Chapter 118
Jerky
It happened during daytime business hours.
[Cus, customer-san! You forgot something!]
After the customer had finished their meal, paid the bill and on the way out, Saki noticed a large bag that was placed on the floor near the customer’s table and hurriedly called the customer.
[A!? That…]
Hearing Saki’s words, the dog-eared customer with a satisfied face turned around, but since that person had pa.s.sed through the door, the door closed after showing a glimpse of the customer’s face that looked as if there’s something that person wanted to say.
[Oops…]
Saki reflexively said so.
Customers could only come to the otherworld dining hall once a week during Sat.u.r.days, so until the door reappeared, they couldn’t come.
Of course, the shortest time forgotten things could be returned was a week later. But…
[…It’s raw isn’t it? This.]
She picked up the heavy rough hemp bag that was made over there. It’s just an estimation, but it seemed to be over 1 kg. It’s just a little bit, but it smelled of blood.
She opened the bag and peeked inside to check the content.
[…It’s meat isn’t it?]
It seemed to be a large lump wrapped with leafs.
It looked like a pink flesh.
[Ou, what’s wrong? What happened?]
The owner who noticed that Saki was looking at an unknown bag instead of cleaning the table came over after he pa.s.sed a finished dish to Aletta.
And to the owner who came, Saki explained the situation.
[Oji-san, what should I do? It’s a customer’s forgotten item, but it looks raw.]
She didn’t know what kind of meat this was… but it’s raw.
It would be a bad idea just to leave it at the dining area at least.
[What… for the time being, let’s put it in the refrigerator.]
The owner also noticed it and decided to temporarily store it in the refrigerator.
That night.
[This meat… what should be done to it?]
The owner who took out the baggage from the refrigerator and took out the content pondered his mind on what to do about it.
As expected, the content was meat.
A pink lump of meat with not fat.
He did not know what kind of animal meat this was, but he estimated that it was a breast meat.
[…This, I’ve never seen this kind of meat before.]
However, even after regularly purchasing various kinds of ingredients from Thomas, the owner didn’t recognize this meat.
When he thought about it, the customer who was the owner of this meat had brown skin, so this unusual meat may only be available in a place distant from the Kingdom where Thomas lived.
[Well, what should I do…]
The owner was confused by the unknown meat.
The customer who had forgotten it could only came to retrieve it back next week at the soonest. Considering that it’s raw, it wouldn’t last even in the refrigerator.
[Since it’s meat, maybe we can just store it in the freezer?]
[No, this is a big meat. Even if it’s fine to just store it in the freezer until the customer comes back, the frozen meat has to be eaten at once at the other side.]
The owner shook his head after hearing Saki’s suggestion.
[Is that so? What about those women with long ears who bought a lot of puddings, grilled rice b.a.l.l.s and so
on?]
Hearing the owner’s words, Saki tilted her head and asked back.
She heard that the tribal person bought 3 extrlarge omurice for his family, but did those women bought for their families as well?
[No, well, I don’t know about it well, but it seems that they store it with magic that prevents the food from decaying. I don’t know about the other side, but usually such magic is rare.]
To such words, the owner recalled the stories he heard from the old sorcerer who was a regular from the beginning of otherworld dining hall.
Though it’s usually not for food, it seemed that there’s a magic that prevented things from decaying even after hundreds of years.
However, it’s quite an advanced magic, so it seemed that only a handful of magicians had the required skill, or they were elves who were excellent magicians.
…The customer who bought the pudding was the former case while the customer who bought the grilled rice b.a.l.l.s was the later; that was what the magician said.
[Etto… that’s right. I have never heard of a magic that prevents food from decaying.
Before, Sarah told me that there are magic items left behind by the elves, but it was so expensive that I was surprised by the price.]
Aletta who began to know a little bit of magic after she worked for Sarah nodded her head and affirmed it.
She learned from Sarah who knew various things as an adventurer and from Shia who was a daughter of a business dealing with magic items.
Now she knew that the various things in otherworld dining hall were not magic items.
[But what to do with this…]
Then, they thought about the lump of meat in front of them.
He knew the customer who forgot this. She was a customer with brown skin and ears and tails like that of a cat or dog that always ordered Spanish omelet.
She would come again next week based from her frequency of visitation so far, but she did not seem to be familiar with magic.
It would be fine to store it at the restaurant until his next visit, but if that’s the case, then there would be a problem when he took it home.
[…Maybe we can make it into jerky. It would be better than letting it rot.]
Thinking that, the owner drew a conclusion.
