After thoroughly fleecing Tofu’s pack, I felt as though I had the whole world.
And I had obtained a Mythic-grade item as well.
In the middle of the square, a gleaming new cast-iron pot sat proudly over the campfire.
‘It is not an old pot that is all dented and battered.’
The Barbarians sat huddled around it, their curious eyes moving back and forth between the shining new pot and me.
A little tune rose in my heart.
My poor kids had been forced into a diet of boiled potatoes in plain water, without even salt, for so long.
They were Barbarians blessed with genetics that somehow did not let them lose muscle.
In any case, today big brother was giving them a proper ride on the train to heaven.
‘But the ingredients really are......’
Regardless of my enthusiasm, the ingredients were terribly lacking.
The only seasoning Tofu carried was salt made by crushing coarse rock salt.
There was no pepper, no herbs, not even common cooking oil.
Was that only natural? Even if he carried such things, the Barbarians would not buy them.
‘Still, it is fortunate that I got proper cooking tools.’
I looked contentedly at my newly acquired tools.
A well-balanced butcher knife, a thick wooden cutting board, a broad cast-iron spatula, and a ladle.
There were also crude but reasonably complete sets of wooden spoons and forks.
It was the perfect time to teach table manners to my kids, who had been eating with their hands because they had no proper utensils.
In truth, the Barbarians did not know how to use eating utensils.
No, more accurately, they had never felt the need to use them.
‘They just roughly grill things over a fire and tear into them, or slurp down thin broth straight from the bowl. What else is there to do?’
With neither proper cooking methods nor ingredients to cook, perhaps that was only natural.
‘The ingredients are just potatoes, salt, rabbit, and a little meat from unidentified small beasts.’
There were considerable limitations.
The meat was too tough to grill as it was, and boiling it would leave the flavor lacking.
How could I draw the best flavor from such meager ingredients?
After thinking for a moment, a basic truth of cooking crossed my mind.
‘Ah, right. If there is no oil, I can make some.’
Having reached that conclusion, I opened the sack of salt on the counter and placed a grain of coarse salt lightly on the tip of my tongue.
‘Holy shit, what is this!?’
For a moment, it felt as though every hair on my body stood on end.
My body, which had been forced into a detox without a single seasoning for so long, reacted madly to the intense stimulus of saltiness.
As the grain of salt melted, it mercilessly struck my taste buds, sending adrenaline surging through my body. What a thrill!
“Kh......”
It was then that I let out an involuntary groan.
Who knew salt could taste this good?
“Um...... Shaman.”
A timid voice came from behind me. When I turned around, Tofu was standing there awkwardly, his pack tightly fastened once more.
“I have finished my business now, right? I gave you all the goods...... so I was thinking I should be on my way......”
Where did he think he was running off to? Not a chance.
One look into his eyes revealed his inner thoughts. They were overflowing with the firm resolve of, ‘This place is filthy. I am never coming back.’
He was trying to hide it, but that rebellious gaze was exactly like the look in the eyes of kids who disappeared the day after working a single shift as dishwashing part-timers in the kitchen.
“I cannot simply let you go.”
“EEEK—! I-I am sorry! Spare me! I will not tell anyone......”
“As the chieftain said, you are our tribe’s precious merchant.”
I preheated the cast-iron pot and smiled kindly at him.
Of course, with my eyes wide open.
“Eat before you go.”
“......Y-yes.”
THUNK—!
When I drove the butcher knife into the cutting board, Tofu, who had been muttering something, obediently set down his pack, crouched in the corner, and let out a deep sigh.
If I sent him away while he was that offended, he truly would not return again.
I could not let an A-Grade merchant who would become my excellent slave...... no, my right hand, bringing me all sorts of rare goods, slip away like this.
But I was not worried.
Even though he looked vacant, the qualities of a Super Merchant flowed in his blood.
A merchant always knows how to recognize value. Once he tasted my cooking and realized the true value of these potatoes—
‘He will probably be the one begging me to trade with him.’
Chuckling, I began cooking in earnest for my kids, who were waiting around the pot while sucking on their fingers.
First, I placed the rabbit and small beast meat on the cutting board and picked up the butcher knife.
The foundation of cooking is understanding the ingredients.
Since there was no cooking oil, I had to make use of the fat attached to the meat.
CHOP, CHOP, CHOP—!
With quick knife work, I separated the lean meat from the fatty portions.
The Barbarians, who had only ever cut the meat without preparation before grilling or boiling it, stared with wide eyes.
“WOOOAH!”
Their simple reactions made my shoulders rise with pride. I tossed the finely chopped white chunks of fat into the hot cast-iron pot.
SSSSIZZLE—!
White smoke rose, accompanied by the cheerful sound of melting fat.
