Volume 1 - CH 3.2

Huh? You don’t want to make a choice? Here. Kinoshita-san holds Young Master like a baby and says, “When we are like this it’s kind of like we’re a family, isn’t it?” Wait let’s reset.

As I’m thinking this I was frozen in a position of handing over Young Master to Kinoshita-san.

“What are you doing?” This sharp scolding voice came from behind me. This voice…

“Hey you! Don’t even think about playing strange tricks on Young Master again!”

When I turned around the first thing that caught my eye was BOOBS. The spectacle approaching me was the swaying boobs of an attack. The name of the female student who has wrapped her two bulging breasts in a branded training uniform custom made by Calvin Klein is…

“Boob…. I mean Yoshita-san!?”

“Come here Young Master. If you touch these vulgars you will be infected by the vulgar bacteria!”

What are we, a vulgar fungus?

Young Master hesitated going to either Yoshida-san or me. Finally he jumped in the direction of Yoshida-san.

“Hahaha. Young Master is clever. Nchuuu …So why are you farming guys setting foot in our livestock territory?” Yoshida-san looked at Kinoshita-san and I suspiciously while pickup up and kissing Young Master.

“Well… we were just looking for the chicken and eggs…”

“You came to steal!?”

“This is different! Look, remember this morning? You were offering chicken and eggs for bringing back the escaped cow right?”

“Hmmm… if that was the case then say so in the first place.” Yoshida-san looked embarrassed. “Here, follow me.”

We followed Yoshida-san, who was now the tour guide, to the newly built poultry house. The inside is divided into several huts and has brown chickens running around energetically. There was even a night duty room for humans with refrigerators and electric kettles. Livestock seems to be doing well. I guess it’s from selling Hida beef…

Yoshida-san took out a plastic bag containing meat from the refrigerator and said, “This is the best free-range chicken, and you normally wouldn’t be able to afford it. I separated the tenderloin from the organs and left the rest in the bag. I wrote your name on the bag so you won’t make a mistake.”

“Oh, you already even gutted it and everything.”

“I didn’t do it for you guys though! I couldn’t stand it if I left it to amateurs and they ruined the chickens I worked so hard to raise!”, says Yoshida-san while looking away.

You mean you are actually really thoughtful? You’re actually a nice person?

“I recommend eating the organs as sashimi. Use sesame oil for the organs and vinegar and soy sauce for fillets. You can add spices according to your taste.”

“Huh? It’s ok to eat raw chicken?”

“There’s nothing wrong with adults eating fresh food. It’s safe because I cut it up and put it in the refrigerator during my lunch break. I will say you shouldn’t do the same thing with chicken you buy at the supermarket though. The bacteria would give you food poisoning possibly to the point of death.”

“When you say things like that, it makes me scared to the point of death…”

Well, if you leave the cooking to the farmers it should be fine. I’ve never made a mistake with making rice.

“Minori Nakazawa huh? Thinking about that idiot doing the cooking makes me even more uneasy…”

“I don’t deny that Minori is an idiot. If you’re worried about that why don’t you come too Yoshida-san?”

“Whaaat?!”, shouted Yoshida-san while holding Young Master. Her face turned red. “Why do I have to attend your low-class party?”

“It’s Kinoshita-san’s welcome party, isn’t it? Because you are a classmate.”

“Don’t act like I’m your friend! People like me only go to banquets…”

“Kei will also be there.”

“W…w…w…why me? You want me at the same banquet as Kei Kamatori?”

I think that attitude says it all. Well it wouldn’t be nice to force her to come along. So if she doesn’t want to come let’s stop asking her about it.

“Well, basically I don’t really have any feelings for Kei Kamatori. No, it’s not like I don’t have any feelings… but! A…a..as a rival only. I DEFINITELY don’t see him as someone of the opposite sex… That’s what I mean!”

“…Yoshida-san.”

“Ha! W..what are you trying to say!”

You just said it yourself…

“So about the free-range chicken. Tell me how it is different from normal chicken.”

“Hmph! A..alright!” Yoshida-san quickly regains her composure.

“There’s a newcomer here, so let’s teach her a bit.”

“No, I don’t need to learn right now…”

“Kosaku Hata! To start with what are local chickens?”

Don’t ask me!

“Huh? Well it’s … you know… They are the species of chickens that have been in Japan for a long time right? …or not?”

“Fufufu”

“!?”

“That is right… but it’s also not right!”

“Which is it?” I don’t even know what’s she’s saying anymore!

“You’ll do well to remember this. What it really comes down to is that free-range chickens are chickens that are deemed ‘free-range chickens’ by the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS).”

“Wha? So it’s mandated by law?”

“That’s right.”

That’s rather straightforward.

“Currently there are more than 50 breeds of free-range chicken produced from 38 native breeds in Japan. The most famous of these free-range chickens are probably the Nagoya Cochin, which are raised in neighboring Aichi Prefecture. Along with Hinai Jidori in Akita Prefecture and Satsuma Jidori from Kagoshima Prefecture, they are the top three free-range chickens in Japan. BUT!”, Yoshida-san shouts while pointing her finger at the chickens that were running around the coop. “In Gifu Prefecture there are no chickens that are lesser than those free-range chickens. In fact ours are superior! And those superior local chickens are Okumino Kojidori!”

“Okumino Kojidori!”

That’s a long name!

