ăSo, what kind of souvenirs did you bring this time?ă
After we drink the fruit juice and as soon as we calm down enough, Torr asked with a look filled with expectation. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
His gaze was mainly focused on the huge wooden box and bag, he appears to be genuinely looking forward to what was going to come out of them.
The same goes for Asmo beside him, itâs as though heâs trying to see through the inside of the wooden box and bag.
I guess, the main highlight of this timeâs souvenirs is the dried fish. However, the others souvenir will be overshadowed if I show that first so letâs start with something with the lowest value.
ăOkay, okay, then this is the first oneă
I take out a small wooden box from the bag, and open it so that Torr and Asmo can see whatâs inside.
There were pretty seashells and magic core fragments inside.
ăWhatâs this? Seashells?ă
ăThatâs right. They are seashells gathered from the sea. Their rainbow color is pretty, arenât they?ă
ăHaaăŒ, they sure shine and sparkle. So these are seashells from the sea, huh?ă
Torr picks up the seashell and stares at them looking interested.
Koryatt village also has small shellfish, but they canât be eaten. They smell of mud and small, and canât be used as food.
It would be a fresh experience for them to be able to see large and pretty shells since there are almost no big shells like the ones from the sea.
Truthfully, I think this alone is the best present to give others after you went to the sea.
As I think of such a thing, Asmo asks me. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
ăâŠâŠhey, Al. Whatâs the content of the shells?ă
ăThereâs noneă
I thought he will ask that since itâs Asmo weâre talking about. He still cares about the content even though there is such a beautiful seashell in front of him like this.
Do you have no interest in pretty things, even if a little?
ăWhatâs this transparent thing then?ă
ăAhh, thatâs magic stone fragments. This is what happens when magic stones are washed away into the sea and got erodedă
ăHeeăŒ, so itâs like that. This kind of thing will be going to make women happyă
ăWell, you can decorate your room with these or just give it to someone else, I donât careă
Women will be pleased with these kinds of pretty things after all. I think the two of them wonât have the hobby of staring at such a thing so itâd be fine if they just use it to make some deals with the women in the village.
ăHmăŒ, Iâll decorate my room with this then. Itâs the precious souvenir I got from you after allă
ăItâs a valuable thing since there are none of these in Koryatt villageă
Theyâre saying nice things surprisingly, arenât they? As someone who prepares the souvenirs, I will also be happy if you say something like that. I mean, I just gathered them from the beach casually.
Iâm glad itâs the magic core fragments that were prepared and processed by Kuina, right?
ăNow then, next will be the foodstuffs youâve all been waiting foră
ăăOoh!ăă
It got a little awkward so I said that to collect myself together to change the topic from seashells and magic core fragments to food. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
As the two of them are looking at me with gazes of expectation, I take out two jars from the bag.
ăRight, try opening these. They are both different foodsă
Expecting to see their reaction, I urge them to open the jars on purpose.
ăIâm gonna open this one, Asmo you open that one!ă
ăOkay!ă
Immediately after that, the two of them opened the jars together with genuine-looking expressions.
At that moment, a fishy smell peculiar to fish and an intense smell of salt come out from the closed jars.
ăUgyaaaaa! What is this!ă
ăUuh, the smell is so strong!ă
Surprised as they smelled the dried fish and small crabs from up close, Torr and Asmo move away from the jars.
ăHey, this smells so intense. Oi Asmo, open the window!ă
ăBut, the cold air will escape if I do that!ă
They want to ventilate the room since the smell of the dried fish is so intense, but then the cold air will escape from the room and the heat will enter if they open the window. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
From Torr and Asmoâs perspective, both options would be nothing but hell, isnât it?
ăThatâs right! Oi, Al. What the heck is this! Is this really food!?ă
ăAhaha, they are preserved food made by processing fish and small crabs you know. The smell is intense but they are usually delicious. I can ventilate the room with magic and make it cooler so just try it firstă
When I said that while laughing at them, the two of them fearfully approaches the jars.
Torr was scared of the smell and wonât pick it up, but Asmo has a strong passion for food so it seems that his curiosity won over him. He put his hand on the jar and grabbed a small crab.
The small crab Asmo took has gone through the color of bright red in every way, as it has become brown, perhaps because it is soaked in things like salt, sauce, and sunlight. And there is also a strong crab smell drifting.
