Chapter 154 – The Orc Champion’S Meat Dish
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We decided to finish hunting in the morning, have lunch, and return immediately.
Elsie and Noah were getting used to their upgraded bodies, but it would naturally take time to prepare the requested dish.
Especially since bringing out the best flavor of the Orc Champion’s meat would take even longer.
So, after lunch, I moved everyone and we headed straight to the surface.
Before stopping by the Adventurer’s Guild, we went to the Fox’s Rest first.
“Ah, welcome back, everyone! You’re back early today!”
“Oh my, you’re back.”
Tina and Ms. Miranda greeted us together as we entered.
It seemed very quiet at the Fox’s Rest, as there wasn’t a single person there, probably because it was lunchtime.
“Ms. Miranda, Tina, when do you two usually have dinner?”
“Us? I have to serve, and Mom has to cook, so we eat earlier than others. The adventurers usually come around 6, so we eat around 5.”
It was about 1 PM now.
“Ninya, how is it?”
“It’s fine. I can make it on time.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Huh? What do you mean, Rent?”
Noah grinned and said to Tina, who was tilting her head.
“Tina, don’t eat dinner until we come back today. We’ll bring something delicious.”
“Something delicious?”
“Oh my, is Rent’s group preparing our dinner today?”
Elsie smiled and nodded at Ms. Miranda’s words.
“Yes, Ms. Miranda. It’s an Orc Champion’s meat dish.”
Ms. Miranda and Tina’s eyes widened at the mention of the Orc Champion’s meat dish.
“O-Orc Champion’s meat!?”
“Is that really true?”
“Yes! So please look forward to it and wait!”
Tina’s face lit up.
“Mom! It’s Orc Champion’s meat!”
The fact that Tina was so excited meant that Orc Champion’s meat must be really famous for being delicious.
“I heard, Tina. I never thought I’d get to eat Orc Champion’s meat in my life. By any chance… did Rent catch it?”
“Yes. I got it as a reward for encountering and defeating an Orc Champion. So, I’m planning to get the meat today and ask someone Ninya knows to cook it. So, please wait for dinner, Tina and Ms. Miranda.”
“Okay, Rent! I’ll definitely wait!”
“I’ll be looking forward to it too, Rent.”
Leaving behind Tina and Ms. Miranda, who were full of anticipation, we headed to the Adventurer’s Guild.
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At the Adventurer’s Guild, we reported to Ms. Lenny and then went to the warehouse where Mr. Kelvan was.
“Mr. Kelvan.”
“Huh? Oh, Rent! Onge! You’re early today!”
Looking into the warehouse, I saw Mr. Kelvan dismantling monsters with other staff members.
Come to think of it, it was the first time I’d seen other staff members in the warehouse.
“Yes, I wanted to eat Orc Champion’s meat.”
“Ah, it takes time to cook, so that’s understandable.”
Mr. Kelvan immediately understood our purpose.
“Hmm? Rent, what are you looking at?”
Mr. Kelvan seemed to notice my gaze at the staff members, looked behind him, and nodded.
“Come to think of it, it’s the first time you’ve looked at someone else in the warehouse besides me. Usually, I can handle it alone, but today, we have a backlog of orders. A fellow guild member is helping out.”
“I see.”
I thought everyone was off work or on break when I was around.
I was a little surprised that Mr. Kelvan usually did the dismantling alone.
“You usually dismantle alone… Mr. Kelvan, you’re amazing.”
“Hehehe, there used to be staff members, but they all moved to other departments after seeing me get too excited while dismantling!”
“Ah…”
That was a very understandable reason.
“Well, thanks to that, I can enjoy my dismantling time alone. Here, this is the Orc Champion’s meat!”
Mr. Kelvan took out the carefully packaged Orc Champion’s meat from the floor one by one.
There was quite a lot of it.
“Take it.”
“…That’s a lot.”
“Hehehe, it’s very little compared to the total amount of meat from an Orc Champion!”
“Thank you, Mr. Kelvan.”
“I’m the one who’s grateful! Now, take it and enjoy it!”
I put the Orc Champion’s meat into my inventory.
