Meiko presents on behalf of the handicraft group.
And it’s…A pillow.
「 We can say goodbye to our textbooks!!! 」
Arisa’s shout echoes.
We can’t hide our excitement.
So far, the pillows we use were stacked textbooks.
The ease of use of the textbook is less than flattering.
It’s stiff, angled, and also, it often falls off.
「 We finally got the materials 」
Meiko said.
We touched the pillow she gave us and figured out the material.
These are buckwheat chaff
As the name suggests, it’s the husks of the harvested buckwheat.
In our case, we get these when making noodles.
Since we don’t have wheat flour, noodle dishes are made of buckwheat.
It’s used not only for soba noodles but also for peperoncino.
All the noodle dishes are quite popular so they’re eaten rather frequently.
Even so, that wasn’t enough to make pillows for everyone.
It took them until now because we can’t overharvest buckwheat just for pillows.
Sure, there was countless buckwheat chaff in the pillow.
「 By the way, Meiko 」
Arisa speaks up grinning.
It looks like she’s about to spout some kind of trick.
「 I have an allergy to buckwheat 」
That’s a lie.
I can tell based on the face she makes.
No, you can tell even if you don’t look at her face.
「 Huh? Really? That’s bad 」
Mana said in surprise.
Eri also continued with “Really?”
Karin and Shiori’s silent.
Then, Meiko.
「 You can’t just check it out before making it, right 」
She returned laughingly.
Arisa then laughed it off, saying “Oops, was it obvious?”
「 Besides, if you’re allergic, then you’re already dead by now. Just how much soba did you eat until now? Especially Arisa eats fifty percent more than others 」
Everyone laughed as I retorted calmly.
◇
Next day.
Trouble struck early that day.
Eri’s period came after breakfast, so she’s having a day off from cooking.
「 Sorry, Hokage-kun, I think this one’s a little hard 」
「 Don’t force yourself. I’ll take over and you can rest 」
「 Yeah, thanks 」
Eri’s the one in charge of cooking so far, even when she’s on her period.
She makes simple dishes, but she’s still cooking.
However, this situation seems to be quite severe.
(Menstruation is hard)
I’m a guy so I don’t know much.
I don’t know, but I can tell how hard it is from a glance.
Every time I see one of my friends menstruating, I feel glad that I’m born a man.
Eri lies down on the futon, apologizing repeatedly.
「 Hinako, I, or Sofia will always be nearby so if you need anyone, just give us a call 」
Eri smiled feebly while saying “Thank you” as sweat formed on her forehead.
「 With that said, Tanaka, do your best as my assistant 」
「 I got this! 」
I’m the head chef today, and my assistant is Tanaka.
We’ll have to work hard to fulfill Eri’s duties as her proxy.
(What should I do?)
Substituting for Eri has some strong pressure on it
After all, her cooking level is high.
Furthermore, her skills didn’t stagnate, she improved every day.
The meals I make are inferior compared to hers.
Unlike when I came to this world, it’s hard to satisfy these people now that their tongues have fattened up.
(I should avoid cooking in the same trend as Eri)
I don’t have any specialty dishes.
I’m aware of that, and so I’ve decided to go for something unique.
「 Shinomiya-dono, what do we do? 」
Tanaka asks while I’m frozen in my thoughts.
It’s like he’s waiting for my instructions.
「 For now, do your usual jobs. Washing the plates and everything 」
「 Roger that! 」
Tanaka immediately moved out.
He puts everyone’s plates into the bucket with his experienced hands.
Then, he brings it to the river.
「 Well then, I should dabble with cooking 」
After checking the ingredients on hand, I thought of what to make.
Something that Eri doesn’t know how to cook and that will please everyone.
And yet, it’s easy to make that I can produce consistent quality.
The conclusion drawn from these conditions was a traditional cuisine of a certain country.
「 Hokage-kun, are you going to cook that? 」
Grabbing something on the wall, Eri asks me.
She sits up and looked at me with curiosity.
「 Of course, I can’t make it without this one 」
「 Eeeeh 」
Eri’s surprise is understandable.
I’m holding something that’s not for cooking.
What is it? It’s a shovel.
「 Also, it’s this one 」
I carry a bamboo basket on my back and put the shovel on it.
In addition, I added about 20 more ordinary palm-sized stones.
The stones weigh quite a bit, and the shoulder strap of the basket digs into both shoulders.
「 What can you cook with a shovel and stones? 」
Sofia, who was working at a distance, approaches curiously.
I thought of going into detail but decided not to.
「 Look forward to the details later. 」 It’s not just the handicrafts team that has something to show off. 」
I left the hideout with a laugh.
The food I want to cook cant’ be done within the hideout.
So, I’m going outside, to the forest.
「 Ah, Hokage! 」
I happened to meet Mana while on the way.
She’s in the middle of leading the monkey army, tending the cows and ducks.
She won’t be able to move away from there for a while.
「 Perfect. I need a favor 」
「 Sure, what is it? 」
「 Tanaka’s going back soon, so tell him this. Use this shovel to burrow a hole, then… The depth should be less than e meter, and the area should be large enough to spread the stones in this basket 」
「 Got it. What about you Hokage? 」
「 I’m going to gather some Taro leaves 」
After relaying my message to Mana, I started moving to the native taro area.