Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru

Chapter 151: A Respite From Adventuring XIII

【Unknown】

To cut to the chase, ramen was not given the royal seal.

The main reason for this is the wide variation in taste.

On the heels of the original ramen made by the flame religion, Tyutyu and the mikos started making their own versions of it.

The problem then became………

In addition, there are also inequalities and differences between the many temples of the flame religions.

The possibility of friction arising from this is high.

The Commerce Chairman and the priestess suggested pushing for the Tonkotsu Flame Miso Ramen with me as the representative, but I refused because it would be too much of a hassle.

If I were to accept, I would be consulted on ramen every day. I would be bombarded with requests for apprenticeship.

I don't have the time for that.

I know I'm repeating myself, but I'm an adventurer. Making ramen is not my main profession.

For this reason, ramen was not given the royal seal, but perhaps because it had become the talk of the town, it quickly spread throughout Lemuria.

The Commerce Chairman getting ahead of himself and investing too much in ramen-making equipment also contributed to that.

Another contributing factor may have been my decision to set the royalties for using the recipe for the ramen noodles at "one gold coin per year".

In the words of a Japanese person of the past,

The merchants were very much against it, but I brushed them off.

Also, Tyutyu's store became a ramen store after all.

It ended up being a cozy little store sandwiched between a noodle manufactory and a grocery store.

The two adjacent buildings had been built by the Zavua merchant company.

The grocery store stocks a variety of high-grade ingredients, including the miso, which has been branded as "elven miso", and other unusual seasonings that cannot be found anywhere else.

It's a small store in a bad location, but in a relatively short time, it has become a well-known store among those in the know.

That guy Melm works as a salesman at the store whenever he feels like it, and sales always triple on the days he works, much to the consternation of Lonewell and me.

Do people really like good-looking people that much?

Melm had been sternly warned by his daughter that she would send him flying if he tried anything with the customers.

The noodle manufactory employs the mikos of the flame religion as its employees.

The flame religion teaches that people should live ascetically, but sadly, it's hard to find anyone who hates money. This was exploited, and one of the mikos I had taught how to make ramen got into a dispute with a merchant from the center continent.

The merchant had swindled her out of the know-how and refused to pay the royalties.

In the end, that merchant company was crushed and absorbed. In order to make sure that nothing like that would happen again, a noodle manufactory was built to provide a safe place for the mikos to work.

The noodles made there are supplied to noodle stores all over Lemuria and have become the most prevalent type of noodles in the market.

Lonewell and the Commerce Chairman are planning to build more noodle manufactories, but it feels like they're going to build too many and face a setback. That's not something I'm going to lose sleep over though.

Well, the truth is, once there is a surplus of noodles, I have a plan that I intend to put into motion.

Leaving that aside.

Sandwiched between those two buildings, Tyutyu's ramen store………………to be perfectly frank, is not getting much customers.

One of the reasons for that is because ramen has become too widespread.

Sad to say, if a Hemu cook and a beastkin cook were to make the same dish, the majority of customers will choose to eat the Hemu's food.

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Good food is delicious no matter who makes it, but until they’ve had a taste of it, people’s prejudices will always prevail.

Furthermore, Tyutyu works in a brothel.

That's not exactly something that will whet people's appetites.

Nevertheless, that doesn't mean that she isn't making money.

That's because the brothel and the bar she works at buys her broth.

By the way, Tyutyu's tonkotsu miso ramen is sold at three copper coins per bowl at her store.

At the bar, it's priced at eight copper coins per bowl.

And in the brothel, it's sold for one silver coin per bowl.

Whenever a customer takes a liking to the taste of the ramen, someone would secretly tell him or her,

Every once in a while, that group of three drunks would gather at the store and cause trouble for Tyutyu and the other customers, but apart from that, the day when it becomes a famous hole-in-the-wall store is probably near.

At one of the tables in front of the store, Evetta-san was stacking empty porcelain bowls on top of each other.