Then, we handed over the Orc corpses and weapons we had caught today to Mr. Kelvan, and we left the warehouse.
Now, all that was left was to ask the chef Ninya knew to cook it.
I’m very excited about how delicious it will be!
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“Kevin~.”
The restaurant where Ninya said there was a chef she knew.
The restaurant wasn’t crowded, but there were a fair number of people.
Ninya walked towards the kitchen without hesitation and called out the name of someone named Kevin.
Soon, a young man with curly brown hair came out of the kitchen.
“Ninya? Welcome. What brings you here? Ho, perhaps Peira has something to say to me?”
Kevin asked with expectant eyes.
Perhaps Peira was a succubus who was a regular customer of Ninya’s and an acquaintance of Kevin’s.
“No, it’s not that. I have something else to ask you today.”
“A request?”
“Yeah. First, is there a quiet place to talk?”
“If you need a quiet place, the break room would be better. Come this way.”
Guided by Kevin, we were led to the break room.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Leaving those words behind, Kevin left the break room.
And 10 minutes later, Kevin returned to the break room.
“Did you wait long? I still have some dishes to make.”
“No, we’re the ones who came suddenly.”
“So, what’s the matter?”
“Kevin, you’ve definitely cooked Orc Champion’s meat before, right?”
“Yeah, about two years ago, we happened to get a request to cook it at our restaurant. It was the best experience. But why?”
Ninya grinned and said to Kevin.
“Actually, this time we caught an Orc Champion and got the meat. So, I was going to ask Kevin to cook it for us.”
Kevin’s eyes widened at Ninya’s words.
“What!? Is that really true!”
“Of course. Rent, please take out some of the meat here.”
“Yes, Ninya.”
I took out the packaged Orc Champion’s meat and placed it on the table in the break room.
As soon as Kevin saw the Orc Champion’s meat, he put both hands on the table and stared intently at it.
“T-This is! Orc Champion’s meat! It’s real! Come to think of it, I heard that Orc Champion’s meat was being distributed yesterday, could it be…”
“Maybe that’s the Orc Champion we caught. It seems like you couldn’t buy it at this restaurant?”
“Orc Champion’s meat is popular everywhere. Our restaurant tried desperately to buy it, but this time it was not enough. But now, there’s Orc Champion’s meat right in front of me!”
Kevin straightened up and said to Ninya.
“Ninya! Will you sell this Orc Champion’s meat to our restaurant? I’ll pay any price! We have an important guest coming this month!
If we offer Orc Champion’s meat as a special menu to that guest, our restaurant’s reputation will skyrocket!”
“No way. We came to this restaurant to eat it ourselves.”
“Ugh…”
Kevin looked very frustrated.
It seemed that just cooking Orc Champion’s meat and putting it on the menu was enough to boost the reputation of the restaurant.
“Um… Mr. Kevin?”
“Huh? You are…”
“Ah, I’m Rent.”
“Rent? Could you be the Dungeon Crasher…”
It seemed that Kevin also knew my nickname.
“That’s right, Rent, the Dungeon Crasher who’s a hot topic right now. Rent is the one who caught the Orc Champion.”
Hearing Ninya’s words, Kevin bowed his head to me.
“P-Please! P-Please, could you sell the meat to our restaurant!”
Perhaps thinking that I, the one who caught it, had the upper hand, Kevin bowed several times and asked me.
“Um, Mr. Kevin.”
“Yes!”
Kevin straightened up and looked at me with eyes full of expectation and passion.
“Is this one piece enough?”
“Yes! That’s enough! It’s even more than enough!”
There was still a lot of Orc Champion’s meat left.
Then, wouldn’t it be better to give this Orc meat to Kevin and ask him to cook it?
“Then, I’ll give this meat to your restaurant.”
“R-Really!”
“Yes, but…”
I took out a few more pieces of Orc Champion’s meat from my inventory.
“Please cook these meats deliciously.”
“O-Orc Champion’s meat, there’s so much of it…!”
“Ah, I want to take the cooked food with me, not eat it here, but the tableware and plates…”
Before I could finish my sentence, Kevin interrupted me.
