Freshwater Fish (1)

I have no interest in being a lord. I’m not a dragon, but it was an amusing diversion after a long time.

But no matter how I think about it, it doesn’t suit me. I don’t find peace of mind. This makes me yearn more for my sanctuary, the restaurant on the hill.

So, this is the end.

Dedran City is already changing beyond recognition. The City’s functions are operating properly, and public order is maintained.

Since we took down Rieden and his gang together, there are almost no criminals.

Holding large-scale trials to settle disputes among ordinary citizens has stabilized the streets.

The only thing needed is to find something to revitalize the economic aspect.

Originally, Dedran City was just a small city without any special products or tourist resources. That’s why Count Dedran had ambitions for Greek City.

The City has normalized, but commerce is not functioning well. The same goes for agriculture.

The new tax law has stabilized, but there is still no vitality. Taxes are not likely to increase anytime soon. In fact, due to the nature of the new tax law, the City’s tax revenue in this state is terribly low.

In fact, the original goal was this economic aspect.

Being the overseer was also about finishing matters related to Berna, but since it involved taking a break from the restaurant, my principle is that there should be profit as well.

Just as the special product Palenque and the cheese business revived Greek City, there should be similar profits here.

And that work was already in progress. There was no need to continue being the lord to push it forward, so I planned to stop pretending to be a baron here.

The increase in tax revenue promised to the Emperor.

The leftovers I would receive.

I wouldn’t completely withdraw from that.

That story will continue next time.

What’s important now is Rurin’s upcoming birthday.

Because full spring is coming.

After stepping down as lord, many things changed.

But my daily life returned to normal. What changed were the citizens of Dedran City and Greek City.

Ah, now it should be called Unified Greek City.

After Rurin’s birthday, I plan to present a business plan to revive the commerce of old Dedran City to the boy from Greek City.

For now, I’m enjoying spring.

A morning with spring flowers blowing in the wind.

I go to the market as always because I’ve resumed the restaurant work.

The Greek market is always bustling. Of course, my contribution in that is quite high.

I don’t want to boast about it, though.

Well, that’s it.

Facts are facts.

Recently, the turnover rate of the unified city, connecting Greek City and old Dedran City, has been quite good. People’s expressions are lively, and consumption is active.

Various vegetables, fruits, and crafts are being sold here and there.

Coming to the market makes me feel alive. Especially the morning market.

Of course, the warehouse with time-stop magic stores various ingredients. But that warehouse is mostly for emergencies.

It’s used when fresh ingredients can’t come in due to heavy rain, pests, or drought. Or, it’s used to always have seasonal vegetables and fruits that can only be eaten in specific seasons.

That’s why it’s best to buy fresh ingredients that are easily available from the market every morning.

Today, as usual, I stuffed a lot of vegetables into my shopping basket and moved around.

Then, my eyes caught sight of an unusual ingredient.

It was fish.

An ingredient you don’t see in the Greek market, far from the sea.

I was surprised and stopped in front of it.

“Mister, are you really selling fish?”

“Yes, I am.”

An old man with sparse white hair nodded. The bucket was full of fish.

They were still alive.

“Where on earth did you get this?”

“Where? I caught them this morning!”

“Really?”

I was surprised and looked closely at the fish in the bucket. Naturally, it wasn’t seawater fish. It was freshwater fish.

Their long, slender forms reminded me of sweetfish.

I don’t know of any rivers connected to the sea. In that case, sweetfish shouldn’t grow here.

I’ve experienced several times that the ecosystem isn’t the same as on the Earth I lived on.

It was definitely a freshwater fish similar to sweetfish. But as far as I know, there are no lakes or rivers around here that have such fish.

Does this old man have a special spot?

“Can you give me two fish for now?”

“Two fish? Sure, take them. They’re delicious!”

The old man confidently handed the fish over.

Then I returned to the restaurant. I only bought two fish because I wasn’t sure about the taste yet.

There are fish in the ingredient storage, but not many. There are various constraints on going to the sea to catch fish.

It takes a whole day. Even with teleportation, catching that many fish is difficult unless you’re a fisherman.

Using magic to shake up the entire sea would mess up the nearby ecosystem, so that’s out of the question.

Only pure skills or small magic can be used, and that’s a hassle.

That’s why I can only keep a small amount of fish purchased from sea villages.

So, I was glad to see these live freshwater fish. Of course, there are many differences between sea fish and freshwater fish.

But if this is really a fish similar to sweetfish, I think I can look forward to it.

First, I started preparing the sweetfish.

As soon as I put the knife in, a subtle watermelon scent arose. They say the fresher and tastier the sweetfish, the more it smells like watermelon.

