Chapter 180: Operation to Win Sheila 3
「So, what are you going to make with this soy sauce and miso?」
「I think I’m going to make grilled onigiri and gohei mochi. Both of them are easy to make because the main ingredient is rice」
Both of them are simple food that can be made with just rice.
Once I made both of them at the same time, they will be able to remember it immediately and can be added to their cooking repertoire. Besides, I can easily introduce the deliciousness of soy sauce in a simple manner.
「So you said, but my house doesn’t have rice right now?」
「We also don’t have rice. Rather, haven’t seen any bartering between villagers lately」
「Right～. I also like rice so I wanted to eat them, but they are hard to come by」
That’s true. Even I - who had stocked up some rice with Space magic before I went to Kagura - was almost running out on rice.
It’s been a month since then, so almost every family in the village would probably don’t have any more rice.
I have bought most of the rice from Tori while some were also bought by Celia-san’s restaurant, and Bartolo also did some bartering and distribute them to the villagers, but rice doesn’t grow in Koryatt village after all.
「It’s fine. I’ve thought about it so I brought some rice that we have cooked」
「Ooh! As expected of you!」
So calmly I said, but it was not a long ago since I became aware that there might be no rice in Torr’s house.
But, it’s fine since I saved some food using Space magic.
I have saved a lot of cooked rice inside my subspace. I should be able to take secretly them out when Torr and the others are not looking.
「Also, I have bought a lot of rice from Kagura the other day. It’s going to circulate in the market for a while from now」
「Really? Then, we will have to make some preparation so that we can barter some rice」
「I will be able to eat rice again then～」
Asmo and Sheila-san said that happily after hearing what I said.
Some portion of the rice is circulated in the market completely due to my wish, but it seems that it was able to attract the number of villagers’ appetite starting from Logan.
Though it’s going to be troubling if everyone wants to eat rice, being able to share my favorite food with everyone is a happy thing.
「Now then, let’s start the preparation shall we」
「Ou!」
Torr, Asmo, and Sheila-san start moving after I tell them to prepare the necessary ingredients and tools to make the grilled onigiri and gohei mochi.
It’s obvious for Torr, but I guess it’s also because the neighbor - Asmo and Sheila - are familiar with a kitchen that they can act promptly. It’s as if the two of them are in their own kitchen that they can prepare the necessary tableware and arrange them.
The moment everyone was preoccupied with the preparation, I secretly use Space magic to take out several bentos from my subspace.
Opening the lid, there was the steaming hot white rice as if it was just been cooked and packed inside.
Un, Space magic is properly doing its job. With just this, I can always eat hot food anytime so it’s really great.
I put the bento boxes on the table while thanking the ability of Space magic.
「The preparation is complete!」
Immediately after, it appears that the preparations are done since Torr’s cheerful voice resounded in the kitchen.
「Now then, we’ll first make the normal onigiri for the number of people here」
「’For the number of people’ how much are we going to make? Three onigiris per person?」
「It’s five per person right?」
「I want five～」
「Then, five onigiri per person!」
Ooh, two are enough for me, there’s no way I’m gonna eat that much……
Rather, we’re also going to make gohei mochi, so the rice will definitely be not enough. Maybe it’s because they haven’t eaten any rice lately that they’re becoming hungry.
Looking at Torr and the other’s figures while smiling wryly, I took out more rice from the subspace in a corner.
Then I cast Water magic to make a water ball and float it in the kitchen.
After that, I wash my hands with the soap in the kitchen, shove them into the water ball and wash them as best as I can.
It feels good to put my hands inside the water ball like this, I guess it’s because it’s summer.
「Me too!」
「Waー, that looks fun!」
When I absentmindedly put my hands into the water ball, Torr, Sheila-san, and Asmo also join in and thrust their hands into the water ball.
It’s easier to do this than going out of your way by washing your hands after filling a bucket with water from the water container.
After canceling the water ball magic and letting the dirty water flow into the kitchen sink, I make new water balls for three people.
After that, the three of them immediately put both of their arms forward and insert them into the water ball.
