kscans

Chapter 236 - Bizarre Foods, Strange Eats, and Weird Ingredients

Perhaps emboldened by his success with the dried fruit, Yuri ventured ever deeper into the market. As the items on display grew progressively more niche or specialized, the crowd began to thin out. Dona’s anxiety mounted, but Yuri, on the other hand, was rather pleased, as he could now look around in peace.

Dona's true desire was to bid farewell to this unsettling place, a stark contrast to Yuri's assessment, but...

"But Dona, I need to level up my Alchemy skill to fix the accessory you entrusted to me, and for that, I need materials."

When he put it that way, it was hard to object outright.

Alchemy was already a suspicious art, and now the "exceptional Yuri" was taking it on. The need for sketchy materials was... well, it was extremely convincing. She could accept that point, but...

"...Snake wine... what is that...?"

"Oh? You’ve never heard of it, Dona? It’s where they soak vipers... poisonous snakes and such... in liquor. It’s said to have tonic and revitalizing effects, so many people enjoy it... apparently."

Fortunately, in this world of Forea, the general spread of glass products was slow, and this "snake wine" was not in a glass bottle like the ones Isarai Yuuri from his previous life knew, but in what appeared to be an earthenware jar. So, there was no resentful viper glaring out at them, but Dona seemed to flinch at the name alone. The shopkeeper grinned and was about to open the lid, but Yuri gently stopped him... and bought the jar whole instead. It was inevitable that the shopkeeper’s smile and the color of Dona's disgust deepened to the same degree.

"...Yuri-kun... why would you buy something like that...?"

"If it’s said to have tonic effects, passing it up is not an option."

Yuri was thorough on this point. He had secretly consulted his Appraisal master and confirmed that it was indeed effective. The shopkeeper seemed to have noticed the appraisal, but perhaps because he was confident in his product’s quality, he didn’t make a fuss. That was another reason Yuri had decided to buy it.

While Dona reluctantly accepted the snake wine, she vociferously advised against purchasing the next item that appeared. ...Well, in this case, one could hardly blame her. After all, what they saw was what appeared to be the shriveled carcass of some small animal, with a cluster of equally shriveled mushrooms growing from it. It was advertised as a type of Cordyceps, but Yuri, armed with his memories from a past life and the power of his Appraisal master, realized something. It wasn't a parasitic fungus like Cordyceps, but a saprophytic one, and one of the nitrogen-loving kind at that. He was certain, for his Appraisal master had given its seal of approval.

《Maro Mushroom. A type of nitrogen-loving fungus that grows on animal carcasses or dung piles in the soil. Mistakenly treated as a medicinal herb like a type of Cordyceps, but lacks the medicinal efficacy of Cordyceps fungi. On the other hand, it contains a large amount of umami components, making it an extremely excellent base for broth.》

After seeing such a description, was it possible for Yuri to simply walk away? No, absolutely not.

(...If it’s a saprophytic fungus and not a Cordyceps, I might be able to cultivate it using offal as a compost substitute... I don’t know if I can get a tissue culture from this state, but since the caps are open, there might be spores left... Anyway, I won’t know until I try...)

Thus he schemed, not just to use it in cooking, but to cultivate it as well. Dona would have been wide-eyed if she had known. ...Old Man Audel, however, had an air of having grasped something.

Since Dona’s gaze was becoming suspiciously severe and sharp, Yuri figured it might be best to hold off on the bizarre ingredients for now. Besides, the great market would still be here tomorrow, he reasoned, and left that section. And then, after walking a little further, he caught sight of...

"...What... is that...?"