I’m strongly realizing that now.

It is indeed sweetfish.

I didn’t ask what it’s called here. It’s even more so because it’s a fish I haven’t encountered during the war.

There were almost no fish similar to sweetfish in the rivers here.

“Hmm. Where was it caught?”

My curiosity grows.

The subtle scent makes me start to look forward to the taste. Two fish. One for me, and one for Rurin.

I prepared the charcoal. I set up long charcoal in the brazier and lit it. It’s different from normal fire because it’s a fireball. The charcoal started burning. The reason for using charcoal instead of directly grilling with the fireball is that sweetfish tastes best when grilled with charcoal.

Charcoal has such a good effect on humans.

It’s a good thing.

For a Black one.

Speaking of the Black one, it reminds me of Sereina’s habit.

I skewer the prepared sweetfish. The skewer goes in through the mouth and comes out through the tail.

And this is important. Sprinkling the right amount of salt.

Pat pat!

I sprinkled the salt, imagining myself as a chef on TV with a stylish pose.

I felt embarrassed after doing it.

Luckily, no one was around.

Anyway, I sprinkled the salt generously and stood the skewered sweetfish next to the burning charcoal. The long skewers naturally support it.

Slowly grilling it while turning, it starts to turn golden. The charcoal scent permeates, and a good aroma begins to tickle my nose.

After grilling the freshly caught fish over a fire, as seen many times before, I turned off the fire at the restaurant.

It looks delicious.

It’s lunchtime too.

I immediately went down to the lair, picked Rurin up, and returned to the restaurant. Naturally, Rurin was half asleep.

“Wake up, let’s eat.”

“You. My head is spinning.”

“It’s because you slept too much.”

“Is that sooooo?”

Rurin stretched her body across the table, drawing out her words. No matter how many times I’ve told her it’s for eating, not a bed.

“Here, it’s lunch.”

When I presented the grilled sweetfish, Rurin sniffed it.

“Isn’t this fish? It smells good.”

“Right? I grilled it with care. This grilling method is actually more valuable in modern times.”

“I don’t know what you’re saying, but I’m hungry when I wake up. Ahhh!”

Saying that, she took a big bite of the sweetfish.

Crunch-!

Rurin put the sweetfish in her mouth and started crunching the skin.

“It’s light yet savory and salty. It smells good too. You, what is this thing?”

Rurin showed interest and grinned.

Yes, if Rurin ate it deliciously, the taste is guaranteed.

It was delicious when I ate it too.

The conclusion is that it’s a very tasty fish.

I still don’t know its name, so I’ll call it sweetfish for now.

The next day, I went to the market and immediately looked for the sweetfish old man. He was sitting in a corner of the market with a bucket of sweetfish he caught today.

It seemed like yesterday, but there were no customers.

No one even stopped in front of him.

Well, that’s understandable since Greek City is inland and people are completely ignorant about fish dishes.

Especially in this city, where there are hardly any freshwater fish, it’s natural that people don’t respond to such unfamiliar ingredients.

“Mister, how much did you sell yesterday?”

“You’re the young man who bought two fish yesterday, right?”

He was glad but didn’t look happy.

“Yes, it was delicious.”

“Right! It was delicious, wasn’t it? That’s how it should be!”

The sweetfish old man stood up and grabbed my hand.

“But… it seems people here aren’t interested. These are fish I raised after tasting them in my childhood and decided to raise them my whole life. I wanted to share their taste with others… but no one buys them except you.”

He spoke with a sullen face.

That’s unfortunate. If people’s perception changed, they would be able to sell well.

Should I take them to the restaurant and try selling them?

But my restaurant’s regular customers are strictly determined.

If I intervene in such a way, it would be different from the old man’s dream of letting many people know about the fish.

“Mister, did you raise these?”

“I can say I caught them or raised them. That’s why I can bring them here to sell like this! But no one buys them.”

The old man’s expression alternated between brightening and darkening.

“Hmm, if you tell me about these fish, I’ll help you sell them.”

Yes, there’s no need to sell them at the restaurant.

Selling them right here in the market is enough. If I just shift people’s prejudices a little, they can sell like hotcakes.

Of course, I’m curious about these fish that he says he raised rather than caught, so that’s a condition too.

If healthy fish sell well in an area where there are none, it’s not a bad thing in many ways.

“You?”

“Yes.”

“Can you really help?”

“Looks can be deceiving. I have some skills, you know.”

“Right now, no one buys them… they don’t know the taste of fish.”

Finally, the old man stood up as if clutching at straws and grabbed my arm.

“I’ll take you there myself and show you.”