Chapter 130: Rice and Miso Soup
We had breakfast in Tsubaki no Ma, the room where we had dinner last night.
And naturally, since this is the Japanese-style Kagura, the food being served is Japanese-style dishes. Rice and miso soup with tofu, salmon, tsukemono, boiled vegetables, grated small fry, and other refreshing dishes.
For me - who belongs to the group who definitely have to eat Japanese meals in the morning - this is an assortment of menus that makes me happy, but I’m feeling a bit sleepy, maybe because of the fatigue from last night.
And perhaps it’s because of the pillow fight yesterday, I slept late.
For children like me - who becomes sleepy at nine or ten o’clock -, having a pillow fight until late at night, then got scolded by Sannosuke, it’s was physically demanding for my body. And because of that, I‘m not getting enough sleep.
While Irvine and Mort - who are adults - who sit at the same table as me, seems to have been made to clean up after that, and they look sleepy.
「……uuuh, because of Alfried-sama, I had to suffer such a terrible experience. My employees thrown pillows at me, and I was scolded by Sannosuke-san at great length, now I don’t get enough sleep, y’know. 」
Tori - who sits near me - looked at me reproachfully.
Even if you said that there’s nothing I can do about it. I mean, Tori is the person who has to take responsibility as he is the chairman of the firm. So it’s inevitable that he’s the one that got scolded the most.
I was able to take revenge for the time he chattered with the maids this time, so I also feel refreshed.
……haa, the rich aroma of green tea is good.
Looking at me drinking the green tea without even saying anything back, Tori took his chopsticks quietly, perhaps he already gave up.
And maybe it’s because the employees around us also have a lack of sleep that the tension is low, they’re eating rice sluggishly. Their tension is low not because they’re sleepy, but because they have been banned from having a pillow fight at night in this ryokan. There might be some of them that look dejected because it was one of the few opportunities to exact revenge on Tori. And for the rest of them, they’re might be afraid doing today’s work, because they thoroughly beat the hell out of Tori last night.
Those guys, Tori would definitely make those people work their butt’s off today.
But well, the boisterous meal like last night is okay, but a quiet meal like this one is also not bad.
It’s calm and very nice.
「Al! It tastes great when you pour the miso soup on the rice!」
Just that, Roomba who sits next to me is still the same as usual with his ridiculous stamina. Though it should be his first time tasting a decent Kagura’s food, he has come to discover nekomanma.
A bit crafty, that guy. Though I also want to have some!
「I thought taste great and goes well with rice, but I don’t think it’s something to commend on in this kind of place, right?」
Rather, I think it’s quite a breach of manner to eat like that in a ryokan.
The manner of Kagura and the one in my previous life may not necessarily the same, but I don’t think it would look good, right? I look toward Sannosuke behind me as if asking him with that thought.
「……that’s right. It would look like a busy servant wolfing down their food, I don’t recommend doing that in places like this.」
I feel discouraged hearing Sannosuke’s words. Even though nekomanma is extremely delicious. I want to pour miso soup on top of the hot rice and wolfed it down!
「Aleutia-san, it looks like you can not pour miso soup on top of the rice!」
「Ehh? But why? But it’s absolutely delicious, you know?」
「Sannosuke-san said that it is a breach of manner!」
While I was feeling frustrated deep inside, I can hear that kind of conversation from the women’s group who sits apart from us.
Apparently, they also realized the possibility of nekomanma and are trying it out.
It appears that Aleutia and Ilya are being affected by Kagura’s culture.
Incidentally, our seating for the breakfast is divided into men on the right side and women are on the left side.
We’re staying in a different room on each floor, but maybe because of the large number of people that it just so happen like that. I mean, when the men come downstairs, then the forty seats are immediately filled in no time.
But even without those reasons above, I don’t think Aleutia will approach us, probably because she saw the thing that should not be seen last night. Similarly, the proprietress who diligently assisted us yesterday is also like that.
It looks like the tasks to assist the breakfast on this side are being left to Sannosuke along with other men. I think that this side is lacking in terms of view.
「Even though it’s delicious it’s no good, huhー」
Roomba eats the nekomanma in one gulp while saying that regrettably.
Then he placed the empty bowl, but then he seems to remember something,
「……ahh! Then how about tamago kake gohan?」
「Though it’s also a breach of manner in a high-class ryotei, there is no problem with that in most cases.」
「Why is there no problem with that……」
Now that you mention it, you’re right. Even though it’s considered taboo to pour miso soup on top of rice, there is a tendency to deem tamago kake gohan as a dish that has no problem with that manner of eating. Just what is the meaning of this I wonder.