He did not think it would be a good idea to modify a customer’s forgotten item, but it’s a raw meat and it could only be retrieved next week.
There’s no choice but to process it so that it could be preserved even over there.
[…Can you do it?]
[Aa. My grandfather said that it was inexcusable for a person who was skillful at cooking to not try making it at least once. I also tried to make it several times before.]
The owner nodded and answered Saki’s question.
Yes, his predecessor was a man who said so.
From his childhood, there were memories of them making various kinds of dishes that were usually not served at home or restaurants during Sundays and public holidays.
The results were very delicious and sometimes there were some dishes that would unexpectedly be included into the menu or served
served as daily special, those were good memories and it was better compared to buying the results.
[Hee…]
Looking at the owner’s spontaneously smiling face as he said so, Saki knew that it was an important memory for him.
[Maa, it’s possible to make it in a week, it’s been a while since I smoke something, but let’s try.]
The owner who remembered such showed his motivation.
Certainly the jerky that his grandfather made was excellent, and he had tried making it using various types of meats.
There would surely be a recipe that matched the meat in front of them.
[Aa, what should I do…]
Adelia remembered the incident seven days ago and hesitated before entering otherworld dining hall.
The meat was that of a flying dragon which appeared in the town and Adelia defeated.
Its appearance was similar to the G.o.ddesses but it had no intelligence though it did possess dragon breath, it had ferocious att.i.tude and it’s difficult for those who couldn’t fly to fight it, the flying dragon was called a fake dragon and was a monster to be feared.
Therefor Adelia slayed the flying dragon by using her dragon wings, tails, claws and legs gained by the power of G.o.ddess.
Flying dragon was a nasty beast, but its body was exceedingly useful.
Its scales were harder than iron, the leather could be made into exceedingly durable cloak, the bones and tendons could be manufactured into strong bows…
The flying dragon fell down to the ground after Adelia crushed its head and brain during their aerial battle; it was then dismantled and distributed to the citizens of the city.
And at that time, rather than handing an armor made from the flying dragon to Adelia who was stronger than it, she was given a huge portion of its meat.
Adelia was a therianthrope, she did not dislike meat, but there were limits.
If the meat was strongly salted, the amount was so much that even if she shared with her family, Adelia who lived alone in the mountain would have to eat it endlessly.
She was worried on how to use it… Adelia remembered a few “friends” and she decided to share it.
…It was such a fatal mistake that she was only reminded just after she was cheered by the cooking and left the door as usual.
A human that she got to know a little bit said that the owner would continue to keep customers’ “forgotten things” for many years.
If it wasn’t recognized as a gift, he wouldn’t embezzle it.
However, the unprocessed flying dragon meat was perishable.
…There’s no way it’s edible after 7 days.
[…But I have to say it properly.]
She resolved her mind, and opened the door.
‘Chirinchirin’, she pa.s.sed through the door with its usual resounding noise and was greeted by the chaotic apostle waitress, Aletta immediately noticed her and was surprised.
[Welcome… a, Adelisan! …Ano, a moment please? Master told me to inform him as soon as you came. It’s about your forgotten item…]
[Un, that’s fine… ano, I’m sorry. I have troubled you, that…]
To Aletta’s words, Adelia answered with a smile though her eyebrows were lowered due to her worry.
Since she left it carelessly without any explanation, she wondered if it was treated as a forgotten article.
[Etto… yes. So,
yes. So, master made it into preserved food for storage purpose, so he would like you to take it back.]
But the words that Aletta said surprised Adelia.
[…Preserved food? So it’s dried?]
Adelia tilted her head.
She knew that there were other dishes other than her beloved Spanish omelet, but she had never heard of preserved food.
[Yes. It’s similar to dried food… since we can’t afford to let customers eat something strange, I tried it and it was very tasty… let me show you to your seat.]
[Is that so… a.]
Apparently the meat she brought was not wasted.
Aletta’s words stroke her heart, she wanted to eat it as it was with everyone in the restaurant.
Before answering, Aletta called the owner.
And soon the owner came out.
He brought a bag containing the preserved food that Aletta said earlier.
[No, I’m sorry.]
[As one would expect, I can’t return raw meat to you…]
[No, no! Such… the thing is, I got a lot of meat in my hands, since I can’t eat it all I thought about sharing it to you… but I forgot to tell you that before…]
[Oh? So that’s how it is…]
Hearing Adelia’s words, the owner’s heart was also stroked.
