Author: Yume Neiji

We made a fire on the beach. There is plenty of driftwood lying around, so I don’t have to worry about fuel.

I ignited the pile of firewood with a fireball.

“So Cedie can use attack magic huh. That’s amazing!”

Lulu admires and compliments me.

To be able to use magic, unless you’re a genius, special training is required. I’ve been training in magic with a tutor since I was little, so I’m able to control small fireballs at will.

I couldn’t match Lulu and Char in free diving, but I still managed to live up to my reputation with this life magic.

When my body warmed up from the coldness of the sea, I immediately started cooking.

First, we cracked the shell of the sea urchins with a long knife.

“Be careful not to get pricked by the thorns….”

“Leave it to Char!”

Char used her dragon claws to crack the shells of sea urchins one after another. She doesn’t seem to mind the thorns at all.

“Thank you, Char. It was a great help.”

“Ehehe, Father praised me again~”

I smiled at her cuteness.

“Next, we are going to take out this orange part and wash it well with water.”

We used seawater to wash them thoroughly and then we took out the edible part.

I’m going to make a sauce today, so we don’t have to be too careful. It will just break apart in the pot anyway.

“Now let’s have a taste…… Un, it’s delicious!”

“Char want to eat too!”

“Okay, okay. Here you go.”

“Ahh~”

When I brought the spoon with the sea urchin on it closer to her mouth, she opened her mouth wide like a baby bird.

“Mmm~…… it’s delicious!”

“Right?”

“It’s rich, creamy, and it melts in the mouth! Char likes sea urchin!”

I’m happy to be able to share this feeling with her.

But to be honest, I’d like to have it with freshly cooked rice and soy sauce.

Wait……

Rice aside, I think there is a way to get soy sauce inside Island Maker.

Well, to be precise, it’s not a real soy sauce. It is a so-called substitute, known as seasoning fruit. There must have been different types of seasonings, such as soy sauce fruits, curry fruits, sauce fruits and so on. If you dry the soy sauce fruit, grind it into a powder and add water in it, you will have a taste that is close to soy sauce.

However, this is just a memory from within the game, so I’m not sure about the taste.

But I think it’s worth a try.

If I dig into a star-shaped depression, I should be able to find a seasoning fruit. Now that I’ve bought a shovel, I’ll try to dig into depressions more vigorously from now on.

“Father, I want to eat more sea urchins.”

“Eh~, I’m going to make a sauce out of them today, so just one more bite, okay?”

Lulu frowned when she saw us eating sea urchins. It seems that she doesn’t like eating it raw after all. But I’d like Lulu to know it’s delicious.

Maybe she’ll eat it if I cook it?

When it comes to cooking, I’ve never really learned how to cook. I only vaguely remember the cooking videos I saw in my previous life. In the video, there was a lobster with sea urchin sauce.

I’m going to try to imitate that today.

Lobster claws are so strong that it can easily cut off your fingers. Being careful not to get pinched by the lobster, I tossed it into the pot of boiling water.

“Char will help you too!”

“Be careful. It’ll be awful if you get pinched!”

“Hn?”

“Eh?”

By the time I paid attention, it was too late. The lobster is firmly holding Char’s hand.

—But it was the lobster’s claws that shattered instead.

I boiled the lobster for about 15 minutes and then I removed it from the pot. The blackish shell has turned bright red. It’s that color you see in restaurants.

“Re~d Lobster~♪”

Memories of my previous life suddenly come back to me. While humming a commercial song, I took out the meat of a cooked lobster. The firm meat already looks delicious at this point.

“Father~, just one bite….…”

“Not yet. Wait until the food is properly cooked.”

I put a frying pan on the fire and put plenty of butter and garlic in it.

Soon the butter begins to melt and sizzle.

“Now I’m going to put the roe that we set aside when I took out the lobster meat.”

The roe of most crustaceans are usually delicious. I’m sure the lobster’s roe would be delicious too.

Butter, garlic and lobster roe, I think this alone is a great taste, but I added more sea urchin.

The rich aroma of the special sauce began to waft on the shore.

“Hawaaa!”

Char seems to be unable to stay or stand still, and she is flailing her small limbs. Lulu, who was reluctant to eat sea urchins, also looked into the frying pan impatiently.

I stirred it with a wooden spatula to finish the sauce.

