Bonus Short Stories

Mukohda’s Cooking Class ~Everyone’s Favorite Eggs~

“Alright, then. Just something simple.”

I was holding a cooking class in my kitchen. In attendance were Thereza and Aija, who were responsible for all my workers’ (slaves’) meals, as well as Selja, who recently started helping them.

As for why this happened, well, back when I welcomed all my workers into the house, I made them an easy meal that I honestly slacked on, but it was unexpectedly very well received (Apparently eggs were a really rare and high-quality ingredient, so they were incredibly hard to get). So, whenever it came time for me to provide them with food, I’d always make sure to hand some eggs over as well.

Since I was doing that, eggs became a huge favorite, and it seemed like they were eating eggs every day. I taught them some simple egg dishes like omelettes and scrambled eggs, but eggs sunny side up were always the most popular.

Apparently this was because while the dish itself was very simple, it showcased the flavor of eggs the best, and the flavor profile varied a lot depending on what was used to season it.

By the way, it also seemed that my workers were split down the middle between those who liked their eggs with worcestershire sauce and those who liked them with salt and pepper.

However, since they ate eggs every day, the topic came up that it would be nice to have a larger repertoire of egg dishes, so now Aija, Thereza, and Selja were here to learn from me.

“Do you remember how to make omelettes?”

“You just separate the yolk and shape it while you cook, right?”

“Like you told us, we’ve made it several times and covered it with tomato sauce.”

“How was it?” I asked. Thereza and Aija looked at each other, clearly hesitant to say.

Maybe they didn’t like it?

“It wasn’t bad, but everyone just said, ‘sunny side up eggs would be better for this...’”

“Ahhh~ I get it.”

Sunny side up eggs are really that popular? Even if all you do is crack open the egg and cook it? I think plain omelettes are good, though. Wait. Maybe it’s because the omelettes are plain that all the sunny side up egg enthusiasts are saying their favorite would be better? Then what I’m about to teach them will be perfect.

“Did you bring what I asked for?”

“Yes. You wanted sausages, so we brought them.”

“Great. Then I’m going to make an omelette, the thing that you all think is so mediocre. But, I’ll be using this sausage as well.”

Yes, I was going to make an omelette with filling.

It’d be perfectly substantial, and its taste would vary wildly depending on the filling, so I figured it would be way more satisfying than a plain omelette.

◇　◇　◇　◇

“First, cut the sausage into disks and cook it along with some minced onions.”

Once the sausage has browned a little and the onions have cooked sufficiently, move them to a plate off to the side.

“Next, crack some eggs into a bowl, and season with a little salt and pepper. Whisk the eggs well before adding in the cooked sausage and onions. Make sure you mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.”

The sausages in this world were rather salty, so I compensated by only seasoning the eggs a little.

After that, add some oil to a heated frying pan and cook the eggs and filling quickly and evenly using a spatula. Then, tilt up the frying pan so the omelette slides toward you, and fold the far end over to make the right shape.

With the shaping done, plate it, and add ketchup on top...

“This is an omelette with filling.” I presented the omelette to everyone for a taste test.

“It’s delicious...”

“Who would have expected it to change so much just by adding sausage?”

“............”

Selja must have found it incredibly delicious, since she was scarfing it down without a word, even though she’d been rather hesitant at first.

“I only used sausage and onion this time, but you can use pretty much any meat you want as long as it’s been chopped up small. And for vegetables, carrots or potatoes would go well with this too, I think.”

“I see,” replied Aija and Thereza.

“Also, if you can get some, this’d be amazing with melted cheese.”

“Ahh, you mean what you used on the pizza?”

“Exactly. Melted cheese and eggs is really good, you know?” I said, causing Aija, Thereza, and Selja to all gulp.

“Would you like to try making some?” I offered, and everyone nodded with a smile.

Crack some eggs into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Whisk it together reeaaallly well before adding in the cheese.

Then, just cook in a frying pan.

Aija and Thereza had spent a long time as housewives. As long as they understood the steps they were very good at cooking.

The shape of Aija’s omelette is a little broken up, but she should get better the more she practices.

“Personally, I always mix the fillings in with the eggs because that makes it easier to form the omelette shape, but once you’re used to it you can also try putting the filling into the frying pan after the egg’s been cooked and just folding it all up.”

Aija, Thereza, and Selja finished their omelettes with cheese and after taste testing them, they all heaped praise on the dish, saying, “Delicious!”

“Eggs pair well with a lot of different things, so you should all experiment as you like for the fillings. And just as a side note, I think the cheese would go very well with sausages,” I said.

“I see,” Aija replied. Thereza was also enthusiastic, saying, “I’ll definitely have to try that.”

Several days afterward, I was unexpectedly begged by my workers (slaves) to increase the amount of eggs and melting cheese I gave to them.

A Tempting Invitation

“Annnnd done.”

It’d been really hot for days now in Karelina. Though at least it wasn’t as bad as summers were in Japan, especially if you lived in the city, where you felt like you were being smothered in humidity.

Still, it’d been hard to sleep recently, so I bought a cooling pad from the Online Supermarket to spread on my mattress.

This should make things a little better.

“...I still have some free time. Let’s try it out.”

I got into bed on top of the pad.

“Ahhh~, it feels so cool and nice...” The cool feeling that enveloped my entire body already had me closing my eyes.

“Whoops. That was dangerous. I still have things I need to set up,” I sat up cross legged on the bed and grabbed a pillow.

“I made sure to buy a cooling pillow cover too~!” I muttered, retrieving the cover from my Item Box.

While I was shopping for the pad, I found a pillow cover made of the same material, so I bought that too.

“And this too.”

After putting on the pillow cover, I took out a towel blanket. It was a really high-quality one that wouldn’t fray and was soft to the touch. On top of that, it also felt nice and cool. It was something that I bought along with the cooling items from my Online Supermarket.

While the Online Supermarket sold mainly foodstuffs, if I looked closely I knew I could find all sorts of different things like this too. The selection of my skill shouldn’t be underestimated.

While I was at it, I also bought a cooling t-shirt and sweatshorts set to use as pajamas.

“With these, I’ll be able to sleep easy tonight,” I said to myself after having prepared all of my cooling sleeping goods.

Now that I was done, I could leave and do other things, but it was really hard to summon the will to do that.

