I was reincarnated as bait for the summoned hero
The lightly boiled Plesiosaurus—no, rather, the Lake Serpent’s meat—had a somewhat vague, subtle taste.
“Hmm…? It’s not bad, but it’s not particularly good either.”
That was unusual.
Up until now, the standard had been that the meat of magical beasts and monsters, rich in mana, was always incredibly delicious.
Since this was a Lake Serpent that had lived for many years, I had been looking forward to some truly high-quality meat, but unfortunately, it fell short of expectations.
“Such a beautiful red meat, and yet… huh, red meat?”
“Tohma ?”
“I just thought… I’ve seen meat of a similar color before. But that was fish, and this is a dinosaur…”
“Nyaa?”
Kotesu stared intently at the Lake Serpent’s red meat, tilting his head slightly in curiosity.
It seemed he had also found something odd about it.
He brought his face close, took a sniff—then let out a happy little cry.
“Yummy.”
“Oh? You recognize it?”
“Nyaa!”
“Haha, as expected, Kotesu has a sharp nose. So it really is…”
As I was enjoying this little exchange with my companion, a frustrated Shella pinched my elbow.
It hurt more than I expected.
“Geez! What is it? Tell me too!”
“Alright, alright, my bad. Sorry, Shella. This meat tastes just like the fish I had in that coastal town before.”
“Like fish…?”
“Yeah. A big, high-end fish—tuna.”
Focusing my mind, I activated a detailed appraisal skill and discovered that the Lake Serpent’s meat was best eaten raw.
This time, instead of boiling it, I thinly sliced the raw meat and popped it straight into my mouth.
“Mmm, delicious. Just as I thought, it tastes exactly like tuna.”
There was hardly any fishy smell, and it had a meaty texture.
Honestly, it might even be better than real tuna.
“Let’s eat this raw. Sashimi, tataki, yukhoe… I could make all sorts of dishes with this.”
The chunk of meat that had dropped from the monster was enormous, meaning there were plenty of different cuts to compare flavors.
The pristine red portions would be perfect for sashimi. If there was any leftover, I could sear the surface and enjoy it as tataki.
The fatty, marbled sections could be turned into sushi.
Tasting the fat, I realized it had a texture similar to the mane meat of horse sashimi—chewy yet surprisingly light and easy to eat.
“This meat is like a mix between tuna and whale.”
In other words, it was absolutely exquisite.
◆◇◆
“Oh? This is a new taste for me. Delicious.”
“Glad you like it. That’s Lake Serpent meat.”
“Really? That strange dragon-like creature? I never expected it to be this tasty…”
As I had anticipated, Rei was thoroughly enjoying the tuna-like flavor of the meat.
What I had given him was the red meat sashimi.
The real highlight, the fatty toro, was reserved for later.
Even just the red meat sashimi was enough to impress him—he looked ready to dive into a dungeon hunt right away, so I quickly handed him another dish to distract him.
“This is good too. Try it.”
“Hmm, smells wonderful.”
“It’s braised Giant Boar. I slow-cooked it in a pressure cooker until it turned melt-in-your-mouth tender.”
Rei skillfully used his chopsticks to pick up a piece and took a bite.
He must have been surprised by how effortlessly it fell apart without needing to chew.
“The meat disappeared before I could even bite into it.”
“Amazing, right?”
“Mmngh—! Fwaa… I almost lost myself in the taste…! As always, your braised pork is incredible.”
The Giant Boar was a floor boss I had taken down in the Anheim Dungeon.
True to its “Giant” title, it had been an enormous creature.
Since the meat had excellent marbling, slow-cooking it at a low temperature had resulted in this ultra-tender texture.
Kotesu also loved braised pork, and everyone happily devoured the dish.
“Now, here’s some roast pig orc. Since it’s a special occasion, enjoy it with some ramen.”
“Ramen! It’s been a while. This isn’t cup ramen, is it?”
Ramen is one of Rei’s favorite foods.
When he lived in the big forest with his housemate for a while, he used to enjoy it a lot, often eating it in the container house.
“This time, I made some bagged noodles.”
“Oh, this looks delicious too.”
The tonkotsu soy sauce-flavored bagged noodles were prepared while Rei was taking a bath. To prevent the soup from cooling or the noodles from becoming soggy, they were stored in the [Item Box].
