CH 80.4

4-5 minutes 24.05.2023

Ah, here it comes.

The main dish was brought which is rice cooked with shiitake mushrooms and chicken.

The main purpose of today’s meeting was to eat this rice that Pickles and the others brought back from Tarababara last year.

There were only around three portions of it so I was wondering if I should eat them or not.

It’s a precious commodity and it would be better if everyone ate it all at once.

We have rice seeds after all.

How much of it we plant will be determined by the reaction of everyone here today.

I’ve already decided that I’m only going to grow enough for my own consumption since there’s no point in planting more than you can eat.

I could make sake out of the surplus but I don’t even know if there is a demand for that.

「Is this…..rice?….not much different from wheat.」

「….du……ll……」

「Ah, there’s chicken.」

The response is a bit dull.

Maa, you can’t even imagine the taste of a grain that you’ve never tasted before.

I remember the first time I tried quinoa in my previous life, I was torn between ordering it and eating it.

「I can smell soy sauce.」

I inhale the smell of cooked rice until my chest is full of it. Yeah, it smells good.

「I quite like its smell too.」

Mince, who is famous for eating everything, nodded as she said so.

She even writes a series of articles on food for the wall newspaper as a hobby.

She doesn’t seem to flinch at the mere mention of an unfamiliar grain.

「Yeah yeah, Mince is the epitome of a gourmet.」

「Gour….? Thank you very much?」

In case you were wondering, I made it cooked like this because I thought it would be easier to eat it with flavor than just plain white rice. However, I could have made it into fried rice.

Maa, let’s just do that next time.

「Now, everyone, eat up and give me your honest opinions!」

I brought a mouthful of rice to my little dry mouth.

The smell of soy sauce and rice wafted into my nose.

Yeah, it’s rice.

Strange.

This is the first time I’ve eaten rice in this world with this body, but I wonder if my soul remembers the smell.

Not only with appearance but also with taste and smell. I can tell this is rice.

Maybe it’s because the breed hasn’t been improved or maybe it’s a different kind of rice to begin with but it’s not sweet enough, not moist enough, shabby, and disintegrates in my mouth.

Yeah.

But it’s pretty good.

It looks a little strange but it’s definitely a proper takikomigohan.

As my first contact with rice in this world, I am very satisfied.

However, it was not so good for the real natives of this world…..

I look around and see Roast looking at me while sticking her tongue out  with a weird expression on her face. Chicken laughed and of course, everyone else reacted the same way.

Is it subtle?

「Well, it’s not inedible but it’s not tasty either.」

Laura-san said so herself and everyone else around the dining table nodded in agreement.

Ah, so it’s simply unpalatable.

「………」

Damn it!

It can’t be helped. Any further enlightenment will have to wait until after this year’s rice seed is grown.

I admit, I lost today.

Rice did not lose.

I lost because I chose to make takikomigohan.

As I nodded my head and stared at my knees, a bright voice came into my ears.

「Auuu!

「……do…..n’t……」

With no one but Mince taking a second bite, only Noa, who was sitting alone in his high chair, was reaching for Vongo’s cooked rice with great interest.

A wry smile formed in my mouth.

That’s my son. He’s got a bright future.

I’m sure…..

I’m sure that by the time you grow up, I’ll do my best to make rice more and more popular.

Senbei, okaki, mochi, ohagi, fried rice….name it, I’ll put it on the menu.

I’m persistent.

I will continue to educate people about rice eating until I get a hit!

This is the will of this Japanese boy!

While everyone in the room looked at me warmly…I’m secretly determined to get my revenge alone.