“I guess I can spend a little more time here...” I made an excuse to myself as I lay down on the bed again.

“Aaahhh~, it feels so nice...” The overwhelming comfort once again had me closing my eyes. I started nodding off, but right before I fell asleep...

《Masterrr, are you taking a nap?》 A telepathic message rang in my head, and something poked at my cheek along with it.

“Mnaah? Oh, it’s you Sui.”

《Nap?》 Sui asked, extending two tentacles to lightly smack both my cheeks.

“No. I’m just testing this out a little...”

《Test?》

“That’s right, Sui. Doesn’t this bed seem different from normal?”

《Mmm~... Ah! It feels kinda cool!》

“That it does. It’s been really hot recently, right? So I bought some cool stuff so we can sleep more comfortably. How do you like it?” I asked Sui, and it flattened out a little to feel the mat a bit better.

《It feels nice and cool~!》

“Right?”

《Hey hey masterrrr, let’s take a nap~!》

“A nap, huh? That’s a really tempting invitation, but...”

Maybe it’ll be fine? It’s only the middle of the day.

《It’s okay, right? Sui wants to take a nap with master...》 Sui bugged me cutely while using a tentacle to nudge my cheek, and...

“Hmmm, well, it’s still a little too early to start making dinner... I guess it’ll be fine to nap for a little while.”

《Masterrrr!》

“Yeah, okay. Let’s take a nap. But only for a little bit, okay?”

《Yayyyy!》 Sui said, waving around some tentacles like they were arms.

Then, Sui went flat and immediately fell asleep.

“Oh. Sui’s already gone.”

I chuckled to myself at how quickly Sui had fallen asleep before relaxing myself, settling into the comfortable bed. I was invited into dreamland almost as fast as Sui was.

◇　◇　◇　◇

《...up............ Wa-............ Wake...》

............

《Hey, wake up!》

Awwww whaaaat? Shut upppp…

《This guy just won’t wake up, will he? Aagghh, fine. I’ll do this.》

............Urrgghh... Something cool is on my face. Excuse me, it’s kind of hard to breathe over here.

I sprang up while trying to bat away whatever was on top of my face.

“Bwahh! Haahhh... hahhh... What the hell was that? Geez~...”

《Hey, sitting on his face totally worked!》

“You are finally awake, you idiot.”

I looked up while rubbing the sleepiness out of my eyes and met the gazes of Fel and Dora-chan.

“Oh, it’s just you two. Whadda ya want?”

“Do not say ‘whadda ya want’ to me!”

《Yeah! You know we totally lost you, only to find you here sleeping all nice with Sui!》

The two of them seemed really ticked for some reason.

“What about our dinner?!”

《I’m hungry over here, you know?!》

“Ahhh!!”

I realized that I’d fallen deeply asleep thanks to Sui’s tempting invitation, so deep that I’d completely forgotten about making dinner.

Still though, this cooling pad and stuff felt so nice~...

Secretly to myself, I thought that taking a nap might be a good idea now and then.

Pickling Vinegar

I was currently staring at a large pile of cucumbers. It was only a portion of the large amount of vegetables Alban presented to me every day.

The cucumbers grown by Alban were all a dark green color and very solid, but still really watery and fresh. It was obvious that they were all first rate products at a single glance.

Of course, their taste matched their appearance.

I’d been eating them in simple dishes every day, like in salads, semi-pickled, or just with some miso, but I was the only one eating these cucumbers, which were basically the symbol of all vegetables to eat raw.

All three of my familiars were super carnivores that wanted nothing but meat. It wasn’t as if they couldn’t have vegetables, but they would never willingly eat them. Fel was especially vehement in his dislike for vegetables. Even so, I persisted in introducing vegetables as much as I could into their diet for health purposes. I made sure to always pair them with my familiars’ beloved meat, so they had to be cooked any time I served them.

Since that was the case, the cucumbers, which again were like the symbol of all vegetables eaten raw, just kept piling up...

That’s why I was trying to think of a simple and easy way to enjoy cucumbers that wasn’t in a salad, semi-pickled, or with miso.

That was when I saw something in my Online Supermarket.

That something being pickle vinegar.

It was stuff that could make pickles just by soaking vegetables in it.

Thinking that I’d be able to enjoy a different taste using all these Alban brand cucumbers, I bought it.

And that was how I got to where I was now, about to pickle vegetables in vinegar.

Usually you would just cut the vegetables and immerse them in the vinegar, but this time I wanted to try cutting the cucumbers into stylish sticks.

For that purpose, I also bought a more fitting jar with my skill.

“Cucumbers are obvious, but let’s also pickle some carrots. Then...”

The recipe that came with the vinegar called for radishes, bell peppers, and mini tomatoes, didn’t it?

Following the recipe, I added in the required vegetables.

I was having Alban raise a lot of different crops. Alban himself was really interested in the seeds I got from my skill too, so he happily cultivated all of them.

Of course, I had Alban-raised daikon radish and bell peppers.

So I cut all the Alban-brand cucumbers, carrots, daikon radishes, and bell peppers into thin sticks. For the mini tomatoes, I simply removed the green part and left them as they were.

Once I stuffed the cut (and not cut) vegetables into the jar, I poured in the pickle vinegar. All I had to do after that was wait half a day.

I’m looking forward to how they turn out.

◇　◇　◇　◇

“Now then, how did it go~?”

I walked into the living room with the jar in my arms.

My familiars were currently feasting on some pancakes with lots of honey. They’d complained before that they were sick of pancakes, but in the end they were eating them anyway.

I’ll obviously get fat if I follow their lead and just eat meat and sweet stuff for every meal. These pickles will be my treat for today.

I separated the different pickles onto their own plates.

Let’s start with the standard cucumbers.

*Crunch* *Crunch* *Snap* *Crunch*

“Ohh~, that’s good. It’s definitely fully pickled. Of course, it’s a little acidic because it’s a pickle, but it’s not too strong, and it’s easy to eat. There’s also a soft sweetness mixed with the acidity. Yeah, this is delicious.”

I moved on to the daikon radishes and carrots.

“They’re good as Japanese semi-pickled tsukemono, but they’re also good as western pickles. And this way they’re more refreshing to the palate, so I never get tired of eating them. I should have these from now on whenever I’m having a western-style breakfast.”

《Hey, hey, master, what’s that?》

“This? They’re called pickles. To make them I steeped some vegetables in vinegar.”

