Now then, for tonight’s dinner, we’ll be having the fish I bought in Rowan, which I had been meaning to share for a while. Cooking inside a dungeon is quite difficult, so I took out some of the fish dishes I had previously prepared in Sara’s mansion, along with those I made at home yesterday, using storage magic.

Thinking about it again, storage magic is incredibly convenient for dungeon exploration. You can carry water, food, cooking utensils, and even tableware completely hands-free.

Not to mention, if you store cooked meals using storage magic, you don’t have to cook inside the dungeon and can enjoy freshly prepared dishes anytime. I’ve made sure to prepare extra portions of everything I cook and store them, so I can always eat something fresh.

“This is amazing…”

“We’re inside a dungeon, right…?”

“It’s truly incredible…”

“It looks delicious, nya!”

“Hoo!”

In the safe zone, I spread out a leisure sheet and took out the table and enough chairs for everyone from storage magic, which I had originally found in the Great Mage’s house. I then placed plenty of dishes on the table.

…Yeah, this whole setup with a table and chairs in the middle of a spacious dungeon floor feels ridiculously out of place. It’s like bringing furniture from home to a campsite.

“For drinks, we have water and tea from my homeland. There are refills available, so let me know if you need more. Oh, and there’s dessert too, so leave a little room in your stomach.”

“Storage magic really is incredible. Being able to enter a dungeon without carrying any supplies…”

“Every dish looks so delicious, and they’re still warm.”

“These are grilled fish and shellfish. They taste great with either salt, fish sauce, or soy sauce. Over here, we have foil-baked dishes and meunière.”

The grilled fish and shellfish I made at Sara’s mansion didn’t seem like they’d be enough, so I grilled some more yesterday. Foil-baked dishes and meunière take a bit more effort, so I only had what was left from my last batch at Sara’s mansion, meaning there wasn’t much.

And this time, I prepared something extra. When cooking just for my mother and me, it’s a hassle to buy a variety of ingredients, so even though I had wanted to make this before, I never got around to it.

“Is this the ‘katsu’ thing we had before?”

“No, it’s similar to katsu, but this is called tempura. Try it with this tempura sauce or some salt.”

Yes, it’s Japan’s traditional dish—tempura. Huh? It originally came from Portugal? Who cares about the details?

When cooking for just two people, buying a variety of meat, fish, vegetables, and shrimp for a single meal is a hassle. But since I had the chance to buy fish and shellfish in this world, I decided to give it a try.

For a first attempt, I think it turned out pretty well. Honestly, once you have the batter and oil ready and the ingredients cut, all you have to do is fry them, so it’s quite simple. The most challenging part was the prep—peeling shrimp, filleting fish, and shucking shellfish.

“Man, this makes me want some alcohol! Who would’ve thought I could eat fish and shellfish like this, something you’d normally only find by the sea!”

“Seriously! I’ve never seen this black soy sauce before, but it’s perfect for grilled fish and shellfish! I like it more than salt or fish sauce. And this tempura sauce is light and refreshing!”

“Master Masayoshi, this tempura dish is absolutely delicious! The crispy batter gives way to warm, fluffy fish and shellfish that burst with flavor in my mouth!”

“I’ve never had any of these dishes before, but they’re all delicious, nya!”

Looks like everyone enjoyed it, which is great. Well, it’s hard for grilled or tempura-fried food to taste bad.

I took a bite myself, and everything was indeed delicious. Then again, after dungeon exploring, you’d be hungry enough to enjoy just about anything, and the camping-like atmosphere makes it even better.

“Hoo!!”

It seems Fusuke has taken a liking to the tempura. He’s skillfully dipping the tempura into the sauce with his beak and eating it neatly. Yeah, an owl eating tempura is a pretty surreal sight, but who cares—it’s adorable!

By the way, I also made some sashimi from parasite-free fish, but since getting sick inside the dungeon would be a disaster, we’ll have to wait until after our expedition to eat it.

“Ahh, everything was delicious. Really, thanks for the meal. Feels like I keep owing you more and more favors.”

“I’m just happy you enjoyed it! Don’t worry about favors or anything like that. Now, here’s the dessert I mentioned earlier.”

“Wow, it’s so beautiful! Is this really food?”

“It’s stunning, nya!”

“It almost feels like a waste to eat it.”

I kind of get the feeling. Like cakes, many Japanese sweets focus on aesthetics. Especially things like this mizu-yokan or nerikiri made with sweet bean paste—both are truly beautiful. Even monaka comes in all sorts of shapes these days.

Personally, I really like suama. It just so happened that a nearby Japanese sweets shop was selling some at a discount, so I bought a variety. While I love the fresh cream on cakes, the sweetness of red bean paste in wagashi is also amazing.

“Ah, they’re all so sweet and delicious!”

“Totally, nya! They’re nothing like the sweets sold in town!”

“The fruit sandwich we had earlier was great, but these are incredible too!”

“These would definitely sell in Egarton as well.”

Even in dungeon exploration, a little break is necessary. Next time, I’ll bring wagashi for Sara’s group and cakes for Lilith’s group. Their preferences are probably different, but I’m sure they’ll all enjoy it.