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Chapter 0028 The Story of the Aristocrat who ate Monsters

Translator: Tseirp

 

After placing the order at Doem’s workshop and borrowing a greatsword to use in the interim, I wandered around town.

 

I haven’t had time to go around the town slowly, probably because I’ve been working hard on labyrinth exploration and rank-up requests lately, but today was my day off. I planned to explore the city to my heart’s content.

 

Perhaps because the number of times I cook had increased since I started eating monsters, recently I’ve been worried about cooking utensils, spices, and ingredients.

 

As I walked through one of those areas resembling a market, someone called out to me.

 

“Brother, how about a peeler that is in fashion these days?”

 

The salesman was holding something that looked like a small Y-shaped tool in his hands.

 

Even though he said it was in fashion, I didn’t know how to use it because I was not up to date with such news.

 

“Peeler? What do you use it for?”

 

“Good question! Its purpose is to thinly peel the skin of ingredients! For example, if you use a peeler to peel ingredients that are difficult to peel with a kitchen knife like potatoes… look!”

 

The salesman took out a potato and pressed a peeler against it to peel off the skin smoothly.

 

The peeler probably had a blade.

 

It appeared to scrape the surface of the potato and removed only a thin layer of skin.

 

“Amazing! Isn’t that insanely convenient!”

 

“Isn’t it! Even people who are not good at handling knives can peel the skin quickly and cleanly, so it’s popular at home.”

 

“How much?”

 

“Each one will be 800 Regins.”

 

“I’ll have one!”

 

When I handed over the 800 Regin, the salesman smiled and handed me the peeler.

 

Until now, I used a kitchen knife to peel the skin, but with a peeler, the skin can be peeled quickly and cleanly.

 

It’s nice to be able to reduce cooking time while exploring. Shortening the cooking time will lead to improved exploration efficiency and safety.

 

Since I have a magic bag, I could even bring ingredients that have been prepared with a peeler.

 

In addition to cooking utensils, I went around the stalls and bought rare spices.

 

I was elated that I could easily buy items that I couldn’t afford previously because they were expensive, but I could now because my wallet had fattened nicely.

 

As I was parading through the stalls like that, I caught sight of a bookstore with a somewhat old-fashioned interior.

 

Recently, I’ve had more opportunities to cook, so I wanted to try looking for a recipe book.

 

When I entered the bookstore, I handed 30,000 Regins to the old man sitting at the counter and handed him my magic bag.

 

Books are luxury goods.

 

Since each one is done by hand, the cost of transcribing them is enormous.

 

If by any chance any gets stolen, their business will suffer, so it was a rule to deposit money first like that, as well as bags that could be used to steal the books.

 

By the way, I had no issue with that rule because the deposit will be properly returned when you leave the store.

 

Empty-handed, I walked through the store where a large number of bookshelves were installed.

 

The owner there seemed to organize the books properly by genre, so by following the written tags and moving around, I quickly found the cooking-related books I was looking for.

 

There were recipes for ordinary home cooking, recipes for common plants, nuts, and fruits, and recipes for fine dining served in restaurants.

 

I flipped through the contents lightly and bought everything that I thought I would need.

 

I was not even a chef, so there was a limit to how much I could cook delicious food with just my knowledge.

 

I’ll borrow the wisdom of my predecessors and learn how to make even more delicious dishes.

 

When I was diligently collecting recipe books like that, I found a book with an interesting title.

 

“… ‘Count Eta the Monster Eater’?”

 

Could it be that there are people who cooked and ate monsters like me?

 

When I flipped through the page, I found how to dismantle monsters such as orcs, wolves, goblins, and slimes, as well as cooking techniques to make the dishes delicious.

 

It was pretty detailed. It wrote in detail where to cut the tendons, which internal organs are edible, and how to prepare them to make them delicious.

 

From the detailed description and a large amount of information, I knew that the person who wrote this memoir had eaten monsters just like me.

 

“Th-this is great.”

 

There was someone other than me who could eat monsters?

 

I flipped through the pages while being moved by the fact that I found a kindred soul.

 

It was interesting to see the different preparations for each monster.

 

“It’s a memoir of a nobleman who spent his life cooking and eating monsters.”

 

“Uh!?”

 

As I was engrossed in reading, the owner spoke to me from behind.

 

It was scary because the unevenness caused by the shadows made him look strangely intense.

 

“It’s interesting to read out of curiosity, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend imitating it. You’ll end up like that aristocrat.”

“End up like him?”

 

I asked back, but the owner turned his back and didn’t answer.

 

When I checked the last page, it described the story of Count Eta who wrote that memoir.

 

Apparently, Count Eta had a certain amount of resistance due to his skill, but he couldn’t completely stop the transformation into a monster and went berserk.

 

After eating and killing his family and citizens, he turned into an ugly monster in the end and was subjugated by the Knights dispatched by the country.

 

And at the end of the page, there was a sentence that informed how monster eating was barbaric and dangerous.

 

“……Seriously?”

 

I thought that I had finally found someone of the same kind, but unfortunately, it seemed that Count Eta has already passed away in an unfortunate way.

 

It was a shame because it seemed to be a very useful memoir for someone like me who could eat monsters.

 

Even though he had left the world, Count Eta’s knowledge was useful to me.

 

I will take over the knowledge he wrote down and use it effectively.

 

After purchasing a home-cooking recipe book, a picture book of food ingredients, and the book about the Monster-Eater Count Eta, I decided to leave the bookstore after receiving my deposit and magic bag back.

 

When I left the bookstore, the sky was already dyed crimson.

 

Quite a lot of time had passed because I was absorbed in searching for books.

 

““Ah””

 

When I walked down the street to return to Manpuku-tei, Elisha was just ahead of my line of sight.

 

“Looks like you found a good sword?”

 

Elisha’s line of sight, as she approached, was directed at the greatsword on my back.

 

“This I borrowed as a temporary solution. A normal sword can’t withstand magic essence, so I had a new one commissioned.”

 

“…You talked about your unique ability?”

 

“He’s a dwarf old man whom I’ve known for many years. For better or worse, he doesn’t care about such things.”

 

“Ah, a dwarf would find that interesting and challenging to make it possible. Nobody would normally ask for a sword that can withstand the use of magic essence.”

 

After briefly explaining the situation, Elisha nodded in agreement.

 

“How about you? Did you get a good deal?”

 

“Yeah, I managed to buy my necessities and got a grasp of the general layout of the city.”

 

Since Elisha had been living on the run for a long time, she had difficulty replenishing supplies, but it seemed that she was able to replenish them properly now because she had time to spare.

 

It appeared we both spent a relaxing and fulfilling day.

 

“Since we’re here, why don’t we eat somewhere else today?”

 

“Good idea.”

 

Since we bumped into each other outside like that, it wouldn’t be bad to have dinner at a restaurant in the city instead of the usual Manpuku-tei canteen.

 

“Is there something you want to eat?”

 

“A restaurant that sells goats!”

 

“That’s very specific?”

 

Normally people would say they want to eat meat, fish, or vegetables, I didn’t expect something that specific.

 

“The Baphomet that Lude was eating looked delicious, so I want to eat something similar too!”

 

“Ah, I see.”

 

“Is there?”

 

“If I remember correctly, there should be a shop that sells goats and mutton on this street.

 

I heard about such a store from the conversations of the guests in the inn.

 

I’d never been there, but it sounded delicious.

 

“Please lead the way!”

 

After getting confirmation from Elisha, I headed to that restaurant, relying on my memory.

 

 

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