《Is it good?》

“Of course it is. It’s nice and refreshing! Want to try some Sui?” I offered some pickles to Sui, since it showed interest.

《Do not bother. There is no way vegetables will be good.》 After licking his chops clean to finish off the large number of honey topped pancakes he’d ingested, Fel commented with a disgusted look.

《I’d have to tell you to not bother too, to be honest. Like, they’re not inedible, but if you asked me whether they were delicious... And they’re raw too, you know? Raw vegetables all taste grassy, I hate them.》

Grrrr, Fel and Dora-chan are bad-mouthing vegetables so freely!

“You know, vegetables are good for your health! You all should eat vegetables every once in a while too!” I said, but Fel just fixed me with a flat stare.

“Wh-What?”

《You... You say that a lot and try to force us to eat vegetables, but as you can see we are perfectly healthy without having to succumb to your insane predilections.》

Dora-chan nodded in agreement.

And...

《In the first place, we all have blessings from gods. We will never get sick even without eating vegetables.》

Ah..................!

“I-It’s the feeling of it! The feeling! That kind of thing is important!”

《......You totally forgot, I see.》

Sh-Shut up!

Back of the Box Recipe #1 ~Baked Donuts~

《Hey, hey masterrrr, what’s today’s snack~?》 Sui asked me while we were relaxing in the living room, even though it hadn’t been that long since lunch.

“Snack, huh? I wonder~...”

These days, my familiars had started to consider it normal to have a snack at 3pm. Given that, I couldn’t very well tell Sui that there’d be no snack, given how big its sweet tooth was.

The confections sold from my Online Supermarket or the cakes from Fumiya were fine ideas, but they were getting old. Also, my familiars all treated Fumiya’s cakes more like an after-dinner treat, so it didn’t really feel appropriate for a 3pm snack. Instead, for the past half a week or so, I’d been trying out cooking their snacks myself.

Still, sweets were outside my area of expertise. So the number of things I could make satisfactorily was very limited.

《Hey, do not be thinking of making pancakes again, got it?》

《Yeah, those aren’t bad, but we just had them last time. I want something other than pancakes.》 Dora-chan and Fel commented, seizing the initiative.

I figured they’d say that, since the last snack I made for them was pancakes. There was even a time when all I gave them were pancakes. After all, the only steps were to prepare the pancake mix and cook it. It was easy. Also, you could top them with lots of different things, like butter, maple syrup, honey, jam, and a variety of fruits.

But having them so often would make anyone tired of them, and my familiars started to push back.

At that point I’d already started stocking pancake mix, so I was a bit troubled as to how to use it all. That was when I saw a certain recipe written on the back of a pancake mix box. It was for a different but still easy snack I could make with the contents.

I’d never been more grateful to a food company than at that moment. Honestly, I was saved.

After that, I checked the other boxes of pancake mix I’d stocked up and found a bunch of different recipes.

I cut them all out and filed them away to use as a trump card.

Heheheh. Looks like it’s time.

“I’m not making pancakes. Just wait, you’ll see.”

《Really?》

《You better not be kidding.》

《What will it be? I wonder~? Sui is looking forward to it~!》

◇　◇　◇　◇

“I talked big, but now how do I back it up...?” I took out my recipe file from my Item Box and started flipping through it.

“Oh, how about this?” I picked out a recipe for baked donuts made with pancake mix.

If I make this, I can flavor it with cocoa powder, or chocolate chips, or dried fruits, or even tea. There’d be so many variations I could do!

“Okay, I’m making this. Hey, wait a second... Looks like it uses a mold? Does my Online Supermarket sell molds for baked donuts?”

I checked, and...

“They do.”

I found a mold that allowed you to make six baked donuts at once.

Oh yeah, I remember that the bakery I frequented sold baked donuts, as did the dessert corner in my supermarket.

The donuts were healthier since they weren’t fried in oil. And while I didn’t really care about that, it had made them pretty popular recently.

I found a workable mold, and checked it out along with the other ingredients I needed.

“Great. Now I’m ready.”

I was planning to make plain, chocolate chip, and tea-flavored baked donuts.

First, melt some unsalted butter.

Then, add the pancake mix, milk, eggs, sugar, and the melted butter into a bowl and whisk together until there are no more lumps.

Just that step finished the plain donuts. The recipe was super easy.

By mixing in chocolate chips, I could make chocolate chip baked donuts. Or I could mix in tea (This time it would be Earl Grey leaves. I just had to put the leaves in a vinyl bag and crush them with a rolling pin) to make tea-flavored baked donuts.

Once all three of the doughs are done, pour the dough into the mold after they’ve been brushed with oil. Since the donuts will apparently rise a lot, it’s not necessary to fill the mold to the brim.

The last step is to preheat the oven and bake until the dough changes color and is properly cooked through. Then, after removing the molds from the oven and letting them cool, remove the donuts from the mold...

“Ohhh~, looks nice.”

As the recipe stated, I made sure to sprinkle some powdered sugar on top of the plain baked donuts.

“Wow, they came out great.” The donuts looked rather nice for something I’d just made for the first time.

The recipe also gave some advice on customization, saying that using almond powder, which was almonds crushed into dust, would give the donuts more depth of flavor. It also said that using soy milk instead of cow milk would make for a healthier donut.

Maybe I should try those out next time. But leaving that aside, I should taste test these donuts since they came out looking so nice.

I took a bite of a plain donut.

“Ohh~... It was so easy to make since I used the pancake mix, but the donuts are soft and airy and moist... They’re delicious.”

In my opinion, they’d be perfect as a snack with black coffee. I suppressed my desire to make some, and plated the rest of the baked donuts to bring out to everyone.

“Snacks are done~.”

《Hm... A round snack with a hole in it?》

《That’s a weird shape.》

《There’s a hole~!》

“You see, these are called baked donuts. Anyway, just try them out,” I said, and they obliged.

《Hm… They are alright, I suppose. This one smells good.》

《Yeah, they aren’t bad. I like this one the best.》

“So Fel likes the tea flavor, and Dora-chan likes the chocolate chip baked donuts. What about you, Sui?”

《Ummm... All of them!》

“Haha, I see!”

It seemed like my first set of baked donuts passed muster. Though I was going to keep it a secret that these were super easy to make with the pancake mix.

