9-17. Daily Life of the Elves
Satou's here. I have often failed in game developments by only being able to imitate the outward appearance (of other game) without actually understanding the structure. I think you have to understand the structure if you want to develop and put it into practical use.
However, there are also some rare people who jump over the understanding and create new ideas. That's what you call genius huh~
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"""HEY BOY, there's a visitor for ya"""
Suddenly, several masks hanging on the wall were talking at the same time.
Tama seems to have been completely surprised as she puts down the gomoku stone, curls her body, and raises her tail. Pochi also almost fell from her chair, but she survived thanks to Liza who supported her from where she was sitting beside her.
These masks seem to be something like intercoms. It wasn't working yesterday, so there must be someone who activated them last night. It might be the mischievous leprechauns that Tama's talked about.
I thought that the masks hanging on the wall would project the visitor's figure like a monitor, but it seems there's no function like that.
When I stand up the masks stop talking.
"I'll go see the visitor."
Lulu goes downstairs in pitter-patter to meet the visitors.
We're currently staying in the tree house that we visited on the first day. We were invited to stay in Mia's house underground, but since I didn't want to intrude upon the reunion of parents and child, we stayed here instead.
It's already been five days since we arrive at the elves hometown.
There was no need for us to stay for long since we had finished the goal of escorting Mia back home, but since we were here already I wanted to tour the elves hometown, and they easily agreed to it when I asked. Rather, they reacted with, "What are you saying? Of course you will stay here for a while right?" Elves perceive time differently than humans more than I've thought, by [For a while] they seem to mean several years.
I've planned to stay for half a month at the longest, but I'm worried being rude if we leave too fast.
"Master, Nea-san has come bringing the dishes that she's talked yesterday."
Nea-san is a 500 years old mrs elf. Her hobby is cooking, and trying to bring back the dishes that the hero Daisaku's left behind seems to be her life work. As I'm told, the hero Daisaku couldn't cook so he only orally imparted the ambiances of the dishes. She said that she couldn't reproduce it well.
Today we're going to feast on Nea-style hamburg steaks.
"Grilled kneaded meat dish" is the only information she's learned from the words left behind by the hero.
Nea-san proudly lines up five dishes on the table.
Meatball like small balls, roasted meat pasta, noddles meat that are knitted in koban-size and grilled, something that looks like nothing but a lump of meat, and the last one looks like a hamburg steak from the outside, they're on the plates that are lined on the table.
"Beside this one, nothing look like a hamburg steak, but they're delicious without a doubt."
"Yup, that's true. Particularly this second type, the Nea-style pasta, and the third type, the knitted noddles, they're tasty."
They're not hamburg steak, but I've never seen such dishes on earth. I guess it's like the dishes in the shop of a creative chef.
The reason why the Nea-style hamburg steak isn't like the real one is because it's only made from meat. Since Nea-san said that it was, "100% beef", there seems to be some problem from what the hero Daisaku's conveyed.
It's easy for a hamburg steak to become dried out, if it's only composed of meat, but it seems she's done something about it after several hundreds years of trials and errors. How patient. If asked, it would seem that she had created many derivations. I'll ask her to teach me some next time.
After Arisa and me have sampled them, the hamburg steak critics, Pochi and Tama also eat them.
"Nyu~? The hamburg isn't right~"
"Hamburg is softer, and elastic, and like juwatt when you eat it nanodesu! You eat it like, munch, and then happiness nanodesu."
I take the fork away from Pochi's hands that are swinging around passionately in front of Nea-san. That's dangerous.
Liza is nodding every time she eats a mouthful. Since the corner of her eyes have slackened, it seems to suit her taste.
Nana also curiously puts some into her mouth. She quietly only comments, "Delicious", but it doesn't seem to be a compliment.
Right at then, Lulu carries in a grilled hamburg steak.
The hamburg steak is put on a plate like the one in a family restaurant--A heated black iron plate put on top of a wooden plate type. I made them by Arisa's request when we were staying at the duchy capital.
Nea-san enjoys the aroma while seemingly being filled with emotion, and confirms the hamburg steak as if she's searing it into her memory. She should eat it soon.
"Itadakimasu."
She cuts one small piece with a knife and a fork, and puts it into her mouth.
Pochi and Tama are following that fork's movement while drooling. You two, haven't you just had breakfast two hours ago. I glance at Liza on the side, she's only slightly opening her mouth, there's no drool. Let's not talk about her gazes.
Er~rr, please don't cry while eating it.
Nea-san is eating while flooding tears. It might be inevitable since it's like a phantom dish from her point of view. Someone with skill like her should be able to reproduce it after she eats if once.
I carry Pochi and Tama under my arms and bring them to the kitchen to let Nea-san savors the taste calmly.
Let's make a Japanese-style hamburg steak, a stewed hamburg steak, and a tomato burger for the occasion. Of course I also haven't forgotten to make the shares for the hungry children.
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The visitors have increased when I return to the dining room.
"Wait Aze-sama, how long are you going to keep eating after saying that you'd only try a bite."
"But, it's delicious da mon."
"Da mon, not."
