Heart-warming Meals with Mother Fenrir - Chapter 5

 "Fire, blaze!"

There was a place in the forest where a stream flowed, and there Rude placed the firewood he had collected.

Rude cast a fire spell toward the firewood.

He started the fire while drying out the dried branches that had absorbed moisture.

He propped two branches in the snow and hung Croquette's underwear on them to dry.

Of course, Rude turned away after starting the fire.

Rudia skillfully washed Croquette’s underwear while comforting her, who was in a half-tear state.

And now, he was in the midst of drying them.

Once the underwear dried, it would be fine to take a bath after returning to the village.

Although Croquette was dressed in a knee-length garment, she was embarrassed and blushing.

Once the underwear was dry, Croquette hurriedly put it on in the shade and offered a small excuse to Rudia.

"I’m okay now. But I never expected that my mother’s friend was a, um, Fenrir woman…"

"I’m sorry. It seems I startled you."

"No, I’m the one who was saved. Thank you so much-nya."

Even though it must be cold, Croquette was performing a full bow on the snow to thank the two.

The way she bowed was just so adorable.

After all, she lay on her back with her belly up, looking at us while lightly holding her hands beside her face.

The rest goes without saying.

"Y-you don’t have to do that; it’s cold there. I was just sent by my mother to look for you."

"You’re strong, young master-nya. I never expected those humans were kidnappers…"

"I’m not a young master; my name is Rude. Please don’t treat me like a child."

"You’re still just a twelve-year-old kid. Hehehe."

"Mom, really…"

"W-wait, you’re twelve-nya…? You’re five years younger than me!"

"So Croquette-san is really an older sister. In that case, I should call you Croquette-oneesan."

"Oh no-nya, I’m not that impressive-nya. More importantly, you’re a human, young master."

"He’s my son. When we first met, he was an orphan. Now he’s my precious son."

"I-I didn’t know that-nya… But still, you’re quite an impressive young master-nya."

"Hehe, Mom, I got complimented!"

"That’s wonderful. I’m happy as well.’"

Despite their different appearances, Croquette thought they looked like a happy mother and child.

"Still, what could have happened for things to turn out like this?"

"Well, my mother was unwell, so I went to gather nourishing herbs. They only grow near the forest exit, and while I was finally finding them and getting carried away gathering, I suddenly found myself captured in that room…"

What an unfortunate turn of events.

One can only say she had bad luck.

It’s true that Croquette has black hair, fair skin, and a charming appearance.

If she appears defenseless in public, anything could happen.

Moreover, she’s not human; she’s a catfolk.

It was the first time Rude realized how she was treated in this country.

This area, too, seems to belong to that man’s territory.

The ‘big town’ must refer to the castle town of this country.

Thinking that even in such a distant place, there are selfish people like that ugly man from the past made Rude feel a bit sad.

"I’m embarrassed as a fellow human. I’m sorry, Croquette-oneesan."

"N-no-nya, Young Master Rude isn’t at fault-nya!"

"That’s right. There are both bad and good people among humans and us too. It’s all about a person’s heart."

"Right. I’ll never be like that ‘pig.’ I’m going to become a great person and show him what I can do!"

"Alright, alright. Don’t push yourself too hard."

"Yeah. I understand."

　▼

When they returned to the village, Henruda was awake and waiting, looking worried.

When she looked at Croquette, she started to cry and bowed her head.

"I’m sorry for worrying you, Mom…"

"You foolish girl… But I’m glad you’re back safe, Croquette."

"I'm sorry."

The two of them held each other, glad to be reunited.

It was unclear if he felt relief or happiness seeing them together.

Rude buried his face in Rudia’s neck.

Upon hearing the reason for Croquette’s disappearance, Henruda’s expression turned serious.

"Thank you for rescuing Croquette. I have indeed heard such stories. That’s why I told the children to never go near human settlements…"

"I’m really sorry. It was my fault for being too careless."

Rude felt relieved that nothing serious had happened.

It appeared that there were still problems occurring in this settlement.

"By the way, I heard that the crops have been failing. How bad is the situation?"

