I'm home.
　I'm back from the fishing.

　It's me.

　We ran into some distressed sailing boats on the way out, but the voyage went pretty well for the most part.
　We caught a lot of fish, too.

　However, the fish we caught in the boat were not stored in the bottom of the ship, but rather bled out and were transferred directly to the farm using transfer magic.
　The revolutionary cycle of freezing and storing immediately was completed, so there was more and more surplus space on the ship.
　Thanks to you, there's no longer any need to load the ship with a heap of coal.

　

　Well, we'll leave that as a problem for later........
　What we should think about now is whether or not there is a fish that could be a substitute for bonito in another world?

　We selected it from a variety of fishing results, and found one that looked good.

　It was about two sizes bigger than the bonito I knew, but it was a bluefish with a striped belly and looked like a bonito.

Oh, isn't that a katsuo?

　My wife, Prathi, seems to know what it is.

"It's a migratory fish-shaped monster!
Is this another monster...
'They're so tight and tasty that they're available in droves in mermaid country!　What's the matter, sir, if you want Cut-O, you can ask your parents to send you as much as you want.......

　What came to our minds was a one-of-a-kind mana-metal magic steamship, the only one of its kind in the world, that we had worked so hard to build.

........you know, we are self-sufficient in principle....
Yes, of course.

　It was hard to conclude that there was no point in making them.

　I cut up the cutts O and tataki it, and it was good.
　And the taste of the bonito itself.

　It was a pass!　So I decided to try to make bonito flakes.
　It's a bit complicated to call it, so I just call it katsuobushi, even if it's made from katsuo.

　I cut them into small pieces, boiled them, and smoked them.

　It took a few rounds of trial and error, but I was able to recreate the process of making katsuobushi flakes by expanding on the knowledge I had gained in the previous world.

'Okay, now all that's left to do is mold it.

　This is a unique and important process in making katsuobushi.
　It is a process to absorb the moisture from the body of the bonito by deliberately letting the mold adhere to it, and then dry it out tightly.

　Therefore, I was aware of the importance of preparing the mold from the beginning of the boat building process.
　Specifically, I left it up to my expert, or rather, my great admirer, Gala Rufa!

Saints, I prepared the fungus you asked for!

　Gala Rufa, also known as the 'Plague Witch' by her fellow mermaids, has a penchant for germs that are unrecognized by anyone in the fantasy alternate world.

　It's best to leave the fermentation to her, so she sprays magical molds that are hybridized with the mermaid's pharmacological magic and watches to see how things transition.

''I've prototyped several different types of magic molds, so let's separate them out and try each one.

　As a result, we adopted the one that took the quickest form of bonito flakes.

　Here is the finished product.
　Otherworldly bonito flakes!

　　　　* * * *

What is this?

　After unveiling the finished bonito flakes, that was the first thing I heard in my feedback.
　The speaker was Veerle.

This is what you've been working on after all that fuss and fuss, even building such a big boat?　It's kind of plain, isn't it?

　It took a lot of work to get to this point, didn't it?

　Making mayonnaise and building a boat.

　It was a project with a lot of by-products.

That mayonnaise would taste better.　Well, I'm a generous guy and I won't jump to conclusions until I've actually tasted it.

　So says Veerle.
　He holds a sample of dried bonito flakes in his hand.

"Then let's have a taste...

　Ah.
　Veerle, you put a whole piece of dried bonito flakes straight into your mouth and set your teeth........

　With a clank.

"Ughhhhhhhh!　My teeth!　Teeth aaaaaaaaahhhh?!

　Veerle is spinning around.
　It's a very good idea to have a good time with them.

''How can a dragon viel not be able to bite off more than it can chew...?''

　Watching the dumb scene, Prati lets out a shudder.
　Then he takes the bonito flakes from Veerle's hand........

''Hey Aileron, can I have a piece of firewood over there?''
Hmm?　Oh good. We're going to burn it in the kiln anyway...

　Prathi has bonito flakes in his right hand and firewood in his left........
　What are you going to do?
　At a terrific speed, the one in his right hand and the one in his left smashed into each other.

　And it was the firewood that shattered into pieces.

'All right!　This is a weapon!

　Prathi says, "Prathi is a Tang Dynasty tree.

'I was preoccupied with the preconception that it was food because it was made from fish!　This hardness, this isn't exactly the ideal blunt instrument!
No!
'What?　Then what is it?　It's not food by mistake, is it, this hardness?

　Well, if you say so, I'm sure you'll be puzzled as to how to eat a substance hard enough to shatter even such a phosphophyllite with a single blow.

　To begin with, this seems to be harder than the original bonito flakes I know...?

　Is it the effect of a special mold made by Gala Rufa?　Or was the 'supreme bearer' activated again without your knowledge?

　Even if I were to shave it off and make it into a shaving joint, it's not going to stand up to a half-hearted blade.

　What shall we do?
　I'll use the holy sword.
　Let's use the holy sword.

　　　　* * * *

　As expected of the evil holy sword Dry Schwartz.
　The otherworldly bonito flakes that were so hard that an ordinary iron sword would have spilled over the edge, were shaved off in seconds.
　It was so thin that you could see through the other side.

"Come on, this is all right. Let's have a taste.
Oh, you okay?

　Veerle, who is being more cautious than necessary due to his teeth nearly breaking off earlier, and Prathi, who is also taking a piece of shavings into her mouth.

''Well, it's easier to put in your mouth than a lump, but... hmm?　What's this?
'The more you chew, the more flavor you get!　What's it taste like?
It's not sweet, not spicy, not sour...?
It's not bitter, of course...?

　Yes, it's....

"Umami!

　It was a bonito flake full of umami.

　　　　* * * *

　After the unveiling is done, I use the Evil Sacred Sword Dry Schwartz again to scrape the bonito flakes to make shavings.
　Then he boils it in a pot to get the extract out of it, then mixes it with soy sauce and kombu extract, and adjusts it with salt and sugar while tasting it over and over again.

　Then......

And now..... Natto sauce.

　What do you think, Holkosfone?
　Try the taste of natto with this sauce.

Let me taste it...!

　Horqosfone ate the natto mixed with special sauce on his own.
　For some reason, Gobukichi was there and tried it with us.

..........

　He places the empty bowl and chopsticks on top of each other and says a few words.

'Ultimate.'
Likewise.

　Yay!
　Holkosfone and Gobbledygook, our farm's two biggest natto maniacs have endorsed it!
　All the hard work you've done so far has paid off!

'Thank you so much, Master. For going to the bone so far for what I wanted........

　Well, I'd like to refrain from moving this seriously for a while, wouldn't you say?

I'll try to make more natto to repay the kindness of the master.
Go easy on him.

　Well, it's settled now.
　There were a lot of side effects this time, but I'm really glad we managed to pull it off.

Now, I'll have another natto (fermented soybeans)...
?
Now let's try it with some mayonnaise.

　And secretly and steadily on our farm.
　The mayonnaise was encroaching.