Fairy Tale Chronicles

Volume 1, 13

Volume 1, Chapter 13

Translator: Adam Seacord

Editor: Weasalopes

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?The steam… The Smell of sulfur…?

?It’s really a hot spring, Hiroshi-kun.?

?Sure is a hot spring.?

Sniffing the steam coming of what appeared to be the communal bath, Hiroshi and Haruna couldn’t help but conclude so. The elders around them watched, chuckling to these two teenagers become absurdly excited about the prospect. For a little rest and relaxation, the party had come to Adnae, one of the most famous hot springs in Farlane, located on the foothills of Spirit Spire Mountain. While they didn’t have a peaceful carriage ride here, the speed of Layotte’s transportation spell had its perks. Layotte, by the way, had left as soon as he had dropped the party off.

?If the temperature’s right, we can finally do it.?

?Finally…?

?I get it. You guys are ecstatic. Just chill for a bit.?

With Tatsuya’s interjection, Hiroshi and Haruna freeze in their tracks. They were just waiting for some audience interaction.

?So, I’m guessing you’re going to make some boiled eggs??

?Well, duh. What else are we doin’ at a hot spring??

?And if it was too hot, I was going to boil some corn or potato.?

?It always blows me away how far you’ll go for food…?

Even as he said so, Hiroshi and Haruna were so synchronized in their thought process, that Tatsuya had second thoughts about calling them out on it.

?’Course the main object here’s hot spring steamed buns.?

?I thought the problem was we didn’t have red beans??

?As for that, I came up with a brilliant solution.?

Haruna exclaimed, as the Japanese members in the party (excluding Hiroshi) couldn’t help but devote their full attention. Gratified by this response, Haruna puffed her chest and dramatically pointed her finger back at the group. With a satisfied look on her blue eyes, she declared:

?No red beans? Let them eat white bean paste!?

Accentuating her already ample breasts in this pose, Haruna’s proposal was reminiscent of a certain French queen. The group was spared the lethal display of the defiance of gravity since her breasts were secured with her garments. Everyone’s gaze (save for Hiroshi’s) were inadvertently drawn to them.

?Blue bean paste is another option.?

Hiroshi added another unnecessary footnote. Just like pork, it seemed that this world had ingredients similar enough for them to make these pastes.

?Is that really a solution, though??

?Both of ‘em are traditional sweets, ya know. Just not as well known. We haven’t cracked the Zenzai or Yokan, yet, but we should be good with Taiyaki and stuff. ?

?I mean, steamed buns are steamed buns. You don’t really have to steam them at hot springs.?

Tatsuya pointed out, to which Hiroshi and Haruna shared a grin in response. Despite the ridiculous amount of personal space between them, they were really telepathic when it came to these kinds of topics.

?If the sprin’ water’s good to drink, we’re gonna steam the buns with it.?

?Wait wait wait. How in the world are you going to check if it is??

?We got a tester for it. Made it a while back, actually.?

?Just for hot spring water??

?Nah. It’s original use was to see if we could drink from a water source without treatin’ it first.?

Elena and Douga jumped on this. Even in Wulls, which prides itself in its sanitation, people were getting sick from drinking untreated water all the time, and as for the Knight’s Order, some of them had boiled water of an unknown source (as a last resort) and end up consuming poison.

Why don’t they produce water from magic spells or items? Well, it isn’t that easy. Everyone’s MP is finite, and not everyone can use a spell that produces water. And of course, it would be difficult to provide every household and expedition team with the necessary magic-powered item. For the Knight’s Order, for example, were often situations where they would have to preserve as much of their resources as possible. So, obtaining resources on the go was often a matter of life and death.

?How detailed is this tester??

Elena asked.

?It can tell ya if the water’s drinkable as-is, boiled, processed, or not at all.?

?What do you mean processed??

?If someone with the right knowledge reads the tester, they’ll know what to do.?

Hiroshi kept answering Elena and Douga’s barrage of questions honestly and accurately. Ignoring them entirely, Aearis (with her differently blue eyes than Haruna gleaming) strutted over to her.

?Haruna-sama!?

?What’s up??

?What does a hot spring egg taste like? And a hot spring steamed bun? Is it delicious? ?

Aearis asked, exuding expectations for these mysterious dishes from her entire body. If she had a tail, it would be wagging with vigorous force. In more ways than one, her family had the right to be nervous about her future.

?Don’t worry, you’ll taste them soon.?

?Okay!?

Aearis responded, with the biggest smile her tiny face could muster. Mio, who had been watching this exchange, finally said:

?Let’s go to the inn already.?

The group nodded in response, halting mid-conversation. It couldn’t hurt to at least drop off their luggage, first.

