When I woke up, I saw someone coming out from the dim bedroom.
Saying it is “someone” may not be the right way of saying it.
It was Sukeakoto of Time.
He had left the room in silence after checking if I had woken up.
[Fua…]
I stretched my body while letting out a yawn.
[…]
My name is Nanahoshi.
Nanahoshi Shizuka
A high school girl that came to this world from another world.
I’m what you would call a Tripper.
Though I experimented with teleportation magic to get back to my own world, it seems like that I won’t be able to return anytime soon. Staying in this world for too long will result in me dying by an illness, so to diagnose it, one of Perugius’ subordinates known as [Sukeakoto of Time] used his time stopping ability on me and I skipped time, only waking up once a month. This is my current situation.
Waking up only once a month.
One day is short.
After taking a shower, eating and then hearing about what has been going around in the world, the day ends.
Furthermore, for me, a single year is only 12 days.
In the blink of an eye, years pass by.
If it was the old me, I would have been worried about every little thing.
However, these days I live in comfort partially due to Rudeus.
… That’s how it is but I’m worried about one thing.
It’s Sukeakoto’s time stop ability.
There’s is one huge flaw to this ability.
[… I’m hungry]
I become extremely hungry when I wake up from the time stop.
According to Perugius, it’s because I’m a person from another world without mana and he believes that it is not a big problem.
Whether it really is a big problem or not, I’m starving after I wake up.
My stomach growls.
The feeling of not eating something for an entire day assaults my stomach.
Even today, I felt like I was going to collapse if I didn’t eat anything immediately after I woke up.
However, the meal comes later.
I got up from my bed and exited my room.
The place I’m headed for is a place I can wash myself up… in other words, the bathroom.
Taking a bath is a must if I want to stay at Perugius’ castle.
Perugius loves cleanliness.
Within this vast castle, there is not a single piece of trash on the ground.
Naturally, a human living in this castle must also be clean as well.
If you aren’t clean, you will be stared down by Sylvaril’s unpleasant gaze.
Therefore, I walk striaght towards the bathroom and wash my body while holding off my hunger.
Holding a towel and soap in my hands, I wash my body while rubbing my half asleep eyes.
This is the least amount of manners that one must provide to stay in this castle.
After taking the shower and getting cleaned up, I sat down on the floor in my hunger and put strength in my legs to face my room.
The bedroom is my own room that was assigned to me.
In there is someone.
In there maybe Rudeus and Zanoba or Sylphy and Aisha, waiting to greet me.
In terms of how frequent they visit, I guess Rudeus would be number one.
[Good morning, Nanahoshi]
It’s Rudeus again today huh.
I relax after seeing his body.
He is the existence that comes to stop my hunger.
Though I don’t know if he knows I have a hunger problem or not, he always brings me food.
Karaage and curry, cream puffs, those kind of things.
After reproducing the food from our world, he brings them here.
Occasionally he brings something weird, but instead of it tasting bad, it is more of a laugh as it is something different.
[Hmm hmm…]
Today, I could smell a sweet scent coming from within the room.
Ahh, this smell… Ahh.
I wonder what it is today…
[Gulp]
I accidentally swallowed my saliva as it built up inside my mouth.
My stomach growled.
I want to eat it already.
As if my body was being controlled by my stomach, I started to approach Rudeus.
[Good morning]
Rudeus moved towards to the table near the window and put seven objects on the table and began to heat them up.
They had a triangular shape.
With a fan on his left hand and holding a brush and pair of long chopsticks on his right hand, he began to roll the things and brushed them with something.
When he used his brush, a dark brown liquid close to the colour of black began to ooze out.
Afterwards, when he started brushing the seven objects, a sweet armoa filled the room.
I can’t be wrong.
That black liquid, must be soy sauce.
[Today is going to be yaki onigiri]
I sat down on my seat as if I had agreed to his words.
As I moved the table, the outside view could be seen from the window.
Perugius’ most proud garden and white clouds.
A superb scenary only possible in a fantasy world expanded itself.
No, I guess if you go to certain places in my old world you could see the same thing… such as the Machu Picchu.
If I remember correctly, wasn’t there a Machu Picchu in Japan as well?
[…]
When I looked, I could see a tray that was covered with cloth on the table.
When I removed the cloth, I could see a bunch of white onigiri side by side.
As I expected, there is no seaweed.
[Yaki onigiri… it’s my first time eating it]
[Huh? You’ve never eaten one before?]
[We didn’t really make onigiri back at home]
[Ha~ … onigiri huh…]
Rudeus nodded with a vague face as if he understood or didn’t understand what I was saying.
