VOLUME 4 END: HOME COOKING
Just as I was wondering what to do while Elia and the rest were busy preparing the food…
“What happened with you two?” [Ryouma]
When I looked behind me, I saw Kanan and Michelle exit the kitchen.
“Not getting in the way is also a form of support, you know.” [Kanan]
“Kanan is bad at cooking, you see. And as for me, well I’m bad at all the topics taught in Girl Power.” [Michelle]
“I don’t think that’s something to be proud of though.” [Ryouma]
So that’s why they’re here. Then in that case, how about I give them a tour of the house? After all, these two do seem like they’d be interested in the prototypes I have in the workshop and in the storeroom.
Thinking that, I tried to call out to them, but before I could, Sebasu-san walked out of the kitchen.
“Ryouma-sama, are you still here?” [Sebasu]
“Yes, what’s the matter?” [Ryouma]
“Do you have any claymore corns? The young ladies wish to use it for the salad.”
“It’s a bit early for harvest, but just a few pieces should be fine. Should I get some?” [Ryouma]
“Yes, please.” [Sebasu]
As Sebasu-san said that, he lightly bowed, and then he went back to the kitchen.
“Can we come too?” [Michelle]
“We’ll help out.” [Kanan]
Like that I ended up taking the two girls, and we teleported through my dimension magic. Our destination was the passage near the experimental district where the claymore corn fields were being cultivated.
“Please wait a moment. ‘Exchange’” [Ryouma]
In an instant, I immediately changed into my work outfit that was stored inside my Dimension Home through the dimension magic, ‘Exchange’. As my body and my arms grew heavier and my field of vision grew narrow, I knew that my magic was a success.
When the two girls saw that, they were shocked. Although it was only added protection over my body, from the outside, it still looked like I just transformed.
“I just changed my clothes with dimension magic.” [Ryouma]
I gave a rough explanation, but apparently, that’s not what they were shocked about.
“…Are those supposed to be work clothes? It just looks like an armor to me though.” [Kanan]
“It really doesn’t look like something you’d wear to pick some corns. You look like you’re about to go to war. I mean you even have a shield with you” [Michelle]
Well, it is true that this outfit covers the entire body from head until the tiptoes in metallic armor. And then there’s even a shield, which I made by transforming a lump of adamantite and then burying a plank of a king sticky slime’s hardening liquid to create a window I could peek out of. Aside from the basket on my back and the sickle I have in my right hand, everything else could be considered odd for someone going out to harvest crops. But that only holds true for normal crops.
“This much is needed in order to safely harvest claymore corns.” [Ryouma]
“Seriously? Is that really still a vegetable?” [Michelle]
When I said that, Michelle frankly replied.
I replied back that claymore corns are just regular corns that’ve mutated from too much fertilizer from the scavenger slimes, but I guess it’s only normal for her to be at a loss after hearing that.
Because claymore corns have been affected by magic power, the portion that could be eaten is about 1m long, making them look just like great swords. Moreover, claymore corns don’t even need a month to grow to a consumable size. It can even be eaten raw. So with all that and how delicious it is, it’s only natural that the duke and his family would praise it lots. At the same time, however, due to its faster growth, it also spoils faster. When that happens its kernels will become hard and will become unsuitable for eating.
Once the kernels harden, every individual piece will become sharp. Should pressure greater than what it can handle be applied to it, the claymore corn will blow up and scatter to the surroundings with enough force to kill a man. I tried it out with some store-bought shields and armors once, and the kernels actually managed to penetrate them. In fact, they were so tattered that anyone could tell that repair was impossible.
When I saw the strength behind those kernels, I couldn’t help but liken them to the guns and rifles back in my previous world. If it weren’t so delicious, there’s no way I would bother cultivating such dangerous crops.
When I explained that to the two girls, they were finally able to understand why I would wear such heavy armor.
“In any case, I’ll go and harvest some now. I’ll come back immediately, so I’ll be needing your help then.” [Ryouma]
As I said that, I gripped the shield, and I teleported to the isolated room or the experimental room where the claymore corns were being grown. What appeared before me was a room with no entrance as wide as two classrooms, inside of which were full of giant corns.
There were several small holes above in the ceiling just like the ones you’d see on the walls of a music room, and several lights from the light magic, ‘Light’, could be seen here and there, keeping the room bright. Behind the ceiling were a number of light slimes, who poked their body out of the small holes, shining their light over the claymore corns. There were also water slimes who would water the crops in place of the sprinklers.
As I reinforced my shield and armor with ki, I approached the claymore corns. When I was close enough, I swung my sickle at one of the bigger crops.
“And safe! Now, I’ll just take this…” [Ryouma]
After I cut the claymore corn, I put it inside the basket on my back through ‘Telekinesis’. I did the same thing after that until I was able to gather 3 claymore corns. Then I went back to the Michelle and Kanan.
