Chapter 11

After the harvest season ends, the prices of grains plummet all at once.

Then, what happens is that the prices of porridge and bread drop a little.

I’m not happy. I’m not happy at all with this.

The carbohydrates in this world are not tasty. It’s not that I want to eat white rice just because I used to be Japanese. If there were baguettes or naan, they would be fine too.

This world is already lacking in entertainment. At the very least, let me have some delicious food.

“So, this is the portable food that Mongrel made?”

“Yeah. Call it Mongrestic 3.”

“Isn’t that a pretty creepy name…?”

“Shouldn’t you come up with a name that makes people more hungry…?”

“Isn’t it already in shambles before we even take a bite?”

“Think about how the person eating this feels, imagining your face while they do.”

Right now, a tasting session organized by me is taking place in the guild’s bar area.

The participants are Balgar, a spear user, and Alex, a swordsman.

Alex is a former soldier of the Halperia army. After retiring, he has completed numerous missions with his military-trained longsword skills and is a young man of Silver Rank. He’s apparently close to reaching Gold Rank. He’s a real hope.

I also invited Elena from the reception, but she politely declined. I’m sad.

The item on the table is something like an energy bar from my previous life. I made this portable food based on that.

It’s a rectangular stick baked solid with flour, multiple types of nuts, oil, honey, various spices, and salt. It’s kind of like a granola bar.

I was lucky to find Balgar and Alex hanging around the guild’s bar. I’m planning to get their reviews on the taste and such.

“Hey, Mongrel. This won’t fill you up much, right? It’s so small.”

“Well, with the high nut content, it might hold you over a bit, but this size is a bit concerning for a full meal….”

“Yeah, I thought so. I think you’d need to eat about four of these to make a meal. Just try it for now.”

“…No, seriously. Just from holding it, it’s clearly very hard. Is it really okay?”

Balgar picked up two of the Mongrestics from the plate and tapped them together. The sound was as clear as that of porcelain. It’s a beautiful, pleasant-sounding portable food.

“Mongrel, have you tried eating this yourself?”

“What’s with you, Alex? Do you doubt me?”

“Ever since you made me eat that raw homemade jerky, I’ve had strong doubts…?”

“Let’s move forward and not dwell on the past, okay?”

To the two of them, who were still hesitant, I bought a round of ale.

“…What is this?”

“Don’t just give us ale silently… It’s scary.”

“There’s no deep meaning. Just drink it while you eat. The taste isn’t bad, really.”

“…Well, since it’s free, I’ll try a little.”

While Balgar made a reluctant face, Alex took a bite of the Mongrestic… and stopped moving.

“Gah… Gah… My teeth won’t… bite through…”

“Did you hear that hard sound when Alex bit it?”

“That’s why I said to soak it in ale. It will soften up a bit.”

The two of them silently soaked the sticks in their ale and waited for about ten seconds.

Thinking it was ready, Alex took another bite. This time, there was no hard sound.

…But he still couldn’t bite through it.

“Ugh… The outside is a bit soft… but just a bit… really.”

“How’s the taste?”

“It tastes like ale porridge….”

Right now, the ale component is good. I want a review without the ale component.

“Mongrel, you’re up to some strange things again. Are you following in the footsteps of Lord Chaos? There are a lot of people doing similar things these days, so it’s better to stop. No one is making much money from it.”

“It’s an invention boom. Well, I can understand why people want to imitate it since many shops are rising in popularity.”

“I want to get this Mongrestic officially recognized as the Halperia army’s portable food. Then, with that money, I want to become the owner of a café where I just polish glasses at the counter.”

“Why would you want to be a café owner when you become rich?”

“If this portable food is adopted, soldiers might break their teeth before fighting the enemy….”

It’s fine, it’s just barely manageable.

Most soldiers can be enhanced with magic, so if they just strengthen their front teeth, it should be fine.

“Still, you’ve made quite a few mysterious things again….”

“I think you made about 40 of them… The material costs must have been quite high, right?”

“I can’t say. I won’t tell you the price unless you praise this Mongrestic.”

“How much did you spend…? Even if it’s cheaper now, that’s quite a lot.”

“Didn’t you over-bake them? They’re not breaking apart at all, even at the bottom of the ale.”

Well, I thought making a lot would be cheaper, and I could eat my preferred carbohydrates regularly.

I didn’t expect them to be this hard. They’re probably more solid than some poor-quality wood.

“Playing at inventing is fine, but is your money situation okay, Mongrel? You haven’t been going on many hunts lately, right?”

“Don’t call it playing. Well, I’ve been doing mostly city cleaning.”

“Mongrel, you’re still doing cleaning?”

“I want to keep this city clean… forever.”

“Is that some kind of incantation…?”

“Mongrel already spends a lot of money, so wouldn’t it be better to take on a bigger job soon?”

“I don’t spend that much. I don’t go to gambling places.”

“But you regularly buy strange weapons, don’t you?”

You, calling my weapons strange.

“What do you mean by strange? Can you say that after seeing this? It’s my new partner, a knife I found in the market two months ago!”

“You’re spending a lot again, aren’t you!?”

With a thud, I placed a knife on the table.

It was about the same length as a disassembly knife, but its thick blade was noticeable even in the sheath.

“…What is this? A comb?”

“Don’t you know, Balgar? This is a combat knife called a Sword Breaker.”

Balgar drew the knife from its sheath, revealing a thick blade with several long, comb-like notches.

“This comb part catches the opponent’s sword… and when you twist it hard, it breaks the enemy’s sword. It’s the ultimate weapon against swordsmen.”

“Hmm… Will it really work that well…?”

“It’s so thick that it can’t cut anything, so the only thing you can do with it as a knife is stab.”

“Isn’t that a huge weakness? Besides, Mongrel, you don’t take on jobs against people, do you?”

“Getting blood on you is dirty.”

“Then why did you buy such a knife…? By the way, Mongrel, this comb part…”

Alex seemed to have noticed something and drew his own longsword, which was leaning against the wall.

The longsword adopted by the Halperia army is long.

For soldiers who can enhance their bodies, the adoption standard for long swords is more about reach than weight, as it allows them to slash at distant opponents. Therefore, the longest possible sword that can be carried and moved is called a longsword and is used in various places.

And, given its length, it also has a considerable thickness…

“Ah, see! As expected! This Sword Breaker’s comb part can’t even fit a longsword!”

“No way!?”

“Can’t you see…? It’s barely fitting a short sword as a secondary weapon, right?”

“My Sword Breaker is only good for mooks….”

“…By the way, Mongrel, how much did you pay for this Sword Breaker?”

“Can I say…? In this situation…?”

Damn. Then, the only thing this Sword Breaker can do is to grind the ribs and vertebrae of a crazy boar with its comb part.

“…Ah. The one at the bottom of the ale is getting pretty soft.”

“Oh, really? Well, there’s no choice. I’ll break it up and drink it like porridge.”

“Am I having a really bad day today…?”

“If there’s a good mission, I’ll invite you.”

“I’ll take you up on that if there’s an opportunity…”

By the way, the taste of the Mongrestic dissolved in ale wasn’t bad, but if you’re using ale, it’s better to just drink the ale. We all agreed on that.

Nothing good happened today. Is it a cursed day?