"Yes, that’s right-nya. This year, the barley has not grown well, and we could only harvest feed for the livestock-nya…"

"Yes, just as Croquette said. Because of this, the men have had to go out for work again this year."

"You mean livestock like pigs, right? You’re growing feed for them too?"

"Yes, that’s right-nya. This area has a lot of wetlands, which makes it easy to grow them, so we get a lot-nya. The seeds are sown, and they grow without much care-nya."

"Is it not suitable for eating?"

"I haven’t heard of it being eaten much-nya. It’s usually dried and fed to livestock-nya."

According to Rude’s knowledge, there aren’t that many varieties of grains that thrive in marshy areas.

If it’s about the grains, the people here may not have thought about it, so there could be a solution.

"I wonder if there’s a solution; could you show me?"

"Of course, it’s over in the storeroom-nya. However, I don’t think its edible-nya..."

"Mom, I'm going to take a quick look."

"He's very clever, you know; I'm always surprised."

"Is that so? Croquette, show him."

"Yes, Mom-nya. This way, young master Rude-nya."

"Oh come on. Stop calling me that!"

As they left the room, the two of them looked just like a brother and sister.

Rudia and Henruda watched with joyful expressions.

In the storeroom that Croquette guided him to, there were dried grass-like plants.

There was an enormous amount of it.

As Rude examined the feed, he noticed something strange.

It resembled something from Rude's memory.

"Croquette-oneesan, what do you call this grass?"

"It's known as 'straw,' a kind of fodder."

Rude recalled the information stored in his mind.

"It's not broom grass or barley. What is it? It's nagging at me..."

He took a grain from the bundled tips and rubbed it between his fingers.

As he rubbed, the outer shell came off, revealing a brown substance inside.

Rude had a sudden realization.

He put it in his mouth and gently chewed.

It had a nostalgic aroma with a hint of sweetness

"Young master Rude, that's dirty!"

"It's okay. Could this be...?"

Rude walks out of the storeroom with two bundles in his arms.

"Young master Rude, is there something wrong?"

"Yeah. If I'm not mistaken, this might work."

"What?"

Rude scrapes off the bits from the tips and collects them in the large bowl he received from Croquette.

He gently ground the contents of the bowl with the rounded end of a piece of firewood.

The outer shell came off, leaving only the brown grains.

It was what Rude had anticipated.

He gently rinsed it in the bowl, changing the water several times.

Once that was done, he borrowed a pot and filled it with water.

He added the grains into it and let them soak for a bit.

He drained the water once, then refilled it to about wrist height, covered it with a wooden lid, and lit a fire under it.

"I think it’s 'Start slow, then boil, even if the baby cries, don’t lift the lid,' right?"

For some reason, that phrase popped into Rude's head.

He figured it was about how to adjust the fire.

After putting a lid on the pot and confirming it was gently boiling on low heat, he turned up the heat.

When steam began to escape from the lid’s gap, he reduced the heat a bit and continued.

"Yeah. It’s starting to smell good."

"…It really does smell good, doesn’t it-nya?"

After a while, it was ready.

When he removed the lid, steam billowed up, and a delightful fragrance filled the air.

Rude took a small bit and put it in his mouth.

It was stickier than he imagined, but as he chewed, sweetness spread in his mouth.

"Brown rice looks dull, but this might be delicious. It’s less grainy than I expected."

It might be due to the different strain; it felt like it required less husk to be removed.

Rude felt happy, knowing that the closer it was to brown rice, the higher the nutrition value.

"Brown rice-nya, you say?"

"Yeah. It’s called 'rice,' and it has about as much nutrition as wheat."

"I see, is that so-nya...?"

At that moment, Croquette's stomach let out a small growl.

"Oh, I'm sorry-nya! The delicious smell is making my stomach..."

"Just wait a little longer, okay?"

He closed the lid again and filled another pot with water.

"Croquette-oneesan, do we have any wild herbs left?"

"I think there are still a few left-nya."

Rude ripped up the dried meat and mushrooms he brought and tossed them into the pot.

He washed the wild herbs received from Croquette and then tore them into the pot.