Thanks to the cast-iron pot’s tremendous heat conductivity, the fat quickly became liquid and began releasing a savory smell.
“Sluuurp.”
The sound of swallowing came from all around.
Even Tofu, who had been crouching in the corner, sniffed the air.
The indifference written across his face was fading with one hit of the oil’s aroma.
‘Now...... the potatoes.’
After peeling the D-Grade Potatoes, I diced them into pieces about the size of my thumb and poured them into the bubbling oil inside the pot.
SSSSSH—!
The oil and moisture met, producing an explosive sound.
That was another key point.
Rather than boiling potatoes in water, I would stir-fry them as though deep-frying them in animal fat.
‘Have you ever had fries? Fries? Huh?’
Chuckling, I constantly stirred the potatoes with the cast-iron ladle. The white potatoes gradually began turning golden as their surfaces met the boiling oil.
The so-called Maillard reaction. It was the moment carbohydrates and proteins met heat to create a maddeningly delicious aroma and color.
When the surface of the potatoes became crisp, I added the lean meat I had cut beforehand.
Once the surface of the meat cooked quickly and sealed in the juices, I took a handful of coarse salt and rubbed my fingers over the pot, scattering it evenly like falling snow.
TINK, TINK-TINK.
The sound of salt grains striking the hot cast-iron pot.
Once the salt blended with the fat of the meat and the sweetness of the potatoes to create perfect seasoning, it was done.
Special “Cast-Iron Pot Potatoes Fried in Meat Fat,” complete!
“All right, it is done!”
At my shout, the Barbarians cried out, “WAAAAH—!” and tried to rush toward the pot.
CLANG—!
“Everyone, stop.”
When I struck the rim of the pot with the ladle, they stopped and looked at me with blank expressions.
“Starting today, no one eats with their hands.”
I pointed with my chin toward one side.
There were the wooden bowls and the pitchfork-shaped forks Tofu had gifted us.
“What are these?”
“Eating with my hands is more comfortable!”
The Barbarians voiced their complaints.
Jakan, too, held a small fork in silence and wore a confused expression.
Good grief......
Unable to help it, I cleared my throat and made a solemn declaration.
“The ancestral spirits have spoken. A refined Barbarian who knows how to use tools is a much stronger warrior.”
“The ancestral spirits......?”
“That is right! Anyone who does not eat with a fork will not receive potatoes.”
At my threat, their attitudes changed at once.
“I am a refined Barbarian. I will not eat with my hands.”
“I eat with a fork. Give me food!”
Malko tightly gripped his fork as though holding a dagger and held out his wooden bowl. Such simple creatures.
Suppressing my laughter, I generously served each of them golden fried potatoes and meat.
I also filled a bowl generously for Tofu, who had been watching the situation from the corner.
“Eat.”
Once I gave permission, the Barbarians awkwardly began stabbing the food with their forks and putting it into their mouths.
The sight of those enormous men using forks the size of toothpicks was rather cute.
Then—
“......!”
Silence fell over the square for a moment.
Malko’s eyes widened as though they would pop out, while Jakan had forgotten even to chew as he sat there with his mouth open.
“This is crazyyyyy—!”
Malko let out a shriek and leapt up from his seat.
“It is crispy! The outside is crispy like a rock, but when I chew it, it disappears!”
“The meat...... The meat is so delicious! I cannot stop salivating!”
“AAAH! Delicious! It is too delicious!”
Chaos broke out.
The hearty fullness of the D-Grade Potatoes, which had become crispy after soaking up animal fat, and the intense saltiness amplified the savory flavor dozens of times over.
It was an unbelievable shock to tongues that had known only dry potatoes boiled in plain water.
The large warriors and small children competed to scrape even the bottom of the pot clean.
‘Then I should try some too......’
Calming my trembling hand, I stabbed a piece of potato and meat and put them in my mouth.
CRUNCH, FLUFF.
“Ah......”
My eyes welled up with tears.
This was the taste. The taste I knew—no, it was even better!
The flavor of the fresh ingredients themselves, infused with the magic of fertile land, was excellent...... but people still had to cook their food.
The harmony of saltiness and fat, kh...... This was what civilization tasted like!
As I wiped away my tears and savored the afterglow of the meal, I heard someone trembling beside me.
“W-what is this?”
When I turned, Tofu was staring at his plate in shock.
His fork was shaking violently, and his mouth was covered in grease.
“What the hell is this!? Are these really the potatoes I know? H-how can potatoes have such a refined taste? I have never eaten anything like this, not even at restaurants in the outside world!”
Tofu could not contain his astonishment.
“Is it good?”
“Y-yes! It is crazily delicious. I am going mad for it!”
Forgetting all dignity, he licked even the remaining oil from his plate clean.
Thus, the Northern Rock Tribe’s first gourmet feast ended pleasantly amid shock and joy.
