he was relieved he had spared Rei from being bothered.
Afterward, Rei talked with Edwald for about ten minutes before heading to the Percy Item Shop.
Incidentally, Set was not by Rei's side today either. Initially, Set had been strolling through town with him, but along the way it got caught by the Children, and with Yohanna also showing up, Set decided to play with them. So Rei was currently alone.
He made his way toward the Percy Item Shop while snacking at a few stalls along the way, spotted the familiar storefront — and simultaneously tilted his head upon seeing several people gathered in front of it.
The Percy Item Shop was known as a reputable establishment. It sold high-quality goods at reasonable prices, earning high regard from adventurers, and sometimes even traveling merchants came to stock up on supplies there. So it wasn't unusual for merchants still remaining in Gilm to visit, nor was it strange for adventurers to be present.
But seeing people who were clearly neither — who appeared to be ordinary citizens — gathered there was unexpected even for Rei.
"Umm... what exactly is going on here? It doesn't look like the shop is simply thriving..."
Though harboring such doubts, Rei judged that standing around outside was pointless and entered the shop.
"Welcome! I apologize, but we're currently... Rei-san!?"
The shop clerk initially seemed to think the person entering was a new customer and started to say they would have to wait, but upon recognizing the figure as Rei, she was startled and spoke in a flustered rush.
"Rei-san, this way, please." Saying that, she more or less forcibly pulled Rei toward the back of the shop.
The other customers watched with envious eyes. But even with the Dragon Robe's hood up, they recognized him as Rei and began to wonder if perhaps...
Almost everyone currently here was a cook or someone involved in the food trade. As such, those who noticed Rei's presence considered the possibility that he was involved in the Goblin matter as well — and they were actually right.
While several customers were thinking along those lines, Rei found himself in a room at the back of the shop.
"Ah, Rei-san. That was quite fast." The one who called out to him was a large man standing nearly 180 centimeters tall, with a weight that easily exceeded 100 kilograms.
"Mayo, looks like you've gotten quite busy."
"...Honestly, I have absolutely no idea where the rumor about that stall spread from." Mayo shook his head with a troubled expression, but since even Edwald had known about the use of Goblin meat, it was certain that information had leaked from somewhere.
"That's how shocking it was that Goblin meat could be made tasty. ...So? How did you do it?"
Normally, if someone asked about the secret to your profits, you would never answer. But Rei was treated as Mayo's co-researcher — albeit merely in name. In fact, Rei had supplied expensive spices and the like in Gilm to aid the effort, so he couldn't be said to have contributed nothing.
"Well, it's not that complicated a story. Plus, to be honest, the timing and quantity are limited."
"In other words, it hasn't become a fundamental solution?"
"Correct. It's a method of processing Goblin meat using several Gamelion internal organs. They aren't particularly rare parts, so they can be obtained at a reasonable price. ...At present, that is."
"Ah... in other words, it's predicated on having Gamelion organs available."
"That's right."
Internal organs were generally extremely perishable. Given that, even in Gilm heading into winter, they couldn't be stored for very long. ...Naturally, that meant they would spoil over time...
"So that's why the shop clerk let me through right away when she realized I'd arrived." Inside Rei's Misty Ring, time did not flow. Even meat from monsters defeated years ago remained in perfect condition, ready to eat at a moment's notice.
"That's correct. Truth be told, I was planning to call you once the research results were a bit more solid. The person who brought you here must have known about those circumstances."
"I see. ...But sorry, I've got a lot on my plate. I'll be leaving Gilm shortly, and I probably won't be back until a little after the new year. Will that be a problem?"
At Rei's words, Mayo thought for a moment before speaking.
"If you ask whether it's a problem, it's somewhat of one... but if you'll be back during the winter, I think we can manage for the most part. However, could I ask you to hold onto about half of what we've currently collected? I'm planning to have the cooks try out various things with the rest."
He had handed Goblin meat to the man running the nikuman stall as part of that research, Mayo explained.
"In other words, you're currently testing all sorts of methods to figure out how best to cook Goblin meat."
"Yes. We've tried cooking it ourselves in various ways here, and sometimes it turned out incredibly awful, while other times it came out reasonably tasty. We don't yet understand specifically what causes the difference."
"...And the people inside the shop and gathered around it are those sorts of folks."
"It seems so. I didn't summon them myself, but it looks like information leaked from somewhere. ...Being cooks, they're all intensely interested in Goblin meat."
To be precise, it wasn't ordinary Goblin meat but Goblin meat that had been properly made edible. And since Gamelion organs were required, the places where it could be prepared were inevitably limited. Delicious Goblin meat left an impression strong enough to become a new Gilm specialty — so it was only natural that there would be many cooks wanting to try their hand at it.