Episode 68 -- Deep Fried Red Serpent, Tastier Than Expected

"Hey Sui, is the bag good?" I asked Sui who was in her new Red Boar leather bag.

"This bag, it's more comfortable than the other one-" Sui told me.

"Yeah? That's great." It's good to have a new bag for her.

"Oh Fer, did you hear what Lambert-san said?" I asked.

"Uh-huh. About a black snake? " Fer answered.

"Yup. If you come across a Black Serpent, can you hunt it if possible. Is that OK?"

"For sure. That kind of meat is delicious." Fer's bottomless stomach agreed.

"Oh Aruji-, that's a great idea. It will be really delicious if you deep fried it." Sui chimed in.

"Hmmm, fried? Yeah, that was delicious. Oh, and remember we've got some Red Serpent meat. Let's try that today. After that I want you to grill some steaks."

From what everyone's told me Red Serpent meat is super high class food.

"Are you gonna fry some Red Serpent meat? I'm going to carry out the Metal Lizard suppression tomorrow and eating something extravagant like that will really get me going."

"Are you frying tonight? Sui loves fried foods! Yay!"

When I hear Sui say she loves fried food then there's no choice for me, it's going to be fried food tonight.

"Wait a bit, I want to buy some clothes before going back to the inn. I'll stop by a clothes store." I want to buy some new clothes while I've got money in my pocket. I'm OK with buying socks and underwear at the Net Super but proper clothing isn't listed in the online menu. I can buy sweatshirts and casual pants and such but wearing something like that here I'd stand out so I went to a clothes store on the way back to the inn.

I looked for something a bit colourful but it seems that dyeing is not a well-developed process here and all the clothing was a similar dull hue. In the end I bought three sets of shirts and trousers and changed in the shop. In total it was two gold coins and four silver coins.

Time to go back to the inn.

* * * * *

I started preparing the evening meal as soon as I got back to the inn. Since Fell and Sui asked it'll be fried food tonight. I now had plenty of meat, so I tried cooking not just the Red Serpent meat but a lot more different kinds as well. I planned to put the surplus cooked foods in the Item Box so they can be eaten anytime.

I made two kinds of flavouring, soy sauce based and salt based this time. The main meats were Red Serpent followed by Black Serpent, Rock Bird and Giant Dodo.

Firstly I rubbed the soy sauce and salt-based flavouring into each cut of meat, then gave it a little time to soak in then then deep fried the meat in cooking oil. I decided to cook each piece twice this time to make it tastier.

I started with the main course, Red Serpent. The first time through I fried it in low temperature oil to let the flavourings soak in and seal the meat, the second pass I heated the oil way up. Yeah, the light brown colour gave me a good feeling about the results.

First bite... *crunch*.

............ Oh wow-----!

What is this? Crisp outside, juicy inside. Furthermore, it tastes better and better as I slowly chew it.

The meat's pale white and delicious in its own right with soy sauce and salt flavouring adding to its tase with the firmness of the meat complementing the sensation in my mouth. It might just be be the most delicious fried food I ever ate.

"Aruji-, Sui too! Sui wants to eat too."

"That's right. Let me at it."

Oh- I nearly forgot about them, it was so delicious... I put down two dishes of freshly cooked deep-fried Red Serpent in front of Fer and Sui.

"This is delicious! Sooo delicious!-" Sui was deeply impressed by the Red Serpent meat.

"Wow! ! !" Even Fer was entranced by the taste of what he was eating.

"Seconds-" they both demanded in unison a few moments later. Me too, I'll indulge myself tonight and have seconds too. I can see why everyone agrees Red Serpent is especially delicious. It is truly super high class meat.

Right then, get cooking again. If I put deep-fried Red Serpent down in front of those two it will disappear quick so I'll cook some other meat as well. I'll fry up some Black Serpent, Rock Bird and Giant Dodo.

I kept frying and frying for those two gluttons. I could maybe take it easy later but right now it was deep-fry for them, put it out on a plate, deep-fry again, put it out again, time after time.

"Fuu-, Sui's tummy is full."

"Gefu, I'm stuffed too."

Ha ha ha ha ha, victory is mine! I didn't repeat my previous mistake of underestimating how much those two gluttons could eat so there was plenty left for me this time. Since we've got so much meat on hand I'll cook lots more while I've got the opportunity.

"Hey? I'm no longer hungry." said Fer quizzically, watching me cooking more deep-fried meat.

"This is food I'm going to save for later. If I fry it and put it in my Item Box then you can eat it any time without waiting for me to cook it."

"Oh, that's a good idea. Make a lot of it."

Yeah