Who Is The Strongest Appraiser? Volume 1 Chapter 4

Translator: Skythewood

Editor: Hiiro

「Just what is with your skills...」

「... I can't do anything about that either...」

Yuri and Ari were in Ari's room, and both of them looked exhausted. Yuri was just troubled, while Ari was holding his head and groaning. Ari was streetwise and smart, but when it comes to anything related to Yuri, or specifically, Yuri's skill 【G.o.d Eye】 and Job「Seeker」, he would be completely stumped, and it was the same today too.

Ari told Yuri information and the common sense of this world, and the meaning and usage of the appraisal skills. To Yuri, Ari was a teacher, and emotionally, Ari was like a big brother watching out for him.

This scene all started from Yuri asking Ari something out of curiosity.

He asked Ari whether 「The appraisal skill includes an encyclopedia function.」

Ari answered 「there's no way such a function exist.」 This is usually true, even Ari's 【Magic Eye】 didn't have such a strange function.

However, Yuri's 【G.o.d Eye】 does have an encyclopedia function.

Which means, he could browse through the details of previous appraisal. For information that might change with time, such as the status of people or monsters, he could check the appraisal results from that time; for information that wouldn't change, he could verify the results right away. And he could check these at anytime, so it was just like an encyclopedia.

There was something even more amazing too.

When Yuri read books about national history or heroic exploits, when he stares at professional terms he didn't understand, his appraisal skills would get activated. When he ran into a bunch of unfamiliar names of country and famous people, he would see the usual appraisal information screen, and see all sorts of information… Just to be clear, normally, that would be impossible.

「You understand that appraisal means a.s.sessing the information of the things before you, right?」

「I can't do anything about that either....」

「They are your skills, right?」

「I didn't learn them willingly either...」

Yuri drooped his shoulders depressedly, and what he said was true. 【G.o.d Eye】 was a powerful cheat, but Yuri wasn't born with them, or wanted them either. He got them suddenly out of the blue. Yuri wanted to know why he was given such a cheat too.

The exasperated Ari just said one thing to Yuri.

「Don't ever tell anyone about this.」

The bald and one eyed Ari looked very scary when he was serious, and Yuri nodded his head repeatedly. Ari took in Yuri despite his dubious origins, taught him many things and even took care of his meals and lodging. He felt endless grat.i.tude towards Ari, and didn't intend to defy him at all.

「... Next would be the ability of your possessions...」

「... Simply put, all my possessions are now magic tools.」

「They were not before this?」

「No.」

He couldn't hide this part, and nodded obediently. Ari didn't know why that happened, and decided to check the magic items for now… After all, magic tools weren't normal, and might have all sorts of abilities.

And the owner was Yuri, a carefree, optimistic, whimsical, gentle and dense boy. Ari couldn't leave someone like that possessing so many magic tools with unknown items alone. Since he had time, Ari decided to check these magic tools.

Yuri took out his personal possession from the Student bag that was now a bag of holding. The capacity seemed normal since he only took out what was already in his bag, and those items looked normal… They were just stationeries and normal items that had been transformed into magic tools, and no one knew why.

So they started appraising them.

──Yuri's Student bag

Yuri Kugimiya's Student bag, high quality magic bag.

Unlimited storage s.p.a.ce, time will stop inside the bag, includes a sorting function, can only be used by the owner.

It is possible to place things into the bag with the permission of the owner.

「... What is this sorting function?」

「Well, the things placed inside would be arranged automatically according to type.」

「... Just how broken is that?」

「Erm… Sorry?」

「Why are you apologizing?」

Yuri couldn't do anything even when he got scolded, but his personality compelled him to apologize first. Ari warned him to be careful, and not let anyone steal his Student bag. 

… But Yuri replied...

「Oh, if someone takes away this bag without my permission, it will return to me automatically.」

「What the h.e.l.l is with this magic bag!?」

「Erm～ that's what the footnote says～」

Ari started cursing again, and Yuri could only give such an answer. Only Yuri could see the footnote, it wasn't clear whether this was the effect of the 【G.o.d Eye】 skill, or because Yuri was the owner. But since no one could steal this overpowered bag, Ari sighed in relief. Even though no one else could use it, there must be people eyeing this curious looking bag.

Ari pulled himself together and continued appraising.

… Actually, Yuri figured that smart phones and music players didn't exist in this different world, so he kept them in his bag. This was Yuri's personal magic bag, even with Ari's appraisal skill, he couldn't tell what was in the bag. To avoid any confusion, Yuri decided to hide these two items… Yuri would think about things carefully at times.

──Yuri's sewing needle

Yuri Kugimiya's sewing needle, a high quality magic tool.

It can sew anything together. The sewn bindings will never break, and make it look better.

Only the owner and those with his permission can use it. Unable to deal any harm.

「What does it mean by sewing anything?」

「I tried it before, I can even sew wooden boards together.」

「And the thread!?」

「... Just normal threads」

「The threads are upgraded because the power of the needle…?」

Yuri wanted to apologize when he saw the surprised Ari, but decided not to since it would only invite Ari's retort. The needles were kept in his sewing kit, and there were several of them. Worth mentioning was the 「Unable to deal any harm」 part. Yuri won't get hurt even if the needle p.r.i.c.k his fingers, which was a great function for beginners.

But Yuri was great at sewing, and his sewing skills was at Level 50, so he wouldn't make a beginner mistake like p.r.i.c.king his fingers.

──Yuri's thread

Yuri Kugimiya's thread, a high quality magic tool.

It will never run out, and the thread will never run loose once it had been sewn on.

