Chapter 89: Gossip â Mio, Cooking and Hero (1)
First of all, I have to do something important that I should have done a long time ago.
Everyone that donated, thank you very much!
Since no one commented for a nickname, I just didnât know how to express my thanks and it has been piling up inside me. So here I thank everyone who has supported. Thank you very much.
Also, here comes my favorite char, Mio!
Author note said: âThere have been voices of people wanting Mio, so here it is. The chapter of Tomoe was wrapped up in one chapter but this one has parts, so thereâs slight favoritism hereâ
âEhm, seaweed with thickness and hard dried fish⌠was it?â
A woman that doesnât fit the port townâs market walks.
The bustling sells of various articles that are unfolding on both sides of the street, and the calls of the shopkeepers that shout with a loud voice.
That the places where there are no stands are the street, makes it a complicated labyrinth with irregular shaped pathways.
The people seen when walking down the road were normally naked on the upper half or wearing a thin shirt. The number of muscular men was high.
She was clearly not familiar in this place, a girl wearing clothes deep indigo blue that were close to black was obviously an existence that was out of place here.
The clothes called kimono is probably an attire that no one in this port town has seen before.
And also, her hair that may or may not reach her shoulders, glossy black hair that has been beautifully trimmed. Her long slit and black eyes, and her vibrant deep red lips. The beauty that emitted conspicuous colors was clear in everyoneâs eyes.
Her attire and appearance, with those two combined, make the people walking by turn and look twice. That person is one of Kuzunoha Companies strongest jewels, Mio.
Her representative Makoto is currently in Academy Town and finished opening a store there. Tomoe who has been acting alongside her, has received a task by Makoto and is in a faraway place, so right now Mio is alone.
For the sake of pioneering the port town as Makoto told her, she advanced through the north road of Tsige and arrived at this town that is located at the sea.
It isnât that big of a town. Compared to Tsige, the size of this one is clearly smaller.
The other remote regions have a land route for goods distribution called the gold highway, but the growth of this town is slightly restraint.
To walk with hyuman legs and take just a few days, one would be able to raise several questions.
Whatever the case, this location is port town Koran that is blessed to a certain extent, doesnât have a direct connection to the worldâs border special procurement route and even when they have the potential to receive merchant ships of the highest class, they still havenât reached that scale. A deplorable town.
Even so, thereâs obviously no need to compare this to Tsige in marine products. There were many ingredients Mio had seen for the first time and were unfolded in the market.
However, it seems that the thing she is looking for or something close to it, she still couldnât find it. Mio stops her feet and sighs.
âI canât find anything close to kelp and skipjack tunaâ
What Mio is looking for are ingredients that are pretty common in Makotoâs world.
Itâs just that, this isnât something that Makoto asked for.
After Mio separated from Makoto, she has been enjoying the food and she has mostly visited the famous restaurants and bars in Tsige. Makoto has accompanied her in eating while walking and has been accepting the food he recommended, but even if itâs wide, thereâs still a limit. There are a few where she hasnât visited, but itâs clear that she will hit the bottom soon. For Mio who loves Makoto and delicious food, this was a worrying situation.
Tomoe nonchalantly said this.
âIn that case, isnât it fine for Mio to just make the food Waka likes?â
For Mio, these words were literally a divine revelation.
For the girl who just ate the food that was brought to her, the impact of those words made her body stagger. And then she looked at Tomoe with a serious face, as if looking at a genius.
If she makes it herself, she can create what she considers the ideal taste. Even the taste that Makoto wishes for, she might be able to make it as well, is what she thought.
To begin, she tried to recreate the food she has eaten until now. But she was left astonished.
She didnât know the process of cooking at all.
Cut, bake, boil, fry; that level she can manage, but the further steps she just canât.
There are people in Asora who can cook, and she was mostly taught by the orcs in cooking which increased her skills.
Even so, she wasnât able to reach the level of the food she ate in Tsige. Mio, lowering the number of requests she took in the Adventurer Guild, revisited the restaurants and bars and lowered her head to the cooks there.
She challenged a number of times and failed. And Mio who had begun understanding the basic parts of cooking, had felt some sort of respect for the people that she couldnât replicate the food from. Thatâs why, for Mio who wants to be taught the recipe and technique, it was natural to lower her head. On the other hand, the shopkeepers and cooks who saw this, couldnât bear it.
