187 - - Episode 185 Harvesting and Preparation

Everyone harvested pumpkins and burdocks. With time to spare before dinner time, we ask them to move the fields and process the sake barrels.

"Deanne, transfer the sake into these bottles.

Nomos hands Dine five bottles that he made himself. When Dine puts her hand on the barrels, the liquor comes out like a snake and fills the bottles on its own. It's amazing, but it's kind of creepy, like it's alive.

"Hey, Yuta, give one of these bottles to my sister.

Deanne looks up at him and makes a mocking request. d*mn, her appearance is perfect, so she's very destructive. What's the right thing to do in this case?　Deene said she likes freshly distilled liquor, so a bottle or so should be no problem, right?

I glance at Sylphy and the others, but they seem to be saying, "Do as you please. They don't like freshly distilled liquors. It might be a different story if you mix it with fruit juices, but that way you can make more of the distilled liquor. If they like it too much, you'll run out of liquor before you have time to lay it down.

"...... I only have one bottle."

"Thank you, Yuta. I'm so happy for you, sis!"

Deanne is literally jumping up and down with joy. But I'm sure she'll finish that bottle in no time. What's that?　I feel like I've started a long battle with Dine over alcohol.

"Okay!　Let's go put the booze to bed right away. Sylphy, you bring the barrels. Deane, you'll lead the way. I'll build a place to lay the barrels on the sea floor. Yuta, can I borrow Sylphy and Dene?

...... seems like they're ready to go. And just as I thought, you've completely forgotten about Hatake.

"Nomos, wait a minute. I don't have a problem if Sylphy and Dine want to help, but before they go, they need to move the field and prepare the soil for the grass to grow.

"Fields?　......Oh, yes, that's right."

He said he remembered.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but I'm counting on you. Oh, there's still some tomato and pumpkin vines.

"Yes, I'm fine. I'll move them all together and have Dory check on them just in case. Where is the area to be moved?　Oh, and move those rocks off the border."

You want to get this over with, or are you giving me instructions too quickly? It will be a long time before you can drink even if you're in such a hurry. ...... I guess it's not logical. The rocks on the border were stowed and the field was positioned, then the earth began to move and the field was moved. Nomos then waved his hand and the soil became fluffy except for the facilities in the center block.

"Well, I'm off," "I'm off too," "I'm off, Yuta," and "I'm off.

"Yeah, have a good day. Take care.

I see Sylphy, Dine and Nomos off. The spirits should be fine now. We'll sow some grass seed in the soil Nomos made soft and let Dory grow it.

"Dory, can I have some grass seed?"

Yes, I'll put it out here. Shall I check the fields while I'm at it?

"Oh, thank you. I'll take care of the fields, too.

Yes, I'm off then."

Floating in the air, Dolly flew to check on the field she had moved. Well, we're planting lawn seed.

"We're going to grow the lawn, but Gina, If, Flair, and Sheba are the first-timers. Do you want to join us?"

He says he won't. Gina, Flare, and Shiva are briefed, and the team is divided into the same groups as before, with the addition of new members, and the sowing begins. Rain and Tamamo, who had done a great job last time, are very enthusiastic.

The children happily sow the lawn seeds, while Rain waters and Tamamo grows the lawn from behind. While I was watching this heartwarming scene, Gina called out to me.

"Master, is this also training for a spiritualist?　Or are you improving the environment in which you live?"

It is not that he is dissatisfied with his current work, it is just a question. I'm glad I let him pick the vegetables this morning and not tell him I'm not here to do this.

"Well, maybe both?　Working with Shiva to seed the lawn without gaps is also good training, and we can check the abilities of the spirits of the forest. Also, it would be beautiful and comfortable to have a lawn. And it's a lot of fun to be involved in the process of seeding and helping the plants grow.

Sarah and Belle are laughing and having a good time, and I think it's a nice change of pace for life in the land of the dead, where change is rare.

"Wow, that's deep. Okay, I'll do my best."

I look over at Gina, who is fired up, and wonder. There's nothing deep about it, okay?　I feel like my reputation is higher than it really is because Gina became my apprentice after hearing about the Dragon Slayer and the conflict with the Adventurer's Guild.

It's hard to be valued more than one's size, isn't it? I have to work harder than I really am to keep that reputation. I think it would be better to destroy this false image by myself as soon as possible.

But if I destroy the false image by myself, I will be completely shattered and my dignity as a master will be at its lowest. Well, I'm sure it will break down on its own if we live together, so let's go with the natural way.

Should I stop putting up a front in front of Sara and the kids?　Part of me wants to be respected by my children. ...... It's kind of a dilemma.

"Yuta, I'm done!"

"What?　......Oh, so it's over. Thank you guys."