ăO, oi, are you going to eat that?ă
While Torr watch him with a worried face, Asmo put the small crab into his mouth in one go.
Every time Asmo chews on it, satisfying crunchy and grating sounds like when you break shells to pieces can be heard. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
ăâŠâŠah, itâs good! This has a richer flavor compared to the crabs found in Koryatt villageâs river, the more I chew on this, the more the taste oozes out!ă
ăThatâs cause itâs dried. So the taste is concentratedă
ăAnd the texture is also satisfying. You should also try it too Torr, donât be scaredă
ăWh, whoâs the scared one!ă
I guess he was provoked by Asmo - who showed him how he confidently eats it - that Torr decides to also reach out for a small crab in the jar, and then he throws it into his mouth.
ăIt is indeed tasty! Setting aside the smell and impression I got when I look into the jar, the taste is really exquisiteă
Ahaha, I understand him a bit he got a little scared after seeing the small crabs crammed together and covering everything inside the jar.
Youâre going to scream a bit if you donât know that the content is small crabs when you look into it.
ăSo, the other one is fish from the sea?ă
ăUn. It contains various fish from the sea like, horse mackerel or chub mackerelă
ăHorse mackerel? Chub mackerel?ă
Torr tilted his head to the side when I listed two types of fish inside the jar.
ăItâs the name of the sea fishă
ăHeeăŒ, I donât understand it at all but, it doesnât matter what kind of fish they are if itâs from the seaă
Iâm sure there are several more fish inside, but for Torr and Asmo - who donât really understand sea fish -, they wonât understand it even if I talk about them in detail.
Anyway, they would just be happy if they tastes different from river fish.
And perhaps itâs due to the confidence they got after trying the tasty small crabs that Torr and Asmo confidently take the dried fish without being scared. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
ăUooohhh! What the heck is this? Theyâre flat?ă
Ahaha, dried fish is basically fish being cut open after all, so the impact of seeing them so suddenly will be great.
ăIt will be hard to eat them all, so you can try tasting them after cutting them into small piecesă
ăO, ou, rightă
Of course, there is a small one inside there, but the ones those two picked up are the big ones. So itâs fine to cut some parts into small pieces and eat them.
As Torr and Asmo pull the edge of the dried fish, it comes off as if it peels from the fish.
Their color is tinged with brown due to being soaked in things like sunlight and salt. Just seeing them alone already reminds me of the rich taste of fish.
Torr and Asmo slowly put the peeled-off meat into their mouth.
ăAhh, this one is also delish! So this is the taste of sea fish!ă
ăIt has a strong taste different from the usual grilled river fish we haveă
As soon as they eat the dried fish, Torr and Asmoâs eyes open wide and they let out voices of admiration.
Seeing the two of them eating the fish deliciously makes me also want to eat them a bit.
ăâŠâŠhey, give me a biteă
ăAh, this guy! You have a lot of these in your own house, didnât you!ă
ăBut I want to eat them now even if I have them back home! Else this will be your last souvenir!ă
ăWait, canât be helped then!ă
When I threaten him like that, Torr gives me a dried fish with a reluctant expression on his face. Incidentally, Asmo will keep on holding his food rather than giving it to others even if he dies.
Un, Iâm not expecting any scrap of food from you Asmo, so donât worry about it.
So Torrâs dried fish is horse mackerel? www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
I tear off a small piece of horse mackerel-dried fish with my hand and continue to bring it to my mouth.
As soon as it enters my mouth, a rich smell of the sea pierces through my mouth, and when I chew on it, the concentrated umami of the horse mackerel seeps out.
ăDelicious. The pure umami taste is much better compared to eating the fish being grilled normallyă
Kuh, it would be even better if I could drink Kagura sake in one gulp after the salty taste remains in my mouth. Fresh seafood dishes and Kaguraâs sake have excellent compatibility after all.
Dang it, I only store liquor and snacks in my subspace. Itâs still a faraway dream for me from being able to confidently drink liquor after a meal.
ăSo, Al. Whatâs inside the last box!ă
As Iâm eating the dried horse mackerel, Torr hit the wooden box as if he couldnât wait anymore.
Asmo touches and sniffs the wooden box and mutters something like ăItâs cold things I guess.....ă with a serious expression on his face.