Only the owner and those with his permission may use this.

「... The thread too?」

「It's really convenient that the thread will never run out～」

「The problem is with the level, fool!」

「T-That hurts...!」

Ari grabbed Yuri's head with his hand, and Yuri slapped the table to surrender. The needle was overpowered, even the thread was like that, of course Ari would get mad. These items were all too powerful. And… there was more.

There were many items inside his sewing kit alone.

──Yuri's thread tr.i.m.m.i.n.g scissors

Yuri Kugimiya's scissors for cutting threads, a high quality magic tool.

Can cut through any threads, and the edge will always stay sharp.

Only the owner and those with his permission can use it. Unable to deal any harm.

──Yuri's notebook

Yuri Kugimiya's notebook, a high quality magic tool.

Will never run out of pages, the words and drawing on the notebook will never fade.

Only the owner and those with his permission can use it.

──Yuri's pen

Yuri Kugimiya's pen, a high quality magic tool.

The ink will never run out, can write on any surface, the writing will never fade.

Only the owner and those with his permission can use it.

「... Their functions are basically like this?」

「Yes, they are all like this.」

「... I get it, enough.」

「Enough? There's still a mechanical pencil, eraser, penknife and others.」

「There's no point in checking them, just don't lend them out to others.」

「I won't～ I want to use them myself～」

Ari felt exhausted looking at Yuri's silly smile. Fortunately, Yuri only had simple items like stationery and sewing kits, and not any weapons which would have worried Ari. Just that was a huge relief.

And the sharp items that might be used as a weapon were all 「unable to deal any harm」, so it couldn't be used to hurt others. In a sense, this was a very considerate safety feature… But that also meant Yuri didn't have anything to defend himself with.

「Well, you are already an abnormality, and your possessions aren't too different from you either...」

「But needles that will never break and threads that will never run out is really convenient! The pen that will never run dry and the endless pages of notebook too!」

「... That's true, the quality makes me wonder how it is made. It's great that there are plenty of pages, but only you can use it...」

「Hmm? If I tear it off, then others can use it. It won't be a part of this notebook if I tear it off, and it becomes normal paper that anyone can use.」

「What!?」

Yuri tore a page off the notebook nicely. The pages already has a line for it to be torn off, so that could be done easily. And the pages weren't pure white, and had faint boxes. The vertical lines were dotted, so it could be used to write j.a.panese or English, making it really convenient. Yuri used it a lot in school too.

Yuri gave the cleanly torn off notebook page to Ari, and Ari looked at it carefully to appraise it.

──Yuri's notebook

A page torn from Yuri Kugimiya's notebook, good quality paper.

It is harder to oxidize than normal paper, more water resistant, and will disappear when damaged.

Anyone can use it.

「... Are you serious.」

「Oh, Ari-nii, you want some? I will tear a few pages off. This is a magic tool, so the pages won't decrease even if I tear some out～」

Yuri tore off page after page with a smile, and the pile of high quality pure white paper (which had faint mysterious lines on them for some reason) got higher and higher, leaving Ari dumbfounded.

Ari was lost because of Yuri's strange behaviour, and when he realized it, there were already tens of these white paper… Paper were perishables, so there was no harm in having more of them, even more so for high grade items like this.

There was no harm in this, but Ari still admonished him with a 「Don't get c.o.c.ky now.」, and pushed Yuri's head.

Shortly after that, a lot of people learned that notebooks with faint lines were great for writing, which was a huge headache for paper manufacturers.

On a side note, Ari happened to appraise Yuri's School Uniform, and realized it unfathomable abilities such as the blessing of G.o.d ∞, which made him yelled at Yuri on the spot. Ari then bought a set of normal commoner's clothes for Yuri. The magic bag and items were powerful enough, and even Yuri's School Uniform had a cheat on it, which gave Ari a headache.

Ari didn't know what were the effects of the blessing of G.o.d, and he would find out more by appraising, but Ari's instinct was stopping him from doing so. Maybe he didn't want to find out something that would give him a bigger headache, and the Yuri's nonchalant att.i.tude made him feel tired.

After Yuri got clothes that were easy for him to move in, he did his ch.o.r.es even more leisurely. Even though Ari warned Yuri not to take out his School Uniform again, he had no idea how serious Yuri took his advice.

Yuri grew his bangs out because he was too lazy to get a haircut, and had finally trimmed them to a suitable length himself. So his black framed gla.s.ses and childish face could finally be seen clearly. The way he cooked and cleaned with a smile, his slender body and childish face made Yuri look like a small critter, was a consensus held by everyone.

… Everyone but the subject himself.

「It's done, how is it?」

「Uwah! It's so cute! Thank you, Yuri-nii!」

「No problem, I'm glad you like it.」

The scene of the smiling Yuri and the blooming smile of the little girl was a warming sight.

The girl's hair was nicely tied up, with the ends of her braid forming a neat half circle on the top of her head. Yuri started by braiding her long hair, and then circling it around her head. The braid was so nicely done that it made the girl beamed.

Yuri didn't tie up all her hair into a braid, letting the rest of her hair down and securing the braid on top of the girl's hair like some sort of hair accessories. The long straight hair created a nice contrast with the braid, and was pleasing to the eyes.

The little girl might be beaming now, but she was bawling out earlier.

While Yuri was out on her usual stroll, she found a girl crying after some boys pulled at her hair. Her friends quickly chased the boys away, but when the girl saw her messy hair, she started wailing.

