Chapter 322: Meeting Dear Old Friends

Translated by Zzonkedd

Edited by Gumihou and Onionpi

Please read this at dot com

A day late, sorry.

Gumi was sick

After meeting with the Guild Master at the Adventurers Guild, [8] we went outside the walls of the city and snacked on some pre-made Meat Onigiri. One of the many ready meals I had made during the past three days. [5]

Were outside now because Fer & Co. wanted to go hunting.

Now, if I leave it alone, Fer, Sui & Dora-chan would probably be caught up with hunting and probably dont remember to come back on time.

Naturally, I have a solution for that

[8] Ill be making something delicious soon, so make sure to come back before it gets dark, I said casually to Fer, who was wearing a Magic Bag (extra large) around his neck.

Umu, fine. Lets go.

Yahoo! Lets get something big!

Aruji, Sui will pew pew lots and lots and bring lots and lots back~~ So, please wait ~~

With that, my familiars ran towards the nearby forest.

Well, I guess I should get started on the promised something delicious, lets see

Rather than going back to the mansion to cook, I decided to just stick around and do some outdoor cooking while waiting for Fer and the rest.

Well, since its such a nice weather, I should do a barbecue. Its been a while since our last proper barbecue.

Naturally, when it comes to barbecue, meat is the star. The only question was, what meat should I use? [1] I had just picked up quite a large variety from the Adventurers Guild after all.

After pawing through my [Item Box] I took a large piece of Rock Bird meat out. Lets make barbecue Rock Bird! Its been a while since Ive barbecued chicken, I mean, fowl meat.

For the sauce, lets try [9] mixing my own barbecue sauce for once. While I could buy BBQ Sauce from [Net Super], theres quite something satisfying about mixing my own sauce.

[9] Yes, lets make a sweet barbecue sauce with honey with a lovely lingering taste.

[9] For this sweet homemade sauce, lets go with ketchup, honey, grated garlic (from a tube) and Chuno sauce as the base. Worcesters.h.i.+re sauce is acceptable but Chuno is thicker and sweeter, just perfect as a base for barbecue sauce.

[9] To make it even more luxurious, I could add some grain mustard.

Wait, lets make both types!

Yes, two types of sauces for my barbecue.

[9] After mixing the sweet barbecue sauce in a large bowl, I split the lot into two smaller bowls and added grain mustard to one.

[9] Dont look down on the addition of just one ingredient. Grain mustard has enough flavour and texture to completely change a sauce!

I set the sauces aside and began poking holes into the Rock Bird meat with a fork before cutting it into appropriate pieces, about the size of a small steak so that it would soak in the sauce and cook quickly. Then, I placed the chicken pieces into two large plastic bags and poured the Honey BBQ sauce into one and Mustard BBQ sauce in the other.

Lets make lots since my familiars like meat!

Anyway, if I have any leftover marinated meat, I could just grill them in a pan later.

Thats the meat prep done.

[6] Vegetables are generally an optional thing when it comes to barbecue but Id always enjoyed the odd grilled corn and asparagus. Although only Sui and I really enjoy eating them, [5] I want to make sure my other two familiars get their vegetables in them. Never mind Dora-chans apathy or Fers frowny faces.

Speaking of vegetables, I dont have many that are suitable for barbecue left. So lets check the [Net Super].

Fresh corn for sure, and sweet paprika, king trumpet mushrooms and some asparagus [5]

Corn could be placed on the grill with its leaves on. So, all I have to do is prep the other vegetables, first cutting them to appropriate sizes, peeling the lower parts of the asparagus and covering them all in a bit of olive oil and salt to taste.

Alright, now that the prep work is done, I should get my barbecue grill ready.

I pulled out my special dwarf made BBQ stove that I commissioned from Doran [9] along with some leftover charcoal. This should be enough to get a good fire started, although Ill have to get more charcoal from [Net Super] soon since Ill be cooking a lot.

While I got a good fire going, [9] aided by my Fire Magic, of course. Magic is so cool, times like this is when I am almost amazed by myself-

Rustle, rustle.

