Chapter 8 : Grilled Sweetfish and Toasted Soft Mallows with the Hero’s Party (2)

“Purpure will put the sweetfish in, and Dominicus, you can put the Mallowmallows in.”

“Ah, thank you.

Demon Lord Purpure.

For giving me such a meaningful opportunity…”

The saint, Dominicus, spoke with such emotion that he was on the verge of tears.

I just let you do it because you seem to like monsters so much, and you were the one who wanted to put them in, your eyes sparkling…

Anyway, the hearth that ‘I-like-monsters-so-much’ Dominicus made was perfect.

“Wow…

Smoke is coming out non-stop, cough!

Cough!

Is this really okay?!”

Maeve, who has zero knowledge of cooking, covered her face with both hands and struggled, but to my eyes, it was a perfect hearth.

The flames were properly extinguished, and pure white smoke and subtle heat were coming out, it’s really perfect!

“I’ll put the sweetfish in like this…”

I placed the skewered sweetfish one by two near the embers that were still burning with a crackling sound.

Even if I just placed them there, the heat that filled the hearth would soon make them sizzle with a pleasant sound.

“I’ll set the Mallowmallows here.”

Dominicus hummed a tune and properly placed the Mallowmallow skewers on the ground.

Just looking at the skewers surrounding the embers made my mouth water.

“Is this…

really cooking?

There are no flames coming out.”

“It’s definitely cooking, so don’t worry.”

I pushed Maeve’s face away with my palm and brought a few leaves to cover the entrance of the hearth.

I covered it as tightly as possible and made a small hole for the smoke to escape.

“I’m already looking forward to it.”

“Ah, it’s started…”

“The future where the soft and squishy texture of the Mallowmallow is added with crispiness, and you can feel the ultimate sweetness…

Ah.”

Saint Dominicus admired and clasped his hands together to begin praying.

“Purpure is curious.

Is this saint always like this?”

“Yeah…

He’s always like this.

He’s been crazy about monsters since we first met.”

“He’s a pitiful person.”

Monsters are basically creatures that have their roots in the demon world.

No matter how much you want to see them, no matter how much you want to eat them, if you can’t go to the demon world, it’s meaningless.

And that demon world is like a hometown to us demons.

It’s a place that has nothing to do with Dominicus, who is an ordinary…

no, not ordinary!

Anyway, a human.

-Crackle, crackle, crackle!

I could hear the sound of the sweetfish’s oil dripping.

The sight of the smoke rising was pretty, but even better was the increasingly savory smell.

“Oh, I can already hear it.

The heavenly harmony!!

I can hear the joyful song that stimulates the original sin of humans!”

“It’s the sound of the sweetfish’s oil being fried.”

“If the sweetfish is being cooked well, it means the Mallowmallows are also being cooked properly!”

Is this person really a saint?

Maeve too, I’m starting to have doubts.

Are you just thugs?

Are you a fake hero party?

“Ah…

But, the sound is really good.

I’ve never heard a fish being cooked with such a nice sound before.”

“It’s the power of the hearth.

It’s not just one side being cooked, it’s the whole thing being cooked, so it’s getting more evenly browned.”

It’s definitely not as good as an air fryer…

but this is a pretty good primitive oven.

And it’s not a complicated dish, it’s just grilling, so it’s bound to be even more delicious.

“Hehehe!

Thank you~!

Purpure!

Thanks to you, I’ll get to eat something really delicious!”

“Awawa…!”

So!

Stop!!

Suddenly hugging the terrifying demon lord and kissing me on the cheek!

Why are you treating me like a child so much?

Even if I stand on my tiptoes, my head barely reaches Maeve’s crotch…

…I guess I would look like a child at that size.

“Purpure.

I think it’s enough now.”

“Then Dominicus, you take them out.

I’ll bring the plates.”

Although I called them plates, they were just pieces of wood cut from around the area and washed with water made from magic.

“Ah, the food full of the blessings of the demon god is complete.”

Dominicus was delighted and removed the leaves.

