And the plot thickens

I was riding on Hati's back as we made our way down the road.

The sun was at its highest point, so it was about time for lunch. We stopped at the side of the road for a break.

[Food!] Groot jumped out of my shoulder bag.

'Now then, what should I make? ...Hm, this and that with all sorts of ground meat, I guess.'

First up, I needed some seaweed, white sesame, and eggs. I piled some steamed rice into the deep dishes and spread some shredded seaweed on top. And on top of that, I added the minced meat I made before, leaving a small cavity in the middle. There, I added an egg yolk before sprinkling some white sesame on it to finish off the minced meat bowl. Everyone ate a lot, so I gave them two yolks each.

'Oh, let's plate up some of those meat stuffed peppers I made before, too.'

"Food!" As soon as I said that and put out the dishes, everyone jumped on them.

[Ohh, the yolks mixed in here make it pretty good. As for this, this green container is not needed.]

'That's right, Hati. The yolks round out the flavor. By 'green container,' does he mean the peppers? It's stuffed peppers, so it wouldn't be anything without the peppers...'

[Groot loves this meat and eggs~. It's delicious—!]

'I know, because Groot loves meat and eggs, right? Isn't the mixture of the egg yolks and minced meat great?'

'Yeah, yeah, seeing you all enjoy this so much makes cooking it all worth it. Looking at everyone chowing down, there's some sort of sense of accomplishment.'

'Now then, I should dig in too. The minced meat bowl is... yeah, it's good. As I thought, the eggs were a good idea. The salty-sweet minced meat is rounded out by the mixed-in egg yolks~. There's no way this wouldn't go great with rice. The meat-stuffed peppers are also the same flavor, so that one pairs with rice, too.'

"More!" [More!]

I served up another serving of minced meat bowl and meat- stuffed peppers to Hati and Groot. Hati and Groot also had several more servings after that.

After the meal, we all took a small break while I drank some tea, and everyone else enjoyed cider. "Now then, it's about time to go."

"Indeed."

Once again climbing onto Hati's back, we set off towards Capital of Melromarc.

◇◇◇◇◇

Six days after we left Karelina

We were making good progress in our travels. According to Hati, we should reach Capital city before evening tomorrow.

"We are stopping around here for today."

"Yeah."

The sun was just about to set, so we would be camping here for today.

While I was preparing dinner,

The carriage of a nobleman and his entourage stopped on the road. Then they stopped and parked on the side of the road. Right behind us. The coachman got down and asked:

"Do you mind if we spend the night not far from you?"

"Go right ahead." They weren't exactly in our way, so I didn't mind, but recently this stuff had been happening a lot... Somehow, every time we set up camp, some merchants that were behind us pulled up and camped right next to us. Yesterday, there were even two parties to either side. Well, it's the road leading to Capital city.

What I did notice, though, was that the carriage was too conspicuous, and that there was probably some kind of nobleman in it or something. It's unusual for a person of that calibre to ask permission from a mere traveller.

They probably recognised Hati, otherwise I don't know.

◇◇◇◇◇

The conversation of the merchants who set up camp next to Hajime's party:

"There really was an adventurer with familiars."

"Yes. From what I heard, it looks like he is the one with Fenrir."

"Looks like it."

"It's not like I don't trust you guys, but it's comforting to know that there's an adventurer nearby with extremely strong familiars.

"We get it already. Of course we'll keep watch too, but emotionally, having an adventurer nearby will be a huge load off.

◇◇◇◇◇

Now then, let's start making dinner.

I would be making a simple whole roasted chicken stuffed with pilaf. I once tried making it for Christmas since I wanted to try eating one, and for some reason it started to become a tradition for me to make the roast chicken from then on for Christmas. Of course, I knew perfectly well how to make it.

'Heheheh, I've been planning to do this someday ever since I bought this magic stove.'

This time, I'd be using a whole cockatrice in my cooking. The cockatrice that had become just a lump of meat was about 1.5 meters in size, whole. As one might expect, roasting something like this whole should fill everyone up.

Opening my Online Supermarket, I bought some herb salt and frozen pilaf, and also a brush to spread the oil. Well then, let's get to cooking.

Since I basically despise difficult things, the roast chicken I make is easy and simple. All it took was stuffing the frozen pilaf into a roast chicken and baking it. Making the pilaf from scratch just added work, but it might be a good idea if one had the time.

◇◇◇◇◇

First, thoroughly rub some herb salt into the whole of the cockatrice. Make sure to do so for the inside as well. Once that's done, leave it alone for a while, and thaw the pilaf in the meantime.