.
.
.
It was a time of peaceful rest, our bellies full.
Drunk on fullness, the Barbarians lay sprawled around the campfire, snoring.
I sat on one side of the square, looking up at the night sky.
Tofu, who had packed all his belongings, crept over and sat beside me.
“......You will come again on the fifteenth of next month?”
When I asked casually, he looked away and answered.
“Ah, yes...... Unless something special happens, I suppose I will...... It is the family business...... Even if I do not want to come, there is not much I can do.”
That was a half-hearted answer. Considering the humiliation he had suffered today, it implied he had no desire to return......
But his sidelong glances told a different story.
He was playing hard to get, but I knew that his heart was saying otherwise.
As I snickered inwardly, Tofu swallowed dryly and asked in a subtle voice.
“But...... if I come again next time, will you feed me?”
Caught.
I turned to him with a deliberately indifferent expression.
“Today’s food? That was not even cooking. We only had salt today, so I could not make it very delicious.”
“T-there is something more delicious than that!?”
“Of course.”
I tapped Tofu’s shoulder, his eyes wide enough to pop out, and whispered like a devil.
“If you bring a variety of spices and seasonings next time, I will let you eat something truly delicious. Dishes you cannot eat in the outside world even if you have money.”
Tofu’s eyes shook violently, as though an earthquake had struck them.
His mind was surely racing fiercely.
That was enough. I no longer held him back.
“Then go safely. The roads at night are dangerous.”
I coolly rose from my seat and headed for my tent.
I could feel Tofu’s lingering gaze sticking to my back.
***
A few days later.
“Ah, what a miserable life.”
Tofu trudged down the street.
All the while he crossed the wasteland, the strange Barbarian Shaman, the smell sizzling from the pot, and the dish that had tasted delicious enough to melt his tongue kept flickering through his mind.
‘I almost got completely stripped clean.’
That strange Shaman had been so frightening, his eyes gleaming as he rummaged through Tofu’s pack.
‘Still, he was only a Barbarian. I settled it with one pretty piece of trash, so I was lucky.’
He remembered how delighted the Shaman had looked after receiving a stone inside a pretty box.
It was only a shiny stone with no function at all.
Then, Tofu suddenly set down his pack and took out one large D-Grade Potato.
“Still, this is rather strange.”
Even in the human lands of the northern region, the soil was poor and farming did not go well, so crops were small and tasted bad.
It pained him to have his goods stripped away by that Shaman, but he had received one hundred of these potatoes as payment.
They were larger and firmer than ordinary potatoes, and above all, they tasted fantastic, so it seemed he would at least avoid a loss.
“Sigh...... Even so, it is still just a potato. My luck is truly rotten.”
Grumbling, Tofu opened the door to his usual trading post.
An old member of the trading company he dealt with regularly was sitting there, yawning.
“Hello, sir? I came to sell some potatoes.”
“Potatoes? Are they from the north? Even mercenaries do not eat those much these days because they taste bad.”
“No. These are big and firm. None of them have sprouted, either.”
The trading company employee picked up one of Tofu’s potatoes with an uninterested expression.
As he rolled it around in his hand, his eyebrows rose slightly.
“Hmm...... It really is large. There are no rotten spots, either. It is fresh.”
The employee nodded.
“All right. They are excellent potatoes, so I will give you a little more than the average price.”
Tofu took the silver coins the employee handed him and felt relieved inwardly.
‘It is not a huge profit, but at least I did not work for nothing.’
Up until then, Tofu had consoled himself that this was simply the unluckiest period of his merchant life as he left the trading post.
Then, a few days later.
As Tofu lay around in his inn room, recovering from his fatigue, his door burst open with a BANG!
The very employee who had bought his potatoes a few days earlier stood there, panting.
“H-hey! Tofu!”
“Goodness, you nearly scared the life out of me. What is wrong, sir?”
The employee immediately grabbed Tofu by the collar and shook him.
“Potatoes! Potatoes! Do you have any more of those potatoes?”
“Eek??? Potatoes?”
Tofu’s eyes rounded.
“The customers are in an uproar. We supplied those potatoes to the dining hall of a nearby mercenary company, and when they made soup with them, they said it tasted unbelievable! They say it does not taste like northern potatoes at all. And on top of that, they fill you up far more than ordinary potatoes, so the mercenaries are going crazy for them!”
“W-what? Potatoes?”
“Where did you dig them up? Who owns the farm? The mercenary company commander is causing a fuss, saying he will pay double—no, triple the price, so get more immediately!”
Tofu stared at the trading company employee with a dazed expression.
“Whaaat? You want more potatoes? Triple the price? Are you in your right mind?? For potatoes???”
Tofu’s high-pitched voice rang through the middle of the inn room.