Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou and Onionpi
The main dish for tonight’s dinner was fried food. [1] Deep-fried Vermillion Shrimps, Mackerel, Big Hard Clams, Scallops and Aspidochelone were piled on wooden plates and topped with lots of Tartar Sauce, then served to Fer, Dora-chan and Sui.
I also gave them a bowl of Clam Chowder each. None of my familiars really liked Clam Chowder, [6] but I must get some vegetables into them no matter what!
I served up a Mixed Furai set of assorted fried food, a bowl of Clam Chowder and a side of black bread for my guests. Naturally, I also included a generous dollop of Tartar Sauce on the side. [5] [6] As host, I served myself last and sat down, only to see that Elland-san as well as members of the [Ark] haven’t touched their food yet.
“Erm, how do we eat this?” asked Elland-san.
Oh right, I forgot that even fried potatoes were a novelty here before I introduced it, so fried seafood must be really strange, especially when accompanied by a mysterious white sauce.
“Ah, remember those fried potatoes from Doran? These are fried seafood. I got some really great seafood from Verulean. It’s covered in breadcrumbs and fried in oil. It’s great when eaten with the white sauce,” I demonstrated by stabbing a piece of scallop, dipped it into the Tartar Sauce and took a bite.
Huff, the fried scallop is still warm and gorgeously crunchy on the outside while soft on the inside. [2] Delicious. As a Japanese, I love seafood the most, of course. I suddenly thought of Alonzo-san and his friends. Now there’s a fellow seafood enthusiast. Alonzo’s friends I mean, Alonzo-san himself was a philistine who ate steak in a place famous for its seafood. Hmm, they did say they were planning to come to Avering, I wonder if I would meet them here…
After swallowing my mouthful, I said, “Well, if it’s too strange for you, I could prepare something else. So, please do not hesitate to let me know.”
[6] “It’s fine, it’s fine, since Mukouda-san made it, we should eat it,” Elland-san said before biting into a fried fish.
[6] The Adventurers from [Ark] also began eating. Hmm, from the way they stuff their mouths, I don’t think I have to worry about them not liking fried food.
I decided to focus on my plate, “Hmm, fried mackerel goes really well with Tartar Sauce,” I- I want some beer too, but, I can’t just pull out a canned beer now. It would look too strange in this world.
“Hmm, it’s the first time I have this fried food thing. Strange, I’m really craving ale right now,” Siegwald-san the Dwarf said thoughtfully.
[6] “Ah, I was just thinking of the same thing,” I said, as expected, dwarves really knew how to enjoy their drinks.
“This is a different type of fried food compared to the fried potato, it has a crumb coating on it that makes it even crispier,” [8] said Siegwald-san thoughtfully. “That one was really great with ale too.” [5]
“Oho, if you’re talking about Doran’s fried potato. That was introduced by Mukouda-san too,” said Elland-san proudly.
“Eh? For real? Not only is the man a great Adventurer, but he’s also a great cuisine master too?”
[8] “Ah, nothing like that,” I quickly said. “These are all perfectly ordinary dishes from my hometown.” Nevertheless, I was very flattered. If we weren’t in a dungeon, I could have gone to a different room to ‘fetch’ some whiskey and treat this nice Dwarf.
““Oi, seconds! I want Worcestershire Sauce on the fish and shellfish. Put the white sauce on the rest.”” [5]
““Seconds here too! I want fish and shellfish only, with the brown sauce,””
““Sui wants another~ White sauce on everything~”” [5]
I set out fresh plates of fried food according to their orders.
“Excuse me, but what’s that brown sauce?” Elland-san asked.
“Oh, this? It’s called Worcestershire Sauce, would you like to try some?” I eyed his plate. It was empty.
[8] “Please,”
I didn’t give him an assorted furai this time, just two pieces of the giant mackerel fish topped with the Worcestershire Sauce. “There you go, please try it.”
“Wonderful,” Elland-san stabbed the fried fish with his fork and took a bite. “Huff, oh, this ordinary-looking sauce is unexpectedly complex! The flavour is not just savoury, it’s a little tangy too. Hmm, I can’t explain it but it goes really well with this fried fish. The white sauce is also a little tangy but has a mellower taste. Both are wonderful in their own way.”
Gulp.
Members of the [Ark] were all staring at Elland-san.
Er, so, “Would you like seconds?”
“Apologies, if you don’t mind…”
“Please,”
“I’d like some too,”
“Chomp, chomp, chomp,”
This time, I served a medley of assorted fried stuff with Worcestershire Sauce. Soon, only the sounds of chewing were heard within the safe area. [5]
Aside from a slightly regretful ‘If only I could have some ale with this…’ everyone was very happy with their meal. [5] [8] Finally, we all set our plates down with a satisfied sigh.
“It feels like a dream to eat such delicious food inside a dungeon. The problem with dungeon challenges is having to carry one’s own food. There’s a limit to how much a person could carry even with an [Item Box],” commented Elland-san.
The members of [Ark] nodded solemnly at this.
[8] “Hearing this made me even more grateful for my large capacity [Item Box],” there’s no hiding this fact, so I’ll just admit it. The only thing I’m not admitting is how large my [Item Box] is.
Like, infinitely large…
[6] Luckily, they were more interested in talking about the food.
“This soup is very excellent too,” said Elland-san. “The food made by Mukouda-san is even better than the best restaurants at the Royal Capital!”
[8] Gaudino-san nodded, “I thought so too, but having an elf acknowledge it really seals the deal. Our Feodora-san would be the first to complain if something tastes bad, but look, not a word of complaint from her,”
Elland-san nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, yes, even elves could not resist this kind of taste.” [5]
“Oh? Are elves generally picky eaters?” I asked curiously.
Elland-san’s voice took on a lecturing tone as he said, “We elves have a very long lifespan, therefore we have the opportunity to taste all kinds of food and develop our palate. The saying ‘To know if something’s delicious, ask an elf’ is a saying that exists because we’ve tried nearly every cuisine in the world. [8] That is why we are always excited to try something new.” [5]
““Seconds,”” Fer rumbled.
““Sui wants seconds too~””
[5] [8] Ah, there it is.
After I’ve set out more food for Fer and Sui, I asked if anyone else wants seconds too. Everyone made polite noises, declining the offer, except for Feodora-san. The icily beautiful elf was staring despondently at her empty bowl.
[8] Stifling a laugh, I politely ask, “May I refill your bowl?”
[8] After a beat, the empty bowl was handed to me and I silently filled it up with chowder. [1] It was nice to see her eating happily though.
“Thank you for treating us to the delicious food,” said Gaudino-san. “I’m sorry, Feodora-san is a level-headed and talented Adventurer, but when it comes to eating…”
He trailed off.
[6] I waved my hand at this, “No, no, I’m just glad everyone enjoyed my food.” [2] Not to mention, it was kind of interesting to see this cool beauty scarfing down her food like a glutton.
[8] After finishing her chowder, she handed the bowl back to me. I silently refilled it again.
I also refilled Fer and Sui’s order twice more.
[6] Really, the amount Feodora-san eats is nothing compared to Sui.
[Gumihou: Lol, a foodie elf, that’s new]
[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs
[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs
[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue
[4] Structural Change: Change passive sentence to dialogue
[5] Delete Repetitive or Pointless Information
[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose
[7] Add Dialogue Tag
[8] Creative Licence Taken