CH 87

「Then, can you crush these first?」

「You want to crush up the leaves? Like how you would mix medicinal herbs, right?」

Mix medicinal herbs?

Hmm, I see. Crushing ingredients was pretty common in Japan after all.

We’d use things like mortars and pestles to crush and grind sesame or Japanese yam.

「But we don’t have anything we can use to crush them.」

Oops, that’s right. We don’t have a pestle. Then I guess we have to finely chop them instead.

Oh, that’s right.

「Bryce-kun, can you freeze these? After that, can you break them into very small pieces?」

「Understood.」

Now, I have to work on the octopus.

I cut them into bite-size pieces.

Next is…

「Eh? Isn’t this the same thing that came out of the boar when we prepared it?」

「That’s right. Um, it’s kind of like lard. I thought it’d be useful, so I removed it and set it aside.」

When I made a large pot of kakuni, a lot of white clumps formed and floated to the top the following day.

I’ve thought that boars had less fat content compared to pigs, but when I cooked a large portion all at once, quite a lot of it had formed…… If I have more of these, I could make deep-fried food. Octopus karaage……

Well, in either case, we don’t have any olive oil, but I still wanted some sort of oil. Lard……

The taste will be a little off, but it’s fine, I think?

There are pasta dishes that use lard, and you can use lard to deep-fry octopus.

Both Italian dishes and octopus should match with lard……Or, I think so.

There, I’m done. Food’s ready~.

「Kurtz-kun, can you tell Rofas-san that food’s ready?」

While I plated up the food, Kurtz-kun ran outside and yelled 「Food’s ready!」

「I’ve been waiting!」

Rofas-san, who was covered in mud, came into the hut faster than Kurtz-kun could make it back in.

Ugh. Not only was he covered in mud, he was also covered in sand.

「What are we going to do if you get sand in the food! Come back in once you get rid of all that dirt and sand! Also, wash your hands after!」

「Huh? Oh, sorry, sorry.」

Rofas-san went outside, and in exchange Saga-san came in.

He was also covered in dirt and sand.

「Saga-san, you only get food after you get rid of the sand and wash your hands.」

「Eh?」

Saga-san looked at himself after hearing what Kirika-chan said.

「Oh, I’m very sorry about this. I never do things like this back at home, but… Ever since I was dispatched for the subjugation, I ended up not having meals properly…」

Saga-san apologized and went outside as well.

Ahh, that’s right.

Since they’re subjugating monsters now, they wouldn’t have time to care about the dirt and sand on their clothes and to eat peacefully.

…It’s possible that there are still monsters outside.

What I said might’ve been inappropriate then…

They might have been covered in sand and dirt because they had been fighting monsters while I was cooking…

After Rofas-san and Saga-san returned, we all took a seat. Then, I lowered my head towards them. 

「Um, thank you so much for subjugating the monsters for us! And, I might not be able to do much for you, but at the very least, please eat to your heart’s content.」

Saga-san looked at me with surprise.

Hm? Did I say something weird?

「See, Yuuri’s such a good girl, right?」

Rofa-san patted my head roughly.

He looked at Saga-san smugly. Why was he acting like he was showing me off!

「It’s our job as a knight and a soldier to work in an emergency situation like this. We’re just doing our job… I’ve never had anyone thank us, much less give us something as thanks for it.」

Kurtz-kun raised his voice.

「That’s right! Yuuri-neechan said this. It’s better to give your appreciation when someone does something for you than to say nothing just because it’s part of their job. Both the person who received the thanks and the one who gave it would feel better. That’s why, um, Saga-san, Rofas-san, and Bryce-niichan. Thank you for getting rid of the monsters.」

Oh dear…

Not good, the corners of my eyes are starting to feel hot.

Yes, it’s just as Kurtz-kun said.

He remembered about that and even used it. Kurtz-kun is such a good child.