Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Volume 15, page 1
Table of Contents
Cover
Color Illustrations
Jnovels
Chapter 1: The Smell of the Sea?
Chapter 2: I Thought I Was a Goner
Chapter 3: Tyrant Swordfish
Chapter 4: The Philosopher’s Stone
Chapter 5: A Lucky Hit
Chapter 6: The Members of Ark Look Like They Want to Join the Party!
Chapter 7: Leviathan vs. Ancient Dragon
Gossip: The Stairway to Hell
Chapter 8: A Grumpy Guildmaster
Chapter 9: A Long-Overdue Status Check
Chapter 10: Capital Ho!
Extra: Snacking Cabbage
Afterword
Bonus Textless Illustrations
About J-Novel Club
Copyright
Chapter 1: The Smell of the Sea?
My familiars had dragged me out to an untouched and unexplored dungeon, and Ark, an adventuring party we’d happened to reunite with shortly beforehand, had come along for the ride. We’d just defeated the first floor’s boss—a pair of assassin jaguars—and proceeded into a cave framed by boulders that they’d been guarding. Inside we found a staircase a few meters from the entrance and started making our way down it.
“These stairs just keep going and going, huh?” I commented.
They felt way longer than the staircases we’d encountered in previous dungeons. It felt like we’d gone down by the equivalent of fifty stories or so and I was beginning to get a little nervous, when I started hearing a faint splashing sound off in the distance. Then, at long last...
“Do I...smell the sea?”
The staircase finally ended, and as I stepped out into the light, I found myself standing on a sandy beach. My jaw dropped as I took in the surroundings. We seemed to have arrived on an island. There were a few palm trees scattered here and there, and beyond the sand, an emerald-green sea stretched out in all directions, lit up by the summer sun above.
“Okay, seriously, how is this a thing? We’re in a dungeon, aren’t we?” I muttered out of sheer bafflement.
“Heh heh heh heh! An ocean, is it? Now this is worthy of my attention!” Fel declared.
“Indeed it is!” Gon agreed. “It’s been many a year since I last visited the seaside. What a thrill!”
《The ocean? Nice! Bet we’ll find a buncha tasty fish on this floor!》 Dora-chan commented.
《Ooooh, yay! Fishies!》 Sui squealed.
The seascape had my gluttonous quartet in the highest of spirits, clearly. Not even the most bafflingly impossible sights could shake their positivity, and I had to admit, there was something rather reassuring about how consistent they were.
As for the other half of our party...simply put, Gaudino, Gideon, Sigvard, and Feodora were all standing in a daze, jaws agape. Ark was petrified, one and all.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
“When I heard they were going to an unexplored dungeon, I thought I’d used up a lifetime’s worth of adventurer’s luck. I let my wanderlust get the better of me...and I’m starting to think that was a mistake. I’m a failure of a leader...”
“Don’t be like that, Gaudino. If it was a mistake, then it’s one we all made together. I don’t think any of us could have seen this coming...”
“Gideon’s got the right of it. I let my greed blind me too. No sense in blamin’ yourself when we’re all in the same boat.”
“An ocean in a dungeon...? This wasn’t part of the deal...”
The members of Ark were sitting in a circle on the beach, listlessly discussing the situation they’d landed themselves in.
“Tell me, why are the four of them in such poor spirits?” Fel asked.
“Because they saw that, obviously,” I replied, gesturing toward the boundless sea. Seriously, who wouldn’t react along those lines in the face of a sight like this?
The water stretched all the way out to the horizon, and I had no idea how we were supposed to carry on farther into the dungeon. Did this even count as a dungeon at all anymore? Did it even have an end? And even if it did, was there any hope of us actually reaching it? It was a sight that raised all sorts of concerns, and I had a distinct feeling that every single one of them was currently running through the minds of Ark’s members. I was only keeping my crap together because I had my familiars there for me. Most people wouldn’t stand a chance of staying calm, and I knew it.
