CH 111

Chapter 111 – A Feast of Fantasy Ingredients

At the moment, I was placing the ingredients that I had bought on top of the table.

Today, I wasn’t preparing as big of a feast as I had last time, but since we were welcoming new friends, I still planned to do the best I could.

“First one I need to prep is probably this guy.” (Bouchi)

The first item I picked up was today’s main ingredient. However, the entire thing was clad in gold, emitting a radiant, divine light.

“Master, what is that thing? Sol has never seen something like that before.” (Sol)

“This is [Golden Tofu]. As the name suggests, it’s a type of tofu, but it’s extremely rare among tofus.” (Bouchi)

“It’s so shiny and golden. Why is it that color?” (Sol)

“Well, I suppose it’s because they’re made from [Golden Soybeans], which can only be harvested once every four years.” (Bouchi)

Those soybeans were also entirely gold.

“Hoh… Milord, if it’s so rare, wouldn’t it be quite expensive?” (Shiki)

Shiki sounded interested, so I answered frankly.

“This one block of tofu is, what, ¥30,000?” (Bouchi)

“What?! …That’s quite the splurge, isn’t it?” (Shiki)

“I wanted to try it at least once. This happened to be the perfect occasion for it.” (Bouchi)

Since I could buy foods from other worlds, I wanted to try eating a wide variety of foods, as long as money would allow.

“Tofu… which means today’s menu…” (Shiki)

“Yeah, I’m thinking of making a boiled tofu dish with plenty of vegetables in it.” (Bouchi)

According to Izu, elves didn’t really like meat that much. They seemed to mainly appreciate mild tastes, eating fruits, vegetables, and the like.

That was why I went with this tofu. And with a hot pot setting, we would be able to make some friendships while we were at it.

“Master… What about the… mashed potatoes…?” (Sol)

“Don’t worry, Sol. I’ll still be making them.” (Bouchi)

I didn’t think mashed potatoes would go well with hot pot, but Sol would eat them anyway, so it was fine.

I was planning to make a soup stock with [Immortal’s Kelp], which was a perfect complement to the tofu and was rumored to grow only in southern regions in other worlds. It said that this kelp was made by some immortal recluse and that it went down the throat extremely smoothly.

“Now all I need to do is cut the vegetables into reasonably sized pieces.” (Bouchi)

The vegetables were, of course, a festive assortment of fantasy ingredients. [100-Year Cabbage], [Sakura Spring Onion], [Clover Carrots], and [Silver Star Shiitake Mushrooms]. I cut them all up appropriately for the hot pot dish, lining them up on a plate. Then, I made my signature ponzu sauce, and the prep was complete.

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(TL: Ponzu sauce – a Japanese sauce usually consisting of a mixture of soy sauce and citrus juice)

“But this alone might not be enough, huh? Alright, I’ll make that too.” (Bouchi)

“What’s ‘that’?” (Shiki)

“When you have hot pot, you gotta have something to tie it all up at the end, right? Since we have some good soup stock, I was thinking of putting some udon noodles in the pot at the end to finish it off.” (Bouchi)

“Ooh, that sounds nice. Noodles are the best.” (Shiki)

In fact, Shiki’s favorite food was noodles. The first time I gave him cup noodles, he was so moved by the experience that he asked me to help him procure every conceivable type of cup ramen there was out there.

Sol was the same. My Familiars were really quite cheap to entertain.

“In particular, hot and sour soup noodles are the best after a nice round of training. The sourness is addictive. Sol-dono, milord, wouldn’t you agree?” (Shiki)

“Eeehh, Sol prefers potatoes over noodles.” (Sol)

“Hmm. Speaking of potatoes, there are also noodles made from potatoes, you know?” (Bouchi)

“Is that true?!” (Sol)

“Please, Sol would love to try that!” (Sol)

“In that case, how about potato noodles to finish off the meal?” (Bouchi)

“Wooow! Master, that would make Sol overjoyed! Puuuuu~!” (Sol)

She seemed to be so happy that she started flying around the room at a tremendous speed. Please, just don’t break any of the furniture.

“Hmm. Then milord, since this one is proficient in the art of noodle-making, please allow this one to be of assistance.” (Shiki)

“Yeah. Then I’ll leave the noodles to you, Shiki. I’ll make the condiments.” (Bouchi)

“Sol wants to help too!” (Sol)

Just like that, the three of us worked hard together, in harmonious spirits, to make dinner.

