Chapter 317: The Path to the Takopa
Having decided to host a Takopa, Rest immediately set about gathering the necessary ingredients. Fortunately, he knew how to make takoyaki; he had done it in his previous life. Of course, Rest was not blessed with a wholesome family that enjoyed hosting takopa at home. His only experience came from making and selling them at a school festival.
“The ingredients are octopus and flour, along with dashi… but I can’t exactly get my hands on pickled ginger.”
Collecting the available ingredients, Rest stood before the iron plate and shouted, “Alright!” with determination. Even with the octopus and other materials in hand, there was one essential item needed to make takoyaki. That was the takoyaki maker—a special iron plate with round depressions. This was not something he could easily acquire. Technically, it wasn’t too difficult to make, and if he asked a skilled blacksmith, it could be ready in a few days.
(But… I want to have a Takopa now. I want to eat takoyaki right away!)
Yakisoba, okonomiyaki, and takoyaki. What was it about these sauce-flavored dishes that drew people in so irresistibly? Once he craved them, there was no stopping him.
“First, I need a larger iron plate. Then… I’ll reshape it to create depressions for the takoyaki.”
He had brought back a cooking iron plate, one that had been used by the Queen Dowager herself, who enjoyed grilling seafood by the seaside. Shaking his head in disbelief at Shoko Sanada, who had relished her later years, Rest began to channel his magical power in front of the iron plate. Then, with the same familiar sensation, he activated his fire magic.
“Fireball!”
He conjured a sphere of fire, layering it with the spell of Compression to shrink it down to the size of a takoyaki.
“Alright, let’s heat this up…”
He brought the fireball closer to the iron plate. The plate gradually warmed, but… it wasn’t changing shape just from that.
“Metal changes shape when heated. The key is the temperature…”
Rest had no experience in metalworking. He had no idea what temperature was suitable for shaping the iron plate. That meant he would have to rely on trial and error, gradually increasing the heat of the fireball.
“Oh? The color is changing.”
As he raised the temperature, the iron plate began to glow white. He didn’t rush to increase the heat further, though. If he added too much, it would melt. He needed to proceed slowly and carefully.
“It’s getting hot… Thank goodness I’m near the sea.”
Fortunately, a cool breeze blew in from the nearby sea. While it kept the iron plate from overheating, it also prevented Rest from suffering from heatstroke.
“Is it finally getting to a good state? The real challenge starts now…”
He had thought that heating the plate would naturally form it into the shape of takoyaki, but it wasn’t going as smoothly as he had hoped. The plate was glowing and softening, but it wasn’t taking on the desired shape.
“That’s alright… This is within my expectations. In other words, I just need to strike the plate while it’s in this state.”
If he applied strong external force while the plate was soft, it should change shape. Of course, he wouldn’t strike it with his bare hands. Instead, he used magic to manipulate the wind.
“Wind Control!”
He used the wind to strike the iron plate. As expected, the shape began to change. However, it didn’t form the takoyaki depressions he envisioned; the plate merely bent.
“Oh… this is harder than I thought. I need to narrow the wind’s range a bit more… huh?”
He struck again with the wind, but still, the depressions didn’t form as he wanted.
“Wait, what if I try striking from the other side… whoa, it’s taking a weird shape!?”
What he thought would be a simple task turned out to be a struggle, and Rest found himself in quite the predicament as the iron plate refused to take the intended form.
After repeatedly heating and striking it, he finally succeeded in shaping the plate just as the sun began to set. From today’s experience, he learned just how remarkable skilled artisans truly were. He was humbled by the realization of how incredible it was for a blacksmith to be able to manipulate metal with such ease.