Isekai Ryouridou 023

Furnace Room (Second Part)

Now then, let’s change the mood and start concentrating.

I was quite disturbed by the surrounding voice, I felt like I had neglected my hands. As someone that has the lowest position chef, this is quite bad. If I used my old man's santoku knife flippantly like this, I will never be forgiven.

"...To cook this poitan, you don't need to do something that difficult. If this is to the liking of the oldest elder Jiba Ruu, I think from tomorrow on everyone can make it with their own hands."

While biting my tongue a bit after declaring it, the poitan is shaking while boiling in front of me. When I stir it to make it not too sticky, it looked like it has already become rather sticky already.

"Umm, perhaps, you intended to boil it until all the water is gone?"

The one asking is Reina Ruu.

When I answered "yes", her round and cute eyes become perplexed.

"But, if it's done that way, the poitan will become solid like clay, right? I don't think it will be able to pa.s.s through a human's throat..."

"Eh? Has Reina Ruu tried boiling poitan to that extent?"

Reina Ruu that looked puzzled at that moment said, "Yes!" with her eyes s.h.i.+ning now.

"I was trying various methods to find a way to make poitan easier to eat. Everyone else would scold me for not being able to handle food properly though."

What is it? Her face smiled wide as if she is really happy, I wonder why she expressed such an expression at this time? Don't tell me, is it because I called her with her name?

This is bad. Concentrate, concentrate.

"Then, I will trust Reina Ruu with the poitan...But, How to say this, I guess people of Morihen also tried finding cooking methods like that."

"Yes. If Grandma Jiba doesn't become like that, maybe I won't be worried like that I think....Is it really okay if the water is completely gone?"

"Yeah. Be careful not to get burned though."

"Yes!"

Now then, there is still time in the evening, let's finish the unfinished work at once.

"Then, I will begin to prepare the Giba meat. The heat setting for this type of cooking is a bit difficult. But well, please use this as a reference."

While saying that, I unfastened the wrappings of the shoulder roast. Then Rimi Ruu said loudly, "Eh?"

"What a strange shape! Is this really Giba meat?"

"Hmm? Is it strange? This is the meat from the between a Giba's back and shoulder."

"Heee! Something like that can't be eaten!"

"Wh, why? Ruu family brought back the Giba in its entirety right?"

"That is just to peel the skin, we never eat the hind legs, Asuta."

The one that answered was Grandma t.i.to Min.

"Why? If it's a family this large, something like hind legs would be eaten up immediately, right?"

"No. The men of Ruu Family hunt two heads of Giba every day after all. So, the hind legs will just be left to rot."

"Two head of Giba everyday huh..."

I was amazed a little.

That is really good, if it's a 70 kg Giba, just the hind legs would be at least nearly 20 kg, so two heads at 40 kg each...There is no way that huge amount of meat will be consumed in one day. Even when taking the portion of meat that will be smoked into consideration, It may be to the extent it's completed when only one leg is enough.

But then, I thought. Giba's horn and fangs, a set became aria and poitan for ten meals.

That means, for the Ruu family that consists of twelve people (plus one baby), one head everyday is not enough. Although, there is a lot of surplus, hunting down two heads is reasonable.

That is natural, using this system will leave meat leftovers no matter what, I know that. Regarding my family's food warehouse, that is also an obvious thing.

The Giba that Aifa hunted 6 days ago, gave about 45 kg of meat, when preserving it with piko leaves, the juices come out and it became about 40 kg total of meat. However, Ai Fa and me consume just about 1 kg everyday, the preserved meat also doesn't last for more than 2 weeks, so there is no choice but to smoke more than half of it.

Furthermore, Ai Fa also hunted more Giba to acquire its fangs and horns for necessity every 5 days during that time, so there is no choice but to leave it as the wild animal's food, it became something like that.

Therefore, because it's a waste for the meat that was neatly drained of blood to be smoked, this time to be able to consume nearly 10 kg, is better for me. It's to the extent I can say I am happy... But even for this large family, to never eat the valuable thigh meat, made me a bit sad.

While cutting the shoulder roast, I looked toward the cheerful face of grandma t.i.to Min that is standing in the front of me.

"And then umm, after peeling the skin of the captured Giba, and cutting the fangs, horns, and hind legs, is it just thrown away just like that?"

"Yes. We throw it under the valley so it doesn't fall to people of Morihen's hand. Under the valley, there are munto's nest, so munto will bring back the Giba's spirit back to the forest."

