Chapter 54

A new chapter begins.

It has been two days since the day the monsters rampaged through the capital.

Vizel Castle was still in turmoil due to the aftereffects of the chancellor's assassination. As a result, there was no support for the civilians who had been affected, and they were left to fend for themselves. In the workshop district, many people had their workshops and homes burned down and were at a loss.

Surprisingly, the most proactive in responding to this disaster were the lumberjacks of the forestry guild. They provided food and emergency repairs to damaged houses, working hard to assist the victims.

I thought the lumberjacks would be busy due to the increased demand for wood, but I remembered that the wood used for construction needs to be dried, so cutting trees in a hurry wouldn't help.

Seeing the lumberjacks running around busily, I wondered if there was something I could do, and I ended up bringing ingredients to the places where they were providing food. That was about all I could do.

Ricardo had been having a busy few days and only realized he had turned twelve after his birthday had passed. In this country, commoners, except for the royal family, do not celebrate birthdays. However, there are special celebrations for the ages of seven and fifteen, which are usually celebrated with family.

Ricardo, who had turned twelve without anyone celebrating, was heading to a Chinese bun shop alone.

The expressions of the people walking through the streets were gloomy.

There were still traces of destruction caused by the fanged boars in various parts of the shopping district. The Chinese bun shop run by housewives was also completely destroyed.

Not only that, but the woodworking workshop in the back had several broken pillars and was half-destroyed. It would be faster to demolish and rebuild it rather than repair it.

This workshop was originally a furniture store, but it went out of business and fled in the night. The creditor took over and rented it to Beata's husband, Macard, who turned it into a woodworking workshop.

"Mr. Macard, how long will it take to get the shop ready for business?"

I asked Macard, who was setting up a temporary sales booth where the Chinese bun shop used to be.

"Thanks to Ricardo helping clear the debris, I think we can start business the day after tomorrow."

Yesterday, I had stored the debris along the road in a storage crystal and moved it to the back of the woodworking workshop, so the area where the Chinese bun shop used to be was now cleared.

Seeing this, other merchants also started clearing the debris using their storage crystals, so the debris removal was progressing quickly.

The landlord of this workshop doesn't seem to have any intention of rebuilding it. He has other properties that were also damaged by the monsters, and he doesn't have enough funds to rebuild them all.

Ricardo is considering buying the land from the landlord. He plans to pay for it with the reward money from slaying the Underworld Wolf that appeared at the castle.

"Mr. Macard, I'm looking for a new place for your woodworking workshop, so please wait a little longer."

"Yeah, sorry. I'm getting work and you're even helping me find a new workshop."

This workshop was originally going to be rebuilt as a full-fledged restaurant. As part of this, I asked Macard to move his woodworking workshop to a part of the workshop district, and he agreed.

Of course, I plan to prepare the new location for him.

Ricardo's idea to open a restaurant was born out of a whim. Sometimes he craved Japanese food so much that he couldn't control it.

For now, the only thing he can sell is Chinese buns, but he plans to come up with new menu items.

He intends to hire a few young, talented chefs. For this, he plans to seek advice from Bernardo. Although it's a bit uncomfortable to keep relying on Bernardo, Bernardo also relies on Ricardo, so it's a mutual arrangement.

After parting ways with Macard, Ricardo headed to Bernardo's shop. Fortunately, it didn't suffer any damage from the monsters.

He entered the shop and went to the back, where he found Bernardo, as expected, poring over the accounts.

"You look busy."

"Oh, it's you, Ricardo."

"I came to talk about something today."

"Really? What is it?"

"I heard from the magic craftsman Emilia that there's a surge in orders for magic cannons and magic guns, mostly from high-ranking noble families who are willing to pay any price."

The magic guns he has made so far have the workshop's mark, and it seems that nobles and merchants who know about it are placing orders.

However, to manufacture magic guns, he needs to defeat the demon tree Tamiel and obtain magic vines.

He came to Bernardo to ask if there was a way to politely decline the orders.

"Orders are also coming to Emilia's workshop. In fact, I've also received orders from the auction participants."

"Is that so? What should I do?"

"From a business perspective, this is a critical moment, but is there any way to handle it?"

"But without the magic vines, it's impossible."

