CH 121

“The battle between Mayora and Ketchara?”

Translated by Dawn

“The battle between Mayora and Ketchara?” (+)

“It’s time for Rolando’s entertaining three-minute cooking show!”

As usual, a corner of an incomprehensible cooking show had begun, but this time it might be more like making a seasoning than cooking.

I moved from the inn in the capital to my home in Orargrand at a moment’s notice and immediately finished rolling up my sleeves and washing my hands in the kitchen to make what I wanted to cook. This time, since vinegar was available at the market in the capital, I decided to make mayonnaise and ketchup, condiments that were essential for the legendary Japanese.

The ingredients and methods for making them were not too difficult. Salt, pepper, and vinegar were the same for both, and the only difference was that mayonnaise required eggs, and ketchup required tomatoes.

With the mayonnaise and ketchup completed in a simple and not particularly fussy process, I immediately made vegetable sticks and tasted them.

“Ketchup on a vegetable stick is not really a good idea, is it?”

Since mayonnaise was the standard condiment used for vegetable sticks, the taste was exactly as I had imagined, but I regretted that I should have tried ketchup in a different dish.

The next time I thought of a dish that would go well with ketchup, I thought of fried or scrambled eggs, so I made them quickly and tried them with ketchup.

“Yeah, this fits.”

My friends who were students at the time were having a heated discussion about the best condiment to put on fried eggs, let alone scrambled eggs, and both mayonnaise and ketchup were hard to choose from.

These friends were typical mayonnaise and ketchup lovers, and they were so fierce that they each chose mayonnaise and ketchup for their rice dishes.

It was a natural conclusion, but in the end, their argument went on and on, even at the reunions that were held periodically after graduation, and it was never settled before the curtain came down on my life.

In short, I would say that the best solution to the question of what was the best condiment to put on a fried egg was to “put what each of us thinks is the most delicious.”

I could put salt and pepper, soy sauce, sauce, mayonnaise, ketchup, or anything else on my food, and my friends would say, “You bat bastard!” I remember that I hit my friend with an iron claw to make him angry.

“Oh, and the other important thing is this—”

Now I could recreate the original egg sandwich that I had made some time ago, so I made it right away. Because I used a little more mayonnaise, the ingredients in the egg sandwich became like tartar sauce, and a new dish called “tartar sandwich” was completed in a place I did not intend. ……Well, it was tasty, though.

At any rate, I thought that was enough about checking the taste of mayonnaise & ketchup, but then I realized that I only used vegetables and eggs as ingredients to check the seasoning’s quality, and I realized that I still had to make that dish.

“But I need vegetable food oil to make that stuff…”

I had a new addition to my list of things I want next: vegetable food oil. I guess rapeseed oil would be a good example. Whether rapeseed exists in this world or not, I had made up my mind that I would get it eventually. And of course, rice (to eat) and soybeans (for soy sauce and miso).

Using the ingredients I had, I would make up dishes that needed mayonnaise and ketchup. We also made plain omelets with eggs and pizzas with flour made from high-quality wheat. The pizza was a particular success, and it was a great addition to their daily diet.

Then, I started making things like grilled corn (version without soy sauce) using corn I got in the capital, boiled broccoli with mayonnaise, and assorted fruits using fruits I had gotten so far. When I was making a fruit platter using the fruits I had acquired so far, I saw strawberries and decided that since I wanted to make a shortcake, I would also need milk, so milk was added to my new wish list.

The next thing I knew, the sky was tinged with madder red, and I hurriedly cleaned up the kitchen and returned to the inn in the royal capital. As soon as I returned, someone from the inn came to tell me that dinner was ready, so I might have been in danger if I had been a little later.

At any rate, with the vinegar in hand, I succeeded in recreating mayonnaise and ketchup, the condiments I had used in my previous life on earth, and the range of my cooking had increased dramatically.

****

The next day, I returned to my home in Orargrand again and added more [udon] and [pasta] and ramen……was not done because I still did not have enough ingredients, but udon and pasta were completed. The taste was perfect, I wanted fish stock for the udon, and by making meat sauce for the pasta, [Spaghetti with meat sauce] would be completed. I also made something creative like [peperoncino] using garlic and [spaghetti-style yakisoba] using lots of vegetables.

“Well, I’m satisfied…”

After patting my bloated stomach, which was disproportionate to my twelve-year-old body, I bask in the satisfaction of having eaten something delicious for a while. Before I knew it, the purpose of my trip was changing from sightseeing to a gourmet trip in pursuit of delicious food, but I put all my energy into enjoying the situation at hand.

After a while, I saw that my flabby stomach was beginning to retract, and after cleaning up the mess in the kitchen, I returned to the inn in the royal capital once again. Since we had not yet finished exploring the royal capital, I might as well go sightseeing in the city for a while until I had a certain grasp of the terrain. An audience with the king was just a side trip for me.

“I mean, it’s already getting tedious to have an audience with the king…”

While an audience with the king, which was supposed to be the main purpose of the event, was becoming a secondary purpose before long, I strolled around the royal capital in search of further discoveries.

“Big sister, I’m hungry…”

“Be patient. There’s nothing left to eat.”

When I arrived at a deserted place, I saw a little brother and a sister huddled together in a corner of an alley. The boy I met yesterday was shabby, but this sister and brother were also wearing tattered clothes. They were both younger than I was, the older sister about nine and the younger brother about six.

“What are you doing here?”

“Who are you, big brother?”

“No, Mark! Don’t talk to strangers…”

“What? Your name is Mark?”

“U-un. That’s right.”

“…”

Same name as my little brother…alright. Let’s help! It’s called the second part of the One Good Thing a Day Project. …I won’t accept any complaints, okay?

I gave them some of the dishes I had prepared yesterday and today from storage. Even the siblings, who had been wary at first, could not resist the temptation of the delicious-smelling food in front of them, and they were gorging on the food from my hands.

When the two looked satisfied, I gave them a single silver coin, as I had done with the boy yesterday. The sister refused to accept the large sum of money suddenly offered to her, but I forced her to put the silver coin in her hand and I left the place.

“T-thank you very much!”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

With these words, I parted from them, waving my hands behind my back from my shoulders, just like the pickpocket boy. I saw several children in tattered clothes like the boy who picked my ticket and my siblings, standing motionless in an unpopular place.

There were supposed to be orphanages to take care of the orphans, but it seemed that the authorities did not provide enough support to accept all the orphans, so the orphans were living on the streets of the capital.

“Children are a national treasure…ah, come to think of it, I’m still a child myself.”

I realized that I had forgotten that I was only twelve years old, and I smiled wryly. I had no intention of taking care of the orphans, but I couldn’t help but feel that it would be somewhat heartless to just sit back and watch, so I wondered if I should do something to help in a way that only I could.

“No, because that’s going to be very troublesome…but…”

I did not know whether it was my former Japanese temperament or my personal feelings, but I finished my walk in the capital today with an itchy feeling that I could not find an answer even if I thought about it here.