Truthfully, it'll be faster to just nuke it in a microwave, but as one might expect, it'll just be impossible to do that here, so I'll just cook it lightly in a pan to thaw it. I'll be baking it in the oven too, so just lightly is fine.

Next, stuff the cockatrice's belly with the thawed pilaf. Once the stuffing is done, close the opening with a skewer, and tie the legs together with some kitchen twine to prevent it from losing shape. Use a brush to paint olive oil over the entirety of the cockatrice, then put it on top of a baking tray that you've covered with a cooking sheet.

After that, just bake in a preheated oven. It'll take slightly less than an hour at 200 degrees, but I'll just have to eyeball it here.

While it's baking, using the brush to baste the roast with its own melted fat will give it a good color and flavor, so I recommend it. Also, while it's cooking, turning it over so it's evenly browned will make the entire thing come out better as well.

If you're worried about how it's cooking, stick a skewer in somewhere where the heat doesn't easily pass through, and if all you get out of it is clear fat, then you're good.

Once it's well browned, remove any skewers and the string to complete the roast.

◇◇◇◇◇

A whole roast chicken even by itself just looks extravagant, doesn't it? On top of that, since it's a larger cockatrice, the effect is even greater.

While I was looking at the finished roast chicken, I heard the voices of my hungry children.

"Looks good."

[Give it to us already—!]

[It's a huge chunk of meat~! Groot wants to hurry up and eat it...] Everyone's eyes were glued to the roast chicken.

"I'm going to take the bones and separate the portions, so wait a little." While I deboned the roast, I also properly divided the meat and pilaf into everyone's dishes.

"Here."

As soon as I served up their food, all of them started eating, entranced.

"Mmm?! This is incredible!"

'Right? Right? It's good enough for even Hati to fall into a trance. Whole roasting it slowly in an oven really does make something completely different, huh?'

[The skin is crispy, and the inside meat is soft and delicious, and all the meat juice just comes pouring out! This rice also tastes like the meat and is great, too—!]

'As expected of Groot the gourmand, it knows. Both the crispness of the skin and the bursting juiciness of the meat is thanks to roasting the thing whole. And since the pilaf was stuffed into the meat and is now soaked full of its juices and flavor, one would never think that it's just a frozen pilaf.

Looks like the roast chicken is a huge success. Now then, I should eat too.'

I probably shouldn't be saying this about something I made myself, but the melding of crispiness and juiciness is just too good. Being able to enjoy all the different parts of the chicken is one of the best parts of a whole roast, I think. Really, it's so satisfying...

Hati and Groot both had another serving, and the roast chicken was cleanly finished off. All that was left were the bones. It looked like everyone enjoyed it, and they asked for more. The dish was really simple, just stuffing and roasting it, so that might actually be a good idea.

I sighed and started cooking again. This time, however, Hati came in and wanted to add these mushrooms he had found. He said they would be perfect with this kind of meat. Since Hati had eaten raw spiders before, I didn't doubt him. This time I ground them up and added them to the meat. While I was cooking, I didn't notice people gathering in the distance. Finally, the most beautiful woman I had ever seen approached me.

She was a beautiful, fair-skinned, middle-aged woman with purple hair tied back in a bob, with bangs that hung down to her collarbone on either side. She had purple eyes and wore pale purple lipstick. She wore an elaborately decorated dress with what looked like a bronze breastplate. She had a regal presence that commanded the attention of everyone around her.

I didn't realise it. I was staring at her for a moment. I was only woken by Hati when he swatted me with his tail. I blushed all over. I didn't dare look Hati in the eye when he snorted.

It turned out they had smelled food from a distance. Of course I invited them to join us. I don't even know why, but I walked further away so I wouldn't be seen and bought some dry red wine from the supermarket to add to our dinner. I found it a little strange that Hati had no complaints, but I put it out of my mind and went to look after the guests.

◇◇◇◇◇

The next day I woke up with a terrible headache. When I opened my eyes and looked around, I thought I was in a hut built with my earth magic. When I tried to stand, I found it impossible as a warm body pressed against me. As I started to react, I felt my right arm become numb as I tried to move it, I accidentally hit something extremely soft and got an erotic moan in response.

"Hmmm"

At that moment I froze.

Silence!

When I finally came to my senses...

My heart began to race as I saw the woman from yesterday lying naked next to me and as I squeezed her ass.

"Shit."

My movement must have woken her.

We looked into each other's eyes.

It turned out she was completely calm, not even a hint of panic. She picked herself up and threw the covers over her. She looked at me and said.

"It seems that we were poisoned by something yesterday, something must have been added to the food. But I don't think it was on purpose on your part. I'm sure you were a virgin until yesterday." She said in a calm voice.