Speaking of my familiars, Dora-chan and Sui were currently out by the water’s edge, splashing around in the surf and having a grand old time. Old Man Gon was watching over them like a doting grandparent, calling out an occasional “Careful, now! No swimming out too far!” It was a downright heartwarming sight that couldn’t possibly have cut a sharper contrast with the deathly pallor that had come across the faces of the members of Ark. I wasn’t entirely on my familiars’ side here, to be fair. I did have my share of concerns as well.
“So, how’re we going to keep moving ahead?” I asked.
“Is that not obvious? We will simply ride upon Gon or Sui,” Fel replied.
“That sounds great and all, but it’s not like they can keep flying or swimming forever with zero rest, right?”
“And why would that be of consequence? There will be ample opportunities for them to rest.”
“Will there, though? Like, where?”
“There are a multitude of islands that would be suitable for that purpose, are there not? We will simply make for one of them when the need arises.”
“Wait...islands?”
“Indeed. Look—one lies right over there.”
Fel gestured with his nose, and I peered out to see what he was pointing at. My eyesight had improved as my level rose, and after a fair bit of staring and squinting...
“Hmm? Oh, is that it?” I asked. I’d finally managed to sight a tiny black dot way out in the distance, no larger than a sesame seed from my perspective.
“It is,” Fel confirmed, “and it is not the only island. There is no cause for concern.”
“Oooh, okay! That’s a bit of a relief, yeah,” I admitted. “I can’t believe you got a grasp of the geography here that quickly, though.”
“It was the simplest of tasks,” Fel said with an obnoxious smirk.
“Right, right, of course it was. Praise be to the great Fenrir,” I replied with a rather more strained smile of my own.
“More importantly, it would seem we have already obtained ingredients.”
“We what?”
I looked over in the direction Fel was facing...
《Taaake that!》
Pew, pew!
《How do you like this?!》
Shwick, shwick, shwick!
...only to find a legion of shellfish-like creatures, their shells opened up like hungry, gaping maws, getting mowed down by a combination of Sui’s Acid Bullets and Dora-chan’s Ice magic.
“Wh-What are those?” I stammered. The monsters swarming up onto the coast were clearly some sort of bivalve—a giant clam of one kind or another would’ve been my best guess.
“Monsters, obviously,” Fel replied.
Yeah, I figured that out on my own! I meant it in a “Boy, it sure is creepy to see a bunch of meter-long shellfish charge up onto a beach” sort of way!
I could already feel my smile starting to spasm, but fortunately, the battle looked like it had more or less ended before I’d even realized it had begun. Sui was now bouncing around, shouting, 《Masteeer!》 at me.
“You okay, Sui?” I called back.
《Sui’s okay! There were lots and lots of clammies, so Sui hunted them with Dora-chan!》
“O-Oh?”
《Ayup. And take a look at this! They dropped meat, so I figure we can eat ’em! That’s why Sui and I took ’em all out,》 Dora-chan explained. He was hovering over a pile of shellfish meat stacked up on the shore—the monsters’ drops, I assumed.
I gave the drops a quick appraisal...
【Giant Clam Meat】
Edible, and reasonably tasty.
Wow, now that’s vague! And is it just me, or is my appraisal ability way too specialized toward cooking these days? I couldn’t remember a single time it had failed to point out whether the monster parts I appraised were edible, and that’s not even starting on it telling me whether they tasted good or not. Was this a side effect of the Solitary Chef title I’d picked up? It was convenient, so I couldn’t exactly complain, but still.
“Apparently, this stuff tastes pretty good, so I’ll try cooking it up for you later,” I said.
《Yippeee!》 Sui squealed.
《Hell yeah! It’s been way too long since we’ve had some real seafood!》 Dora-chan cheered.
Just as I finished stowing the giant clam meat in my Item Box, I heard Gon speak up.
“A second force has arrived.”
