"Welcome. ... What? Mr. Ray!"

　The owner of a stand selling meat buns is surprised to see Ray appear with Seto.
　There's a kind of longing in the gaze that Ray looks.
　...however, the owner of the stall was a man in his twenties, and I was at a loss how to react to such a person's longing gaze.

"Oh... do you sell meat buns?"
"Yes. It's a dish that Ray thought of, right? If you don't mind, can you taste one? Oh, of course, it's all right?

　For the owner of the stall, Ray must really be a respectable partner for thinking about the meat bun he sells.
　That's why I don't know how good my meat bun tastes...Tensioning to see if Ray will be satisfied with the meat bun, he opens the steamer and takes out two meat buns.
　Naturally, one is Ray and one is Seto.

"Really? Then, for now,"

　If it tastes good, I'll pay you to buy more.
　Thinking so, Ray takes a bite of the meat bun wrapped in paper so that his hands won't get dirty and his hands won't get burned by the heat.
　The first thing that spread in my mouth was the slightly sweet dough of manju.
　And the ingredients mixed with the meat and vegetables in it make the mouth pleasant.

(Bamboo shoots, no, menma? It's nice to have menma in it.)

　Even around Gilm, bamboo shoots can naturally be harvested in spring.
　It is also eaten as a seasonal ingredient, and although it is different from the menma Ray knows, it is sometimes preserved in the form of salted or smoked food.
　Of course, it is necessary to go early in the morning to catch bamboo shoots, and if 6 a.m. is too late to open the gate and get in and out of the city, there are some very enthusiastic people who go out of the guillem the day before and camp.
　In addition to the so-called Mengjong bamboo, there are also bamboo shoots that can be found around Gilm.
　When Ray lived in Japan, only crooked bamboo grew on the surrounding mountains, so that's more familiar to him.
　Most of the bamboo shoots sold in supermarkets, including menma, were Meng Zong-chiku, so it's not that I'm not familiar with them either.
　At any rate, bamboo shoots, if not as popular as gamerions, are popular as seasonal ingredients.
　That's why Ray expected this meat bun to taste even better if it had bamboo shoots in it.

(Huh? It's okay to say it's in a meat bun, right?

　Ray thought it was a menma, but he turned his head slightly, wondering if it was not.
　However, even if the meat bun was really chopped into small pieces, Ray couldn't give advice because he didn't know how to make it.

"What do you think? I'm pretty confident."

　When the owner sees the meat bun in his mouth swallowed, he asks Ray hopefully.

"Yes, it's not bad. It's not bad, but..."

　Ray wouldn't be able to nod if the owner of the skewer restaurant, who told him about the stall, complimented him.

"Average... Well, I don't think there's anyone who doesn't like eating this because it's just about the average score, so if you ask me if I want to eat it again, I guess I'll definitely want to eat it."
"Well, I see. ... Is that the case?"

　The shopkeeper shrugs regretfully at Ray's criticism.
　But as soon as he looks up, he bows as he expects from Ray.

"Please. If possible, could you help me make my food more delicious? Actually, sales haven't increased for the past few days, so I just can't get a good place."
"...what? Does the sales change the location of the stalls?"

　The shopkeeper nods to Ray, who tells him it was his first time hearing of it.

"Yes, that's not always the case, though. From autumn to winter... it's just a special rule for this season when merchants come in large numbers."
"Did you do that?"

　The stall was a reasonable Ray, but I had never heard of such a system.

"You don't have to understand. It's not a big deal. It's like the tradition of people running stalls on the main street."

　If you say so, I have to convince you that Ray is the same.
　One of the reasons Ray was convinced was that the owner, who was talking to Ray, did not seem particularly angry about being forced to set up a stall here.

"Well... and what do you want me to do with this meat bun?"
"Well, if you could tell me what's wrong with it... it would be helpful."

　Ray shows a little trouble to the shopkeeper who bowed his head and told him so.
　He likes to eat delicious food, and it was Ray who taught him what this meat bun was like.
　That's for sure, but Ray is a gourmet... and that's not what he can do on TV, like a food judge.
　Let's figure out the ratio of the ingredients, and let's figure out how to use this seasoning.
　I can't give you that advice.

(a)

　However, even though it was such a ray, I can see that the texture of this meat bun was not very good.

"Why don't you change the ingredients? Like the texture difference".
"The texture? For example?"
"Well, I don't think you should ask me that... but, as far as I can think of, a bamboo shoot, a mushroom, or something like that. And maybe you can crush the nuts and put them in."

　Ray came up with a steamed bun he bought at a convenience store on his way home from school in Japan.
　It was steamed bread made by kneading walnuts in the dough, and it tasted pretty good for Ray.
　I've come up with the idea of the same steamed bread...but for the owner of the shop, Ray's opinion must have been close to scale.
　However, even in this world, there are usually breads made of dried fruits and nuts kneaded into dough and baked, so I guess what the owner didn't notice was that the shopkeeper's perspective was narrowed.