?Reena, don’t be afraid to say what you’re thinking in situations like these.?

Tatsuya said with a chuckle, after watching Rayna not able to join any conversation from the side.

?Y-You expect me to jump into… That!??

?Well, when you’re bosses are headed full-speed to derailment town, the calm and collected subordinate’s gotta speak up.?

?So rarely am I the collected one, that thought hadn’t occurred to me…?

Rayna said, very self-aware of her vice. The group chuckled. Rayna still seemed to be held back by that initial incident, and seemed to always contain herself from acting on her own accord.

?I mean, it’s not like we’re mid-combat or anything, but I don’t think Reena should be the collected one here, don’t you think??

?Indeed. It seems I had gotten carried away.?

?W-Why don’t we go to the inn??

?Right. What are we doin’ chit-chattin’ ‘round here??

?And who’s fault is that??

Tatsuya interjected, as Haruna and Hiroshi tried to force the conversation to end there.

?So, why did we come out here, all of a sudden??

?Right. What happened yesterday, anyway??

After they had settled down in the inn for a minute, Tatsuya and Makoto brought of the conversation. While this little hot spring town had its own vacation property for the royal family, they had purposefully avoided it in favor of the best inn in town. Naturally their room was the most expensive Royal Suite. In fact, they had rented the entire inn for protection. All expenses paid for by the taxpayers… Or the royal family. A certain prince had told the party that, since it was off-season, it didn’t take much to rent out the inn.

In reality, no one in the party knew why they found themselves on this rest-and-relaxation trip, rather suddenly. The morning after the infiltration mission, Layotte had showed up at their door, and said:

?We’re taking Elena and Aearis for some rest and relaxation at a hot spring. The inn is already booked. Get ready in half an hour.?

And so, the party had scrambled to pack, and came right out here. Of course, packing simply meant putting changes of clothes and the like into their storage. However, checking to see if they had forgotten anything and checking the locks and barriers of the workshop had nearly taken them half an hour, and apparently there was no time for Layotte to explain before they left.

Of course, as soon as they had arrived at Adnae, Layotte had shoved the reservation tickets for the inn, and left them there. Hiroshi and Haruna’s jesting earlier was actually actualized in astonishing speed, considering the circumstances.

?I don’t know why he brought us all the way out here, but as for what went down yesterday… The land of the country’s apparently been purified and all. There was Goddess or whatnot who came out, but I ain’t gonna get into all that. She said y’all would see her soon when the time’s right. Better ask her then.?

?As far as missions go, I think it was a success. We did encounter who seemed like the big bad wolf, but he got away… Was getting away when we got out of there, anyway.?

While this explanation was so cursory, it was just about the best they could do. It would be such a long story to explain everything, and there was so much that even the infiltration party didn’t understand.

?I mean, I got the feelin’ he ain’t no big bad wolf. He’s just the lizard’s tail that gettin’ cut off.?

?I agree with Sensei.?

?Yeah, I can see that. He, like, had a second form, but just acted like a low-level goon.?

Mio and Haruna chimed in with Hiroshi. Haruna was especially brutal, here.

?How goon-ish are we talking, here??

?Pretty obviously. Like the first mid-boss in a game. He acts like he’s a big shot, but in the end, he’s just another pawn.?

Tatsuya and Makoto got a good picture from this. In actuality, if all of the Japanese members had faced him off together, they would have finished the job, no problem. The best guess was that he was a double that happened to look like the real big bad wolf.

?So, the Cerberus y’all brought back. Was that on the back end of our mission??

?More or less.?

The previous day, Hiroshi had been pulled into taking apart the Cerberus corpses soon after recovering, which left them no time to catch up regarding this. What’s worse, only the Cerberus hide and bone were usable as materials, and there were no equipment mutation that occasionally occurred when taking down a heavily afflicted creature like this one (a rare drop, in other words). For the work it took, he couldn’t say it was worth it.

?And, you got any info on who’s behind all this??

?There were Summoners, so I have a good guess as to who’s behind it. But we couldn’t take any prisoners, nor any viable corpse. So we can’t be sure.?

Douga explained.

?Alrighty. Summonin’ some Cerberuses, though? That’s pretty hardcore.?

?On the other hand, there were a dozen or so of them to summon three dogs. Those could not have been the top men.?

Summoning Cerberuses was something that didn’t quite sound right to Makoto and Tatsuya, but their memory didn’t compare to Haruna’s. They couldn’t quite place their finger on the odd feeling, so they gave up on trying to remember it for the time being.

?So, we still don’t know why we’re at a hot spring.?

?I have a general idea.?

Makoto asked after giving up on trying to recall the source of her odd feeling, to which Douga answered with nonchalance.

?Which is??

