Chapter 391

Haruto approached Rimuru with Kagura, Kanna, and Gardevoir accompanying him.

"Nice to meet you. I’m Suzuki Haruto, a Super Chef who also works as a Gourmet Hunter."

He gestured toward the three beside him.

"These are my companions, Kagura, Kanna, and Gardevoir. Sorry for showing up without any warning."

Rimuru blinked.

’A Super Chef? And a Gourmet Hunter?’

Those were certainly unusual occupations to encounter in this world.

And one of his companions was named Gardevoir?

’Well, that’s probably just a coincidence.’

Rimuru had originally assumed that these visitors were some exceptionally powerful adventurers. After all, they’d arrived riding an enormous dragon, and even Great Sage had confirmed that they possessed considerable strength.

But apparently, the man leading them was a chef.

’A chef who rides around on a dragon? What kind of chef does that?!’

After recovering from his surprise, Rimuru hurriedly introduced himself.

"Hello! I’m Rimuru Tempest, leader of the Jura Forest Alliance. Welcome to our village!"

He paused before looking at Haruto curiously.

"So, what brings you here, Mr. Haruto? Is there something you need?"

"If you’ve gotten lost, I can have someone give you directions. And if you’re just looking for somewhere to rest, you’re welcome to stay in the village for a while."

Haruto smiled.

"We’re not lost. Actually, I came here hoping to make a trade."

Of course, his main reason for visiting was to meet Rimuru in person.

However, his interest in trading with the slime was completely genuine.

"A trade?"

Rimuru blinked again.

That was even more unexpected.

He couldn’t immediately imagine what Haruto might have that would be worth trading with him.

"That’s right."

Haruto nodded.

"I have quite a lot of food ingredients on hand. Far more than I can use myself, actually. I was wondering whether I could exchange some of them for things you have here."

Ever since Haruto had started raising and cultivating ingredients capable of producing renewable supplies inside the Gourmet Restaurant, his inventory had continued growing.

Moomoo Milk, various Pokémon Berries, Bone Corn, Walking Mushrooms, and numerous other ingredients were being produced in ever-increasing quantities.

Even after selling large shipments to Totsuki Academy, he still couldn’t use everything.

Rather than allowing those supplies to accumulate indefinitely, he thought it would be better to exchange some for the unique resources available in this world.

And Rimuru happened to possess quite a few things that interested him.

Magic ore rich in magicules, healing potions capable of rapidly treating injuries, and various rare magical materials were all valuable resources.

"Oh! You want to trade food ingredients?!"

Rimuru’s eyes immediately lit up.

"Of course! Absolutely!"

He agreed without the slightest hesitation.

After all, the village desperately needed food.

Following the defeat of the Orc Lord, the settlement had suddenly taken responsibility for more than a hundred thousand orcs.

And that was in addition to the goblins, Tempest Wolves, and numerous other monsters already living under Rimuru’s protection.

Feeding so many people was no simple task.

For the time being, they’d managed to keep everyone from going hungry by relying on fruit supplied by the dryads and meat obtained through hunting.

However, that arrangement placed an enormous burden on the dryads.

There was only so much food they could continue providing.

Now someone had arrived offering large quantities of food in exchange for other resources.

For Rimuru, the timing couldn’t have been better.

It was practically an answer to his prayers.

Admittedly, he suspected Haruto might have some other reason for approaching him.

Still, Rimuru was confident in his own strength. Even if the young chef turned out to have ulterior motives, he wasn’t particularly afraid.

Besides, if the offer was genuine, it would solve one of the settlement’s most pressing problems.

"What kinds of food are you looking to trade?" Rimuru asked eagerly. "And what would you like in exchange?"

"I have Moomoo Milk, various fresh fruits, meat, and quite a few other ingredients."

Haruto considered the matter briefly before continuing.

"In exchange, I’d be interested in magic ore, healing potions, Hipokute Grass, and other magical materials."

"No problem! We’ve got all of those!"

Rimuru agreed immediately.

There was still plenty of magic ore and Hipokute Grass available in the cave where Veldora had once been sealed.

He could also manufacture healing potions himself.

As for magical materials, the settlement had accumulated a reasonable collection of those as well.

From Rimuru’s perspective, exchanging such resources for a substantial food supply was an excellent deal.

