34. Passive Income
"Tong. Give me the usual three today."
"You got it!"
As the sun entered the latter half of the day, I was eating what could be called a late breakfast or an early lunch.
"Hey, Takuma. You’ve been coming to my shop every day and buying stuff. Are you sure you’re okay on money?"
"Yeah, I don’t have to worry about money anymore."
"You were completely broke just a week ago. How the hell…?"
It had been one week since I arrived in this other world. And exactly one week since I taught the tavern owner about deep-fried foods.
I now had not only silver coins but three gold coins in my possession.
Because of that, I could now afford to order three of Tong’s skewers—something I had held back on before.
"There’s a place called Spring Tavern a short walk from here. Do you know it, Tong?"
"Of course I do. I go there for drinks sometimes. What about it?"
"I’m the one who came up with the new dish they’ve started serving there recently."
"What? You came up with a dish, Takuma?"
"That’s right. And that dish has become insanely popular at the tavern. I’m getting a cut of the sales as the creator."
"I see. So, how much are you making from it?"
"I’ve heard it’s already over thirty gold coins."
Over the past week, I had been visiting the tavern almost every day to check the sales and customer reactions, so I had a solid grasp of how well it was doing—and how much profit I was getting.
Thanks to its novelty, new texture, and delicious taste, the number of fans exploded in no time. Word spread from customer to customer, and the dish I suggested quickly rose to become the tavern’s top-selling item.
The tavern owner, Bottas, was so excited by the sales that every time I showed up, he happily reported the previous day’s earnings with a big smile.
"That’s amazing. So what exactly is this food?"
"Fried potato and karaage."
"Fried potato? Is that the thing you mentioned the other day?"
"Yeah, that’s it."
Thanks to my suggestions, the tavern was currently selling two types of dishes: Fried Potato and Karaage.
I had taught them several other representative deep-fried foods as well, but after considering ingredient availability, cost, and preparation time, they decided to start with these two.
By the way, they were currently in the prototype stage for croquettes. If those sell as well as the current two, the revenue should increase even more.
"Fried potato is the one where you cut potatoes into long thin strips and fry them in oil, right?"
"Yeah, exactly."
"And what about karaage? What kind of dish is that?"
"Simply put, you cut chicken into small pieces, season it, coat it with flour, and deep-fry it."
"Deep-frying again, huh… Hey, Takuma. Is that stuff really that good…?"
"Yeah, it’s delicious. Shockingly delicious."
"I-I see…"
Tong didn’t look entirely convinced. That was understandable—this world had no concept of the “deep-fried” food category.
From talking with Bottas, I learned that the idea of submerging food in oil to cook it had never even crossed people’s minds here. Even using high-temperature oil was the same story.
Oil was only used sparingly before grilling something, just to prevent ingredients from sticking to the cooking tools.
Thinking about it again, the first person in this world who decided to fill a pot with oil and throw food into it must have been in a very peculiar state of mind.
Well, I’m neither a professional chef nor a historian, so I have no idea.
The reality in front of me is clear: the people of this world have never eaten deep-fried food before. They don’t know how good it tastes, and they don’t know how addictive it can be.
"You should try it once too, Tong. Both are really good."
"Y-yeah, you’re right. Judging without even trying it would be unmanly!"
Great. Another person secured to fall victim to the deep-fried trap.
I felt a slight sense of guilt about making money off Tong, who had been kind to me, but I wasn’t scamming him. He would simply be eating delicious food and paying for it.
Tong gets to enjoy great food, and I get a bit more money than before.
It’s a perfect win-win relationship.
Of course, it’s possible Tong might not like oily foods. I heard that some people who tried fried potato and karaage didn’t care for them.
But most of those people were quite a bit older.
For working-age men and young people who frequent taverns, those two dishes were undoubtedly the best.
In my old world, fried potato was hugely popular with young people, and karaage was loved by men and women of all ages. Their compatibility with an otherworldly tavern was perfect.
"Taste and sales don’t always match up perfectly, but it’s not completely unrelated either. Looking at how you’re dressed now, it must be selling pretty well. I’ll go check it out today!"
"As expected of you, Tong. You’ve got a good eye."
"Obviously! But let me say this first, Takuma. I’m still a cook myself. If it tastes bad, I’m gonna tell you honestly, okay?"
"Yeah, I want your honest opinion. And if it’s not good, please tell me what exactly was bad. I’ll go discuss it with old man Bottas again."
"Got it. Man, you’ve really become a cook, Takuma."
"You think so?"
"Yeah. At least you don’t look like an adventurer anymore."
"True…"
Even though I had become an adventurer, I hadn’t been back to the Adventurers’ Guild since my first day.
Lately, I’d been going to the tavern to consult with Bottas, buying daily necessities now that I had money, and just exploring this world, so I hadn’t had time to go to the guild and take any quests.
"Also, those clothes you were wearing until recently. Those were from the guild, right? Did you already return them?"
"Not yet…"
"Go return them soon. It’s best to do these things before you forget."
"You’re right…"
Since I had nothing planned for the day, I decided to go return the borrowed clothes to the guild, pick up my sweatshirt, and maybe take on a quest or two.
Plus, I wanted to see Lorraine’s face again. And those breasts too…
"Alright, I’m off."
"Yep! Come again!"
I left Tong’s shop and headed toward the Adventurers’ Guild where Lorraine was.