?Naturally, there must be some group that wants to set us all up as kidnappers and execute us. From what I hear, Alfemina-sama mentioned your names out loud. It doesn’t matter how well you hide your faces. The workshop will be discovered sooner or later from your names alone.?

The party looked defeated hearing this. It was doubtful if they could even return to Wulls, at this rate.

?Well, Layotte should be out debating those rock-headed politicians as we speak. We should take this as a vacation and enjoy the hot spring.?

Elena said, leaving her brother with all of the responsibility.

?Right. Ten out of ten the wolf’s still out there, and we’re about to get roped into the black mire of politics, which isn’t our forte. We have to enjoy the little perks while we can.?

Haruna jumped on the bandwagon. She seemed to have already switched her mindset over, singing an improvised song (of a ridiculously high-caliber) about the hot spring boiled eggs.

?Then, I’ll go check on the quality and temperature of the sprin’ water.?

?Thanks. We do have an in-suite kitchen, so I’ll make the sauce for the eggs and the white bean paste.?

?Alrighty.?

With that, Hiroshi and Haruna sprang into action, both following their hearts. The more mature members of the party were astonished by their finesse to bring the conversation back to their initial objective. Their dedication was worthy of acknowledgment, honestly.

Of course, they wouldn’t have a defense to the fact that most of their dedication revolved around food.

?Every time this happens…?

?Yeah??

?Those two have only been around each other for less than two months, right…??

?…Right…?

Tatsuya mumbled, hearing Makoto point this out. In truth, their M.O.s were so similar, that anyone wouldn’t be surprised if they were lifelong best friends.

?Anywho, watch some crazy woman pick a fight with him while he’s on his own. I’ll go with him.?

?Okay.?

Taking out his wallet, Tatsuya followed after Hiroshi, with some sense of obligation. Other than women picking a fight with him, someone could sell him something, taking advantage of his sheepishness, or worse get mugged because of it. In fact, in his early days in Wulls, Hiroshi had often found himself in non-women-related incidents while on miniscule quests, from which the more experienced adventurers had gotten him out of.

?What should we do, then… Why don’t we explore the town a little bit? Elle? Mio? Reena??

?Okay!?

?Sounds good.?

Aearis and Mio answered as they got up to leave. Rayna didn’t particularly voice her opinion in these cases.

?I think I’ll take advantage of the hot spring while we’re here.?

Elena concluded.

?Then I suppose I’m holding down the fort with Haruna??

?Looks like it.?

And so, the day was set in motion. After all, everyone in the party would end up enjoying the sudden rest-and-relaxation that was shoved down their throats, in their own ways.

Holy crap, y’all!

This transmission was heard by all the Japanese members when Haruna had just about finished the dough for the hot spring steamed buns. Makoto’s group had not returned yet, and the only ones back at the suite were Elena who had returned from the hot spring, as well as Douga (who stayed the entire time) and Haruna, who had been working in the kitchen. Hiroshi had already reported on the hot spring’s temperature, so Haruna had begun boiling the eggs already, with the permission of the inn’s manager.

What happened?

I found somethin’ amazin’! I’ll bring back as much as I can! Meet y’all back at the suite!

While Haruna wasn’t sure what Hiroshi was so excited about, she decided to continue to steam the buns, as she had nothing else to do while she waited.

?What’s the news??

?Apparently, Hiroshi-kun found something very newsworthy.?

?Hm. I’ve come to notice there’s a fifty-fifty chance that what he considers newsworthy only to he and himself. ?

Douga said to Haruna with a chuckle. A few chuckles could be heard from Elena as well, who had been listening in to the conversation from across the room.

?We’re back.?

?Hey, there you are.?

When the first bun was just about done steaming, Makoto’s group returned.

?What’s he freaking out about??

?I don’t know, but he wouldn’t call everyone together unless it’s something worth the trouble.?

?I mean, Tatsuya’s with him, right? He wouldn’t act like that if it wasn’t worth it.?

?Right??

They chatted away as Haruna took out a steamed bun. After tasting the first, Haruna took out the second one from the steam basket for Aearis, who had been extremely fidgety.

?Here you go, Elle-chan. It’s very hot, so be careful.?

Hearing this, Aearis blew on the bun to cool it as she politely took small bits. When she bit through the weird texture of the exterior, the elegant sweetness of the white bean paste spread in her mouth. Dreamy eyed from the mysterious, new sweet flavor, she finished the bun with impeccable etiquette as usual.

?Elle-chan. You always have a blast eating, don’t you??

?Seriously. Put her on a food commercial. She’ll be a celebrity.?

Chuckling at Aearis’ behavior, Makoto took a bit out of her bun. While this iteration utilized the lesser-known white bean paste, it was nice to have a Japanese dessert for the first time in a while. Even Mio was enjoying a freshly steamed bun with thinning eyes.