Tempura

“Alriiiigghht! Tempura! Tempura time!!” In great spirits, I headed into the kitchen to start making Tempura for tonight’s dinner.

I’ve been looking forward to this since last night~.

Actually, yesterday I accompanied Fel and the others to the forest near Karelina for some hunting, and I got a little peckish while they were gone.

I started to really crave the taste of junk food, so I decided to have some cup ramen.

If the others were there, they’d all boo intensely at the thought of cup ramen as a meal, but I was alone this time.

So, I went shopping on my Online Supermarket and ended up picking a bowl of instant tempura soba.

I actually had a hard time deciding between the tempura soba and curry noodles, but in the end I decided on the first one.

It had been so long since I had cup ramen, and it was so incredibly satisfying. The most satisfying part? The tempura. That weirdly unique cheap-ass tempura that only comes in cup ramen was mind blowing.

So I got to thinking: It’d been a long time since I’d had tempura, so if the cheap kind that came with cup ramen tasted that good, how good would a freshly fried helping taste?

Once that thought got into my head, I just couldn’t stand it and decided right then and there to make tempura.

So, the most important thing was exactly what I’d be making tempura out of. Personally, I wanted to focus on Alban’s vegetables.

It was unfortunate that I had no seafood, since the stuff I got from Berleand had long since run out. I considered buying shrimp from my Online Supermarket, but I could see that causing unnecessary trouble, so I had to give up on the idea, no matter how hard it was. My familiars had just gone out on a hunting session today, and if they ate anything from my world they might insist on having it again.

So I decided on vegetables.

Still, that wouldn’t fly with Fel and the others, who loved meat.

I decided to make not-chicken tempura using cockatrice and not-pork tempura using orc meat for them.

I was so looking forward to it that I ended up buying everything I needed with my skill on the spot.

“And so~... I’m going to make tempura!” I declared, so excited that I tried imitating a certain media personality.

First, prepare the meat.

Cut the cockatrice roughly into appropriately-sized round shapes, then season it with soy sauce, cooking sake, grated garlic, grated ginger, and salt and pepper. Make sure to massage the flavors into the meat.

Slice the orc thinly, and season with soy sauce, sake, and grated ginger. Massage the flavors in for that, too.

Grated garlic and ginger from a tube would work fine for this, but since I was being particular about flavor this time anyway, I decided to manually grate the ginger and garlic.

After the meat, I moved on to Alban’s vegetables.

I picked eggplants, onions, carrots, squash, and sweet potatoes to for this.

For the eggplant, cut off the green part and, after slicing it vertically into fourths, start scoring the pieces while leaving 1.5cm of space on either side. Plate them in a fan shape.

Cut the onions into discs, and the carrots into sticks.

For the squash, remove the seeds and pulp before cutting the remaining meat into pieces 5mm thick. The squash was hard, but Sui’s special mithril knife cut through it like butter.

After thoroughly washing the sweet potatoes, cut them into discs about 1cm thick while leaving the skin on. Then soak them in water to remove any unwanted substances.

With all the ingredients to be fried prepared, next was the batter.

Since I was making tempura, I bought something else with my skill: tempura flour from a brand I often used. It allowed you to make nice and crispy tempura without any complicated steps, so I’d always relied on it. No matter what anyone said about it, this tempura flour allowed even an amateur like me to make crisp and deliciously light tempura that tasted close to what was sold in restaurants.

I mixed the tempura flour with some water to finish the batter. All that was left was to fry the food.

“Good. The oil’s at a perfect temperature too.” The frying oil I was using was a 7:3 mix of canola oil and sesame oil. Mixing it that way would impart the lightness of the canola oil and the savoriness of the sesame oil into the food. It was a perfect mixture for making tempura.

That was all just stuff I read on the internet, but it turned out to be right when I actually tried it out. Since then, I always used this mixture when making tempura.

Since the meat was seasoned, I prepared separate batches of oil for the meat and the vegetables.

I’ll start with the vegetables for a taste test.

I fried an eggplant, dipped it in sauce, and ate it.

“Ow, hot! But it’s so crispy because it was just fried.” The crispiness of freshly fried tempura and the sweetness of the eggplant was to die for.

Let’s try some carrot too.

I had put the carrots into a bowl and sprinkled tempura flour on top of them ahead of time so they’d be easier to handle all at once. Then I shook off the excess flour and mixed them quickly in the batter.

Next, I used a spoon to lower them into the oil.

Ohh. The orange color is so vivid. This is nice on the eyes too.

I seasoned it with a little seaweed salt and ate some.

Hmmm… The Alban brand carrots are pretty sweet, I feel. This is great.

I wanted to keep eating, but the trio of gluttony was waiting for me. They’d get angry if I made them wait too long, so I decided to just start cooking in earnest. I fried up a moderate amount of vegetables for me, and a ton of meat for them.

◇　◇　◇　◇

“Whew~. This should do it.” After I finished frying up a mountain of cockatrice and orc tempura, it was time to bring everyone their meals.

“Dinner’s ready~!”

The gluttonous trio had been waiting with bated breath in the living room, and gathered around me immediately when I announced that.

《You kept us waiting.》

《Finally~!》

《Sui is so hungry~!》

“Yeah, yeah, sorry for the wait,” I said, placing plates piled high with cockatrice and orc tempura in front of them.

《Is this karaage?》

“No, no, it’s not.”

《It looks similar. Are you sure it isn’t?》

《It’s not karaage?》

My familiars seemed to think that the cockatrice and orc tempura were karaage.

The cockatrice I can kind of understand, but the orc is sliced so thin, isn’t it obvious it’s different at a glance?

“This is tempura. It’s fried like karaage, but it’s a different dish. You all have tempura made from cockatrice and orc. I seasoned them before frying, so they should be pretty good even when eaten alone.”

After hearing that, the gluttonous trio all started scarfing down the food.

《Ohh… It is crisp. The texture is great.》

《Yeah, and the breading on the outside is so light!》

《It smells so savory too! This is delicious!》

“Right? Tempura is great, isn’t it?”

I watched everyone chow down while I enjoyed my own vegetable tempura.

I’ve tried the eggplant and carrot, but how’s the onion?

“Ohh, this is good too. I just love the sweetness of onions. It goes great with the sauce too.” How’re the squash and sweet potato?