“A second what now?” I followed Gon’s gaze and peered out into the ocean. “Gah!”
A massive number of shellfish—these ones looking an awful lot like scallops—were bobbing in the surf, leaping their way toward us at a rapid pace.
“What of those? Are they edible?” Fel asked.
“My appraisal claims as much,” Gon said.
《Hear that, Sui?! Let’s get ’em!》
《Okaaay!》
With a joyful battle cry, Dora-chan and Sui set out once more to wreak havoc on the
approaching bivalve battalion.
.........
......
...
I found myself staring down a huge pile of shelled scallops, each roughly the size of my head.
《Talk about a haul, eh?》 Dora-chan said.
《We caught a whole bunch!》 Sui added.
I’d found a type of shellfish called yellow scallops in the seaside town Berléand, which had resembled the scallops I knew in my old world as well, with the exception of their massive size. But as big as those scallops had been, the ones Sui and Dora-chan had caught put even them to shame. They had been about half a meter long with their shells on, so no surprise their meat would be on a similar scale. Anyway, Gon had already confirmed their edibility, but I decided to give them an appraisal as well, just for good measure.
【Giant Scallop Meat】
Edible. Delicious grilled or stewed.
“Grilled or stewed,” huh? Well, that’s a shellfish for you. They’ll probably be good in all sorts of recipes. Maybe I’ll go the simple route and butter-baste a few to start.
《Arright, let’s chow down!》
《Yay, fooood!》
“Indeed. We have all the ingredients we need at hand, so we shall eat immediately.”
“I’m in favor of that! It’s been a long time indeed since I’ve partaken of seafood. I trust you’ll cook something truly exceptional, my liege!”
Yuuup, figures. My resident gluttons could never look at a pile of ingredients like that and not immediately want to sample them. It was still a little early for lunch, but I figured that eating now couldn’t hurt, especially since a tasty meal seemed like just the thing to lift the spirits of Ark’s members, who were still solidly down in the dumps.
I know exactly what dish to make too! It’s been ages since I’ve been able to have this, I thought to myself as I brought out my special-made barbecue grill and got right to work.
◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇
It was time for a long overdue seafood barbecue! My star ingredients: the giant clams and giant scallops that Dora-chan and Sui had caught for me.
The shellfish I was working with were huge, so first I took a moment to chop them up into a more manageable size. I had a feeling they’d be perfectly tasty if I simply grilled them with a little salt and pepper, but I wanted to give the meal a little extra something, and the perfect idea sprang immediately to mind.
“Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I already saw the exact thing I need in my Online Supermarket when I bought my pots,” I muttered to myself. Then, making sure nobody from Ark was watching, I opened up my skill’s menu and navigated over to the kitchenware department. “Oh, there they are! These skillets should be perfect!”
I quickly purchased four large skillets, to start. I’d be making something that had been in the back of my mind for my next barbecue for a good long while: a seafood al ajillo dish! I couldn’t imagine shellfish with al ajillo being anything other than delicious, so it seemed like an ideal option.
I picked up some shimeji and white mushrooms to throw into the dish as well, which I chopped the base off of and halved, respectively. Then I minced the garlic—probably the most important component of an al ajillo dish—and sliced a few hawk claw chilis into rounds.
Next up, I poured some olive oil into the skillets, added in the garlic, chilis, and a little salt, then put them all onto the barbecue grate. Then, the moment they started smelling nice and aromatic, I threw in the mushrooms and shellfish, the latter of which I kept separated by type—two skillets for the giant clams and two for the giant scallops. Finally, when the shellfish were cooked through, I grated some fresh black pepper over them—the sort that comes packaged in its own little mill.
“All right, it’s ready!” I announced.
“Good! Feed it to us at once!”
“With all due haste, my liege!”
《All right! Chow time!》
《Masteeer, Sui wants to try it now!》
“I know, I know! Sheesh, hold your horses,” I said, placating my familiars (who had, of course, been waiting on standby that whole time) as well as I could.