She only had three bowls today, huh? This has become a regular sight since the opening of the store, but it's what's underneath that's the problem.

「Err, what's this?」

By her chair was a large gray dog, lying face down and asleep.

It was a dirty, filthy-looking dog.

「Oh, Souya. Good day」

「Good day, Evetta-san」

「I knew you're coming today, Souya, so I made sure to leave some room for more. Please allow me to help with the taste-testing of the new dish」

「Oh. Okay, I'm counting on you then」

How can you still have room for more after three bowls? was what I thought, but……

「Thanks for waiting, Evetta. Here's your extra-large Curry Tonkotsu Ramen, with extra thick pieces of chashu, extra vegetables, and extra spices and garlic-nya」

……the fourth bowl arrived.

Tyutyu served Evetta her ramen.

She was dressed in a maid-like cooking outfit, with her hair tied up and tucked inside a chef's hat. She was showing very little skin, and even her tail was kept hidden inside her skirt.

When a girl who usually wears revealing clothes suddenly covers up, it gives me the urge to leer at her. Or perhaps it's just that I'm dirty-minded.

Evetta-san ate her ramen with gusto.

The curry ramen that we came up with last week was heaped high with bean sprouts, and on top of them was a pile of thick pieces of chashu, which was the barkeeper's idea.

What kind of devilish modification is this, I wonder?

Can it even be called ramen anymore?

Leaving that retort for later……

「Tyutyu, what's with this dog? You can't have animals in a store that serves food」

「Oh, Souya, that dog is Barfuru-sama-nya」

「Huh?」

Now that she mentions it, it does kinda bear some resemblance.

Err, but it's just a dog, right?

「When I arrived at the store this morning, I found a burglar who he had left half-dead-nya. As thanks, I gave him some leftovers and he ended up staying-nya. That's why he's Barfuru-sama-nya」

「What?! A burglar?! Are you okay?!」

「I'm fine-nya. Like I said, that's why I named the dog Barfuru-sama-nya」

「Oh, so it's just a dog you named Barfuru-sama」

For a moment, I thought it was actually him.

A moving tale of him returning to Tyutyu's side even though he had become like this wouldn't suit that guy, I suppose.

「Alright, Tyutyu, get rid of it」

「No-nya~」

「You can’t keep it. A filthy dog like this will make the customers lose their appetite」

Evetta-san wasn't paying our conversation any mind and was focused on shoveling the ramen into her mouth, so I ignored her.

「I'll wash him properly-nya. I'll have him wear a hat and also put some clothes on him-nya!」

「That's not the point」

Perhaps Tyutyu was too loud, but Barfuru-sama(dog) walked over to a corner of the store before lying back down.

「Look, Tyutyu. You can't even use him as a watchdog」

Dogfuru-sama had held its right foreleg aloft as it walked. I didn't see any visible wounds, so there must be something wrong with its bones or muscles.

More than ever, I doubt it can be used as a guard dog.

「Souya, that dog is no ordinary dog. It's probably some sort of monster. If it's a nuisance, I can take it to the slaughterhouse for you」

「Oh, I'd appreciate that. I'll treat you another bowl of ramen in return」

I'll accept Evetta's suggestion. After hearing that it's a monster, all the more reason to not have it around.

I'll have to re-think the store's security measures. The store is slowly beginning to make money, so it might get targeted by burglars again.

「Souya! No-nya! Nya is definitely keeping him-nya!」

「Ehhh」

Tyutyu rebuffed my suggestion.

But you can't have pets in a store that serves food, isn't it?

Also, there's something about this dog that gets on my nerves.

Its face, bearing, vibe, and the air it gives off. Everything.

Does this dog really have no connection to Barfuru?

「Souya, the storekeeper seems adamant about this, so why not allow her to keep it? I'll take care of the quarantining and disinfecting procedures. If there are no problems, it'll be fitted with a collar that proves that the Adventurers' Guild has granted her permission to keep it」

「Evetta, you're the best-nya! It's Nya's treat today-nya!」

「Fufu, then I'll have the chashu ramen. With extra meat」

「Coming right up-nya!」

After taking her order, Tyutyu went back to the kitchen as Evetta-san grinned at a job well done.

