『Hamburgers are great and all, but... I’m starting to get a bit tired of them.』
Shiroru blurted out the complaint without warning.
Ever since we’d developed the hamburger, Shiroru had eaten almost nothing but patties. It wasn’t like I was being stingy or forcing them on him; he just liked them that much. Still, I couldn’t blame him. If you ate the same thing day in and day out, you were bound to grow bored of it eventually.
"Is there something else you'd rather have?" I asked.
『Muu... I’m not sure. But since we’re out here, I want to try something I’ve never had before!』
A food he’d never tasted before. That was a tall order.
"When you use the same ingredients, the dishes all start to feel the same," I noted.
Of course, I could vary the flavor through different cooking methods or by combining various side ingredients. However, I’d already exhausted most of the recipes I knew. At this point, coming up with something that felt truly "new" was easier said than done.
"New ingredients, huh... I recall that the 17th Floor was supposed to be Sea Terrain."
"Seafood!" Spira chimed in. "That sounds like a plan. We haven't used much of that so far."
『Oh, fish! I want to try that!』
Since fish had major freshness issues, they were rarely in circulation unless you were in a port town. Dried fish was sometimes available, but it was usually overpriced, incredibly salty, and not particularly appetizing. Because of that, I hadn’t really handled it much until now—with the exception of the crab monsters from the Cygnil Dungeon.
Currently, we were only on the Seventh Floor. Having to travel down ten levels was going to be quite the ordeal, but since no one raised an objection, we set our sights on the 17th Floor.
Taking as few detours as possible, the journey took five days. Finally, we reached our destination. The stairs descending from the 16th Floor led into a building resembling decaying ruins. Stepping outside, the briny scent of the tide drifted past us. The area immediately surrounding the ruins was as muggy as a tropical rainforest, thick with trees, but a short walk brought the ocean into view. Gentle waves ebbed and flowed against a stretch of white sand.
"Wow! It's so huge!"
Halfa and Spira started sprinting toward the beach. Barking "Wafu wafu!" Shiroru chased after them. I’d thought about doing a bit of preliminary scouting, but I supposed this was fine. Our goal was seafood, after all.
"Alright, Petit Golems, please handle the lookout duty."
Petit No. 1 and the others responded with a crisp "Piko!" and a salute. They weren't currently in their mining forms; they were using their Haniwa-type bodies for sentry duty. That said, these were the high-performance versions equipped with a Mana Replenishment Function. Since they were still made of earth rather than iron, their durability was low, but since their job was simply to spot and report enemies, that wasn't an issue. With my Non-Elemental Magic level having increased, their movement speed was much higher now, so I felt comfortable leaving the perimeter to them.
"Alright, let's go get plenty of fish!"
"Right behind you," Lowell said.
I headed toward the beach along with Lowell, who had been waiting for the rest of the group to settle down.
Since this was a sudden decision, I hadn't prepared any fishing gear, but I doubted it would be an issue. These weren't just normal fish; they were monsters. If we were nearby, they’d likely come to us.
『Nowa! What is this thing?! It's a monster!』
I didn't even have to wait. A monster had "bitten" immediately. Shiroru was flustered. Perhaps he had been too distracted by the view, or maybe Presence Detection worked differently near the water, but he hadn't noticed the creature's approach. Then again, its stealth might have just been exceptional.
A Hide Octopus was attempting to coil its tentacles around Shiroru. It was a creature that used camouflage to blend into its surroundings for surprise attacks. It possessed resistance to physical strikes and had a powerful grip; if one managed to wrap itself around you unnoticed, it was a nightmare to shake off. Luckily, it was a terrible matchup for Shiroru.
『Nuoh! Take this!』
Shiroru released a Lightning Strike from his horn. The Hide Octopus went limp from that single hit. These creatures were weak against magic, and particularly vulnerable to the Lightning Attribute. After taking one more follow-up blast, it vanished into mist.
『Phew... that startled me!』
"Ahaha, good job. But hey, we got an ingredient right away!"
In the spot where the Hide Octopus had vanished, a Magic Stone and a tentacle lay on the sand. I used Appraisal on the latter: Hide Octopus Leg. It was explicitly listed as edible, which was a relief. It was covered in sand, but that would wash right off.
『An ingredient? You can actually eat something like that?! It was all wiggly!』
"You can definitely eat octopus. Halfa, you know about it, right?"
"No," she said, shaking her head. "I don't know it either."
"Wait, really?!"
Knowing Ren-kun, I was certain he would have introduced the Wingfolk to it. Then again, it likely depended on where their village was located. If they were landlocked, they’d never see an octopus. I realized I’d never actually asked Halfa about her hometown.
"Well, in that case, I know exactly what we’re having for lunch!"
Octopus could only mean one thing: Takoyaki! We only had one Hide Octopus Leg, but since it was much larger than a normal one, there was plenty of meat to go around. Time to get grilling!