“Wooahh~! The breading is so crisp and the insides are so warm and fluffy~!”

I’d prepared both tempura sauce and seaweed salt to season the vegetable tempura, and both were great with the stuff.

But the trio of gluttony didn’t even give the vegetable tempura a glance. I couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at that fact as the demands for more started rolling in.

Vegetables are delicious, though.

It’d been a long time since I’d last eaten any, so I enjoyed my vegetable tempura just as much as my familiars did their meat tempura.

The Disappointing Goddess’ Badgering

I was out of flour, so I went onto my Online Supermarket to buy some more, but...

“Crap. I messed up.”

The kind I actually wanted was pastry flour for use in frying things. I mistakenly bought hard flour used for bread.

“Oof... What should I do...? This is for bread and stuff, right? Maybe I should just give it to Thereza?” I considered that as I looked at the package of flour in front of me, and...

“Hm? What’s this?”

I noticed a sticker on the package that read, “A delicious recipe for you!” The bottom right of the sticker had a little section that said, “Flip this up!” So I did what it said, and...

“Hmmm? ‘A red bean bun recipe everyone will love?’”

＜R-Red bean bun?!＞

...Is it just me, or did I just hear a voice I shouldn’t be hearing?

“Handmade red bean buns sound good, but it looks like it takes a long time for the bread to prove and it seems like a lot of work. Guess this is a bust.”

＜No! Make it! And give it to meeeee!＞

Demiurge is going to get mad at you, you know?

＜Grahh...＞

I’ll tell on you if you keep being selfish like this. And besides, if you don’t stop handing down oracles like this, Demiurge will notice.

＜Grrrrr... But I want to eat it~! I want some freshly baked red bean buns~! Couldn’t you please find it in your heart to make some? Pleeeaaaassseee~?＞

True to her disappointing wont, Ninrir started wheedling and begging me.

Hmm... What should I do?

＜Pleeeaaasssee. I’m begging you~!＞

Well, if you go that far... She did give me her blessing, and I’m not completely heartless... The recipe is a lot of work, but I do kind of want to try freshly-baked red bean buns too... I guess it’s fine. And I can use them as snacks for Fel and the others.

＜Y-You’ll make it? You’ll really make it!?!＞

“Oh, alright. I’ll make some.”

＜Yayyyy! Thank you! Yesss, I get freshly baked red bean buns!＞

As soon as I declared that I’d do it, Ninrir cheered really intensely.

＜Hmhm~, H-hmm~, red bean buns, red bean buns, freshly baked red bean buns~♪＞

She even went so far as to start humming a tune.

A little exasperated, I sat and waited to see how she would act, and...

＜Wh-When the buns are done you give me a call, okay? It’s a promise, okay~?＞

...This damn disappointing goddess.

◇　◇　◇　◇

“Okay, this should do it for the first step.”

I immediately started to get ready to make the red bean buns, buying all the ingredients the recipe called for through my Online Supermarket.

In a bowl, mix together the flour, dry yeast, sugar, skim milk, and salt. Then, add some eggs that have been warmed to room temperature and lukewarm water and continue mixing until the dough loses any powderiness.

“It’s kind of soft and sticky, but that’s apparently fine for this stage according to the recipe? And... I need to take this and put it on the table...”

At this step, the important thing was to just knead as thoroughly as possible.

Once the stickiness has been kneaded out of the dough, add in some room temperature unsalted butter and resume kneading. Fold the dough, knead it, stretch it, and knead it some more before pounding and going back to kneading. Basically, just alternate methods to make sure the dough is thoroughly mixed.

Once the dough takes on a sheen, check to see if it’s done by stretching it into a thin membrane. If it doesn’t break when stretched this thinly, then the kneading is done.

Gather the dough into a round ball and put it in a bowl. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let the dough prove until it’s doubled in size.

While the dough was proving, I took a break with some coffee.

The trio of gluttony was outside sunbathing. I thanked my lucky stars that the weather was good. If they’d stayed close, they’d definitely have figured out that I was making something and would have never shut up about it. Well, they’ll probably figure it out by the smell anyway once I start baking it and come flying over.

After some time, when the first prove is done, gently push the dough to expel the gas inside it. Put the dough on a surface that’s been lightly dusted with flour, and separate the dough into balls of a good size for your planned bun.

Gently wrap the dough so it doesn’t dry out and let it rest for around 15 minutes.

Once that’s done, it’s time to shape them.

Lightly squish each dough ball into a flat shape on your palm before using a spoon to scoop some red bean paste filling onto the middle of the dough and closing it up. Make sure to pinch the opening of the dough closed firmly.

As an aside, I decided to use smooth red bean paste this time. Since the bakery I frequented used smoothe paste for their buns, I just kind of felt like it.

At any rate, once the final balls are formed, wrap them up gently and line up the dough balls on a tabletop with baking paper on it. Leave them there for a second prove.

Once the balls double in size, the second prove is done. Remove the wrapping and paint on an egg wash for some gloss and sprinkle black sesame seeds on top.

The only step left is to preheat the oven and start baking.

“Whew~. Now I just have to wait for them to bake.”

After a while, the smell of baking red bean buns started to fill the air.

When that happened...

《Hey, what are you making?》

《Oh man, what’s this? Is that somethin’ good I smell~?》

《It smells nice~!》

Of course, the trio of gluttony all appeared in the kitchen.

“I’m making red bean buns. Ninrir asked for them.”

《Mm... an offering?》

《Whaaat~? But what about us?》

《Awww, Sui wants some too~...》

“Don’t worry, I’ve prepared some for you three too,” I said.

Fel reacted with a short, 《I see,》 but his tail was waving furiously. Dora-chan and Sui were both visibly happy, cheering, 《Yayyy!》

“I’ll bring them out when they’re done and cooled, so just wait in the living room,” I told them, and the gluttonous trio dispersed.

While I was at it, I wanted to also share some with my workers (slaves), so I’d actually prepared enough dough that it should be enough, but I had some doubts about something else.

“This is made entirely with ingredients from my Online Supermarket, isn’t it...?”

I was worried about the fact that there wasn’t a single ingredient from this world. It was made from beginning to end with products from my world.

Which meant that there was a possibility that it would super buff the eater’s stats.

Unable to shake my doubts, I decided to appraise the first set of red bean buns I’d ever made, which had come out beautifully.

