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It can safely be said that there are hardly any people in Winterhome who dislike the current situation flooded with crabs.

Everyone praised Alfred’s name wholeheartedly.

Of course, due to being regarded as vermin by sailors and harmful pest monsters, the status of crabs was lower than that of ordinary crustaceans.

Yet, nonetheless, they are crabs.

And crabs are delicious.

“What a massive crab! My goodness, if it weighs this much, how much could it cost—”

“There’s a crab right in front of you, does the price even matter? Just eat it already!”

“A toast to our lord who generously bestowed us with so many crabs! And to those who brought us these crabs, whatever they may be!”

“This is a Ship’s Claw Crab. Damn it, if I eat this and set sail, I might be in big trouble—ah, whatever!”

In the common seats, there were plenty of other dishes, but the hungry folks set their sights on the spicy butter sauce seafood boil filled with various seafood, processed meats, and vegetables.

Although the quantity had been increased with other ingredients, at least there were enough crabs for each person to eat several.

The situation at the Wizard’s Tower was even worse.

“Wait, you made pies by painstakingly picking the meat out of crab shells? How extravagant… how much effort did that take?”

“Well, I don’t particularly like seafood, but eating it this way doesn’t seem too bad.”

“Wow, I can eat so much crab! The Lord of the Tower and Karem are gods! I will continue to serve you diligently…!”

The number of wizards was significantly fewer than in the Great Hall.

Less than what was used in the Great Hall, but still a considerable amount.

Thanks to that, Karem shared numerous recipes with Mary to cook the Ship’s Claw Crab.

“Did you use the sauce like broth? This is, carrot? Did you also add clams?”

“Seafood boil. Various seafood, including crabs, simmered with the ingredients in the sauce.”

“How about making crab meat pies today?”

“Picking the crab meat one by one… wait, is there a crazy magic that separates crab meat from its shell!?”

“Cocktail. It’s a dish where you dip cooked, chilled crab meat into the sauce.”

“I’ll take care of making the sauce. Just handle the rest.”

And then a few days passed.

Mary noticed something odd at the tower.

“…Hmm? The presence… has decreased?”

Normally, wizards were absorbed in research, holed up in their personal rooms.

However, the presences of those wizards had started disappearing one by one during dinnertime.

Naturally, Mary, who was responsible for all their meals, sensed this.

And thanks to the remaining wizards, she could understand the reason.

“Honestly, even if they’re crabs, eating them every day is getting old. I’m starting to want to eat something else.”

“I guess I don’t like crabs as much as I thought. Let’s eat in the Great Hall tonight.”

“Ugh, no. It’s not that. I’ve eaten so much that just smelling them makes me gag.”

“Wow, crab… dumplings? Regardless, it’s crab, right? Then can I eat more of this? R-Really? Seriously?!”

Mary simply couldn’t allow this situation.

Tasks that should be served meticulously were now going to the Great Hall?

However, despite Mary’s persuasion, defectors began to appear from the third day.

By the fourth day, surprisingly, defections also started happening during lunchtime.

At that time, the density of wizards in the tower halved.

It was quite clear where they had gone.

Of course, all the crabs that had been delivered had run out by yesterday, but additional crabs had arrived this morning, equal to what they had eaten so far. There was no sign that defections would decrease.

“So… are you complaining about it like this?”

“This is an insult and atrocity that I, as a house fairy, cannot accept!”

BANG! As Mary slammed her hands on the table, the impact made Catherine and Karem’s table in front of her shake. Karem looked down at the clanking plate cover in shock.

‘Well, is it already the fifth day?’

For a weak commoner’s tongue, it had indeed been a long time to eat like that.

It seemed that the house fairy’s sensitivity couldn’t understand it, though.

“Then just make something different.”

“I’d dislike that as it feels like losing.”

“…Do as you wish. More importantly, Karem. What’s for lunch today?”

Catherine shook her head slowly and diverted her attention.

“Since I heard you were getting tired of crab, I prepared an exotic dish. Crab and pork shumai.”

“Shumai?”

“Yes. A relic from my past life.”

Finely minced pork and crab meat made the filling.

The transparent wrappers enveloped the contents like a dish.

On top, orange crab roe sprinkled like flower powder.

It was a dish that was exotic to the point of being otherworldly, exceeding the order.

However, Mary protested to the intrigued Catherine.

“Contractor. Please do something about the wizards who are openly insulting my existence in real-time.”

“Is that all? It’s not a breach of contract.”

“But it means my workload is decreasing…!”

Karem, squinting his eyes, gazed intently at the distressed Mary, then handed the shumai to Catherine on her behalf.

“But Mary. What about the remaining shumai?”

Mary’s lunch for the mages was also shumai.

She knew because she made it together.

“A few days ago, I offered them to Esclark first, and the remaining ones are given to His Highness and Her Highness.”

“…Well, at least they won’t go to waste.”

Even without the Felwinter siblings, Narque, who was finishing up shumai in the laboratory, was surprisingly an outstanding crab annihilator.

“Well, more than that, what’s concerning is—”

“What do you mean by that, Junior Karem? How could you say something like that…!”

“Weren’t that many crabs delivered yesterday too? I don’t dislike it, but it feels a bit strange.”

“Could it be that a new fishing ground has been discovered near Iceland?”

“Like a herring ground?”

“More like a Ship’s Claw Crab fishing ground. Those waters might turn into a sea of death.”

Hearing Mary’s words, Karem began to understand the intuitive naming of crabs.

“Could it be that the prefix, ‘Ship’s Claw’—”

“It clings to ships passing nearby and gnaws at their hull.”

“Those things even have pincers sharp as knives?”

“Sometimes they raid ships docked at ports.”

“…Isn’t that a bit dangerous?”