Unlike cup noodles, bagged noodles are great because you can customize them however you like. This time, they were boiled without any modifications, but there were plenty of added toppings.
“Besides the roast pig orc, it’s tonkotsu ramen with a soft-boiled egg from a Cocco bird, green onions, bean sprouts, cabbage, and menma.”
“Delicious. I could eat this all day.”
As a noodle lover, Rei was good at slurping his ramen. He savored the soup thoroughly and finished it beautifully. Meanwhile, I hadn’t even finished half of mine, but he must have been quite hungry.
“Then, fill up with this. A huge roast beef bowl and fried cockatrice.”
“Wow…! This roast beef looks incredible. And the smell of the fried chicken is irresistible. Is it okay if I eat all of it?”
“Sure. We’ve saved some for us.”
“Heh. Then, I’ll have no hesitation.”
As he declared, the gluttonous dragon devoured the huge feast in no time. Even Shella, with her hearty appetite, was left in awe by his eating speed.
“The rumors about a dragon having an endless Tohma are true…”
Shella murmured in amazement, and Rei chuckled softly.
“That might be true for regular dragons, but I’m a divine beast. A golden dragon can survive for a hundred years without eating, as long as it absorbs mana.”
“Really?”
“Really?!”
“…Didn’t you know, Tohma ?”
“Ugh… well, I’ve vaguely heard that eating is more of a pastime for dragons, but I never imagined that they could live for a hundred years without food.”
(Considering how much he used to eat at my place!)
I glared at him, and it seemed like he was aware of his gluttony, as he quickly avoided my gaze, feeling awkward.
“…Rei?”
“Sorry. But Tohma ‘s food is just too good.”
He scratched his head while saying that, and I couldn’t help but think of him as a charming dragon.
“I never really had any enjoyment in eating except for absorbing mana, but Tohma ’s cooking is so incredibly delicious… I, of all beings, learned to enjoy food.”
“I get it. I used to eat anything when I was always hungry, but now I’ve become picky with food…”
“I see, Daughter of the Phantom Beast’s Egg.”
I turned my face away from the conversation between the rare species, who had become captivated by delicious meals. While it felt nice to be praised, I didn’t want to get caught up in endless talks about food.
Praising my cooking was nice, but even though I can cook decently, I’m just an average cook.
(My food tastes decent because of the quality ingredients in this world and the victory of Japanese seasonings.)
After finishing half of the tonkotsu ramen, I took out a special dish from the [Item Box].
The fresh red meat looked so beautiful, it could be compared to jewels.
“Oh…! What kind of dish is that?”
“Tohma , that’s unfair! Give some to us too!”
The two who had been discussing the deliciousness of roast orc pork eagerly moved toward the table.
“It’s lake serpent meat. You had it before, right? The one made with the leanest red meat served as sashimi. This is the fatty toro part.”
“Toro…!”
Rei’s eyes widened in excitement. It seemed like he had been curious about the taste of toro, having read books I gathered from the convenience store.
“Want to try it as sashimi first? You can handle wasabi, right? The soy sauce for sashimi is in this small dish.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.”
I handed him a small dish and chopsticks quickly, and he immediately tried a piece of sashimi.
“This is delicious. So this is toro…”
“It’s not tuna, it’s lake serpent. What you just had is like a medium toro flavor. This tataki is also delicious.”
“Oh, you’re searing the surface of the meat. It’s fragrant and delicious.”
“Now, the main event: Meat sushi.”
I served the thinly sliced marbled meat wrapped in a hand-rolled sushi ball.
“This is such a cute dish.”
“This is the fatty tuna.”
“…! Th-This is the fatty tuna…?”
“Try it. You’ll fly.”
It was a line I’d always wanted to say.
Of course, I was joking. It’s delicious, but it won’t make you fly.
“Be prepared to eat it.”
Rei nodded and carefully picked up a piece of meat sushi with his chopsticks, dipped it in wasabi soy sauce, and gently placed it in his mouth. He chewed it thoughtfully, savoring it, and let out a satisfied sigh.
“…Rei?”
“Tohma . This is really good.”
“Oh, I’m glad you liked it.”
“I’ve decided, Tohma . Tomorrow, we’re going to hunt for tuna at that lake again.”
“Huh?!”