?So, what happened to the boiled eggs??

?I think they should be ready, actually.?

?Ooh, can we taste it later??

?Sounds like a plan.?

As they planned another tasting, they handed out the buns to Douga, Elena, and Rayna.

?Wow, those guys are taking forever.?

?You think they’re in trouble??

The very ones who called for the meeting were late. As the women speculated, Haruna prepared more buns while watching for Elena’s and Aearis’ reactions to them. Makoto simply decided to watch her. Truth be told, there was not much to do in the suite.

?Sorry we’re late!?

?Got a little greedy out there, took us longer than we thought. ?

Tatsuya and Hiroshi returned when Haruna had started thinking about steaming the second batch of buns.

?So what did you find, anyway??

?This ol’ thin’ right here.?

What Hiroshi produced in response to Makoto’s question was…

?Is that…!??

?Rice!??

?Ya betcha. A Japanese breed, at that.?

The Japanese women in the room froze in excitement. If this was true…

?We can have curry on rice??

?Don’t forget ‘bout beef and rice bowls, rice omelets, and of course, sushi.?

?Rice and miso soup… Stew and grilled fish…?

?We can do ‘em all!?

Hiroshi exclaimed, triggering a thunderous cheer among the Japanese members. The members of the party native to Farlane, however, watched this with a puzzled look. While they weren’t quite sure what was happening, they could see that this was an incredible breakthrough for the all the Japanese members.

?So… How much of it do we have??

?Lessee… What we were able to gathers about… Six or seven pounds of grain??

?Okay. Not a lot to spare…?

?There was still a field full, so there’s enough out there to get a major harvest in.?

Hiroshi noted, to which the other members jumped on.

?The thin’ is, it was just growin’ on its own. No selective breedin’ been done here, ya can’t expect it to taste as good as we’re used to.?

?We’re not going to be picky. It’s rice!?

Haruna said, more serious than ever.

?Speaking up, what are we doing for lunch??

?Lord Layotte has told us to make our own if want any. They didn’t have time to prepare lunch at the inn during the sudden arrangements.?

?Then let’s borrow the kitchen to make curry on rice!?

Haruna declared, erupting more cheers. Odd how Aearis joined in on the excitement of the Japanese members.

?Then I’ll let y’all go get any ingredients we need. Brother and I’ll start threshin’ and polishin’ the rice.?

?Okay!?

Responding with unparalleled enthusiasm, the Japanese women left the adults of Farlane behind. Elena, who had been lost in the overwhelming and confusing commotion, finally said:

?What in the world is going on??

?Lon’ story short, we found rice, the food to our hearts, so we can finally eat curry on rice, our national dish, for the first time in months.?

?…I am completely lost…?

This didn’t resonate with Elena, who had never been in a situation without a shred of her native cooking. Of course, the same went for Aearis and Rayne, but they jumped into the excitement nonetheless.

?May I ask a question??

Aearis spoke, an important question on her mind.

?What’s that, Elle??

?Does this dish… Taste good??

?The best.?

Hiroshi reassured her with a brimming smile. Now, expectation were set high.

?Now, I’ll go prep ‘em.?

He declared with the same smile as he cradled the precious cargo out, along with Tatsuya. Haruna began making a list of other ingredients required to make curry on rice. Overcome by her curiosity, Aearis followed Hiroshi out. This was the day that the party had finally acquired the biggest piece of the puzzle to recreating Japanese cuisine, rice.

The kitchen of Hotel Laguna, the most prestigious and extravagant hotel in Adnae, was taken over by a brand new, mysterious scent.

?Again, thank you so much for letting us borrow the kitchen.?

?That’s not a problem, but…?

The head chef responded to Haruna, reassuring her. Some of the hotel’s guests in the past were high profile (Dukes, for example) so this kind of request wasn’t all that unusual. Especially for guests of the Royal Suite, many of them would request a dish prepared by their personal chef, would borrow the kitchen to make it happen.

So, this situation where an adventurer-looking woman cooking in the kitchen did not pose a problem. She even cleaned herself up upon coming in, and took her place in the corner of the kitchen out of everyone’s way. The head chef saw no reason to make a complaint.

The problem was that he had no idea what she was making. While cooking up some mysterious white substance in the wok she brought it in, Haruna was also boiling down something in her pot. Judging by her detailed adjustments to the flame below the white substance, the head chef could see that this one required a rather delicate process. The substance was producing a scent unfamiliar to the chef. It wasn’t an unpleasant smell, but he didn’t have absolute confidence that what he was smelling was edible.