!!!

Its the rustling sound of gra.s.ses and twigs being pushed aside. [6] The sound was getting louder, so I stopped whatever I was doing and grabbed my Mithril spear from the [Item Box] and stood at ready.

Fer had already set up a barrier and since this place is close to the city, I dont think any large monsters would dare show up

Perhaps a stray Goblin? Or an Orc?

I tightened my grip on the spear, waiting for the opponent to show up.

What finally emerged was

Eh? Rush-san?

Hm Oh? Isnt this Mukouda-san? What are you doing here?

The familiar and nostalgic faces of the [Phoenix] party members appeared through the trees.

Please read this at dot com ~

I see, so you guys just came back from completing a quest.

Aaa, its a little early to return to town right away, so we decided to make a little pocket money.

Apparently, the [Phoenix] party had received a mission to subjugate a group of Grey Wolves that had settled close to a village nearby.

So, Mukouda-san, what brings you here?

Aa, [4] I guess Im out hunting? Well, Fer and the others are out hunting while I wait for them here. My job is to provide them with a meal when they return. [5] Would you like to join us? Its been a long time since weve seen each other and this could be our reunion meal.

Hoho, are you treating us?

Thank you for the treat!! members of the [Phoenix] cried.

Just like that, the [Phoenix] group entered the Barbecue Party.

However, since the barbecue is meant for Fer & Co, I decided to make some consomm soup from cabbages and bacon to entertain the guests for the time being. [5] [6] I cant just let my friends starve indefinitely while waiting for those guys to return, right?

Anyway, consomm is actually pretty easy to make. [9] The cabbages and bacon are cut into 1cm squares first and set aside. [2] Then, in a large pan, stir-fry the bacon until partially browned, add water and crumble a couple of consomm stock cubes over the soup. Once the water started boiling, I added the chopped cabbage and stirred until the soup started bubbling again.

After adjusting the flavour with a little salt and pepper, this incredibly simple soup is done.

Please have this first while we wait for Fer and the others to return, [3] I said as I distributed the soup to everyone.

Oh, excuse us, wow, this is delicious.

I think Ill have some too.

Still, Im surprised to see you back here, [3] said the person who told me his name was Cider, hes the guy whos dating (I think) a guild employee called Sandra.

There are plenty of rumours going around, one of them being that youve cleared Dorans dungeon, Hank commented as he drank his soup.

Avering too, said another guy, Alois.

Oi, oi, you ranked up to S Rank even before you went to Avering, right? Man, Im so proud to be able to say I know an S Ranker personally, said the youngest, Cesar, with a laugh.

Well, its all thanks to Fer and my other familiars I said as I sipped my consomm.

After all, I would never have gotten near a dungeon if not for Fer, Sui and Dora-chan. [1] My S Rank was also thanks to them.

Maa, I wish I have such strong familiars, said Rush. [5] [4] Speaking of which, Dora-chan joined my party after Carelina, so this would be the first time you guys meet him. [5]

Oh? What kind of monster is he?

Well, hell be back soon. Its easier for you to see for yourself, I said as Fers voice echoed in my head through telepathy.

Were back, [5]

Just then, Fer, Sui and Dora-chan appeared through the trees.

Plop, crash.

Rush-sans bowl fell to the ground, splas.h.i.+ng consomm soup all over his shoes.

D-dragon?

The rest of the [Phoenix] party turned into consomm bowl holding statues.

[Gumihou: Surprise!]

[1] Structural Change: Combine 2 paragraphs

[2] Structural Change: Combine 3 paragraphs

[3] Structural Change: Combine paragraph & dialogue

[4] Structural Change: Change pa.s.sive sentence to dialogue

[5] Delete Repet.i.tive or Pointless Information

[6] Additional Information for Aesthetic Purpose

[7] Add Dialogue Tag

[8] Creative Licence Taken

[9] Barbecue: Some inconsistencies. Gumi fixed it.

[10] Consomm: Smoothed out the steps for making the soup