「……I don’t know that far……」
Indeed, I guess he also doesn’t fully understand the reason for that, Sannosuke answered while frowning.
Oh well, there will also be few people who wonder about such small details anyway. Food is something that people are familiar with, but surprisingly everyone doesn’t know about the origin and culture of food.
「Well, never mind. Sannosuke, give me a raw egg.」
Roomba asks as he pours the rice into an empty bowl.
「Ah, me too.」
Since it appears that it’s fine to eat tamago kake gohan here, I took advantage of Roomba’s request and also asked for it.
「「Me too」」
「Proprietress-san, give me raw egg please!」
「Me too!」
Then, Irvine and Mort - who sits in front of me - and the people from the merchants group also raised their hand as they asked for the same thing.
On the other side, Aleutia, Ilya, and the women also beg for raw eggs.
It seems that on a quiet morning inside this room, my conversation with Roomba can be heard more than expected. It makes me smile seeing a big adult wants to eat raw egg.
Sannosuke and the proprietress send some instructions to the employees while smiling wryly at us as we demand some raw eggs.
「That’s because Al said that, if you have soy sauce, then the egg rice will be even more delicious. I’m looking forward to the taste.」
「But don’t put too much soy sauce on it. Since it will taste just about right when you sprinkle two, or three drops of soy sauce.」
A few drops of soy sauce are fine. It will spoil the original taste of the egg if you sprinkle too much soy sauce.
I sip the miso soup and breathe a sigh of relief.
Aah, the taste of miso seems to permeate my whole body.
……after all is said and done, I also want to eat nekomanma. I know it’s a bad manner to eat that, I can eat that as much as I wanted to later, and yet that sort of cravings appear inside of me.
Why do people would still want to do something when they were told not to do that, I wonder.
But, even though I’m like this, I’m a noble. So I have to be mindful of my table manner to suits the occasion……… Putting aside the pillow fight last night and the tongs fight with Eric at the Royal Capital, that is.
……do I have to endure and compromise by putting the rice into my mouth, then take a sip of miso soup now.
I was drawn to that taste and scoop up some rice while frowning at the half-baked and troublesome measure I thought of.
I carry the white, steaming rice to my mouth with the chopsticks, but
「Ahh, it fell」
By chance, the rice fell to the miso soup.
……hmm, guess it can’t be helped if it fell to the miso soup. Let’s eat this delicious food gratefully.
Once again, I bring the rice that was soaked with the dashi and miso to my mouth.
Aah, I knew it, it really goes well with rice. The umami flavor of the dashi and miso was completely absorbed by the rice. Such a nostalgic taste.
During busy hours in my previous life, I made ochazuke and nekomanma as a quick and delicious lunch meal.
「……aah, the rice fell to the miso soup.」
「There’s nothing you can do if it fell to the miso soup. You have to eat everything so you won’t be rude about the meal served.」
「Of course. You too, you should eat the rice that fell to the miso soup properly, alright?」
Right in front of me, Irvine and Mort eat the pseudo-nekomanma, and they were talking that sort of things shamelessly.
The rice fell to the miso soup you said, but one scoop of rice is not something that could simply fall like that, isn’t it.
It’s not like one mouthful that fell to the miso soup like me, what a bunch of shameless guys. I’m envi……I mean, truly shameful.
Would that sort of forced act alright, I wonder?
I was curious about Sannosuke’s reaction, so when I turn around to look behind me, he faced the other way with a complicated look on his face.
Apparently, he’s going to act as if he didn’t see that. Maybe it’s because of his surly face that people thought of him as inflexible, but it seems that he is surprisingly able to be flexible.
Well, he is an employee of a ryokan where all sorts of people from various countries reside. I guess some open-mindedness might also be necessary to some extent.
I took a fresh raw egg and break it, then drop it on top of the rice while thinking about that kind of thing.
「Le, let’s stop it Aleutia! Thye can do that kind of thing because it’s them, I tell you! Let’s try it in a different place, alright? Let’s endure it with tamago kake gohan for now, okay?」
……the women’s group looks to have it hard.
Author note :
Writing about breakfast is unexpectedly fun……… They are carefree as usual. Next one will be sightseeing time!
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