In Tsige, the adventurers and the people related, there is not a single one who doesnât know the existence of Mio. And that person herself is suddenly lowering her head and asking to teach her cooking.
The cooks showed such respect that one wouldnât be able to tell who was the one asking for a favor, and practically in an instant they accepted her request. Just, thereâs also the deal about competing stores and secret recipes, so there were parts they couldnât teach her; is what they supplicated Mio with visible sweat. Of course, Mio nods at their words. She told them that it was okay to just teach about some particular foods, and she is not intending to be a hindrance in their business so it was fine to not tell her the secret recipes and techniques.
And so, relinquishing sleep time, Mio went to the cooksâ kitchen to get taught and there were cases when she matched times with them and accompanied them. After 1 month, Mio was able to recreate the food, not to a perfect level, but she was able to understand the basic essentials of the food in Tsige and mimic them.
The complex parts like the hand skills and sauce, she still doesnât reach their level, but itâs an acquisition rate that would surprise anyone.
This may digress, but Mio who normally treats adventurers coldly, was using formal language with cooks. And because of that, in the restaurants, bars, and innâs which are close to that connotation; her behavior with the adventurers became docile.
And so, now. The objective of Mio in this port town was exactly, the recreation of Japanese food.
The food of her Master Makotoâs world. Before heading to the Academy, Makoto explained her about the world he had come from. And Mio, seeing that it would be impossible to meet that scenery and food, was truly sad. By the way, she really didnât have any particular impression about Makotoâs blood-line. Shiki was incredibly excited and made quite the ruckus, so he received the iron fist of Tomoe, but Mio honestly didnât mind what country Makoto was from, no, no matter what world he was from, it wouldnât change. He is just her only master and an irreplaceable existence. Thatâs why, no matter whatâs in his past, she wouldnât mind. Instead of such boring stuff, her interest in the Japanese food Makoto was eating was more important.
The Japanese foodâs foundation was different from Tsigeâs food. Instead of using meat, it gave the impression that they used more marine products and she thought that the port town would serve as some sort of clue, butâŚ
âNo good. To begin with, thereâs not much dried stuff. From the Japanese food I saw in those memories, the only thing I can recreate is the sunny-side fried eggs. I had Tomoe cooperate with me and research for ways to cook, but it seems that the kelp and skipjack tuna are indispensable. The rice and miso are being recreated by Tomoe so, leaving that to her, I should gather various ingredients and learn different ways of cooking, and yetâŚâ
Mio who had resolved herself to someday provide Makoto with Japanese food in Asora, had quite the expectations from the port town, Koran.
However, the truth was that she couldnât find the ingredients and the important dried fish was absolutely scarce. It was to the point that it made her question if this town didnât actually delve in that kind of manufacturing.
âDried fish? Things dried in the sun? Hmph, around this area thereâs no one who would go all the way to dry in order to eat fish and if they plan on carrying it to a faraway place, they normally freeze itâ
âIn here the most important thing is freshness after all. To go through the trouble of drying it. Well, there might be houses where they dry them for one night butâŚâ
âThey are low in numbers but, in places like souvenir and wholesale stores there might be someâ
She went around and asked, but the answers that she received were all unreliable. Even so, there was a bit of information regarding dried fish. The problem is the kelp. Even when telling them their characteristics, they all made faces like they havenât heard of it before, making Mio dejected.
After doing a round around the market, Mio decided to go check the beach.
Because she was taught that the place where fishes are dried is in the sandy beach, she thought that maybe she could get some information from the people that actually practice this. She felt like she was clinging to straws.
âIs it that. It makes a peculiar smell. Like raw, or more like⌠a bad smell I have felt in the city but at the same time different. Fuh~, even though there should be marine plants drifting all around in the beach. Why is it that I canât find any?â
While viewing the work at a distance, Mio despairs at the fact that there is only fish there. Glancing at one part of the beach, there was a black lump there and Mio noticed that it was washed up seaweed.
In a place with pebbles spread all over and wood put together, a base was made located at an area where the sunlight hits easily. Fishes were placed there. The small ones are left as is and all the others were cut opened.
âNow that I think about it, the smell of fish stinks more than beast meat. I feel like even boiling beast bone for a long time to make Dashi , there are also no fitting ingredients for it either. Tomoe-san told me that: âThatâs where the kelp comes in-nan jaâ, and said there was a special method. I thought that the basic process behind making soup with beast bone and fish bone as well as the ingredients were practically the same, but maybe thatâs not the caseâŚâ
In the end, she wasnât able to get any new information from the workers. However, she was holding doubts about her own thoughts and gets closer to the black lump located at the beach.
