Chapter 708

I’m Never Letting Go Again!
I’m never letting you go again!

Nigari, ahh, nigari…
That infuriating little devil you absolutely can’t do without if you want to make jiggly, trembling tofu.

Because I couldn’t get my hands on this stuff, my tofu-making plans had completely stalled.

Of course, I did try all kinds of trial and error to see if I could manage with substitutes.

Agar.
Lemon juice and vinegar.
Chickpeas that don’t even need nigari.

But in the end, they were all just substitutes, and every single one of them felt like, “Nope… this isn’t it.”

So I’d been thinking, “Well, someday when I’ve got more breathing room, I’ll start making sea salt and get nigari as a byproduct…”
But then I found out that salt involves all kinds of monopolies and rights and whatnot, and wow, that sounded like a hassle.

So yeah. I shoved the whole thing way to the back burner.

Even if I managed to get nigari during the sea-salt-making process, I wouldn’t be able to not report the resulting sea-salt production method to Otousama.

And then I’d have to explain how I obtained the nigari in the first place, right?
If I said I made it myself and explained the method, that basically turns into, “Yes, I can make salt.”

And since my Otousama is sharp as a tack, even if I tried to fudge the explanation, he’d definitely end up concluding, “So in the end, this produces salt, doesn’t it?”

On top of that, I’d already gained a favorable position regarding spice imports thanks to my interactions with Prince Kaldor, so standing out any more than I already was probably wasn’t a great idea.

That’s why I’d given up.

And then, this happens (nigari GET), ma’am!

“All we did was have the ingredients brought in from Yahatul,” and boom, unlimited tofu making!
Yes! We did it!

“C-Cristea-san… t-t-t-tofu, you say!?”
Mariel-chan asked, trembling like jelly herself.

“That’s right, tofu!”

I answered while clenching the bottle of nigari with a death grip.

“C-chilled tofu, hot-pot tofu, deep-fried tofu, mapo tofu… th-those will all be edible again…?”
“Yes! If we really put in the effort, we can even make aburaage, so kitsune udon and inari sushi too!”
“Fwaaaaa… isn’t that just the absolute best…?”

As Mariel-chan and I stared dreamily at the bottle of nigari, Sei and Byakko-sama were visibly backing away.

“I… I truly didn’t expect you to be this happy…”

Suzaku-sama also looked a little taken aback, but too bad! I’m not giving it back!

I swiftly tucked the bottle into my inventory like I was protecting it from thieves, then immediately bought up every last bit of dried soybeans in the shop.

“Still… Miss Cristea really does know Yahatul well. Even if you have someone with Yahatul blood serving you… to identify ritual tofu so quickly… and you too, Miss Mariel. To come up with so many recipes…”

Sei looked at us with open admiration, and I felt kind of awkward under his gaze.

Byakko-sama and the others probably knew we were reincarnators thanks to their high-level appraisal, so they’d likely concluded that our excessive familiarity with Yahatul cuisine came from knowledge of a previous life.

It’s actually knowledge of Japanese food, not Yahatul cuisine, but, you know.

It’s honestly a mystery why there are so many similarities with Japan.
Sometimes I wonder if there were reincarnators before us who had knowledge of Japan too.

“Well then, we’ve got the ingredients, let’s head home and start some test batches!”
“Yes! I’ll help!”
“Yeah, I’ll help too.”

When Mariel-chan raised her hand, the others chimed in one after another.

“… Ah. Sorry to deflate your enthusiasm, but you have to soak soybeans in water overnight, so we can’t make it today.”

Mariel-chan going zukoo—! at my reply went without saying.

After telling a clerk at the Bastea Company that even small quantities were fine as long as they could deliver nigari regularly, one of the guards, who had likely been keeping watch the whole time, reported that our carriage had arrived.

Even with Kurogane and Mashiro around, Otousama always left several guards behind to keep an eye out for suspicious individuals.

If they hadn’t been there, I would’ve just warped home in an instant.
I’m sure Otousama assigns guards specifically to stop me from doing that. Grrr.

After giving Seiryuu-sama and Genbu-sama some food and snacks as souvenirs, we left the Bastea Company and headed to the carriage stop.
A larger carriage than the one we’d taken earlier was waiting for us, so we all climbed aboard.

“Shall we stay at the royal capital residence tonight and return to the academy tomorrow afternoon?”
“Ah, I’ve got items to deliver to the Bastea Company in the capital, so I’ll excuse myself once we arrive.”

Sei gently declined my suggestion.

“Eeh? You could stay the night…”
“No… I’ll pass.”
“There’s no need to hold back.”

When I wondered why he was refusing so firmly, Sei averted his gaze awkwardly.

“… Senior Norman would get jealous.”
“Huh!?”

Caught completely off guard by that comment, I let out a very strange sound.

“Aaah… I seeee.”

Mariel-chan nodded knowingly.

“Eh? W-what do you mean by that!?”

Mariel-chan, what exactly do you know!?

“Eh? You hadn’t noticed? When we’re together, Norman-sama smiles when he talks to Sei-san, but his eyes aren’t smiling at all.”
“Eeeeeh!?”
“… So you’d noticed, Miss Mariel.”
“That one’s pretty obvious.”

Mariel-chan, you weren’t just watching with B-and-L-tinted glasses!?

“Cristea-san, you’re really loved, you know!”
“… Well, loved… or maybe ‘fixated on’ is more accurate…”
“Ah, yand… ah, never mind.”

H-Hey, Sei!? Mariel-chan!?
Let’s not say scary things like that, okay!?

What do you think about this chapter?