In the pot, the chef could spot the vegetables and meat that Haruna had lightly seared earlier, simmering in a bizarre dark soup that seemed to a mixture of flour and some sort of spice blend. While it looked rather… weird, the complex scent of the various spices was somehow appetizing.

Since the entire hotel was privately rented out (under some powerful influence the chef knew no details about) the kitchen wasn’t being used at the moment, anyway. This allowed all the chefs to observe this teenage girl adventurer cook.

?What are you cooking there??

?It’s something from my homeland. We pour it over the grain I’m cooking over here.?

Smiling with brimming joy, Haruna continued to check the rice and stir the pot.

?Mm. A little longer on the rice…?

Observing the wok with the lid closed, she occasionally stirred it around. The chef was suspicious of the white grain that showed some mysterious reactions along the way, but Haruna seemed to only be concerned with the flame.

?Curry looks good…?

Checking on the carrots, potatoes, etc., in the pot, Haruna put out the stove and looked at the other pot.

?A little more steam, and that should be good.?

And so, everything appeared to be satisfactory. Putting out the flames, Haruna took out some vegetables that could be eaten raw, and began steadily chopping them.

?A salad of raw greens? Would you allow us??

?Oh sure. If you don’t mind.?

?It’s our pleasure.?

The head chef, who had been watching in awe, jumped in when Haruna transitioned to cooking something they were familiar with (and quite frankly anyone could handle). He wanted to avoid ending up just watching Haruna prepare the entire thing.

?That should do it.?

Haruna said, looking into the wok after admiring the head chef’s plating of the salads. When she lifted the lid off, each tiny white droplet shone with a hint of stardom. After mixing the contents of the wok with a tool none of the chefs had seen before, as if to pull out the steam, or mix the air together, Haruna took a tiny portion and tasted it.

?Hmm… It could use a little more sweetness and stickiness. I guess it’s a wild strand so it can’t be helped.?

“But not bad at all” she mumbled as she reached to portion them out on the plates she borrowed. Finally, the head chef decided to ask his burning question:

?Excuse me, madam. What in the world is that white grain??

?Oh, we call it rice. Hiroshi-kun said they were growing out in a swamp around here.?

?Swamp? Could it be…??

?Do you know something about it??

Nodding in response, the head chef told gave some simple background about the swamp. The short story was that there were no suitable walkways there, and there were many aggressive monsters, which kept the locals away. Adnae held a large lake to its northwest, from which a river flowed (the source of all water for the town) all the way down to the port town of Merije. As a result, they almost always had plenty of food to go around. In addition, this river barely had any dangerous creatures lurking in it, despite its large size.

So, everyone in town was apparently aware of the wild grain in the swamp, but no one had bothered to look into what it was.

?We have plenty of food, exports, and farmland, so none of us thought to go research a plant growing in a dangerous location.?

?I see…?

It made sense. Haruna had a feeling that Farlane in general seemed to miss out on delicious things with this kind of mentality.

?Well, would you like to try it??

?Please!?

Bursting out a chuckle at the head chef’s passionate enthusiasm, Haruna plated enough rice and curry for the chefs to taste it. In these kinds of establishments, it would be more proper to serve the rice and curry separately, or half-and-half on the plate, but Haruna decided to pour the curry directly on the rice, as most households would serve it.

This was the historical moment when curry on rice was discovered in Farlane.

?In my country, we would serve it with something called Fukujinzuke, but unfortunately we didn’t expect to find rice like this so I haven’t prepared any.?

Haruna noted as she handed over the plate with a spoon. The head chef squints at the (not visually appetizing) dish. After some moments, he inserted his spoon where there was a good mixture of rice and curry, and took a bite.

?…Despite its appearance, it tastes very refined…?

?This… rice, was it? Holds back the spice of the sauce, just enough…?

?It’s delicious… I could eat a barrel full of this… ?

The team of top-notch chefs fire off compliments left and right. Haruna seemed more relieved by this than flattered. Many westerner would not be accustomed to the taste of rice (Japanese strands, at least) but these were renowned chefs. They seemed to pick up on the faint sweetness, unique to wild-grown rice. As the chefs continued to express their impression of the dish…

?…It’s not fair…?

Aearis said, in a begrudging tone after appearing in the kitchen. Her sentence was accompanied by a begrudging glare.

?I have been waiting with unbearable anticipation as there is no announcement for dinner, so here I am, wondering what has gone wrong…?

?S-Sorry, Elle-chan…?

?I am well aware how entitled this may sound, but to someone desperately longing for supper, this smell is almost unbearable…?

?S-Sorry! I’ll take some up, right away!?

Startled by Aearis’ begrudging tone, Haruna rushed to prepare the food to take up to their room. What awaited her in the Royal Suite was…

?Finally…?

Hiroshi started off.

