CH 64

These were made from the buns that Bryce-kun and Rofas-san provided.

Besides, I’m going to be eating lunch together with Kirika-chan and Kurtz-kun.

All I had to do now was to wrap everything together with a giant leaf.

「Uwah, that’s so cool. It doesn’t look like bread anymore.」

Kirika-chan said as she came over.

「Let’s make this together for lunch.」

「Okay! Kirika loves cooking! Kirika’s good at making yaki-onigiri now!」

Kirika-chan pulled my hand over to the table.

Everybody was seated there, with a plate of ununiformed shaped yaki-onigiri on top.

「Let’s see now, status open. Yaki-onigiri made with soy sauce should give us a defense buff. Let’s eat.」

Bryce-kun said, and ate one.

「Status open.」

Kurtz-kun, Rofas-san, and Kirika-chan did the same thing, and ate the yaki-onigiri they made themselves.

「It went up for me, I got +1. Effect-wise, it’s about one-tenth of Yuuri-san’s cooking.」

Rofas-san and Kurtz-kun nodded.

「Me too.」

「Ah, Kirika got +2.」

「Eh? Plus two? Kirika, can I have one of the yaki-onigiri you made?」

Bryce-kun ate one of the yaki-onigiri that Kirika-chan made.

「You’re right, I got +2 from it too… But yesterday, Rofas-san, didn’t you say you only got about one-tenth compared to Yuuri-san’s food? Did you make a mistake?」

「No, it really was only one-tenth. Maybe it’s because this is Kirika’s second time making them?」

「Does that mean something like a skill level went up? If we make the same food over and over, could we produce food that gives out high buffing values as well?」

Ehh, really?

「Really? Then Kirika will cook lots! Yuuri-oneechan, teach me!」

「Of course. He who does not work, neither shall he eat, right? Let’s cook together.」

「Me too, I’ll cook too!」

「Okay, let’s all cook together, Kurtz-kun.」

There was a separate plate of yaki-onigiri left for me. Each one was made by a different person.

Everyone made them for me.

「Okay, I’ll have some too. Status open… Ah!」

「Why did you go ah? Did something happen?」

Um, there were plus values all over the place.

「My defense already has +8 on it…」

Why?

Did I eat something earlier?

「Ah! The dried kakuni! I had a bite to taste the flavor!

Even though I had just lectured Rofas-san not to snatch food before it’s done, I had gone and done it myself. How embarrassing. I had forgotten about that back then.

But still, I only taste tested it to figure out what sort of dish would go well with it, so it had to be done.

「Eh? Kakuni is supposed to give you +10 though… Yet you only got +8?」

Bryce-kun stood up and ate a piece of dried kakuni.

「You’re right, it really gives +8.」

He then went over to the pot of kakuni soaked in sauce, and ate a piece.

「I got +10 from this… What made the difference?」

Bryce-kun thought about it.

「Eh? The buff value dropped from us drying it? Isn’t it because some time has passed? But wait, the kakuni in the pot was made at the same time. The biggest difference would be that we dried the meat, so the moisture is gone?」

Rofas-san stood up as well, and began scooping out pieces of warm kakuni onto a plate.

Huh? Rofas-san sure is getting less food than usual, I thought. But then, he placed the plate in front of Kurtz-kun.

He then did the same thing for Kirika-chan.

「Well, let’s just eat first. There’s too much we don’t know still, so we don’t have to try and work it out now. We have to leave the dried meat for longer so we can see what’ll happen to it too. It might only give +6 tomorrow, for example. If it stays +8 for ten days, even a year, then it’d be amazing. It means we can preserve the food to have a permanent value.」

「Yes, that is quite… amazing…」

Bryce-kun was staring into space. Maybe he was looking at his status.

「My HP and MP are recovering at a rate faster than a beginner-grade HP and MP potion. To be able to eat food like that whenever we want… That would really be amazing.」

「Right? There’s only so many potions you can carry on you at a time too, but eating one dried slice of kakuni can give you the effects of so many… You can carry more of it, and it gives you much better buffs.」

As Bryce-kun and Rofas-san discussed with each other, Kurtz-kun stopped their conversation.

「No, I don’t think it’ll work. When I tried the kakuni now, it only gave me +7. At this rate, won’t the effects just decrease more and more for either?」

Bryce-kun and Rofas-san both went pft.

「Yeah, it was too good to be true.」

「That’s right. Maybe it’s similar to the tastiness of the food dropping as time passes. Basically, as time passes from when it was made, the effects will slowly disappear…」

「In other words, if we can keep the food so that it tastes good over a long period of time, the effects will stay for longer too?」

Hmm, then that means we need a fridge after all! If only we can refrigerate things!

Aren’t there any other preservation methods?