Yuri slowly took out his comb from his Student bag. He was a boy who groomed himself properly, and the comb had also turned into a magic tool, which could make any hair smooth and l.u.s.trous. It would be troublesome if any girls found out the ability of this comb, so he didn't say it out loud. The extent that girls would go for the sake of beauty was scary, and because he was a girlish boy, he often felt their pa.s.sion from up close and understood how scary they were. He didn't want to cause a commotion because of his comb, so he didn't say anything── that was a wise choice.

After helping to comb the girl's hair, he asked her: 「Can I tie your hair for you?」

The people in the city were friendly towards the foreign youth who seemed a little queer, and the girls would treat him like a younger brother who was a little dense, and they just couldn't leave alone. Yuri didn't mind them, and had a cordial relations.h.i.+p with the girls… As for the boys, it was easy to get along with them with good cooking.

As they got along well, the girl nodded between sniffles. So Yuri tied up her hair with a hair band braid. 

「Yuri-nii, can you tie that for me too?」

「It should be possible if your hair is long enough to be braided and go around your head, so it's not possible for those with short hair...」

「「Okay!」」

After hearing what Yuri said, the girls got into pairs, with the girl with shorter hair tying up the long hair of her partner. They would fail sometimes, but Yuri would help out, and everyone succeeded.

By the way, Yuri secured their hair band braid with the hair clip taken out of his magic bag. Pay no mind to why a boy would have that many hair clip── it was better not to ask.

After watching these girls, Yuri walked to the girls whose hair weren't long enough for a hair band braid. The short haired girls had given up, but those who could still braid their hair seem vexed. Little girls were sensitive to dressing up after all.

「Would you like to try a half up braid?」

「Huh? How do you tie that?」

「By braiding both sides of the top half of your hair, and then tying the two ends together, it would look like a hair band.」

They got aside after hearing Yuri say that with a smile. They asked Yuri to show them, so he tied up one of the girl's hair. He took out a comb from his magic bag, parted her hair, and nimbly tied up twin braids. He then grab the ends of both braids, secure them with a hair tie and it was done.

Aside from the braid coiled up at the  top of hair band braids, the two hair styles were similar. The gloomy girls all started beaming, and tried tying half up braids, and Yuri watched over them with a gentle smile. He enjoys watching girls dressing each other up, and also likes helping them dress up, because he was a girlish boy. 

He then turned towards the girls with hair too short to braid, but wasn't too short either. They didn't resign themselves like the short haired girls and their mid length hair made it hard for them to give up. Yuri looked at them and took out something from his magic bag.

It was a colourful bunch of scrunchies. Yuri bought some hair tie into this world, and used loose pieces of cloth to give them new life. Yuri collected the loose pieces of cloth that the tailor shops wanted to throw away in the first place, and they were glad that Yuri took care of their trash. Yuri used the cloth to make a few scrunchies as part of his hobby. 

Scrunchies were basically hair tie used as accessories, with a piece of cloth secured around it and looked cute. Yuri sewed them with different types of loose cloth, so the scrunchies came in a variety of colors. Sewing was just a leisurely hobby he partakes in to pa.s.s the time.

He approached the girls with the scrunchies.

「If you can't braid your hair, how about tying your hair with this?」

「「Hmm?」」

「This is a scrunchie I made, do you want to try it? I can't use it as my hair is too short.」

Yuri gave them the scrunchies with a smile, and they kept blinking as they looked at the scrunchies. The scrunchies were like a bundle of pretty clothes, but they didn't know how to use them.

Yuri had an inkling on what was troubling them, and with the permission of one girl, he combed her hair, tie it up with a hair tie, and added the scrunchie on top. It was possible to tie her hair with just the scrunchie, but a hair tie was more secure, that was why he did it this way.

He just tied up her hair, but the girls were squealing with joy. It was just loose cloth, but the pretty patterns on the scrunchies looked great, which made the girls excited.

「I will give them all to you, that's all that I have on me.」

After saying that, Yuri gave out tens of scrunchie which started a scramble for them amongst the girls. The hair band braid group and half up braid gang also joined in, and only the short haired girls sat out, since their hair wasn't long enough to tie.

But they like dressing themselves up too, so they just looked on from the side enviously, and twiddled with their hair. They must be thinking about growing their hair out.

Yuri showed some hair clips to the short haired girls. They weren't the black hair clips used to secure the girls' hair, but had accessories at the tip of the hair clips.

「...Yuri-nii?」

「Those who can't tie their hair up, do you want to pin up your bangs with these?」

「「Thank you!」」

The girls thanked him as one.

Yuri gave them the hair clips to them. The hair clips had loose pieces of cloth bundled up into a pretty ball on top of them, and some came in the form of ribbons. The cloth wasn't glued on, and was sewed on by Yuri. The accessories were secured tightly, and wouldn't drop off.

After the short haired girls who couldn't braid their hair or use scrunchie got the hair clips, they started discussing who suited which pattern more, and shared them peacefully. Yuri was all smiles as he watched over them.

… He didn't think too much when he put the hair clips into his bag, and didn't expect it to be so useful. And just like his notebook, the pack of 20 hair clips would never run out. All of Yuri's magic tools had this plain and strange ability.

That day, Yuri was surrounded by the happy girls and had the honor of taking a walk with them. The girls in the capital were not to be taken lightly, they would scout out what was selling at every shop with their mother, and search for bargain deals. And they didn't forget to introduce Yuri to the shopkeepers.

And so, Yuri had a more meaningful time than he expected during that stroll, going to the shops he seldom visited. As he was shopping with the girls, he got to visit shops meant for girls, which was just right.