The trapped smoke rose up and the smell that mercilessly attacked my appetite wafted out.

The smell of the sweetfish’s fat being deliciously cooked was so savory that it made me say it was crazy.

“Wow…

Lo, look at the color!

It’s really browned and cooked so nicely?”

“The appearance of the Mallowmallows is also very beautiful.

It’s so elegant and beautiful that it could be compared to the statue of the saint I saw in the basilica.”

Dominicus clapped his hands and took out the Mallowmallows at an incredible speed and placed them on the wooden plate I brought.

Maeve also quickly took out the sweetfish skewers from the hearth like a hungry stray cat and placed them on the plates one by one.

“Eat deliciously.”

“Yes!

Thank you for the food!

Thank you, Purpure!”

“Food full of blessings…

I will eat it with gratitude.”

I quickly picked up a grilled sweetfish with both hands.

My hands got warm because of the subtle heat remaining, but I liked it.

It felt like proof that the savory and light flesh of the sweetfish was cooked to the most delicious temperature.

“Gulp…”

The sweetfish, which was held in my small, soft hand, was not its original shiny color, but a well-browned color, with the Maillard reaction dangerously rising.

If you touched the skin with your finger, you could feel the crispy texture.

“Haa…!”

I couldn’t resist the temptation of the savory smell that tickled my nose for long and took a big bite of the sweetfish.

As the saying goes, the head is the best part of the fish, so I put it in my mouth first and ate a third of it in one bite.

“Haa…

Mmm, yum, nom.”

When I took a big bite of the sweetfish with my small mouth, my cheeks puffed up.

If Maeve saw it, she would definitely say it’s cute again…

But now, let’s just focus on this delicious sweetfish!

“Nom nom…!”

As expected, the sweetfish was incredibly savory and light, as the rumors said.

I felt a little sad that I couldn’t season it with salt, and I wanted to say that you should try dipping it in salt instead of me.

But it’s good.

It’s really good.

Is it okay for a fish to be so blatantly light and savory?!

Fish usually have a salty image, but this one was different.

It was so light that you could keep putting it in your mouth and munching on it.

The lightness was to the point where you couldn’t feel even 1% of the fishy smell or taste that fish usually have.

“Haa…

Wow, what’s this?

What?

Why is it so light and savory?”

Maeve, who ate the sweetfish following me, covered her mouth with her right hand and exclaimed in admiration.

“Purpure!

This is it, it’s really delicious?

If you just gave me the flesh, I wouldn’t even know it’s fish?”

“That’s right.

Sweetfish really has a savory and light taste that’s the best!”

“Yeah, yeah!

It’s really delicious!

But Purpure, I have a question…”

Maeve showed me the half-eaten sweetfish.

“This really wasn’t prepared, right?”

“That’s right.

It’s not a lie that the internal organs melted and disappeared.”

“Wow…

Next time, if we can catch a fish, we should definitely catch a sweetfish!

It’ll be convenient because we don’t have to prepare it!”

It’s a good taste that can satisfy even the simple-minded Maeve.

I felt proud without realizing it.

“Nom nom…”

The savory taste that permeated my mouth when I put the rest of the sweetfish in my mouth and munched on it made me feel happy again.

Thanks to the warmth of the hearth, the savory taste of the fat that permeated every corner of the flesh and the slight bitterness of the melted fat danced elegantly on my soft tongue.

This would be incredibly delicious if it were fried, but it’s a dream in a situation where you have to procure food locally.

“Oh, oh, oh…!

Oh!”

Dominicus, who hadn’t even touched the sweetfish, was fussing over the Mallowmallow.

His Mallowmallow, which was less than half the size of his palm, was baked to a shiny golden brown.

“Awawa…”

I also picked up a Mallowmallow, thinking I should eat one, and it was also warm.

It held the heat longer than the sweetfish, so I was a little surprised.

“Hoo…

Hoo…”

I blew hard into the hole where the Mallowmallow’s body had come out.