【Red Bean Bun】

A red bean bun made with ingredients from another world.

Increases HP by 5% for 30 minutes.

“Oh wow, this is…”

While the buff wasn’t ridiculous, it wasn’t exactly negligible either.

“I kind of feel sorry for doing it, but it looks like I’ll have to hold off on giving these to my workers.”

I even used both my portable oven and the oven in the kitchen to make so many. Oh well. As for Fel and the others, I bet it’ll be useless to tell them not to eat it, so I guess I’ll just have to limit the amount they get as much as possible.

“It’s still a little hot, but this should be fine.”

Before that, though, these are the first red bean buns I’ve ever made. So a taste test would be...

“Ohh, delicious. It’s totally a red bean bun. Plus it’s got that freshly baked scent, and the bun itself is still kind of warm. It’s not just ‘not bad,’ it’s actually really good.”

I was really happy that it turned out so well, despite it being my first go at the recipe.

So I plated the red bean buns thinking that ten would be more than enough even for a goddess. In fact, it might be a little much.

Then, I called out to her, “Ninrir, the red bean buns are ready~!”

＜Ohh! Finally! I’ve been waiting~!＞

“Please accept them.”

＜I will~!＞ Came her reply, and the snacks disappeared in some faint light. ＜Hm, I only get this many?＞

“‘This many?’ There’s ten of them! How many were you planning to eat...?” I replied, slightly exasperated.

Then came a slightly panicked voice in my head, ＜I-I don’t eat ten at once!＞ It sounded like nothing but an excuse.

Yeah, eating ten at once would be impossible.

＜Grk! ...A-Anyway, I’m only eating one. Om... Moohohhhh! It’s still a little warm, this bun is so delicious! It’s soft and chewy, and the sweet red bean paste pairs really well with the bun!＞

I could hear Ninrir talk excitedly.

＜H-Hey, on second thought, I could go...＞

“You’ll get fat again.”

＜Aaack! I-I’m fine, I tell you! If I say I’m fine then I’m totally fiiiiiiine!＞

I heard the snapping sound of communications being cut right after she had the final word in the discussion.

“Looks like she’s gone. Still, she was really affected by that fat line... So goddesses really can get fat?”

I guess that’s just a matter of course, given how much she was having. She might be able to do something about it with her goddess powers, but there’s no doubt she should hold back at least a little from now on, I thought as I brought out the red bean buns to Fel and the others.

Right afterward, I told my familiars, “You only get three each,” which incited furious protests from the gluttonous trio.

Chilled Udon

《Even though it’s a bit better thanks to Fel’s magic, I never thought we’d be back here again...》

“Yeah. For sure...” I replied to Dora-chan while wiping off the sweat that had beaded on my brow with a towel.

《You should have just refused. Thanks to you all tagging along, I cannot maintain a comfortable atmosphere. This magic is hard to control already with just me to cool,》 Fel complained with a sour look.

While it wasn’t exactly cool and comfortable, Fel’s magic was taking a huge bite out of the heat in the area.

Well, there’s no choice but to rely on you, Fel, so do your best.

We were currently in the great Perales forest area, a place in the midwestern area of Leonhardt that bordered the collection of small states. This was a place we’d been to before on a request.

Of course, we were on a request this time as well. If we weren’t, we’d never go anywhere near a place like this, after all.

Also, the person who made the request was apparently the same noble as last time.

That noble’s hobby was collecting insect monsters as samples. Last time we were here, it was to capture a sample of an endemic species, the morphium butterfly. It was an annoying little thing, so the request was considered high difficulty. It seemed that noble was so happy with our performance that he asked for us again.

Willem, the guildmaster of Karelina’s Adventurer’s guild, even begged me to accept, saying, “Just this once,” so I couldn’t refuse.

Still, I had to make sure this wouldn’t happen again, so I said, “Just this once. ONCE. Okay?”

I wouldn’t be able to deal with that noble bothering me with his hobby all the time.

According to the guildmaster, we didn’t have to worry about that, though.

From what he told me, the noble’s wife found out about his hobby too, and was really mad about it.

However, taking back a request once issued would impact a noble’s dignity, so this one request was allowed to stand. Though it was implied that the next one would have consequences.

After hearing that, I was a little relieved.

At any rate, given the noble lady’s anger, it seemed pretty safe to assume this would be the last time. So we once again set out to the ridiculously sweltering jungles.

The request this time was to capture a golden beetle, which was a rhinoceros beetle about the size of my palm.

It was also an endemic species of this Perales forest, just like the morphium butterfly, and was also very rare and low in number, so they had a lot of fans.

Since that was the case, there was no way we would find one right away, and we ended up having to go deep into the area.

The most annoying thing, though, were the characteristics of the golden beetle.

The golden beetle was more defensive than aggressive, and despite its small size its exoskeleton was hard enough to withstand attacks from an A-ranked monster. While that wasn’t really a problem for us, the real annoying part was how sharp its ability to sense presences was.

Fel had sensed a couple presences that seemed to be what we were looking for on the way to where we were, but whenever we moved to capture them they always ran away before we got there. This happened twice.

So, the course of action we decided on was...

《There,》 Fel said through telepathy.

Since it would run if we came too close, it was decided that Fel would warn us once we were barely outside the range of its perception.

I looked over, following Fel’s line of sight. 《So that’s it...》 My eyesight must have gotten better thanks to my levels, since I could see through the various trees to spot a small golden dot in the distance.

《Now, as we talked about, you three wait here.》

《Indeed.》

《You got it.》

《Okay~!》

I walked forward alone toward the golden beetle.

Since the golden beetle would run away whenever it detected someone strong, after some consultation with everyone it was decided that I, the weakest of the group (It’s sad but it’s true. Haha), would go and try to catch it.

I snuck toward it as best I could.

The golden beetle was occupied with sucking tree sap, and hadn’t noticed me.

Or rather, it might have just not thought that I was a threat.

At any rate, I reached out my hands quietly...

“Got ya!”

I grabbed hold of the golden beetle, peeled it off the tree, and tossed it into a bag I had ready.

《Good job! It seems your weakness has paid off for once.》

《We’ve finally got one! Now we can leave this awful forest!》

《Yayyy!》

They all congratulated me when I regrouped with them.

Though Fel’s remark about my weakness being useful wasn’t welcome. It’s true that I’m weak...