He was admittedly a little curious about how Haruto knew that the village possessed those particular materials.

But that was a minor concern compared with the prospect of securing enough food for everyone.

With both sides interested in the arrangement, the atmosphere immediately became more relaxed.

Rimuru looked toward Haruto and smiled warmly.

"Standing around out here isn’t very convenient. Why don’t you and your companions come into the village? We can sit down, have some tea, and discuss the details properly."

"Sounds good. Thanks for having us."

Haruto nodded.

He followed Rimuru into the village, with Kagura, Kanna, and Gardevoir walking behind him.

As they made their way through the settlement, Haruto examined the surroundings with considerable interest.

The village was still fairly primitive.

Most of the buildings were constructed from timber and stone, and many areas remained under development.

Nevertheless, everything seemed remarkably well organized.

Monsters hurried between different construction sites, carrying supplies, transporting building materials, and working together with obvious enthusiasm.

Despite belonging to different races, they cooperated surprisingly well.

It was clear that Rimuru had done an excellent job managing the settlement.

Before long, the group arrived at a wooden building used for meetings and administrative matters.

Haruto and Rimuru sat down and began discussing the specifics of their trade.

They considered the value of each ingredient, the quantities available, and the proportions in which the different goods would be exchanged.

Unfortunately, neither of them was particularly knowledgeable about prices in this world.

Haruto had only recently arrived, so he naturally knew very little about the local economy.

Rimuru, meanwhile, wasn’t exactly an experienced merchant himself.

As a result, their negotiations were rather informal.

Neither seemed especially interested in squeezing every possible advantage out of the other.

After roughly half an hour, they had settled the terms of their agreement.

Both were satisfied with the arrangement.

Haruto then opened the Gourmet Restaurant and began bringing out the ingredients they had agreed upon.

Large quantities of food appeared one after another, ready to be handed over to Rimuru’s people.

Watching the process, Rimuru couldn’t help feeling a little envious.

’Man, that’s convenient.’

He had plenty of useful abilities himself, but being able to access an entire restaurant and its enormous stockpile of ingredients whenever he wanted was still an impressive trick.

Once all the ingredients had been delivered, Rimuru cheerfully extended his hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Haruto!"

He was genuinely delighted.

With the newly acquired supplies, the village’s food shortage would become considerably less severe.

"The pleasure’s mine."

Haruto smiled and shook his hand.

"Oh, right!"

Rimuru suddenly clapped his hands together, looking as though he’d just remembered something important.

"Why don’t we hold a banquet tonight?"

He became increasingly enthusiastic as he spoke.

"We can celebrate our successful trade and welcome you and your companions to the village properly! Everyone can get together and have some fun!"

It was an excellent opportunity.

They now had the ingredients Haruto had provided, and the villagers had been working tirelessly for quite some time.

A banquet would give everyone a chance to relax.

"A banquet? Sure, sounds good."

Haruto nodded.

"Actually, why don’t I prepare some dishes myself? You can try my cooking and see what a Super Chef can do. Consider it my contribution to the celebration."

"Really?!"

Rimuru looked at him with obvious excitement.

"That sounds amazing! Now I’m seriously looking forward to it!"

He still wasn’t entirely sure what qualifications someone needed to become a Super Chef.

However, judging from Haruto’s confidence, it was probably a rather impressive title.

Meanwhile, Shion, who had been standing behind Rimuru, clenched her fists excitedly.

She’d always believed that her own cooking was delicious and wonderfully creative.

Unfortunately, everyone else seemed strangely reluctant to eat it.

Sometimes they even looked terrified whenever she mentioned preparing a meal.

Shion couldn’t understand why.

But now an actual Super Chef had appeared!

This was the perfect opportunity to learn from someone with exceptional culinary skills.

If she could get a few pointers from Haruto, perhaps she’d finally be able to prepare even better dishes for Lord Rimuru!

Just imagining Rimuru happily enjoying her improved cooking was enough to fill her with determination.

...

News of the banquet quickly spread throughout the village.

When the monsters heard that a grand feast would be held that evening, their excitement was immediate.

Some even began working faster, eager to finish their tasks before the celebration.

Others started clearing a space for the gathering, collecting firewood, and arranging the necessary supplies.

Before long, several bonfires had been lit around the village.

