Chapter 22

Today's third post

Arrived at Arshain's room.

Since it's a holiday, Arshain has no work, so what should we do?

"Ah, should we go to the training grounds?"

In response to Arshain's words,

"Unfortunately, there is no knight training today. They have all gone on patrol around the city to guard against the church's disturbances."

"Is that so... Kaita, is there anything you want to do?"

Arshain, despite his delinquent appearance, is fundamentally very serious, so even on his days off, he tends to spend his time on training and doesn't really rest.

"Hmm, chu-bo-i-kyu."

"Kitchen? What for?"

"Pan-chu-ku-ryu."

"Pancakes?"

"Ah, they're hard, the pancakes."

"Ah, Lord Kaita couldn't bite through them."

"Also, ni-kyu, nyu-to-ka-chi-tai (also, meat, I want to do something with it)."

"Hard, huh?"

In this world, the food is generally very flavorful.

It's not suitable for children.

And everything except fruits and vegetables is too hard.

I want to change the current situation, which is somewhat like a vegetarian diet.

So, I stood on top of Jyusu's head and said,

"Chu-bo-go!"

Everyone started moving at my command.

On the way to the kitchen, a few maids were gathered near a window, making a commotion.

When I checked, a mop-wielding maid had just arrived and was holding the mop ready to strike at the window.

Looking outside the nearby window, I saw giant mosquitoes.

They had bodies the size of soccer balls and beaks as long as their bodies. They were flying with a loud buzzing sound.

Looking at the identification text in the corner of my vision, it read:

❨Big Gagas - Suck out magic and blood❩

Very dangerous.

But I had an idea, so I stuck to the window and cast a spell at the Big Gagas!

I enclosed the Big Gagas in a semi-transparent barrier, making them visible to the maids, and waved at the surprised maids.

They were shocked at first, but once they realized the barrier wouldn't break, they bowed and left.

I tried to open the window but couldn't figure out how to unlock it, so I showed Jyusu how to open it by tapping on it.

Understanding my intention, Jyusu opened the window.

As I brought the Big Gagas enclosed in the barrier closer,

"Kaita? Those are monsters, right? Are you going to do something?"

When asked by Jyusu,

"Hari-to-ryu (take out the needles)"

I answered and adjusted the barrier.

I made the barrier mesh-like, just wide enough to let the needles through but not the bodies.

The Big Gagas, aiming to attack, thrust their needles through the barrier all at once.

I squeezed the barrier, crushing their bodies and leaving only the needles.

I burned the crushed bodies inside the barrier and collected the needles, putting them in my backpack before returning to Jyusu's head.

Then, I said again,

"Chu-bo-go!"

But no one moved.

"No, no, no, no, we can't just move on like nothing happened! Didn't you just do something pretty intense?!"

Jyusu lifted me with one hand and brought me in front of his face.

"Hey, monsters, monsters. Why did you attack so mercilessly? It's your first time seeing a monster, right? Aren't you a bit scared?"

"Bi-ku-ri-ha-shi-ta-ke-ro, ka-yo, ka. Ka-mi-ta-rya-chu-bu-shi-re-sho, do-bo-chu-no-ma-mo-ni-yo-mi-ta-rya, ko-ai-ka-mo? (I was surprised, but they're mosquitoes, mosquitoes. When I see mosquitoes, I squish them, and when I see animal monsters, I might be scared?)"

"Eh, is that the issue? You're not scared of that size?"

"Ma-do-to-ba-rya-a-ri-yu-no-ka?"

"No, that's true, but..."

He was still grumbling, but I returned to his head and said,

"Chu-bo-go!"

He reluctantly started moving.

The kitchen was relaxed after the lunch cleanup, but when Prince Arshain appeared, everyone snapped to attention. A burly, muscular man asked in a gruff voice,

"Prince Hein, what brings you here?"

"Sorry to bother you while you're resting. Actually, Kaita seems interested in cooking. Could we observe?"

"That child?"

"Kaita, please, yochiku onegaichima-chu!"

First impressions are important, so I greeted them energetically. The burly man's eyes softened,

"So, that's it. But no dangerous things, okay?"

He let us in with just that warning.

The junior staff behind him looked surprised.

He must usually be strict.

After a tour of the kitchen, we moved on to check the ingredients.

The important ones were the wheat and meat.

I found it right away! A big chunk of meat!

"Ta-shu-kyu, ni-kyu!"

"Sure, it's meat."

"Kono-ni-kyu-i-ryu!"

"Need it, huh? What are you going to do with such a big chunk?"

"Chi-nyu-kyu-to, shu-ji-to-ri (cut it into pieces and remove the tendons)."

"Huh? I get the tendon removal, but how do you plan to remove the blood in this state?"

"Da-da-da-n! Ga-gya-ha-ri (Jaja! Gagah needles)."

"Huh? What are you going to do with those?"

"Bu-sha-shi-ryu!"

When I held up the needles from my backpack, not only Jyusu but also Arshain and the others looked at me with wide eyes.

"Ma-ryo-kyu-to-chi-nyu-ku-no-yo (to remove the magic and blood)."

"Remove the magic and blood with those needles?"

"Sho-ryu."

"Really?"

"Want to try?"

"Hmm, indeed. If this method really works to remove the blood, it's worth a try. Let's do it."

The burly man grabbed the meat chunk with one hand, placed it at the water station, washed the Big Gagas' needles, and without hesitation, stabbed them into the meat.

The blood flowed out more than expected, and I strangely understood why it would be so pungent with that much blood left in.

"......More blood came out than I thought."