—

After Izu finished showing Yofel and Ior around the island, they all returned home.

As they were just in time for dinner, Izu had probably thoughtfully arranged for them to come back at this time.

When Yofel saw the table of food and discovered that I was the one who cooked, Yofel bowed her head and apologized for the trouble, but I told her not to worry about it.

Cooking was just a hobby of mine. When I told her that I would continue to cook in the future, she said that she would definitely help me, to which I easily agreed.

With Sol, Shiki, Izu, Yofel, Ior, and me, our family had increased in size, making it quite lively.

I never expected that an elf would join us here, and it felt a bit strange, as she was my first humanoid subordinate. In fact, I used to think that other than me, no one would ever sit at this dining table with me ever again.

Well, they weren’t exactly human though.

“Well, Yofel, Ior, go ahead and give the food a try. Ah, and I don’t care about ‘master eats first’ or anything like that.” (Bouchi)

“A-Alright. Then let’s dig in, Ior.” (Yofel)

“Y-Yeah. Thanks for the meal.” (Ior)

Yofel served Ior a portion from the hot pot before helping herself.

Then, as we all watched, the two of them dipped the vegetables in the special ponzu sauce I made and took a bite.

““Mm—?!””

In the next moment, both of their faces were filled with shock.

“D-Delicious” (Yofel)

Follow Yor’s sentiment, Ior excitedly bobbed his head in agreement.

“This unique mouthfeel… Could this be [100-Year Cabbage]?!” (Yofel)

As its name suggested, [100-Year Cabbage] was a type of napa cabbage that had grown for 100 years before being harvested. It had a pleasant texture that wasn’t lost even after being boiled in a pot. It was rich in nutrients, and it had a gentle taste that even imparted an aged flavor, giving it an addictive aftertaste.

“These are [Sakura Spring Onions]! This vivid sakura pink color… It’s grown only in the Eastern Island Country, at the root of sakura trees! And there are even [Clover Carrots] and [Silver Star Shiitake Mushrooms]… Every one of these ingredients is rare. This is quite the lavish feast…!” (Yofel)

It seemed that Yofel was well-informed about these ingredients. It was to be expected of someone who often went out to gather wild plants.

By the way, [Clover Carrots] were carrots that would yield a clover-shaped cross section when cut into pieces, and they had several times the amount of sugar content of ordinary carrots.

And [Silver Star Shiitake Mushrooms] had a shining, silver-colored mushroom cap that emitted light at night, which was where it earned the name ‘silver star’ from.

As Yofel said, all of these ingredients were said to be difficult to obtain. And naturally, they were delicious.

“How is it? Pretty good, huh?” (Bouchi)

“It’s far more than just ‘pretty good’, Master! I’ve never had such an extravagant hot pot before. And… what’s concealed underneath these vegetables… has an impact that can’t be hidden at all.” (Yofel)

“This golden square object… it couldn’t be…?” (Yofel)

“Yeah, it’s [Golden Tofu].” (Bouchi)

“What?! It really is! Ior, did you hear that? This is that [Golden Tofu] that Elder said he had only eaten once in his long life!” (Yofel)

“…! …I want to try it.” (Ior)

I thought he would say that, so I served the tofu and handed it to Ior.

“Be careful, it’s hot.” (Bouchi)

Dipping it in the ponzu sauce would cool it down a little, but tofu in general wouldn’t cool down very easily.

“Huffhuff… Mmm. Hafu, hafu… Mmm~!” (Ior)

A heretofore unseen expression of delight appeared on Ior’s face. Seeing his face, Yofel swallowed her saliva and reached out to take a bite as well.

“—?!”

Yofel’s cheeks flushed red, and it looked like she was being overcome by emotion.

“S-So this is [Golden Tofu]! What is this incredibly smooth and rich soybean flavor?!” (Yofel)

Hearing them say that made me want to eat it too. Shiki and Izu also looked like they couldn’t wait to try it, so I served my portion from the pot, and they soon followed suit.

“Ahhn…Mmmmmm~!” (Yofel)

I could now understand Yofel and Ior’s indescribable looks of joy. Every one of the vegetables in the hot pot was leagues better than any vegetables I had ever had before. It was seriously delicious.

And then there was the [Golden Tofu], which I had been so curious about trying.

I dipped it in the ponzu sauce and popped it in my mouth while it was still hot, my heart pounding excitedly in my chest.