Yuri discussed with them about the cuteness and practically of the merchandize. The old lady in the shop thought Yuri was a suspicious person at the start, but after seeing Yuri chatting happily with the girls, she showed a gentle smile. But Yuri wasn't aware of that.

… On a side note, after that day, scrunchies and hair clip started a fas.h.i.+on trend, and Yuri accepted the request of the tailors to sell the scrunchies and hair clips he made when he was free as a sideline.

Idle Chat一 Creating a Restaurant Menu

「So that's how a restaurant is like～」

「The atmosphere of every restaurant is different, but that's how they are all like. Let's go in.」

「Okay.」

On Tiffana's urging, Yuri nodded and followed her in. She had brought Yuri to the commoner style restaurant, 《Forest Shade Pavilion》, which felt like a fantasy version of a family restaurant. The building and decorations were plain, but the place was clean. The windows gave a clear sight of the courtyard, showing a beautiful sight of the sun, trees, and gentle shades.

The sign that said 「Closed for the Day」 felt a little sad.

「h.e.l.lo, is Argus in?」

「Oh, welcome, Tifa.」

「Welcome, Tifnee.」

Tiffana called out, and a man and a girl came out from deep inside the restaurant, which was probably the kitchen. They both had brown hair and green eyes, with the man about 25 years old and the girl younger than 20. Their resemblance probably meant they were siblings.

The elder brother Argus and his sister Sierra. The children of the 《Forest Shade Pavilion》 owners. Sierra was the pretty face that helps out at her father's shop, and their mother runs the 《Dusk Pavilion》 inn next door, where Argus does the heavy manual labour. However, Argus was wearing an ap.r.o.n like a chef right now.

「Yuri, This is Argus and Sierra, the temporary owner and waitress of the 《Forest Shade Pavilion》.」

「Tifa, don't call me the temporary owner...」

「Isn't it temporary…? How is your father doing?」

「His injury is fine, but it will be a few months before he fully recovers.」

「It's all because he insisted on getting the ingredients himself despite his age.」

Argus shrugged, and Sierra puffed her cheeks. There was a reason why they said that. Their father, the owner of the 《Forest Shade Pavilion》, used to be an adventure, and was an eccentric chef who would gather the ingredients by himself. But one week ago, he got injured and the restaurant had to be closed for now.

Argus and Sierra came to help out, but a problem arose… Argus could only make simple staff meals; Sierra was great at taking and serving orders, but her special skill will activate when she cooks, and creates mysterious substances. And the siblings were troubled about how to manage this restaurant.

This was why Tiffana brought Yuri here, hoping he could help them.

Yuri heard them out. The elder brother had below average culinary skills, while the sister would create a crime scene when she cooks. So the only choice was for the sister with top notch service to continue being the waitress, and let the brother work as the chef. Yuri had to come up with a menu that even this elder brother could manage.

Yuri turned down Tiffana's request at the start, as he felt his home cooking couldn't be served in restaurants. Despite the rave reviews of the members on base, he didn't budge. To Yuri, normal homecooking like his couldn't be served to paying customers.

However, Tiffana said with a smile: 「Home cooking is exactly what we need.」

The 《Forest Shade Pavilion》 was an economical family restaurant didn't serve gourmet delicacy, but simple home cooking. The difference was, the price was cheap and the dressing and status of their patrons didn't matter, anyone could dine here. That was how the chef who used to be an adventurer did things… He wanted new adventurers who were poor to eat a proper meal too.

Hence, Tiffana hopes Yuri could teach Argus to make some of his home cooking. As Argus had mediocre culinary skills, so the menu had to be simple, the ingredients cheap, wouldn't take too much effort, or could be made the night before. Which were quite an unreasonable request.

「I will recommend donburi.」

「Dong bully...?」

「Donburi is a dish from my hometown, you just have to scoop rice into a bowl, and add the main dish on top, it's that simple. Depending on the dish you add on top, there can be quite a number of varieties too. And most important of all── there will be less dishes to wash.」

一When she heard there would be less dishes to wash, Sierra's eyes started to s.h.i.+ne. A meal would have many plates and dishes, and would take a lot of time to wash, which would affect the table turnover rate. She and her father were the ones who worked in the 《Forest Shade Pavilion》 in the past, so dishwas.h.i.+ng was basically her job. It would be a G.o.dsend to lessen the number of dishes she had to wash.

「Donburi could be served with a bowl of soup filled with vegetables, which had to be sliced thinly, so you can use vegetables that looks less appealing… Such vegetables would be cheaper too.」

「Adding vegetables into soup?」

「Yes, add enough to make it a side dish, and the taste will be better if you add in some mince meat from time to time.」

Normal soup didn't have many ingredients, so it was hard for Argus and Sierra to imagine that. But since donburi was the main dish, Yuri felt having a bowl of vegetable soup would be more nutritionally balanced. He decided to leave the cost calculations to the experts.

There was only so much that could be explained with words, so Yuri started preparing a meal.

Yuri made the egg donburi that earned Tiffana's praise previously, which the apprentices at the base could easily make too. And with proper seasoning, even cheap meat would taste good. What meat to use could be decided on the spot, and egg donburi would taste good with Viper, Orc, Bison or Big Frog meat.

Today, he would be using the Orc loin meat that Argus bought before hand. Yuri felt this was a high cla.s.s meat, but the monster meat in this world was cheap, so even commoners could afford them. Except for rare monsters, the meat wasn't too expensive, since monsters could pop up at any moment. Yuri cut the meat into bite size, and thought about buying meat that looks good on his next shopping trip.