As the preparations progressed, Haruto approached the cooking area and rolled up his sleeves.

"All right, then. Time to show everyone what a Super Chef can do."

With a thought, he retrieved an enormous monster from the Gourmet Restaurant.

Thud!

A massive carcass landed on the open ground beside him.

It was a Rock-Armored Boar, a beast standing approximately two meters tall.

Its body was covered in thick grayish-brown plates of stone armor, while its four legs were as sturdy as pillars.

A pair of formidable tusks protruded roughly six inches from its mouth.

Even though the creature was already dead, its enormous body retained an intimidating appearance.

"Whoa! That’s a Rock-Armored Boar!"

Gobta hurried over and stared at the carcass with wide eyes.

"Those things are seriously tough! Our hunting party ran into one before, and we spent ages trying to bring it down!"

He shook his head.

"No matter how much we hacked at it, we couldn’t kill it. In the end, all we could do was watch it run away!"

"Then you missed out on a chance to eat something delicious."

Haruto reached out and tapped the boar’s rocky armor.

A series of dull knocks sounded beneath his fingers.

"Rock-Armored Boars have incredibly strong natural defenses, so most monsters don’t even consider hunting them."

He smiled.

"But underneath all that stone, the meat is exceptionally tender. In fact, roughly ninety percent of its meat consists of premium pork belly, with beautifully balanced layers of fat and lean meat."

That information had come directly from his Unique Skill, Gourmet.

Even before cutting into the carcass, Haruto already knew the characteristics of the meat and the best ways to prepare it.

As he explained, he drew his kitchen knife, Myriad Worlds.

He turned his wrist slightly.

The blade slid effortlessly into the boar’s stone armor, encountering no more resistance than if he were cutting through butter.

Haruto continued moving the knife with remarkable precision.

The blade traced smooth paths across the creature’s body, separating the hard outer shell from the meat beneath it.

In just a short while, he had removed the stone armor intact.

Beneath it lay beautiful, tender-looking pink pork.

Haruto immediately began butchering the carcass, quickly separating the meat from the remaining structure.

The quality was exceptional.

Thick layers of fat alternated evenly with lean muscle, creating the kind of marbling that would make any chef eager to start cooking.

The fatty portions were almost as white as polished jade, while the lean meat possessed a vivid reddish-pink color.

Every piece was premium pork belly.

"Wow, look at that meat!"

Kagura leaned closer, her eyes shining with anticipation.

Even without tasting it, she could tell that something with such beautiful marbling would probably be delicious.

Haruto nodded in satisfaction.

Then he raised Myriad Worlds once again.

His knife moved rapidly across the cutting board, dividing the pork belly into neat, uniform cubes.

Each piece measured approximately 2? inches (6–7 centimeters) across, with clean, even edges.

Once everything had been cut to size, he was ready to begin cooking.

However, just as he reached for the next ingredients, Shion suddenly approached.

She leaned forward with unmistakable interest, clearly hoping to learn something from his technique.

Haruto glanced at her, and his expression became slightly complicated.

After all, Shion’s culinary abilities were rather... memorable.

He knew enough about Rimuru’s world to understand that her cooking could be a terrifying experience for anyone unfortunate enough to taste it.

Still, he quickly composed himself and continued his preparations.

First, Haruto filled a large pot with water that Aqua had previously purified.

He placed the freshly cut pork belly into the cold water, then added several thick slices of ginger, a few sections of green onion, and some Four-Leaf Herb he had gathered in the Great Forest of Jura.

This particular herb was excellent at removing unpleasant meaty odors.

It also possessed a faint, refreshing fragrance, making it especially suitable for blanching meat.

Haruto raised his hand and snapped his fingers.

His Temperature Control skill activated immediately.

The temperature of the water began rising, and before long, the liquid was bubbling vigorously.

Shion watched with intense concentration.

Haruto picked up a skimmer and began removing the foam that gradually appeared on the water’s surface.

"When blanching meat, you should start with cold water," he explained. "That lets the blood residue and impurities gradually come out as the temperature rises."

He skimmed another layer of foam from the pot.

"It also prevents the meat from tightening up too suddenly when exposed to high heat."

Shion nodded earnestly, determined to remember every word.

Haruto continued working as he spoke.

"And another thing..."