"About that, I heard from a monster hunter that many demon trees have gathered near the second magic gate. He even saw a group of demon trees Tamiel."

Demon trees often act in groups. Monster hunters usually hunt them when the group is scattered, but Bernardo suggested that hunting a group of demon trees Tamiel might be a good idea.

"Hmm, if we can successfully hunt a group, we can obtain a lot of magic vines, but hunting a group of demon trees Tamiel is a different matter. It's a life-or-death situation even for a single demon tree Tamiel, so we need a special strategy for a group."

Bernardo looked thoughtful but didn't come up with any good ideas.

"It's a tough one, but can you think about it? As a magician, you might come up with a unique idea."

"Yeah... I'll think about it."

He said he would think about it, but at that moment, he had no ideas at all.

For now, he decided to think about it later and asked Bernardo how to hire young chefs.

"In that case, I'll introduce you to Lazar Manigetti. He runs several restaurants and should know many chefs."

Bernardo is always reliable. I need to do something to repay him.

"By the way, my breeding facility is partially complete, and I plan to raise 100 demon trees Kumi. Can you guide me?"

The magic to grow demon trees from seeds to small trees is a budding spell recorded in the magic compendium, so it's not a secret. However, there are a few unique techniques involved, such as preparing fertile soil and the amount of catalyst, but they are not difficult to figure out with a bit of research, so he doesn't plan to keep them secret.

He even plans to write a paper on this topic for this year's magic thesis.

"Sure, but are you sure about demon trees Kumi? Aren't you raising them to get catalysts?"

Burning demon trees Kumi can produce catalysts, but they are not of high quality. To get high-quality fire catalysts, he would need to burn at least demon trees Trill.

"Yes, I know, but I plan to improve the soil with demon trees Kumi and become self-sufficient in feeding the demon trees before raising demon trees Trill."

Bernardo also seems to think that the key to raising demon trees is securing feed.

"That might be the right approach. I've been thinking about feed too. Does this country have any buildings to store hay?"

Ricardo asked about silos.

"No, I've never heard of such things."

He plans to experiment with building one and storing hay by the end of the year.

After a bit of small talk, Ricardo left Bernardo's shop and headed to Emilia's workshop.

In the workshop, Emilia and her team were making magic cannons. They had received sixteen orders at once, so they looked busy.

"It seems like you're busy."

When Ricardo entered the workshop and greeted them, Emilia smiled wryly.

"Yes, I have to complete seven magic cannons this month."

The orders for magic cannons are mostly for high-level magic, such as "Flowing Blade" and "Flying Spear," which are used to defeat Ulfar and goblin tribes.

He considered whether magic cannons could be useful in hunting a group of demon trees Tamiel. To destroy the weak point, the tree liver, of demon trees Tamiel, a magic cannon that can cast mid-level or higher magic is needed.

However, to take them down in one hit, high-level or very high-level magic is required. Also, one magic cannon alone is not enough to handle a group of demon trees Tamiel.

"What about the magic guns?"

Emilia asked.

"I discussed it with Bernardo, and he suggested that hunting a group of demon trees Tamiel might allow us to make a decent number of magic guns."

"That's crazy. Hunting a group of demon trees Tamiel is suicidal."

"Well, I agree, but I was asked if there's any way to do it."

Emilia looked at Ricardo strangely.

"Is there something wrong with my face?"

"Actually, you sound like an old man."

"Ugh."

He was hurt by the direct comment. He had noticed that people sometimes looked at him strangely, and he had expected that a twelve-year-old boy talking like this would get strange looks.

"Should I try to talk more like my age?"

"I don't mind, but some religious people might think you're possessed by an evil spirit, so be careful."

...Should he adjust his way of speaking to his physical age? It feels a bit late, as Emilia suggested, but he'll try to be a bit more careful.

"I'll try to adjust my speaking gradually. By the way, do you know any good ways to defeat demon trees?"

"I'm not an expert on demon trees, but you could ask Professor Roland at the Royal Vizel Academy."

Professor Roland is apparently a leading expert in demon tree research.

"Really? There's such a person?"

"But he's a bit eccentric, so you'll need to bring a gift to talk to him."

"What kind of gift?"

"Something rare and delicious, I think."

The professor is known as a gourmet in the capital's social circles.

