Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 80: Where Is He Heading?
“Here you go. Please, enjoy.”
Sitting across from me at the table, Nara-kun, wearing a twisted headband, spoke with a serious expression.
In front of me was a freshly cooked bowl of rice, steaming and glistening.
“Alright, let’s see…”
I picked up the bowl, scooped a bite with my chopsticks, and examined the grains. Each one shone with a luster that was noticeably different from the rice I had eaten before.
Bringing the bite to my mouth, I chewed slowly, savoring the taste.
“H-how is it?”
Nara-kun asked nervously, but I didn’t answer right away.
Not because I was trying to be mean—I just wanted to fully appreciate the flavor of this rice.
“Wow… this is incredible.”
That was my honest reaction after the first bite.
“F-for real?!”
“Yeah. I never had any deep attachment to rice before, but eating something this good makes me realize that, at the end of the day, I’m still Japanese. This is actually kind of moving.”
Hearing my words, Nara-kun’s eyes welled up with tears before he pumped his fist in victory.
“YES! I’m so glad! Eva said it was delicious, but I was really waiting to hear what another Japanese person, like you, thought of it!”
“I’m serious. I never had complaints about the food in this world, but now that I’ve had rice this good, I don’t think I can go without it anymore.”
“Heh, heh… Well, there’s plenty more! And thanks to magic, I can keep growing as much as we need! Eat as much as you like!”
…Somehow, it seemed Nara-kun had completely transitioned into a rice farmer.
In another story, he would have been in the position to be called a hero.
So… how did we end up here?
“Hmm. This really is completely different from last time.”
After I had my share, Ivern also took a bite of his own serving, eyes widening in surprise at the difference.
“Yes, there’s a gentle sweetness to it this time. It’s completely different.”
Meyleen agreed, clearly enjoying it.
“But… it’s a little sticky. I’d prefer it a bit fluffier.”
Yulia commented.
Well, tastes differ from person to person.
The rice Nara-kun had cultivated was soft and sticky, but apparently, that didn’t suit Yulia’s preferences.
“Actually, I did develop a less sticky variety during the improvement process… Would you prefer that one, Yulia-san?”
“Maybe. But I mostly eat bread, so I don’t really need rice that often.”
“…Seriously?”
And just like that, the myth of Japanese food being universally loved in another world crumbled before our eyes.
“Well, the food in this world is already designed to go well with bread. Forcing people to eat rice is kind of pointless.”
“Ugh… Then I’ll just have to make side dishes that go well with rice!”
Now he was planning to cook rice-friendly side dishes.
Seriously… where is Nara-kun heading with all this?
“Thanks to all this rice breeding, my magic has improved too! Next, I’m going to make my own miso and soy sauce!”
That’s right—Nara-kun had gotten so passionate about rice cultivation that he ended up learning plant growth magic all by himself.
That same magic could also be used for fermentation, meaning he was dead serious about making his own original miso and soy sauce.
Well, there was a teacher named Jonas in this world who actually made miso and soy sauce, so it wasn’t entirely impossible.
He even learned teleportation magic along the way. As much as I hated to admit it, this whole endeavor had turned out to be good magic practice.
“…This isn’t how I planned to train him, though.”
“Oh, I also go hunting sometimes when I crave meat, so my attack magic has gotten pretty good too.”
“…Seriously, how did you end up like this?”
I had planned to train him through rigorous combat drills—beat some real combat sense into him. But somehow, he had ended up hunting on his own and getting stronger all by himself.
Seriously, where is Nara-kun heading?
“You can use teleportation magic, attack magic, and plant growth magic now. I think… you’re kind of becoming an all-purpose mage.”
“Heh. At first, I wasn’t that into magic, but once I started learning different spells, it got really fun. Now, I think I get why Ota was so obsessed with magic.”
Ota, huh?
“Speaking of which, where did Ota go after getting kicked out of the clinic?”
Mona hadn’t scouted him out since then, so I had no idea where he was.
I glanced at Mona, but she shook her head.
Well, if she hadn’t been watching, there was no way she’d know.
She’d been busy lately, after all, taking care of Eva during her pregnancy.
When I turned my gaze back to Nara-kun, he had a somewhat complicated expression on his face.
“It’s ironic, isn’t it? That I’ve ended up being better at magic than Ota, who desperately wanted to become a mage.”
“Well, we summoners naturally have more magic power than the locals. As long as we get proper instruction, we improve quickly.”
Just like Nara-kun had.
“Then…”
Nara-kun glanced out the window and said,
“If Ota were properly taught magic, would he improve just as quickly?”
“Yeah. If he’s that desperate to become a mage, he’d probably pick it up fast.”
After all, we were summoned into this world with a solid foundation already in place.
With the right teacher and motivation, mastering magic wouldn’t take long.
“But why are you asking?”
“Well, he got kicked out of the royal castle, ignored by the Explorer’s Guild, and then even got thrown out of the clinic, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So… what if he got so desperate that he went to the Demon Kingdom to learn magic?”
The moment Nara-kun said that, a bad feeling hit me.
“Considering how much he’s failed so far… I can’t completely rule it out.”
The Demon Kingdom had recently reached out to us, and if Ota had actually gone there, things could get complicated…
“Hmm, I’d like to check, but I can’t exactly send Mona.”
“That’s true. The Demon Kingdom already knows I’m here, and if I show up there, they’ll definitely think I’m a spy.”
“Yeah, that’s what I figured. Well, guess we’ll just have to wait and see how things play out.”
Honestly, even if Ota learned magic in the Demon Kingdom, he wouldn’t be a real threat to me.
Still… I had a bad feeling that this was going to be a hassle.