Chapter 74

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Gajil, who had been frolicking, returned to his senses and asked, "So, I'm supposed to rub this on the meat?" with a nonchalant expression.

Shel was convulsing non-stop.

"Peel the skin and separate by parts, please."

"Separate by parts?"

"Yeah, the muscles and tendons, Jyuu will do it."

"Me?!"

In response to Jyuu's protest, I held out my hands in front of me.

"Ah, yeah, yeah, you can't do it with those hands, can you?"

Jyuu, looking resigned, dropped his shoulders.

"Muscles? Tendons?"

He was repeating my words with a face that looked like a big catch of evil.

Shel was barely breathing.

"Well, just separate by parts, right?"

Saying that, he quickly plucked the feathers with a surprisingly gentle touch, put the feathers in a bag, and burned the remaining down feathers with fire magic. All that was left was to remove the organs and separate by parts. Since the blood had been drained perfectly, it wasn't as gory as I had expected. When I looked at the others, they didn't seem particularly disturbed. People in this world are threatened by monsters every day, so dissection is a part of daily life, even for children. Even noble girls who have never been near a kitchen can dissect simple monsters in their childhood academies. Monsters are a threat, but they are also a resource.

While I was listening to this, the dissection was almost complete, and it was Jyuu's turn. A huge chunk of meat was placed on a large workbench. Since he had done this at the castle, he quickly removed the muscles and tendons.

"Hey, if you cut that much, the meat will be too small to sell!"

"No, no, if you do this properly, the meat becomes surprisingly tender!"

"Tender? What's the point of tender meat?"

"Tender meat is delicious!"

"Delicious? Really?"

"If you can lend me the kitchen, I'll treat you!"

"Alright, let me see for myself!"

It seemed we had reached an agreement. It was quite a big catch, but Gajil joined in, mimicking what I did, and with my guidance, we managed to process two of them by evening. To make sure it was ready for dinner, we cooked a portion of the meat. To check the tenderness and the lack of odor, we seasoned it simply with salt. We cut it into bite-sized pieces and each took a bite. The sound of teeth clenching together echoed, and everyone was surprised by the unexpected tenderness.

"……………………………………………"

Silence.

I wondered if it was as tender as chicken from my previous life? There was almost no odor, and I was quite satisfied with my work.

"Ah, this is delicious! This is it! Meat without any odor is great!"

"Way to go!"

Jyuu and I high-fived, and then:

"Wow, what is this? Is this meat? I've never tasted anything like this before! Wow!"

Digray was making a big fuss.

"Ah, I understand what Keta was talking about. This is delicious. The meat I've had at home was also quite good, but this is in a different league! Too delicious!"

Erlsheim was praising it. Yegram was silent and expressionless, but he was chewing with his eyes closed. Shel was smiling with a mysterious grin.

"Oooh! This is a meat revolution!!"

Gajil let out a roar.

And then Gajil was doing a dogeza (prostration).

"Please! Teach me this technique!"

"Wow, this world has dogeza too?"

"No, no, Keta, not now!"

"Just like what you did before, and then it's just a matter of using a needle."

"Right, we did almost everything here."

"So, are you saying it's okay to spread this method?"

When Digray asked, I replied casually, "Sure."

"No, no, no, kid, this is a meat revolution! No one has ever known this method before. If we sell this tender meat, how much profit can we make? It's going to be huge!"

Gajil, still in seiza (formal sitting position), pleaded.

"Go ahead and spread it."

I said, and then smacked him on the forehead.

"Wow! Is this about spreading delicious food to more people rather than making a profit?! Amazing, kid, I got it! I'll spread this tender meat throughout the city!"

While I didn't have such a noble goal, the result would be the same: more tender meat would mean more delicious dishes. Since there was nothing to worry about for me, I just smiled. Digray's family runs the largest trading company in the country. If this butcher shop, which is under their company, spreads the tender meat, it would be wonderful. I gave Digray a sly smile, and he returned it.

We left some of the remaining prey for Gajil to practice with and returned to the academy, securing the two processed portions. On the way, Digray stopped by his family's shop and wrote a letter to his brother, asking him to deliver it urgently. The spread of tender meat might be closer than we think.

Back at the academy, we headed to the dormitory cafeteria. Shel had arranged for the tender meat we obtained today to be cooked for dinner.

"Ah, this is so delicious! After eating this, I might not be able to eat other meat anymore. How am I supposed to live from tomorrow?"

Digray was happily complaining. Yegram was silently and expressionlessly chewing. Erlsheim was eating mindlessly, and Shel was eating with a suspicious smile.

"Hey, Keta, do you have a feeling that this is going to be big?"

"Doesn't it feel like there will be more delicious food?"

"Well, since the cafeteria here gets its meat from Digray's company, it might start serving tender meat soon."

"Of course, I've already mentioned it in the letter."

Digray gave me a wink.

I could hear the screams of the noble girls watching from the back, but I ignored them.

"Well, I'm happy about delicious food too."

"What are you worried about?"

"Hmm, the main issue is that you can't immediately drain the blood from the prey, right? In dangerous areas, you can't let the smell of blood linger. Even if Gajil is enthusiastic about spreading this, the adventurers bringing the prey might see it as an extra hassle."

"Ah, that's true. People who haven't tasted it might not understand."

"Also, regular adventurers can't easily hunt prey like that, right?"

"True, that's a good point."

"Then it might be quite difficult for this tender meat to spread."

"Hmm, but once you taste this meat, you won't want to eat other meat. Maybe there needs to be another clear benefit besides the meat?"

"Like what?"

"Well, I've heard that many beginners are from poor families. Maybe the purchase price could be doubled?"

"No, that would mean the meat from large monsters would always be tough. Large monsters should be eaten tender, right?"

"True! I'd like to try the tender meat from bear and lizard monsters!"

At Digray's words, the eyes of Erlsheim, Yegram, and Shel, who had been focused on eating and listening, widened.

"I would like to taste it too!"

"Very interesting!"

"Please let me join you on the next hunt!"

They were all enthusiastic.

"No, I haven't said we're going yet."

Even though Jyuu said this timidly, no one was listening. They started discussing their schedules.

The next hunt might be sooner than expected.

Back in the room, Shel said:

"By the way, Keta's magic bag stops time, right?"

Erlsheim's eyes seemed to sparkle.

It looks like a large-scale slaughter of bear and lizard monsters will happen soon in a distant forest.