?I knew we had to wait for you to cook the rice, but that was an eternity…?

?Haru… Curry…?

?You built it up so much just to tease us…?

Tatsuya, Mio, and Makoto (collectively AKA the SJC, or Starving Japanese Children).

?I-I know, I’m sorry! Coming right up!?

Haruna said, as she hurriedly plated the rice and curry, along with the salad.

?We do have boiled eggs, too.?

?I’m going vanilla for my first plate!?

?You’re already accounting for seconds, huh…??

The SJC were unstoppable. Haruna could only gaze into space in response to Tatsuya’s declaration.

?A-Any case, let’s enjoy it while it’s hot.?

Elena, who had been almost scared by the SJC’s reaction, attempted to bring the train back on track. Even though she would never put herself out there like Aearis had, she couldn’t deny her gnawing hunger.

?Then, thank you for our meal.?

Following Haruna’s cue, the Japanese members showed gratitude for their meal, followed by the native members of Farlane finishing their pre-meal prayer. While no one was waiting to start eating, they all managed to take their first bite at almost the same time.

?Mmm! This is the stuff!?

?It’s so good…?

Makoto had gone three months, and even Tatsuya had gone two weeks without rice. When it came to curry on rice specifically, even Tatsuya hadn’t had one in about a month. That may not sound too bad, but both Tatsuya and Makoto had been eating rice three meals a day. Most Japanese people start missing rice as soon as a week into studying or working abroad. Their reactions were not overly dramatic.

?It doesn’t look like it, but this dish is really refined.?

?The spices! I could eat a kitchen full of this.?

The Farlane natives were entranced by this new dish, enjoyed in a different way than the curry bun. Curry, by the way, was heavily modified through the Japanese culinary culture. As an old-timey commercial once said, even Indians would be surprised. Nowadays, curry was the dish that represented Japan, more so than India, where it originated. Haruna, a cook of the highest caliber, had put her heart and soul into this particular rendition, with no regrets in the process. There was no cause for this dish to taste anything less than exceptional. Still, seeing Elena and Aearis (who both had well-developed palettes) enjoying the dish as much as Rayna (who seemed to prefer simple, bold flavors) the Japanese members couldn’t help but wonder if the Farlane natives had palettes for rice, after all.

?…What’s wrong, Rayna-san??

?Oh, no, I mean…?

Rayna had cleared her plate entirely, save for a smudge of sauce, and had been staring at it with a contemplative expression on her face. It didn’t look like she hadn’t enjoyed the dish, only that she was hesitating to say something.

?If ya want seconds, ya just gotta speak up.?

?…Can I…??

Rayna asked timidly, and Haruna took her plate with a smile. Watching this, Aearis donned an expression of envy. She wanted to eat more, but she was getting full.

?Will there be enough for everyone, still??

Douga asked.

?Mm-hm. I made enough so everyone could have seconds.?

?Then, might I ask for seconds, too? I seem to have worked up an appetite after yesterday’s fiasco. I’m getting too old for all that.?

?Okie dokie.?

Haruna smiled cheerfully, hearing the raving reaction to her curry on rice. Haruna herself, in fact, didn’t have seconds. Of course, Tatsuya and Makoto (especially Makoto) ate enough to make up for it.

?Ahh, that was good…?

?This could keep me going for another half year…?

Tatsuya and Mio had thoroughly revelled in the prodigal grains of rice, the curry they had dreamt about, and finally uttered these words from the bottom of their hearts. Even Mio, who usually didn’t eat as much as the other members, had cleared two servings.

?So, how much more rice can we get??

After their food had settled, Makoto asked the question on everyone’s mind.

?Hmm… A barrel’s worth at best, lookin’ at the size of the land they’re growin’ on.?

?How much are we talking here, exactly??

?60 kilos. Definitely won’t last the nine of us a month if eat ‘em three meals a day.?

?That’s not much…?

Makoto sunk in defeat upon hearing this. She had gotten her hopes up that they might be able to eat rice again like they used to in Japan.

?That’s with the future in mind, ‘course.?

?The future??

?We can get some more now if we ain’t leavin’ anythin’ for next year.?

Makoto groaned at the conundrum.

?So, Hiroshi-kun. What is it like there??

?Pretty big, actually. They called it a swamp, but it’s all dried up now, so we can walk ‘round it. I asked some local folks, and they said the water dries up naturally from around this time until that start of spring, naturally. And the water comes back ‘round the time when they’d be plantin’ the crops in Japan.?

?Isn’t that pretty ideal??

?Sure is. The natural rotation of the water and soil would allow for continuous croppin’ and it seems like the climate and weather ‘round here’s similar to Japan.?