I’m not going to be a fool and get hurt because I took a big bite of something hot!

“Haa…!”

After cooling it down enough, I carefully took a bite of the Mallowmallow.

Crunch!

The golden brown, crispy outer part of the Mallowmallow was as crispy as a well-fried cheese stick.

It felt like chewing on something thicker than a batter, and it felt more like something hard rather than squishy, but when I took a big bite with my teeth, it crunched and rolled into my mouth.

And this is the important part.

The crispy surface had melted just enough, and the sweetness that stretched out was hidden inside.

-Stretch!

“Oh, oh?

Is that okay?

It’s stretching a lot.”

Maeve was surprised to see the Mallowmallow stretching like cheese, but it’s okay.

This stretching is proof that it’s cooked properly!

And it was melted just enough to be warm, so I could take a big bite with a pleasant slurp.

The warmly melted Mallowmallow had a subtle chewy texture, I guess?

If I chewed it diligently, it would quickly melt in my mouth.

“It’s incredibly sweet and delicious.”

“Really?

Mmm~!?”

Following me, Maeve took a bite and opened her eyes wide, then put the whole Mallowmallow in her mouth.

Well, I, who is now a child, can eat it in two bites, so for an adult like Maeve, it would be one bite.

“Wow, this…

What?

It’s incredibly, mmm!

Incredibly sweet, isn’t it?”

“Purpure told you!

It’s sweet.”

“Mmm~~!

It’s really sweet…

It’s so sweet that it makes me miss coffee.”

Even though she said that, in a life where you have to walk around diligently, you can’t resist the charm of sugar.

Maeve blew on the Mallowmallow just like I did and put another one in her mouth.

“You shouldn’t just eat Mallowmallows.

You might feel like the sweetfish isn’t delicious.”

Since the sweetfish is all about the savory and light taste, I’m sure you’ll leave it if you don’t pay attention.

“No, no, I’ll definitely eat it all!

Don’t worry!!”

Maeve smiled and took a big bite of the sweetfish as if to show me.

Sitting around the campfire, laughing and chatting while watching each other’s reactions, this time wasn’t so bad.

…But, Dominicus has been very quiet since a while ago, what’s wrong?

“Why is the saint so quiet?”

You were talking about the blessings of the demon god, weren’t you?

I thought you’d be excited and talk about the taste of the Mallowmallow?

“It’s very…

sweet.”

“…Didn’t you know?”

“It’s sweeter than I thought, so it feels more like a snack than food…”

With a tired expression, Dominicus put the remaining Mallowmallow in his mouth and munched on it.

“Does the saint not like sweet things?”

“Ah, that’s right.

The saint doesn’t like sweet things.

Purpure.”

Then what was all that enthusiasm you showed earlier?

Were you just excited about cooking a monster?

Or did you expect it to be less sweet than you thought?

“But it was a good dish.

Purpure.”

Dominicus smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

“That’s right.

Thanks to Purpure, I could eat something really delicious.

Thank you!”

This time, Maeve ruffled my hair.

You’re totally treating me like a child.

“So when we get to Moonlit Pier, I’ll definitely buy you something delicious~!”

“Really?”

“Yes!

There are proper shops there, you know?

It’s called Moonlit Pier, right?

Since it’s a place where ships come and go, there are a lot of travelers, so there must be food that Purpure will like!”

Tsk.

“It’s a bigger village than you imagine.”

My mouth watered at the thought of food made with various seasonings and ingredients.

“I understand.

Then Purpure will look forward to it.”

Just imagining what kind of food there might be made me smile.

There must be new seasonings, and maybe I can even buy a proper pot, right?

Maybe this is the end of surviving in the wild like this.

“Yes!

You can look forward to it!

I’ll buy you so much that Purpure can’t eat it all!!”

Well, traveling with a hero party has its perks.

If it’s food made in a shop, it’s usually a famous local dish, or even if it’s a trending food, it will have its own characteristics, so I want to go to Moonlit Pier quickly.

I’m sure there will be a lot of delicious food!!!