At any rate, now that we had our prey...

“Let’s hurry home.”

We immediately made to leave the jungle.

◇　◇　◇　◇

《We should almost be out of the forest.》 The vegetation had gotten much thinner.

《I’m pretty hungry...》

《Sui is too~!》

《Indeed. Let us eat.》

“Yeah, we did end up moving around a lot in this forest looking for that thing... Let’s just eat now.”

And so, it was suddenly time for a meal. Since it was so hot, I wanted to make something as cool and soothing as possible.

With that in mind, I remembered the meat soboro I had premade in my Item Box.

“I have this, so I can make some chilled udon with lots of meat soboro.”

With that decided, the first thing to do was go shopping. For chilled udon, I’d need mentsuyu and hot spring eggs.

Once I finished my shopping, I first started with cutting up the vegetables for the garnish.

I took some Alban brand cucumbers and cut them into strips, and I also cut some likewise Alban brand tomatoes into wedges.

Once that’s done, boil the frozen udon (Frozen udon is great since it cooks in such a short time. It’d be even easier with a microwave, though) before washing the udon in ice water until it shrinks up.

After that, drain the extra water from the udon before plating it and top with lots of the orc and bloody horn-bull meat soboro. Place the cucumber and tomato garnish on the side of the plate for color.

Lastly, make a small crater in the middle of all the udon and meat soboro and add the hot spring egg inside with some mentsuyu on top of that...

“The chilled udon with lots of meat soboro is done!” I only noticed after serving the food to everyone, but udon might be difficult for them to eat.

But, as if to say that all my worries were stupid, they all started chowing down with no problems.

“How is it?”

《Hm, not bad.》

《It’s cold, so it feels real nice in this heat.》

《It’s cold and there’s lots of meat so it’s really good~!》

The reviews were good.

I started eating myself.

*Slrrrrrrrrp*

Yeah. It’s nice and refreshing.

There was a lot of meat soboro too, so it didn’t fall short in how filling it was either. The crunchy cucumber and the slightly sour tomatoes went well with the main part of the dish too.

《More. I do not need any vegetables. Just give me the meat and the egg.》

《Give me the same!》

《Sui too!》

“What, why? It’s just garnish so there isn’t even that much on the plate.”

《Hmph. Vegetables are unnecessary. It will be much better with just meat and eggs,》 Fel declared, and Dora-chan and Sui nodded in agreement.

Awwww what? But vegetables go so well with the cold udon.

These damn carnivores...

The Parents’ Worries

Mukohda and his party had left for the meat dungeon, leaving his mansion without its owner...

As for the servants’ (slaves’) quarters behind the main house, breakfast was lively as usual.

“Hey, hey! Sit down quickly and eat!” Thereza rushed everyone to their seats, sounding for all the world like a plucky mother.

“Hey, wait a second! Barthel! Please don’t start drinking in the morning! The kids are watching!” The one who scolded the dwarf was the energetic Aija, completely recovered from her illness.

As the two who were responsible for all the workers’ meals, Thereza and Aija were busy right from the start of the day.

The menu for this morning was the standard sunny side up eggs, bread baked by Thereza in the stone oven, and soup made with lots of Alban’s vegetables and some cockatrice meat.

Once everyone had taken their seats they started eating.

As a side note, the table and chairs they were using were all things that Mukohda had made with Earth magic for a dinner party he’d hosted. They were all left behind and the slaves were using them.

So long as the weather wasn’t rainy, everyone would regularly eat breakfast and lunch there.

For dinner, Thereza and Aija would deliver the food they made to each house for those living there to eat in their own families or groups.

At any rate, this morning’s breakfast was no different from any in the past, but there was one small girl who was frowning with an unsatisfied expression.

“Aww, why isn’t there more meat~?”

“There’s meat in the soup.”

“Yeaahhh... but it doesn’t feel like it when there’s so little...”

“If you don’t like it you don’t have to eat it, Lotte.” Thereza, plucky as always, retorted to the complaining girl.

“I’ll eat it. Mneeehhh!”

Lotte’s brother and the Alban family’s first son, Oliver, smacked Lotte on the head after she said that while making a face.

“Stop being stupid and eat.”

“Ow!! You dummy!”

“Alright, Lotte, it’s time you stopped this right now!”

“Okaayyy~.”

Lotte steadily ate all her food, even while complaining.

“Awww… It would’ve been great if we had like that ‘steak,’ or the ‘hamburg steak’ thing, or even that ‘ginger-fried pork’ thing... You think so too, right Erik?”

Lotte suddenly involved her other big brother and the Alban family’s second son, Erik.

“Sure, I love those things, but those’re all for dinner.”

“Whaaaat? Whyyyy?”

“It’s because those things are all super delicious, like a feast, right? They taste better as a reward after a day of working hard.”

The adults all nodded in agreement.

“But if it’s a treat, then don’t you want to eat it all the time?”

Hearing that, both Oliver and Erik shrugged and shook their heads like they’d given up.

“*Sigh~* How did this girl become so spoiled...?” Thereza heaved a sigh.

“We get eggs every day in the morning, too. Back in the village, this kind of luxury would never have been available.”

“Yeah. We never had any eggs back in those days...”

Thereza’s husband Alban, who was the father of Oliver, Erik, and Lotte, reminisced about the past.

“It was the same for us. I had eggs for the first time after coming here.”

Aija’s husband, Tony, agreed.

“And we only managed to get meat every once in a while.” Kosti, who was Tony and Aija’s son, chimed in.

Selja, who was his little sister and also the family’s eldest daughter agreed, saying, “Yeah, it was like once a month?”

“For us, whenever someone actually succeeded on their hunt, we only got a small pittance of a share. Now we get eggs every day, and meat too.”

“And we get to eat as much as we like, too.”

Alban and Thereza heaved a sigh.

“But the children have started taking this luxury for granted. I’m worried about that,” Thereza said.

Aija nodded, saying, “Us too.”

“It’ll be fine. We understand that it’s thanks to Mukohda that this is happening,” Oliver said. Erik, Kosti, and Selja all nodded.

“Being a parent is tough, isn’t it?”

“Yeah... So just stop worrying about all that and eat while you can!” Luke and Irvine, nicknamed the idiot twins of the adventurer group, had listened in on the parents’ worrying and chimed in without a care.

