Chapter 85

Early in the morning, Haruki gathered ingredients in the dungeon of the garage.

Onions, potatoes, eggplants, cocc, melons, rutabagas, rice...

Haruki began the preparation, gathering ingredients from the floors he had cleared.

He boiled the bones of the cocc to make stock.

While the stock was simmering, he processed the rice and set it in the rice cooker.

He heated the frying pan and added the cocc's thigh meat, rutabaga, and onion to sauté.

Then, he added the powdered deer antler.

The moment the antler was added, the kitchen was filled with the aroma of spices.

"Amazing!"

Haruki continued cooking, savoring the scent.

When the ingredients were cooked, he added chicken broth.

The stock from the cocc and the seafood stock from the rutabaga mixed, creating an indescribable depth of flavor.

Once the soup was ready, Haruki deep-fried the potatoes and eggplants.

He arranged them on a plate and poured the soup over them.

Haruki brought the plate close to his nose and inhaled the scent.

"Oh...!"

It's good.

Really, really good!!

The scent almost made Haruki lose consciousness.

It had been five years since the first Stampede.

During those five years, many things were lost from daily life.

One of those things was this.

The loss of this dish caused many Japanese to mourn, grieve, suffer, and shed tears.

Some even risked their lives to regain it.

And now,

the dish that people across Japan had pursued was revived by Haruki's hands.

Just the scent of the spices made Haruki's eyes well up with tears.

For five years, he had been chasing this Japanese dish...

While Haruki was plating the dish with tears in his eyes, the doorbell rang.

It seemed the people he had invited for dinner had arrived.

Fire Lotus, Kagemitsu, and Akane entered the house.

"Why are you here?"

"I was invited too! Didn't you invite me? Right!?"

Haruki's jab made Akane teary-eyed.

But then she noticed the scent in the room and her expression changed.

"Come on, get inside quickly!"

The tears from a moment ago were gone.

Her cheeks flushed, she started swinging the spoon she was holding.

Fire Lotus and Kagemitsu also had their eyes shining after smelling the scent in the room.

Their eyes were not just shining out of interest in the scent.

Haruki seated the three at the table and brought the dishes from the kitchen.

Haruki brought two plates per person: rice and soup.

"Here is today's main dish. It's soup curry."

"Wow!!"

All three of them opened their eyes wide in surprise.

It was no wonder they were surprised.

After all, it had been years since they had tasted curry.

Haruki was able to make curry solely because of the deer antler.

When Haruki smelled the antler, he realized it was a spice.

He never expected it to be used in such a way.

Originally, the antlers of ordinary deer were used as weapons.

Naturally, they couldn't be used as spices.

The antler of the deer Haruki had slain had turned into a spice, likely because it was a rare species.

If it were auctioned, it could fetch an astronomical price.

But of course, Haruki had no intention of selling it.

He had finally obtained the long-desired curry spices.

Even if a war broke out, Haruki had no intention of giving them up.

"Everyone..."

With a solemn voice, Haruki spoke, and someone's throat made a gulping sound.

In the tense atmosphere, Haruki opened his mouth.

"Let's give thanks for our lives—let's eat!!"

"Let's eat!!"

Haruki dipped the rice on his spoon into the soup and brought it to his mouth.

Instantly, the scent of the spices filled his nostrils.

Following the spices, the stock from the chicken and rutabaga spread in his mouth.

The intense umami punch from the rutabaga's succinic acid, the chicken's glutamic acid, and the inosinic acid from the meat hit Haruki.

After the umami subsided, a tingling spiciness appeared.

"Amazing!!"

"Yum yum!"

"Delicious... so delicious..."

"Yum, yum!!"

Fire Lotus and Akane were eating the rice and soup with great enthusiasm.

In contrast, Kagemitsu was savoring the curry one bite at a time, tears streaming down his face.

Next, Haruki put the deep-fried vegetables in his mouth.

"Wow!!"

It's good.

Amazing!!

The moment he put the vegetables in his mouth, Haruki felt a warmth in his eyes.

The sweetness of the vegetables, enhanced by the deep-frying and the spices, was intense.

The spiciness, like embossing, brought out the presence of the vegetables.

The cocc's meat was tender, falling apart with just a touch of the fork.

The soup seeped into the gaps between the fibers, and when he put it in his mouth, the soup overflowed from the meat.

(I could die happy now...!!)

The soup curry was that good.

The soup curry Haruki made was developed in Hokkaido.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it Hokkaido curry.

Initially, Haruki intended to make regular curry.

But the deer antler was spicier than he expected.

Therefore, he decided to make soup curry, where the spiciness of the spices is more important.

The result was perfect.