“Father, I can’t wait anymore..…”

It’s not just Char.

Even Lulu swallowed her saliva at the scent of the sauce.

“To finish it off, let’s add the lobster meat to the butter-sautéed sauce and it’s done.”

The dish was completed with parsley that grew on the island for color.

“What do you think?”

“Hurry up, Father!”

“I don’t think I could eat sea urchins. But this one looks so delicious, and it smells so good.”

With a wooden spoon we had brought from Lulu’s house, we put a lobster with plenty of sauce in our mouths.

The elasticity of the lobster chases the umami of the sea urchin that spreads immediately. The rich flavor that spread in the mouth was overwhelming.

“It’s so delicious! Father, this is the best thing you have ever made for me.”

“It’s the first time I’ve ever eaten sea urchin, I had no idea it was this delicious. I feel like I’ve missed out a lot by living to this day without knowing about this.”

I am happy when people said my food was delicious.

I think this will work well as our menu three days later.

“If you like it so much, why don’t I add it to the meal menu?”

“That would be great.”

“Char want to eat it again!”

We caught eighteen lobsters, so I gave two of them to Nowald-sensei. We’ll sell the abalone and the rest of the lobsters at the grocery store in town tomorrow.

Until then, I decided to put it in a net and submerge it in the sea.

“Their claws won’t cut the net, right?”

“If you do it this way, it will be fine.”

Lulu had metal shackles attached to the lobster claws.

If I sold these, will I be able to save money again?

My money to buy chickens and goats is almost ready.

However, I also have to buy pasta and cream….

It was like taking three steps forward and two steps back, but my heart was full.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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After getting ready, we headed to the beach.

“Alright. Now I’ll teach you how to free dive.”

Lulu is our teacher today. Although Lulu is a laid-back girl, she’s an active fisherman. She is an expert swimmer too.

By the way, I also changed into thick trunks so I can go for a swim.

“Please change into these shoes first.”

Lulu offered me a pair of tabi-like shoes that could be used for swimming.

“Why do we need this?”

“It’s so that you don’t hurt your feet on the rocks. Here, Char-chan.”

“Char don’t need it!”

Char goes barefoot wherever she goes. Well, with her dragon skin, she should be fine even in those rocky areas.

But Lulu doesn’t really know about Char’s power yet, so she looked at me worriedly.

“Char will be fine. She’s used to running around barefoot.”

“But……”

“Really, no need. I even went barefoot in the cave! I was scolded by Noirdo-sensei for trampling on precious mineral crystals.”

There was indeed such an incident.

It was a beautiful crystal, but Char turned it to dregs. Sensei looked heartbroken that time…….

With the shoe matter settled, we decided to practice first. We went by boat to a relatively shallow area. The seabed was about three meters deep, but the waves are calm, so it is not that scary.

“Now let’s practice free diving. By the way, Cedie, you can swim, right?”

I nodded proudly. The territory of Dantes Family is by the sea, so I have been familiar with the sea since I was a child. Of course, I am also a good swimmer.

I gently get off the boat and entered the water.

“How about you Char-chan? Can you swi—e, eeh!?”

Char suddenly jumped into the sea. And starts moving at high speed.

“Ahahahaha!”

Char swims with great force, splashing water around, but her speed is extraordinary.

Even Olympic athletes can’t swim that fast….

“It’s the first time I’m doing this, but this is so fun!”

As expected, dragons are out of the norm.

“W-wait, is this your first time!? I mean, how do you even swim?”

When she said that, I noticed something. Char barely moved her limbs.

“Char, come here.”

“What is it, Father?”

She swam up to me and hugged me by the nape of my neck.

“Just how on earth did you—eh, a tail?”

A long dragon tail grew out of Char’s buttocks. When I noticed it, Char smiled happily. The long tail is slapping the surface of the sea.

“I can swim faster with my tail. It feels good!”

I see, that was the reason behind it huh.

“C-Char-chan is really a dragon huh……”

“I’m a Yellow Dragon, the strongest species!”

Lulu was taken aback and was left speechless.

“Looks like Char can manage by herself. Lulu can focus on teaching me how to free dive then.”

“R-right. Then, let’s get started. First of all, relax your body and take a deep breath. Take in lots of fresh air into your body.”

“Okay, I’ll try.”

I took a deep breath.