「「「……haa」」」
A sound that seems like a sigh leaked out from their mouth.
「It’s cold and nice」
「I want to keep my hands inside this」
「……being wrapped in cold water is really a bliss」
The three of them muttered as their expression loosened. They look really happy.
Seeing the figures of three people lining up while inserting both of their arms into water balls is kinda surreal.
Though I understand the reason the three of them are happy so I watch them for a while before I open my mouth.
「Now then, it’s time to properly wash your hands」
「Yeーss」
After I said that, the three of them appears reluctant as they pull out both of their arms from the water ball and start to wash their hands with soap. After that, they vigorously wash their hands like before inside the water ball to clean the soap.
After we finished washing our hands like that, I cancel the water balls and let them flow into the kitchen sink.
After washing their hands, the three of them somehow look disappointed as they looked at my action.
They have put their arms into the water ball for a long time and the water has already turned dirty anyway, thus their arms probably feel warm now.
「I’ll do it again later, let’s make the onigiri now」
「That’s right! We were going to make food!」
As though he remember what they were doing after I said that, Torr shout and resumed his task.
After I served the rice on a large plate, Torr, Asmo, and Sheila-san grab them with their hands and they start to shape it into a triangle.
There’s the method to grill the rice after the rice had been mixed with a soy-sauce based sauce at the start to make the taste of soy sauce soak into the onigiri, but I’m afraid that they will make a mistake, making the onigiri out of shape, so we will just smear the soy sauce on the onigiri.
「Oi, Asmo. that’s too big, isn’t it?」
A large onigiri is being shaped by Asmo’s hands in the direction where Torr is looking.
That onigiri is more than twice as large as the normal onigiri. The size reminds me of a softball.
「If you’re talking about onigiri, then you need to make it this big」
「That’s right～. Torr’s just small」
Apparently, the size of onigiris in Asmo’s family is around this size.
「No no, that’s simply too big, isn’t it? Right, Al?」
Torr said as if asking me to agree with him.
「Well, that’s because onigiris vary between families, see. You can make it big, you can also add a particular ingredient, and you can also mix other ingredients」
It’s simple as it’s just making cooked rice, but it’s interesting since every family has their differences in taste.
I expected that the ingredients that were used to mix in onigiri in each family will be completely unexpected, but I was still greatly surprised by a lot of them.
There was a lot of onigiri with surprising ingredients added back in my previous life, so I think I will also respect the individuality of the people in this world.
「But, we’re going to smear the onigiri with soy sauce and then grill it this time, so I think it will be easier for the taste of the soy sauce to seep into the onigiri if you make it a little smaller」
「「…………then I’ll make it smaller」」
When I gently told them to make the onigiri smaller, Asmo and Sheila-san start to make the onigiri smaller while feeling despondent.
I should have told them earlier, huh.
「Also, please make the onigiri a bit tight. We’re going to bake the onigiri after smearing it with soy sauce, after all, so we don’t want them to easily crumble. Especially your Torr」
「Iーknow」
Torr carelessly replies when I specifically call his name and warn him.
Asmo and Sheila-san are used to making onigiri neatly, but Torr is not used to it so his onigiri is a bit irregular.
It looks like there are some places where it’s not firmly shaped, so if we put the soy sauce on it and grill the onigiri, it would definitely crumble midway being grilled.
After making two onigiris, I decided to help Torr who is not used to making onigiri.
「Aah, it’s been a while since I eat rice」
「This sweetness of the rice is nice, isn’t it」
On the other side, I guess Asmo and Sheila are already done with their onigiris since they are now eating the grain of rice sticking to their hands.
That’s fine since you will know the taste of rice if you eat the small grains of rice like that. You will later get addicted to the faint sweetness from the rice.
After we finished making onigiris for everyone’s share, we’re going to make the sauce now.
Though I said that, it’s just mixing soy sauce and sugar so it’s very simple to make.
Actually, it would be good if we also have dashi, but this is just a quickly prepared dish so we probably don’t have to worry too much about that.
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