Although it was a good idea, he had cooked a customer’s forgotten item without permission. One couldn’t argue if it was said that it was a problem.
[However… this thing is made for you, what should we do?]
There’s no problem with the taste… that’s what he thought. He ate a little to taste test it, but the taste was good.
However, he thought that it was impolite not to return something in a whole condition.
[No, it was something I was going to give anyway, please eat it.]
Adelia affirmed it and the owner’s face loosened into a smile.
[…U~n, well then. Since I got a rare thing, what should I do with it?]
A bit troubled, the owner told Adelia his conclusion.
Since the entire thing was originally a present, it was also a matter of concern that he made something out of an article that he intended to return.
So he made a proposal considering that part.
[Ee? That’s fine… since it’s originally a gift for you anyway…]
[…Maa, to tell you the truth, I also made it for eating here.]
To Adelia that was still refraining, the owner further explained.
[Anyway, that was the first time I used such a meat to make jerky so I want people to try it and tell their impressions.
Aletta… my employee told me that it was delicious, but it might not be suitable for others, could you give it a try?]
[…Okay, if you say so…]
Hearing the owner’s words, Adelia considered that it would be impolite to refuse anymore and nodded.
[That’s good. I’ll bring it after your meal, so, what would you like to order?]
The owner listened to her order with a smile.
[A, well then… the usual.]
[Yes, please wait a moment.]
She ordered her usual Spanish omelet and Adelia enjoyed her meal.
…After she received her “souvenir” packed in a beautiful box, it was afternoon.
The next day.
Inside her simple hut, Adelia was curious about yesterday’s souvenir.
[This… what is this supposed to be?]
The souvenir bag was a mysterious material that she had never seen before.
It was transparent enough that itenough that it was see through, bound by a string, and it could be closed perfectly without using glue.
(The owner said that it can be opened if I pull the upper part sideways and can be closed if I pull the string loop.)
Inside the bag, she could see brown dried meat.
(Dried meat…)
Dried meat was made by sc.r.a.ping meat thinly and completely draining it from moisture.
It was made from the flying dragon meat that Adelia had forgotten.
The flesh that was originally meaty pink was seasoned and became brown just like the beast’s skin.
If she looked closely, she could see red spots with spicy flavor.
She brought it close to her nose to smell it, it smelled like Togaran and contained the smell of fruit called Galeo which was commonly used in dishes of otherworld.
Her keen sense of smell could identify the scents that were mixed in.
However, there was another strange smell different from those. In the restaurant, the same smell drifted from some dishes.
(I’m certain… this is the same smell from the bottle on the table… right? It’s certainly shoyu.)
With the smell, Adelia judged what kind of dried meat was in front of her.
She heard from the owner before that it was a flavouring used to season the dishes.
It had strong saltiness, she remembered it from the restaurant’s cuisine.
(…First of all, let’s eat it.)
The meat itself was the meat of false dragon meat, but the seasonings were unknown.
However, she didn’t think that the owner who cooked wonderful and delicious food would serve strange things.
She decided and Adelia took a piece of jerky… she took a bite.
(…Un. It’s salty.)
The first thing she tasted was its strong saltiness.
Shoyu’s saltiness which was different from salt and spices covered the surface and inside of the meat.
It mixed with the spiciness of Togaran and fragrance of Galeo, which made it an unfamiliar combination for Adelia.
(…A, but it might be delicious.)
Then, as she chewed the jerky with the strong jaws of therianthrope, the taste gradually changed.
Its moisture had been completely dried; the hard and dry meat absorbed the moisture in her mouth as she chewed, so the taste of the meat came out.
If anything, the fatty false dragon meat was somewhat tasteless.
However, it gradually changed as the tasteless meat was mixed with the strong seasoning.
A strange flavor that made her want to chew it forever, she then swallowed it.
If she was asked if she was satisfied, then her answer was no.
After the meat was swallowed, the taste of jerky would gradually disappear from her mouth.
It felt lonely, so Adelia inadvertently took another piece of jerky and threw it into her mouth.
Once it disappeared, the taste would come back again.
And Adelia silently repeated again.
[…A, there’s no more… how disappointing.]
When she noticed it, the bag that was supposed to be full of jerky was now empty.
When she stroked her stomach, it certainly felt satisfied.
She felt that she had enjoyed enough, but she still thought that it’s insufficient.
[Let’s take another souvenir next time.]
There’s no opportunity to fight another false dragon.
So if she was fortunate enough to fight another one, this time she would pay the restaurant to make another jerky.
Adelia softly decided that.