486 – Salt-Grilled Dragonfish

The fight with the dragonfish sky eels is over.
They were a group of B+ ranks, so even considering they had my support, Aro and the others fought rather well.

As B+ ranks, the dragonfish were equivalent to the abyss mother or to Thermal of the Demon Lord’s Three Knights.
Considering that all Aro and the nightmare could do against Thermal was run, it clear to see just how significant the levelling they’ve managed in just a few days is.
The treant had to stay behind in the Great Alban Mine back then, but now it’s surpassed the nightmare as a B+ rank.

The level ups are:
Aro:【Lv: 67/85】to【Lv: 72/85】
Nightmare: 【Lv: 53/70】to【Lv: 61/70】
Magiatite-jii【Lv: 61/70】to【Lv: 63/70】
Black lizard:【Lv: 28/80】to【Lv: 41/80】
Treant:【Lv: 1/85】to【Lv: 33/85】

Their levels are shooting up.
It’s all thanks to [Demon Lord’s Favour].
They didn’t make it there this time, but both the nightmare and magiaite-jii are close to evolving.

The nightmare lost a leg in the fight, so I restore it with [Ligne].
She also has [Autoregenation], but it’s probably better if it’s done by one with monstrous stats like me.
I also heal the black lizard’s, treant’s, and Aro’s injuries, but the pair of Volk and magiatite-jii are more-or-less completely unharmed.

『As expected of Volk…』

As I call out, I check Volk’s status.
He’s reached 【Lv: 85/85 (MAX)】.

“…It might be best if magiatite ceases to act as my sword.
I can no longer gain experience, so I would only get in the way of levelling.”

…There’s a note of sadness in Volk’s words.
I had been purposefully not saying anything, but it seems he’s aware that he’s reaching the ceiling of his power.

“By the way, you were wielding some interesting weapons there… Could you lend me one of those?”

『Ah, no… Those were created with magic, and they disappear the moment they leave my hand.
I didn’t take them out of [Dimension]; they aren’t real weapons.』

The spatial magic [Dimension] grants the user a subspace of their own into which inanimate objects can be stored and taken out as needed.
It doesn’t have much space, so it’s usually used for storing weapons, apparently.

Volk also has [Dimension], so he probably thought that was what I was using.
Though, when his greatsword, Leral, was still in good condition, he carried it on his back for some reason… It seems Leral was damaged in in the battle with the Demon Lord, and is now stored in [Dimension].

“I see… That’s a shame.”

Volk looks down… It seems he really had his hopes up.
I feel bad for him now…

『My [Dimension] is empty, after all…』

“…Oh? You have the skill?”

『Yeah.
I haven’t got anything to use it on, so it’s going to waste though…』

“With how strong your magic is, surely there was no need to tie that giant mandragora to your body yesterday…?”

『……I-is that how it works?』

“I’m not you, so I can’t know for certain, but why not test it out?”

Sensing bloodlust, I glance behind me.
The nightmare’s mask is glaring at me.
No, to be precise, the eyes either side of her mask are glaring at me…

“Dr-dragon-god-sama didn’t mean anything bad!”

Aro protests, standing in front of the nightmare.
N-no, that was my bad nightmare… Sorry.
I was the one who actually carried that heavy weight, so please let me off the hook.

I spot the treant watching our exchange, its trunk shaking as though in laughter.
Hey treant-san.
I suppose you’re feeling lucky about now.

I guess I’ll try it out.
I activate the spatial magic, [Dimension].
A vortex of blue, red, and black light appears in the air.
I push a dead dragonfish into it.
As the head enters, the vortex swirls faster, and the dragonfish is sucked in.
I-it went all the way in…

It’s got a considerable capacity.
It would have been close, but I think the entire hades mandragora would have just barely fitted inside.
Sorry, nightmare.
I see her still glaring at me sullenly, but thanks to Aro sticking up for me, it doesn’t seem like she’s going to do anything about it.

After stripping off the shen’s shell, I toss it and another two dragonfish into the [Dimension] vortex… The shell apparently is valuable and could be used to craft a resilient shield, but by shattering it with the Warhammer of Disaster, I rendered it useless.
Well, in the first place we don’t have any tools to process it, and we don’t have the time to go sell it in human lands, so it was never going to be useful for us anyway.

It’s about time for lunch, so we’ll take a break before continuing our exploration.
I cut the head off one of the remaining dragonfish with [Dimension Claw] and hold it up for the blood to drain, then tear off the skin and scales and pull out its bones and innards.

…By the way, the dragonfish’s meat is white.
The sea is close by, so I gather some salt to grill it with.
I ask Aro to create a raised surface, then heat it up with [Scorching Breath].

It’s big, so I can eat without needing to savour each bite.
The dragonfish meat has a peculiar faint taste and a slight sweetness to it, and the salt is coming through nicely.
The smell is a little bad, but due to having lived as a dragon for a long time now, it doesn’t bother me at all.
It’s got a wonderful amount of fat, too.

The nightmare also seems to be enjoying it, as she’s hungrily digging in.
But upon noticing me smiling as I watch her, she abruptly slows the pace of her eating… It looks like I got in your way, sorry.

“I had heard tales of dragonfish, but I never thought I would eat one.
The taste isn’t bad… But it feels strange to eat.”

Volk says, eating the dragonfish with a complicated expression.
Well, as long as it’s tasty, anything goes.
Either way, all our food here is going to be monsters like these.

I might never have eaten a fish this delicious before.
Its faint, distinctive taste isn’t bad, but it seems like if it was cooked with a coating of seasoning, the smell would fade and it would become a dish that anyone could enjoy.
But I wonder why its taste is vaguely familiar to me…? Ah, I suppose it is eel, after all.