CH 509.1

Let’s make some snacks!

“Eh, potatoes…?”

Mariel-chan tilted her head.

“That’s right, let’s make potato fries.”

I had stored them in my Inventory when they were freshly picked, so we should make fries with the skin.

“Fries! I love those~!”

Mariel-chan stared at the potatoes with excitement.

“… But, what do we do with these? Surely not…”

“Wash, cut, and fry in oil.”

“A, as, as, as I thought… they still need to be made from potatoes!?”

Well, they are potato fries, so of course they have to be made from potatoes, okay?

What did she think they were made from…?

“Washing them aside… cutting them and frying them… something of such high degree of difficulty…”

Mariel-chan started trembling with a pale face.

“High degree of difficulty, you say… deep-frying may seem difficult for those who are not good at it, but it’s actually nothing difficult, you know?”

“Cristea-san, you have never caused a fire while cooking, did you…?”

“Eh, you mean to say that… you did?”

Mariel-chan nodded her head. Seriously?

“I tried to imitate a cooking from a manga I read and tried something called flambéing with stir-fried vegetables. Then, a pillar of fire went up… fufu… ehehe.”

Mariel-chan was looking at me with a distant look in her eyes, perhaps remembering her previous life. Hey, come back—!

“I got it. I will do the frying! Help me with washing and cutting. Okay?”

You won’t cause a fire like that.

“Cutting… Cristea-san, have you ever caused a bloodshed…?”

“Ahhhhh! I get! I get it already! Anyhow, help me wash the potatoes, alright?”

“Yes…”

I put the spare apron I had on Mariel-chan and asked her to wash the potatoes in the sink.

Mariel-chan’s cooking aptitude seems to be a serious problem…

“Cristea-san, I’m done!”

Mariel-chan placed the cleaned potatoes in the colander and lifted it up with a smug.

“Err, I will cut it then…”

“Understood… I’m prepared to lose a finger while peeling them!”

“No, I don’t need you to have such resolution, okay!? These are fresh potatoes, so we won’t be peeling them!”

“Ah, what… I’m glad.”

Mariel-chan relaxed her shoulders as if relieved.

Why are you prepared to lose your fingers just to peel potatoes!?

“T, then, I’m going to do the cutting…”

I cut the potatoes into long wedges and placed them in a bowl of water to remove the excess starch, then I drained the water after about 10 minutes.

I cut the potatoes, Mariel-chan transferred them to a bowl, and Kurogane and Mashiro used wind magic to blow off the moisture left on them from the earlier soaking.

“At, at last, the oil’s turn…”

Mariel-chan hid behind Kurogane and looked at me with trepidation.

“You don’t need to be so frightened… I won’t be using too much oil this time, it will be fine.”

I filled the frying pan with oil until it was high enough to slightly soak the potatoes and fry them.

Crack, crack, crackle…

Fuhah… come to think of it, I haven’t had fries in a while.

I wonder why the aroma of fried food is so appetizing.

When the fries were fried to a golden brown, I lifted them onto a paper-lined tray.

A sprinkle of salt and they were done!

“The tasting of the freshly made fries is the privilege of the person who made them. Here you go.”

Mariel-chan, Kurogane, and Mashiro were all eager to try the fries.

“Fuwaaah… sho hot, yummy…!”

“Umu. It’s been a while since I’ve had it, but freshly made fries are really special.”

“Yeah! I could eat infinite…”

After watching everyone savoring the fries, I took a bite, too…

Haah… very nice…!

Mariel-chan was right, it was hot and delicious!

“Then, let’s fry them all up!”

I put the rest in the Inventory, so they wouldn’t cool down, and fried the rest of the batches one after another.

Mariel-chan and the two boys looked disappointed when I put them away, but they would have been full if they had just eaten them here.

The hungry boys are waiting for us in the lounge as well, so we have to take them there as soon as possible.