Lua-san, the miko, is scolding Aialize-san, the high elf, as she's eating beside Nea-san. This person really is like a child.
The afternoon on the day after our first meeting, Aialize-san came, led by Lua-san, to apologize for the prank. Since I honestly didn't mind about it at all, I accepted it frankly. I also apologized for Arisa.
It's fine and all with these two, but in fact, one of the elf elder actually also came as the representative to apologize the morning of that day. To be frank, I was troubled when he was apologizing so seriously, so I told him to not mind it in a light tone. By the way, he was the one who gave permission for me to tour the elf hometown.
"Welcome, Aialize-sama, Lua-san. Nea-san, please taste these hamburg steaks too."
After greeting the two, I present the dish to Nea-san.
I ask Liza and Lulu to help me bring the prepared dishes on the kitchen here.
I offer Aialize-san and Lua-san the dishes for the occasion. The pixies who have always been hanging around the kitchen, and the elves with free times are also helping to carry the dishes while coming here, no problem since I've made extra.
These pixies can only speak elf language, so the elves and me were going to act as interpreters, but Lua-san tactfully settled it with the translation rings that she took out out of nowhere to solve the problem. What a fantasy-like equipment. Even though it's a rare thing that isn't even among the loot from dragon's valley, Lua-san lets everyone to borrow the rings indefinitely. Apparently, there was an elf who zealously made translations rings a long time ago, so it's not something that unusual in Boruenan.
When the three are eating, some pixies who have enticed by the scents gather. And then, the elves begin to gather when they see those pixies, the pattern that I've gotten used to see for a few days is reproduced.
Apparently, the impact from, "The reproduction of the hero's will, hamburg", is really strong as more people have gathered than usual, and I'm made to replenish the dishes several times at the kitchen together with Lulu.
Lulu and me are looking at people who are enjoying the meal as if competing over it at the dining hall while we're eating fruits and presents on the small bowls that the elves who have come to eat have brought. I've used up a lot of meat I have in stock, but since there are still quite a lot even while excluding the whale meat, it's probably alright for the time being.
Besides, I've acquired a lot of cattle and goats from the elves. I keep the acquired cattle together with the horses in a giant hole beside the root of the arbor. I leave the care to the living dolls the elves have deployed.
Of course, Mia and her parents have also come. She wanted some tofu hamburg steak, so I put not only soybeans on it but also fat-less meat that made 30% of the steak. I couldn't taste the meat when I sampled it, so Mia ate it without problem too.
Let's tell Mia about it after I've increased the meat ratio a bit more.
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I'm exchanging hamburg steak recipes with Nea-san while drinking the green tea that Lulu's made. Nea-san usually talks with single words, but she becomes talkative when it's about cooking methods and ingredients. I've already given her the recipe itself that I've written on the paper earlier.
I can see Lua-san, the miko, pestering Aialize-san from the edge of my view.
Looks like they have some kind of business.
I entrust Lulu and Arisa to accompany Nea-san, and invite Lua-san and Aialize-san to another room.
"I'm really sorry, we've made you to attend us..."
I encourage them to sit while telling Lua-san to not mind about it.
Aialize-san seems to be shy of strangers as she's only fidgeting around without talking, so I'm mainly conversing with Lua-san. Then, the irritated Lua-san begins to press on Aialize-san.
"Go on, Aze-sama."
"Um, yes, that."
Aialize-san talks while facing Lua-san, not me, but Lua-san forcefully twists her head toward me. Err, I understand how you feel, but her neck will be hurt you know?
Aialize-san who crosses views with me and looks like she's on her wit's end speaks bombshell remarks at extreme pace.
"You're getting along well with the black dragon! Today you're not Kuro the hero are you!"
"Wait, Aze-sama."
Lua-san calms Aialize-san down in a hurry.
"Err, what are you talking about?"
"I'm sorry. Please allow me to talk about it."
I was playing dumb, but it seemed they had found out about me being the hero Kuro from the spirit light back then. People that let out spirit light seem to be abnormal even from Lua-san's memory, "There is no way there are two of them in the same time period." she smiles wryly.
It seems that Lua-san's familiar was watching the latter half of the rampage between the black dragon Heiron and me, and the party after that from afar. I surely felt a lot of frightened gazes at that time, it must have slipped among them.
Looks like they think I'm using an advanced nature magic spell, [Fake Patch], to make my name and title become different from that time.
"And now, as for the main subject--"
Normally, I expect them to demand, "Do this and that if you want us to not talk.", but somehow, I can't imagine the elves here to utter such words. Even if they wish something, they look like the type who will ask for help instead of bargaining for it.
"I will! Teach you!"
Aialize-san grasps her fists tightly and declares so as she stands up. I don't know what she's going to teach me, but I wait for her next words.
She seems to be embarrassed with my stare as she crouches down while turning red. She's the delicately troublesome type isn't she.
"So, that, like the way to suppress the spirit light! Or the way to prevent the spirits from gathering."
She continues her words as she hides herself behind Lua-san.
How do I say this, she looks like a timid teacher who's hiding behind her middle school student's back when she's doing that with the petite Lua-san like that.
Thus, I'm going to be taught by the extremely unreliable Aialize-sensei.