Which must have lead to the wild-grown strand’s similarity to Japanese rice. Elena, who had been listening in, said:

?Then it may not be a bad idea to collect some specimens and grow them.?

?If we can convince Layotte, it would be very possible. ?

?I agree. What a shame to label this exquisite dish a delicacy simply because we can only harvest one of its ingredients in the wild.?

The two princesses were running amok with this idea. Hiroshi cracked a grin watching them. This was the first step of Farlane developing their rice farms. Everyone here would have guessed that establishing the basic routine would take a decade (if they were lucky), but a surprising someone would provide accompanying knowledge in a surprising fashion later on, which led to rice becoming the most ubiquitous food in Farlane within ten years. Of course, no one could foresee that much at this time.

?Now, we should go enjoy the hot springs while we’re here.?

After some post-meal down time, Haruna saw that food seemed to settle in everyone’s stomach, and asked the girls to a dip in the spring. Hiroshi and Tatsuya, by the way, had went out again to search for more rice, accompanying Douga, this time.

?Sure. We haven’t used the hot springs once.?

?In hot springs… It’s rude not to prune.?

Makoto and Mio seemed to have no objections. So, the group left behind had decided to head on out to the grand bath.

?I didn’t expect these classy hotels to have a communal bath.?

?Most people in Farlane use communal baths.?

?Communal baths, hot springs… Farlane is weirdly similar to Japan in some ways.?

?You think so too, Mio-chan??

Sure, Farlane was blessed with abundant water, but their bathing culture was still uncannily similar to that of Japan’s. The notable difference was that in Farlane, most household didn’t quite have their own bathtub, yet.

?…??

?What’s up, Haruna??

?Did you see that weird looking thing walk past??

Haruna said, as she chased after the “thing” around the corner, to see…

?That’s weird looking…?

?That is weird looking…?

In front of them was a creature, with limbs directly attached to a turnip-like body, on top of which was a very chiseled face (reminiscent of the statues from Easter island) with a spinach-looking leaf sprouting from it. It was trotting over to the bathhouse, with a towel on its shoulder (-ish appendage). Mio and Makoto couldn’t contain their reaction.

?I-I’m terribly sorry!?

As they stared at the strangely suspicious… thing, a female worker of the hotel came rushing to capture it. This woman had been in and out of the kitchen, earlier. The thing writhed, being dangled by its leaf in the woman’s hand. It looked rather eerie.

?U-Um…?

?I am terribly sorry we allowed it to enter the premises!?

?That’s okay… What is that thing, anyway??

?It’s a vegetable called Pomey.?

?Vegetable!??

Haruna screamed, taken aback. Its name was deceptively cute, but a vegetable!?

?It’s a specialty of this area, but unlike its taste, it has a rather tricky habitat…?

?What do you mean??

?It multiplies by dipping in the hot spring.?

?Excuse me??

The group’s collective jaw dropped to the floor.

?Um… Really??

?Yes. It is breeding, if you can call it that, season. If you would like to see for yourselves??

?Ooh, I think I do.?

?I want to look.?

Haruna and Makoto answered, and the princesses agreed. Encountering strange things like these is part of the fun of travelling, after all.

?Then, please follow me.?

Ignoring the thing (now wailing) the worker headed to the breeding ground (?) which was one of the hot spring baths. Apparently, this was an annual occurrence.

?Ooh…?

?That’s a lot of them.?

They were countless Pomeys in the hot spring, their gruff faces relaxed, floating around. Disregarding the group (observing this scene with slight terror) the work tossed the Pomey into the water. The Pomey struggled mid-air along the way, until it plopped into the water and released all tension from its face. It was quite bizarre.

?Oh…?

Suddenly, a Pomey the size of an almond plopped to the surface. Multiplying must be the correct term here, but just from looking at it, the best one could do to describe this would have been to call it “breeding” in the hot springs.

?…So, how do you eat them??

?Allow me…?

The worker answered Mio’s half-curious, half-dubious question with action. She started by scooping up a few grown Pomeys with a net. She also scooped up a good number of newly sprouted (with no limbs but prominent faces and spinach hair) and put them aside.

The mountain of young Pomey were screeching, but the worker still paid them no mind. This was definitely not her first time doing this. She also ignored the cries of the adult Pomeys that she had hung up after scooping them out.

?Frist, we cut off the leaf…?

Positioning the right over its eyes, she sliced off the leaf as if to cut off a stem. The Pomey particularly put up a fight here, but the worker’s hands were steady. As soon as the stem was off, the Pomey fell motionless.

?Then its limbs…?

Smoothly, she continued to slice off the limbs of the motionless Pomey, to where only the face was left.

?After that, you can chop it up into bite-size, and cook them however. Sometimes, we will grind it to add some flavor to a soup.?