But, I do have some experience with such a face.
That’s a face one makes when they feel the generation gap.
But it was just my house, other kids made and brought onigiri all the time to sports events or field trips.
It’s not a matter of difference in age.
[Well, here you go]
With a small sound, a single plate was put in front of me.
On the plate were two steaming onigiri.
[There’s also miso soup, are you going to drink it?]
As Rudeus said this, he brought up a huge pot towards the table.
When the lid of the pot opened, the smell of miso gently filled the room.
Although I didn’t reply to Rudeus, Rudeus poured the contents of the pot into a wooden bowl as if he understood what my reply was going to be anyways.
As for the reason why the bowl was made of wood, it’s probably due to his obsession with them.
When the wooden bowl full of miso soup was placed before my eyes, my mouth filled with saliva as if it had already tasted it.
Of course, drinking miso soup in this world isn’t a first time experience for me.
Rudeus had already brought it with him multiple times before.
It isn’t like before when the Dashi wasn’t put into the soup at all either.
I think that each time he brings it, it gets closer to perfection.
I’m pretty sure that Sylphy and Aisha back at Rudeus’ home is working hard on it.
[Itadakimasu]
I met my hands together and bowed.
As I was about to start eating, I hesistated for a moment.
To my side was a knife and fork, and chopsticks as well.
I guess he is being considerate in letting me eat in whatever way I please.
[…]
But, I reached out with my barehands intentionally.
I know that it is bad manners.
However, when thinking of onigiri, an image of using one’s hands to eat it had a strong impression on me.
It may be that I simply admired the way of eating onigiri with bare hands.
I gripped the onigiri with my fingers and put it into my mouth.
A crunchy texture.
As I chewed the onigiri, the fragrance of soy sauce filled by mouth.
Furthermore, the place that showed my traces of chewing on the onigiri was the hot white rice.
As the flavours of both the white rice and the soy sauce met together, I could sense something tinkling on the corner of my brain.
I took a bite into the contents in my mouth once more before I swallowed it down.
[…!]
At that moment, I could feel a strong sensation inside my mouth.
There was something inside of the Onigir.
It’s sour.
Is this perhaps…
[Umeboshi?]
[The other day, I went to visit Ariel and saw her boasting about her garden. In there was a tree that resembled a Japanese Apricot tree.
So just to try things out, I took a few of its fruits and realized that it was spot on]
[Heh…]
Afer this, Rudeus began telling me the origins of this tree, and how Ariel said to him [Are you planning to poison someone?] when he was taking the fruits, but
I had no interest in his stories.
Enough of that, this is umeboshi.
It was something I never really ate in my world.
I didn’t really like it either.
But what is it? This sour taste that is unique to the umeboshi.
Despite my mouth being full of food, my saliva overflowed like a tsunami.
Inside my mouth, my saliva was overflowing and the white rice, umeboshi and the soy sauce flavoured burnt rice began to blend together.
White rice and umeboshi, I’ve now found out the reason why these two are usually eaten together.
Before I swallowed the contents in my mouth, I chewed it three more times.
As I implolitely stuffed the yaki onigiri into my mouth, the soft rice, the soy sauce flavoured burnt rice and the umeboshi’s sour flavour met together.
Ahh… it’s so good.
[Hnn…]
As my throat got stuffed due to swallowing it all down, I drank the miso soup to wash it down.
The miso soup’s thin taste helped wash away the flavour of the plums and the soy sauce and refreshed my mouth.
[Fuu…]
After taking a breath, I keep repeating the pattern of eating and drinking.
As I did so, a single yaki onigiri disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It was delicious.
[The next one is going to have Okaka in it. It wasn’t made with skipjack tuna so the taste might be different, but it is still delicious.]
Okaka.
I’ve eaten that many times before.
Especially in kindergarten, it was a regular dish that went with an egg on my rice.
To reproduce that taste…
I want to eat it already.
[Uh Nanahoshi, listening to me while eating it is fine but]
[Huh?]
[I have a little thing I want to discuss with you]
I felt a bad premonition.
He sometimes brings something to discuss about.
Whether it is something about his children or having a fight with his wives and wanting to know what he did wrong.
Of course, I’m being helped by Rudeus as well.
Work as hard as you can, say what is on your mind.
Thinking of it as giving him some advice.
However, sometimes he discusses things that I can’t really answer properly.
For example, saying that he made a doll that looks exactly like me and that it has lewd functions.
Or worrying that him and Slyphy are having a hard time making a third child.
Although I give him some advice during these times, it doesn’t seem to help.
Because I’m nothing more than an inexperienced female highschool student.