“Now, lie face down in the water. Your gaze should be fixed at the bottom of the sea.”

Again, I did as I was told. The sea is shining in the sunlight. I could see colorful seaweed and small fish swimming vigorously.

Then I heard Lulu’s voice in my ear.

“Try diving your head straight down without changing your line of sight. Bend your waist and be aware that your body should be curved like the corner of a box.”

Oh, I need to bend my waist at a right angle huh.

“Once your head is in, bring your legs straight up and make your body look like a stick. Then paddle the water with your hands. Go ahead and try it.”

I did as I was told.

It was hard to dive against the buoyancy, but the sea was so beautiful that I forgot about it.

“How was it?”

When I looked up from the water, Lulu supported my body.

“I couldn’t dive very deep. I couldn’t hold my breath any longer.”

Lulu can dive more than five meters, but I made it up to two meters at most, I think.

“It’s like that at first, you just have to get used to it. I also use weights when I dive deep.”

“Oh~, then can I dive deeper with weights?”

“Yes. But in Cedie’s case, you can’t do that yet. I’ve gotten used to it for a long time. By the way, I found this.”

Lulu lifted a bag of sea urchins.

Gandalcia’s sea urchin is quite large.

“Oh, those are fine sea urchins. I think it’s going to be worth eating.”

“Are you sure you want to eat these?”

Eating habits are hard to change. For now, let’s start by cooking it and have them taste it.

I’ll eat it raw though.

“Father, I have captured a monster with scissors!”

Char, who was diving freely into the sea, suddenly appeared beside us. She is holding a large creature in each hand.

“Oh, isn’t that a lobster?”

“Yes. That one is delicious too.”

“Oh my, this is delicious!? I’ll catch some more!”

Char tossed the lobster into the bucket on the boat and then she dived back into the water.

Today’s catch was great. We caught eighteen lobsters and four abalones. We found a total of 20 sea urchins. I also caught four by diving.

Next time, I want to be able to dive deeper. It may be useful to have flippers like those for skin diving. I think there was such a piece of equipment in the Island Maker game. But I don’t remember how to get it.

Well, let’s look forward to it in the future.

For now, I’m working my own to improve my diving skills.

“Father, I have plucked the abalone!”

When we catch abalone, we usually use a knife, but Char does it with her bare hands.

Yup, she’s transformed her upper arm into a dragon’s arm. Char’s hands are covered with sharp dragon claws.

“Let’s grill and eat lobster on the shore.”

“I agree!”

Before I could say anything, Char already started swimming towards the shore.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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After seeing Eugenie off, I thought deeply for a while.

If I’m going to make it anyway, I want to cook something that will surprise and make everyone happy!

“Father, is there something you’re worried about?”

“Mmm. I’m thinking about the menu I’ll prepare and how to make it delicious.”

“Oh~ that’s great! Please think about it until you get steam out of your head!”

With the expectation of eating delicious food, Char is quite delighted.

“Until steam comes out of my head huh…. I think I can boil octopus, but then that’s not very impressive.”

Marinated octopus and celery look delicious, but I wonder if Lulu ever caught octopus in the nearby waters. Lulu never brought me any after all.

“If you have any problems, you can talk to your teacher!”

Honesty is sometimes the best solution.

I also think Nowald-sensei may be able to impart some good advice for this. We went to visit him right away.

When we arrived at the alchemy hut, Nowald-sensei was in the middle of writing.

“I’m taking notes on the vegetation of Gandalcia Island.”

“That’s perfect then! Sensei, is there anything unique here that can be eaten?”

“Are you looking for edible plants and animals?”

“Yes, something that is delicious as well.”

I explained the situation to Sensei.

“Hmm, looking for ingredients huh. That sounds like a pretty interesting story.”

“Anyways, that’s about it. I prefer to make something that everyone has never tried before.”

Nowald-sensei crossed his arms and was deep in thought, then he suddenly clapped his hand.

“Sea urchins!”

“Sensei, when you say sea urchins, are you talking about those spiky balls?”

“Yes. Sea urchins are originally a general term for echinoderms, but yesterday, I found an edible purple sea urchin on the beach. It is probably endemic to this island.  I think it is fine to call it Gandalcia’s sea urchin.”

Can we catch sea urchins here?