I gave the giant clam and giant scallops al ajillo a final seasoning pass with salt and pepper, then plated them up, delivered them to my gluttonous quartet, and realized with horror that I’d neglected to save any for myself, even though I’d been just as eager to try them. I headed right back to the barbecue grill, gave a few more clams and scallops the salt-and-pepper treatment, and got them grilling away—while also not forgetting to prepare another four skillets’ worth of shellfish al ajillo, of course!
“You know, this dish does rather prompt a thirst,” Gon said, shooting a hopeful glance in my direction.
Nope, sorry. No number of meaningful glances is going to make me bring out the booze. Drinking in a dungeon felt like a bad idea, no matter how you sliced it. Who knew what sort of danger we’d end up in if we got sloshed and let our guards down?
《Yeah, these shellfish are pretty tasty,》 Dora-chan said.
《They’re super yummy! Sui’s glad we hunted so many!》 Sui added. The two of them were clearly delighted that they’d hunted down something so delicious.
“I have had far worse,” Fel said. “Indeed, these creatures are palatable, but they do not satisfy alone. No, this occasion demands meat! Meat, on the double!”
《Meat!》 my other three familiars repeated, an excited glint flashing across their eyes.
Yuuup, I should’ve known. Seafood could never satisfy those carnivores. I shook my head, but still brought out a hearty quantity of gigant minotaur meat to cook on the grill. That, hopefully, would satisfy them. I kept the seasonings simple, by the way—just salt and pepper across the board—and while I was working on those, I took the chance to steal a bite of the second batch of giant clam al ajillo.
“Oh, wow! My appraisal said these would be ‘reasonably tasty,’ but that doesn’t do them justice at all! This is great!” I exclaimed.
The clam meat was perfectly cooked. It was nice and plump, practically bursting with that particular sort of umami that you could only get from shellfish. The slight spice of the hawk claw chilis and the aromatic garlic were a perfect flavor pairing, as well. Gon was right—it really was a dish that made me feel like having a stiff drink. I wasn’t done yet, though, and sampled the giant scallop al ajillo next.
“Mmmh! This is great too!”
Once again, the scallop’s umami and the spicy, garlicky flavor of the other ingredients were a match made in heaven. I very nearly dropped everything to stuff my face then and there, but instead, I held back the urge and looked over my shoulder at the members of Ark, who were still huddled up in a deeply dispirited circle on the beach.
I let out a sigh. I get how they feel, sure, but we’ve come this far already! It’s not like turning around would get us anywhere. My gluttons’ meat was ready to be served by that point, so I quickly plated it up and delivered it to them, then set my cooking tongs down for a moment and headed over to Ark’s gathering place.
“Hey, everyone! Feel like eating with us?” I offered.
“Oh, Mukohda...” Gaudino droned in response.
“Come on, no need to be that depressed! Just leave it to my familiars, and we’ll make it out of here no problem, okay?” I said in an attempt to reassure them. Unfortunately, it seemed to backfire.
Gideon let out a heavy sigh. “The problem is that so far, it feels like we’ve only been holding you all back,” he explained. “There’s absolutely no chance in the world that we ever could’ve even made it through the first floor on our own.”
“And this floor’s even further outta the question,” Sigvard grumbled with a nod of agreement, his muscle-bound shoulders slumped with disappointment.
I’d expected Feodora to be lured over by the smell of the barbecue at least, but even she was just sitting there, silently staring a hole into the sand. You’d think the four of them were at a wake, honestly, and it struck me how seriously they took their adventuring business.
“Okay, look,” I said, “we all agreed to crawl this dungeon together, didn’t we? That means that for the time being, we’re all in the same party! It’s a temporary party, sure, but that doesn’t change the fact that right now we’re all allies here, and allies help each other out when they’re in over their head! Isn’t that just the natural thing to do?”