He also brought kelp to season the meat, and started by soaking it in a pot. He wanted to promote the delicious taste of kelp stock. Argus and Sierra didn't know about stock and were confused at first, but after tasting it, they became devotees of kelp stock. They were raised by their father who was a chef, so their sense of taste was keen… Which made it even more of a mystery why Sierra's culinary skill turned out like this.

「After making the stock, please scoop out the kelp. It will be a waste to throw them away, so you can dice them and add them to the soup. As for the meat, I will use soy sauce, sugar and wine to season it into a sweet and salty favour. You can adjust it to your own liking, but I prefer this taste, and the patrons probably like it this way too.」

「The meal you cooked for me last time was delicious.」

「Thank you, Tiffannee.」

Argus kept nodding and taking notes, while Tiffana answered with a smile. She ate an egg donburi (with Big Frog meat) before, so her words carried weight. And since Orc meat taste better than Big Frog meat, today's donburi should be delicious too.

Yuri made it differently from before, he started by cooking the onions together with the meat, since it would be easier to make multiple portions this way. While the meat was cooking, he turned to the soup. He added in the diced kelp, and added all sorts of vegetables on a whim, except for onions and potatoes, as onions were already used in the donburi, and he had other plans for the potato. After adding lots of carrots, cabbage and mushrooms into the soup, he seasoned it with pepper and soy sauce. Since this was a soup that complements a donburi, it would naturally be more j.a.panese in style.

Before covering the pot to cook it, Yuri asked Argus to taste the soup. But in the end, the three of them all tried the soup. They were all moved by how nice the vegetable soup tasted.

「When making donburi, s.h.i.+ft one portion of meat and gravy to a separate pot, and after it's cooked, add in an egg and heat it up.」

「How well done should the eggs be?」

「Everyone has their own preference, I prefer mine to be more watery, and will turn off the heat after it reached that stage, letting the lingering heat to cook it further.」

Yuri said as he swiftly made the egg donburi. Tiffana asked the siblings to cook rice ahead of time, so it was still steaming hot. Yuri added the sweet and salty meat and egg on the steaming rice, which should be perfect, unless he made a mistake with the seasoning.

Yuri only made one donburi for sampling, but it was difficult to cook only one portion of soup. Argus' family will take care of the leftovers, so it was fine.

The siblings were moved as they tried the steaming donburi and soup filled with ingredients. Yuri left Tiffana to chat with the siblings as he washed the potatoes. He scrubbed the skin of the potatoes carefully, and showed a satisfied smile when all the dirt was cleaned away.

「Yuri, this is incredibly yummy… What are you doing?」

「Oh, I was thinking it would be nice to have a side dish other then donburi and soup… a portion for those who are really hungry...」

「... So you are was.h.i.+ng the potatoes?」

「That's right.」

He said with a smile as he dug out the sprouts on the potato and cut it into long strips. To be more specific, he quartered them as evenly as possible. He then slid the cut potatoes into a pot of hot oil… to make potato wedges.

Since there were so many potatoes, Yuri decided to add a side dish. Even though the others were staring at him with their eyes wide, Yuri continued frying the potatoes. When he made wedges back on base, the members were divided between the skin on and off factions. But to make things easier for Argus who had middling cooking skills, Yuri settled on leaving the skin on… After all, if his knife work wasn't good, skinning the potatoes would take an unexpectedly long time.

He scooped out the fried wedges onto a strainer. The owner here would cook fried food too, and had a complete set of cooking tools. Yuri thought 「I really want this bowl that goes with the strainer」 as he fried more wedges, and added a pinch of salt. He added salt so the taste wouldn't be too bland, but if the wedges got popular, he hopes to sprinkle it together with some spices.

「Okay, the wedges are done, please try them.」

「Uwah, is this fried potato?」

「You only added salt? If you just need to cut it without removing the skin, then I can help too.」

「... Don't go near the seasoning and ingredients, Sierra.」

「Shut up bro!」

The two of them squabble as they ate the wedges.

「「Delicious!」」

They stuffed their mouths until their cheeks puffed up, surprised that potatoes could be fried. The entire process was just was.h.i.+ng them, digging out the sprouts, cutting it into appropriate sizes, deep fry them and then sprinkling some salt. Only the frying part was a bit difficult, but that would get easier with practice, and a lot of wedges could be made in one go. Wedges go well with beer, and was a great snack for kids too. The siblings had a great time eating them.

After that, the 《Forest Shade Pavilion》 quietly reopened, and business was great as usual.

Chapter 5: Guests Gone Wild over Mayonnaise

One day, Yuri made mayonnaise. 

Mayonnaise was a sauce popular in all of j.a.pan, even kids who hate vegetables could eat them together mayonnaise, a testament to how popular mayonnaise was with the people. There were those who would eat everything with mayonnaise, which was how popular this condiment was.

There were sugar and soy sauce in this different world, but there wasn't any mayonnaise. Given how western this world was, Yuri was sure mayonnaise exist, but it didn't.

Normal people would give up when they realize mayonnaise didn't exist, and lament that they could never taste it again. However, Yuri was a girlish boy, and his mother likes to make food on her own, so making mayonnaise was simple to him.

And it was easy to collect the ingredients needed to make mayonnaise, just egg yolk, salt, oil and vinegar. Some might add pepper or spices too, but the basic ingredients were simple. After looking through the ingredients in the kitchen of the 《Scarlet Lynx》, he knew it wasn't hard to get the ingredients.

「Yuri, you only want the yolk?」

「That's right.」

「What about the egg white?」

「I will use them to make soup later, so put them in this bowl.」

「Okay!」

As usual, Yak was helping Yuri.

