Chapter 300: Mountain Pepper
“Once again, thank you for your help.”
The leader of the adventurers, a man who seemed to be in charge, stepped forward to express his gratitude.
“Ah, no, I’m truly sorry…”
Fei, who had fled in panic, was now cowering, but it was understandable. From what I gathered, they had been attacked by a Black Ape while trying to protect Fei, and in the chaos, she had panicked and run away, leading to the current situation.
“I had heard about them, but it was my first time seeing a Black Ape…”
It was unusual for a D-rank monster to appear in an E-rank area, so I guess that reaction was to be expected.
“Anyway, I’m just glad we made it in time.”
After introducing themselves, I learned that they were a D-rank party called Kokushi Musou, tasked with escorting a traveling merchant named Fei. The party consisted of four members: two male swordsmen named Chunk and Pao in the front line, and two female mages in the back line named Fan and Sheiran.
“Honestly, I thought we were done for at one point,” Fan said, her dark gray hair mixed with red strands swaying as she placed her hands on her hips, exasperated.
“When Fei ran away, I thought we were all goners,” Pao, the other male with purple hair, added, visibly relieved as he looked at Fei. Sheiran nodded vigorously in agreement.
“Ahaha…”
Fei could only manage a wry smile, feeling as if she had been given up on.
“By the way, how did you manage to defeat it? I didn’t see what happened at all…”
Chunk, who had likely been on the front lines, turned to me, but I hadn’t done anything particularly complicated.
“It was just a simple wind-type spell.”
“O-Oh, I see.”
He shrugged, seemingly satisfied with that answer and not inclined to press further.
“Thank you so much. I’ll make sure to express my gratitude properly later.”
“That’s right. I’ll make sure to mention it, so when you return, stop by the Guild.”
“Sure, understood.”
I didn’t particularly need a reward, but if it made them feel better, that was fine. We didn’t have much time left today either, and we needed to gather more mountain pepper before sunset. I figured they were in the same boat.
“Please be careful.”
Rio waved them off with a smile as the five of them headed back to the city. I noticed Phonia seemed to want to say something, but nothing came out. After all, she looked like a little girl. I could guess what she wanted to say.
“Well then, shall we head out too?”
We veered slightly off the main path and resumed our gathering of mountain pepper.
The rest of the gathering went smoothly, and we returned to the city before sunset. After delivering the mountain pepper we had collected for the Guild request and reporting the encounter with the Black Ape, we placed the actual specimen at the buyback counter. Ivan mainly handled the reporting while I took on the role of a pack mule. It was surprising how shocked they were when we presented the Black Ape. Was I the only one who could use a Dimensional Box? I had never seen anyone else do it besides my master.
Speaking of which, I hadn’t seen any members of Kokushi Musou around since we helped them earlier.
“Well, whatever.”
Given the time, it was likely they hadn’t expected us to return in one day. With our business at the Guild concluded, we decided to head back quickly.
“I’m home!”
“Oh, welcome back!”
Upon returning to the inn, the innkeeper greeted us with a warm smile.
“Here’s a souvenir of mountain pepper.”
“Mountain pepper?”
“Oh, wait, I meant to say, mountain pepper.”
“My, my!”
Saying “mountain pepper” would definitely confuse the locals.
“If possible, I’d love to try some mountain pepper dishes.”
“Hehe, I see. I won’t be able to prepare anything extravagant for dinner since time is short, but I can whip up a few things for you.”
Since we had the local specialty, it would be a shame not to try the local cuisine. Of course, we would also try cooking with the mountain pepper ourselves.
“Then please do!”
With the innkeeper’s cheerful agreement, we headed straight to the dining area of the inn. This would be our first dinner since entering the Kingdom of Faerdehelde, and I was a little excited.
Once seated, I took out the mountain pepper we had gathered to examine it. It didn’t have a strong smell, but bringing it close revealed the unique aroma of mountain pepper.
“Shall we try grating it?”
“Do we even have a grater?”
After Rio pointed it out, I realized we didn’t have one.
“Now that you mention it, we might not. Well, I can just make one.”
I pulled some metal from the Dimensional Box and infused it with Magic Power, shaping it as I went. If I remembered correctly, a grater for mountain pepper had fine blades.
“Done!”
I created a small grater and immediately got to work. Next to me, Rio took out some fish fillets and handed them to El, who arranged them on a plate in thin slices, likely for sashimi. Once she poured some soy sauce into a small dish, we were ready.
“Are we really just going to eat the food that’s served to us?”
Ivan quipped, but Phonia was looking forward to the sashimi.
“Here you go, Phonia-chan.”
“Thank you!”
“I’ll leave the mountain pepper right here.”
“I don’t want anything spicy!”
Rio handed Phonia the small dish with soy sauce, and she accepted it with a smile, but when I brought the grated mountain pepper close to her, she pushed it away.
Watching them with a smile, I took some sashimi onto my soy sauce plate and added a bit of mountain pepper before tasting it.
“Delicious! What is this? It’s completely different from the mountain pepper I know!”
The spiciness was accompanied by a rich umami and sweetness that spread across my palate, with the aroma wafting through my nose.
Of course, the dishes prepared by the inn using the mountain pepper were also delicious. The grilled mountain pepper was particularly good. Cooking it seemed to mellow the spiciness. I felt like I might never be able to enjoy the mountain pepper I had in Japan again.