CH 40

Kirika-chan and I both put the fruit into our mouths at the same time.

It’s sweet, but the sweetness was different from sugar you get from fruits. Then, a slight bitter aftertaste remained. Hmm…

It tastes good, but the aftertaste is not so great.

「Time to eat.」

Kurtz-kun picked about five berries off the tree and popped them into his mouth.

「So sweet~ It’s so good… ugh, it’s a bit bitter. But it’s still good! 」

He said, expressing the complexity of flavors.

In this world, where sugar is a luxury good, sweet things like these are precious.

「Kirika wants another one!」

Kirika-chan wasn’t tall enough to reach the berries, so I picked some nice-looking ones and gave some to her.

I also ate another one.

For some reason, it reminds of me when I bought some bad apples by accident while shopping…

I was tempted by the fact that they cost 400 yen for eight apples, but it turns out they were all bitter. Of course, I couldn’t possibly serve them to my husband…

Huh? That’s right. I used those apples to make dessert with them in the end. Cooking them removed the bitter taste.

Maybe I can get rid of the bitterness from these berries if I cook them. Let’s try.

「I want to try cooking with them, so can we bring a lot of them home?」

I began gathering the bright red berries and put them into the pillow case bag.

「You can cook fruits?」

Everybody looked at me with surprise.

I see, maybe they don’t cook with fruits and berries in this world.

Hmm, I remember being surprised to learn that people ate musk melons with dry-cured ham, or how sometimes people put pineapple into sweet-and-sour pork.

「Can silverberries be cooked?」

So these are silverberries! I’ve heard of trees that grow silverberries, but I’ve never heard of them being used in dessert. Still, that’s what these are!

「Then, how about those? They’re not ripe enough to be eaten yet, but can they be cooked? If so, I’ll pick them for you when they’re ripe.」

Kurtz-kun said, and pointed at another tree.

Mulberries!

I’ve only heard of mulberries being used to feed silkworms with. I wonder if they can be cooked?

I looked around and saw other berries! There were small berry-shaped things growing all around!

「Then, how about the raspberries? Can you cook them once they’re edible?」

Kirika-chan pointed at a different tree.

Raspberries?

There are even raspberries here?

This is so exciting!

We gathered a lot of silverberries before returning to the hut.

「Do you need help with anything?」

After we went inside, Kirika-chan asked me that question while staring at the mountain of red berries with excitement.

Um, the problem is that I still haven’t decided on what to make with them yet.

I still have to think of a chicken dish, and I have to start making the chicken soup soon, or else it won’t be ready in time.

「If I need help with anything, I’ll ask! The three of you can go do your afternoon training! Work hard!」

I said, sending them off…

Huh? But when am I going to train? I have to level up too, don’t I?

Well, it should be okay to skip out on training for a day.

It’s Bryce-kun’s last dinner with us tonight, after all. I want to make something special for him.

I put water, chicken bones, spring onions, and cooking sake into the pot, and started the flames. I just have to make sure the soup doesn’t boil over and remove the scum from time to time. The cooking time was about six hours, which I have the time for, and the recipe itself isn’t that complex.

Next is the chicken meat.

I looked over at the chicken, and in my field of vision, I saw an MP potion.

That’s right!

I have to think of something to make with the MP potions.

I hope it’s something that goes well with chicken.

I popped the cap open.

Ahh, it’s carbonated again.

I tried smelling it, then poured some on my hand to lick.

Uwah. This is that drink, isn’t it.

I didn’t expect it to be a carbonated drink, like the ginger ale.

「So it’s cola…」

If I were to use this, it would be in a similar way to the ginger ale, right?

Ah, maybe I can use it when I want to sweeten something but don’t want the ginger flavor.

You can make cola from scratch, right? I remember looking up the ingredients once out of curiosity, and found recipes on how to make cola:

Cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, cardamon, lemon, and sugar.

I think those are the ingredients.

I poured some of the MP potion into a cup and drank it.

Mhm, it really is cola.