Volume 2 Chapter 10.3

Volume 2 Chapter 10.3

It was a big job, starting in the morning, cutting through the afternoon, and ending when the day was nearly over.

「Wow, even a large shack like this is difficult to handle……」

「Well it ain’t like we’re weekend carpenters. Let’s be happy with what we did.」

「Or you could try and not suddenly thrust these tasks at us……」

「But it’d irk me if we just let it be.」

Hiroshi responded to the grievances of Tatsuya and Makoto without so much as yawning. A civil engineering project like this one wasn’t much more complicated than simply redoing the foundations of the building. In addition, Hiroshi had the extra skill “Castle of the Gods”, which had enabled them to finish in this amount of time, but normally, manufacturing wood supplies right at the construction site would take much longer than a day. Even the foundation process shouldn’t have ordinarily ended in one day. If this foundational construction had not been possible by using the Construction or Carpenter skills, by this point in time they would probably give up on the work and begin some form of merrymaking.

Normally, this would not be the kind of construction to begin on a whim.

「Well hey, a new building feels nice and fresh, so when all is said and done, I like it.」

「Sure, I won’t deny that part.」

「Come to think of it, was this job only made possible because of Hiroshi being a craftsman?」

「True. Now that you mention it, we were doing quite the extreme job earlier.」

Haruna and Mio had only now realized how ridiculous a job it was they had just completed, provoking an awkward smile from both of the oldest members of the group.

「Anyhoo, we’re done with all that, so now I’ll just recast the barriers ‘n whatnot, report the final state of everything, ‘n then it’s time to make an offering.」

Chatting with them as he completed the check on the altar, Hiroshi proceeded to finish up the remaining work necessary to make the temple function as a temple should. In addition to being abandoned (other than to make offerings) for thirty years, there were also nearby remnants of dungeons that had been filled with very thick miasma, so the barriers had become quite loose as of late. At this rate, the place would be hollow without any substance.

「What does it look like?」

「Yup, it’s purty down right now.」

Recasting the near-broken barrier, Hiroshi reused the ritual article in order to restart various ritual preparations. Haruna and Mio watched this as they came outside. The perimeter was filled with clean energy, and the temple began to resume its functions.

「Now we just need the offerin’.」

「If you have any of those dwarf killers, it’d be great to have it alongside smoked meat.」

That request came to them all of sudden when they were preparing offerings for the altar. Turning around, they noticed a middle-aged man with a rather dry atmosphere about him, probably the kind of person to live a secluded life deep in the forest. He looked like he was a professional beggar.

「Couldja be Aranwen-sama？」

「Not “could”. I am in fact Aranwen.」

「Oh really now.」

The master of the temple had actually shown up in person. Everyone just gaped in awe.

「I am sure there is much you wish to know, but how about we have some food first?」

Without hesitation, he opened the dwarf killer lid and halted Tatsuya before suggesting that. This was right after Hiroshi had put smoked rock boar and troll bird together with vegetables and fruit on the altar. It was only reasonable that this god who protected the elves and forest giants had a strong appetite.

「Hm. Quite the good taste this smoked meat has.」

「Ah, thank you.」

Haruna smiled awkwardly at this god biting elegantly into the smoked meat as she inspected the food for dinner. It was a rather tough decision between the mushroom that Makoto and Mio had roasted off a mid-boss and the mid-boss salamander that Hiroshi had taken down.

「When in doubt, use both!」

She heartily declared, preparing adequately-sized slime mold and sliced salamander. After she prepared the mysterious vegetables, fruit, and roots that Hiroshi had harvested from a dungeon, lightly warming it and checking the flavor, Haruna made it all into tempura and karaage, clearly finding it bothersome. Makoto was totally taken aback by Haruna’s fortitude in her cooking. Tatsuya was more on the worried side.

「Are you sure about the scum being taken out?」

「Yes, from the texture it wasn’t a big deal.」

「If you say so……」

Tatsuya decided to succumb to Haruna’s insistence and waited for completion. Makoto also wasn’t able to hide her unease, but she chose to simply not say anything.

「And now it’s ready.」

「……What were you making, Mio?」

「Tempura sauce and clear broth soup？」

「Tempura, eh? Well that makes sense.」

As long as you disregarded the fact that all the ingredients were unknown, it was a truly normal conversation.