That was abuse of power though.

I turned to stare at Dogfuru and got a look of annoyance in return.

「You………………don't dirty up the store, got it?」

"Barfu," it barked softly in reply.

There's something about it that I just don't like after all.

I don't like it.

「Come on, Souya, I want to try the new dish」

「Alright, alright」

Urged on by Evetta-san, I also went to the kitchen.

The spacious kitchen could accommodate twice as many people as the store's seating capacity. The stoves and plumbing system that Makina had installed were almost as good as those of modern civilization. Even though it was a ramen store, it had a large oven, and miso was also being made in its basement.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that a better range of cooking equipment couldn’t be found anywhere else in Lemuria.

I put down the ingredients I had brought with me, put on the apron that had been hung up, then washed my hands.

「Souya, what kind of new dish are you going to make today-nya?」

Tyutyu, who was boiling the noodles, talked to me with her back to me.

「I want to use an ingredient that I've finally been able to get my hands on. The fishmen in the southern part of this continent grow vegetables in their flooded fields, and they have a custom of giving the white ones to their god as offerings. Rana won the right to buy it from them with her fists」

My wife had looked like some kind of god as she went toe-to-toe with a nearly three-meter-tall fishman.

「There's going to be another new ingredient hitting the shelves here in Lemuria then-nya?」

「It might sell as well as, or maybe even better than ramen」

「Souya, you can do it. Be confident-nya」

「You're the one who has to do the selling though?」

「All the more reason to be confident then-nya」

Tyutyu sounded happy.

If that's what she says, then I just have to be confident.

「Well, it's easier to make than ramen, so you can just listen as you watch the noodles. First off―――――」

Even so, I occasionally act like a cook. I'm not much better than an amateur at it, but it's something that many people want me to do, so I suppose there's nothing wrong with doing it.

I came to the alternate world to explore the dungeon.

But when I look back upon the path I've trod, I can see that no part of it had been perfectly straight. There were so many twists and turns that it felt like I was going round and round in circles at times. There were so many detours, so many times I strayed off the beaten path.

Nevertheless, I continued to move forward, to make progress.

At some point, I began to be able to see the end of this path I'm walking down.

I still have some leeway in terms of time.

So I'm sure that even if I spend some of that time building up my poor self-esteem, the gods won’t get mad at me.

This kind of adventuring where I alternate between moving forward and coming to a standstill is the kind that suits me.

「Souya-san, I came to help~!」

「Hiya~」

「We’re here again~」

Rutsuko-san and the Gunmerrys showed up.

「Onii-chan! I've made a new type of curry powder! Use it to make a new kind of curry ramen!」

「Dear, I'm here to help」

The sisters, who had taken a detour and were a bit late, also came.

Behind them were the rest of my party members.

「Souya, I'm hungry. I don't care what it is, just give me food, food, and more food quickly」

Shuna made a fuss as soon as he sat down at the table.

「Souya, I'll have a drink and something to go with it to sober me up」

Otou-san, who seemed to have a hangover, said while pressing a hand to his head.

「………………」

Lys sat down next to Shuna without a word.

Boisterous customers and staff that came and went as they pleased.

A store where adventurers gathered in between adventures.

The name of that store was………

I’ve searched as hard as I could, but the “Everyone should get to enjoy it” is not a quote by anyone that I can find. This is just what I believe, but it’s most likely a reference to the “food is for the masses” concept that Souya’s grandfather passed on to him, with it being distorted because of the effects of Wild Hunt.

Rice is a grain and not a vegetable, but “flooded fields” and “the white ones”……rice is the new ingredient, isn’t it?

What a great end to the volume, huh? ……Except that this isn’t the end, and there’s an epilogue so long that the author made it an arc…..so stay tuned!