The worm oil’s freshness is in its life.
Which means, they’re selling the worms but not the oil. I will be grappling with these worms every single day from now on.
No way. I can’t even imagine getting used to it.
Chasing its former appearance away from my memory, I put the oil into the pan. A nice sizzling sound resounds. The moment it heats up, aroma rises up from the pan.
Whatever it was before, this oil has a nice aroma.It’s probably completely different from the one I know. I unconsciously close my eyes absorbedly.
I put the meat in once the oil is hot enough. I put the slightly bigger chicken meat and fry it lightly. Apparently this meat easily gets burnt. Granny Urara said so. After cooking it for a short while, I place it into the plate at once.
Next is the orange turnip.I put the cut up turnip into the pan. Its leaves, too. The orange turnip becomes pink once it heats up. It’s easy to tell and very convenient.
I put the chicken back in once the turnip turned pink. I will hurry from here. I seasoned it with the salt from the small bottle and pepper I bought at the market.
I place the cooked chicken and stir-fried vegetables into a plate and add the white rice I bought at the market. I also bought sake for Saine.
As expected of a world full of men, there’s an abundance of sake. Since I have no idea which one is better, I went with the most popular one.
But Saine knits his eyebrows upon seeing the brand, so it looks like he’s not a fan of it. While hiding my inner thoughts, I look into the brand. I must buy the correct one tomorrow without fail.
The two of us surround the small dining table. I’m eating my meal with him for the first time. We eat in silence. Eat. And eat. After eating together quietly, Saine drained a cup of sake while I drained a cup of water.
Even though the oil was like that, the food was delicious. As expected of Granny Urara. One must listen to a Chinese when it comes to stir-fried food.
While heating the bath. I rely on its fire and wash the dishes. The good thing about the worm oil is that it’s easy to wash. The plates became clean just with a bit of scrubbing and water.
Sitting on the log as a chair, I look up at the pitch dark night sky. Sounds of water resound from the bathroom window.
Saine doesn’t really talk much, I must do it with him eventually, and then I might get sold after, but, I’m glad that I’m not alone. I feel assured to have someone else making noise in the house.
Once I get used to stir-frying meat and vegetables, let’s learn the next dish. Of course, I must get used to the worm oil before that.
Although I bought pepper today, let’s buy its base tomorrow. It’s also cheaper that way. And instead of buying cooked white rice, it’s cheaper to cook it myself.
After getting familiar with stir-frying, let’s learn how to cook rice. Looks like it’s going to be hard to cook it in the fireplace, so it’s better to make a furnace in the garden.
The Japanese and Chinese Grannies were insisting that having freshly cooked meals are the best. The Caucasians and Black Grannies laughed at the mention of white rice. They said bread is more delicious.
Since I’m so attached to white rice, I most probably Asian.
I send the water flowing when leaving the bath. The hot water leaves the garden through the drainage channel, and goes towards the front street. There’s a narrow ditch by the street along the house, and that becomes the drainage channel. The bath water flows through there.
Apparently, this town which looks perfectly levelled has a subtle inclination. The center is the highest, and it dips outwards in all direction.
The water that’s flowing in the streets either dries up in the process or get drunk by stray goats or sheep. It’s a drainage, but it’s not filthy. This world does not create things that can contaminate the water. Even the soap doesn’t make the water dirty.
The water in the drainage channel benefits the animals and the town’s air. If not for the drainage channel’s water running through it, I heard that a cloud of dust will soar in at once.
The toilet is a pump out style. There’s a job where they buy dung as fertilizer and sells it to the farmers. This world is very adequate. There are no wastes, everything is being recycled.
I lay out the futon after getting out form the bath.
Although I got the permission to use the storage room, I couldn’t clean it due to the grannies grumbling for half of the day.
I also lay it in front of the fireplace today. I planned to completely put out the fire but since I’m a bit scared, I take position a little distance away from it.
Let’s clean the storage room tomorrow morning and go shopping in the afternoon.
It looks the pepper is made of stone. The pebbles are pulverized and turned into pepper. I heard that pepper is also the most delicious when freshly ground, so it’s better to buy the pepper stones and grind it each time I need it.
Let’s learn about the white rice a little later. I must first be able to make the stir-fried vegetables even with my eyes closed. Well, before that, I must get used to the worm oil first, huh.
Within the darkness, the sound of rustling clothes faintly resounds. It’s the sound of the worms moving. I tightly closed my eyes, pulled the futon over my head, and went to sleep.
I awaken to the sound of Saine’s footsteps. This guy is such an early riser. I dazedly sit on the futon, fired myself up, and got up.
In the meantime, I keep the futon in the storage room. If I left it alone like this, it’s going to get stepped on again. After taking care of the futon, I go out to the garden bringing the small bottle from the shelf.
Saine took off his top and washed his face.
He has a nice body. There’s a lot of wounds, but I will give him my praise as a man. If my physique is as good as his then I probably won’t have to be gouged by another man.
Oh, I guess that won’t work. Kent almost has the same body, but he was still burrowed into. I guess it’s the end once I’ve reincarnated, as a man that is.
Since it looks like I will start feeling depressed early in the morning, I shake my head and chase the unpleasant thoughts away. Let’s be determined, I can do this. I still have a lot of things to do today.
First, it’s collecting the salt.
I face the stinky rock. Uuun, it stinks today as well. Holding my breath, I put the white powder on top of the rock with my finger. I, it’s so hard to take.
Saine goes inside the house without saying anything after staring down at me and immediately came back out. In his hands, he’s holding a small plate and a wooden spatula. He squats in front of the rock with those and started scrubbing the rock surface with the spatula. The white powder falls in lumps. Saine catched those with the small plate.
[You collect the salt like this.]
After leaving those words, he left the small plate and wooden spatula and went back inside the house.
As I was shown, I gather the salt. I got a good amount. According to the grannies, with the rising of the sun, the perspiration rock begins to sweat and give off a foul odor during the day. During the night, when the temperature drops, the sweat dries, and that becomes salt. That’s why it would be best to get the salt before sunrise, but that is difficult, so it’s done during the early morning. (TN:Now I’m confused how this rock works. 😢)
Because sweat oozes in the early morning, there’s a bit of moisture. That must be why it’s better to use the wooden spatula to scrape the surface like Saine did.
I took lots of salt on the small plate, transferred it to a slightly bigger plate and dried it in the sun. Because I think it’s not good to put the moist salt inside the small bottle directly.
When I returned to the house after collecting salt, Saine’s figure can no longer be seen. He probably went to eat breakfast somewhere. Once I get used to cooking, let’s also make breakfast. Because it will puncture if I suddenly put hands on this and that, it’s better to do it one at a time.
But I wonder where he goes everyday and what does he do?