Yoshida-san continues talking while looking off into the distance. “The origins of the Okumino Kojidori go back to ancient times. It is said that their ancestors are the ‘Tokyo no Naganakidori’ which appear in the legend of Amano Iwato recorded in the ‘Kojiki’ (Recrods of Ancient Matters)”

“Ahah…”

This story has gone on a lot longer than I thought it would… Is this going to be ok? Minori is going to get angry at me if I take too long. Moreover, it seems Kinoshita-san has already completely lost interest. She came to see Young Master not chickens.

“This free-range chicken, which had only been bred in small numbers among enthusiasts, was repeatedly genetically improved at the prefecture’s poultry farming test station. In 2001 it was finally certified as the second free-range chicken species of Japan.”

“Wow, that’s amazing. By the way, which chicken was the first to be certified?”

“Moreover…!” Yoshida-san loves her hometown and sometimes deliberately ignores topics about other prefectures. “The breeding method is also completely different from that of general chickens that are raised to be food. The taste is exquisite, with a firm texture rich with umami, and the mellow sweetness of the moderately contained fat that spreads in your mouth with every bite. Do you really understand the splendor of this Okumino Kojidori?”

“Uh… yeah. In short this is a very delicious and precious chicken, isn’t it?”

“IT IS A NATIONAL MONUMENT!”

“IS IT OK TO EAT THEN?!”

Don’t let that stop you.

‘Agricultural High School Students Eat National Monument.’, wouldn’t it be funny If this headline appeared in tomorrow’s morning paper…

“Hmph… don’t worry. To be precise, this Okumino Kojidori is an edible breed that has been improved based on the Gifu Jidori, which is the national monument.”

“Oh, so this one is not a national monument…”

This is confusing. Well anyways, I understood more than necessary to understand that this free-range chicken is amazing.

There is no shortage of food for Yuka-tan’s welcome party.

“By the way, do you have eggs for us?”

“Of course. The theme of the Okumino Kojidori is ‘making delicious eggs and chicken’. There are no blind spots. There are also types of eggs. These eggs are smaller than normal chicken’s eggs, but the yolks are bigger and richer in taste. Our school is still in the trial breeding stage, but why don’t we separate that fact.”

We say thank you and receive the eggs in a colander. It’s true that it’s a little small but it’s a red and nutritious egg.

“Come to think of it, there are fertilized and unfertilized eggs right? Aren’t the fertilized ones more nutritious?”

“YOU FOOL!”

!?

“Are fertilized eggs more nutritious than unfertilized eggs? You are an agricultural high school student?”

“… But fertilized eggs are sold at a higher price at supermarkets…”

“Think about it you bastard! Most of what we eat in an egg is the yolk (which is the nutrient for the embryo), and the albumen. (Which is the buffer)”

An embryo is what becomes the fetus. Yolk is the middle of the egg, and the egg white is around that.

“It is true that fertilized eggs required more time to make than unfertilized eggs, because you need to keep a rooster around and have it mate. But nutritional value is a different story. There is no nutritional difference between the two.”

“Ah… I see.”, so to speak.

Embryos are so small that the only difference is whether they are fertilized or not. It’s kind of extreme, the only difference is 1 sperm cell.

“Eggs laid by chickens raised freely, instead of eggs laid indifferently in a narrow cage. Of course they will taste different. But that’s just saying how the chickens are kept, not if they are fertilized! Even if an egg is unfertilized it is not lacking in nutritional value at all. Shame on you for calling yourself an agricultural school student without even learning such basic knowledge!”

That’s a terrible thing to say.

“Yeah… I definitely don’t study enough. I need to go back and learn about eggs properly.”

I felt a tug at my cloths. I look behind me and there is Kinoshita-san standing with the same expressionless face as before. She seems a little annoyed.

“Hey.”

“Yes?”

…..hm?

“I have no idea what you’re talking about anymore.”

“A..um..well.. that is…”

“Just the two of you talking this whole time is…boring.”

So….CUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE. What is this? You’re jealous right? Right? Yuka-tan is jealous because she wants my attention… Is it…LOVE?

“…what is all that?”

“Huh? …Wha..wait a minute.”

After saying that I pulled Yoshida-san over to the corner of the poultry house.

“What should I do Yoshida-san?!”, I whispered. “How should I explain this?”

“Just explain it as it is”, she whispers back.

“Hey Ms. Boobs!”

“Huh!?”

“Sorry that was a mistake. Ms. Idiot!”

“That girl is a pure and lovely maiden right? She is like the cows in our course that are selectively bread for beauty. The rest of us are like the dirty chickens mating and throwing out dirty jokes in class. It’s like a child who believes that babies are harvested from cabbage fields. You would be shocked to hear such a graphic story.”

“That’s why we say that you cultivators are idiots.”, says Yoshida-san while laughing through her nose. “There are such things as ‘parables’. It’s embarrassing to talk about that topic bluntly. So you can use a related story to get across the idea in an inoffensive way. Use your head you idiot.”

“Well then, can you explain the difference in a more subtle way?”

“Fu… such a stupid question…” Yoshida-san puffs out her chest with confidence. Her boobs are too big to fit in her training uniform, which was supposed to be custom-ordered from an expensive overseas brand. It was stretched to the limit.

She turns around and calls out to Kinoshita-san. “Hey newbie!”

“What?”

“It’s time for a talk. What is an unfertilized egg? Well…”

Thus concludes Yoshida-san’s ‘Easy to Understand’ free-range chicken course.

What the hell is wrong with Ms. Boobs?