Sea urchin is a delicious food, but they never make it onto the dinner table in this region. This is probably because its shape resembles a monster called Thorn Rock. Thorn Rock is a terrifying monster that lurks in dungeons and explodes, sending spikes flying.

That’s maybe why Lulu did not catch those sea urchins either. I don’t think the people here even know that it can be eaten.

But I know!

Sea urchins are very tasty.

“Sea urchins are delicious. I think they will like it too.”

“From the way you speak, Cedie has eaten one, haven’t you?”

“Well……”

I’ve eaten it, but it’s from the memory in my previous life. It was when I went to Shakotan for a trip….

Uh-, Shakotan? Where was it again?

Sigh. No good. I can’t remember it clearly. Well, let’s put my memory problem aside for now.

If I put the sea urchin out as it is, will Eugenie and Lulu hate it?

Then, how about abalone and sea urchin pasta?

Abalone is another Gandalcian specialty. The abalone I ate the other day had a rich flavor and was very tasty.

“Thank you very much, Sensei. I think I can cook a good meal thanks to you. I will invite you to lunch in three days, so please come.”

“Thank you, I’m looking forward to it. Oh right, Cedie, when it comes to sea urchins, males taste much better.”

“Really?!”

“The only edible part of sea urchin is the inside part, right? Actually, it is their gonads. Orange colored ones are the testicles for males and the yellow ones are ovaries for females. The orange ones have a milder taste with less bitterness.”

“Wow, Sensei even knows about that huh.”

“Sometimes you run out of money when you’re wandering around the world, and that’s when you make do with what you have.”

I guess that’s when he picked up sea urchins on the beach and ate it……

The residents in this world don’t eat sea urchins, so there must be a lot lying around.

After leaving the alchemy hut, we visited the fisherman’s hut. Lulu returned from fishing a while ago and should have already rested. Fishermen have early mornings, so they are often taking a nap at this time of the day.

When I called out her name, Lulu got up while scratching her head.

“I’m sorry, I was sleeping.”

“It’s okay. I thought it was about time you wake up…… You have to get ready for the evening fishing, right?”

There was still time for sunset, but the afternoon was well over. There are many things for fishermen to do, such as inspecting boats and mending torn nets. I guessed that she should be up by now.

“Yes. Well, what do you want from me?”

“Does Lulu know about sea urchins?”

“Yeah. It’s those spiky ones on the shore or something. They’re a bit dangerous because if you’re not careful, you’ll step on them. Well, they don’t attack like the thorn rocks though.”

“There are sea urchins in Gandalcia too, right?”

“There is. The deeper it is, the bigger they are.”

That looks promising. Not only this dish, but also the ambition of one day getting rice and eating a large bowl of sea urchin crosses my mind.

“What are you going to do with sea urchins anyway? Are you going to use them as alchemy materials?”

It seems that it is impossible to imagine that it will become a food ingredient.

“No, no, it is for eating.”

“Ah? Would you eat something like that!?”

“Yes, it’s delicious.”

“I mean, it has spikes.”

Nowald-sensei’s words that the edible part are the gonads came back to me.

If I told her that we can eat their testicles and ovaries, would Lulu be surprised?

Erm, I think I’ll keep it to myself for now.

“Yes. We can eat the insides of those ball spikes.”

“Hmmm…… have you ever eaten one Cedie?”

“Of course, it’s my favorite.”

It’s in my past life, though.

“Oh~, you eat sea urchins in noble mansions huh. I didn’t know that it could be eaten.”

“I’d like to make a dish with sea urchins for lunch in three days. And abalone, too.”

“Okay. I’ll be sure to catch them for Cedie, who I’m indebted to. When should I deliver the ingredients? Three days later? Or do you want it today?”

I want to practice before I treat everyone. After all, the recipe I saw in the video is just a vague memory.

“If you can, I’d like to have some today, but will it be okay?”

“No problem. I’ll go for a dive now.”

This made Char very excited.

“Are you going to dive into the sea!?”

“Yes. Do you want to do it too?”

“I want to do it!”

Char looks like a five-year-old child, but inside she’s a yellow dragon, so I don’t worry about her going for a swim in a deep sea.

Also, there’s a sense of anticipation that Char will do something.

“Then I’ll ask Char to do it too.”

“Leave it to me, Father!”

Char shook her body and changed into a yellow swimsuit with frills.

This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeineijiworks.wordpress.com.

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