One of the workers said: âThatâs trash of the seaâ, but Mio didnât mind.
âThere are some that are warm to the touch and ones that are thin. Thereâs quite a lot of types. When I look closely at their color, thereâs green and blue, and thereâs even red. The taste is⌠ara. Crispy and tasty. Saying its trash, what a waste. This one here is⌠well, the slight stickiness is worrying, but it is eatable. The lukewarm one has some white powder stuck on it-desu wa ne. Heh~, this one has a strong taste. The aroma is like that of the beach, a nice scent. The white powder is not poison either. From what I have gotten, the parts that are dry get hard but their taste gets stronger. Isnât this quite enough to qualify as ingredients-desu ka? Geez, they really have no insightâ
In order to have Tomoe inspect it, Mio looks for ones whose current state is good. The people that were drying fish gathered at a distance and looked at her eccentricities with a disgusted face. But in the middle, someone suddenly faced where Mio was, lifted both of its hands and began screaming.
But Mio who was concentrated in selecting seaweed, didnât notice that.
Several people look at the source, but Mio concentrated in her mouth. After they made noise is when Mio finally noticed. But it was already too slow.
âThat is⌠whatâs going on? Ah, maybe you were curious after seeing me eat seaweed? Eh?!â (Mio)
An impact suddenly came from the back.
If it was a normal person, it would have certainly been a fatal attack. Thatâs how strong the attack Mio received was.
Mio who had stood up from her squatting position with both hands filled with her harvest, had completely let her guard down. If she had spread out a ânetworkâ and expanded her perception area it would have been a different story, but Mio isnât that skilled in the perception of her surroundings. Without any proper preparations, she received the attack and was blown away.
Mio was in the inner part of the beach at a place a bit faraway, attacked from behind while she was testing the seaweed.
A loud sound of water mixed with the noise of waves was raised.
Thatâs right, Mio was completely thrown into the sea water.
The ingredients that she had carefully selected and were in her hands, were released because of the surprise attack. And were washed by the waves and disappeared into the open sea.
At her shoulder, there was a ferocious silver beast hanging onto her, biting her hard. With its hind legs it kicked Mioâs body several times and from its moving jaw, one can see that the beast is still continuing to put in power. And yet, Mio didnât show any reaction.
From the sandy part of the beach, there was a shadow running to where Mio is, and it was reflected in her field of vision.
â⌠I have been drenchedâ (Mio)
A cold penetrating voice rang out.
The big wolf that would reach the ground if it stretched its legs, stopped its kicks. Thatâs the identity of the beast that attacked Mio.
But that big and ferocious beast was scared by Mioâs words and weakness became present in its eyes.
From its throat, an unreliable groan resounded.
Using her right hand, Mio casually grabs the silver wolf that was biting her left shoulder by the neck.
It was a show of strength that none would expect from a woman, but just like that she pulled the wolf that was at her shoulder and smashed it into the sea.
Mioâs shoulders didnât have a single wound. It just left a small mark on the kimono she was wearing. The cloth resisted the attack of a wolf that was obviously not a normal beast. It was clear that it was not a simple kimono.
On the other hand, the wolf, just by being smashed into the ground, was so weak it couldnât even stand up properly. It was pushing its body up with its front legs, but its hind legs didnât do the same. It could only look at Mio while moaning weakly.
âDie, you bitchâ (Mio)
Mio takes out the folding fan from her bosom and swings it closed.
Looking at the wolf with cold eyes that showed no mercy, she swings it in a breath.
It was literally a paper-thin difference.
The dark shadow enters into the space between Mioâs attack and the wolf, and runs past while holding the wolf.
It must have been quite the desperate sprint. Without taking its distance from Mio, the shadowâs posture crumbles.
Mio, with her dangerous chill still around her, stops her movements and looks at the intruder that was standing on its knees.
An unusual sound reverberates in the place. The intruder thinking what was that sound, concentrates on the source of the sound.
At the sea that preceded Mioâs folding fan swingâŚ
Without caring about that disturbance, the sea that was carrying the wave⌠suddenly split up.
The sea had divided in a range of several tens of meters from where Mio is and the bottom of the ocean was exposed.
