"Saito-chan! Take care!"

　Describing his whole face as sad, Mileine waved to the van... more precisely to the back of Sett walking by the van.
　It was the day after their arrival at Azula, and they had already left.
　As a Mire Dog, I wanted to love Seto a little more, but I can't let her change the schedule for her own convenience.
　If he did so, he would certainly be scolded by Sulnin, and above all, considering the possibility of being hated by Seto, he could not have done so.
　In fact, if they tried to delay their departure, they might not have done anything.

"Well... is that all right?"

　Lutus, who had been watching such a Mire Dog from a distance, muttered with his usual smile and still puzzled.
　For Lutus, I've heard that Mileine is a good adventurer.
　In fact, the mouths of their guards assert that the Miredogs are pretty good, and that they have no chance of winning if they fight properly.
　But... it was undoubtedly true that Mileine, who is now grieving over her separation from Seth, does not seem to be such a great man.

"It's all right," A Miredog would be a capable adventurer if Seto were not involved. I assure you that even young Gilm is a talented adventurer and that his personality is fine. though, if you look at the Mile Dogs now, you may be anxious."
"Well, you can always count on me as a competent adventurer... always."

　In Sulnin's words, Eclil says so.
　After seeing them, Lutas wondered if Mileine could really be relied on... in a few minutes his expectations would be reversed.





"Well... these nuts are pretty sour,"

　Ray muttered in an involuntary tone, eating fruit the size of his toes.
　It looks like a grape, but it's not a grape-like color like blue purple or green, but a red fruit worthy of Ray's infamous crimson.
　It was a fruit I bought at Earthla, but it was more sour than sweet... it was something that made me imagine a lemony taste.

"You bought it to keep me awake, didn't you? Then, why don't you put priority on the effects of waking me up?"

　Being in a carriage, Vihela takes off her hood and tells Ray, frowning at the sourness of the fruit she ate, amusingly.
　It must have been unusual for others to see Ray look like that. Even Gimekara was gazing at Ray with interest.

"It's the fruit of the alana," I usually don't eat raw like that because I use it for cooking or fruit wine..."

　Marina shows her plant knowledge like a dark elf.
　In fact, fruit wine pickled with alana fruit is quite popular in bars because it tastes good for its price.
　There's nothing I can't drink, but Ray didn't know about it, because he still doesn't think it's good.

"Well, I think I can use it quite well for cooking, let alone drinking."

　Ray, whose tongue has finally lost its acidity, stores the alana fruit in a mistling.
　For some reason, last night we spent a lot of time exchanging information, negotiating, exchanging opinions...
　As a result, it's only natural that he sleeps late, and Ray gets up earlier than the others, with the task of storing all kinds of supplies prepared the night before in the mistling.
　Ray is not usually strong in the morning.
　"If I was in the middle of a request, I could somehow overcome that...but this time I slept in the bed of a luxury inn, and above all, there were elenas around me, so it was difficult to beat sleepiness."
　As a result, the fruit of the alana tree was bought at an open shop before leaving Azura to keep me awake.

"Well, when I want to tighten the taste of the food with sourness, I use the juice of the alana fruit." Or chop it into small pieces and add it to the dish."

　Bune looks at Marina's words.
　As a Bune who likes to eat, I'm sure she'll be interested in cooking.
　For a while afterwards, Ray and his colleagues continue to talk about cooking.
　From Gimekara, we heard about the local cuisine of Levrellina, Elena told us about the delicious food she ate at the party, Marina told us about the food she ate when she was an adventurer before she became a guildmaster, Vichela told us about the cuisine of the Empire of Bestia...
　And when it comes to cooking, it was only natural that Ray would attract attention.
　This is because he invented a variety of dishes that had never existed before, such as udon (Japanese wheat noodles), meat buns, etc.
　Gimekara, who had been collecting information about Ray and others, apparently didn't know about Ray's knowledge of cooking.
　Interestingly... he looked a little too eager at Ray.
　A new dish that had never existed before would have seemed a great opportunity for the Zorgay trade.
　In fact, that's not true, and many people in Gilm made a lot of money from Ray's ideas, including udon (Japanese wheat noodles.
　However, those who taught Ray cooking didn't monopolize it by themselves, and gave him information widely.
　This is probably the reason why various dishes such as udon (Japanese wheat noodles) spread explosively in guillem.
　If only Manjokutei, where Ray taught udon, had monopolized the recipe, Manjokutei would have been profitable, but udon would never have spread this far.

"If you don't mind, Mr. Ray, could you teach me something to cook at the Zorgay Chamber of Commerce?"
"...even if you say so,"

　Ray has taught some people how to cook, including udon, but he doesn't know much about it.
　In fact, Ray taught me how to cook udon and meat buns, too, because he didn't remember all the recipes.
　It was the chefs who explained the rough image and how to cook it to the extent that Ray remembered it, and who actually cooked it properly.
　When it comes to dishes Ray would like to try and learn how to cook... the number is very limited.

