Sword, Magic and Academic Society

It seemed like they did have the concept of fermenting and ripening, but no set rule said that fermenting would raise a magic fish\'s taste.

<Besides, what\'s the point if we don\'t take it out when Dan is among us?>

Mimosa\'s reasoning was such which was followed by peals of laughter.

The first dish served was the soup stock made from the Deareise\'s bony parts. Once again, the boss didn\'t fail to impress us with his exquisite skills. There was also the boiled Deareise\'s soft skin accented with leafy greens resembling trefoil.

That was truly the best starter to have after waking up.

Next was sashimi. This was served in eight pieces, from the cheek meat with a slightly metallic scent to the tail-like part with a firm texture. In my case, I thoroughly enjoyed the lightness of that glossy red flesh with wasabi and soy sauce.

The dishes kept piling up one after another starting with the crunchy salt-roasted heart, intestines lightly pickled in vinegar, salt-boiled fin with rich fat, spiced deep-fried ribs, and the roasted back meat. And finally, the last main course to sum up this feast was the sashimi rice bowl.

The rice of the Baerentz Archipelago was apparently a common commodity in this trade point. I asked the boss how I would love to eat sashimi along with rice and he sure saw it through to the end.

"Then as you wanted, here is the freshly cooked rice, mixed with the seasoning of vinegar, sugar, and salt. But that said, I had no time to verify the end result with the time restraint, so I\'m not sure if the taste will suit your palate.

Serving a haphazardly made dish honestly is something I wouldn\'t normally do, but given it\'s your request, I made it an exception. This one\'s on the house, so please share your feedback."

The boss said in an irritated tone.

I guess he was resistant to serving an unverified dish to his customers. It was probably my persistent request that made him consider it.

I spread some soy sauce over the sashimi, garnished it with wasabi, and took a bite.

"......Delish! It\'s truly great, though I prefer a bit less sweetness in my rice. I would say adding some spices and kelp would also contribute to changing the taste and aroma. Then again, a professional like the boss would know better than my half-baked explanation."

The sweetness of the rice was slightly above the level for my liking but the boss had perfectly replicated sushi rice. At the end of the day, he also tried his best to put a presentable dish in this short time so this deserved a full score from me.

"Man, it was really a feast. No, seriously. How long had I been seeking this taste? You know, I seriously thought I would have to give up, but finding your shop is really the best thing that could have happened to me.

Boss, thank you very much!"

I lowered my head at a perfect 45 degrees from the counter to show my respect. He looked slightly bewildered at my sudden gratitude but brushed it off with a laugh, seemingly embarrassed.

◆◆◆

"There\'s something I want to say--- or more like give you. We would be delighted if you could accept it. We are truly thankful for what you have done. We would have no face to show if we really let you go empty-handed after all that."

Mimosa held out a black katana --- a glance was enough to tell it was a marvel forged by a skilled craftsman --- toward me.

"This is the work of the 14th generation Zenstate, The Ningrose, and the finest one among the swords handled by our subsidiary trading company."

Mimosa explained as she and Gond glanced at me with an uneasy expression.

I had already turned down their reward once, but I guess they truly wanted me to accept this.

I was glad they considered me worthy of this but... I shook my head.

"......So not even this could interest you..."

A sorrowful expression clouded the faces of Mimosa and Gond.

"I don\'t mean that. I\'m just saying this marvel is beyond an amateur like me to have."

"Then, you really don\'t have to hold yourself back!"

"That isn\'t the point. You know, the lady here had said \'Our price is set the same for regulars and first-timers alike. No service charge, but also no discount\' when I first visited this store. The same went for the boss when he said he wasn\'t satisfied with the seafood bowl and that it was on the house.

I mean the same thing. I arrived here only to enjoy my holidays, and everything I did was all for that. Maybe my actions were a saving grace for someone else, but accepting a high-grade item just for this clearly isn\'t my style."

I seriously feared that my financial senses would go out of wack if I accepted this. Hell, it might even change my perspective as well. It would have been another matter if it pertained to survival but there was no reason, for now at least, to take it.

My father also often preached to us the motto of humble and steady, and to choose our tools based on our experience and strength. Accepting this would just give rise to, you know, doubts like \'Was I really worthy of this?\'.

"You really are a strange fella with a strange value of stubbornness. Sis, he\'s just that kind of person, so you don\'t have to mind him."

Dan said from the sideline while leisurely sipping his tea.

"Anyway. I have a business deal... Is your company interested in sponsoring the Royal Academy\'s Sailing Club?"

◆◆◆

Dan, who had been sipping his tea without a care in the world, suddenly stiffened up and yelled.

"Hey-hey, hold your horses for a damn minute, Ren. Do we even have a Sailing Club? I\'ve never heard of it."

Uh-huh, of course, you haven\'t heard of it when even I haven\'t, duh! Actually, this was something I came up with a while ago.

"Well of course, because we\'re going to establish it after summer vacation. As for the practice field, we have the Great Rune River in the south of the Royal Capital so it\'s completely viable. And the president of the brand new club would be Daniel Solcoast--- the pride of the Count Solcoast Family."

Dan cradled his head in his arms.

"I hate myself that my hunch turned out to be correct! Kuh, do you really think anyone from that Royal Academy would even be interested in sailing to fish or transport stuff!? Maybe it would have been fine if it was something like a galley ship from the Navy, but anyway. There are rumors that the transport ships are soon going to be equipped with magic machinery."

