Since there was no way I'd find a takoyaki pan in a place like this, I had to start by making the tools myself. Not that it took much effort; I simply transformed a block of iron into a golem shaped like a takoyaki pan. Once the form was set, I just had to cancel the golemization. Iron scorches easily, so I figured it was best to use plenty of oil. I’d briefly considered turning it into medicinal cuisine, but I couldn’t find any ingredients that would really fit the flavor profile. I decided to just stick to a normal recipe.
I poured the batter into the indentations of the takoyaki pan and dropped in the octopus pieces. While the pan heated, I used a takoyaki turner to roll them over and over, shaping them into perfect spheres.
"Wow, they turned into balls!"
"That looks like fun!"
The two girls reacted to the sight. Come to think of it, takoyaki really does involve a unique cooking method. Lowell was also watching with intense curiosity. Shiroru didn't say anything, but her tail was wagging furiously, and she looked like she was about to start drooling at any second.
『Oh! So this is octopus! It's actually quite delicious!』
Shiroru stuffed her cheeks with takoyaki, huffing and puffing as she blew on the hot food. Even though she’d looked a bit reluctant when I first mentioned using the octopus as an ingredient, she was now completely satisfied, as if she’d never had any doubts. The takoyaki was a massive hit with everyone, not just Shiroru. In the end, maybe the fact that they couldn't see what the octopus actually looked like worked in our favor.
For seasonings, I’d prepared takoyaki sauce and mayonnaise. The sauce was just a slightly modified version of the Worcestershire sauce I’d recently experimented with, so it probably needed a bit more research. Still, for something prepared on such short notice, it wasn't a bad result.
Once everyone had their fill, it was time for the hunt. Or since we were at the sea, maybe I should call it fishing? Regardless, I wanted to aggressively attract monsters and secure a large variety of seafood. If we just hung around on the beach, the monsters attacked frequently enough, so we decided to simply fight off whatever came our way.
Our main force for the seaside battle consisted of Spira and Shiroru. We divided the roles so that the rest of us dealt with any monsters coming from the land.
Spira was a powerhouse with her ice attribute attacks. It wasn't necessarily that ice was the monsters' elemental weakness, but she proved to be an absolute menace in that environment. Perhaps it was because she was a spirit, but Spira's attribute attacks were incredibly potent. Whenever monsters approached, she would freeze them along with the surrounding seawater. While the attack itself didn't always kill them instantly, the monsters were trapped as long as the sea remained frozen. Their Vitality would slowly dwindle until they eventually vanished.
Furthermore, with a few exceptions, most sea monsters were weak to the lightning attribute. This meant Shiroru, whose specialty was Lightning Strike, had the advantage not only against the octopus but against almost every other monster as well. Her Lightning Strike could reach deep into the water. Its power dropped slightly as it diffused through the waves, but it was still more than effective against aquatic foes. If anything, the way the lightning spread through the water worked to our advantage when we were outnumbered.
The only problem with fighting in the sea was that the drop items were difficult to retrieve. I solved this by having golems made of seawater collect them once the battle ended. The water golems moved much more fluidly in the sea than they did on land, and they performed their task with surprising efficiency.
We continued hunting monsters until it began to get dark, and as a result, we gathered a significant amount of ingredients. The most common attackers were Killer Fish. There were various types—you could call them subspecies—that resembled saury or mackerel. Each type dropped a different kind of fish, which made things interesting. Best of all, they dropped in a filleted state, saving us the trouble of dismantling them.
Whenever I thought of fish dishes, my mind went straight to sashimi. The fillets were likely fresh, but since they dropped into the sea, they weren't exactly ideal from a hygiene standpoint. I could fix that by using Clean, of course. The real issue was whether the others would accept the idea of eating raw fish. Since the concept of using Clean for sterilization didn't exist here, the people of this world had no habit of eating raw food. Well, I figured I could try serving it, and if it was unpopular, I'd just eat it all myself.
Among our other spoils, I found something that looked like kelp among the seaweed growing underwater. Naturally, I had the golems harvest it. When I used Appraisal, it confirmed the seaweed was edible and could be used to make dashi. I wasn't sure if it was exactly kelp, but it would certainly work as a substitute. Since some of the Killer Fish resembled bonito, I might even be able to make bonito flakes. If I had bonito flakes and kelp, I could make dashi, which would drastically broaden the range of dishes I could prepare.
『Come to think of it, Tort. Are you going to open a shop here? You could definitely sell these fish meals!』
While I was busy pondering what to cook with our new ingredients, Shiroru made the suggestion.
"Hmm, I don't think I have enough ingredients to actually open a shop."
Seafood rarely circulated in Aingurna. The reason was simple: there were no fish-type monsters on the shallow floors. If you wanted to secure a large amount of food in the dungeon, hunting monsters was the most efficient way. Since there were plenty of monsters that dropped meat, most people didn't see the point in going out of their way to find fish.
『Hmph, I see. But you’re going to the blacksmith's workshop, aren't you? Won't you need food to pay the request fee?』
"The fee doesn't have to be food, you know?"
『It doesn't?』
Shiroru seemed to be under a strange misunderstanding. This was undoubtedly the influence of Master Zardan back in Garond.
It was true that I was planning to visit a blacksmith to have our iron processed into steel. Many of the masters were Dwarves, and they'd probably be thrilled if I offered a meal as a reward. I suspected Teriyaki Burgers would go over well with the Dwarves of Aingurna, too... but since I was at it, maybe I should try to come up with a new menu item? On second thought, if I made something with these rare ingredients and everyone loved it, sourcing them in the future might turn into a nightmare.