CH 61

「Ah, Yuuri-oneechan, look, look! Kirika did a lot better today, right?」

The onigiri that Kirika-chan made today were shaped a lot better compared to yesterday’s. Those ones were falling apart.

「Yes, they’re a lot better today! I’ll be happy if you make my share for me too.」

「Okay! Kirika will make Yuuri-oneechan’s!」

While everybody was preparing the yaki-onigiri, I started on making a bento for Bryce-kun and Rofas-san.

…Those two are going to be gone soon…

I felt a bit sad.

……

No, there’s no reason to be sad.

Kurtz-kun and Kirika-chan are still here, and it’s not like Bryce-kun and Rofas-san are abandoning us for good. They’re just leaving to work. Yes, that’s right.

It’s like a husband who got a job far away from home and comes to visit once a month.

「Uwah!!」

What on earth am I thinking?!

No, no!

A husband who got a job far away… What am I imagining here?! Rofas-san and Bryce-kun aren’t husbands either!

Umm, no, what kind of person visits once a month… Umm, the guy who comes to collect payment for a newspaper subscription?

「What’s wrong, Yuuri-san?」

Bryce-kun was looking at me, looking concerned.

A young man with such a pretty face would not come around to collect payment for newspaper subscriptions.

「Nothing. Um, I’m going to get the meat we dried last night!」

I went to get the thinly sliced kakuni that we left out to dry overnight.

Since the kakuni was thinly sliced, it should be easy to sandwich them between some bread, so I had them cut into squares. But was the meat okay? It was stewed beforehand… Hm?

Now that I think about it, wasn’t there some quick and easy kakuni recipe where you cook thinly sliced rolled up meat?

I thought about random things to calm myself down.

Oh, I know. What about the landlady of a lodging house watching the children who grew up there leave?

The children would come to visit once a month. Yes, our relationship was like that.

I see. Once I have to leave the hut… Maybe it’ll be nice to be an adventurer and a caretaker for the hut like the landlady at a lodging house.

There will be children like Bryce-kun who will leave once they reach level ten, and children who just started out and will be staying at the hut and raising their level.

It’s best if there’s an adult here.

But maybe I’m being overprotective…

Either way, that seemed like a fun idea.

To think that somebody like me, who was told that I couldn’t do anything, was thinking about my future, with questions like「What can I do?」and「What should I do now?」

First I should raise my level to ten so I can call myself an adventurer…

It might be a good idea to work at a dining hall or at a lodging house. I could ask Rofas-san to let me be the caretaker of the hut. Or, I could work as an adventurer and take odd jobs. I should be able to find a job that’ll suit me.

Getting to level ten means I can learn to use magic, after all. If I could use magic, then there should be more things I can do.

「This is… fine, right?」

I thought about the taste of the dried meat Bryce-kun gave me yesterday.

I had to swallow that stinky taste down without spitting it out.

Although the meat was stewed and flavored before drying… The smell didn’t overpower the flavor, right?

If it did, then I have to make something else for the bento because I wouldn’t be able to sandwich these between bread.

I picked up the smallest slice of kakuni and opened my mouth.

…Except I couldn’t put it in my mouth.

If I’m only taste testing, I should only try a small amount.

I hesitated when I thought about the taste of the dry meat from yesterday.

I ripped apart the small slice and ate a chunk that was the size of a pinky nail.

「Nom.」

Ah!

I put the rest of the slice into my mouth and ate them.

「It’s so good.」

The flavors were condensed into the meat. I could taste the umami everytime I chewed. I guess it’s like cuttlefish, but kakuni version? The flavors come out in every bite!

This is good. Ah, but it wouldn’t resemble a hamburger if I put these between bread. It would be easier to eat if I made it like a sandwich.

Instead of cutting the bread into round halves, I should cut them into thin slices.

Then, I could stack lettuce, dried kakuni, lettuce, dried kakuni, lettuce… I can do multiple layers… That sounds tasty.

I hummed as I walked back to the hut.

「Rofas-san, Bryce-kun, I’m going to use bread for your bento, so please get one from the vending machine.」

Since a certain something drops out when you put a potion into the vending machine.

「We’re having bread for our bento, huh…」

Rofas-san looked disappointed.

Eh? Why?