Chapter 105
Ch 105 -- The First Day of the Trip and Shabu-Shabu
Fer sprinted along the highway connecting Carerina to our first destination, the town of Claire . I kept telling him to slow down in case I fell off but he was in a hurry and ignored me as usual . I had spent so much time riding on his back and I'd never fallen off before but still . . . the merchants, Adventurers and other travellers we encountered (briefly) on the road looked surprised at the sight of us passing them so swiftly .
Fer finally stopped . "This is far enough for today . " he announced . I climbed off his back and sat down on the solid unmoving ground with a sigh of relief . I squinted at the sun, it wasn't evening yet . . .
"Aren't you stopping a bit early?"
"Nu, it's maybe a bit early but you were getting tired and I thought you might fall off . " Fer's consideration for my well-being surprised me a little and naturally made me suspicious .
"I wasn't planning to fall off," I told him, "but if I had I'd be seriously hurt at that speed . That's why I was holding on so hard . " I poked him in the ribs . "Take it easier tomorrow, hey?"
"I got it . Anyway we'll get to the city called Claire tomorrow . "
"Eh, really?" The distance on the map had made me think it would take us longer than that . Just how fast had Fer been travelling?
"Umu, there are more and more signs of human activity along the road, that means there's a city up ahead and it's got to be Claire . Not much farther . " Well, 'not much further' for Fer probably meant quite a distance to us mere mortals .
"If that's so why stop now? There's still quite a bit of daylight left . " I wondered .
"It would be nice to get there today but I'm hungry right now . " Fer said . I got the feeling he wasn't telling me the absolute truth but I let it go . I was getting hungry myself .
"Well, hang on while I make dinner . " Today's meal was going to be shabu-shabu hotpot with thinly-sliced Wyvern meat as the main ingredient . Before going to bed yesterday I had soaked konbu seaweed in a big pot of water in preparation for making this dish . Now I had to buy vegetables and the like from the Net Super . What would be good, hmmm, Chinese cabbage, mizuna mustard greens, carrots, oh and of course green onions and maybe some enoki and shimeji mushrooms? Yoshi . As for the shabu-shabu sauces they were a given, they had to be citrus ponzu and gomadare sesame seed .
First of all I had to prepare the vegetables . I cut the Chinese cabbage into pieces then trimmed the mizuna mustard greens, removing the roots and chopping it into pieces about 5 cm long . The carrots were julienned into short thin strips, the same for the green onions to make them quick to cook but crisp to eat . I removed the root tips from the enoki and shimeji mushrooms and broke them up into easy-to-eat pieces ready for cooking .
I heated up the big pot of water then removed the konbu kelp before quickly shabu-shabuing the Wyvern meat and the vegetables in the boiling stock . I piled up the shabu-shabu meat and vegetables on dishes, adding citrus-flavoured ponzu sauce to start with .
"Fer, Sui? You awake?"
"Of course I'm awake . " Fer was in his usual pre-dinner position, staring over my shoulder at the dish of food I had just prepared .
"Dinner, dinner-" Sui appeared from her satchel . Time to eat . "Here you go . " I presented the shabu-shabu dishes to the Gluttonous Duo, piled high since I knew their appetites .
"Umu, is this Wyvern meat?" Fer asked after taking a large mouthful . "It tastes a bit sharp somehow . . . " the rest of his comment was slurred as he was muzzle-deep in the shabu-shabu, "but I'll eat it anyway . "
"Yeah yeah, it's got a sour flavour but that refreshes your mouth so you can eat as much meat as you want . " Saying that I helped myself to my own dish of shabu-shabu, not wanting to be left behind before the inevitable demand for "seconds!" came . The ponzu sauce had a cleansing flavour that made me feel hungrier somehow and I dug in, unable to stop myself .
Hmm, I'd have to try the sesame sauce soon but first I shabu-shabued some more vegetables and dunked them in the ponzu to accompany the Wyvern meat . Munch munch, ohhh that's very tasty . Some more Wyvern meat and ponzu, more veggies, mmmm . The citrus sauce kept the fatty meat from being overbearing, the crisp veggies provided a good feel in my mouth . The meat was fantastic but the vegetable sides kept changing the taste of each bite . Delicious!
"Seconds!" came the chorus . Shabu-shabu, shabu-shabu, into the boiling stock pot and out again, dunking it into the gomadare sesame sauce this time .
"Here you are . " I handed out two more dishes loaded with shabu-shabu, thankful that it was fast to cook .
"Oh, it tastes different~ . But delicious too . "
"Umu, it's delicious . "
I made some more because I wanted to taste it myself . Shabu-shabu, veggies and mushrooms as well as meat . The enoki and Wyvern's meat in the sesame seed sauce . . . well, it just worked . The savoury fragrance of the sesame seed sauce meshed with the tender juicy meat flavours . I decided that both ponzu and gomadare sauce were delicious with Wyvern meat, in fact I couldn't choose between them despite them being so different in taste . I'd have both kinds of sauce for the next shabu-shabu, I told myself . ""Seconds!"" So fast? Sure enough the two dishes in front of Fer and Sui were empty again . I shouldn't let my mind wander like that otherwise I'd never get seconds of my own . Right then, I set to work, shabu-shabu shabu-shabu shabu-shabu shabu-shabu . . .
* * * * *
After the meal I made a box type 'house' to sleep in with my Earth magic, laying out Fer's futon inside beside my own .
"Hey Fer, I'm going to take a bath, you can go to sleep first if you want . "
"Understood . I'll go to bed first then . " Saying that Fer went into the 'house' . Right then, it's bath-time for me .
"Aruji, is a bath like in hot water?" Sui piped up .
"Yes, that's right . Do you want to come in too, Sui?"
"I want in-" Sui bounced happily while I made an enclosure with Stone Wall and took out the bath (My bath!) from my Item Box . "Will you put some water here for me Sui?"
"Yes-" Sui filled the bath with fresh water and I heated it up with a Fireball . This time I judged it better and the temperature was just right first time . I reached into my Item Box and pulled out another Net Super purchase, something I hadn't thought about the first time I had taken a bath . Tadaa! It was a bath mat . My bare feet wouldn't end up all muddy afterwards .
"Right then, jump in first Sui . " I offered .
"Understood-" Splash! "S'warm, aruji-" Sui floated in the warm water like a large plastic bath toy, seemingly enjoying the experience .
I took off my clothes and thoroughly washed my hair and body . Rubbing the lather into my hair until it bubbled left me feeling refreshed . I rinsed myself off with more hot water from the bath . Oops, I nearly forgot the bath salts . . . it was my favourite sort, with a yuzu-based citrus-y smell, a bit like the ponzu sauce for the shabu-shabu, I thought to myself as I sniffed the fragrant warm vapour rising from the bath water .
"That smells nice . " I said .
"Nice-" Sui agreed as I climbed in beside her .
"Ahhhhh"
After having enjoyed a bath with Sui I was getting ready to go to bed immediately after but I remembered something I had to do, unfortunately . That thing . I sighed but I knew I'd get no peace from certain personages if I put off any longer . It can't be helped, You made a deal didn't you? I told myself .