Chapter 156: 141

『Put 100g of water and 8g of baking soda into the pot, indeed』

「Understood」

I followed Yukikaze's instructions with one hand.

『Boil until all the bubbles disappear』

「Got it」

We were working in the spacious~ kitchen.

The water with baking soda is bubbling like crazy. Is this going to become something edible, I wonder?

『By boiling down the sodium bicarbonate in water, it will change into something extremely similar to the sodium carbonate in brine』

「Something extremely similar? Which means that it's not exactly the same as brine?」

『That’s unknown. To begin with, all matter in the alternate world have parts of their composition that cannot be analyzed. To see what effects the unknown parts have, team member Souya, you must experience it for yourself』

「So you're telling me to experiment with it by eating and experiencing it for myself………」

『The water in the pot has come to a boil, indeed. Prepare 200g of wheat flour』

「Understood」

I portioned out 200g of wheat flour by eye.

『Mix with the boiled baking soda water and knead』

Well, I guess kneading it into wheat flour isn't that big of a deal.

I took off my triangular bandage and washed my hands. After drying them thoroughly, I mixed the baking soda water with the wheat flour and started kneading.

The process was the same as when making beastkin bread.

『That should be good enough. Roll it up into a ball and let it rest』

「For how long?」

『About an hour. This can be shortened if it’s kept in an environment that’s warmer but won't dry it out too much』

After wrapping the rolled-up dough in my triangular bandage, I exited the kitchen.

I went to the worshiping area and placed the dough near the bonfire.

At the back of the bonfire, vegetables and dried fish were being roasted on skewers. At least they were in a position where they couldn't be seen from the entrance or the street.

Food roasted using the object of worship. Does it give the food any special properties, I wonder?

While waiting, I asked an old lady next to me for some grilled eggplant. I ate it after sprinkling a little bit of salt on it, and it was juicy and delicious.

The old lady and I made idle conversation, but it was too idle to stick in my memory.

30 minutes later, I returned to the kitchen after being prompted to by Yukikaze.

I used a rolling pin to roll out the dough then cut it into fine strips of about the same thickness. When I fluffed them apart, they gave off the unique smell of Chinese noodles.

At the very least, the smell seems right.

『Let them rest for another 30 minutes』

「Alright」

Time to wait some more.

I engaged in small talk with Yukikaze.

「You know, Yukikaze……」

『Yes?』

「There's something that's been bothering me this whole time」

『What is it?』

「Both Tyutyu and Lanseal tend to show a lot of openings, but their guard is so tight only for that one place, so I was never able to find out for sure」

『And what are you talking about?』

I used my hands to mimic having ears on top of my head.

「For beastkin with ears on top of their heads, what about the part where human ears would normally be?」

『That’s what’s been bothering you, huh?』

Not all beastkin have ears on top of their heads. The reptilian and avian beastkin, as well as the fishmen, have ears that are shaped differently from human ears. However, beastkin with ears on top of their heads, such as Lanseal and Tyutyu, always cover the area where human ears would be with their hair. As best as I can remember, this is true of all the beastkin I've seen so far.

I'm curious.

Do they also have normal human ears or not?

『They have them, normal human ears』

「Eh, they do?」

『When Yukikaze stumbled upon Lanseal-sama bathing, Yukikaze saw it. She has human ears. And on that note, based on the scans Yukikaze has done, the animal ears on the top of the head don't have inner ears』

「They don’t have them?」

Huh, admittedly, I have not noticed any holes or anything like that in them, but what does it mean when they don't have inner ears? Then the animal ears actually can't hear anything? ………………Hmm? That's weird. Lanseal and the other beastkin's ears clearly react to sounds. Or is that just for show? No, I can't make any sense of it.

『Those ears are just ornaments with blood and nerves running through them. But they do work as sensory organs. As evidence, the hearing of dog and cat beastkin is several times better than that of normal humans. It's mysterious. Or rather, Yukikaze doesn't understand the mechanism behind it. Further observation is necessary, indeed』

「I kinda want to touch them now」

Be it with Tyutyu, Lanseal, or Regure, I had my chances, but the timing was never right. In retrospect, it was such a shame.

『That's true. The best way to experience anything is to touch it, indeed』

「Also――――」

I discussed with Yukikaze the various doubts I had about the alternate world.

My doubts only deepened and I ended up with even more questions than before.

Next thing I knew, 30 minutes had passed.

「Now all that's left is to boil it」

『That’s right, indeed』

I boiled the noodles in a large pot of water.

I was somewhat apprehensive, so I boiled them for a bit longer.

After 7 minutes, I drained the water and transferred the noodles onto a plate. I took a fearful bite……

「Oh, they taste just like regular Chinese noodles」

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『There are no problems, it seems』

The noodles were firmer than I had expected. I was surprised at the ease at which I had succeeded in making Chinese noodles.

「Dear me, you sure work fast」

The priestess appeared as if she had been waiting for the perfect moment.

