Kays Translations

Just another Isekai Lover~

Chapter 9: Earnings

Evening came after I finished all my tasks for the day. Sheila had already gone back inside the house, leaving me alone in front of the shipping box.

What I was doing was checking how much NP I had earned from the Crackdraff harvest. While I had a rough estimate in mind, I hadn’t checked yet, so I wasn’t sure of the exact amount.

With a mix of nervousness and anticipation, I checked the terminal to see my current NP balance.

The number displayed in the top left corner was—518 NP.

After buying new seeds, my NP had been reduced to 262, so with some simple math, it meant I had harvested 128 Crackdraffs.

If I could earn close to 250 NP every day, then I could afford to indulge a little.

I wanted to buy some Japanese cooking tools, but more than that, I just wanted to eat Japanese food. While I was craving a proper Japanese meal, it didn’t make sense not to use the tomatoes I had, so I stuck to my original plan and decided to cook tomato dishes.

Rice, at a minimum of 5 kilograms for 750 NP, was out of reach. Potatoes were 120 NP per kilogram.

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The price seemed steep—30 times what I was used to—but I decided to splurge and bought 1 kilogram of potatoes.

Next, I added 1 kilogram of inexpensive imported pasta for 180 NP and 300 grams of ground meat for 120 NP to my cart.

I also bought a pack of 10 bouillon cubes for 60 NP and a single onion for 30 NP.

Even though I had planned to splurge, the budget was tighter than I expected, and I couldn’t buy much.

Despite my initial optimism, my NP balance had dwindled to just 8 NP. If I wanted to truly indulge, I’d need to earn a lot more.

Feeling a bit down, I grabbed the ingredients from the shipping box and headed back into the house.

Once in the kitchen, I began cooking.

I decided to make two dishes: meat sauce spaghetti and simple fried potatoes cut into chunks.

Since this world had basic seasonings like salt, pepper, sugar, and oil, I started by making ketchup.

I crushed the prepared tomatoes, mixed in grated onion, and added sugar. For vinegar, I substituted it with juice from a citrus-like fruit from this world, then adjusted the flavor with salt and pepper—done!

I tasted it lightly, and since the tomatoes themselves were good quality, the result was nearly perfect.

Paired with fried potatoes, the flavors would surely complement each other wonderfully.

Feeling excited, I moved on to preparing the meat sauce.

First, I browned the ground meat, then added finely chopped onions.

As I seasoned it with salt and pepper, I added crushed tomatoes, which I had prepared in the same way, and adjusted the flavor with bouillon, sugar, salt, and pepper.

The meat sauce came together in no time.

If I were to be picky, I’d love to add mushrooms, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. I’d also sprinkle Parmesan cheese and Tabasco on the pasta when it was done, but that would be asking for too much.

Even so, I was confident that this meat sauce would be better than store-bought ones.

All that was left was to boil the pasta and fry the potatoes.

As the delicious aroma filled the kitchen, I couldn’t help but smile while finishing up the two simple dishes.

“…It smells amazing.”

Sheila commented.

I’d noticed her peeking into the kitchen earlier, and now, drawn in by the aroma, she had come closer.

I was nervous about whether someone from this world, used to its bland flavours, would enjoy the taste, but if our sense of “deliciousness” was the same, then she’d surely like it.

“It’s ready. Let’s eat. This is genuine otherworld cuisine.”

“True otherworld cuisine… Just the smell alone tells me it’s going to be delicious!”

“I hope it suits your taste.”

I replied with a smile.

Carrying the food to the table, we sat across from each other and said our pre-meal greetings.

The moment we both said “Itadakimasu,” we eagerly dug into the meat sauce spaghetti.

—It’s delicious. Truly delicious!

After eating nothing but bland otherworld dishes, this was so good I felt like crying.

The sweetness and umami of the tomatoes stood out, while the ground meat and bouillon added depth to the flavour. The sugar, salt, and pepper tied everything together perfectly.

I’d been worried about the pasta, since it was imported, but the texture after boiling was spot on—no complaints at all.

I ended up using a bit more NP than planned, but the taste was worth every bit of it.

While I was completely satisfied, the real question was whether Sheila liked it.

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Nervously, I lifted my gaze to check Sheila’s reaction…

Her cheeks were puffed full with spaghetti, and she was pressing them with both hands while showing the happiest smile I’d ever seen on her face.

Even without asking for her opinion, it was clear she found it delicious. Seeing that smile alone made me feel just as happy.

Cooking is about the only way I can give back, so I’m truly glad that our standards for what’s “delicious” seem to match.

And I couldn’t help but feel grateful once again for Japan, a place that provides such high-quality ingredients.

“This is so delicious… I could die! Is this something people in your world eat normally? Even at the royal castle, I’ve never had anything this good!”

“I’m glad you liked it. In the world I lived in, this was something you could eat all the time. It’s actually a pretty cheap dish.”

“Something this delicious is cheap? I can hardly believe it…!”

Even as we talked, Sheila didn’t stop eating. She was devouring the spaghetti at such a quick pace that I wondered if she’d finish it all in no time.

I was worried the fried potatoes might cool and lose their flavour, but at this rate, she’d likely finish the spaghetti before that happened, so it wasn’t a problem.

“—Wow! This dish is amazing too! …This red sauce is just unbelievably good.”

“That’s tomato. The spaghetti sauce is made from tomatoes as well.”

“Really? At first, it looked a little scary, like blood, but now tomatoes are my absolute favourite!”

“I’m glad to hear that. I’ll make another dish for you someday.”

“Thank you so much! I’ll look forward to it!”