It was only a phenomenon that lasted for a few seconds, but the intruder gulped its breath and stared at that spectacle.
âThe owner? Then accompany itâ (Mio)
Mio swings her folding fang without hearing the answer of the intruder who had lost its words because of the previous phenomenon.
The arm that was swung trembles, and stops. Because it lowered its head with all it had, when she thought it would stand up.
Maybe it piqued her interest. The hand of Mio stops and she waits for the next words of the intruder.
âWhen I went to check the beach, this little one suddenly attacked you and⌠Itâs my fault. I understand that you are angered, but please, forgive us. The treatment of your injury and the mending of that kimono; I will definitely do it so!â
Mio slowly lowers her folding fan, and puts it back into her bosom. She forgave it, or more like, it was because this one has piqued her interest.
In this place where people donât know the name of kimono, the black haired girl here had said it as if it were natural. The girl in question stares at the folding fan that was lowered, and looked like all her strength left her.
â⌠I am not injured so thereâs no need for treatment. Also, mend my kimono? Itâs is unfortunate, but this isnât something you can fixâ (Mio)
It looked like she was a bit down because of the traces of fang in her kimono, but it wasnât torn. Actually, the only damage-like damage was the washed away seaweed and that she was drenched.
âLetâs see, if you help me out and treat me to dinner, I can leave it as if it never happenedâ (Mio)
âIf thereâs anything I can do! Regarding the dinner, please let me treat you! Thank you very much! UhmâŚâ
âMio-desu. And you lady?â (Mio)
âHibiki. Mio-san, I am truly sorry. This child is also reflecting soâŚâ (Hibiki)
At the place where she points out, there was the wolf curling its tail, but it was still sending a hostile gaze at Mio. It didnât look like it was reflecting at all.
âSorry! Horn, return!â (Hibiki)
The silver wolf is enveloped by light and disappears into the sash of Hibiki. Seeing that, Mio slightly narrows her eyes.
âThat wolf is a spirit who lives in a tool?â (Mio)
âI donât know in detail, but itâs something like a guardian beastâ (Hibiki)
â⌠I see. Then Hibiki, could you please help me sort out the seaweed that is in good state?â (Mio)
âSeaweed? Uhm⌠is it for wakame or kelp? Mio-san is a cook?â (Hibiki)
Mioâs eyes widen at the nonchalant words of Hibiki. For Hibiki, her real reason to ask about her being a cook is because she actually wanted to continue by asking Mio what in the world is she. Of course, she doesnât really think that Mio who easily split up the sea, to be a cook.
â?! That! Is there kelp among these?!â (Mio)
âEh?! Ah, uhm, itâs probably the big one over thereâ (Hibiki)
âThis one?! Or maybe this one?!â (Mio)
Just where in the world did her previous intensity go. She was now holding the said seaweeds in each hand and looking at Hibiki with eyes that radiated a different kind of intensity.
âT-The one Mio-san is holding at your right is probably⌠kelp I thinkâŚ.â (Hibiki)
âTo think that not only was it not being sold, but dropped?!â (Mio)
Throwing away the one at her left, Mio holds the kelp (probably) at her right with both hands and looks at it seriously.
(Eh? Is she really a cook or something like that? I have heard that the wasteland before the town called Tsige was a place where common sense didnât work but⌠is it that common sense wonât work beginning from the outside part? She was uninjured after being attacked by Horn and was able to easily split the sea with a folding fan. For someone like that to be a cookâŚ) (Hibiki)
Hibiki looks seriously at that Mio.
âUhm, Mio-san. The one you threw is probably something called wakame and it is used in miso⌠I mean, as an ingredient which I think will go along well in soupâ (Hibiki)
Just from the looks she wasnât sure, but Hibiki follows her explanation on the other one that was cruelly thrown away onto the beach. Immediately after that, Mio once again holds the wakame and washes it with sea water.
âWakame! Thatâs right, this was wakame! Ah, Hibiki-san! I thank Waka-sama for this encounter!â (Mio)
âUwa!! Mio-san, just what is Waka-sama? Or more like, Iâm sorry, it hurts, it stinks. Please let me go~~!!â (Hibiki)
In her left hand wakame, in her right kelp; holding both of them, Mio embraces Hibiki with quite the vigor and strength, without reserve.
Mio didnât notice at all, but this is how the Limia hero Otonashi Hibiki and Mio met.