“You two can just shut up.” Their sister, Tabatha, thumped them on the heads as she retorted.

“Personally, I think it’s fine as long as they understand this is all thanks to Mukohda.”

“Yeah. As long as they understand that, it shouldn’t be a problem if they think this is natural. They just need to keep that part in mind,” Barthel, a dwarf in the adventuring group, added his agreement as well.

“You’ve been plying Mukohda for alcohol all the time too, Barthel. You make sure to thank him for all that.”

“Yeah! The alcohol we get to drink here is way better than anything you’ll find anywhere else, after all.” The idiot twins started teasing Barthel.

“I know that already! I’m always grateful to Mukohda! I’ve already decided to spend my entire life serving him. Nothing could make me leave,” Barthel declared in a huff.

His swelteringly passionate enthusiasm caused the entire table to laugh.

“I’m the most worried about Lotte, though.”

“Yeah, she’s young after all.” Alban and Thereza were the most worried about her because she was getting used to such luxury at such a young age.

“Hm? But Lotte knows all that?” Lotte said with egg yolk staining the edges of her mouth before suddenly standing up.

Then...

“Thanks, big brother Mukohdaaaa! Please come back with lots of meat!” She shouted with a smile. Alban and Thereza’s shoulders slumped as they heaved a heavy sigh.

Meanwhile, Mukohda...

“Ahh.. Ahhh... Ahhchoooo!”

《What? Why are you sneezing?》

“I just really needed to all of a sudden.”

《Anyway, let’s hurry forward! This dungeon’s gonna be a buffet of meat!》

《Meeeeaaaat!》

“I need to get souvenirs for everyone waiting at home, so yeah, let’s go.”

《We will hunt all we can.》

“No, no, we don’t need that much, okay!”

Tempura Rice Bowls with Extra Extra Meat

《What are we having for dinner tonight?》 Fel asked while we were spending time as each of us liked in the living room. He must have been hungry.

“Great of you to ask. You see, I’m thinking we’ll have tempura rice bowls today.”

《《《Tempura rice bowls?》》》

Dora-chan and Sui must have also been interested in what was on the menu, since they reacted along with Fel.

“Oh, right. I’ve made a lot of different rice bowls, but I’ve never made this one before, have I?”

《Something we have never tried, is it? Interesting.》

《Ohh~? I’m looking forward to it.》

《Yeahh~!》

“Well, we’re just going to be eating the tempura we made before though,” I clarified, and my familiars seemed a little disappointed.

《Oh, what? You are just going to use something you made before?》

《You’re cuttin’ corners man.》

《Everything master makes is delicious, but Sui would like something new...》

“Tsk tsk tsk. Now, now, don’t just go assuming that tempura and tempura rice bowls are the same thing. They’re different, get it? But seeing is believing. I’m gonna go get started on it, so just wait,” I explained to the gluttonous trio before going to the kitchen.

Then...

While I’d made the tempura beforehand, I’d stored them in my Item Box fresh from the fryer, so they were still nice and hot. So, I got to making the sauce.

Throw some water, soy sauce, mirin, sugar, and Japanese-style dashi into a pot and turn on the heat. Once the alcohol in the mirin is cooked away and the mixture has thickened a little, it’s done.

“Okay, once the sauce is done, I just have to take the freshly steamed rice from my Item Box and form it in a bowl...”

The clay pot I retrieved from my Item Box was filled with plump and smooth grains of freshly steamed rice. They positively shined in their whiteness.

I packed the rice into my familiar’s personal bowls. There were small crunchy burnt bits too, so it would be really appetizing.

I poured a little of the sauce I made over the rice and let it soak in. The salty-sweet sauce would make it even better.

After that, I poured some of the sauce on top of the not-chicken but cockatrice tempura and the not-pork but orc tempura that I’d made, and piled them high on the rice.

“Great! And that’s the special extra extra meat tempura bowl finished!”

By the way, for mine I had eggplant, onion, carrot, squash, and sweet potato as the focus of my tempura. The cockatrice and the orc were just a token presence. I had to make it that way, since if I insisted on the same meat portions as Fel and the others I’d be assaulted with terrible stomach pain afterwards, especially since the meat would probably sit really heavy in my stomach.

Anyway, I should take this food out to my starving familiars who’re waiting outside, I guess.

◇　◇　◇　◇

“Here you go. It’s a special extra extra meat tempura bowl.”

I put the bowls in front of my familiars. The sight of the pile of meat was really imposing.

《Oh? So this is what you call a tempura bowl.》

《Alright, I’mma take my time with this. Let’s see if you really did cut any corners, shall we?》

《Wowww~ so much meat!》

“It’s got a different taste from the tempura you guys had before. It’s really good!”

Everyone started chowing down.

Good, good. Rice bowls are meant to be eaten enthusiastically like that. I should eat too. Starting with this eggplant. Mmmm~! The sweet and savory sauce is to die for! Eating tempura with tempura dip or with salt is nice, but this sauce in a tempura rice bowl is just as great.

《More.》

《Me too.》

《Sui too!》

My familiars had finished off their bowls really quick.

“How was it?”

《Well, it was not bad.》

《Yeah. I like that it had a different taste from the tempura we had before.》

《It’s great~!》

“Right? Tempura bowls are delicious things. The sweet and savory sauce on the tempura and the rice brings it all together. It’s just the best. Like this,” I said, stuffing my face full of tempura rice bowl as an example.

The sweetness of the vegetable tempura along with the sweet and savory sauce soaked into the rice went together perfectly. The taste was exquisite.

As I was enjoying my tempura rice bowl...

《Hey!》

《We asked for more. Don’t just sit there eating on your own!》

《Masterrrr, give us more!》

Whoops. I forgot.

“Sure, sure. Extra helpings. Got it.”

I took the extra serving rice bowls I’d already made and stored in my Item Box and put them in front of them.

Of course, they were piled high with meat.

And the three of them all started eating with gusto again.

Seriously though, I get that they like meat but don’t they ever get tired of having nothing else? Actually, before that, I fried those in oil so they should have a pretty big impact...

With that in mind, I tried offering them other stuff, saying, “I have vegetable tempura too. Want any?” But I was flatly refused.

Why though? Vegetable tempura is great.

While I was busy worrying about their health, the trio of gluttony was beside me eating bowl after bowl of food like calories weren’t even a thing.