"...To not make it fall to the people of Morihen's hand?"

"Yes. If a human that doesn't have the power to hunt Giba found that meat and only eat Giba meat that has been thrown away, then people without pride will be born."

It's the pride of the people of Morihen, huh.

To me who was born in a different world, it's something I really don't truly understand.

Well...the one thing I don't understand the most is, their treatment of this delicious roast and boned rib as being trashe! Because there is also that point, my ethics viewpoint may not value much.

"As a reference, If there is one of the men that becomes wounded or grows old and became unable to hunt Giba, what will be his fate?"

"The ones that have lost their strength would probably depend on their families. If their families do not have the strength to save him, then he would rely on a house with greater strength, if he has the strength to do other work besides hunting Giba, then he has the qualifications to eat Giba."

"I see."

From that explanation, I have decided to convince myself to agree to their small sense of morals.

"Understood. Thank you very much....Now then, if you could cut the meat like this, then next try to beat it until it becomes minced meat."

Once more, I brought my mood back to the cooking.

There is not enough time to gather information for now.

"First, using a bigger knife should make it easier. Don't use too much power, use the weight of the knife, like this, and beat the meat equally."

"What is that? It's interesting! Rimi also wants to do it!"

"Hmm?...Let's see. If it's just this amount, I guess I can leave it to you."

There is also still some time left to spare. There should be no problem if I am the one finis.h.i.+ng it. Thinking about tomorrow and then after, I want to teach the girls even if it's only a little bit, the method to eat a more delicious Giba meat."

"Uwaaa, It's slimy! It's interesting!"

If only their voice was heard, they seemed to be playing, but there seems to be no danger with Rimi Ruu's knife handling. Even though she is very young, she is probably going to be good at housework in her future.

"U, umm! Asuta! Me too, I want to do it too!"

The one that raised her voice is of course, Reina Ruu who stretched her neck and stared at my hands while stirring the poitan juice.

Even if you are not desperate like that, we still have 7 kg of meat to turn into hamburg. If you want to beat it, then beat it as much as you want.

"Ah, looks like the poitan has also been stirred enough. E---tto, should I move it as it is?"

"If you put a stick through the handle, you can carry it with two people."

"That will save us some of the trouble. Then, Ai Fa..."

"If it's just this much, I can carry it by myself you know?" said Reina Ruu holding the gurigi stick within her hands while smiling.

If that's the case, Ai Fa and Reina Ruu...I thought about it, but my inner instinct says to not pair them both together! It was screaming.

So, while paying attention so she does not get burned, I turned the handle on the side upwards, put the gurigi stick through the handle, and then Reina Ruu and me carried it outside.

Although Ai Fa doesn't have cold eyes any longer, she seems to somehow brood over something with gloomy eyes while looking at the place where I talked with grandma t.i.to Min.

I don't like it. A depressed Ai Fa is the thing that I don't want to see the most.

"With that, what should we do with this pot?"

"Ah. Put it in a sunny place, let it dry just like that. Let's give it a little more water to the exterior of the pot so it doesn't burn."

"Yes!"

Aside from my anxiety towards Ai Fa, the work of the girl called Reina Ruu is splendid.

She is someone that is quick to understand certain things. Rimi Ruu probably wants to learn skills for the sake of Grandma Jiba.

After carrying the poitan outside, when I saw the meat Reina Ruu beat, hers is way better than Rimi Ruu's, to the extent that I don't have to give any finis.h.i.+ng touches, she has made  beautiful minced meat.

Since there is so many knives, grandma t.i.to Min also started partic.i.p.ating, the large amount of 7 kg Giba meat was reduced to a pink colored hill in the blink of an eye.

They are really excellent students.

"Eh? Asuta! There is some leftover meat here! Is it okay if I squish it too?

"Ah, please leave it as it is. I want to use it for a different style of cooking."

I think that soup is necessary if her teeth are weak, which is why I separated about 3 kg roast from the 7 kg of hamburg. Rimi Ruu looked very disappointed and pouted her lips "Che!"

"The order has become slightly reversed, but next we should prepare the aria. Because we need various things, can you guide me to the food storage, Rimi Ruu?"

"Un!"

"Ah, please start the fire for the other pot soon...Ai Fa, help me carry the things."

Ai Fa separated her back from the wall with a dispirited expression.

t.i.to Min takes charge of the furnace, and the four of us head toward the food storage.

There was three doors in the hut, from the right is the furnace room, food storage, and dismantling room.