"I...I don't know what happened," I said.

"It doesn't matter now, we'll never meet anyway." Then she got up and put on the clothes that were scattered around the room. I just stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to do. As she was getting dressed, she came up to me and said,

"Help me button this" I helped her zip it up without answering. She went out and left.

By the time I got dressed and went out, they were already packed and on their way. As I looked around I saw Hati rolling on the floor, choking up with laughter. He stopped laughing and said to me.

"You were really loud yesterday, I ended up surrounding you with a noise barrier because it was impossible to listen to you. Shouldn't you be thanking me? You would never have gotten that female if I hadn't helped you. Was that really your first female?"

"What did you do?" I asked, horror in my voice.

"I heard them talking about you yesterday and I noticed that you never bothered about anz human females, so I helped you. Those mushrooms were special." Hati said.

At that moment I wanted to strangle him. I got up and went to see what was left of those mushrooms, and this time I used apraisal:

[The aphrodisiac mushroom: A powerful aphrodisiac. Increases libido and improves performance when having sex].

When I remembered what happened last night, I couldn't help but blush. After all, I was a virgin until yesterday. Before I was summoned into this world, I was a student and then I started working. I never had a girlfriend.

"She's gone, come make some food." Hati said.

"Ughh" I sighed and went to make breakfast...like she said, we'll probably never see each other again...I don't even know her name. Too bad I didn't use the appraisal, I could have known more.

Sorry, sorry. I'll finish cooking soon so don't be so mad."

'Let's make something using the ground meat I just made, since I made so much of it. What should it be? Something that uses ground meat that I can make easily... Ah, let's make omelets with lots of ground meat in them, along with an eggplant and ground meat cheese bake. What I'll need from the Online Supermarket are... onions and eggplants, right? And also eggs, cheese, cans of meat sauce, ketchup, and also several large-ish heat-resistant plates and dishes.'

'For now, let's start with the omelets, I guess.'

◇◇◇◇◇

Mince the onions first. Then, oil up a heated frying pan and cook the onions. Once they've turned clear, throw in the orc general and bloody horn-bull mixed ground meat and continue cooking. Season lightly with salt and pepper, and flavor with some soy sauce and sugar.

Once the juices have cooked out, put the food onto a plate and let it cool.

Melt some butter in the hot frying pan and scramble some eggs into it. It will turn half-cooked after it's been mixed a few times, and once that happens, add in lots of the ground meat and onions on top. Then, cover the frying pan with the plate and flip the whole thing over, and the extra-large omelet is complete.

◇◇◇◇◇

"W-Well, this should do it."

Let's just say that the slightly broken egg layer adds character...

After making three of them, I threw ketchup on each one before serving the extra-large omelets with ground meat to my familiars.

"For now, eat this."

The magic stove is really convenient in times like these since it has four burners and it can pump out some pretty strong heat. Well, I only used two of them, though.

Thanks to that, I was able to cook a huge amount of ground meat.

"Eggs and meat, huh? This one is pretty good for what it is."

[The eggs and meat are delicious.]

I't's great that they seemed to like the omelets.'

While everyone was busy enjoying the omelets, it was time to start on the ground meat and eggplant cheese bake.

◇◇◇◇◇

Cut the eggplants into half-moon shapes, leaving the skin on. Then, oil up a heated frying pan, and start cooking the orc general and bloody horn-bull mixed ground meat, lightly sprinkling it with salt and pepper.

Once the meat changes color, add in the eggplant, and once the water in the eggplant's cooked out some, throw in the meat sauce. The meat sauce has a strong flavor, so watch out for that and adjust the amount that's added.

Continue cooking while stirring the contents so that the meat sauce coats everything, and once the eggplant is thoroughly cooked through, place the contents of the pan onto a heat resistant dish.

Throw lots of cheese for melting on top of it, then bake the whole thing in the oven until the cheese is melted and is browned a little on top. Once that's done, the ground meat and eggplant cheese bake is finished.

◇◇◇◇◇

"Here you go. It's hot, so be careful."

I thought I Felt a breeze, and it turned out that Hati was using Wind magic to cool down his food.

"Hm, this should be fine. Let me see... Ho-! ...It is still a little hot, but it is quite delicious."

Groot must have been fine with the heat, as it enveloped the heat resistant plate, too.

[It's good, especially since it has this gooey stuff on it. Also, it's got a lot of meat. It's so tasty—!]

Groot really does love cheese, after all. Ahh, this isn't the time to be appreciative — I need to go make the next round of omelets.

After several helpings of both dishes, everyone was finally finished with breakfast.

I packed my things and we set off for the capital of Melromarc. My mind kept replaying the events of last night.