“I’ll give it to you! As much as you want! I’ll prepare all the tableware and plates! Thank you, Rent!”
Kevin grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.
“Then, please make enough for 11 people. Is that enough?”
“It’s more than enough! Please wait a moment!”
Kevin immediately left the break room.
“Hey~! Big news!”
Kevin’s excited voice could be heard from beyond the door.
As Kevin left, Ninya turned to me and asked.
“Are you okay, Rent? Giving away a whole piece.”
“Yes, it’s okay. I still have more meat. Besides, he’s Ninya’s acquaintance.”
“You don’t have to worry about that so much.”
Even as she said that, Ninya smiled brightly.
I gave away a whole piece because he was Ninya’s acquaintance, but I still had more Orc Champion’s meat.
I thought it wouldn’t be bad to leave a good impression on someone I would definitely ask again in the future.
Then, Noah tilted his head and asked me.
“But Rent, why 11 servings? If you add us, Tina, and Ms. Miranda, 6 servings should be enough, right?”
“Ah, that’s… I’m going to give it to the people who usually help me out.”
Elsie also tilted her head.
“People who help you out?”
“Yeah. First, Mr. Kelvan, who gave me the Orc Champion’s meat. And I’m also going to give some to Ms. Lenny and the Guild Master.”
I was giving it to Mr. Kelvan and Ms. Lenny out of pure goodwill, but I was giving it to the Guild Master more with the intention of asking for his continued support.
It’s always good to be on good terms with people of high status.
“What about the other two?”
“I’m going to give them to my mom… ahem, my parents when I go back home later.”
“I see. Huh? Rent, are you thinking of going back home?”
“Why? Is something strange, Noah?”
“No… it’s just that it’s very rare for people who came from outside to become adventurers to go back home. Usually, they either make money and settle here or go to other areas.
The only ones who go back home are… people who aren’t suited to being adventurers or people who are injured and can no longer adventure.”
“I see.”
Do most adventurers not even think about seeing their parents once they leave home?
Elsie gently took my hand and asked.
“U-Um, Rent… you’re not thinking of leaving the party, are you?”
It seemed that my words had made her a little uneasy.
I held Elsie’s hand with both of mine and shook my head.
“I’m not planning to leave for good, Elsie. I just thought I should visit home once recently.”
Ninya suddenly snapped her finger as if she had just remembered something.
“Come to think of it, Rent’s hometown is about a 3-day carriage ride away, right?”
“Yes. It’s relatively close. If I ran, I could probably get there in less than a day.”
“That makes it sound really close~. But why are you planning to visit home for a while, Rent?”
“Originally, I was planning to send some of the money I earned to my parents once a month after becoming an adventurer.”
“Hee~ I see. Hehe, Rent is a filial son.”
“I-I think it’s commendable!”
“Actually, at first, I thought it would be good to send even 50 silver a month…”
“Hehe, now you’ve become a rich man who can easily buy a 10 gold bed, right?”
“Haha… yeah. So, since I’ve earned a lot of money, I’m going to give it to my parents… and actually, I want to show off a little.”
Our mother, who already loves money.
Wouldn’t her jaw drop if she saw me holding a large sum of money?
“How much are you going to give them, Rent?”
“100 gold.”
“W-100 gold!?”
“Yeah. They raised me all this time… they’re my precious parents. Ah, but even if I take gold, they won’t have any use for it in our hometown… Ninya, they’ll exchange gold for silver at the exchange, right?”
“Yeah. They can exchange it. Are you going to exchange it all for silver?”
“No, I’m going to leave 10 gold as gold. Actually, the reason I’m going myself is because the money I’m giving is a large sum, so I think it’s safest for me to go myself.”
At first, I was thinking of entrusting it to the carriage driver, but I couldn’t simply entrust a large sum of 100 gold to anyone.
“Hehe, yeah, it’s true that there won’t be any worries if Rent delivers it himself.”
“Um~ Rent~.”
Ninya hugged my arm tightly.
I felt the sensation of her ample chest, which made me very happy.
Ninya smiled brightly and said to me.
“When Rent visits home… can I come with you?”
Ninya requested to accompany me on my trip home.
