AIWON Mall Isekai Store, Grand Opening Today! - Chapter 116
Episode 10-18
“Ohhh! What is this? What is this, Naoya? It’s way better than the fish I ate in the village or even at the port town!”
“It’s just grilled with salt… Maybe it’s about the preparation. If you don’t do it carefully, the fishy smell lingers.”
“Indeed, there’s no fishy smell, but that’s not all! Is it the salt? The salt is special, isn’t it!?”
“I used salt brought over from Japan, so that might be part of it. If it tastes good with regular salt, maybe next time I’ll try using some herb-infused Crazy Salt*?” (*He spell it in english not japanese)
“Cr-Crazy? No way! Are you planning to make me taste some white powder to mess with my head and then say, ‘See, you’re flying high now, right?’ No way, I won’t allow such lawless behavior!”
“Hey, cut it out. Where did you even pick that up? It sounds way too suspicious. Also, isn’t Crazy Salt spelled differently? What’s going on with this translation ring?”
It’s the 26th day since I became the store manager of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store. After spending the morning and early afternoon experimenting with fish dishes, I’m now having a taste test with my employees. The location isn’t our usual food court, but rather the rooftop.
“Wow, it’s a familiar dish, but it’s unbelievably delicious! You really did it, Manager-san!”
Well, our guest for this tasting session is the iguana who sold us the seafood, so I figured it would be better not to show him areas of the store that haven’t been opened to customers yet. Although nobody uses it, there’s a slope that leads directly to the rooftop, so we can get there without passing through the store.
“Thank you. But please save some room, okay? We still have more dishes to taste.”
“Sure, leave it to me!”
“Save room…? Do you mean we’re going to perform an abdominal incision? Naoya-san, if it’s not me, everyone will die, you know?”
“He just means don’t get too full. But yeah, Anna-san, you’d probably survive even if your abdomen was cut open. Actually, are you even alive?”
The iguana sitting in a child’s seat that Barbera brought over from the food court gave a little wave. Anna-san’s undead jokes are being ignored—everyone’s too focused on the food.
Not all of my employees are participating in the taste test. Luckily, we’ve started getting a few customers even during idle hours lately. The people sitting around the table on the tree stump seats are me, Chloe, Anna-san, Collette, Francine-san, and the iguana in the child’s seat. The supermarket section, which is still operating, is being taken care of by the peddler’s wife and daughter. We’ve also set aside portions for the peddler, who’s driving the free shuttle carriage.
“Barbera, isn’t it too hot being that close to the fire?”
“…It’s fine.”
“Haha! Manager-san, she’s a dragon, remember? A little heat like this won’t bother her.”
“Oh, right. But she looks about ten years old, so I’d feel better if she stepped back a bit.”
“…No, thanks. Freshly grilled tastes best.”
Barbera isn’t sitting on a chair. Instead, she’s taken up position in front of the large grill I prepared, crouching and watching the fish and shellfish cooking on the grate with intense focus. Ah, she just grabbed an open shellfish and took a bite.
“…Delicious!”
“It’s just grilled over charcoal, but it does taste good. Barbera, why don’t you try adding some soy sauce?”
“…This?”
She pours some soy sauce onto another clam-like shellfish that just opened up. It sizzles, releasing a fragrant aroma into the air. Barbera drools a little. Chloe does too.
“All right. Be careful, it’s hot—”
Before I could take it off the grill, Barbera opened her mouth wide. I hesitated a little. After all, the shellfish is still piping hot, and it’s in its shell. But then again, she just ate one shell and all earlier. So, in the end, I tossed it directly into Barbera’s mouth.
I heard her crunch it down and swallow, followed by a burst of flame from the tip of her tail.
“…Delicious! Sauce! Everything! With it!!”
“I’m glad you like the soy sauce, but I’d appreciate it if you didn’t eat everything. With so many different races here, I want to hear everyone’s opinions.”
“…Shame.”
“Hey, Manager-san! The girl’s saying she wants more, isn’t there something you can do?”
“Well, as long as we have seafood, I can make more of anything.”
“That was everything I had! Damn, if only I had a bigger Item Pouch!”
The iguana, who was once saved by Barbera, looks up at the sky in exasperation. It looks like he’s just sunbathing, but apparently, he’s lamenting.
Barbera was only downcast for a moment before she looked at me with sparkling eyes.
“…What else?”
“Haha, Barbera knows what’s up. Just wait a bit. I’ll bring out some new dishes.”
I stood up and headed towards the building with the escalators. The escalators aren’t running, so we’re just using them as stairs.
“This soup has such a deep flavor, and the ingredients are tender and packed with umami. It’s far better than any seafood soup I’ve had in the port town… Is this really the same dish?”
“It’s so tasty! This fish smells like milk—it’s delicious, Mama!”
“Hehe, it certainly does, Collette. We should thank Naoya-san. I see this dish is seasoned with herbs, but they’re a variety I’m not familiar with.”
Anna-san, Collette, and Francine-san-san seem to be enjoying the fish dishes. They must be talking about the bouillabaisse, the butter-grilled fillet, and the herb-grilled dish. Being praised for something I made feels great, as always. But wow, Francine-san-san, you have an amazing sense of smell. Aren’t you a human, not a beastfolk?
Trying to hide my grin, I hurried into the building, heading downstairs towards the kitchen.
“It was a surprise that the grilled dishes with soy sauce were so well-received… But the salt-grilled fish, bouillabaisse, and fillets grilled with butter and herbs were hits as expected.”
They were well-received, but not to the point of being blown away. But that’s as predicted. These are just improved versions of dishes that already exist in the port town, so they’re easy to accept.
“But we need a more impactful flagship product to really draw in the crowd. So, the real challenge begins now.”
It’s the 26th day since I became the store manager of the Aion Mall Otherworldly Store. The taste tests for the seafood dishes continue. My challenge as the person responsible for achieving the monthly sales target of one billion yen also continues. And probably, my employees’ challenge of trying new and unfamiliar dishes will continue too. I’ll make sure it does—it’s part of their job, after all! And it’s not just me getting carried away while cooking, okay? I apologize in advance, everyone!