Chapter 177 - Huge Animals Dungeon 3

Allen and Elena proceeded through the first floor completely unchallenged and we advanced to the second floor after taking a short break.

"Allen, Elena, I know that you are having fun, but could you leave this floor to me for a little?"

""Uniyu?""

"Even though I have taken lessons in swordsmanship, I don't have the habit of holding a sword that much. I would like to practice on the lower levels."

Al-sama has requested the children who were enthusiastic to take on the second floor as well with guilt.

""... Hmm~? A little?""

"Yes, just this floor. I will leave the third floor to you guys again."

""Got it!""

"I see. Thank you."

Allen and Elena were reluctant but agreed since it was for only this floor.

"Now then, that is the case. I feel bad, but please follow-up for me."

"""Yes."""

After Al-sama decided to confront the monsters himself, he asked the knights to follow-up for him.

Al-sama could endanger his companions by taking overconfident actions, but he does not seem like someone who would do such a foolish mistake.

"That being the case, leave this floor to us. Takumi, please be on watch in case something unexpected occurs."

"Yes, I understand."

"Alright, let's go then."

Claudio-sama was in the vanguard, Al-sama behind him. Behind Al-sama, Najack-sama and Kevin-sama stood on his left and right.

"Your Highness, it's a White Sheep."

After walking for a while, a sheep monster emerged in front of us.

Al-sama took a stance with his sword and faced the White Sheep.

"Hah!"

Al-sama was able to safely defeat the White Sheep in one strike.

""Oh~ ama~zing.""

"Splendid."

"Being praised by Takumi and the kids… somehow makes me embarrassed~"

Even a swordsmanship amateur like me can tell that Al-sama moved without any unnecessary movements.

"Ah, hand the loot to Takumi."

"Roger. —— Please store it, Takumi-dono."

Claudio-sama collected the loot, but he handed over the lamb meat to me on Al-sama's orders.

"Al-sama, that is your loot, you know?"

"I don't mind so take it. And make something tasty from it."

"..."

This is… he wants me to return it to him in the form of a dish, doesn't he?

"… Then, I will request more White Sheep meat from you."

"Hahaha. Sure, I will work hard."

After that, Al-sama continued to slay the monsters of the second floor safely.

Of course, including the White Sheep meat, he obtained a large amount of several kinds of meat, which got stored in my Infinite Storage.

It was just the right time to take a break after we captured the second floor. This dungeon seems to be slightly larger than the "Dungeon of Ripples" so it takes more time to capture a floor. Well, unlike us that time, we are not advancing too quickly~

"Now then, shall we make a meal?"

""Mea~l!""

Finding a good spot in a wide area, we started cooking.

"They are really cooking within a dungeon, huh."

"This is normally an unlikely spectacle."

"Infinite Storage really is convenient, isn't it? You would normally not carry kitchen utensils and ingredients like that around."

"Yes, you would settle on preserved food and carry a small amount of loot with you."

As they were already aware of my Infinite Storage, I retrieved pots and ingredients one after another. Seeing that, Al-sama and the knights were staring fixedly.

""What we making~?""

"First, a dish from the Wild Ape meat you requested. Can I ask you to shred the leaves for a salad for me?"

""Yee~s.""

I handed lettuce to Allen and Elena, and while having them to shred it to bite size, I left the Wild Ape meat to boil plentifully.

While doing that, I prepared Armored Buffalo entrails.

"Allen, Elena, place the lettuce on a plate after shredding it, then arrange Turi fruit (tomato) and the boiled Flowerhead too, can you do it?"

""Can do~""

Allen and Elena were making the salad well.

I cut the boiled meat into mouthful sizes, mixed it with plenty of soy sauce and sugar, and thoroughly simmered it. As for the Motsu (motsunabe)… let's make it miso flavored. Ah~ It would be really nice if I had Mirin or Sake on me. For now, I can only experiment with this.

Also, let's use the Aging magic to shorten the cooking time.

