Chapter 30 – Mebius World Online

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Chapter 30: Whereabouts of Mari-ane and the Deer Meat (Part 2)

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My way too long unexpected battle against the potatoes ended with their storage running out. 

I don’t want to think just how many hours have passed since then. 

“Man, you really saved us there, Maria.” 

“That’s so horrible, Vanessa-san. I didn’t even have the choice to not to in the first place.” (Mari)

Even the game was forcing me here and that prickled. 

“Sorry sorry. I didn’t expect this either. When I tried putting it on the menu, rumors of it immediately spread, and by the time I noticed, our place had practically turned into a potato chips store.” (Vanessa)

A potato chip store…

“When so many customers are inundating the place, there’s obviously the need to think about the way of making them and selling them. With your advice, we stopped bringing them out on plates and changed it to rounded fleece, and it was a great success. Thanks to that, it saved the trouble of washing dishes and it also made the customers happy since they could bring them out with them.” (Vanessa)

“But isn’t fleece expensive?” (Mari)

“Fleece is being made from tamed monsters called Recovery Sheeps that regenerate their skin. It isn’t that expensive. That’s why, even if we deduct that from the sales, we would still be making pretty good profit.” (Vanessa)

Didn’t she say something scary as if nothing?

A sheep monster that can regenerate its skin makes it easy to obtain fleece?

In other words, that sheep has its skin torn off, made to eat, wait for their recovery, and have their skin torn off again? 

…Alright, let’s not think about it any further than this. 

“It is a little late to ask this, but did you have any business with me?” (Vanessa)

Being told this, I remembered my original objective. 

“I am searching for a smoking device to make jerky. Any ideas?” (Mari)

“Smoking device? I have one here. It is a bit early, but I will be closing the store for today, so use it as much as you want.” (Vanessa)

Ooh, my hard work was worth it. 

Vanessa-san guided me to an open space at the back of the store. 

There were eaves set there, and below it, there was a wooden box that’s around the size of a cleaning locker. 

“This is the smoking machine. It has a door, so open it.” (Vanessa)

I opened the door as told and there were wire nettings forming a step higher, and below that, there’s stuff set up like a portable cooking stove. 

“What’s below is a heat generation tool. You place an iron pot on top of it, place the wood that you want for smoking, and then put the ingredient you want to smoke on top of the wire net, and close the door. As long as you are careful with the time and temperature, you will be able to make a delicious smoke.” (Vanessa)

“Is there an approximate temperature and time recommendation?” (Mari)

“It depends on what you are smoking though…” (Vanessa)

When I told her the ingredients, she told me her approximate. 

“You can use the kitchen as you please too. Also, Maria, your cooking should be able to go to the next step from what you did before.” (Vanessa)

“Eh? Aah, that’s true.” (Mari)

I didn’t notice because I spaced-out there, but it is true that the notice had come.

<<[Cooking] has reached a set level, so you can now obtain [Cooking (Intermediate)]. When obtained, [Cooking] will be erased and [Cooking (Intermediate)] will be level 1.>>

5 skill points to obtain it is a bit on the high side, but there’s no reason not to. 

<<Obtained [Cooking (Intermediate)].>>

I thanked her and immediately began preparations for the jerky. 

What’s required first is something called Saumur Liquid. Liquid seasoning that soaks into the meat to give it taste.

That said, it isn’t anything difficult. White wine, herbs, minced garlic and ginger, salt, and mix honey as a secret ingredient. 

Next, I bring out the [Forest Deer Meat] and cut it thin with a kitchen knife, cut…cut a whole ton.

The amount will decrease by quite a lot when made into jerky, so I plan on making all the Forest Deer Meat I have into jerky. 

After using [Preliminary Arrangements] on the cut meat to have the salt seep in, I desalt it, and soak it in the Saumur Liquid.

While the meat is still in the liquid, I place it inside what’s basically the refrigerator where the Ice Lizard Scales are.

The scales of Ice Lizards apparently release cold, so it technically works like a refrigerator. 

Once inside the refrigerator, it is the turn of [Acceleration].

There were conflicting times on the site I checked, so this time around, I will be waiting for around 3 days. 

Thanks to having used Acceleration last time when making the Wolf Soup, I have somewhat grasped how to use it. 

Let’s produce the chips that I will be using for smoking while Acceleration is activated. 

MP will be continuously consumed while Acceleration is active, but it has the convenient trait of allowing you to do anything else without any issues. 

I changed my tools from the Sticky Strings of the Giant Spider to the Mythril Strings, and brought out the Walnut Lumber.

“The wood is unexpectedly big.” (Mari)

It is not long enough to use for buildings, but it was thick enough that you wouldn’t be able to carry it unless you are an adult. 

With this, I can make a whole ton of chips even with just one. 

I immediately pack 4 strings closely together, and use the contraction and expansion trait of the equipment to smash it into pieces in one go. 

After I did this 3 times vertically and horizontally, a small mountain of Walnut Lumber Chips was made. 

And then, after 1 hour passed, I took out the meat, and gently wiped off the moisture. 

I return to the smoking device, place the readied meat on top of the wire net, take off everything with wire net and all, wrapping it up with strings, and after confirming that there’s no one in the surroundings, I do a big spin. 

I actually wanted to have it dry naturally with time, but on this occasion, I dried it with a slightly forceful method to save time. 

If I take off too much of the moisture, it will turn way too hard and make it difficult to eat, so I continue spinning while checking its state. 

When the size had become around 2/3rds of the original size, I stopped, and returned it to the smoking device. Then, add the Walnut Lumber Chips, and it is finally time to begin the smoking. 

I adjust the temperature to a low output, use [Acceleration], and wait for 4 minutes. 

With this, it should have the effect of around 5 hours, so this would be really convenient if it could be used in real life. 

That said, it would be the same for Faith String and Companion Puppet though. 

When I opened the smoking device, there was meat with a color that’s in the middle of black and black tea. 

When I held it, yeah…it was properly jerky. 

<<[Forest Deer Jerky].

Jerky that has had seasoning seeped well into the forest deer meat. 

There’s a faint sweetness to it, and the umami of the meat has been condensed. It is also really fragrant because of the smoking.

(Cooking Buff): AGI+8 (2 hours)>>

Oh? There’s a cooking buff to it.

Until now, the food I have made only had the explanation of the dish… 

Could it be because I have gotten [Cooking (Intermediate)]?

Let’s ask Roulette-san about it when I get the chance. 

I don’t know how high the effect of this cooking buff is, but well, it should be fine to think about it after I finish this.

As a result of having repeated the drying and the smoking, I managed to make 300 jerkies. 

With this much, I shouldn’t be troubled with portable food for a while. 

I cleaned things up after that and thanked Vanessa-san once again, and then logged out once I did my training to obtain the death skill.

(Maria: Marionettist. Lv.16) 

STR: 1

VIT: 4

AGI: 6

DEX: 67

INT: 4

MID: 18

(Skill: Skill Points +24→+19)

[Faith String]: Lv15

[Companion Puppet]: Lv7

[Clown]: Lv10

[Capture]: Lv5

[Cooking] Lv10 → [Cooking (Intermediate)] Lv1

[Preliminary Arrangements]: Lv6→Lv8

[Acceleration]: Lv3→Lv6

[Night Vision]: Lv3

[Meditation]: Lv4

[Vision Enhancement]: Lv2

[Hearing Enhancement]: Lv3

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