Heart-warming Meals with Mother Fenrir - Chapter 55

When everyone at the Elise Trading Company began preparing, Rude and Croquette had come to Mikariel's Inn to report this time’s progress.

It was likely that what they were about to hear would come from Miles later that evening.

However, since he was bringing Croquette along, he also wanted to speak directly.

As they approached Mikariel's Inn, they began to smell something from the kitchen exhaust.

It was the scent of steamed buns that seemed to scream "this is a hot spring town."

They had probably just finished steaming them.

"It smells so good!"

"It does, doesn't it-nya."

At Mikariel's Inn, they’ve put Rude’s items on display, including the hot spring buns.

It could be described as a sort of showcase shop.

On top of that, they’ve put up a sign reading "Mikariel's Inn Special Onsen Manju" outside.

Essentially, they didn’t plan on selling the onsen manju under the "Fenrir" brand.

Since they had taught Croquette how to make them, anyone in the town could make them.

The first person Croquette had taught was Mikariel.

Originally, Mikariel’s cooking skills were so impressive that even the somewhat tedious process of making hot spring buns seemed to be within reach.

When Rude and the others entered Mikariel’s Inn, they saw Mikel and Mikaela happily eating the freshly steamed onsen manju.

"Ah, Rude-oniichan, good morning!"

"Good morning, Rude-oniisan."

Mikel calls him "oniisan," and Mikaela calls him "oniichan."

It seemed both of them really loved their mother’s homemade onsen manju.

"Good morning, you two. Is your mom in the kitchen?"

"Yeah. Mom, Oniichan’s here!"

When Mikaela called out, Mikariel appeared after a short while.

"Oh, Rude, good morning. What brings you here today?"

"Well, it seems Croquette-oneechan might not be able to come help for a while."

"Oh? You’re taking her along this time? How wonderful, Croquette-chan!"

"Y-yes-nya."

She’s pretty perceptive, to say the least.

Even Croquette had her head down, her face flushed with embarrassment.

It was probably because the busy time before the shop opened had passed.

They ended up having a conversation at the dining table with Croquette.

"You know, Rude..."

"Yes."

"Thanks to you, our sales have..."

"Yes."

"It’s increased by tens of times compared to before you came, you know."

"I’m glad to hear that."

"It’s tens of times. We can live comfortably even without her working."

Mikariel spoke with a hint of excitement

"Mom, you shouldn’t get too excited."

"I know, I know."

She was completely scolded by her son and daughter.

She cleared her throat and then gave an awkward smile.

"Well, we’ve saved up quite a bit. So, we decided to hire someone. Actually, there are two people who help us in the mornings."

"Is that so?"

"It’s thanks to Croquette-chan teaching them the work, so we’ve been able to manage."

As expected, she must not have been managing the inn alone for many years.

"So, don’t worry about it. Please take her with you. She’s been waiting all by herself, looking lonely."

"…Yes. I’m reflecting on it. And also..."

"What is it?"

"Miles will be coming back again soon."

"It’s fine. Just having that person come back makes me happy."

"…… I see."

"Yes. So, don’t worry, and go ahead. Take care, Croquette-chan."

"Yes-nya."

"Don't let go, okay?"

Rude felt a soft, squishy sensation on his elbow.

Croquette clung to Rude’s arm, smiling as she made it clear she wasn’t going to let go.

"O-of course-nya!"

"Alright, I understand. I’ll take you along properly."

　▼

After finishing the report at Mikariel Inn, the two headed next to Tabatha’s workshop.

Recently, they heard that she had hired a few apprentices for her workshop.

As they hurriedly moved back and forth through the workshop, they spotted a young male dogfolk and a female catfolk.

The male apprentice noticed Rude, bowed politely, and then returned to his work.

Tabatha’s office, as the head of the workshop, was located at the far end.

Tabatha lived here and would come over to Rude’s house for meals.

"Tabatha-neechan, are you here-nya?"

"Yes, yes. Croquette-chan, over here. Oh? Rude is with you too?"

"Yes. Sorry to bother you when you’re busy."

"It’s okay. By the way, Rude..."

"Yes?"

Tabatha, wearing an apron, appeared from an unexpected direction.

It was the kitchen of the workshop.

It was a little too big to be considered just a kitchen.

It felt more like the kitchen of a restaurant.

Rude had seen it before, but it was supposed to be a kitchen, yet it was a somewhat chaotic space where experimental equipment and cooking tools were mixed together.

In fact, this is where pudding and ice cream are mass-produced.

Tabatha walked toward them, carrying something on a metal plate.

"Here it is! Look, look!"

"Oh, is this...?"

"That’s right. The soft bread is finally ready. Cooking is so fun. I didn’t know you could avoid mistakes just by using the same measurements and process."

"Ahahaha."

The cooking Tabatha was talking about was, without realizing it, referring to the "food industry that produces processed foods using agricultural, fishery, and livestock products as raw materials."

For Tabatha, pudding and ice cream were already at the stage where they could be mass-produced.

