Returning from Norden
We had been staying at Senior Chloe’s house and had grown close to her family and the barn staff, but tomorrow we had to return home.
So, as a way of thanking them for their hospitality, I asked if we could make tonight’s dinner.
“So, what are we making?”
“Hmm… simmered hamburgers, sandwiches, gratin, fried chicken, soup with Tamon and bacon—how’s that?”
“Yeah, sounds good.”
“Then can you peel the vegetables? I’ll make the soup.”
“Got it.”
Tonight, some staff were also coming, so we were preparing about 30 servings. Even for two people, there’s a limit, so the fried chicken and simmered hamburgers had already been prepped, along with a loaf of fluffy bread for sandwiches taken from storage.
By the way, in my storage, I always keep 20 servings of pre-prepped ingredients for each dish. That way, anywhere I am, I can just bake, fry, or simmer and the dish is ready. Mostly it’s for fried chicken, hamburgers, ginger pork, minced cutlets, tonkatsu, shrimp fry, and horse mackerel fry—dishes that are time-consuming to prep but frequently requested.
I had mastered all these prep methods in my previous life, knowing every trick for time-saving and storage. So whenever I have free time, I lock myself in the kitchen and just prep.
“…...”
“What’s wrong? You’re staring at the glass bowl.”
While peeling potatoes, Belle asked.
“Hmm… I was thinking it’d be convenient if I had a square container with a lid for storing prepped ingredients.”
“Ah. Yeah, that’d save space and keep them from drying out. But Joan, doesn’t your storage freeze time anyway?”
“Yeah, but… it’s more a mood thing.”
“Ah, I see. Makes sense. Oh, wasn’t Karim’s family famous for glassware?”
“That’s right! Okay, let’s ask Karim.”
Karim Smith, son of the Smiths’ count, had been in the same classes as me from general courses through knight courses. The Smith territory produced various glassware and sold it even in the capital.
The dinner party was a huge success.
Afterwards, Senior Chloe’s mother, her sisters-in-law, and the staff’s wives bombarded us with questions about the recipes. I’d expected it, so I handed out the written recipes and gave some additional explanations.
When the Q&A ended, Bruno even asked if he could serve the gratin at a shop in the capital. Of course, I said yes. They’ll probably put their own spin on it and make it even more delicious.
＊＊＊＊＊
““Thank you for everything.””
Not only Senior Chloe but her entire family came to see us off at the carriage stop.
This time, we were riding as passengers, not on any kind of request.
“Be careful going home. See you at the academy.”
“““Come visit again!”””
“We’ll work hard on training using the methods you taught us.”
“I’ll do my best to make the creams and dishes Joan taught me properly.”
“Thank you so much for taking care of the cows too.”
Above us, Senior Chloe, her two younger sisters, her niece Haru, Sean, Bruno, and Dick were all there. Her parents were smiling down at us.
“Thank you for all the souvenirs.”
“It’s fine. Sorry it’s mostly just dairy products.”
“No, we’re really happy.”
Her father gave us lots of gifts from his storage—milk, butter, cheese, and more.
“Alright, time to go.”
The coachman called out.
““Thank you!””
“““““Come again!””””
““““Bye-bye!”””
On the way home, we got off at the second stop on the second day and stayed overnight without taking the carriage gate. Once out of sight, we used two teleports and Pearl’s riding skill to reach Burst. Thanks to Pearl and Rosso, we didn’t encounter any major monsters and arrived safely.
We stayed three nights, teaching the team of cooks how to make dairy-based dishes. In Norden, we’d made gratin, but here we made chicken rice doria. I also taught Athos and the others about baked curry, so they’ll probably make it sometime soon.
But cheese and butter are high-calorie.
So, when leaving, I gave Belle’s mother my usual dried fruits. Her parents were fine with me giving her my special dried fruits. In exchange, I received newly harvested rice in autumn. Hooray! A true barter!
We returned to the Lampeil territory using one teleport and Pearl.
The dairy dishes were a hit at our house too. Father even discussed with Gray whether we could buy them regularly.
The twins loved the two types of cheesecake—baked and rare. So, as a sweet-toothed big sister, I made various cheesecakes with Annie, combining things like blueberries and milange. Thanks to that, Annie and I didn’t want to eat cheesecake for a while…
What do you think about this chapter?
