We moved on to the well next to the inn.
　There was a simple cooking stove and a pot set up there.
　Of course, I had permission from the inn's father, so there was no problem.

Well, let's hurry up, we don't have much time.

　Thanks to the time taken for salting the meat, there was not much time left until the sun went down.
　In the original world, I could still work, but in this world, it is common knowledge that work ends when the sun sets.

　She could have used magic to create a light to continue working, but it would have been too conspicuous for Haruka, who needed magic power to work.
　If you're working in the dark, you'll naturally attract attention, and if you're dealing with expensive fruit dingles, you can't deny the possibility of trouble.

I'll boil the water first. This is Nao, please.
Okay.
In the meantime, we'll take the stems off the dingdol and wash them.

　Boiling water is not much more than lighting a fire with wood.
　If I keep using 'ignition' from my fingertips instead of wood, I'll collapse before the water becomes hot.
　So, when the fire is stable, I help them to wash the dingdolls and pile them in a colander.

　This colander, which I bought today, is similar to a colander used to dry pickled plums.
　However, it is not made of bamboo, but of a kind of awn.
　This grass can be easily obtained in the mountains before winter, and the colanders are made by farmers as a winter handicraft and sold wholesale.
　Thanks to this, I was able to get a set of ten at a fairly low price.


　Halfway through washing the dingdol, the water began to boil.

What are you going to do, Haruka?
Haruka, what are we going to do?　Let's try different times.

　It was decided to make seven different kinds of dindol, one at a time, one without, one soaked for a moment, and one soaked for one to five minutes, in one-minute increments.
　I threw six dildos into the pot, pulled them out one by one, and placed them in a colander.
　There was no clock, so I had to count them by feel.

At times like this, I wish I had a watch.
"Yes. I'm getting used to this world's sense of time. ......

　In this world, clocks are not common, so everyone works in a rather vague way.
　The bells ring five times between sunrise and sunset, so you can get an approximate time, but you can't tell when the bells are about to ring, so it's difficult to say, "I'll meet you at the first bell.
　Therefore, if you want to meet someone, you have to be able to tolerate the ambiguity of "the time you will arrive at the meeting place after the bell rings.

　Also, since the bell does not ring after sunset, there is no definite time for bars to close.
　In this inn, it seems to depend on the father's mood, and sometimes he stays open until everyone has gone home, and sometimes he kicks out the customers.
　We try to stay away from the bar after dinner, though, as far as we can tell from the voices coming from downstairs.

"Okay!　I'm sure there's a little margin for error, but that's good, right?

　Seven dildos lined up on a colander.
　There is almost no difference in appearance.
　If you compare the one boiled for five minutes with the raw one, the boiled one may be a little bit wilder, but you won't notice it unless you compare them.

It doesn't change as much as I thought, does it?
Yeah, it's hard to tell when they're mixed together.
Yeah. Is this what a fruit looks like?　I've never boiled a whole fruit before. ......

　That's right. It's usually eaten raw.
　At best, you can make jam, but even that is more like mashing and boiling than boiling.

I'm going to try this: ...... 'Dry'!
"Oh, wow!

　It's like a time-lapse video.
　The moment Haruka held up her hand and used magic, the dindle fruit, which had been swollen to its full size, wilted and shrunk in a flash.

I'm not sure if that's enough.

　When I put my hand down, the change stopped, and a beautifully dried dindle fruit was produced.
　The process took less than a minute.
　Even with modern technology, this is a difficult feat to accomplish, isn't it?

It's amazing. ....... There's something just magical about .......
Oh. In a way, it's even more impressive than the Fire Arrow.

　...... Hmm?
　I'm not sure what to make of this, but I'm sure it's a good idea.
　I can't deny it, though!

I'm not sure what to say. It's okay to praise.　I had a lot of trouble with this.

　Oh, that's a rare look of smugness from Haruka.
　Haruka is not proud of her efforts, so she must have really struggled.
　Toya and I looked at each other, applauding and praising Haruka, who was slouching a bit.

"Yes!　Haruka-san, you're the best!
It's thanks to you that we're still alive!
Should I call you Haruka-sama?
Or should I call you Goddess?
I'll make you an altar.
I will.

　I'll make an altar for you." "Let's do that." We breathed in unison in praise, and Haruka raised her hands with a bitter look on her face.

I'll do it. Just a little praise is enough. You don't need to waste your breath.



　Well, it seems that you didn't like our praise.
　Of course, we did it on purpose.

