Chapter 29 – New Home and Yakiniku
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Even though some things happened, I managed to obtain a huge amount of 『Ordinary Wood』 together with Shijiyo. After coming back, I looked at the space where our current hut was standing. The plot was situated under a cliff, but since it didn’t bring us any inconveniences so far, there’s no reason to move.
As such I think it’ll be fine to place our new home in the same spot.
“Now then, what kind of house should I build…?”
“First of all, it needs to have a bedroom for you, I would say,” Shijiyo stressed deliberately.
Apparently it had been quite a shock for her when she had heard that I slept together with the other three girls.
“Well, it’d be fine for the girls to use the new house while I sleep in the hut…”
As soon as I said that, Shijiyo clearly looked as if she regretted saying too much and refuted me right away, “I-I didn’t say this with such an intention in mind. It’s not like I want to isolate you…”
I laughed so as to give her a peace of mind as she seemed rather panicked.
“Ahaha, I know, I know. I simply stated a possibility. I’d actually prefer to stay with my friends, too.”
“I would feel bad to call you each time I need you to take out something from your inventory, so it might be good to have some sort of place where we can store the things we use regularly,” Shion gave her opinion while preparing the food.
“Fair point. It’d take too much time if you had to join up with me and receive weapons, if we get attacked, for example. I think it’d be more reasonable to build an armory from the get-go.”
“Hehe, I had a storage room or closet for clothes in mind, but that works too,” said Shion with a wry smile.
It’d be too much of a hassle to call me each time the soap runs out. So it might be a good idea to build a house room for storing consumables.
“Also, if we consider that the number of our members might increase in the future…it should be slightly bigger…?”
I mean, I built the hut in front of us on the assumption that Chiyu and I’d be living together. After our numbers grew by two more, we somehow managed to cope with the hut, but five people would be stretching this too far.
Rather than build a new house each time our numbers increase, it’s better to build a bigger house from the start.
“Kuno-kun, can you build it with two stories or something like that, too?”
“Yeah, I think I should be capable of that.”
“In that case, how about using the second floor for everyone’s bedrooms while installing the living room, kitchen, and so on on the first floor?”
“I suppose I’ll build it so that it’s similar to a normal house. I’ll also make sure that you can directly go to the bathroom from the house by adding a door to the bathroom.”
“Makes sense. Also, if the bathroom has a roof, it’ll still be possible to take a bath while it rains.”
“True. Currently the bathroom, kitchen, workshop, and dining table are exposed to the sky. Still, one gets a lot of ideas about what to do, as soon as there’s some leeway in materials, huh?”
“Of course, you’re the one constructing it all, so please adopt whatever you wish to prioritize.”
“No, I think it would be best to discuss this with everyone. For the moment, we’re going to only focus on the basic parts, Shijiyo.”
Shijiyo smiled softly after hearing my words.
“Sure, let us do that.”
Thanks to her help, the basic layout was finished quickly. Once we finished that, we went over to help Shion.
“In that case, how about I have you two cut the meat into slices for the barbecue?”
『Crafting Creation』 is challenging when it comes to cooking. It only allows to cut meat until it is 『Dismantled』. So you can roughly cut a carcass apart with it, but beyond that, you have no choice but to cut it manually.
Hence, Shijiyo and I started to cut the roast meat.
“Say, Shijiyo-san, you can use the skin of akebia for something like bell pepper stuffed with meat, can’t you?”
Shion asked Shijiyo while continuing her work.
“Yes.”
“When I took a little bite, it was very bitter, but I wonder whether you can use it to remove the gamey taste.”
“Hmm, I think that should work.”
“I see. Ah, Kuno-kun, can I borrow one more kitchen knife from you?”
“Yeah, of course.”
I passed her a stone-made knife. At once Shion started to hit the finely chopped meat with two knives. The mushrooms were chopped down too. And after she put the meat, mushroom, and salt into a bowl and mixed them together, she crammed the mixture into akebia skins.
