A day before the flower viewing, Sebastian procured ingredients in Volton.
Inside my Item Box, I had a lot of dragon meat in stock. We have more than enough of the other meats and have a lot stuff stored there, so I handed Maribelle an appropriate amount.
Maria and Marnie were the head cooks, while Maribelle, Mabel, and the other maids helped them to prepare the time consuming dishes.
Jeeves[1] accompanied Dryas to where Gnome was to acquire some alcohol.
Now then, I suppose I should set up the tables and chairs.
Inside one of the breweries in the Sanctuary, a barter between fellow Great Spirits was happening.
The alcohol breweries, which started relatively early since the creation of the Sanctuary, continues to expand even now.
A number of large breweries had been built, producing not only wines like white wine, red wine, sparkling wine made from the Sanctuary-grown grapes, but increased the variety to also include whiskey and sake made from rice.
Although the alcohol was being sold to Valkyra Kingdom, Lomaria Kingdom, and Yggurle Kingdom, it was being traded for extremely large sums because the absolute amount we could sell to the Trination was a tiny amount.
In truth, we should have been able to sell a bit more, but the Sanctuary residents and, more than anyone else, the Great Spirits did not allow this.
「Hey, give me one more barrel of this sparkling wine.」
「N-no, Dryas-sama, you are already taking three barrels of red wine, and another three barrels of white wine, so please be satisfied with one barrel of sparkling wine.」
「He’s right, Dryas. Besides, you’re even taking ale, whiskey, and sake. Restrain yourself to these. Even more so, the red wine you’re trying to get is a first class barrel that Takumi fermented using magic.」
Inside the brewery were Dryas who was trying to take as many barrels of alcohol as she could, while Doganbo, who was involved in the brewing of alcohol in the Sanctuary, and the Great Earth Spirit Gnome were stopping her.
「Yes, then Gnome and Doganbo, you will not be participating in the flower viewing then?」
「Wai-! Please wait a minute!」
「Aren’t this and that different matters!?」
As Jeeves watched in suspense from behind her, Dryas used the flower viewing as a bargaining chip.
「Is that so? Then you may participate in the flower viewing, but I will not allow you to drink alcohol. Drink fruit water.」
「Wait, Dryas! That is far too cruel!」
「That’s right, Dryas-sama! Are you telling us dwarves to not drink in a banquet!?」
「Then you don’t have to come.」
Gnome and Doganbo were rolling in Dryas’ palm.
Gnome and Salamander, and the Dwarves who received their strong divine protection loved banquets. Moreover, this time, a thing known as an 「Ohanami」 was being held for the first time in the Sanctuary. To Gnome and the Dwarf Doganbo who were brimming with curiosity over new things, the participation in the banquet was the best hand against them.
「Okay, okay. Take as much as you want. In exchange, we will participate.」
「Let’s ask Takumi to build a new brewery at the banquet. It isn’t only Dryas-sama, but even Sylph-sama and Undine-sama have been drinking more recently.」
「Fufufu, then I’ll take whatever I want. Jeeves, follow me.」
Jeeves hurriedly followed after a chipper Dryas, leaving Gnome and Doganbo sullen. Even in the Spirit World, women were strong.
「Takumi-sama, please age the beef.」
「Takumi-sama, the whitefish carpaccio starter is complete, so please store it.」
Maria asked me to age the meat, so I used alchemy to break down the protein into amino acids.
Marnie requested that I store a completed dish. My Item Box maintains the current condition of what is stored inside it, so it will always stay fresh.
「Master, the sausage boil is done.」
「Thank you. I’ll store them after they’re grilled at the barbeque tomorrow.」
「Master, what should I do about the salad dressing?」
「I’ll store it after it’s done. Inside the Item Box, the oil won’t separate.」
While I gave instructions to the maids helping in the kitchen, I cut dragon meat into the bite-sized pieces and seasoned it. I’m preparing everyone’s favorite, karaage. Frying it twice, first in low temperature then in high temperature to make the outside coating crispy and juicy on the inside, then I stored it into my Item Box so it can be eaten at any time.
「Takumi-sama, please make Kaede-chan’s favorite french fries.」
「Yup, french fries are popular so I’ll fry up a lot.」
Oil was expensive in this world, so fried food aren’t that common. But the Sanctuary has olive oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, as well as lard from pork-type monsters which the Sanctuary residents are able to acquire for a cheap price, so fried food was the craze for a time. It was especially popular with the Dwarves as it was a good pairing with alcoholic beverages.
Once the first stage of food prep was done, I left the rest to Maria, Marnie, and the maids, and I headed into the workshop to make lighting magic tools to illuminate the venue.
I’m sure the flower viewing party will go late into the night.
Footnotes: The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩
1. Author used Jiiburu ジーヴル instead of Jiibusu (Jeeves) ジーヴス and continues to use it throughout the chapter