No one ordered Yak to stick with Yuri all day, and Yak did so on his own. Whenever Yuri wanted to try something new, he would help out eagerly. Magu who was in charge of cooking was here too, but his presence was so faint that it was easy to forget about him.

Mayonnaise could be made with the entire egg or with just the yolk, but the popular brands in j.a.pan used the egg yolk to make mayonnaise, and the only method Yuri knew uses egg yolks. He one sidedly believes that mayonnaise made with egg yolk taste better, since that brand was popular overseas too.

Mayonnaise was surprising easy to make, and just a little tedious. Since there wasn't any blender, they had to blend it by hand. But with the three of them taking turns, Yuri felt it would be fine… Yuri knew he would need a lot of mayonnaise since there were a lot of people.

For quite a long time, they were cracking eggs and trying to separate the yolks. Yak and Magu would scoop out the yolk with their hands, while Yuri would pour the egg from one half of the egg sh.e.l.l to the other, letting the egg white flow into the bowl before tossing the yolk into another bowl. His deft movement made the two of them stare with their eyes wide.

「...Yuri, what are you doing?」

「huh? I just need the yolk, and is separating the egg white away.」

「You can do it like this!? How are you doing that!? Won't the yolk break!?」

「The yolk won't break if you don't let it touch the sh.e.l.l～」

Yuri said nonchalantly, but this was something only a veteran would say. Everyone in Yuri's family separate the yolk from the whites this way. Scooping it out with their hands would work too, but the yolk might break if they touch it with their fingernails. And hands tend to be dirty, so it would be better to avoid that.

As he said that leisurely, his hands didn't stop moving. They finally finished, and since the egg white would be used for the soup later, Yuri put it into the fridge.

After separating the egg yolk, the next step would be to whisk it. He added an adequate amount of salt, and let Magu whisk it with a whisker. Magu was in charge of cooking today, and was eager to do his part today. He was quiet and professional as usual, even though he was just a normal kid...

「After mixing the yolk and salt evenly, next will be the oil. Don't pour it in directly, but onto the edge of the bowl.」

「But why?」

「I heard it would be hard to mix it evenly if you add it in directly.」

Yuri said as he picked up the bottle of olive oil and poured it in one round on the edge of the bowl. Magu then mixed it evenly, then Yuri added more olive oil. They repeated this several times, and waited for the mayonnaise to emulsify.

The yolk and oil turned harder than mayonnaise after it was mixed, and it was hard to stir it further, so Yuri took out the vinegar. This vinegar was made from grains, but Yuri actually wanted rice vinegar, but that didn't exist in this world. Yuri wished someone would make rice vinegar. Mayonnaise made from fruits would unbalance the taste, so he chose grain vinegar, but a j.a.panese would probably prefer rice vinegar… However, there wasn't any mayonnaise in this world in the first place, so he would create an unknown taste any way.

Actually, Yuri could mix the salt, oil, vinegar and yolk right from the start, but oil and vinegar didn't mix well, so it would be hard to do so without machinery. There wasn't any hand mixer here, but even with the effort needed, Yuri still wanted to eat tasty mayonnaise, so he left the vinegar to the end.

「It will soften after adding the vinegar, you can continue to mix it.」

「Okay!」

Yak took the whisk from Magu and stirred hard, and the yolk coloured clumps slowly turned white with the vinegar. They watched the colour change in the bowl with surprise while Yuri continued adding vinegar and oil without any hesitation. Yuri was making mayonnaise, so he had to adjust the texture of it just right.

When Yuri judged the mayonnaise was hard enough, he stopped adding vinegar. He tasted it and found it not salty enough, so he added a dash of pepper and salt. Adding some spice or lemon would be fine too, but he wanted to start with the cla.s.sic taste. Mayonnaise made with spice and lemon was more high leveled, so Yuri wanted to try that after everyone had gotten used to mayonnaise.

「Let's try the taste.」

「... Uwah!? What is this!? It's super delicious, sour but not too sour, salty but not too salty!」

「... Delicious. Vegetable...」

「Alright, calm down, Yak. Magu, if you want vegetables, I think cuc.u.mbers would be the most suitable.」

「... Okay.」

Yak jumped with joy and was very worked up, but Magu didn't pay him any mind, and started picking out vegetables seriously. His instinct told him that vegetables would taste great with mayonnaise, which was amazing. So Yuri recommended cuc.u.mber which could best bring out the taste of mayonnaise.

...Magu nodded and picked up a cuc.u.mber with a serious face. He swiftly washed the cuc.u.mber, cut off the ends, and carefully cut it into long strips. This showed his professional nature. If it was Urgus, he would bite into it directly after was.h.i.+ng, while Kamir would think it was a ha.s.sle and just chop it randomly before eating them. Their personality could be seen from the way they ate.

And cutting cuc.u.mber into strips was Magu's way of eating mayonnaise...

He had already quietly wolfed down several strips of cuc.u.mber.

「... M-Magu? If you eat that many cuc.u.mbers, you will feel bloated and get a tummy ache. And we are preparing dinner right now, so stop eating...」

「Magu, is it nice? Yummy!?」

「Yummy.」

「I want some too!」

「Hey, don't stuff yourself with cuc.u.mbers too, Yak! We need to prepare dinner!」

The mayonnaise had just been made, and a large chunk of it had been used to eat cuc.u.mber. This frustrated Yuri quite a bit, and he confiscated the bowl of mayonnaise from them. Yuri ignored their protest, and shouted at them to 「Hurry up and prepare dinner!」 They couldn't refute him.

