Chapter 145

Mysterious Spell
"Alright, time to cook the rice."

After soaking the rice for 30 minutes, I placed the pot on the stove and turned the heat to low.

"Start with a trickle, then turn up the heat to a boil, if it starts hissing, reduce the heat, burn a handful of straw, and no matter what—even if a baby cries—don’t take off the lid."

““““Huh!?””””

Everyone looked blankly at me.

Ben asked,

“What’s that? Some kind of magic spell?”

“Ahaha, that’s what you thought, right? I thought so too when I first heard it. It's actually the procedure for cooking rice deliciously. ‘Start with a trickle, then turn up the heat to a boil’ means you begin on low heat, then bring it to a strong boil—hot enough that the flames are visibly flying. ‘If it starts hissing, reduce the heat’ means when it boils and starts overflowing, lower the heat so it doesn't spill over. ‘Burn a handful of straw’ is about driving off the excess moisture by heating. And finally, ‘no matter what—even if a baby cries—don’t take off the lid’ means once you’ve turned off the heat to let it steam, you must not open the lid, no matter what—even if a baby is crying from hunger.”

““““Ohhh.””””

It’s my first time cooking rice without a clay pot, I wonder if it'll turn out alright?

Maybe I should have someone make a clay pot for me somewhere next time...

After about 30 minutes, the rice was done. Nervously, I lifted the lid, and a fluffy cloud of steam rose up with a wonderful, freshly cooked aroma.

When I stirred it from the bottom with a wooden spatula, there was even some perfectly made crispy rice.

“It’s hot, it’s hot... Mmmm—delicious! It’s rice! Actual rice!”

“Oh, me too... Ah, hot... So good.”

Following Ben and me, Mr. Abe, Arthur, and Anny all braved the heat to dig in.

“The more you chew, the more sweetness comes out.”

“Yeah, I thought it didn’t have any flavor at first, but it’s really good.”

“This would go great with that soup from earlier.”

“Alright! Let’s make rice balls while it’s still hot.”

“Missy, what’s a rice ball?”

“This rice (gohan)—”

“Wait, isn’t it still just rice (okome)?”

“Hmm, well, once you cook rice, it becomes ‘gohan,’ right? I don’t know why though.”

“But we also call breakfast or lunch gohan (meal), don’t we?”

“Yeah, why is that? Ah, Arthur, forget that for now—onigiri, onigiri.”

“So, what’s an onigiri then?”

“It’s rice balls. You mold the rice with your hands. Watch me. First, wet your hands so the rice doesn’t stick... and then grab some rice... hot, hot!”

“Well, yeah, of course. Are you alright, Missy?”

“Y-yeah, but... hot... squeeze it. Then add some salt and wrap it in seaweed... Here, salted rice ball. Go ahead, Mr. Abe.”

“O-oh... It’s delicious! The salt brings out the flavor of the rice even more than before.”

“Right? Okay, let’s all make some.”

Fighting the heat, the five of us made a huge batch of salted rice balls and stored them in the pantry.

With rice, you can make all sorts of dishes.

Sushi, curry rice, hashed beef rice, paella, oyakodon, katsudon... Rice really is indispensable. Right now... I really want curry.

Where do they sell spices, anyway?

“Hey, Mr. Abe. Do you know where I can buy spices?”

“Spices? Like pepper and stuff? For a wide variety, you’ll want the shops in the royal capital.”

“I see, the royal capital, huh.”

“Why? You want something? What are you planning to make?”

“Umm, curry rice. Curry is this thick soup seasoned with spices that you pour over rice—that’s gohan (cooked rice), by the way—and eat it together. In my previous life, it was a super popular dish with people of all ages.”

“Well... why don’t you ask Master if you can go? If he says yes, we can go buy some.”

“Eh? Really?”

“I don’t mind going with you, but it depends on what Master has to say.”

“Okay! I’ll go ask right now—!!” Poof!

“She teleported... She must really want those spices.”

“No, Ben, I think it’s not the spices—it’s the curry she wants.”

“She’s seriously obsessed with food. More of a chef than any of us.”

“Well, she is Joan after all.”

“““No doubt about it.”””

While the chefs were talking like that, I passionately pitched the idea of curry rice in the office and successfully got permission to go to the royal capital. Then, after discussing with Mr. Abe, we decided to go on Thunder Day—Friday—three days from now.

Since my brothers will be back that day, the timing worked out perfectly. I can’t wait.

I haven’t been to the capital since that audience at the castle. I hope I find something good besides spices, too.

That night, since we couldn’t hold an imoni party without my brothers, we had a normal dinner in the dining room instead. But the imoni stew and salted rice balls were a huge hit with both family and the servants.

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