"Well, it's just my opinion that if the texture is pleasant, it's delicious. Some people may not like the variety of textures in the world."
"Well, that's... what shall I do you think?"
"Don't ask me that. That's what you should think about, isn't it?"

　By Ray's righteous opinion, the shopkeeper was struck by the truth and became quiet.

"Give me ten meat buns,"

　All of a sudden, a voice like that echoes around me.
　Ray turned to his voice and found a skinhead man with sweat on his face.
　He is clearly taller than Ray, but not muscular, and his body muscles are tight.
　It was apparently after exercise, but Ray was wondering if he wanted to eat meat buns in such situations, but the skinhead man didn't seem to be pushing himself too hard.
　In other words, they don't want to contribute to the sales of stalls, but rather they buy meat buns here purely because they want to eat them.
　The shopkeeper soon began to prepare meat buns, wondering if he knew the man with the skinhead.
　Watching it, Ray calls out to the man with the skinhead."Do you have a moment?"
"What, Ray?"

　Naturally, the man knows Ray and immediately replies so.
　That's because Ray doesn't seem particularly concerned about it, and he immediately asks the man who is taking one of the meat buns he bought.

"What do you think of this meat bun?"
"How is it? I don't think it tastes that bad."
"It's not bad, is it? It's not delicious."
"I told you, didn't I? It's not bad. I don't feel that good."
"I think they buy ten of them all together.
"I'm not very interested in eating. I'm just hungry and that's enough. I'm more concerned about how I can be stronger now."

　Like Ray.
　With a fierce smile, the man looks at Ray.

(Oh, I see. Is that the type?)

　a specialized training ground near a stand selling meat buns
　It was only natural that anyone who went to such a place would like to refine their strength.
　However, Ray doesn't have to go out of his way to deal with it... he doesn't seem particularly concerned, he just nods.
　The skinhead man also returns to the training ground eating meat buns, wondering if he thought it was useless to say anything more to Ray, who had never taken advantage of his provocation.

"Well... the people who trained here buy me a lot on my way home..."

　The owner of the stall who was watching Ray says so and looks at him.

"Any other guests?"
"Well, a little..."

　It's easy to imagine how many other guests are coming if you look at the equivocal tone.

"I see. All I can say for now is that you can enjoy the texture as I said. Oh, or if you put a certain amount of meat in it, you might want to know that you're eating it."

　When Ray suddenly says so, the man nods in agreement.

(No, it's something that even I, an amateur cook, can come up with, so what are you going to do if you, a professional cook, can't think of that much?)

　This stall, run by the man in front of you, will probably be out of business soon.
　Ray was half convinced.
　Perhaps this man was not a full-time cook, but for some reason he had suddenly started running a stall recently.
　That's why I can't think of anything that even Ray could come up with right away.

(He seemed enthusiastic about cooking because he knew that I made meat buns, but he didn't train at any restaurant... did he feel like he had more hobbies?)

　Ray recalls a TV show he watched while in Japan.
　He started a restaurant because he liked to cook, but because of the difference between professionals and amateurs, it didn't work out well and the restaurant wasn't doing well.
　I had a similar impression on the stand selling meat buns in front of Ray now.
　Of course, that's just the impression Ray felt.
　There may actually be many more complicated reasons, but ... it's none of Ray's business.

(however)

　Yes, it's none of my business, but Ray goes on there with a 'thought.'
　Stalls selling meat buns are rare.
　As far as Ray knows, he can only think of a stall in front of him.
　Therefore, it is also true that if this stall fails, meat bun stalls will be recognized as having a high threshold, and it is highly likely that it will be difficult for people to follow suit.
　If so, as someone who introduced meat buns to this world...and most importantly, I don't want Ray to be crushed by this stall because it's a stall and I don't want to erase the option of being able to travel anywhere and eat meat buns easily.
　However, with the tacit understanding that sales determine where the stalls are located at this time of year, it will be difficult to turn the tables around in the current situation, if not the best.
　What shall we do?
　As Ray hesitated like that, he suddenly saw some adventurers coming out of the training ground.
　If that's all, Ray wouldn't have to be particularly surprised.
　As long as it's a training ground, it's only natural that you don't want to go there anymore, and if you're done with training, you don't have to worry too much about it, just as the skinhead guy came to buy you meat buns.
　But... the people who came out of the training ground were running, not walking. It was impossible for Ray not to worry about it if it seemed like he was in a state of serenity.

"Glu?"

　After finishing eating the meat bun, Seto, who was waiting for Ray to call her, looks at her.
　When Ray and Sett looked at them, they naturally looked at them so that the owner of the stall could be caught... and when they saw the men who had trained themselves, they twitched their faces.
　However, the men who came out of the training ground didn't even look at the owner of the stall... when they saw only Ray in front of the stall, they opened their mouths.

"Please, Ray. Can you train us a little?"

　He said so and bowed deeply.