Looking at Kojiro's small sword, you can see that it's beautiful and carefully cared for. He says he hates his job and wants to quit, but he's surprisingly neat in these areas.

　I disinfected the katana with magically created boiling water.

　Once that's done, I get to work on the process as soon as possible.

　First, I put a knife into the eel's head and cut off the bones. The lively eels were still a bit unruly, so I threw them into a bowl of ice water.

'Is the purpose of putting it in ice water is to weaken the eel without hurting it?

'Yes, I do. Eels are very healthy, you know. They wait until they're quiet like this.

All right, five!

　As I was explaining to Kojiro, I saw a rumba diving in the river, catching a fish and putting it in a basket.

　How could he catch them with such a pompous hand?

　Rumba wasn't satisfied with five fish, and he resumed swimming as soon as he put them in the basket.

　Kojiro and I use the waiting time to weaken the eels and prepare them for the fish Roomba has caught.

　I use my fire magic to create a spark, and adjust the fire using dry branches and wood chips.

　Kojiro, with a practiced hand, pointed a branch and skewered it.

　As I watched him do this, Kojiro began to talk with a proud expression on his face.

When you open the mouth like this, it helps the head to lose water. Also, if you crush the gall bladder, which is located near the gills, you can reduce the bitterness of the fish.

Heh, I see.

　I knew it was easy to lose water in the head when you open your mouth, but I didn't know that about the gallbladder.

　I wondered if crushing those parts of the fish could reduce the bitterness.

　I spent a good amount of time processing the fish that Roomba would catch that way.

　When I went to check the bowl, the eel was all grown up, so I got to work on it.

　I put a knife into the belly and carefully removed the internal organs. Once that was done, I put the eel in the water just before boiling and waited for about ten seconds.

"........something white is floating around?

It's the slime component of eels. It's also said to be responsible for the smell.

　When the white slime comes out of the water, cool the eel.

　Then slide a small knife on a cutting board to remove the slime from the eel. If it is a big eel, it is a bit hard to remove the slime, but this eel is small, so it is not so much effort.

　When the slime removal was mostly finished, I fixed the head of the eel with a stake made of clay magic and processed the eel at once.

''Ooh, you're so dexterous in stretching a soft eel flat...''

'You never opened it like this before?'

'You were slicing rings when you tried it, too. I mean, I wouldn't try to cut something slimy into thin slices like that.

　Surely you wouldn't normally think of trying to handle a long, slender, slimy fish so thinly.

　With that in mind, I carefully remove the small bones.

　When I ate the fluffy meat, the bones would get in the way of my mouth.

　Once I've removed some of the bones, I turn it over and make a cut in the skin.

But what does this cut mean?　Is it to soak up the broth and sauce like a stew?

This way, the skin doesn't shrink when you bake it. Moreover, the fat comes out of the holes during the baking process, and it becomes crispy. Crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside, doesn't it sound great?

'I see. That's unbearable...

　Kojirou mumbles to himself as he looks up at the sky, as if he imagines what it will be like when it's grilled.

　When the process is finished like that, the meat cut into just the right size is skewered.

If you skewer it properly, the meat shrinks when it's roasted, so the skewer will be oriented in a different direction. If that happens, the meat will become distorted or come off the skewer.

You can't just skewer them at random, can you?

They say it takes three years to make a skewer, five years to break it, and a lifetime to bake.

Eels are deep....

　After all, there are even chefs who specialize in eels. I'm a great craftsman.

　After I finish skewering the eels, I make a box that is shaped just right for the eels to sit on. I'll put the sticks in it, light it up the same way, and then I'll put the eels on the skewer.

It would be nice to use charcoal or a net, but we don't really have any.

Well, it's improvised.

　Kojiro nodded his head hawkishly to see if he agreed with me there.

　If you use spatial magic, you can take it out of subspace, but as expected, I can't show you that.

　However, there's nothing I can do about the tare, so I use spatial magic to take out the special tare.

　I've divided the sauce into small portions so that I can take it out of my pocket like this in secret.

　As long as you get the soy sauce, the sauce itself is easy to make. The base is the same, so I can make Sukiyaki-style or meat and potatoes-style sauce as well.

All I have to do is grill them with this special soy sauce-based sauce and they're done!

'Hmm!　I casually pulled it out of my pocket, but do you always carry the sauce around with you!

　I thought he wouldn't mind if I said it naturally, but no, he didn't.

　When I pulled a jar of special sauce out of my pocket, Kojiro let out a squeal of surprise.

'I'm totally addicted to Kagura's soy sauce. I've been wanting to try different things.

I see. Well, I have a friend who prefers highly seasoned food and always has a special soy sauce on hand.