「Okay, today we will be making potato salad with mayonnaise! Peel the skin, I will prepare the other vegetable.」

「... Okay.」

「Okay!」

Yuri made them peel the potatoes to let them practice their knife work, and to save time. The Kugimiya family's potato salad was really simple, which include diced cuc.u.mbers, carrots, and boiled egg. Some families would add turkey ham, tomato or peas, but Yuri was going for a plain potato salad. As it was a side dish, he didn't add any meat like turkey ham.

After nimbly dicing the cuc.u.mbers, he added some salt to remove the moisture, and use a clean cloth to soak up the water. He diced the carrots in the same way, then quickly boiled it to soften the texture. The eggs were done, and he diced them too.

After he prepared the ingredients, Yak and Magu had cooked the potatoes too. They used the end of a rolling pin to mash the potatoes, which made Yuri wished he had a masher. There was a whisk, but no masher, which seemed a little strange to Yuri. He decided to ask Ari about this next time.

… In Yuri's mind, 「Problem＝discuss with Ari」 was only natural, and Ari kept reminding him 「Don't act rashly, and discuss with me if you have any issues.」 Being a guardian sure was hard.

「Yuri, what do we do after mas.h.i.+ng the potatoes?」

「Hmm? Add the ingredients here in, and mixed them together with mayonnaise to make salad.」

「... Does it taste good?」

「Back in my hometown, the kids love salad.」

「Okay! I will do my best!」

Yak gave a simple answer, and Magu kept working quietly as he already knew how tasty mayonnaise was. After adding the ingredients into the mashed potato, he mixed it carefully with a spatula… He was really careful and mixed it very evenly, as if he had used some magic. Magu would show his professional side in weird places.

After mixing the ingredients, loads of mayonnaise was added in, together with some pepper and salt. The mayonnaise would make the taste more even, a tip from housewives. After mixing it evenly, the simple potato salad was done, and they just need to scoop it into bowls.

「Okay, it's done.」

「... Vegetable mashed potato.」

「That's right, but the mayonnaise will harmonize the taste of the entire salad, and I also seasoned, so the salad would definitely taste great. We can add some lettuce leaves on top to make it more presentable.」

「Oh, I see! Will the lettuce taste better with the salad!?」

「You are right, Yak～」

It seemed that kids in this world hate tasteless raw vegetables too, so Yak was happy to learn the lettuce would taste great… Right now, Magu was carefully choosing the container to hold the salad. There were plenty of containers in the base, as their clan would purchase the container made by the apprentices of a workshop for cheap. The workshop would request the clan's apprentices to take on foraging quests, so they had a mutually beneficial relations.h.i.+p.

When they taste tested it, the potato salad depleted quickly as expected. In the end Yuri had to keep the entire pot of salad into the fridge and watched over it himself, which was a funny story.

「...Hmm? I refuse.」

Yuri said calmly with a annoyed face to the man grabbing his arm. When the man heard this answer, he collapsed weakly as if he had just witnessed the end of the world. Despair was written all over the man's face. Despite the concerned words of the people around him, he didn't say a word.

In Yuri's hand was the leftover mayonnaise. After making the salad, only this much mayonnaise was left, but he would be using it for breakfast tomorrow. The leftovers weren't extras, since he already decided a use for them.

Which was why Yuri turned down that man firmly.

The man everyone was worried about was a rather well known peddler. His main shop was in the capital Drahern, but he would travel the world and peddle in cities everywhere. His wife runs the main shop in the capital while he journeyed to export and import goods. His name was Harold. 

He visited the base of the 《Scarlet Lynx》 because they accepted his quests to get the things he wanted to peddle in the next city. The merchandize was always delivered here, since Harold's shop was prosperous, and it was easier to deal here instead of disturbing the work at his shop.

Harold would always carry his belongings inside a magic bag when he travelled, and didn't look like a peddler at first glance. Selling while dressed like a traveller was how Harold did things… When he was a newbie, he went dungeon diving together with some adventurers he was traveling with, and he was lucky to find a large number of magic bags in the dungeon. The bag he loved to use was gotten from back then.

「H-How could this be… This is a revolutionary product...!」

Yuri ignored Harold who was in despair, and put the mayonnaise back into the fridge. Yuri turned a deaf ear to the man's mumblings.

「Y-Yuri-kun! Please! I beg you! Please sell the mayonnaise to me!」

「I said no, I need it for breakfast tomorrow.」

「Just name your price!」

「Huh? No need, I don't need money.」

When the businessman told Yuri to 「name your price」, it was clear that Yuri could make a killing, but he wasn't fazed at all. Yuri lived a carefree life without any wants in the 《Scarlet Lynx》, and had some income from his sideline of selling scrunchies and hair clips. There wasn't any thing he particularly wanted or any place he wanted to go, so he had no need for money.

Normal people would be hooked by that, but Yuri turned him down firmly which shocked the people around him. The atmosphere around them said 「As expected of Yuri...」 Ari and everyone already knew that Yuri wasn't interested in making money.

「...Yuri.」

「Hmm? What is it, Yak?」

「You don't have to sell it, but can you teach them how to make it?」

「How to make it? The recipe for mayonnaise? He wants something like that?」

「「Of course.」」

Yak couldn't bear seeing Harold look so crestfallen, and asked Yuri. Yuri just tilted his head with a baffled face. To him mayonnaise was just mayonnaise, a condiment for dishes that was popular with the people. He didn't understand the impact mayonnaise had on others.

Mayonnaise was never seen before, and was all powerful. It could be added to vegetable, meat and fish. When Harold who joined them for dinner tasted the potato salad for the first time, and had nothing but praises for it. He had his eyes set on the new condiment mayonnaise… Everyone aside from Yuri understood that.