Gradually, a pleasant aroma began to fill the air.

He tasted it lightly, then took out a stone-like item from his bag and shaved off a bit to add to the pot.

"Young master Rude, what is that?"

"Hm. It’s rock salt."

"Rock salt?"

"It's salt, you see."

"Really? Isn’t that extremely valuable-nya?"

"Not really. I just stumbled upon it. Yeah, this should be good now."

He poured meat and vegetable soup into two containers and also added some cooked brown rice.

He took it to the room where Henruda was and had Croquette and her eat together.

"Please give it a try. I’m sure it’ll be delicious!"

"I wonder if I can eat something like this-nya... Oh, hot! But it's tasty!"

Was it because she was a catfolk that she had a cat’s tongue?

However, it seemed she kept eating vigorously from the second bite.

"It's true! This is really delicious. I never imagined that grain could turn into something like this..."

Still, Rude never expected to encounter rice.

A grain with a flavor that Rude had remembered from a distant memory.

With this, the catfolk’s village wouldn't have to worry in the years when they couldn't harvest wheat.

This grain, which was easy to grow and produced a large yield, was a joy for Rude as well.

Henruda and Croquette, who had eaten their fill, were satisfied.

Since her mother, the leader, was enduring, it seemed that Croquette, the daughter, was also holding back.

After taking a break, they began processing the large amount of rice in the storeroom into brown rice under Rude’s instructions.

There was enough to distribute to every household in the village and still have some left over.

Rude gently taught them the cooking method.

Thus, the village's terrible food conditions were alleviated.

　▼

The mother and child returned after hunting in the nearby forest, careful not to overhunt.

The lively children of the village welcomed the two with beaming faces.

Everyone was helping with the butchering of the catch.

The village had many children younger than Rude.

In this small village of about twenty houses, what they caught was more than enough.

After distributing to all the houses, they started cooking together with Croquette.

That night, the four of them enjoyed a delightful dinner together.

After dinner, as everyone relaxed, Croquette turned to her mother with a serious expression.

"Mom, I have a request-nya."

"What is it?"

"I want to accompany young master Rude-nya. I’d like to help take care of the two who saved the village-nya."

"I see... you've made your decision. Ferruida, will this cause any trouble?"

"I think it should be alright. Right, Rude?"

"Young master Rude, please-nya."

"U-uh, okay..."

Rude was feeling a bit embarrassed.

The reason was that Croquette was asking while bowing down completely.

Both Henruda and Rudia were accustomed to seeing her like that.

To Rude, it seemed incredibly cute.

Croquette was lying on her back, showing her belly and turning her neck to look at them.

It reminded him of when he first encountered Rudia.

Perhaps his feelings were stronger than back then.

Her lightly grasped wrist was twitching.

He heard this was a sign of submission for catfolk.

Sadly, it tugged at Rude's heartstrings.

An older sister figure was making such an adorable request.

There was no way Rude could turn her down.

"Croquette."

"Yes-nya!"

"You must do your best."

"Yes, I will do my best!"

"Ferruida, please take care of Croquette... I hope you understand. She needs to see and learn about the outside world."

"Yes, I will protect her... for sure."

"Young master Rude, I hope we can stay together for a long time-nya."

"……Huh?"

And so, the Fenrila family gained another member.

They were also given some rice to bring back.

Rude never expected to come back with such a beautiful older sister.

Croquette, riding on Rudia's back for the first time, was managing to hold on despite feeling lightheaded.

"U-nya-nya-nya-nya. Th-this is fast-nya..."

"Right? Mom is amazing!"

"Y-yes, that's right-nya. She's too amazing-nya."

They somehow arrived at the Fenrila household without anyone passing out.

Although it was Croquette's first time away from the village, she didn't seem to think about it too deeply.

Croquette had always been a bit airheaded.

Rude had already been mature, but Rudia couldn’t hide her surprise that he seemed even more grown-up after the catfolk village.

He ended up enhancing the food circumstances in the catfolk settlement, even if by chance.

It seemed she was both happy and a little scared to see her proud son growing up so well.

Chapter length 6255 characters.

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