「Now, Hiro, I saw you preparing something before Haruna had even started on her menu. What were you working on?」

「Kamameshi, mate.」 *note: referring to a pot with rice, meat, and vegetables in it

Everyone wanted to know what on earth Hiroshi intended to put in said kamameshi, but they were too scared to ask. It wasn’t clear whether he had obtained the ingredients from a dungeon, so it was impossible to visualize what he had planned.

「Anyhoo, it’ll be ready by the time ya finish eatin’ the tempura ‘n karaage, so best eat those right now.」

They averted their eyes from the pot as it emitted a strange vapor. Why did tonight’s dinner seem like it was going to test their courage?

「Alright then, guess I’ll eat this first.」

「Yeah.」

Honestly, they were not keen on eating tempura and karaage made from a mountain of ingredients from a dungeon overflowing with miasma. None of it had even been properly tested for poison. However, seeing as how Hiroshi and Archem had already tried the salamander meat, it was probably ok. The squirrel meat was another good example of this.

Therefore, the real problems were mainly the strange parasitic mushrooms and the fruit, roots, and leaves from the evil ents. In plainer words, they were simply scared of the tempura that Haruna had made.

If you think about it, it would be absolutely terrifying to carelessly eat monster meat that came from a miasma-filled dungeon like that, no matter how skilled the cook or how much poison was extracted from it, but since there were actually people who had confirmed the safety, Tatsuya and Makoto couldn’t exactly complain.

「Hm, seems good.」

Haruna nonchalantly put the slime mold tempura to her mouth, nodding satisfactorily. Seeing that it was okay, Makoto followed suit. Surprisingly enough, the taste resembled that of hen-of-the-woods, and it sure was tasty when fried into tempura.

Mio was already levelling out the salamander. Most of the organisms as of late had been fairly plain in flavor, but for some reason, this salamander meat had a firm, clear flavor. Even Mio, the embodiment of gluttony herself was highly satisfied.

「Hm, that’s also great.」

「I thought you’d say that, hence why I split it up.」

「Thanks a lot.」

They put the other tempura, clear broth soup, and karaage with the shochu on the altar.

「Hm, yum.」

「Although I’m really sorry about this hastily prepared meal.」

「Nay, if it’s tasty then you need not worry.」

Aranwen declared as he continued to devour mounds and mounds of alcohol and food. Perhaps because of the large amount eaten by the oktogarls yesterday, they did not make a fuss about getting more food. Maybe because of Aranwen’s presence, they merely floated up and down in the air, showing no sign of opening their mouths.

「Alright, looks like the kamameshi is ’bout ready to go.」

「I’ve been long ready for this, so bring it out already.」

「Gotcha.」

Listening to Makoto’s demands, Hiroshi opened the pot lid and roughly mixed around the contents. After placing a bowl on the altar, he divided the rest into equal portions, distributing it.

「So what kind of kamameshi is this anyway?」

「Ah, I arranged the flavor to match the season ‘n the forest dungeon.」

「……What kind of answer is that……」

Tatsuya groaned at Hiroshi’s ridiculous sham of an answer, but he decided to eat the fish-like food that was in the bowl. It was tasty. Very tasty, but……

「What’s this fish?」

「That fish is prolly the one that came up with the salamander.」

「Probably, you say？」

「We hauled it up real quick onto land ‘n then Archem stabbed it before it could even do anythin’. Why’ja ask?」

Everyone began staring at Archem after hearing Hiroshi’s response. Archem, who had been squirming in nervousness around Aranwen, stiffened up when she took notice of this.

「What were you discussing just now？」

「You see, at the beginning, Hiroshi-san got into the water and smashed the salamander out of the water in order to get it on land, but……」

「But？」

「It seems like a certain fish had accidentally gotten itself caught on the salamander’s body, so when it got on land it was flopping around……」

「And then you took it down because it was in the way?」

Archem nodded at Tatsuya. Now that he was clear on where the fish came from, he meekly got back to eating the daikon radish alongside the fish without saying anything further.

「Y’know, I don’t think eating in such a depressed manner is going to help anything.」

「Not enough ingredients.」

「It’s a bit late to be thinking about rock boar or wyvern. Sure, that one dungeon was pretty twisted through and through, but who says there wasn’t any edible meat or fish？」

「But there’s a difference between understanding the logic and actually going……」

「Is that what the issue here is?」

Aranwen asked Tatsuya, nodding in a half-satisfied half-dissatisfied manner as he drank the shochu dry and opened the dwarf-killer jar again. The way he engulfed the alcohol, you would think he hated being sober, but as expected of a god, he showed no sign of getting drunk.