「Are these what you call ramen?」

「They’re the noodles for the ramen」

「They look quite similar to pasta. What did you use to make them?」

「I used wheat flour and detergent. I think it's quite inexpensive in terms of the ingredients」

「………………Detergent?」

The priestess looked as if something had occurred to her.

As I thought, there's some resistance to it, huh?

「I'm sorry, something else came to mind. Is it safe to eat these?」

「They’re not poisonous. By boiling it, the composition of the detergent was changed, and then the noodles were boiled once more after that as well」

「Then, a small bite」

The priestess picked up a strand of the noodle with her fingers and put it into her mouth.

Hang on, that’s bad table manners, Priestess-sama.

「Hmm? Hmmmmm」

She tilted her head, then seemed to think of something before retrieving jars of food from under the worktable.

There were ground meat, herbs, crushed nuts, pepper-like spices, and some sort of red oil.

With great deftness, she stir-fried everything in a frying pan. Then she added the Chinese noodles. After some more stirring and tossing, she returned the noodles to the plate.

It's just like the show "Three-Minute Cooking".

「What do you think about seasoning the noodles like this?」

「Well, I'll have a taste」

For some reason, I ended up being the person who was doing the taste-testing.

It's spicy enough to make my tongue go a little numb. Is this sansho(Japanese pepper)? The crunchiness of the nuts goes well with the noodles. As I chewed, I could taste the flavor of the meat and smell the subtle aroma of garlic.

It's delicious.

Not too spicy, but just enough to bring out the flavor of the noodles. Wait, isn't this Priestess-sama amazing? She figured out how to season it after just one bite.

「Is this what ramen is supposed to be?」

「This is also one type of it. What I'm trying to make is a dish in which these noodles are added to a bowl of broth」

「Oh, that sounds wonderful. I'm looking forward to it」

She gave me a bright and youthful smile.

「Umm, Priestess-sama, you seem to have a lot of experience cooking. Do the priests and priestesses of the flame religion cook the food themselves?」

「Of course, we do whatever we can」

The lives of those who serve the flame religion may be harder than I had thought.

「But I was born a baker's daughter, you see? I cooked, both to live and to earn my bread. If I could, I would cook even on the day I die」

It's hard to know what to say to that.

But if there are people who can cook this well, then making the broth should be easy.

「Then I'll teach you how to make the noodles. Can I leave that all up to your side?」

「My my, are you sure about giving us the recipe that easily?」

「Huh? But if I don't teach you, who's going to make them?」

「I thought for sure that you'd only have us help with trivial tasks」

「But that's not efficient though. In the first place, how many servings does the soup kitchen need to prepare?」

「Around 200 servings for breakfast, I figure」

「If that's the amount needed, then all the more reason for your side to make the noodles. There's no way I can make that much by myself」

「………How unexpected. I had imagined you to be more like an incarnation of greed or something」

What the heck?

「It's not that difficult, so let's get started」

I quickly taught the priestess how to make the noodles.

After that, since it was noon, I decided to go back home for lunch.

「What on earth is this?」

When I got home, there was a huge amount of noodles waiting for me in the kitchen.

At a quick glance, there were enough for 30 servings.

「What's the deal with this?」

When I asked Lanseal……

「Makina made it, all the while wailing and sobbing. Did something happen?」

「Oh, sorta」

Are these noodles a form of penance or something? She made far too much.

Looks like we're going to be eating noodles for some time.

Sansho pepper is the fruit of a shrub that grows in Japan and the southern Korean Peninsula. In Japan, it’s not only produced by farmers but it can also be found growing in the wild in mountainous areas. The parts which can be eaten and used for making spices are mainly the leaves and the seeds. The fresh leaves and seeds cannot be stored for a long time, but bottled sansho powder can be found in supermarkets easily and can be a good and inexpensive souvenir to bring back from Japan.(pics courtesy of matcha-jp.com)

Yes, the most important question of all in this story: Do they have normal ears in addition to the animal ears? I’m not entirely sure if this is a dig on the many authors who purposely make this a mystery for no darn reason, but I’m glad there’s a proper answer lol. Also, just in case it wasn’t clear, when Souya says that Tyutyu and Lanseal are full of openings, he’s taking about the same thing as the theme of the manga “Amano Megumi is full of openings!”

But in all seriousness, the discussion on trivial stuff was written in full but the discussion of the important stuff was just summarized in two sentences, huh….

Well, this arc is turning out to be a pretty light-hearted one, isn’t it? Which is great after the really heavy mood of the previous one… So stay tuned for more antics!

And I haven't done this in a while, but I gotta shill my Patreon for a bit. Times have been tough and some of my patrons' financial situations have changed, so several have been unable to continue contributing, which is really a big hit on my ability to pay my bills. If if you can afford to, I'll really appreciate it if you could chip in a little. But I understand things are tough for everyone, so if you can't, could you help share and spread my work so more people come read it? It would help a great deal in allowing me to continue what I do. Thank you so very much!

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