Chapter 86: Takikomi Gohan and an Earthquake
Several days later—
The moment the newly arrived children saw me, they rushed over in a single wave.
“I missed you, Eight-nii!”
Leading the charge was Mea, the girl who had grown more attached to me than any of the others at the orphanage in the royal capital.
She slammed into me with enough force to knock me over. The other children showed no mercy and piled on top.
One or two would have been fine.
Nearly ten of them threatened to crush me flat.
“Onii-san looks like Civilian A in a zombie game—the first person swarmed and eaten.”
“We should rescue Eight. If we leave him there, he may be crushed to death.”
Raphiel finally took pity on me and pulled me free.
“The children will be in your care once again, Eight-sama.”
“Sister Marusa! It’s been a while.”
The elderly woman greeted me with her usual gentle smile.
Sister Marusa was the director of the orphanage in the royal capital.
She would continue caring for the children as the director of their newly built orphanage here in Papel Village.
“By the way, where might the Village Chief be?”
“He should be returning from the forest soon. Ah—there he is now.”
The bare-chested, muscle-bound Village Chief approached from the forest, each heavy step making the earth thud.
He had continued training there even after getting his rematch with Ryu.
Recently, he had apparently learned to control his muscles, compressing them until he could return to his original appearance.
It made me question whether he was human at all, but this world had magic and miracles. Perhaps muscle manipulation was no stranger than either of those.
Any ordinary person would probably have screamed at the sight of him.
Sister Marusa merely smiled.
“My, Fuldretch-kun. It’s been a long time.”
“Marusa-dono? Why are you here!?”
“…Huh?”
It took my mind a moment to catch up.
“Do the two of you know each other?”
“Indeed. Marusa-dono is my late wife’s elder sister—my sister-in-law.”
“Seriously? …It really is a small world.”
I was genuinely astonished.
“Oh, please don’t call me your elder sister. You’re forty years older than I’m, Fuldretch-kun.”
“That doesn’t change our family relationship.”
“Wait. Sister Marusa is the elder sister of your wife, right? Did you and your wife have an enormous age gap?”
“Did you not know, Eight? My wife and I were approximately fifty years apart.”
“I certainly remember the first time Fuldretch-kun came to introduce himself. Imagine my surprise when my fifteen-year-old sister announced that she wanted to marry a seventy-year-old man.”
Huh?
“Village Chief… are you a lolicon?”
“Oh, no. My sister was attacked by a monster, and Fuldretch-kun rescued her. She was the one who pursued him relentlessly. He refused at first, believing it to be nothing more than a joke, but…”
“She drugged me. We ended up doing something foolish, and Sabine became pregnant.”
I wasn’t sure whether I should praise the Village Chief for still being vigorous at that age or his wife for squeezing an elderly man dry.
The two probably had much to discuss, so I quietly faded away.
I was heading toward the kitchen at Dining House Tsurugi Hachi to prepare food for the children when I spotted a familiar figure in full armor.
“Grana, you came back with them?”
“Hm? Ah, Eight-dono. It’s been a while.”
Grana, the Holy Knight assigned to protect Raphiel, had been summoned to the temple over the matter of Ryu and had traveled separately from us for some time.
“Did you enjoy Luresia? Raphiel-sama didn’t cause you too much trouble, I hope?”
“Not at all. Though she seems to have become fascinated with seafood since we returned. She’s been watching videos about filleting fish, and now our kitchen smells like the ocean.”
“I-I apologize for the trouble Raphiel-sama has caused. Allow me to help you with something in return.”
“Perfect! I was about to prepare a meal for the children. Please help with the ingredients.”
“Understood.”
Once we entered the restaurant kitchen, I immediately gave Grana instructions.
“Let’s start with the preparation. Rinse the rice, then leave it soaking in water.”
“Very well.”
While she worked, I moved on to the other ingredients.
First, I poured boiling water over the abura-age to remove excess oil, then cut it into thin strips.
Next, I used the orichalcum knife to trim the Golden Dragon Mash and cut it into bite-sized pieces.
“Eight-dono, the rice is ready.”
“Then we’ll drain it and place it in the commercial rice cooker’s pot with mirin, soy sauce, granulated Japanese soup stock, and water up to the marked line.”
I stirred everything lightly, spread the Golden Dragon Mash and abura-age evenly over the top, and pressed the switch.
Every time I used one, I was reminded how indispensable the rice cooker was to a Japanese person whose staple food was white rice.
Whoever invented it deserved a place in every textbook.
“While it cooks, let’s prepare clear soup and sautéed mushrooms.”
“Very well. …By the way, what exactly is this golden mushroom?”
“The Golden Dragon Mash.”
“The Golden Dragon Mash!? The legendary mushroom!?”
The rice cooker played its familiar melody, announcing that the rice was ready.
I opened the lid, gently turned the rice from the bottom, and let it steam for a while longer.
And with that—
“Golden Dragon Mash takikomi gohan—complete!”
“…It sparkles almost painfully brightly.”
We prepared several other dishes, invited the children into the restaurant, and held a small welcome meal.
“Whoa!”
“It looks delicious!”
“Eight’s cooking!”
The children happily dug into the Golden Dragon Mash takikomi gohan.
“Eight-nii, this mushroom is sparkling! It’s so pretty!”
“EIGHT-DONOOOOOOOO! IS THAT NOT THE LEGENDARY GOLDEN DRAGON MAAAAASH!?”
“Whoa! Tardolf, when did you get here!?”
At some point, the royal court’s head chef had appeared beside Mea.
Seriously…?
“I heard the orphans were moving to Eight-dono’s village and suspected I might find some fascinating cuisine here.”
“What about your work as a royal chef?”
“Since that incident, Jeora has improved enough that I can entrust my duties to him. I’m now free to pursue the path of cuisine as I please.”
“Jeora has it rough…”
Then—
“Hm!?”
“What is it?”
“The ground is shaking! Is this the wrath of the earth!?”
“What?”
Everyone in the restaurant froze, Tardolf included.
Only after he spoke did I focus on the floor and notice the faint tremor beneath my feet.
“Oh, an earthquake. That’s unusual.”
“HOW CAN YOU REMAIN SO CALM!? WE MUST LEAVE THE BUILDING BEFORE A STRONGER SHOCK—”
“It’s fine. My restaurant and house were both built to withstand earthquakes.”
“!?”
Never underestimate Japanese earthquake resistance.
My grandfather had drilled the danger of earthquakes into me, so I had demanded especially strong reinforcement when we built Dining House Tsurugi Hachi.
The same naturally went for my house.
Still, the tremors were strangely rhythmic for an earthquake.
Almost like footsteps.
“Eight! We have an emergency!”
“Raphiel? What happened?”
“A great number of turtles have arrived!”
“What?”
…Turtles?