SC1 10.4 – Entering Food Industry

Fisherman from Toba Mie didn’t harvest seaweed. Therefore, I had to harvest it myself. Fortunately, I didn’t need go too far. The nearby coastal water had kelp and seaweed I needed. Wasting no time I deployed Essence Pulse to track the situation below the boat.

The forest of kelp was firmly rooted at 12 meters deep rocky seabed, along with other smaller seaweeds between them. Their abundant amount was a clear sign that the diver from Toba Mie had no interest on them. And so I concluded, the culinary tradition in Kamakura City had not yet realized the vital value of kelp and seaweed other than source of food for sea urchin and other marine life.

Wasting no time, I silently used Shadow Hand to harvest the kelp and seaweed and stored it in my spatial storage. It didn’t take a long before I got the amount I wanted. After that I put my attention on the scattered abalone on the seabed.

They were big abalone, 18 cm in diameter mostly. In Japan, it would be sold at USD 400-700 per kg if the fisherman knew how to dry it properly. While here, Sotora sold it at 100 monn dried or 300 monn fresh. Wasting no time I harvested a few biggest abalones.

“This is truly a good abalone,” I happily said as I put a piece of big abalone I caught into a wooden bucket.

At the same time, Minami gasped and then worriedly said, “Warrior Deitoro, we can’t harvest marine goods on our own here. We have agreement with Toba Mie. Only their fisherman can harvest marine goods in this area.”

“Ah my bad…” I said regretfully. “I will put it back to the sea after I explained a few things about this delicacy to Yunno and Yui.”

Without delay, I explained to Yunno and Yui how to handle fresh caught abalone before presenting it as a steak. It’s rather regrettable that I couldn’t show them the method step-by-step and then let them tasted it, but my primary objective was kelp and seaweed and I had cleared it. So, I had no complaint.

After that I put the abalone back to the sea. It didn’t pain me that I had to let a go a premium ingredient. Previously, I already put dozen such abalones into my spatial storage.

Then, I turned my gaze to Minami, “The water around here has high salinity level, so the clam fish has strong sea flavor.

But some dried oysters I bought has floral and sweet natural flavor. The fisherman also doesn’t apply salt solution to preserve it. I believe they poach it in boiling water before drying it under the sun.

Does the fisherman have to go to other areas to get the floral oyster?”

“No,” Minami replied. “If we go five kilometer west of Toba Mie, we will arrive at the meeting point between Guma River and Nagoya Sea.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

Lot of clamp fish with floral and sweet flavor inhabits the upper part of this meeting point where the salinity level is low.”

“I see.”

I nodded and carved the information I just received from Minami deep in my heart. It was important clues that highly likely, upstream area of Guma River was also a spawning ground for salmon. And if the salmon had life cycle like salmon on earth, they would be at their spawning cycle right now. In short, it was a good chance to harvest them.

“Well, let’s have small snack before we return to the shore,” I said as I took out dozens bowls of instant noodle.

“Warrior Deitoro, you don’t have to treat us,” Minami politely said. “I bring rice ball with me, enough for everyone.”

“Minami, please try my noodle and give me your opinion,” I calmly said.

After a moment of ponder Minami said, “Okay.”

Wasting no time I asked Yunno and Yui to distribute the instant noodle. The ship was medium size fishing boat that required 4 senior crews and 16 rowers to sail it, so Yunno and Yui had to move around quite a bit. However, they with ease walked on the swaying deck while carrying instant noodles on both hands.

‘These kids are truly having natural talent to become warrior,’ I happily muttered.

In no time everyone received their noodles, and then we enjoyed our lunch heartily. Even Minami who had tasted the delicacy from Kamakura ate the instant noodle with gusto, or maybe she and everyone else were just hungry. Well, whatever the reason was, the most important thing was that today I had cleared my objectives.

---

The return journey from Toba Mie went in quiet mood. I just enjoyed the calm sea breeze, while Yunno and Yui happily looked at the Nagoya Sea as the cart moved away. It seemed the scene of huge blue sea still gave them a deep awe.

Meanwhile, Minami was deeply pondering in silence. It was not everyday occurrence to see a kid had a deep thought all over her place, but I was not stupid enough to disturb her, even though I still wondered about her opinion on the instant noodle.

However, Minami suddenly turned her gaze to me. “Warrior Deitoro, can you sell your noodle to Sotora at 2.70 monn per bowl?”

“Does Sotora plan to sell cooked food?” I asked.

“Have you ever heard Fragrant Flavor?” Minami asked me back.

I lightly nodded. “It’s the biggest eatery in Rokube.”

Minami firmly replied, “Sotora is Fragrant Flavor’s main backer. We even hold 52% of its ownership.”

“Do you want to put my instant noddle as one of the menus in Fragrant Flavor?” I curiously asked.

“Yeah, Fragrant Flavor has lot of low-tier menu, but none is as good as yours. I plan to add your instant noodle at 3.15 monn,” Minami calmly explained. “In this trade the restaurant will take 0.15 monn profit and 0.30 monn operational costs while providing the food ware and serve the buyer. I guess it’s a fair trade.”

“I see.” After pondering for a moment I asked, “Are you sure Sotora owner will accept your proposal?”

“Absolutely.”

Confidence was clearly visible in Minami’s eyes, so I accepted her proposal even though my original plan was to enter food industry at next spring, after I fully completed the preparation.

“Wait for a second,” I said as I took a sheet of paper and a pencil.

In a detailed list I then write down the material cost, chef incentive, and labor cost that was needed to produce instant noodle, along with the size of the portion per bowl. Then, I handed it over to Yunno and Yui.

“Yunno, Yui,” I calmly said. “Try to calculate, how many bowl of instant noodle we have to produce to get production cost at 2.43 monn per bowl.”

““Hai!!””

Yunno and Yui replied at the same time before taking out their writing equipment and worked the math. Coincidently, yesterday I had taught them how to calculate production cost, and now they had the chance to apply it.

It didn’t take long before Yunno and Yui finished the calculation. There was a slight difference on how they calculate the cost of firewood, but the end result was pretty much similar. Yunno concluded we have to produce 154 bowls of instant noodle to break even at 2.43 monn per bowl, while Yui concluded we had to produce 158 bowls.

“If the minimal order is 158 bowls, I can sell the instant noodle at 2.70 monn to Sotora,” I said as I handed over the projection cost calculated by Yunno and Yui to Minami. “Meaning, my profit is 0.27 Monn per bowl or about 10%.”

But, are you sure you want to have 158 bowls in your first order?”

Minami firmly replied, “Fragrant Flavor has big spatial storage. It can store 200 bowls of cooked noodles with ease.”

“Okay,” I happily replied.

In a calm mood we then continued the ride to Sotora. Other than taking the bowls for the instant noodles, I also had to buy a big supply of high protein wheat flour.

*****