ăOkay. Letâs open the last highlight of the souvenir this timeă
After saying that, I open the lid of the wooden box. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
There were the ices I made with Ice magic inside. And a lot of frozen fish inside the box.
ăUuoooohhh! Itâs the real sea fish this time!ă
ăThere are a lot of them!ă
Torr and Asmoâs eyes are sparkling bright as they look into the box.
Small fish are frozen with Ice magic as is, while largish fish are frozen after their head and internal organs are processed. They are frozen in a temperature that can be called a minus degree (Celcius), and since they are stored inside the subspace, their degree of freshness is also still perfect.
ăOi oi, this makes the dried fish you gave us before like a fake one isnât ită
ăErr, I know what you mean, but itâs different from the one before since it was flată
Well, itâs obvious which one among them has a fish-like appearance.
As I look at Toor with a smile on my face, Asmo asks me with a serious look.
ăâŠâŠthis, how do you eat them?ă
ăYou can grill the small fish with just salt if you donât mind their bones that much, the internal organs of the medium-sized fish had been processed and removed so you can insert a knife from their stomach and only grill their body, stuff vegetables into their stomach as is, or stew them with oil-based sauceă
ăI see. Understoodă
ăEh? But I completely have no idea what Al is saying though?ă
While Asmo usually cooks, it looks like Torr - who doesnât cook at all - really couldnât imagine my explanation.
ăJust ask your neighbor, Asmo for the detailsă
I donât feel like cooking that much today. Itâs troublesome to teach them attentively for each step.
It would be faster to ask his neighbor, Asmo.
ăOi Asmo, tell me about ită
ăIf you get down on your knees, and say âAsmo-sama, please teach this stupid guy how to cookâ I will teach you thenă
ăStop kidding around you fatty! Whoâs going to say something like that to you!ă
ăHahaha, youâll be in a fix even if you have fish but donât know how to cook, you know? I think Myula-san will be angry at you, saying âWhy didnât you ask him properlyâ or soăŒă
ăGugugugu, itâs cowardly of you to quote my kaachană
Although he knows a little bit about the trick in river fish, heâs sure to be nervous dealing with foodstuff for the first time. From Myula-sanâs perspective - the one in charge of cooking -, sheâd probably get mad at him if he didnât ask him properly. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
ăIâm sorry. Excuse me, Iâm a little thirsty so I will get some wateââahh, itâs cool but why is it smelly!? What is this smell!?ă
As we are having such a conversation, Myula-san opened the window at just the right time. And along with that, the smell of dried fish and frozen fish has left the room, while Myula-san is surprised and steps back.
ăAhăŒ, come to think of it, we still hadnât ventilated the roomă
ăWe got used to the smell and stopped minding ită
ăYeah, me tooă
ăItâs not âget used to itâ. Quickly open the windows and change the air inside! Else the smell will permeate the room!ă
As we are sitting there without a care in the world about the smell, Myula-san entered the living room through the window while covering her mouth with a towel, then she continues to open the windows inside.
ăBut kaachan, itâs hot. Weâll do it properly later, so leave us aloneă
ăThen it will be too late if you do it later!ă
Torr complains so, but Myula-san doesnât bother with him and opens the windows directly.
The cold air drifting inside the room escapes outside, and in exchange, the air that was filled with hot air enters the room.
ăReally, just what is this smell?ă
ăItâs the dried fish Al broughtă
ăKyaa!? Wait a minute, what is that?ă
When Torr grabbed the dried fish from the jar and showed it to her, Myula-san lets out a small scream in response.
Since dried fish has the body of the fish spread out wide open, it will look grotesque at a glance.
Setting us who had already become familiar with the flavor aside, for Myula-san - who saw it for the first time - the shock might be too great.
Knowing Myula-sanâs surprise at the dried fish, Torr approaches Myula-san with a mischievous smile on his face.
ăHehehe, this is sea fish yâknow. This is also the first time you saw it right, kaachan? Here, take a look at this!ă
ăHey, stop it! Donât come closer with that! It makes me sick!ă
ăHahahaha, kaachan will be scared as long as I have this!ă
I know his feeling of wanting to do so, but do it in moderation all right.
After that, of course, Torr got scolded by Myula-san, and it seems that Ema-oneesama also scolds him since there is the remaining smell of dried fish inside the room. But, it appears that the dried fish was well received by them.