"Oh~ it started smelling good. I wonder about the taste…——"

Magic really is convenient at times like this. It would normally take several hours to cook, but I am able to shorten the time enormously.

The Wild Ape meat became quite tender and I did not feel any foulness from the Armored Buffalo. Both tasted good and seemed to be quite compatible with rice.

"Allen too~"

"Elena too~"

"Yes, yes. —— Look, it's hot so eat after cooling it down."

""Yea!""

Allen and Elena wanted to taste it too, so when I handed them the spoons with the meat, the children blew on it and then stuffed their cheeks.

""Hafuu~""

"!! Takumi, me too!"

"Takumi-dono, I would like to taste it as well."

Looking at the children's reaction, Al-sama and Kevin-sama demanded to do the tasting too.

"… Your Highness."

"… Kevin."

"It smells this nice, and the kids made such reaction, you know? It makes you want to eat it immediately!"

Najack-sama and Claudio-sama seemed exhausted from the two's reaction, but when I handed over spoons for tasting to Al-sama and Kevin-sama, the two have also immediately received them. It seems that Najack-sama and Claudio-sama were also curious about the taste.

"""D, delicious!""""

The four expressed their impressions, it seems they like it.

"Takumi, is this made with the flavoring called soy sauce?"

"Yes, indeed it is. As expected of you, Al-sama. You could tell right away."

"As I thought! The recent topic in the Capital has been a stall that sold dishes made with soy sauce, after all. I had a certain feeling that the taste was similar. But, Takumi's cooking is remarkably delicious! Just as I expected… no, your cooking ability far exceeds my expectations."

"That's… I am glad to hear that."

Far from liking it, he seems to be considerably pleased with it.

"How about the other one, Takumi."

"Look forward the meal for that one."

"Kuh."

Al-sama wanted to taste the miso-flavored Motsu too, but I will have him endure.

"Umm… what next?"

I believe that a meat stew and salad would not be enough, so I would like to make one more thing. But, as the people here seemed to be eager to eat, I decided to leave it with a simple soup with plenty of vegetables.

"Shall we eat then?"

""Foo~d.""

"So it's done!"

After finishing the soup and preparing a freshly-baked bread, I called everyone and they quickly gathered around.

After I served the meal, everyone immediately began to eat.

""Onii~chan, Onii~chan.""

"N? What's the matter?"

""Want rice!""

As expected of Allen and Elena. Rice really goes along with sinewy meat. I thought so too, but… as usual, I thought I could not let the guys eat White Wheat which is considered a fodder, so I prepared bread instead.

"Takumi, what's this 'rice' the kids are talking about?"

"It's softly cooked White Wheat."

"White Wheat? That White Wheat?"

"I don't know what you mean by 'that' but it's the White Wheat that is used as fodder for animals."

"Right, that! You going to eat it?"

"It's delicious, you know? Err… would you like to try it?"

I offered the rice to Al-sama after handing a bowl to Allen and Elena. Al-sama received it with great interest.

"Your Highness!?"

"What, Takumi is saying that it's delicious, so it will be fine, no? Takumi, why don't you give this 'rice' to Najack and others too, if you still have more?"

"Ah!"

Najack-sama did try to stop him from eating the White Rice, but after Al-sama told me to give Najack-sama and others the rice too, he promptly started eating the rice.

"Nn!!"

"""Your Highness!?"""

The knights panicked because Al-sama suddenly groaned.

"T, this is tasty!! The compatibility of this rice with the Wild Ape meat is extraordinary!"

"Y, your Highness… don't startle us like that."

"N? What are you groaning about, Najack. You guys give it a try too."

When the three knights tasted the rice after being pressed by Al-sama, the three opened their eyes wide.

"See? Isn't it delicious?"

"… Yes."

Al-sama and the knights were pleased with the rice and the Wild Ape meat that I made in a slightly larger quantity got cleaned up prettily. It seems that everyone was satisfied.