The main source of income in Iceland right now was the sale of natural air-conditioning timber. And these things were exported across the wasters to the Kingdom of Adobice via ships.

“Well, in any case, my lord asked for an investigation.”

Catherine fluttered the order she had received in the morning while Mary, who had grabbed the fork from Karem, took a bite of the shumai.

“Apparently, he was quite surprised when an unusual amount of Ship’s Claw Crabs was sent from a village in the direct territory.”

“That seems a bit odd, no?”

“The village is three days’ journey from Obsidianberry. Besides—”

Catherine paused, swallowed the shumai she had been chewing.

“Lord Godwin’s practical training is also ongoing, so he requested we follow along, just in case.”

With that one sentence, Karem understood Catherine, and she finished the shumai that Mary had extended to him.

Crab meat and pork from Ship’s Claw Crab.

Unlike the dishes eaten thus far, the combination of land meat instead of seafood was surprisingly better than expected.

The texture created by the minced, streaky pork and the tender, bouncy crab meat was completely different from that of meatballs, producing a unique feel.

And as she tore away the wrapper that only covered the top, the flavor-packed broth surged out as if she had broken a bowl.

The smell of pork was obliterated by the explosive aroma of the sea.

The oil and juices mixed into the flavor of the crab meat, making it feel like she was savoring a precious consomme in Bersetzengeto.

“Despite the crab meat being delicious, it’s definitely suspicious, so I was requested to leave as soon as I finish my tasks.”

“But we just returned from a venture, right? It’ll likely be at least a level up to Olivier’s standards.”

“The old man’s busy now.”

Olivier was currently engaged in an important project to create a communicating crystal for Alicia and Prince Henry.

“Above all, it’s about the item related to the exports to Adobice.”

“Ah, that was the big shot, right?”

“Yeah. They could buy everything in bulk.”

Catherine seemed not to take much pleasure in it either and clicked her tongue, leaning back against her chair.

In other words, there was ample reason to believe that the trading connection between the Kingdom of Adobice and the influx of Ship’s Claw Crabs would be problematic. This seemed to indicate Catherine’s expedition to investigate.

If described, it was truly no different from the sea locusts. Just how many ships have those quasi-monster crabs devoured until now?

“Shouldn’t we depart immediately?”

“If it was that serious, we would have set out long ago.”

“Oh, I suppose so.”

“Moreover, the transports happen without contacting Winterhome, so my lord is completely unaware of it.”

Catherine fluttered the order toward the shumai, and under the contractor’s unspoken command, Mary quickly dipped the shumai in soy sauce and offered it.

“Well, until then, just keep things as usual—”

Boooom!

The restaurant slightly trembled.

The noise and vibrations weren’t that loud, but it was enough to interrupt Catherine’s words.

“What in the world is happening?”

Of course, the Wizard’s Tower is known for its chaotic eruptions daily, but through past experiences, Karem understood. This was not the familiar tremor of an experiment gone wrong.

If he were to point out something similar, it was reminiscent of the vibrations they had experienced in Fungusbee—

“Doesn’t it feel similar to a golem vibration?”

“Golem? A project on that isn’t—no way.”

Catherine frowned as if it couldn’t be possible, but then she seemed to recall something, rising swiftly.

“Contractor. There are still shumai left for lunch.”

“Oh, right. Follow me with those.”

“All of a sudden?”

“I found it interesting.”

Karem, saying that, picked up the plate of shumai and followed after Mary, who held the soy sauce dish. Ascending the stairs behind Catherine, the vibrations became increasingly strong and distinctly felt.

“I’ve thought about this for a while, but others sure do stay inside well.”

“I’ve said it before, but besides me, the old man and my lord’s orders, those folks prioritize their own research and work.”

“Hmm, but this direction—”

Murmuring as they neared the source of the intensifying vibrations, Mary spoke.

“It’s in the direction where Esclark’s laboratory is.”

“Indeed. And, here we are.”

Boom! Thud!

Once Karem arrived in front of the laboratory, the sound of vibrations was accompanied by the rattling of the door.

“So, Catherine? How did you deduce this?”

“Recently, Narque took loads of cheese to investigate the correlation between decay, fermentation, and necromancy.”

“Ah, that’s why there wasn’t any cheese left in the warehouse, right? Cheese?”

“What kind of reaction is that? I heard you told him about decay and fermentation, Karem.”

“…I suppose I did say something like that…”

With a statement that was extremely plausible, Karem had no choice but to agree nonchalantly.

“But how exactly do cheese and this vibration relate?”

“I think the answer has already been mentioned by the contractor.”

“What? A golem? How could necromancy possibly control cheese and turn it into something like a golem—”

Boom!

As if confirming that statement, the wall along with the door was blown away. Through the debris, a gigantic, round, cheese-like arm became visible.

While Karem idly thought it looked like a scene from an animation, Mary extended her hand and created a protective shield in front of them. The shattered door and fragmenting wall battered against the translucent shield.

“AHHHHH! That direction is—no, don’t—!”

“Whoah! What a commotion!?”

“Hey! Halt! Halt!!!”

Leading the cheese golem, Narque pointed his staff, stuttering as he shouted.

The cheese golem smashed through the door before coming to an abrupt halt, towering in place right in the hallway.

“I did say it, but I never thought I’d see the answer like this.”

“It truly is a cheese golem.”

The cheese golem, stack of round cheese blocks laid horizontally and vertically, looked like a child had stacked blocks to form a humanoid figure.

Narque, standing beside it, couldn’t hide his incredulous expression, becoming even more bemused with his elf-like beauty.

“…I was already intrigued about it; I never expected to see results this quickly.”

“Well, um, is that… a compliment?”

“I need to examine this personally. Lead the way.”

Narque, caught like a student discovered having fun in personal research by a professor, was scared stiff.

 

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