I looked up at the sound of the bell and saw the children lined up in front of me. Behind them, a green carpet has been laid, and the atmosphere has changed completely. Dolly is back before I know it, and she seems to have been lost in thought for a long time. She hurriedly praises everyone.

"Well, now that we have grass, shall we eat lunch on the grass?

"eat in the open" "cue" "eat" "coo-coo" "eat in the open?"""" Ho"""pga"""wafu?""

"It looks like fun." "It was kind of tasty when we ate at the spirit tree." "I love eating in the dark!"　

Children are happy to eat on the lawn. Although we don't have blue sheets, it is fun to have lunch on the lawn. Well, it's hard to eat steaks and such, so we'll mainly eat onigiri (rice balls) and sandwiches.

When lunch is over, let's get Dory to harvest some nuts for us. Then we'll prepare tempura. No, we have to go check on the guavard eggs and pay tribute to the jade rabbits for their fruit. We have a lot to do. I'm starting to feel that we could take things more leisurely.

**

After lunch is over, I ask Dolly to help me get some nuts from the forest. When I asked Dolly what to do about the camellia forest, she told me that the flowers would soon wither and die, so I put the matter on hold. But camellias are supposed to bloom in winter or spring, and it is a bit strange that they bloom even in the land of the dead.

Well, now we have plenty of food for the animals. After Gina, Fleur, and Shiva settle down, let's go to the forest for more animals.

"Okay, let's get ready to cook."

My home kitchen. This is the first time I've really put it to good use. It should be much easier to use than a rock table or a baking table carved out of a rock. It makes me smile a little.

"This is a dish from my master's hometown, isn't it? I'm looking forward to it!"

"Master, what can I do?"

Gina and Sarah are up for it. The pumpkins are hard, so I'd better cut them with my survival knife.

"I'll have you peel the burdock first. Peel it as if you were scraping it with the back of the knife.

There are no gloves to peel vegetables in the other world. It would be a big hit if they could make such gloves, but it seems impossible.

"Oh, by the way, since we can't get any seafood, she said she'd be happy to get some fish from the sea in the labyrinth.

"I've never processed ocean fish, but I've processed river fish, so I think I'll be fine.

Come to think of it, there are fish in the river too. You said seafood, so there's no sea food.

"Well, I'll serve you some sea fish, so take off the fins and scales and open the fish from the back."

Let's try a small white fish. I found a kissy fish, so that'll do. And we'll need shrimp. I'm not going to try sea eel.

I'll cut the pumpkin in half, remove the seeds, and slice it into thin slices. I knew that magic survival knife was good. It's even sharper than the knives I've seen on late-night mail-order shows. But it's a little hard to keep it from cutting the cutting board.

After the cooking is over easily, I switch to the knife and finely slice the burdock that Sarah has peeled. In my opinion, I prefer the type of fried burdock tempura that is cut into small pieces and deep-fried like kakiage (deep-fried fish cake) rather than the thick type.

But Gina, being a daughter of a diner, is a very skillful cook. She is also very attentive and supportive to Sarah, who is not so used to cooking. But I'm no slouch either. When I was in Japan, I used to buy mostly fillets of fish, but when I was thrown back to the land of the dead, I was a fish fiend for a time. Quickly cutting up fish that resemble kisses.

It's a lot of work to prepare the meal since there are so many people to eat. It's a good thing that I can ask Toruku to do a lot of the cooking for me. After the fish, we shell the shrimp. What to do with the heads of the shrimp?

Shrimp meat is tasty but in small quantities, and if you cook the head and make miso soup, it is delicious, but there is no ...... miso. It would be a waste to throw them away, so I'll just have to store them in my magic bag.

With Gina and Sara's help, cooking is kind of fun. I couldn't help but cackle.

"Master, I've finished all the preparations here. Sara has become much more skillful and she seems to have a talent for cooking.

Gina pats Sarah's head and says. Sarah has a talent for cooking, too.

"Thank you. I'll put the ingredients in my magic bag and give them here.

"Yes."

I receive the ingredients from Gina, soak the burdock in water and put it on the side, lightly flour the others, and store them in the magic bag. All that remains is to make the batter for the tempura. I don't have any tempura flour, so I have to make it with the high-grade white bread flour I bought at Marie's store. I'm not sure if I can do it well.

"But if Sara has a talent for cooking, I'm sure she'll be a great cook if she's trained by Mr. Toruku.　

I look at Sara, who is in pain from being gripped by Gina, but is happy to see her. Please don't tell me you're going to be a cook. Cooking is just a hobby.

"I'd be happy to learn how to cook a lot!"

Sarah's smile is dazzling. ...... If she says she wants to be a cook, am I supposed to smile and send her on her way?　At first I took him as an apprentice with the full intention of using him, but maybe I fell in love with him.

Well, Sarah won't be an adult for years. I'll just have to wait and see. I'll try to enjoy my life as a genie magician as much as I can.