Chapter 44: A Friendly Atmosphere

At this rate, the pizza would be gone in no time, so I figured I’d bake two more.

There were still ingredients left for the dough, and as long as I bought more cheese, I could keep making more.

I hurried back to the kitchen and quickly got started on the extra pizzas.

In the end, I made three large pizzas, and every last bite was eaten without a single leftover.

I only managed to get a taste by the third one, and thanks to my generous use of cheese, the quality was good enough to be served in a restaurant.

It was surprisingly cheap to make, so it might be a good idea to prepare it again whenever there’s a large gathering.

“Ahh… I could die happy. Sato-san, seriously, thank you.”

“I never thought I’d get to eat such delicious pizza! I can’t thank you enough, Sato!”

“Same here. I was so moved that I actually started crying.”

“I was about to say crying is a bit much—but honestly, it was so good that I nearly teared up myself! Sato-san, you’re our savior!”

Shoji suddenly grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously.

At first, I thought he might be the type I wasn’t good with—he was young and had a flashy appearance—but all four of them were incredibly friendly and easy to talk to.

I really shouldn’t judge people based on their looks.

“Don’t worry about it. We’re all fellow summoned people, so I’d love to build a relationship where we help each other out.”

“A relationship of mutual support, huh… Given what happened with Mika, we’ve mostly been on the receiving end of that.”

“I know it’s odd for me to say this, but yeah, we’ve been getting all the help! We really want to give something back… Sato, do you need money in this world?”

“I wouldn’t mind some, but I also want to try earning it myself. Besides, you guys already gave me magic crystals, so I think it’s been a fair trade.”

“Magic crystals in exchange for pizza so good it brings tears? That doesn’t seem like a fair deal at all. I really want to repay you somehow.”

Honestly, as long as I had some magic crystals and they stayed safe, that was enough for me.

But it seemed like Ren and the others weren’t satisfied with just that.

I wasn’t really sure what else I wanted, so as I was pondering, Sheila, who was sitting next to me, tapped my shoulder.

“…Why not ask if there’s anything you can do during the winter?”

Her suggestion reminded me that I had been considering dungeon exploration.

Even though Sheila could fight, she had probably never actually explored a dungeon.

It might be a good idea to ask Ren and the others for guidance.

“Um… in that case, I do have one request. Would you guys be willing to guide us through a dungeon? It’s going to start snowing soon, and since I won’t be able to do any farming while it snows, I was thinking of trying dungeon exploration. So if you could show us the ropes, I’d really appreciate it.”

“Of course! If you’re fine with us, we’d be happy to guide you.”

“That’s right! This is our specialty. We go to dungeons almost every day, so we can definitely show you around.”

“Thank you. If that’s the case, I’d love for you to help us out.”

I was relieved that they agreed so easily.

My only concern was whether it would interfere with their Demon Lord subjugation, but if it was just for a day, it should be fine.

“…Sato-san, I didn’t expect you to be thinking about dungeon exploration.”

“Well, I wouldn’t call it full-on exploration, but I’m considering going to the dungeon every winter. I think it’d be a good way to gauge my progress in combat each year.”

“I see. That sounds like an interesting approach. I was dreading winter since I wouldn’t be able to farm, but now I’m actually getting excited.”

Sheila’s eyes sparkled, even though she was speaking in a hushed tone.

She really must love combat.

Since I can’t fight or move that well yet, we’ll probably just be fumbling around in the lower floors this year, which makes me feel a bit guilty.

“Oh, so this world has winter too! …Wait, does that mean we won’t be able to eat Japanese food during winter!?”

“Pretty much. I can only get Japanese ingredients with the money I earn from farming. But I’ve been saving up, so I should be able to host at least one more gathering like this during winter.”

“It’s sad that we’ll only get to eat this once more, but even that is enough to keep me motivated!”

“In that case, why don’t we have a Christmas party? I’m not sure if Christmas exists in this world, but still!”

A Christmas party… That brings back memories.

Back in high school, I barely managed to have something like a Christmas gathering.

But after entering university, I definitely stopped doing that.

And as a working adult, I didn’t even have the time—whether it was Christmas or the end of the year, work never let up.

The nostalgia hit me with a slight tinge of sadness.

“Wait, does that mean Christmas cake!? Whoa! I really want to eat something sweet!”

“Hold on, there’s no way you can make a cake, right? That’d be way too much work for Sato-san.”

“Christmas cake might be difficult, but I could probably make vanilla ice cream or pudding.”

“Ice cream or pudding… Both sound way too tempting. It’s up to you, Sato-san, but I’d love to have a Christmas party.”

Ren and the others were all for it, and honestly, it sounded fun, so I wasn’t against it.

Sheila, on the other hand, didn’t seem to understand any of the words we were saying—she just tilted her head in confusion.

“I’ll explain to Sheila-san later. For now, let’s plan on having a Christmas party. I’ll let you know the exact date later.”

“Yes! Sato, you’re our hero!”

“For real. First, you treat us to amazing pizza, and now you’re setting up such a fun event. You’re basically a god. Leave the dungeon stuff to us.”

“Alright. When the time comes, I’ll be counting on you.”

From there, we continued chatting and enjoying ourselves.

Ren and the others shared the details of their journey since arriving in this world.

Apparently, they were currently in a training phase, taking on the same requests as adventurers and working on dungeon exploration.

Mika couldn’t handle the grueling routine and ended up running away, but she was now managing to get along with the group.

They also told me about their unique jobs and skills, and from what I heard, their abilities were quite interesting.

We even decided to hold a formal mock battle in the future, so I’d get to see their skills in action.

It was an unexpected visit, but it turned out to be a really fun day.

With the upcoming dungeon exploration, the mock battle, and the Christmas party, today had been a truly productive and meaningful day.

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