Ch.36Midnight Beer Party

After finishing the photo shoot and a brief interview, Seti and I decided to explore the shops along the main street of Zemest.

We had more than three hours left before Jessica would finish editing her grimoire, and it seemed like a novel experience to explore the western city without relying on her.

We stopped by a gun shop to look at various firearms, bought individually packaged powdered corn soup and dried macaroni pasta at a travel supply store, and browsed through the assortment of precious metals and jeweled accessories displayed in an accessory shop. Throughout all this, Seti’s tail never stayed still for a moment. For her, a native, simply exploring the western city seemed to be entertainment in itself.

“Would you like to buy an accessory if you see one you like?”

“No, just looking is enough.”

“Even excluding our party funds, I have enough money to buy a necklace for my cute girlfriend.”

Despite spending 50 gold on Ancestor’s harness, I still had about 140 gold of personal funds left in my wallet.

Money from selling magic stones or materials, quest rewards, and so on were divided by four—distributed between our personal funds and the party’s common fund—so Jessica and Seti would have similar amounts.

“I already feel bad about going on a date with Will before Jessica did, so I can’t accept gifts from you. And…”

“And?”

“…I’d like my first piece of jewelry to be a wedding ring.”

She blushed as she said this, and I found her so adorable that I nearly pulled her into an embrace and showered her with kisses, but I desperately restrained myself because of the passersby.

I later learned that Catfolk women consider it virtuous not to wear any accessories other than traditional craft necklaces until they receive a ring from the groom on their wedding day.

By doing so, they convey the message to their marriage partner: “Color me with the hue you desire…”

Indeed, a walking pheromone factory! She certainly knows how to ignite a man’s heart!!

While we were enjoying window shopping and flirting like this, we weren’t just wandering through the shopping district purely for sightseeing.

“Tortillas, olives and olive oil, chicken are bought, and next is onions…”

“They’re selling them at that shop over there.”

“OK.”

It all started when I muttered to myself while buying macaroni at the travel supply store that “I might be able to make some dishes I know.”

Seti, who overheard this, began showing great interest in the cuisine that I, a drifter, knew about. We decided to challenge ourselves to cook for the first time in Grantis, partly as a surprise gift for Jessica when she returned after hours of grimoire editing.

As we wandered through Grantis’s food market looking for what I could make, I spotted tortillas and immediately decided on the menu—Mexican food that I used to enjoy while living in America.

“As expected, no jalapeño pickles… I wish there was something to cut through the richness.”

“What’s a jalapeño?”

“It’s a long, fang-shaped green fruit with a slightly spicy taste.”

“There’s something over there shaped like a molar.”

“Paprika… no, bell pepper. Actually, that’s better. Let’s buy one.”

If jalapeños aren’t available, bell peppers would work better than paprika.

With the cheese we had bought from Ambers Ranch and the salt Seti had, we’d gathered almost all the ingredients needed for today.

“We still have some time left, but shall we head back and start preparations? We also need to find a spot outside the city to build a campfire.”

“Will’s hometown cuisine… I’m looking forward to it.”

“To be precise, it’s not exactly from my hometown, but from a neighboring area.”

After purchasing all the necessary ingredients, I stopped by a tavern on the way back to our lodging to buy beer, then grabbed a pot set, tableware, and a few other necessary items from my backpack in our room before heading out through Zemest’s east gate.

I found a spot not too far from the city and lit a campfire with the lighter we’d bought at the shopping district. While I prepared the ingredients, Seti went back into the city to fetch Jessica. By the time I finished prepping the chicken, bell peppers, olives, and onions, Jessica and Seti returned with perfect timing.

“Welcome back, Jessica. You must be tired after working for hours.”

“I heard Will is preparing dinner tonight. What are you making?”

“It’s called quesadilla, something I used to eat often before coming to Grantis.”

“Ooh, sounds exciting! Is there anything we can help with?”

“Jessica, could you fill this bucket halfway with ice? Then add water and put the beer bottles in it. Seti, could you grate cheese onto this small plate until it’s full?”

“Got it.”

“Leave it to me.”

While Jessica and Seti worked on what I’d asked, I sautéed onions and bell peppers in olive oil and set them aside on a plate.

Then I laid a tortilla on the bottom of the frying pan, sprinkled the grated cheese Seti had prepared, and evenly distributed the onions, bell peppers, olives, and cooked chicken on top of the tortilla.

I sprinkled more cheese over everything, covered it with another tortilla, and put the lid on to wait for the cheese to melt. Keeping the frying pan slightly away from the campfire helped reduce the heat to prevent the tortillas from burning.

When the cheese had melted sufficiently, I opened the lid and flipped the quesadilla. At this point, it’s important not to flip it by tossing it like a pancake, as ingredients not secured by cheese might fly out or the cheese might stretch outward due to centrifugal force. The trick is to place a plate against it, flip it over, and then slide the quesadilla from the plate back into the pan.

“And when both sides are cooked, place it on a plate, cut it into easy-to-eat pieces like this, and it’s done.”

