The next day, everyone was absorbed in table tennis except me.

　I was up early in the morning, a change from yesterday.

　The reason for this is because Erna's mother wanted to try some of the ingredients she had bought in Kagura last night.

　Father Nord and Brother Silvio also joined in. Bartolo's desire to use new ingredients got in the mix, and it became inevitable that I would have to get up early in the morning to make breakfast.

　Well, it's a good thing I originally set out on this trip to improve my diet, and I was more of a Japanese breakfast person.

　And if I teach Bartolo, he'll make it for me from now on.

　In order to get a comfortable diet, let's meditate on a slight decrease in sleep time.

　With that in mind, I prepared myself and headed to the kitchen on the first floor.

　Perhaps it's because no one is awake inside the mansion except the servants, but I don't hear any conversations like in the daytime.

　But you can hear the sound of brooms sweeping the ground from the garden, the sound of things being carried in the dining room and the sounds of the maids working early in the morning.

　It's not bad to listen to sounds like this in the dim, somewhat still air.

　I don't dislike the sounds of quiet life like this.

　I walk into the kitchen, happy to have found a new pleasure in the mansion.

'Oh, boy!　You're up and about!

　Then, Bartolo, the master of the kitchen again today, grins and waves me over with a grin.

　However, his voice is more subdued than usual, perhaps because of the early morning.

"As expected, I don't know what mother Erna will do to me if I oversleep when I'm in charge of cooking duty,

Haha, I heard you got shot through the door yesterday with a water spell.

　Apparently, Bartolo knows about the magical attack and defense between me and Mother Erna.

　Well, it was Saara who wiped the wet door for me later.

　There aren't many servants and they're all inside the mansion, so the information must have flowed in a flash.

'It was really tough. If we managed to intercept them with ice magic, the room temperature would drop and it would be cold.

'........it's just like father and son to use difficult magic in strange situations.

　Bartolo says in a somewhat dumbfounded voice to me who shrugs his shoulders.

　Well, me and Mother Erna have a common idea of solving troublesome things with magic.

　Whenever there's a nuisance or troublesome thing, I think it's best to solve it with magic.

'Well, let's put aside the chit-chat and get to work on the food as soon as possible.

Yes.

　I have to give Bartolo a lecture about the ingredients while I'm at it today.

　It will take a little longer than usual, so let's act early to give ourselves more time.

　As I moved, I felt something hit me on the shoulder.

　Surprised, I turned my head to look at it and saw that there were a number of crates piled up.

　Oh, it was dimmer than usual, and I didn't notice it, probably because there were things in a place where there should be nothing to see.

'Be careful. The kitchen is getting a bit cramped with all the ingredients we brought in yesterday.

'You haven't sorted out your stuff yet?'

''Well the monk would buy several hundred kilos of rice by the hundred kilos, so it didn't fit in the pantry.

　I ask casually, and Bartolo says while giving me a jitzy look.

　Yeah, I can't blame him then. I'll also forgive him for hitting me in the shoulder.

''So, what's the menu going to be like, with all the ingredients from Kagura?

''Well, what I bought at Kagura is mainly seasonings and dried fish for storage reasons. I'm going to start with a simple dish that lets the flavors of the seasonings come into play.

Well, that sounds like it would be easy for someone who's never had kagura food before to eat.

　Well, even if it's different from the original ingredients, you should be able to adapt it to the local style by taking the broth and using the seasonings.

　I think I'll expect Bartolo to do a good job in that area.

Well, before we get to the seasonings, let's get to the time-consuming preparation of the rice.

'Oh!　I knew the menu would go with rice.

　As I said this, Bartolo started to prepare the rice.

　We've been using the rice for a while now, so there's no problem with the cooking method.

　Bartolo takes out enough rice for us to eat and rinses it in water, while I prepare a simple menu.

　In the meantime, I'll prepare a simple menu.

　By the way, today's menu is: fried eggs, miso soup with nameko mushrooms, salted salmon, rice and boiled spinach.

　All of them are easy to enjoy because they don't take much time and are not complicated. And above all, the taste of soy sauce and miso is easy to convey. That's my choice.

　The only thing that takes time is to cook the rice and prepare the nameko mushrooms.

　With the ingredients I need in my brain, I move around the kitchen and head to the pantry.