「You are willing to tell me the recipe!?」

「Hmm? Yes, the recipe is simple...」

「Please tell me!」

Yuri didn't understand why Harold was so worked up, and just told Harold the recipe verbally. When he mentioned the ingredients, Yuri said his mayonnaise only used yolks, and would taste different from mayonnaise that used the entire egg. He also said that vegetable oil would taste better, and recomended olive oil or rapeseed oil. If lemon or spices were used in place of vinegar, the flavour would be different.

Yuri also reminded Harold to add the ingredients in the given order so it would mix well together. Harold was so moved that he was trembling… Yuri didn't understand why Harold was so worked up, since the golden egg in Harold's eyes was just a recipe of a simple cook.

「Thank you, thank you, Yuri-kun! I will pay you the commission!」

「Huh? What's that...? I don't need it, mayonnaise is just a condiment that you can make at home.」

「You don't need it!? This is a revolutionary recipe!? Y-You are too selfless!」

「Huuhhhh...?」

Harold couldn't believe it, and Yuri was baffled.

Yuri told Harold a valuable recipe, so Harold was ready to pay the price to match. But Yuri didn't seem to care, so Harold looked back at Ari in confusion, asking with his eyes 「Just who is this kid?」 Ari felt it was a ha.s.sle and avoided his gaze, which obviously meant 「Don't ask me.」 

After Harold spoke with Yuri for a while, he realized that Yuri was too dangerous. He was like a golden egg with legs, and was walking around nonchalantly. This was too dangerous, so Harold arrived at a conclusion...

「Yuri-kun, you should apply for a patent in the production guild.」

Everyone nodded in agreement, thinking 「I see.」 or 「That's a good idea.」 Yuri was the only one who was confused, and didn't know what the Production guild was.

The Production guild manages copyrights, when someone submits a recipe or design for a patent, others could pay a commission to use them. And of course, everyone was free to improve on the original recipe, and this system was only there to avoid disputes about the origins of recipes between shops.

If you sell your product to the Production guild, the guild would perform quality control and sell them to the merchant guild or the general market. The quality of the merchandize would be guaranteed, which was a G.o.dsend to them.

There were some who insist on「selling the things I make only to the people I want!」, so not all products would be patented. But those who were less powerful could join the guild to protect their intellectual property.

「You can apply for a patent for the mayonnaise recipe, so others can learn this recipe, and no one can claim to be the original. And the commission for the recipe will go to you.」

「... No, I didn't invent mayonnaise, so that is...」

「Yak, bring this fool to the production guild first thing tomorrow morning.」

「Yes, Captain.」

「Huh? Why? Wait, Yak?」

They ignored Yuri and reached a consensus by themselves, and everyone thought Harold was right. Ari told them to apply for patents for scrunchies and hair clips too, which made Yuri even more confused.

Harold was curious when he heard that, and asked Yuri what scrunchies and hair clips were. Yuri took out some samples from his Student bag. They were accessories he made for his sideline. This was just a hobby or a part time job to him, but with his Level 50 nimble hands, the accessories turned into an amazing merchandize.

Harold the business man immediately asked Yuri to sell them to him, but Yuri turned him down. He already promised to sell these to the tailor shop owner, and wouldn't go back on his word.

「These hair accessories will definitely be popular in other cities too.」

「Will it?」

「It will!」

Harold refused to give up, but Yuri was adamant on not selling. After seeing him bow and apologize, Harold could only sigh.

But he had a gleeful face as he held the notes that detailed the recipe for mayonnaise, and even told Yuri that he would accompany Yuri to the Production Guild tomorrow. Harold was a famous merchant, so things would go smoothly if he tagged along, and the members of 《Scarlet Lynx》 all welcomed that… Yuri's opinion was not considered during the entire process.

「... Anyway, can I have seconds?」

「Okay, but we are out of meat, there's only potato salad and soup.」

「Then I will have potato salad and soup please.」

「Okay.」

He prepared salad and soup for Harold with a warm smile. The other members cried for more too, but Yuri said with a smile 「The guest comes first」, and told them to be patient. Yuri was firm when he distributed food, even though he was usually so gentle.

The main dish today was 「Wine steamed Viper」. The texture of Viper was similar to chicken thigh. Yuri added wine and salt to seasoned it, and steamed the dish with wine. To avoid making the meat too dry, he took the time to boil it instead, so instead of 「Wine steamed」, 「Wine boiled」 would be a more adequate description.

Yuri didn't steam it because he was afraid that Magu and Yak who were still beginners at cooking might mess it up, and opted to boil the dish with wine and salt instead. Aside from that, he wanted to cook it over a small fire to let the flavour of the meat seep into the water. He then added onions and egg white into the water to make soup.

The Viper that didn't have much taste turned soft after being boiled in wine, consolidating the flavour in the meat. Although the seasoning was just wine and salt, the monster meat was tasty enough on its own, and was cleaned out in no time. It goes down easily, and was a hit with the ladies.

「Are you a professional chef?」

「No, I'm a Master Appraiser.」

「Oh? But… your cooking taste great.」

「That's because I have cooking skills.」

Yuri said with a smile. Ari quietly pressured him to not say anything, but Yuri wasn't aware of it. In this world, only fools would reveal their skills so easily, but it was fine since his skills weren't combat oriented. When everyone heard Yuri said he had cooking and sewing skills, they just looked at him gently.

When Yuri visited the manufacturing guild the next day, the mayonnaise recipe caused another stir, but that's another story.