"Okay. Let's taste it.
"Right. Haruka, cut me.
You guys are ........ Well, okay. Just cut it into quarters. ......

　Haruka sighed in exasperation and cut up the dindle, which we tasted one slice at a time.
　It's not as good as raw. It's a different taste than raw.
　It's sweet, but not sticky sweet like normal dried fruits, and it's easy to eat, with a bit of a sweet bean paste feel to it.
　The taste varies slightly depending on how long you boil it, but it's good in any case.
　Now, the haruka was easy to make, but considering that it usually takes days to dry, no wonder it was expensive.

Now that you've tasted them all ......, which one was your favorite?

　Haruka said, and Toya and I thought for a moment before answering.

I'd say the 1 minute one.　The raw ones, of course, but the ones that were raised right away had tough skin and were a bit bitter.
I think I'll go with two minutes ......, or maybe a little less than two minutes.

　As Toya said, boiling this ding dong seems to remove the bitterness and hardness of the skin.
　The outer skin, which is inedible when raw, becomes even more delicious when boiled as a dried fruit, becoming one with the pulp.
　In fact, it is the skin that makes the fruit delicious.
　I compared it to anko (sweet red bean paste) earlier, and I think it plays a role just like the skin of a bun.
　It tastes better to eat it as a bun than to eat it only as anko. It is like that.

One minute and two minutes. ...... Hmm, it's tasty enough. ...... Well, is the problem that the flesh is also cooked?　I wonder if it should be quenched, like a half-boiled egg.

　Haruka listens to our opinions and twists his head while eating a little bit of his own.
　According to Haruka, the way to make a good half-boiled egg is to time it exactly right, and then immediately put it in cold water when the time is up.
　This is because the yolk will harden in the residual heat if left unattended.
　Haruka's prediction was that the ding dong would taste better if it was cooled when the skin was cooked, so that the flesh would remain raw.

Let's try quenching in two minutes. Nao, get some water.

　Now I'll boil, quench, and dry two of them according to Haruka's prediction, and eat half of each.

"Yes. They taste better than before. What do you two think?
"Ah. It's a little different, but it's better.

To be honest, I don't know much about it. So I'll leave it to you two to decide.

　Two in favor, one abstention.

Let's make it this way for today. The only thing we can do is to have Diora taste it and ask her if it's a commercial dindle. Even if it's not, it's good enough for us to eat.
"Oh, I see. We're going to pick more tomorrow.

　If it's not about making money, but about preserving our own food, we don't need to adapt to the commercial products.
　Even if it doesn't sell, we'll be happy to eat good food for a while. It won't go to waste.

"Okay, Toya, can you make a toothpick, mark it so we can tell them apart, and stick it in?
Hmm, okay.
Okay. That way they won't get mixed up. You're smart, Haruka.

　I thought I'd have to put them in separate bags.
　A toothpick should be enough to take from here to the guild tomorrow.

Unless you have a lunch box with separators, which we don't. We're going to mass produce these.

　Mass production.
　There's more than enough for a backpack.
　Of course, Haruka, who uses magic, has a heavy burden.
　Even so, there's nothing we can do except take care of the non-magical work.


　In the end, that day, I had to push Haruka into bed, who was so exhausted that she fell asleep while eating, and I also used Accelerate Time on the salted barrel with all my might, and she fell asleep immediately.
　The only one who didn't use magic, Toya, had a lot of energy left over, and when I asked him about it the next day, he told me that he had been doing some self-discipline exercises that he didn't have time to do after we fell asleep.
　It's a very tough thing to do.

　　　　The next day I woke up.

　Waking up the next day wasn't so bad.
　To be honest, it helped that even though I was using my magic to the limit, if I slept well one night, I would be fine the next day.
　But it's more of a feeling, so I don't know if I'm really fully recovered.

　It would be easier to understand if it could be quantified, but once I told Haruka to try to see how many times she could use magic, she said, "For example, press down on the scale with 5 kg of force. Can you do this 100 times without any deviation? Can you do this 100 times without deviation?
　If the power of magic can be adjusted, it means that the magic power consumed is also variable.
　In addition, because of the problem of the efficiency of the use of magic power, a spell of the same power does not necessarily mean that the same amount of magic power has been consumed.
　It's also possible to use more magic than at first, but it's not clear whether this is due to an increase in the amount of magic power or just an increase in the efficiency of the use of magic power.

Let's get up!

　The dawn bell has already rung, so it's always past time to get out of bed.
　When I got out of bed and stood up, I looked at the bed next to me and saw that Haruka was sleeping there.


