kscans

Chapter 107 - Suzuki the Great God

"Sorry to keep you both waiting!"

"The spoils of war are perfect!"

A little past twelve, Chika-san and Takahashi arrived. These two were on the alcohol procurement team, flying around to various places just like us. You might wonder if they'd be okay without me and my convenient ability to teleport anywhere in the world? Well, naturally, there's a trick to it. I temporarily enhanced Chika-san to make teleportation to various locations possible. Chika-san has such a high affinity with this planet that she's called the Star Priestess. If she connects more deeply and strongly with Earth, theoretically she can open a path to anywhere. Though even with Chika-san's post-game RPG stats, it would be impossible in her natural state due to the high difficulty. But if I buff her, she can do it. She actually did it. That's why I had her serve as transportation for the alcohol team.

"From what I heard, I thought he'd be a bit problematic... like a monkey, but he turned out to be a nice old man, Sun Wukong."

These two weren't just hunting like we were. There aren't many aberrations that drop alcohol directly. They hunted aberrant flora and fauna to collect materials, then had alcohol-making gods like Bacchus and Dionysus, deities I'm acquainted with, brew alcohol from those materials. We also had non-human friends of mine directly request alcohol. That's why Sun Wukong's name came up.

"You know, you and Wukong are kind of similar. Both of you raised hell in the past but have settled down now."

Well, yeah. His favorable attitude toward me probably stems from that kind of sympathy.

"More importantly, the alcohol has arrived. Let's get started right away. I'm absolutely starving."

"What a coincidence, Suzuki. So are we. We haven't eaten anything since last night... right?"

"That's right. My head is completely focused on eating."

Well then, let's get ready right away. First up... this!

"Boat platter!"

Four boats line up on the large table. We figured we'd start with sashimi, so this is what we went with. Each boat is packed with quite a bit of sashimi, looking like about six servings each, but that's no problem. Today we're going without limits. This much won't fill our stomachs.

"Such a magnificent spread... I feel bad for Rika."

"Well, just for today."

We didn't invite the kids to today's housewarming party. Eating would be one thing, but watching us guzzle alcohol with zero self-control wouldn't be good for their education. Instead, we plan to set up a separate occasion for the kids later and let them eat plenty of delicious food.

"Should we start with beer?"

"Yeah. Sake would be fine too, but I want to get the mood going with beer first."

"Got it."

With a thud, another ridiculously huge beer barrel appears beside the table. Looking at the large logo, it seems Sukunahikona made this one. Chika-san is pouring beer into everyone's glasses, but... oh man, just watching is making me drool...

"Everyone's got their share. Well then, Satou-kun, would you do the honors?"

"Sure thing. Well then, to celebrate the completion of my secret base... cheers!"

"""Cheers!!!"""

Now let's eat!

"Alright, first up has to be Lucifer."

"Lucifer!?"

Chika-san and Takahashi freeze with shocked expressions, stopping their chopsticks mid-reach. Seeing this, Suzuki gives a wry smile and jumps in to explain.

"Oh no, it's not like we went demon lord hunting. There was a pufferfish that called itself by that name."

"W-wait a minute? A pufferfish? A pufferfish was calling itself by the demon king's name?"

"I... I don't understand..."

"Well, I'll explain while we eat."

First, without any seasoning...

"Mm... !!"

"Well now, this is something."

When you think of pufferfish sashimi, you imagine a light, delicate flavor... but this is completely different. Rich. Incredibly rich. The more you chew, the more flavor endlessly flows out. But it's never overwhelming. By the time you swallow, it disappears like a lie.

(And this feeling...)

When it comes to what to put on pufferfish sashimi, the standard would be ponzu and green onions. The strong assertive acidity of soy sauce or citrus supposedly kills the natural goodness of the pufferfish, or so they say. With my crude palate I don't worry about such things, but way back when a senior first took me to eat pufferfish, I heard that story. But,

"..."

I silently slid the pufferfish sashimi into the small dish of wasabi soy sauce. Then I put it in my mouth.

"...Damn, Lucifer!"

I see Suzuki was also eating it with soy sauce. The fact that Suzuki came to the same conclusion suggests my palate isn't so worthless after all. To conclude, it's incredibly delicious. It's not just because the quality of the ingredients is in a different league. This might sound strange, but the pufferfish is "matching" itself to the seasoning. This is the true power of aberrant ingredients showing itself. Probably any seasoning that isn't completely incompatible would work.

"Lucifer, you really are something..."

"Despite resolving not to be eaten and raising the banner of rebellion..."

The potential as an ingredient is too high... What's with adjusting yourself to match seasonings? Preserving the pufferfish's natural flavor while making combinations with seasonings work as a plus. This would be impossible without incredibly delicate senses beyond ordinary imagination. Completely non-toxic, can be prepared by anyone without a license, and automatically adjusts its flavor without any special treatment. It's like it was born to be eaten... right, Lucifer...

"Uh, um... Hiro-kun?"

Chika-san and Takahashi were confused by me and Suzuki pressing our temples. I wipe away the tears that have formed and begin speaking.

"Let me tell you about a pufferfish. About a pufferfish that wished to become a star that illuminates everyone."

"What's with this atmosphere..."

When Suzuki and I told them Lucifer's story, the two of them made indescribable expressions. Still, they must have been intrigued. They quietly reached their chopsticks toward Lucifer's sashimi, and

"...Delicious!?"

They devour the sashimi. They devour the alcohol. Repeating this cycle, the boats were empty in less than thirty minutes.

"Now for the next one. Here's a quiz. The next menu item is a summer staple! So what could it be!? Yes, Saionji-san!"

"Me? Summer and seafood... u-unagi maybe?"

"Correct! The correct answer earns Saionji-san glory! And so, Satou-kun!"

"Right away."

I temporarily dismiss the table and summon charcoal grills. You might think grilling eel in the middle of the living room is insane, but there's no problem. Smells and such can be handled with supernatural powers. Suzuki efficiently sets up and begins grilling the eel right in front of us. It's that guy we took down first in the deep mountains.

"Ugh... damn...!"

The aroma, the aroma is incredible... it stimulates our empty stomachs relentlessly. True to that first impression, that eel's potential is no joke! And Suzuki who's bringing it out is amazing too!

"Su-zu-ki! Su-zu-ki! Su-zu-ki! Su-zu-ki!"

And so begins the Suzuki chant.

"Heh heh heh, worship me, worship me."

Suzuki seems quite pleased with us dancing in circles around him.