'Oh, wait, kid!　The pantry is full of foodstuffs and crates, and it's not safe, so I'll go get them for you. Just tell me what ingredients you need.

All right. I'll put the rice in the oven for you.

　I guess it's out of consideration for my small stature. He looks scary on the outside, but he's thoughtful and gentle.

　I tell Bartolo what we need to eat, and he picks up some rice instead.

　As I stir the bowl....

　It's summer, so it's nice to paddle the rice like this. In the winter, though, it becomes a hell of a job.

　I changed the water three times while thinking about it. I could see the rice faintly through the water. It was done.

　The Kamado was already on fire, so I let Bartolo do the rest.

　Just as I was thinking about this, Bartolo came back into the kitchen with a crate.

'I've got the ingredients,'

Thank you. I finished hitting mine.

　After washing my hands with water, I went under Bartolo to check.

　Bartolo checked the rice that had been churned out, then set it in the pottery door and began to adjust the heat with wood.

　Since we have a magician's stove, we can use that to adjust the heat, but we don't make a simple rice cooker, and the rice is tastier when cooked in a kettle, so we use the kettle to cook it in our home.

　But when I'm busy, a simple rice cooker is better, so I might ask Logan to cook for me next time.

　He loves to cook rice, so I think he'll be happy to make it for me. It's not so bad to take it out and cook rice on the road.

　While Bartolo fiddles with the wood and adjusts the heat, I take the nameko mushrooms out of the wooden box and rinse them lightly with water.

　Then I throw the nameko mushrooms into the pot of water and set the magic stove to low heat.

　All I have to do is wait for the aroma to waft through the air.

''Bartolo, where's the soy sauce?

If it's soy sauce, it's in a crate near where I keep my condiments.

　I ask, and Bartolo answers with just his voice, looking at the flames.

　I see, it's a condiment, and it's likely to be used, so I put it there.

　I move to the space where the seasoning is kept and psychically lower the wooden box stacked there to the floor.

　When I opened the lid, I found a small soy sauce jar in there.

　The aroma of thick, spicy soy sauce wafted around.

　I opened the jar and licked it with my finger and found out that it was light, dark and tamari soy sauce.

Isn't this what soy sauce is all about?

Yeah, I do.

　As I was tasting three different kinds of food, Bartolo came over to see if I had finished adjusting the heat.

"Have you tasted most of them yet?

'Yeah, it was a bit more salty than I thought it would be. But if you combine it with some other seasonings to soften it up, it'll have a nice flavor.

　Bartolo is a true chef. He has already seen through the versatility of soy sauce.

That's right. You can use it with other seasonings in a sauce, or you can stew it.

'It would be great in a meat sauce, or sweetened and baked on fish. I think it would also be delicious stewed with vegetables.

　Perhaps reminiscent of my words, Bartolo murmurs while folding his arms.

　His expression is serious, but he really seems to be enjoying himself.

　He seems to be having a lot of fun thinking up and cooking with the new seasonings.

　I watch Bartolo warmly and put some soy sauce into a small plate to explain.

The one in the middle is the dark soy sauce. It has a good balance of aroma and taste, and it's the easiest to handle of all.

　I offer him a small plate, and Bartolo gently brings his fat fingertips closer to his mouth.

Ah, this is the least spicy one. This is the least spicy of the bunch, so even if you're not used to it, you can still eat it over food.

Yeah. It's the most common way to eat an omelet. It's delicious when you pour grated daikon and dark soy sauce over an omelet.

'Yeah, sure. Sounds like a tasty addition to the soy sauce, which makes the flavors even more pronounced!　I can think of several dishes I've made that would taste better with just a splash of this!

　When I raise an example, Bartolo also sounds inspired and excited.

　It's definitely a great way to expand the flavors of existing dishes as well as new ones.

The light-colored one on the left is the light soy sauce. It's characterized by a more subdued color and aroma than the darker soy sauce, and it's ideal for vegetable stews and soup dishes, as well as other dishes that make the most of their ingredients.

It's funny how a color is so light and yet so rich in flavor.

I hear there's more salt in it than in dark soy sauce.

　I explained how to make tamari-soy sauce, miso and dashi soup stock while I was making it, and occasionally checked the condition of the fire in the kamado.

　After the lecture, it was time to put it to practice.