I Said Make My Abilities Average! (LN) - Volume 3 - Chapter SS3

Side Story:

Seafood Cuisine 

The Crimson Vow had just returned from their swimming and fishing expedition to Amroth. 

Between what they bought, and what they caught themselves, they had obtained quite a lot of fish while there. 

Now was the time to go wild with fish dishes! 

For this purpose, Mile chartered the use of the kitchen and dining room, once dinner was through. 

Tentatively, they thought of having a cooking competition, but, when they thought hard about it, there was no way that any of them, having been raised inland, so far from the sea, would be much good at cooking fish. Even if Mavis and Reina were able to at least envision the word “fish,” their hopes of culinary accomplishment were dim. 

Because of this, it was decided that Mile would handle all the cooking. The ones who would get to eat it would be Mavis, Reina, and Pauline, along with the matron of the inn, the owner, and little Lenny. And, for some reason, all of the overnight guests at the inn, who had stayed in the dining hall instead of returning to their rooms. 

“Why is this happening…?” 

This was no time to complain, though. She had to start cooking. Thankfully, her ingredients were plentiful. 

Mile’s high-speed cooking began. She even relaxed the limitations she had placed on the speed of her own reflex actions. 

Her knife moved faster than the eye could see. Everyone was waiting in the dining room for the food to be complete, save for the owner, who was in the kitchen watching Mile work, his mouth agape. 

“Sorry to keep you all waiting.” 

After some time, Mile began carrying the completed dishes out of the kitchen. 

Lenny and her mother assisted as well. 

The owner still had not fully recovered from his shock, and there was no way that any amateurs would be allowed into the kitchen. From both the perspective of restaurant safety and health standards, this was the right course of action. 

Gradually, a number of fish dishes were lined up across the tables. They were on large platters, separated by cooking method. 

Broiled, glazed, steamed, poached, meunière, fried, tatsuta-age, nizakana, nanbanzuke, pickled… and of course, sashimi. 

The sashimi was served with Mile’s recently developed “something like soy sauce,” and, because she could not find anything like true wasabi, western-style horseradish. 

To safeguard against parasites, she had flash frozen and thawed all the fish before cooking, and used a foreign-body-removal magic and a cleaning magic on the food. 

Because it was flash frozen, there was no expansion of the water crystals or breakdown of cells, so the fish lost none of its delicious flavor. 

The first to eat, of course, were the members of the Crimson Vow. After them came the matron and Lenny. The owner eventually made a full recovery as well. After them, the other guests sampled the rest of the food that remained on the plates. 

“This is delicious!” 

“It’s so good!” 

“Wh-what is this?! I’ve never eaten such a delicious fish dish! Well, in fact, this is the first time I’ve even eaten anything other than dried fish…” 

All of the various dishes, as well as the dipping sauce made from a mixture of the pseudo-soy-sauce substance, sugar, and Mile’s recently developed mirin and sake-like liquids—plus the berry sauce she had made from mixing a number of things—all received favorable reviews. By and by, the food piled up on the plates slowly began to vanish. 

However. 

No one appeared to be interested in the pickled fish or the sashimi. 

This was probably to be expected. This place was far from the sea, and it was not a place where you could normally eat raw fish—or at least, not a place where you should. Not if you valued your health and your life. 

Even in this world, people did have some knowledge of the parasites that lived in mammals and fish. This was something that impacted their lives, so it was only natural. 

In other words, there was no one in this world who would eat raw fish so far away from the sea. That was the sum of it. 

“But it’s so delicious…” 

So saying, Mile put some of the sashimi onto her own plate somewhat glumly. Then, she put some of the wasabi on top of the fish, pierced it with her fork, and gingerly dipped the bottom of it in a small dish filled with pseudo-soy sauce. The “wasabi” was a bit watery, so putting it directly into the soy sauce would have ruined some of the spice. 

Then, when she tried to put it in her mouth… 

Yoink! Chomp! 

“Huh??” 

Someone had grabbed her hand that was holding the fork and eaten the piece that had been pierced on it. It was Mavis. 

“Mm, that’s tasty! You really can’t ever go wrong with your cooking, huh?” 

In truth, sometimes her cooking did go wrong. 

“Knowing you, you removed the parasites with magic somehow, didn’t you? There’s no way someone like you, who’s always talking about hygiene, would ever overlook something like that, I’m sure.” 

With these words, Reina, and then Pauline, followed Mile’s lead, putting the wasabi and pseudo-soy sauce on pieces of sashimi, which they then placed in their mouths. 

“What is this?! It’s good!” 

“A flavor I’ve never tasted before is spreading across my tongue!” 

“But each of these things tastes so different individually!” 

Seeing the girls chowing down, the others in the room timidly followed their example. 

The first was the owner, who was moved by his curiosity as a chef, and Lenny, a challenger who knew no fear. 

“I-It’s really good…” 

“That’s Miss Mile for you!” 

Their forks flew out for another, and another, and another. 

“W-we can use this! Here Father, try this… We need to study this and add it to our specialty menu! This would make us so much money!” 

“Y-yeah!” 

Lenny and her father were getting fired up, but Mile had to be the bearer of bad news. 

“Uhm, I don’t mind at all if you want to refer to my methods, but where are you going to get your hands on fresh fish that hasn’t gone rancid, as well as the dipping sauce, my experimental soy sauce, and the wasabi? 

“Huh?” 

The two, who had intended merely to get Mile to tell them her means of acquiring all these goods, were deflated. 

“The fish is one matter, but the soy sauce was an experiment, so it’s all been used up, and you need soy sauce for the dipping sauce as well. You’d have to find another place where the wasabi grows and order it from them…” 

“I-If you could make that ‘so-ee’ sauce again…” 

“Well, it’s fermented, so making it takes time. Plus, I’m still experimenting with it, so I can’t guarantee the flavor. I’m not even sure that you would be able to use the same preparation methods yourself, so…” 

Mile’s reply crushed all of Lenny’s hopes into the dirt. 

“N-no way…” 

Without regard for the devastated Lenny and her father, the seafood-tasting party continued, with words of praise and cheerful laughter abounding…