　I was about to reach out to wake her up, but thought better of it.
　I almost reached out to wake her up, but thought better of it and stopped myself.

　Normally, I head to the forest right after breakfast, but today I'm planning to stop by the adventurer's guild beforehand and have Diora sample the food.
　However, it would be a nuisance to bother you in the early morning when you're busy, so we have a lot of time before we leave the inn today.
　Then, it would be okay to let her sleep for a while yet.
　I checked the bed on the other side of the room, but it was already empty.
　Judging from Toya's behavioral pattern, he was probably practicing on his own.

　When he was over there, Toya was not the type to jog early in the morning, nor was he enthusiastic about club activities.
　However, since he came here, he has been improving his sword skills so diligently that he finds time to train.
　It's the same for me, but I have to do it or die. I have to do it or die.
　The only people who can slack off in this situation are those who have no idea what they're doing, those who have baseless confidence, or those who are in pain because they think they're the hero.

　--I'm afraid I can't say for sure that none of my classmates are like that.

　Of course, I'm not one of them, so I'm not going to spare any effort I can.
　I picked up my spear and left the room, being careful not to make a sound.


　After a while, I woke up and asked Haruka to cleanse me, which she hadn't done yesterday, and ate a slightly later breakfast than usual.
　After a light rest, we headed to the Adventurer's Guild with a prototype of the dried dindle.
　This is not a time of day we usually visit.
　Inside the guild, there were only a few adventurers, and the place was no longer busy.
　The counter where Ms. Diora was waiting was also empty, so I went there immediately.

Good morning, Diora.
"Good morning, Diora. Good morning.
Good morning.
Good morning. I've made a prototype for you.

　Diora's eyes widened in surprise as I said this.

"Already?
Can I have a sample, please?
"Yes, of course!　I'm very picky about my dildos, but I'll give you a good evaluation!

　She recovered from her surprise and smiled happily.
　He says "crisply", but it sounds more like "joyfully".
　Nevertheless, it is nice to be able to taste and evaluate.
　I don't have anything to compare it with, because I can't get dried dindol.
　So, I have no choice but to ask people who have tasted it.

Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
"No, no, no. --"No, no, no..." "Phew, that's a perk.

　He's muttering something quietly. I don't mind.

By the way, Diora, have you eaten enough dried dindol to appreciate it?　It's expensive, isn't it?
...... "Yes, it varies, but the average price is about 1,000 Reais.

　Diora's eyes are swimming, aren't they?　I'd venture to say it's about as fast as a butterfly.

I'm sure you've heard that it's hard to buy fresh Dindol too.
Dried dindol is more expensive than that. ......
And by the way, the guild doesn't sell it either. It's a processed product.

　All three of us turn to look at Diora.
　I'm not sure if it's because I'm not a big fan of the idea or because I'm not a big fan of the idea.

I'm sorry!　I haven't eaten enough to be able to make a good evaluation!　But it's true that I've eaten it before, so I can compare it to that!

　When we asked him properly, he said that he had actually eaten dried dindol only a few times, and they were gifts from people, and he had never bought them himself.
　From our point of view, it would be like receiving a high quality fruit as a sympathy gift when you are hospitalized.

No, it's fine, if you've eaten it before.
"Yeah, yeah. We just want you to compare. Just try it.

　Then Haruka put the prototype in front of Diora.
　As I thought yesterday, you can't tell the difference by looking at them, so you have to rely on the markings on the toothpicks.
　In order not to affect the evaluation, I rearranged the order randomly.

"Eight kinds?
"Yes. They are processed in slightly different ways. Try to compare them.
Okay, then.

　Diora reordered them in order from right to left, comparing them little by little over and over again, muttering and nodding, "Hmmm," "This is ......" and so on.
　Something tells me he's evaluating them more carefully than I thought.
　I thought it would be something like, "This is delicious! I thought it would be something like that.

"Okay. It's done. From here on out, this is better than anything I've had before.

　Looking at the markings, I see that there are two types: heated and quenched, and boiled for one, two, or three minutes.

These are about the same, and these are a little different, I guess.

　Four minutes is about the same, and five minutes, raw, or soaked for a moment is not.

"Thank you, Mr. Diora. So this is what you're selling?



　The one Haruka pointed to is a quarter.
　The one Diora said was about the same.
　But Mr. Diora twisted his head.