?Why do you cut off the leaf first??

Haruna asked, after watching the Pomey put up such a fight.

?Otherwise, they would explode.?

?…Are you sure that thing’s a vegetable??

Haruna, who normally say things that warrant a quizzical look like this, couldn’t help but ask. Makoto was watching this with utter amazement, speechless.

?If you cut off any of its limbs or try to cut it down the middle before cutting off the stem, it explodes. If you don’t cut the stem off entirely, it will also explode.?

?Th-That sounds dangerous…?

?Every year, we’ll have an injury or two from the explosion.?

A self-destructive vegetable that would injure the chef. This thing would bring into question the most basic definition of “vegetable.”

?I want to taste it.?

?Me too. But I’m not too hungry, so I don’t know if I can eat too much of it…?

?It will be used for tonight’s dinner, don’t worry.?

?Are you sure we have nothing to worry about??

Makoto finally interjected, which caused a stir of chuckles. The problem was, the worker was not kidding. By the way, the leaf tasted like spinach, and its face like daikon radish, both without the bitterness, which made Pomey rather tasty and palatable.

?Oh, and another thing worth noting…?

The work said, after explaining which dishes the Pomey could be used for, and dunked the leaf back into the hot spring. Then, the Pomey started growing from the leaf in front of their eyes, and thirty seconds later, a Pomey (identical to the one before) floated to the surface.

?Place the leaf in the hot spring, and it will regenerate right away.?

?Eesh…?

The group reacted with utter disgust to the planarian-like regeneration.

?Are you really, really, sure that we can eat these??

?Once saliva touches the leaf, it doesn’t regenerate anymore.?

?Oh, I see…?

?By the way, there was this one idiot who tried to bite one whole, assuming it wouldn’t explode, only to…?

?I don’t want to hear it! I don’t want to hear it!?

Haruna clasped her ears to protect herself from the gruesome tale with all of her might.

?Anywho, what are the small ones you have set aside over there.?

?They are vegetables, after all. We have to weed out some of them to maintain growth and taste.?

The worker answered Elena, with a more grounded reason than expected. It was weird to see its more vegetable-y characteristics.

?So, you’re going to get rid of those??

?Yes. We will throw some spells at them to make them explode. The little ones won’t cause much damage when they pop, either.?

A pretty aggressive method of weeding out the crop.

?Hmm…?

?Something on your mind, Haruna??

?It seems like a waste, doesn’t it…??

?The little ones??

Haruna nodded in response to Elena’s confirmation. Despite her disgust a moment ago, Haruna had already saw these things as valuable ingredients. The mindset of a professional cook.

?A waste…? They are pretty dangerous.?

?But they don’t explode that badly, right??

Haruna said, staring at them.

?May I touch them??

?Go ahead.?

With the permission of the worker, Haruna picked up a young Pomey. After observing it closely, a light bulb appeared over her head.

?May I use the kitchen again??

?Yes, of course.?

She seemed to have a use in mind for the little ones, she produced a basket from her bag, and loaded some of the young Pomeys on it.

?I’m going to do some experiments.?

?Have fun.?

?Do what you will, but I would prefer it if we weren’t roped into it.?

?You’re not off the hook, Reena-san. You’re going to be the guinea pi… taster.?

?…I have never longed to go back in time more…?

With some banter like that, the party left Haruna to her lab, and returned to the suite. They had planned to play some games, with the losers lined up to taste whatever Haruna was going to cook up.

And so, an hour passed, when Haruna returned with…

?That’s really creepy…?

?The color’s scary…?

Pickled small Pomeys in a bottle, with their stem cleanly removed, their expression of agony stained magenta.

?How did you get this color, anyway??

?Red grapes.?

?See, that part sounds nice. Looking at this thing, though…?

Elena said, drawing a chuckle from Haruna.

?So, who lost??

?I did!?

?Me too, I suppose…?

Aearis jumped up in response, in contrast to Rayna’s gloom expression. Aearis was ready to enjoy her penalty.

?Then take a bite together in one, two…?

They picked one out of the bottle, and plopped them in their mouths on Haruna’s mark. With a crunch…

?!??

?Oops, I knew there’d be a few stems left on them…?

?But it’s so fresh, tart, and delicious.?

Aearis (who was fortunate enough to have one of the non-exploding variety of Pomey) declared with a brimming smile as she reached for another.

?I did taste them, so don’t worry about them tasting bad.?

?This may be a good idea as a little game of courage during parties. Leaving in some of them with the stems still on, of course.?

Makoto and Mio look at Elena aghast in response to her trigger-happy proposition. Rayna, who had become the butt of the joke for the evening, was groaning on her knees from the damage she suffered in her mouth.