We opened the middle door, when I set foot into the room with Rimi Ruu's guide, I raised my voice "Uwa...."

I did not expect this.

Ingredients I have never seen before were lined up in a row.

"What is this? Isn't this amazing? Isn't this a pile of treasure!"

It can't be helped that I shouted like that.

Within the s.p.a.ce which is about eight tatami mats, the shelves that had no cover lined up ingredients in a row.

What treasures were stored in them was for example; bright red fruits that looked like a tomato and stupidly big like a pumpkin, green vegetables that looked like a rose made from lettuce, something mysterious that can only be seen as a snake that coils around itself, and p.r.i.c.kly green skinned fruits that look like a durian....Anyway, it was a pile of ingredients that was neither aria nor poitan.

Piko and Lilo leaves that I recognise are also hung on the walls.

However, besides that, there is also a mysterious plants that has a height of around two meter, thick like a bamboo and has a burdock like root leaned against the wall with it, there is also a yellow drier persimmon like thing being hung also.

Giba meat is nowhere to be found. Since a door can be seen at the back, it is surely the meat storing room.

In other words, most of the eight  tatami mats s.p.a.ce was filled with unknown ingredients, it was a paradise like existence.

"Asuta! The aria is this way!"

Rimi Ruu ran around the shelves for a bit and went to the right corner of the room.

Arias and poitan are certainly scattered over there in an enormous number.

"...This world also had so many different kinds of vegetables, huh."

"World? ....Un! When you put various things inside, the taste will become different, it's interesting! Rimi really likes tarapa. Reina ane likes Tino leaves, right?!"

"But, Rimi Ruu. Humans can live just by eating aria and poitan right?"

"Un? Ah, sort of! But if you eat the same thing with the same taste everyday, you will grow tired of it right?"

I see. These food groups are luxury items for powerful clans, something like that huh.

No...But, surely the nutritional value is high.

Even if it's luxury items, it shouldn't be luxury grocery items.

(TL : 贅沢品 : just luxury items, 嗜好品 : luxury grocery items like alcohol, coffee, tea)

Come to think of it, the women here, excluding Rimi Ruu, Rara Ruu, and two other names, everyone is quite fat. But in a very healthy state.

In the first place, as long as poitan can be presumed as a grain, if aria is the only vegetable we used it feels a bit unreliable, therefore they guess they can compensate their nutrition shortage with these vegetables.

(But...in the end, they are just tossing it to the Giba pot with melted moitan right?)

It's really wasteful.

If there is this many ingredients, to what extent can different kinds of colorful cooking be made.....Ah, just by imagining it, my body is shaking.

"....If it's okay, would you like to try using these ingredients?"

Reina Ruu began to smile in a reserved manner.

Despite my extremely shaking heart, "No" I declined.

"it's regrettable but I will pa.s.s, because there is no time to sample it. It's not worth it if the cooking is ruined because I used ingredients I have never seen."

It took four days to a.n.a.lyze poitan after all.

It's impossible to p.a.w.n a cook's pride and Ai Fa's feeling just to step on this risk.

Speaking of which..., when I looked back at Ai Fa, she didn’t seem to have any interest in it and just glaring.

"....That's right. We have to kill one Giba every five days or we won't be able to cover the necessary minimum amount of food for everyone. We shouldn't start envying people that live with a blessed environment."

For someone like me that was born in a cheap restaurant, something like caviar and foie gras are irrelevant ingredients. (ED: In case you don’t know Caviar is salted fish eggs and Foie Gras is fattened liver or duck) These ingredients are unnecessary luxury items for commoners, I decided to renew my feelings because of that.

So, we decided to leave the food warehouse only with fourteen aria, an earthen jar of fruit wine, and wrapped in rock salt.

There....

The men have come back.

"What is this? Giba's dung? Don't put a nuisance in the way!"

A thunder like crackling, thick voice.

Tension built in Ai Fa's face.

"Eh? Donda tousan, welcome home! Today is quite early huh?"

Rimi Ruu that is holding the earthen jar raised a cheeky voice and ran towards him.

Four men that smelled of beast were standing in front of our eyes that just left the food warehouse.

At the front is a giant that looked down on the poitan pot with an unpleasant look, looking overhead of Rimi Ruu, and glaring at me.

"What, are you the outsider that stumbled over into Fa family? I heard you are really really white, you are really quite a pale youngster, huh!"

The giant with the bearded face that even his breath smelled like a beast…

Of course, he is the patriarch of the Ruu main family, Rimi Ruu and the other's father, Donda Ruu.