　Yes, you can think of me as a foreigner who is into it and carries it around with him or some other kind of race.

　After convincing Kojiro with a random lie, I dipped the eel in sauce and grilled it, repeating the process.

　The sauce is grilled, and every time the dripping fat and sauce falls into the fire, a sizzling sound rises. The savory smell of the sauce sprinkles over the eels.

'Mother!　It smells so good!

It's true. It smells so good. Do you think they're frying the fish over there?

　A kagura man who happened to be passing by the river is walking along the riverbank, paying attention to us.

　Eel sauce, as expected of an eel. The smell is violent. Even though our stomachs were swollen from eating the salted fish, the smell inspired us to get hungry.

''...Hey, Al. Are we there yet?　I can't even smell it anymore...

'I know how you feel, but we're almost there. I'm almost there...

　I'm holding back too, so you'll have to wait a bit longer.

.........

　I noticed that Roomba, who had finished catching the fish, was also staring back.

　I'm a little afraid of those wild eyes, waiting to see if he's ready now.

　Kojiro and I continue to grill the eels incessantly, throat clearing and sweating. We spread the sauce on it and grill it, then turn it over and spread the sauce on it and grill it.

　Finally, the eels were done.

Okay, it's done!

Are you gonna eat it?

　I shouted, and Kojiro and Roomba asked with a frantic look on their faces.

'Okay!'

　I nodded, pulling slightly at the situation, and Kojirou and Roomba picked up a skewer of eels as well, as they scratched it up.

　Then Rumba and Kojiro bit into it, despite the heat.

'Yum!'

'Tasty!　I've never had unagi (eel) so boneless and easy to eat. It goes great with this soy sauce based sauce!
　Na!

　Rumba said with a yell, and Kojiro looked at him and gave his impressions.

'This is a good eel dish,'

　As I said this, I also took a breath to cool the eel skewer in my hand before snapping it up.

　The skin was crispy and the inside was fluffy. The natural taste of the eel meat combined with the sauce is indescribably delicious.

'Oh, I wish I could eat it with white rice right now...'

'Oh!　This certainly looks pretty good in a bowl of rice!

I'm gonna get some rice!

　As Roomba and I were arguing like that, Kojiro, a genuine Kagura man, couldn't stand it anymore and ran to a nearby house.

''Yeah!　I wouldn't be surprised if a man I didn't know came out of nowhere!

"I have this great family crest!　As long as you pay for it properly, you're good to go!

　You're using the power of a very important person. Isn't that a pattern that would make you angry if you found out later on?

　Me and Roomba are surprised at Kojiro's behavior, but we wait for him to come back now and then.

''He's going to bring some for us, right?''

''Maybe they'll bring it to me. If he doesn't bring it, he'll just take a psychic for Kojiro.

'Gahahahaha!　That's right!

　What is it? For some reason, listening to Rumba's laughter makes me feel like a bandit.

''I've got it!

　As I was thinking about this, Kojiro neatly brought three teacups and chopsticks for three people.

'Oh!'　That's for three people, properly.

Of course not. I wouldn't do something so terrible.

　Rumba says it like he's impressed, and Kojirou says it in a cool way, like he's not going to lick it.

　If these were the guys from the Koriat village, they would only bring one person's worth of food and the ugly fight would be confirmed.

'Rumba can't use chopsticks, so can I use a fork?'

Yeah. It's easier to eat a bowl of rice that way.

　Rumba isn't very good with chopsticks, and he prefers to eat boldly with a fork.

　I create a fork with my earth magic and give it to her.

'That was it. You were foreigners, so you were not familiar with chopsticks. This was an oversight.

'I can use chopsticks and I can make them with magic like this, so it's not a problem.

'Al's really amazing that he can control ice, water, fire and earth...'

'Oh!　That's the kind of convenience you want in a family!

　Rumba, the way you put it makes me sound like I'm being pretty handy, so stop it.

　At any rate, we're quick to put the eel on top of the white rice and eat it.

'Egg on rice is good, but this is also medium!

'It's still good!　I got it!　This will be something the people who are Kagranians will love!

　Rumba says while scratching with great vigor, and Kojiro exclaims excitedly.

　I'm glad you like it.

''This will work!　Let's go!　I bet a lot of Kagulans will start eating eel dishes once they get a taste for it!

　Tare and rice are all familiar to us in Kagura, you know. If only we could blow away the impression that eels are not tasty food, it would spread quickly.

　While I was thinking this, Kojiro suddenly stood up and looked serious.

　It's as if a man has made a decision to do something.

''Alright, I've made my decision, Al!

What?

　I looked up at Kojiro, wondering, and he had a really sunny smile on his face.

I'm going to quit my job as a swordsman and become an eel dealer!