“Wow~”

“It looks delicious.”

“Now let’s pour the ice-cold beer into cups… Cheers!”

“Cheers~”

“Cheers!”

The taste of quesadillas with cold beer was truly exquisite.

Although it was an incomplete version without mozzarella cheese or sour cream, it turned out pretty decent for something made on short notice.

“Delicious! The meat and cheese melt in your mouth!”

“With cold beer, I feel like I could keep eating these endlessly.”

“It’s the kind of food that makes you gain weight easily, so we shouldn’t eat too much, but we’ve been walking, fighting, and digging for days, so we should be fine.”

“Oh, I have a constitution that doesn’t gain weight easily, so I’m fine.”

“Beastfolk don’t change body shape from excess nutrition, so I’m fine too.”

“OK, you said it. Let’s eat to our heart’s content tonight!”

Reminiscing about how I gained 15kg within two years of starting my life in America and had to struggle at the gym to lose weight, I placed the second quesadilla in the frying pan.

“Ahh~ That was satisfying.”

“It got a bit rich after a while, but thanks to the beer and bell peppers, I could keep eating without getting tired of it.”

“I had no idea Will was such a good cook.”

After devouring five quesadillas, we took a break, gazing up at the night sky.

At some point, the hammering sounds from inside Zemest had stopped, and there were hardly any people coming in or out of the city gates.

“Even in a city full of blacksmiths and craftsmen, it gets quiet at this hour…”

“There’s an ordinance that requires workshops to close after 8 PM to avoid disturbing residents’ sleep.”

“What’s an ordinance?”

“It’s like a law established for each city. Since each city has different environments and characteristics, they need appropriate rules.”

“Come to think of it, I haven’t heard about what form of government or state the pioneers have. How does that work?”

One thing I noticed during our journey from Mothertown through Oxville to Zemest was how remarkably faint the presence of a “state” was in people’s daily lives.

I hadn’t seen any national flags flying, police or military stationed anywhere, or any traces of politicians or nobles.

Jessica’s answer resolved my questions while simultaneously giving me a fresh shock.

“A clear concept of a nation hasn’t been established yet.”

“Huh?”

“Even if we wanted to establish a country, the territory outside of Mothertown is in this state. There are no class differences like kings or nobles, and as western cities grow, new ways of life and rules become necessary. Of course, there are public institutions that enact laws or operate public banks, but the pioneers of Grantis haven’t yet defined a clear form of nation.”

Jessica’s explanation continued with an introduction to the major political organizations and public institutions in Grantis.

The largest public institutions established in Grantis are the Round Table Council, the New Continent Pioneer Headquarters, and the Academy. Among these, the Academy existed as a subordinate department of the New Continent Pioneer Headquarters before becoming an independent institution.

The various departments of the Round Table Council are responsible for enacting basic laws, diplomacy with natives, allocating taxes and budgets, and operating public banks.

The New Continent Pioneer Headquarters establishes the overall direction of western pioneering, manages the Frontier License system, and oversees western city construction and barrier management.

The Academy trains mages, researches various magical theories and magical tools, and compiles basic educational materials for children.

“That seems like a… rather rough political structure.”

“We’re aware of it. We know we can’t continue living in such a pre-modern city-state form forever. But most of the first-generation immigrants who arrived in Grantis were from lower classes exploited under monarchies or feudal states, so they absolutely cannot tolerate the existence of a hereditary power based on bloodlines.”

“I… see.”

I barely swallowed the words, “Well, there’s also the form of a republic based on democracy.”

The pioneers who arrived in Grantis are in the process of escaping the oppression of monarchy and finding a new form of life in the new continent. For me, an outsider, to intervene would be tantamount to trying to shape Grantis’s future into the same form as Earth’s.

That would go beyond what the people of Grantis consider taboo—”lingering attachment to the outside world”—and would be an attempt to bring in an outside political system.

“What about the natives? Do kingdoms of beastfolk or elves exist?”

“I don’t know about elves or dwarves. But beastfolk only live together in tribal villages; no one tries to create a large country.”

“Other races probably aren’t much different. As long as black mana exists, there’s no point in securing vast territories. It might be different if enough large barriers were created to cover all of Grantis.”

“Hahaha, that would be quite far in the future.”

As I said this, I finished the remaining beer and stood up.

I don’t know if I’ll live to see the end of the western pioneering project during my thousand-year lifespan, but it seems I’ll be living through decades of a changing world.

“Let’s clean up and head back. It would be a waste to fall asleep out here after paying 5 gold for a room.”

“When we get back, I’ll briefly explain the magic I organized today. Is everyone still awake enough?”

“I’m too full to sleep yet.”

“Ah, me too. We probably need another hour or two.”

After extinguishing the fire and cleaning up the dishes and trash, we returned to our lodging, exchanging silly jokes along the way.

The gatekeeper seemed to glare at us with eyes full of envy and anger as the three of us passed through the entrance arm in arm, but I decided not to pay it any mind.