(Pasta? No, I don't know how to make pasta in the first place. I guess it's similar to udon because they use flour. Oh, it's called pasta for the first time with a particular flour...?)

　In Italy, the home of pasta, even pasta ingredients are regulated by law.
　Ray remembered that there was a little bit of that area in the cooking manga he had seen before, but as long as he didn't know what the essential ingredients were, he couldn't make pasta.
　If we talk about that, we'll almost certainly be able to do something like udon... or something similar to udon.

(Then, soba? I don't know how to make soba, but I know how to make it.)

　If you live in Japan, you'll have many opportunities to see soba making on TV and manga.
　That's definitely soba, if you say which is more popular, udon noodles.
　But... soba also has some fatal drawbacks.

(I've never seen a buckwheat flower or anything like that)

　When Ray was in Japan, there was a farmer growing buckwheat noodles.
　That's why I'm confident that if there's a place where soba grows wild, I can see it.
　However, it was impossible to eat soba as long as the essential buckwheat noodles were not growing anywhere.

(Soba itself can be made with buckwheat flour and hot water.) ...but did it take some skill to make noodles together?)

　Ray recalls when he made New Year's noodles with the buckwheat flour his father had received from him when he was in junior high school.
　It had become noodle-like for the time being, but it was hard to call it soba, although it was not very easy to hold it with chopsticks.
　From the memory of that time, I think it might be difficult to eat soba as a noodle even if it grows wild.
　Of course, Ray's father was an amateur, and the chefs in Elgin, let alone the guillem udon noodles, might have been able to make soba properly.

"Ray? What's the matter?"
"Huh? No, it's nothing. I was wondering if there was anything I could teach you...
"Oh! So what do you think? What happened?"
"You probably don't know Gimekara, but most of the dishes I know are those I remember when I read the books I had when I was training under my master."

　It's been a long time... Ray keeps talking, remembering the settings he's been using for the first time in a long time.

"That's why I'm not that familiar with cooking. Besides, even if I know how to cook, I know very little about how to cook it."

　If that's what you know about cooking, there's something you know a lot about because you've been reading cooking cartoons.
　But knowing the name of the dish, if you ask me if I can make it... I don't know.Then, after all, Ray needs to teach him how to cook, but that's really small.

(If there is no rice and no soy sauce, you can't make a Christian pot or a Damako pot...)If it's near the sea, there's a pot full of flats or something like that... well, don't you know if there's a flats or not in the first place?"

　It's hard to talk about, but there's nothing you can think of right away.
　As it is the sea, I remember teaching seafood okonomiyaki before, but I can't manage it that easily either.

"Well, is that so?" "And if you think of anything, will you tell me?"
"I wish I had a chance,"

　If you promise to teach them carelessly here, Ray replies that things might be bad at a later date.
　Guimekara probably knows this, but she nods without any particular complaint.

"Mr. Ray, I see the checkpoint!"

　Just then, the voice of the coachman echoes.
　Having just left Earthra this morning, arriving at the checkpoint must mean that the carriage is so fast.
　In fact, it would probably have taken a few days to get to the checkpoint if everyone had walked around like they had left Mejogo.

(There is no checkpoint between us and the hostile Empire of Bestia, but there is a checkpoint at the border with our subordinate country, Lavrellina, isn't there? ...well, there's the Seremuth plain between us and the Empire of Bestia.)

　At night... or worse, the Celemus Plain, where the undead roam even in the daytime, is a place to call a natural border.
　If there was a similar place with the country of Lavrellina, there might not have been a barrier.

"Okay, I should have contacted you in advance, so I think I can get through without any particular investigation. If they tell you anything, you can send it over here without reserve."
"Yes, I will,"

　The coachman nods to Ray's words, and gradually slows down the carriage.
　As the leading lays' carriage slows down, the others naturally slows down.
　The soldiers at the checkpoint watching it can only be dumbfounded.
　It's only natural that ... I never expected to see such a large group of horse‐drawn carts moving in such a countryside.
　What's more, horse-drawn carts are of different types, with hooded carts and hippocamps and carts inside.
　That's why, if nothing is understood, it's safe to assume that the country of Lavrellina has attacked.

"Why, that carriage is Ray in crimson! There are many other important people in it, so don't be silly! You can just go through it without looking into it, as I heard from the delegation!"
"Yes, I know!"

　It was the man in charge of this checkpoint who immediately shouted at the soldiers not to behave strangely.
　I'm not a competent person, being entrusted with this kind of countryside, but at the same time I'm entrusted with a border checkpoint and not incompetent.
　He is also a man of no consequence in terms of being able to carry out what he is instructed to do.
　So the Rays passed through the checkpoint without any particular trouble... and succeeded in entering the kingdom of Mileana.