"What do you think?　I don't know how you did it, but you made it yesterday, didn't you?　I don't know how you did it, but you made it yesterday, didn't you? No matter how dry it is, it will lose its flavor depending on how it is stored, and I don't know how good the food I ate was. ......

　That's right.
　I don't know if the taste deteriorates with time or if it matures and becomes tastier, but I don't think it changes at all.
　Even if it is at the same level at the moment, you don't know what will happen when it is stored.
　Even if it tastes good, there is no guarantee that it will not be susceptible to mold or other defects.

　Hmmm... considering that, we can't sell it as a preserved food until next year, can we?
　If we want to be safe, we should get some commercially available dried dindol as a control experiment and store both.
　Well, in this world, there is no expiration date, so you could just sell it without worrying about it.

But this is delicious, no question!　I'm sure you can sell it for a good price.

　Diora pointed to the heated and quenched one, which was the one we had rated the most highly.
　It seemed to be the right direction for the taste.

I see, there's a way to sell the flavor instead of the shelf life.

　Haruka was thinking the same thing as me, and nodded her head when she heard Diora's assessment.

I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what to do with it.
I'm still thinking about it, but I think I can sell it at a stall at the morning market, right?

　The morning market, which we often peek at before going to work, is a place where nearby farmers come to sell their crops, and as long as you can find a place, you can buy and sell freely.
　It seems that most of the citizens get their food here, and the main items they buy at the store are long-lasting grains and processed goods.
　We can't set up a store here, and the morning market also sells fruit, so this is the best place to sell dried dindol -- or rather, there is no other choice. If you open a stall anywhere else without permission, you will be removed by the commercial guild.

Of course, there is nothing wrong with opening a stall, but whether or not it will sell is up to .......

　Haruka tilted her head at Diora, who seemed to be having a hard time saying what she meant.

What?　You said that you can sell it for a high price, right, Diora?
It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for and how to get it.　Dried Dindol. I don't think the people who come to the morning market can afford it often. ......
I'm sure you'll agree.　Oh, I see. ......
You're right, it doesn't fit in with the morning market. ......

　At Diora's point, we looked at each other.
　It would be impossible to sell muskmelons as gifts at the supermarkets around here.
　Unless it's in the basement of a department store or in a fruit shop in front of a hospital, the morning market is obviously in the neighborhood supermarket.
　And even if they were to sell them at such places, considering the income and population of this city, 100 pieces every day would clearly be an oversupply.

"d*mn, we've suddenly hit a snag...

　We sigh as Haruka slumps her shoulders in disappointment.
　It's not a waste of money because we were thinking of consuming it ourselves, but when we were working on it, we were thinking, "Maybe we can make a little money and have some room in our pockets. But when we were working on it, we were thinking, "Maybe we can make a little money and have some extra money in our pockets.

"Oh, I worked so hard.

　Mainly because of Haruka.

I'm sure you'll be able to find a way to get rid of it.　How does the guild dispose of it?
"We have connections with nobles, merchants, and even processors. That amount is no problem at all. In the case of dried Dindol, we send it to other cities as well, so it's rather insufficient.
You can't just ask them to introduce you, can you?
No, I don't think so. The wholesale commission is our source of income.

　Mr. Diora smiled bitterly.
　I'm not sure what to do.

You know, the guild can buy them in bulk.　It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.
That's true, isn't it? What do you two think?
It's a bit of a waste, but it's safer to leave it to us amateurs than to sell it. I don't think it's worth the trouble.
I agree with you. I agree with you. Maybe we should try hunting or something.

　We're not merchants and we don't have any skills in that area.
　We're not merchants, and we don't have any skills in that area. Considering the risk of getting caught by some strange merchant and getting scammed, it's not a bad option to go with the adventurer's guild.
　It may be a little cheaper, but if you think of it as an insurance premium, it's not too much to ask.

"Okay. I'll bring it back.
"Thank you very much. Can I have one of your samples?　I have to decide how much to buy it for.
I'll take that.

　I gave one of the samples to Diora for emergency rations.
　Incidentally, I also carry emergency rations that I bought at the store, but fortunately, I have never had an opportunity to use them.
　When the three of us tasted one of them, we were even more shocked than we were on the first day at the stall.
　When the dried meat is finished, it is certain that the emergency rations will be handed over to the dried dindol and dried meat immediately.

I've got it, sir. I'll let you know if I'll be coming by in the evening at the usual time.
"Yes, thank you.

　We bowed lightly to Diora and left the Adventurer's Guild, feeling a little depressed.