[What’s up?]
[To tell you the truth, Lucy…]
Lucy.
Rudeus’ oldest daugther.
In my memory, she was a little girl with long ears and a lot of energy, with a little shy side as well.
It feels like I haven’t met her in a long time.
I wonder how old she is right now.
I wonder what the heck Lucy did.
She didn’t become a deliquent by any chance did she?
Maybe it’s something like Lucy rode on her horse every night in the alley, doing nothing but fighthing and after all that gathered around with all the nearby
a juvenile detention center…
[He is going out with Clive kun]
[…]
Clive.
If I remember, he was Cliff and Elinalise’s son.
I guess he is Lucy’s childhood friend.
[Sorry but how old are those two again?]
[Lucy is 14 and Clive is 12]
14 and 12.
Clive is a bit young…
But it’s by no means too early for him to go out with someone.
Though when I was 12, I never dated or had a broken one sided love before.
But, thank god.
It seems that today won’t be about a heavy topic.
[Are you against it?]
[I’m not particularly against it]
[Then what’s the problem? You want to discuss it right?]
[No, I just thought that it would nice to say something to her as a father]
As a father?…
[Are you planning to say something?]
[No how should I say it. I want to tell her that love is fine but she should also focus on her studies as well. Or telling her to use contraception as well]
[You shouldn’t tell her about the last one. It’s important but it’s way too early for that talk]
[Ah okay]
But if I was in her position, what would I do.
Being over 13 years old, dating someone in my class and having my father nag at me about it.
If it was me, I wouldn’t like it.
I would say that I know all that already and would rebel according to the situation.
I don’t know how Lucy would take it.
But Lucy is probably working hard to be recognized by Rudy.
Though it’s been a long time so I don’t know how she is now…
But since she is a dilligent child, she probably is still working hard on it.
What would happen if she stopped to catch a little breath and her father started scolding her for it?
When she would usually work hard and the moment she took a little break, her father would tell her [Keep studying].
… She would probably hate it.
Then right now it is better to just leave her alone.
But at such a young age can a kid in love come back to studying and sports?
Since I don’t know much about love, I can’t say much.
It’s just that since there are so many people in society who go crazy about it, wouldn’t it be hard for her to focus on other things as well?
Hmm…
[Well, I think it’s just a matter of how you say it]
[How I say it?]
[Something like telling her to date in moderation until graduation]
It’s a matter of how one says it.
Outright denying it without listening or showing too much interest into her relationship isn’t good.
Also, there’s the fact that the Greyrat household sends their kids to the magic university at the age of 7.
When they graduate, they will be an adult.
If that’s the case… well, it’s a matter of being responsible for one’s self.
[Ah I see. Moderation huh. That’s a good word. I got it, thanks]
Rudeus sighed with a relieved face.
It seems like he received good counselling this time.
Though I don’t know what the result will be.
[Well, eat up. What will you have for the next one? Ume or Okaka?]
When I looked at my plate, all the Okaka ones were gone.
It seems like I ate all of them during our counselling session.
I couldn’t feel the taste at all.
Although there remained a bit of a delicious aftertaste.
Alright, next time I’ll make sure to savor the taste more.
[Okaka]
[Alright]
Rudeus used his brush to smear the white onigiri with soy sauce and put it on the charcoal brazier.
After a few seconds, the smell of the burnt soy sauce floated in the air.
It’s a fragrant and a little sweet smell.
Even though I had just finished eating two onigiri, saliva gathered around my mouth yet again.
[To cook food inside, it seems that you lack common sense]
And so, someone entered the room.
A silver haired man with a splendid white coat wrapping around his body, it was none other than Perugius.
Sylvaril could be seen behind him as well.
[Ah, my apologies. But not to worry, we are using ventilation]
[It’s fine. Although you seem to lack common sense, my Chaos Breaker is strong when it comes to heat as well. With this much, not even a stain can remain]
[I thank you for your leniency]
[Hmph]
Snorting in response, Perugius had a seat.
[What are you eating?]
[It’s called yaki onigiri. It’s a dish that consists of cooked bunched up rice coated with soy sauce or miso]
[Hmm, it sounds like something that an adventurer would eat]
[It’s a dish for the common folk after all]
[Guess I’ll try one]
Perugius is always like this.
He would say things like how the cooking style is shabby or that it looks bad.
But he never chooses to not eat it.
Rudeus responded with the usual “Yes, I know” and put one of the two cooked onigiri in front of Perugius.
He also put one in front of me.
[Do you eat it with your hands?]
