Lawless & Sinful Another World

"Yeah, dragon meat and stuff like that is definitely a luxury."

"R-really…? By the way, what kind of meat is this?"

"Just regular pork."

"I see…"

Suddenly being hit with full-on fantasy food caught me off guard. If they had told me this was goblin meat, I might’ve actually collapsed.

"Other luxuries include Aurora fish and madara tai."

Some fish I’d never heard of at all, and others whose names I barely recognized—enough to almost picture them, but not quite.

"The ingredients are nice, but what kind of dishes are considered luxurious?"

"Dishes, huh… Dragon steak would be top tier. Fresh fish sashimi can also be pretty expensive depending on the type."

"Sashimi?! You eat fish raw!?"

"Yeah. Haven’t you ever had it, Takuma?"

"I have, but…"

"It’s delicious, right? I eat it sometimes myself. It’s addictive."

"By the way, what do you eat it with?"

"Sashimi is soy sauce, obviously. What else would you use?"

This world… isn’t it copying my old world a little too closely…?

"Hey, Tong. Is there something called rice here?"

"Yeah, there is. But rice isn’t really considered a luxury."

Ah, I’m screwed. I can’t dominate this world with food after all.

"Got it. That’s enough."

"What…?"

If even the dish names are the same as my old world, then it’s hopeless. Even if the ingredient names are slightly different, if the finished dishes are the same, I can’t use my otherworldly knowledge to my advantage.

Damn it. Whoever the god is that sent me here, this is just unfair.

While thinking that, I was reminiscing about food from my old world when one particular thing suddenly made me hungry.

"Hey, Tong. Can you get potato at a tavern?"

There was no reply from Tong, who had been answering me so readily until now. Feeling strange, I turned to look at him and saw him frowning.

"What the hell is potato, Takuma…?"

"Huh?"

For a second I was confused, but then I realized—potato is the English word for jagaimo. If I use the proper name, it should get through.

"Fried potato."

"Fried potato?"

His reaction was completely different from before.

Yes—this was exactly the reaction I had been hoping for.

"Fried potato! You take potatoes, cut them into thin strips, fry them in oil, sprinkle some salt on them, and eat them! That thing!"

"I-I don’t know any food like that."

I never expected that fried potato would be the blind spot.

If he doesn’t know fried potato, maybe it means this food originated outside of Japan in my old world?

"Then do you know hamburger?"

"Yeah, I know that. It’s the one where you put meat and vegetables between bread, right?"

"Um… borscht…?"

"I think that’s a soup? Never tried it though."

Hey, this is totally inconsistent.

Why does he know hamburgers but not fried potato? Those two are a duo! In my old world, they were inseparable.

I could’ve kept asking about different foreign foods one by one, but that wouldn’t get me anywhere.

There must be something that sets fried potato apart from the other foods. That difference is something this world doesn’t have.

Fried potato, fried potato, fried potato…

"Ah…"

"Hm? What is it this time?"

By repeating it over and over in my head, I finally realized the key word.

"Hey, Tong. You probably don’t know potato chips either, do you?"

"Nope, never heard of it."

"What about tempura?"

"Don’t know that."

"Karaage?!"

"Nope."

With those questions, I finally understood completely.

The thing this world doesn’t have.

"Thanks, Tong. I might be getting a huge amount of money soon, so I’ll come by again when that happens!"

"O-ou. Come again!"

Leaving Tong’s voice behind me, I headed toward the tavern I visited yesterday.

Cooking and selling it myself would be best, but right now I don’t have any starting capital. I can’t gather cooking tools or ingredients. So the best move is to sell my knowledge of these cooking methods to professionals.

Then take a cut of the sales from the dishes made with that information. Even if I say so myself, it’s a brilliant idea.

When I reached the front of yesterday’s tavern, there was a “Preparing” sign hanging outside, but I could see several people moving around inside, so I went in anyway.

"Excuse me!"

I called out loudly. The woman cleaning and the woman wiping tables both looked over. One of the women approached me.

"Um, we’re still preparing right now…"

"I know. It’ll only take a little time—could I speak with the owner?"

"…Please wait a moment."

Looking puzzled, the woman hurried off and soon returned with the tavern’s owner.

It was the same middle-aged man who had been behind the counter yesterday.

"I’m Bottas, the owner of this tavern. What’s this about?"

Looking at him again, he was quite an imposing uncle. Taller than me with a solid, muscular build. I had sensed yesterday that he was a quiet man, but now I understood that his calmness didn’t come from weakness—it came from having a firm core.

"Actually… I have a dish I’d like to add to your menu."

"A dish?"

Bottas looked me up and down thoroughly before meeting my eyes again.

"Your name?"

"Takuma."

"Takuma. Are you a cook somewhere?"

"No, I’m an adventurer."

"Why would an adventurer be talking about cooking?"

"I’ve done a bit of cooking before…"

Bottas looked me over again. He was probably trying to sense something as a fellow food professional, but I couldn’t tell.

I wasn’t a professional cook in my old world either, but I did cook for myself. In terms of being someone who cooks, I’m barely within the category of “cook.” While making up my own convenient definition, I waited for Bottas’s reply.

"What’s the name of this dish?"

It seemed he was willing to listen. I confidently declared the name.

"Fried Potato. Also called Potato."

"Hmm. Never heard of that dish before…"

First hurdle cleared. Since even the tavern owner doesn’t know it, it’s safe to assume fried potato doesn’t exist in this world.

No—it’s probably not just fried potato. The thing this world lacks is deep-fried foods in general.

"I’d also like to introduce tempura and karaage, but today I want you to try making fried potato first. It’s easy and incredibly addictive."

Bottas showed a slightly surprised expression at my words, but his face quickly returned to its usual stern look.

It was the face of a craftsman switching into work mode.

"Let’s talk in the back."

"Understood."

On my second day in another world, I had taken a solid first step toward becoming a billionaire.