“Sorry for the wait.” [Ryouma]
“Ah, welcome back. Did you get some?” [Michelle]
“As you can see here, I’ve gotten some splendid ones.” [Ryouma]
“Uwa~ that’s really big. It’s my first time seeing corns so big.” [Kanan]
“You sure those won’t explode.” [Michelle]
“As long as you pick them before they spoil, they won’t explode.” [Ryouma]
After that, we teleported back to the kitchen. They didn’t want the surprise to be spoiled, so Michelle and Kanan were the ones to bring the claymore corns.
Afterwards, we went to the workshop and to the storehouse just as planned. First, we went to the workshop which I used for smithing and crafting. When we got there, a certain tool caught Kanan’s interest.
“Uwaa, what is this chisel? Not even my family has a chisel this luxurious…” [Kanan]
What caught Kanan’s attention was none other than the chisel I use for engraving. Chisels were normally made out of steel, but mine was made out of adamantite. It might look expensive, but since I was the one who gathered the materials and crafted it, it didn’t cost me a single penny. I did have to work hard though.
As for where I got the adamantite, I got it from the mining spot written in my inheritance. But since I was able to mine it from a shallower area, it was relatively easier. Well, at least compared to mining orihalcum and mithril anyway.
When I first went to the mining spot, I accidentally stepped near an undead snake’s nest, and over 10 of them came rushing at me. Naturally, I ran away. After I learned the advanced ice magic, ‘Blizzard’, I was able to freeze the undead snakes, and was finally able to arrive at the shallowest area in the deeper parts of the Great Forest of Shurus… The danger in the deeper parts is seriously no joke.
Going back to the topic.
A special hearth was needed in order to process the adamantite, but that was no issue.
The special hearth would normally require using a dragon’s scales – which is known to be impervious to fire – for its interiors, making it extremely expensive. But in my case, I was able to get some scales from Rheinbach-sama’s ignis dragon. As thanks, I would send some produce from time to time. Although he did tell me not to, since the dragon would apparently shed its skin periodically anyway.
After that I took aluminum oxide from the earth in the mine through the use of alchemy, and mixed it with the king sticky slime’s concentrated hardening liquid plank. I molded the resulting compound into bricks, then I used those to build the hearth. For the interiors, I pasted the scales I received in three layers. And with that, the hearth was ready to go. I thought of using aluminum because I recalled it being resistant to fire and heat. When I tried it out for real, it was able to endure the heat, and it didn’t show any signs of breaking.
After that, all that was left was an issue of patience and endurance. In any case, as I continued to process the adamantite, the end result was a durable and extremely easy-to-use chisel provided ki was used. But as a lot still relied on having good materials, it was still necessary to continue patiently practicing.
When I brought the two girls to the storeroom, Michelle noticed the magic formation drawn inside the garbage, and she immediately started talking fervently. It was especially fiercer when she found out about my prototype that made use of a magic formation that generated wind.
The magic formation only really gathered the surrounding air and sent it upwards. I’m only really using it to work as ventilation by bringing in air from the outside. As for the prototype model…
“I see. So by using the power of the wind, you were able to create a transportation device.” [Michelle]
“It’ll probably still take a year to finish though… Ah, please don’t turn it on. You’ll just end up crashing into the roof.” [Ryouma]
In front of us now was the prototype model, the magic-formation-based hovercraft that I created. However, on top of me just creating this based on some faint memory, the effect of the magic formation is too specialized and is also incomplete.
When Michelle saw the hovercraft, she fell into a deep thought. Kanan and I distanced ourselves a bit to give her some space as we talked about our own respective inventions.
Surprisingly, I found out that Kanan was actually able to make magic tools.
“I thought you couldn’t make magic tools?” [Ryouma]
“Actually, although I’m an enchantment magic specialist, there’s still a way for me to create magic tools. Since I can’t rely on my own magic, I just have to borrow someone else’s.” [Kanan]
“In other words, you’ll be imbuing the magic tool with someone else’s magic?” [Ryouma]
“Right. But the only ones who can use this method are enchantment magic specialists. Moreover, the person cooperating with me can’t be just anyone. If my compatibility with my partner isn’t good enough, then it’s not possible. Finding such a person is really difficult, so most people either give up or die before finding one.” [kanan]
Dying before finding? Is it really so difficult to find? When I said that, she replied, “That’s why I decided to go to the academy.” Apparently, she was hoping to meet a magician who could become her partner.
“But when I went to the academy, my partner aside, I couldn’t even enter a group. So I was really shocked when Miyabi invited me to join hers. After I joined them and talked about my situation, we tried it out with me and Elia, and as luck would have it, we actually succeeded… I really couldn’t believe my eyes back then.” [Kanan]
Kanan embarrassingly admitted that she actually cried because of how shocked and touched she was.