[Eat it however you like]
Hearing Rudeus’ reply, he grabbed a knife and fork and cut the onigiri.
Then he put the cut onigiri into his mouth with his fork.
It’s an elegant conduct.
It puts my dirtied fingers and mouth to shame.
[How is it Perugius sama?]
[Hmm…]
Perugius frowned after a bite.
Was it not to his taste?
[Perugius sama, there’s no real need to force yourself to eat a dish from another world…]
Sylvaril said so.
Even though he hasn’t even tasted it before…
Something as good as this…
[No, this is a taste that I’ve missed for some time]
[A taste you’ve missed?]
[During the Laplace campaign, among the soldier’s provisions, there was something like this. It was a hardened bread which you would soak in a sauce
and cook it until it is a little burnt]
[…]
[Because of the needlessly strong taste, I can’t say that it tasted good, but it does take me back]
Perugius narrowed his eyes and looked outside by the window.
Out there was a garden full of multi colored flowers and a sea of clouds.
I don’t know what kind of thoughts Perugius holds in regards to his past.
He talks about his heroic past frequently but never really talks about his sad memories.
[Rudeus]
[Yes?]
[It had a good flavour]
[Thank you very much]
I ate my Okaka onigiri as I saw them exchanging words.
Ah.
I forgot to savor the taste again.
Well, it was delicious for sure.
I wanted to savor the taste more deliberately.
However, with this I’ve eaten three.
I’m slowly getting full.
A full stomach is a palate’s worst enemy.
No matter how delicious something is, if you eat it with a full stomach, the taste falls.
Especially for dishes with a strong flavour.
One more.
That is most likely my limit if I want to savor the taste.
Should I do Okaka as my last one?
But I’ve already eaten two of them.
Would Ume be better?
Wait a second, how about putting half of each in it?
No, the cooking time of the Ume and Okaka is different…
[Well, it’s time to wrap up]
As he said this, Rudeus lifted up the kettle from the table.
He put his hands on the exterior of the kettle for a few seconds.
When he did this, steam began to come out from the kettle.
At first I wondered what he was doing but it seems that he is using magic to warm it up.
I can’t smell the contents of the kettle.
I wonder what’s inside.
[When there’s yaki onigiri, this is always the finisher]
Rudeus put the cooked onigiri into a container and began pouring the contents of the kettle inside it.
From the gentle sweet smell, I could tell what was inside the kettle.
It was tea.
However, it wasn’t the aroma of black tea.
It was green tea.
[Ochazuke!]
I shout out my thoughts.
[I see that you had tea]
[Well… the ingredients for both black and green tea is the same]
Though I never had yaki onigiri in my original world, I never knew you could eat it like this.
Ochazuke is also a standard desert after a meal.
Even with a full stomach, you can fully savor the taste.
[Here. Give it a try]
I grabbed my chopsticks and began splitting apart the yaki onigiri that was soaked in the tea.
The cool aroma of the green tea increased my appetite.
[Itadakimasu]
I began to stir the ochzuke wholeheartedly.
The green tea is softening the burnt rice and neutralizing the strong flavor of the soy sauce.
The smooth texture goes down my throat like water.
Furthermore, if you cut the ume inside the onigiri, it becomes a umezuke.
If it’s this, I can eat as much as I want.
[Fu]
Before I knew it I had eaten everything.
When I was eating I thought I could eat as much as I wanted but after finishing it, I am left with a full stomach and a feeling of satisfaction.
As I look around, I can see the garden and clouds.
It feels as if I went on a picnic and ate until I was full.
It’s happiness.
[Perugius sama’s garden sure is beautiful]
As I mumble to myself, Perugius does not reply.
With a face that seemed to say “obviously”, he slowly drank the ochazuke.
Rudeus stayed silent as well as he ate the uncooked onigiri.
[…]
A silent moment.
Rudeus would at times drink his miso soup and the sound of him drinking echoed throughout the room.
This island has a lot of trees and flowers.
However, there are no birds.
Other small animals are non existent as well.
For some reason, that gives off a strange feeling.
In such a place, we are eating onigiri and drinking miso soup.
This situation seemed like an extravagant moment of good luck.
Even though the cause of me coming to this world was due to an unfortunate event.
But such happiness during times of sorrow is such a blessed moment.
[Rudeus]
[Hm?]
[I’m definitely going to go back]
[Do your best]
If I do go back to my world without any problems, I’m going to travel and see the world.
Taking onigiri with various ingredients inside.
With a container full of miso soup.
With a small bottle of soy sauce, I’ll go to a place where cooking is permitted and cook and eat my own yaki onigiri.
Such were my thoughts.