Chapter 45

I want to eat mushroom hotpot.

Savoring the rich aroma of mushrooms soaked in warm broth, along with the cool and warm broth that seeps out from the cabbage added to it.

Taking a spoonful and putting it in my mouth, the broth, filled with the flavors of mushrooms, vegetables, and meat, is nothing short of the essence of life.

I want to taste that beautifully shimmering broth with its faint beige oil droplets floating on top.

That spoonful of broth will warmly slide down my throat, gently embracing my tired body.

Although it’s only been a few hours since I woke up and I’m not particularly tired, I somehow feel that way.

Actually, while making breakfast, I had the urge to change the menu and make mushroom hotpot, but no matter how much I want to eat it, having hotpot for breakfast is a bit excessive.

“Mushroom hotpot?”

“Yes. Mushroom hotpot. I’ve decided that’s what we’re having for dinner tonight.”

I usually don’t decide on meal menus in advance, often thinking of combinations with the ingredients available that day and cooking on the spot. But when I get fixated on a particular ingredient or dish, like with the Sea Golem, I throw all plans out the window and must have that dish to be satisfied.

It’s like when you decide to eat chicken, your stomach must have chicken, and when you decide to eat pizza, your stomach must have pizza.

Hearing my words, Mari, unaware that the decision for mushroom hotpot was because of her, smiled brightly.

“Mushroom hotpot is a dish I know too! I had it a few times when I lived in the Elf Village!”

“Hmm… Hotpot is like a soup made with mushrooms. I like it too.”

Mari, familiar with mushrooms, and Karina, who found the hotpot cooking method similar to stew, both smiled and agreed.

“Mu-mushrooms… I was also in the mood to eat them!”

“Why are you agreeing? I didn’t ask you to join.”

“W-what? Ku-Kurt…”

At Karina’s words, Serena looked at me with the face of an abandoned puppy.

No, seriously.

“Karina. Don’t be petty about food. Don’t mind Serena. After all, those two have been naturally eating together for some time now.”

“Hmph. See!”

With that, Serena, emboldened by my words, started bickering with Karina again, and I ignored their squabble to continue my thoughts.

Mushrooms…

Then, five types like button, shiitake, enoki, king oyster, and oyster mushrooms should be safe.

Although I’ve been using fantastical ingredients for cooking lately, using ordinary ingredients unrelated to monsters for a day wouldn’t be bad.

It’s unavoidable.

After all, harvesting monsterified mushrooms is dangerous.

Actually, only 2% of mushrooms in nature are edible.

And even for me, a skilled hunter, distinguishing which mushrooms are edible and which are not is not something I can be 100% confident about.

There are mushrooms that look similar but are completely different species.

Moreover, even edible mushrooms often cause food poisoning if eaten raw without cooking.

And finally, the toxins in mushrooms cannot be detoxified like the toxins in monsterified meat.

Detoxifying monsterified meat is more about purifying the mutated mana back into a natural state harmless to humans.

But the toxins in mushrooms are inherently part of the mushroom’s material, so such purification doesn’t work.

This is something I learned the hard way.

I thought I was going to die, transcender or not, after consuming several times the lethal dose of poison.

So this time, I won’t take unnecessary risks and will just buy the ingredients from the market.

After all, I’ve saved quite a bit from the consecutive hunts of the Sea Golem and the Fruit Tree Antlered Reindeer, so buying shouldn’t be a problem.

After finishing breakfast, I headed to the market to buy ingredients for dinner.

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And in the middle of the market, I was kneeling in despair.

“…I didn’t expect mushroom cultivation technology to still be lacking.”

Yes.

This world’s technological level is uneven compared to my previous life, generally fluctuating between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

But many mushrooms that were successfully cultivated only became so after the modern era.

Only a few mushrooms have been successfully cultivated with this world’s technology.

After scouring the entire market, the only mushroom I found was cultivated shiitake.

At this rate, I’d have to insist on calling it mushroom hotpot with just one type of mushroom.

Missing out on the juicy texture of enoki mushrooms soaked in broth or the chewy texture of king oyster mushrooms, and having to settle for just shiitake?

And I’d have to force a smile and convince myself it’s delicious mushroom hotpot?

No. I can’t bear such a terrible future.

Unable to harvest mushrooms myself and unable to buy them in the market, I’m caught between a rock and a hard place.

Then Mari, who came along to help with shopping, tried to comfort me.

“Then how about going outside the city to gather mushrooms?”

“That’s impossible. Gathering mushrooms isn’t the problem, but I can’t tell which are edible and which aren’t.”

“Couldn’t we ask Fuchi for help?”

“Fuchi…? Who’s that?”

Wait, that name sounds familiar…

After a moment of thought, I remembered where I’d heard the name.

“Ah. Fuchi the herbalist?”

“No! Fuchi the herbalist!”

“Ah. Right.”

The herbalist. Why did I remember him as Fuchi the sauce?

Fuchi the herbalist was a human I rescued from the Shavel Tiger’s nest when I first registered as an adventurer.

“Since then, I’ve met Fuchi often, and I heard he’s knowledgeable not just about herbs but also about distinguishing mushrooms!”

“Indeed… If I can’t distinguish them, I can ask an expert!”

Surprisingly useful suggestion from Mari.

Did she eat some strange mushroom by mistake?

“Ah! You just looked at me strangely! How mean!”

“Must be your imagination.”

With that, I took Mari and returned to the Adventurer Guild to prepare for the adventure.

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When I returned to the Adventurer Guild and said I was going outside the city to gather mushrooms, not only Mari but also Karina and Serena offered to help.

“You’re coming too?”

“Since Mr. Kurt is going out to get ingredients for our dinner, I can’t just stand by and watch.”

“Hmph. Same here. I can’t just eat without contributing.”

“Hmm…”

Well, it’s not like we’re doing anything grand…

But surely, going with four people will save more time than going alone.

Just as I was about to set off with the three, Karina had an idea.

“Ah. Since the four of us are setting out, why not take on a simple request?”

“A request? It’s a hassle to spend extra time…”

“Not just any request, but a mushroom gathering request. I saw a request from the Alchemist Guild to buy mushrooms for materials.”

“A mushroom gathering request?”

“Yes. They’ll buy mushrooms suitable for alchemy at a fair price depending on the type.”

“Not bad.”

Since I can’t tell which mushrooms are edible until Fuchi the herbalist examines them, I’ll have to gather everything I see.

So, it’s reasonable to use edible mushrooms for the hotpot and sell those suitable for alchemy.

“No, it’s not just ‘not bad,’ it’s a great idea.”

“R-right!”

“Ah. Then I’ll take the request. Wendy~!”

And so, Serena took on the request.

What started as a simple desire to eat mushroom hotpot has now turned into quite the elaborate dinner preparation.

As Serena read out the request details, she informed us.

“Ah. According to the request, they’re only buying mushrooms that grow in the Shuraig Cave.”

“Shuraig Cave? Are the mushrooms there of good quality?”

“Well… I’m not sure.”

“It’s fine. It’s not like we’re defeating fierce monsters, just gathering mushrooms.”

“Miss Marisia is right. What could possibly happen just gathering mushrooms?”

“That’s true.”

After all, what does it matter where the mushrooms come from?

It’s just gathering mushrooms; nothing’s going to happen.

And so, I set off towards the cave with the other three.