Chapter 62

In my settlement, bread-making is currently in vogue.

I had been trying to make bread ever since we started growing wheat. I even built a large oven in the kitchen, and in fact, there was nothing lacking for bread production.

As a person from another world who came from Japan, it's regrettable that I'm baking bread before rice, but I really need a staple food as soon as possible. Bread is delicious, after all.

That's why everyone in the settlement is now challenging themselves to make bread.

"Kone, kone"

"Kone, kone"

"Kone, kone the bread dough"

"Add a little water and kone, kone"

The women were doing it rhythmically. Bread itself seems to exist in this world, and Bati and Berena, who are of commoner origin, were quite skilled at it.

However, Plat, who is a mermaid princess, was struggling. Her face was completely covered in flour.

"Ugh...!?"

And Veil was a disaster. His whole body was covered in white flour, and on the table, there was only a small, lumpy piece of dough, not even a fraction of the flour he used.

"Ughhh!! I, a dragon, can't do such a fiddly thing!! Just give me the finished product!! I'm just here to eat!!"

That's not going to be allowed.

Once you know how difficult it is to cook, the food tastes even better.

"Everyone, the dough should be as soft as an earlobe. Try touching your earlobe for comparison."

Puni, puni.

Puni, puni.

Puni, puni.

Puni, puni.

"Why are you touching my earlobe!?"

You have your own, touch yours!!

Thanks to that, my ears are now completely white with flour!?

"Instead of an earlobe, maybe you could compare it to the softness of your chest? Veil, try touching your own chest and compare it."

"Kishaaaaa!!"

The well-endowed Plat was teasing the flat-chested Vaal.

After kneading, we added various steps and baked the bread dough. The bread puffed up nicely, and we all tried the freshly baked, piping hot bread.

"Delicious!! So delicious!!"

"The outside is crispy, and the inside is fluffy and soft!!"

"Why is the bread baked in the land of the saint so delicious!? This isn't just bread!! It's something beyond bread!!"

Freshly baked bread is indeed delicious.

You can eat it just as it is, without any jam or butter. The women also gave it high praise.

They said things like, "This is completely different from the bread in our world!" and ate it greedily, but is it really that different?

It is different.

I know this because I bought and ate bread from this world as a portable food on my way to this settlement.

The bread in this world isn't really bread.

If I had to describe it, it's more like a baked lump of wheat flour.

The wheat used as the raw material is apparently different as well.

In the world I originally came from, various ingredients were tried over the course of history, and it was determined that wheat flour is the most suitable raw material.

However, in this world, they haven't gone through such trials and have relied on the first method they discovered. That's why the cuisine hasn't evolved at all.

Incidentally, in this world, they don't even use yeast to make bread rise, so it's really just a baked lump of wheat flour mixed with water.

In this regard, we have Plat, an expert in alchemy, so it was easy to cultivate yeast using my knowledge and the "Bearer of the Supreme" gift.

We had already made koji in the process of making miso and soy sauce, so it was even easier.

That's why the bread made with wheat flour and yeast fermentation was a huge hit with everyone.

We made a lot and set it aside for tomorrow's meals.

Even when it cools down, it's still delicious when toasted.

We haven't made jam or butter yet, so I tried spreading some leek miso on it, and it was surprisingly delicious.

But as a Japanese person, I want rice as well as bread.

Rice.

I haven't forgotten to offer onigiri to Hephaestus, the god who gave me the "Bearer of the Supreme" gift.

With the increase in food reserves, the construction of houses, and the many cohabitants who are helping out, it's time to move forward.

To the long-awaited rice cultivation.

Rice cultivation can't be done the same way as other vegetables.

We need to flood the rice paddies with water.

For that, we need a large amount of water.

Currently, the water supply in our settlement relies entirely on my "Bearer of the Supreme" power. Thanks to my "Bearer of the Supreme," I can turn seawater into fresh water just by touching it.

While this was fine when I was living alone, now that the number of residents has increased and the fields that need watering have expanded, it's not realistic to rely solely on my own abilities.

Whether or not we make rice paddies, we need a way to obtain more water, and a lot of it.

We need to build canals.

We will build canals to bring clean water that can be used for drinking into the settlement.

We will use that water to create rice paddies.

A new goal has been set.

We have already selected a suitable river for water intake. About two hours' walk from the settlement, in the opposite direction of the dungeon where the teacher is, there is a large tributary.

We will dig canals from there and bring the water to the settlement!

We will turn the orc team, who are already professionals in construction, into professionals in civil engineering.

We are ready to take on the next stage of our settlement!