As we continued to talk like that, Sebasu-san entered the storehouse. Apparently, supper was ready so he came to call us. Michelle was still immersed in her thoughts, so Kanan had to forcefully shake her awake, and then we teleported back to the living room. The three girls, Elia, Miyabi, and Riera were setting up the table, waiting for us.
After a short exchange, we went ahead and started eating. The menu was simple, including items such as salad, soup, and pasta, but regardless, they all looked delicious.
First, I tried out the soup.
“…Delicious and relaxing.” [Ryouma]
“I’m glad you liked it.” [Miyabi]
“We made a lot, so go ahead and eat as much as you want.” [Riera]
Looks like the ones in charge for this soup were Miyabi and Riera. If I’m correct then they should’ve boiled some vegetables along with some dashi made from cut jerky. In other words, it’s the meat and potato stew of this world. If one tried, I’m sure it could be made even while camping outside. It’s somewhat reminiscent of minestrone soup, but there seems to be something different…
“Hmm… did you add some meguribushi?” [Ryouma]
When I asked whether they made the dashi out of the meguribushi, it turned out my conjecture was correct.
“You did well finding out. We heard from Miyabi that Ryouma-dono likes dragonewt food, so we tried using meguribushi.” [Riera]
After Riera’s response, I took another sip. As I thought, it’s really delicious.
Next let’s try the salad.
On the dish before me were vegetables and claymore corn stir-fried in butter, mixed with croutons. The texture of the vegetables complemented well with the croutons’. And the aromatic dressing made from seeds roasted sour did a wonderful job bringing out the taste of the vegetables, resulting in an otherworldly delicious salad.
When I gave my thoughts on the dish, Sebasu-san bowed his head. Apparently, Sebasu-san was the one in charge for the salad.
Then finally came the pasta’s turn. According to Sebasu-san, he didn’t help out at all except for some final tasting, the whole dish being done solely by Elia, who worked on it full of devotion from start to finish. The dish doesn’t look bad at all, but…
“Meat sauce?” [Ryouma]
“I based it on the pasta you served during your store’s opening party.” [Elia]
“Now that you mention it, I did bring out something like that… I can’t believe you still remember that.” [Ryouma]
“It was delicious after all. That aside, please go ahead and taste it before it gets cold. I’ve seasoned it well.” [Elia]
“Then in that case, I’ll help myself.” [Ryouma]
It looks exactly like a meat sauce spaghetti. But how’s the taste? As I thought that, I twirled the pasta around my fork, and I took in a mouthful. When I chewed, I received a shock that left me speechless.
“R-Ryouma-san? Does it not taste good? I did taste it, but…” [Elia]
Elia panicked when she saw my appearance, but it didn’t taste bad at all. But with my current state, I was only able to say a few words.
“How nostalgic.” [Ryouma]
“Eh?” [Elia]
Although it looked exactly like a meat sauce spaghetti, the taste was a lot closer to the dandan noodles served at the Chinese restaurant near the company I worked at in my previous world. It was cheap, delicious, and had plenty of serving, so I dropped by frequently to buy that 400\ dish. Unfortunately, the place was shut down some time ago before I left my world, so I stopped being able to eat there. I’ve already completely forgotten about it actually. Eating this sure takes me back…
As spiciness and sourness with a hint of umami mixed together, nostalgia stirred within me as I gradually tasted the pasta. Of course, I ate it along with the soup and the salad. Seeing me like that, Elia and the others heaved a sigh of relief, and they continued eating.
After eating…
“I-It hurts…” [Ryouma]
“Well you did eat yourself full.” [Elia]
“You even had two more helpings of Elia’s pasta.” [Kanan]
After eating a little bit too much, we rested for a while and drank some tea. I didn’t really feel like drinking, but there was still a cup of tea before me.
“That sure was delicious… and nostalgic.” [Ryouma]
“I’m glad you enjoyed it.” [Elia]
The overall combination was a bit odd, but it was definitely delicious. After I asked them how they made it, I figured I could put it on the restaurant’s menu if Elia doesn’t mind.
Actually, didn’t she just use that chili-like ingredient I came up with in that dandan noodle-like pasta? If Elia could easily use an ingredient she tasted for the first time and come up with something delicious, wouldn’t that mean that she’s actually really talented at cooking?
After that, we talked a bit longer regarding various topics such as the tournament the cooking, the girls’ training, and what they’ll be doing from tomorrow. When Elia and the rest were about to go home, I thanked them again for the delicious supper, and I sent them off.
“See you tomorrow. Take care.” [Ryouma]
Elia happily waved back to my words with a smile, and then she went back with Sebasu-san and the rest of the girls through dimension magic.
Now then… My stomach’s finally calmed down a bit, so I think I’ll do some light training before calling it a day…