“All that’s left is to fry these once the other two come back.”
“How nice! Deep-fried food is nice as well, and it’s going to have a different texture from eating meat and mushrooms separately, so I’m looking forward to it.”
“I’m happy to hear you say that.”
“…If you consider that there will also be a barbecue, I’m starting to get worried about my calories.”
“Now, now, today is your welcome party, Shijiyo-san.”
“Welcome party…t-true. I thank you for your hospitality.”
Shijiyo seemed to be embarrassed.
“It’s not about calories, but there sure is a lot of things I want, such as vegetables, rice, and spices.”
“Yeah. Only now I realize just how blessed my life in Japan has been. I want bread, eggs, and ketchup. Also, bacon…”
Bread uses wheat, eggs need chickens, and ketchup consists of various ingredients and requires many other things. Bacon is boar meat, so I feel like we could make it, but…I don’t know the details of how to create it, besides the smoking, so I think I’d need to ask someone else.
“I’d love to drink hot chocolate…”
I probably can make hot chocolate as long as we find cacao beans. Or rather, if we get our hands on those, I’d like to also make chocolate…
The three of us continued to delve in our memories of Japan for a while.
“If the mysterious blackboard appears in a dream tonight as well, something else might be added through a vote again, right?”
“Yes. Besides, we’re really blessed for being able to talk about what we want to eat instead of having to worry about being able to eat at all.”
“Very true. If all of you hadn’t rescued me, I might have died a dog’s death out there with my magic that isn’t capable of hitting anything.”
“Hehe, my ability is much worse in that regard. I don’t know what would have happened to me, if Shouko-chan didn’t pick me up.”
“”Also,”” the two looked at me.
“As I thought, there’s many instances where we depend on Kuno-kun’s ability.”
“True. I feel sorry for relying on you so much, so please make sure to tell me whenever you dislike doing this, okay?”
“I will. At present I actually like crafting, so it’s no biggie for me.”
As we chatted like that to fill our work with life…
“We’re baaack!”
“Your queen has returned.”
The two other girls and Mashiro came back.
“Welcome back, Shouko-chan, Chiyu-chan, and Mashiro-kun. Is it okay for me to start preparing dinner?”
“A life where Shion-chan waits for your return home as mother…what a bliss!”
“Whose mother? If it’s Sou-kun’s, I’m sorry, but I’m not going to yield my position as first wife.”
“W-Wife, you say…Iyama-san, you’re too hasty.”
As soon as all five of us were together, it became very lively all of a sudden.
“Alright, I guess I’ll get started on dinner.”
“Today we’re going to have boar barbecue, akebia stuffed with meat, and a mushroom-veggie-soup.”
“Wow! Haven’t our eating habits improved way too much for the second day on an uninhabited island?”
“We’re going to build the new house after dinner. It’s slated to have two floors.”
“Minorin, you fell lots of trees, didn’t you? Before it was planned for Mashiro to help out,” Shouko said, full of admiration, but apparently recalling today’s blunders, Shijiyo pulled a bitter expression.
“I haven’t forgotten about the Fenrir hut either, so let’s think about it later on,” I told Shouko.
“My bedroom is going to be next to Sou-kun’s.”
“Then I’ll take the room on the opposite side, I guess.”
“Huh? Was this first come, first served, or what?”
Shouko raised her voice in panic after hearing Chiyu and Shion’s words.
“Y-You girls…”
Shijiyo looked troubled.
“Oh right, everyone, let us incorporate Shijiyo-san into our council later too.”
“Mmh, it’s for the sake of healthy group management, so it can’t be helped.”
“M-Minorin looks pissed.”
Shouko alone blushed. They were talking about the secret girls council which had a session yesterday as well. Because of it, I did all those things with Shion in the bath today…
As soon as I wondered whether I would do something similar with Shouko and Shion, my body heated up. Shaking my head to clear my world desires, I created a slate for the barbecue.
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