“Huh, these spices and seasonings are surprisingly cheap compared to those in Al-Flare.”

The prices in the royal capital are generally two to three times higher than those in Al-Flare. I had assumed that luxury items like spices and seasonings would be even more expensive, but in reality, they were only about 1.5 times the price of those in Al-Flare.

What’s going on here?

“Hey, are you from Al-Flare?”

“Yeah. The cost of living in the royal capital is quite high, but I was surprised that spices and seasonings aren’t as expensive as I expected.”

“Oh, I see. You must’ve had a rough journey all the way from that fledgling adventurers' town to the royal capital.”

In truth, thanks to Sleip, the Sleipnir summoned by Ferry, we arrived in just three days—several times faster than a regular carriage.

“Actually, a special magic-based cultivation method for spices was recently developed. Only recently did we start harvesting spices grown using that method. Because of this, the prices of certain spices and spice-based seasonings have dropped to nearly half of what they used to be.”

“Huh, I didn’t know that.”

Now that I think about it, I vaguely recall hearing something about that before. So, the prices of spices and seasonings have finally started to decline.

“For now, this is only happening in the royal capital, but other towns will soon see a drop in prices too. Well, it’s tough for us shopkeepers. Even though our purchase costs are half what they were, our selling prices have also dropped by half, so we’re taking a big hit. But in the long run, many new varieties of spices and seasonings will be introduced, and they’ll start spreading into ordinary households, so we just have to endure it for now.”

That makes sense. If the prices drop too much, it’s rough for the shops. Still, lower prices will undoubtedly drive up demand. At the very least, this is great news for us consumers.

“Tetsuya, if that’s the case, wouldn’t it be possible to sell that outdoor spice mix in stores too?”

“Yeah, Lilia’s right. If spices become more common, selling the outdoor spice mix should be fine.”

Until now, spices were considered luxury items, and I was wary of selling them due to the influence of powerful merchants controlling the market. But with this change, it seems safe to start selling them.

“Just sprinkling it over grilled meat makes it taste completely different from plain salt. I think every adventurer would buy it.”

“I see.”

Ferry also approved. The quality of the outdoor spice mix is exceptionally high. Once we return to Al-Flare, I should seriously consider selling it.

“Oh, are you in the business too?”

“Not exactly, but I do think it’s great that spices and seasonings are becoming more affordable. Hey, old man, I’d like to buy a bunch, so could you recommend some good ones?”

“Oh, now you’re talking! I’d be happy to help!”

“Man, that was a great shopping trip!”

After that, I bought a massive amount of spices and seasonings from the old man’s shop. The variety of spices and seasonings available in the royal capital was incomparable to those in Al-Flare.

Well, that makes sense. The royal capital gathers goods from various towns, while Al-Flare is just a small town for fledgling adventurers. It’s only natural that the selection here is far superior.

Thanks to Ferry’s storage magic, despite buying so many spices and seasonings, I can walk around the city empty-handed.

“It’s all thanks to Ferry that we were able to buy so much. Seriously, thank you.”

“I’m glad I could be of help to you, Tetsuya.”

Ferry gave a small, shy smile. It’s rare to see her looking flustered like this.

“But wow, you sure bought a ton of different kinds of spices and seasonings.”

“Yeah, there were a lot of unique ones I hadn’t seen before! Now I can experiment more with cooking. I might even be able to improve that special sauce I’ve been working on.”

Among the things I bought were red, chili-like spicy spices, peppery ones similar to Sichuan pepper, and fragrant, sweet spices reminiscent of cinnamon.

And, to my surprise, I even found something that looked like soy sauce and miso! I’m not sure if the base ingredient was soybeans, but they were definitely made from some kind of beans. These weren’t affected by the recent price drops from magic-based farming, but since I had plenty of money, I bought them without hesitation.

Wow, I never thought I’d be able to get my hands on soy sauce and miso! Just this alone made the trip to the royal capital worthwhile. Honestly, I might even be more excited about this than closing a deal with the royal capital’s adventurers’ guild.

Since there aren’t many entertainment options in Al-Flare, cooking has become my hobby lately. Of course, I still miss manga and anime from my original world, but trying to recreate dishes from my past life using this world’s ingredients is surprisingly fun.

“Tetsuya, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this happy before.”

“Really? Exploring new places is always exciting, don’t you think? Now that the outdoor shop is running smoothly, I wouldn’t mind traveling to different towns on a regular basis.”

“Yeah, traveling to new places is always fun. There are plenty of other interesting towns besides the royal capital.”

“I’m looking forward to it. With those maps and encyclopedias we’ve been working on, let’s all travel to different towns together again sometime.”