Something rare and delicious... What would be good?

On his way back from the workshop, he headed to the north side of the port.

On the south side of the port is Ricardo's demon tree breeding facility, and on the north side is a section where fishermen live.

The sandy beach, which is quite large, is lined with small rowing boats, and fishermen can be seen repairing their nets.

The nets are made of a thread similar to hemp and are used to repair torn parts. They seem to be relatively small casting nets.

"Do you know where Stefan is?"

Stefan is the father of the girl Antonio saved. He himself received the purple jade tree crystal, which is a medicine, and feels deeply grateful to Antonio and Ricardo.

"He should be back from fishing soon."

He decided to wait while watching the fishermen repair their nets.

After about an hour, Stefan's boat returned. Stefan's boat can hold five people and is a standard fishing boat.

A tall, sunburned man got off the boat and came over to Ricardo.

"Sure enough, it's from Antonio's place."

"It's Ricardo. Thank you for the fresh fish."

"What's up?"

"I thought I'd ask for some fish."

"That's fine, but what kind do you need?"

"Can I see what you caught?"

With Stefan's permission, he looked at the boxes of fish. There were mostly sea bream, cod, and fish similar to sea bass. There were four boxes, and the last one was filled with small fish similar to smelt.

"These are good for grilling."

Stefan picked up a fish similar to sea bream.

It would be a luxurious dish, but not rare. When he asked about other fish, it seemed they were mostly grilled or boiled, and sashimi was not common.

There were no tempura or fried fish either.

"How do you eat these?"

He pointed to the fish similar to smelt.

"Hey, these aren't for humans. The guys who do longline fishing use them as bait, so I just brought them back."

What a waste. If they taste like smelt, they would be delicious as tempura.

"I want to try a new cooking method, so can I have twenty of them?"

"Sure, but is this enough?"

"Yes. How much will it cost?"

"Don't worry about it. I was going to give them to my fishing buddies for free anyway."

"Thank you."

"Sure, if it's good, let me taste it next time."

"Sure."

The fish similar to smelt are called Ksuel.

He took twenty Ksuel and headed home, buying cooking oil, eggs, and a citrus fruit similar to a lemon on the way.

When he got home, Monta ran over and climbed up his body.

"Ryuka... Ocyuri"

Monta has grown to the size of a small cat and has been able to speak a few words for a few days.

Although his words are still broken, Monta is proud of his ability.

He used to get lonely when separated from Ricardo, but recently he plays with Serge and Pamela and flies around the neighborhood roofs when alone. The neighbors know Monta is from the Unius family and seem to dote on him.

While petting Monta's head, his mother Julia came out.

"Welcome back. How was the shop?"

Julia asked about the Chinese bun shop.

"I heard they can start business the day after tomorrow."

"Good, we need to start preparing tomorrow. ...Oh, what's that?"

"It's fish. I got it because I want to try a new dish."

"Really? What kind of dish?"

"It's a dish that uses a lot of oil."

"Sure, I'll help."

Ricardo removed the scales from the Ksuel, cut off the heads, and gutted them.

He sprinkled salt and let them sit for a while.

It took some time to process twenty fish with Julia's help.

He made tempura batter with eggs, water, and flour. When he lived independently in Japan, he used potato starch and baking powder for tempura batter, but those ingredients don't exist in this world.

He heated oil in a pot and, once it was hot enough, coated the Ksuel with the tempura batter and dropped them in the oil.

The unique sizzling sound filled the kitchen.

Hearing the sound, Serge came into the kitchen.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm making something delicious."

Serge was excited, and Ricardo wondered if a child would recognize the taste of smelt.

The Ksuel in the oil turned a golden brown. He took them out, drained the oil, and tasted one.

"Ah, ah... Delicious."

The crispy texture and light, savory flavor spread in his mouth. It tasted even better than the tempura smelt he had eaten before.

"That's not fair, brother."

He had no choice. He put three more Ksuel in the oil and gave the finished tempura to Julia and Serge.

They ate carefully to avoid burns and smiled widely.

"Really delicious," "Delicious."

Seeing this, Monta started to cry for some. He has grown and has a stronger stomach, so he has been eating almost anything recently.

2017/10/14 Typo corrections

2017/11/10 Corrections

2017/11/27 Corrections