Such a flavorful soup curry was something Haruki had rarely experienced even before the Stampede.

By the time the plates were empty, Haruki was crying.

Fire Lotus, Kagemitsu, and Akane were also crying.

They shed tears at the nostalgic taste of the curry.

After finishing the soup curry, they ended the meal with melon for dessert.

"Let's give thanks for the lives we received—"

"Thank you for the meal!"

At the table, where the food had disappeared, sighs of contentment floated and dissipated.

***

【Confidential Line】Hero and the Wind Room【Locked】

Masatsugu★: Why did you suddenly call me?

Kagemitsu★: The New宿 Station Stampede annihilation operation was successful, right?

But the boss wasn't found.

Masatsugu★: That's right.

The boss wasn't anywhere.

Only the purple monster, which was suspected to be the controller, was left.

Kagemitsu★: I have a lead on that boss.

Masatsugu★: ...Tell me more.

Kagemitsu★: First, let me state the facts.

A deer, believed to be the boss of New宿 Station, appeared in the dungeon of the Hokkaido garage.

We and the Air team defeated it.

The purple werewolf material will be sent to the Ichiryo headquarters for detailed appraisal.

Please compare it with the material from the purple monster we defeated in New宿 to determine if it's the same boss.

Masatsugu's sponsor is Kawamae, so it should be manageable, right?

Masatsugu★: Understood. I'll have an acquaintance compare the materials.

Kagemitsu★: Thanks.

...Do you think I'm lying?

Masatsugu★: In a dungeon, anything is possible.

Kagemitsu★: But...

Masatsugu★: What about the sky?

Kagemitsu★: The sky? In the middle layer?

Masatsugu★: Yes.

The sky looks the same in any dungeon.

So, maybe

all dungeons are connected.

Kagemitsu★: That kind of occult theory often comes up on the regular board.

Masatsugu★: Yes, but there's no proof.

But I don't think it's impossible.

We don't know much about dungeons.

Kagemitsu★: True. Anyway, I'll leave the verification to you.

Masatsugu★: Understood.

If it's the same boss, it's good news.

But it will take time to announce it.

We need to change the information to avoid causing a stir.

Kagemitsu★: I'll leave the announcement to you.

Masatsugu★: It might take away from your team's credit.

Kagemitsu★: If strong monsters can move between dungeons, adventurers will be on edge.

It can't be helped if the credit can't be announced.

But I'm fine. Please do something for the Masked team.

Like a reward...

It would be unfair if they got nothing for defeating the boss that caused a stir in New宿.

Masatsugu★: I see. I'll think about it.

By the way,

Who is the "Masked team" that defeated the boss?

***

After ending the chat, Masatsugu leaned back in his chair and exhaled slowly.

"..."

The movement of boss monsters between dungeons.

If this information leaks to the general adventurers... The shock would be immeasurable.

It could significantly impact future adventurer activities.

However, he couldn't keep the news of the rare species' defeat from being announced.

As the commander of the recovery operation, Masatsugu needed to restore the environment of 'New宿 Station' to a place where adventurers could feel safe.

The selection of information was a critical task, allowing no mistakes.

But Masatsugu's lips were curled upward.

"Finally, it's here."

The masked adventurer he met in Sapporo had grown at a speed beyond Masatsugu's imagination.

A top-ranked adventurer, and in some circles, the top of the hardcore players, Masatsugu was outpaced by this growth rate.

It was truly a threat.

"I'll go see him when I can."

To meet and assess the person.

This time, seriously.

If he is the adventurer Kagemitsu described...

(I have to recruit him to the Braver team no matter what...)

Masatsugu headed to the storage room in his room.

Kagemitsu had asked him to give the team a reward.

But there was no pretext.

Their defeat of the rare deer was currently top-secret.

He couldn't give them a reward for that reason.

"Ah, right. I have one card to play."

Masatsugu recalled the faces of the three adventurers, almost forgotten in the depths of his memory.

He knew what they had done in Sapporo.

The garbage disappearing from Japan was a relief.

The masked man was involved in that incident.

He would use that connection this time.

"Since it's a special occasion, the best one will do."

He planned to give it to the adventurer he intended to recruit to the Braver team.

This gift would pique the person's interest.

For that, he couldn't cut any corners.

But Masatsugu didn't hesitate.

He was sure this would make them happy.

He had that confidence.

Holding the powerful equipment dropped from the deep layers of the 'New宿 Station' dungeon, Masatsugu smiled.

I won't forgive anyone who calls soup curry 'watery curry' or 'it's just curry soup, right?'.

But I understand why someone might say that.

The soup curry I had in Osaka was just 'curry soup' and far from the real thing...

Next time.

The final chapter of Chapter 3.