Everyone nodded at Arshain's comment.

Blood can quickly breed bacteria, so if it's not removed immediately after death, the meat will become smelly. However, in the case of monsters, the bacteria's growth is suppressed until the magic is completely drained.

The identification eye, which is a divine eye, finally proved useful! ❨Monster meat - won't be smelly if the blood is removed!❩

The meat chunk seemed to have shrunk slightly, but with such perfect blood removal, the smell after cooking should be significantly reduced.

The burly man was shocked by the amount of blood that remained in the meat.

So, I quietly handed him the remaining Big Gagas' needles from my backpack.

"......Thank you."

He bowed deeply.

"Ha-i-chu-gi-ha, shu-ji-ki-ri! (Next, tendon removal!)"

I gave instructions from atop Jyusu's head.

Jyusu, who didn't believe my words earlier, silently carried the blood-drained meat to the cutting board and started removing the large tendons with a borrowed meat cleaver.

In my previous life, I worked at a food company and was assigned to a meat processing plant right after joining, where I gained some experience.

Despite the gap and the fact that I had no experience in this life, I cut the tendons skillfully.

"Wa-shu-ri-e-te-ni-ya-i-ne (You haven't forgotten, have you?)"

"Well, in my hometown, I used to do monster dissection, so I'm more used to it than in my previous life."

"Fu-e, ko-ko-cho-ko, shu-ji-nyo-ko-te (Hey, here and here, tendons are left)."

"Right, sorry."

When I pointed out the remaining tendons, he apologized and cut them out as instructed.

"You're getting the hang of it."

The burly man, impressed, said so, and the other cooks came to watch.

Once the tendon removal was complete, we cut the meat into manageable pieces and started grilling.

The cooks seemed to trust us because of our skill with the meat, and they let us handle the grilling.

The sizzling sound of the meat, seasoned only with salt, helped us check for any smell or hardness.

Jyusu, while skilled at cutting and grilling, had a special talent for ruining the ingredients with his seasoning.

Based on my previous experience, I judged it to be dangerous, so I did the seasoning myself.

Taking a small bite,

The smell was significantly reduced, and the meat, though not as tender as in my previous life, was soft enough for a child like me to chew.

Looking around,

"Wow, so soft! What is this? It's completely different from the meat we usually eat! And with just salt, there's no smell at all! Seriously!"

That was the general reaction.

The burly man, with a deep frown, was chewing the meat thoughtfully.

The other cooks, noticing his expression, fell silent.

"......Lord Kaita, and Tactis, could you teach us this technique?"

He bowed deeply.

The other cooks called him the head chef.

After that, I taught them how to remove the tendons.

We discovered that the Big Gagas' needles would split after about ten uses, so the junior staff and apprentices said they would go hunting and left the kitchen.

Self-sourced ingredients, huh? That's why everyone is so muscular?

Alright, let's move on to the next task!

The cooperative burly head chef laid out the ingredients for bread on the cutting board.

I immediately identified them:

❨Cake flour - best for cakes and pastries❩ ❨Bread flour - with husk❩ ❨Ist fruit - becomes hard when cooked with husk❩

The rest were water, oil, salt, and sugar.

These were the best ingredients in the country, stored in the castle.

Hmm, it seems the milling technology hasn't developed much.

Can this be fixed with magic?

Let's try! I imagined a stone mill from my old home, where the husk and flour are separated by grinding.

Standing in front of a huge bowl that could fit me, I made a motion as if turning the handles with both hands.

"Lord Kaita, is this some kind of ritual?"

The burly head chef asked.

But as I continued without answering, the husks started to be expelled from the bowl, and the remaining white kernels turned into fine, clean flour.

"Ah, I see, you used magic to mill it!"

Jyusu explained.

"? Don't you have a special magic tool for milling?"

"Ah, well, this is milling one step further, or rather, usually, the whole grain is milled. Kaita is milling it to remove the husk from the grains."

"Hmm? How is husk-removed flour different?"

"According to my guess, the bread will be softer."

"That's interesting!"

While some conversation was happening above my head, I finally finished milling.

Next, I tackled the Ist fruit, which I had never seen before.

It was probably a substitute for yeast, given its name and the ingredients.

A rock-hard fruit, about the size of a baseball.

"Ta-shu-kyu, wa-te."

When I handed it to Jyusu,

"Are you going to break this too?"

The burly head chef took the Ist fruit and broke it with a cleaver.

I asked the head chef to follow the usual bread-making process and observed.

At one point, he tried to bake the bread after the first rise, so I taught him about the second rise, and the bread was finally done!

It was shaped like a koppa bread, but when cut, it had a crispy crust and a chewy interior, more like a French bread.

I took a big bite! Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside!

The flavor was good, and most importantly, it was easy to chew!

"U, delicious! So soft! The bread is soft, and it tastes several times better just because of that!"

It was a huge success.

The burly head chef asked me about the milling process, so I explained the stone mill. He was very enthusiastic, so I'm sure we'll have soft bread on the table soon!

During the fermentation wait, I also milled the cake flour and made a simple pastry. Just milling it made a huge difference in the texture!

I mentally noted how hard the husks were.

I also asked them to make the children's meals less salty before leaving the kitchen.

On the way back to Arshain's room, a few young cooks were chasing Big Gagas with large insect nets, making a commotion.

One of them even grabbed the needles with his bare hands and smashed the bodies on the ground, a truly daring move.

Indeed, self-sourced ingredients? I remember the maid trying to fight with a mop! The people in this world are so tough.

Back in the room, we lazed around until dinner.