I sighed at his talk.

"Good grief. Why is everyone from that academy so hard-headed? Who cares if no one joins the club, we\'re not doing it for the clout. And a galley ship... Are you so desperate to join the rowing club and paddle your heart out?

Listen here, the first thing that you should always consider is whether it\'s something you want to do or not. I\'m sure you would be delighted to join though. Anyway, your answer?"

"Huh, ah, well I do like sailing but this is just like extra playtime. Besides, I\'m also the vice president of the Hill Road Club. And putting aside everything else, do you think they would permit you to establish a club like that? Researching the pressure thing you were talking about certainly has merit, but wouldn\'t a Dynamic Research Club be better?"

Kukuku. So he was hooked on the story at least, huh? I would have done it alone if he had shown rejection for once. But it was clear he was just looking for an excuse so I just gotta do my usual stuff in this case--- give a forceful push. I really wanted to learn more about sailing from him after all.

"It\'s not \'Would the academy grant permission\' but that they will for sure. The Hill Road Club would be changed from a first-year club to a club encompassing all years from the second half of the term.

We can always have Leo and Stella be the president and vice president. Ah, but that doesn\'t mean I\'m disregarding your effort as the vice president. It\'s just that I\'m now sure after seeing your sailing skills. The thing you ought to spend your youth on is--- sailing!

I don\'t know what would be the result of our research, but doing that in the name of Dynamic Research Club or whatever would be underselling our dream. In the end, what we want to do is know more about sailing a ship and that\'s why this is our club name. Besides, what\'s wrong with playing around? Your school life will only last for three years. This is the most youthful time of your life, so hesitate no further, Dan!"

Dan\'s mouth opened and closed like goldfish when I nonchalantly, and so confidently, announced that it was indeed for playing around and that was why we were going to do it. I turned to Mimosa.

"You heard it. So, what do you think about sponsoring us?"

"...What do you mean you heard it?... Hah. We can\'t give a reply before knowing all the conditions in the business, you know."

Mimosa asked with scrutiny, wearing the mask of a merchant after knowing the details. Heh, no wonder she managed to wrap the area around her fingers.

"True enough. Dan and I discovered a new possibility of sailing. We need a ship with a specific design to match our ideas. It\'s just my guess but aside from coming up with the design itself, the construction time should be no different than that of a regular ship.

The compensation for sponsoring us would be the advertisement of the Serene Wind Co. A ship chasing after a new philosophy would have the banner of your company and if our research actually bore fruit, I can assure you that the effect would be world-shaking. But of course, there\'s no guarantee we will succeed, which may negatively impact your company.

In short, your call is to see if Dan and I are worthy of that investment."

Once I was done with my words, Mimosa glared at me while putting her hands on her waist.

"Whether you and Dan have that value or not... Are you seriously asking the obvious?"

◆◆◆

For the two days after that, we cooperated with the folks of the Serene Wind to experiment more about the newly discovered driving force in the Solcoast sea region and shared our design concept with them.

The core point, first of all, was altering the shape of the vertical ship\'s forefoot to make it withstand the propulsion force, which was traditionally made thinner to reduce water resistance, as well as making the center of gravity adjustable and devising ways to enhance the stability and the strong restoring force that tries to keep the ship upright.

The rest of the design was focused on the premise that the ship would be operated by students of the Royal Academy whose expertise in body-strengthening magic was a notch or two above the standard level.

For the immediate terms, we decided that the Serene Wind would remodel the ship we used for fishing following our design as much as possible and have it delivered by the end of summer vacation. Afterward, any further requests would be concluded by the President of the Sailing Club and the Serene Wind Co at periodically arranged meetings.

On a related note, Dan also became a member of the Emission Magic Research Club. Well, he initially had a fierce mental struggle like \'Should I really do that when I can\'t even find a girlfriend...\'. Actually, the reputation of the students joining the Emission Magic Research Club, especially those of the knight course, was a bit dicey as girls often kept them at a ten-foot distance. But anyway, Dan also knew that the practice of wind magic was a vital part of our research.

Later on, the boss of Ginkgo participated in the competition for Dan\'s birthday party, but unfortunately, he was eliminated--- or more like he completely failed in it.

Apparently, the creative dish made using Ginkgo\'s special wasabi sauce, supervised as well by Dan, who had taken a liking to wasabi and soy sauce, was rejected before it could even appear in front of him in the taste-testing round.

The situation, which I later heard from Mimosa in the Royal capital, seemingly went like this---

Taste Tester - \'It stung the nose!\'

Boss - \'But that was the intention\'

Taste Tester - \'Apprehend him!\'

"Well, I can meet Dan often now in the guise of being business partners so maybe it all went well in the end..." were her words.

As for me, I returned to the Royal Capital after spending my first otherworld vacation to my heart\'s content.

◆◆◆

The summer vacation of that year became the precursor for the establishment of the Royal Academy\'s Sailing Club.

For a short time, the appraisal of Daniel Solcoast fell in the eyes of society.

According to some, he had simply lost his sense of responsibility after getting removed from the position of the Hill Roads Club\'s vice president and spent his time on useless stuff.

According to some, he had become short-sighted after getting fascinated by an antique ship.

According to some, he had become a stone-headed fool who even turned away from the sound advice of Count Solcoast, his father and his guide to an upright life.

As for the person himself, he could only accept all the criticism silently with a bitter smile. But then again, it wasn\'t long before he shut everyone\'s mouth with his achievement.