Starting with miso, and then natural yeast.

And even to the hit product of the Elise Trading Company, hair oil.

To Tabatha, it’s something that can definitely be made as long as you stick to the prescribed method.

And now, she can even do things like cooking.

In a way, she might be a genius.

"Young Master Rude, please try it-nya. I ate some earlier, and it was fluffy and delicious-nya."

"Sure, I’ll take one."

"Here you are. It’s my masterpiece."

Tabatha passed over the steaming, freshly baked bread.

He juggled it a few times, cooling it down on his hand before tearing off a piece and taking a bite.

It was definitely softer than any bread he had eaten before.

The way it was baked was also flawless.

He was sure magic must have been used.

The bread made in this town was only slightly softer than dry bread.

Generally, the bread is softened by soaking it in soup before eating.

However, this bread had a soft and chewy texture, and it didn’t make your jaw ache.

The faint smell of the freshly baked bread that brushed his nose was also pleasant.

"Yeah, it’s delicious. So soft."

"Right? But, are you sure it’s okay?"

"Hmm?"

"Well, since both the yeast and the miso were devised by Rude, so…"

"I only came up with the idea, right? If it weren’t for you, Tabatha, it wouldn’t have worked. I think it’s a great achievement for an alchemist."

"Thank you. It’s more than enough improvement. And look, we’ve got more apprentices now. I never thought anyone would want to become an alchemist."

The expression she wore now was entirely different from when they first met in the wolffolk village.

She must be leading a very fulfilling life.

"Oh, and by the way, everyone except Mother Rose is going to Elanzrild, you know?"

"Yes, I’ve heard. It’s fine, Rose said she’ll cook for us. I have so many things to do, I can’t leave here. I’m sorry I can’t go with you."

"I’m sorry for leaving everything to you."

"Every day is fulfilling. Thank you, and also, Croquette-chan."

"Yes-nya."

"It’s great, isn’t it?"

"Yes...... Nya."

It must have meant the same thing that Mikariel had said.

"Tabatha."

"What is it? Is it something new again?"

"You’re quite perceptive. This time, it’s a dairy product."

"Hmm, I wonder what it could be?"

"First, do you understand the meaning of this?"

Rude pours water into a test tube and then adds olive oil on top.

"Are you talking about the difference in weight between oil and water?"

"Yes. It's called 'Relative density,' and if water is ten, then oil is roughly eight in weight."

"Yes, it's common knowledge even among us alchemists."

"I see. That makes things easier. Milk contains fat, you know."

"Yes, it accumulates on top if left alone, right?"

"Yes, I want you to extract that fat."

"You're asking for something difficult..."

Tabatha folds her arms and tilts her head.

"Now, here comes the next part."

Rude dropped a piece of paper he found nearby onto the ground.

"The force that pulls things towards the ground, right?"

"That's right. It's called 'gravity,' but we’re going to artificially create it."

"...How are we going to do that?"

"Hahaha. It's all about how you think about it."

Rude tightly ties a string around the narrow part of the test tube.

He held the string and spun it around to show her.

"Ah... so that’s what you mean?"

"Yes. This is called 'centrifugal force,' and it can artificially create the same effect as gravity."

"I see... The string holds back the force that tries to escape outward... I understand."

Croquette, as usual.

"Um, I’m completely lost-nya..."

"Ah, I’ll explain it to you properly next time."

"Yes, I’ll explain it to you as well."

"Ah, thank you-nya."

Croquette thought to herself, "I’ll keep quiet."

"And how does the milk thing tie into the oil?"

"Then, you mix the oil and water like this."

He sealed the mouth of the test tube with his thumb and shook it vigorously.

As a result, the water and oil didn't mix, but the fine droplets of oil floated in the water.

"See? It doesn't mix, but it looks like this, right?"

"Yes."

He tightly tied a string around the neck of the test tube, just like before.

Rude grabbed the string and began chanting.

"Wind, spin!"

As usual, the chant was careless, but around Rude’s hands, a small tornado-like phenomenon occurred.

Since he was holding the string, the test tube began to spin rapidly, unable to resist the force of the wind.

After a moment, when Rude dispelled the magic, the water and oil that had been carelessly mixed were now perfectly separated.

"This is called 'centrifugal separation.' By doing this, you can separate substances with different densities in a short amount of time. …I’m glad it worked."

With a laugh, Rude scratched the back of his head.

"Ko."

"Ko?"

"I’m amazed. I didn’t know there was a method like this..."

"Yeah. By doing this, you should be able to extract the fat from the milk efficiently. If we consider the milk’s components as a thousand, the fat content is only about thirty, so to gather enough, you’d need a lot of milk. But with this, you can make something delicious. It’s called 'heavy cream.'"

The milk available in Sea Wales and Walgard isn't processed to homogenize the fat like modern milk, so it separates if left to sit.

It’s close to what is commonly referred to as non-homogenized milk.

That’s how much fat content the milk has.

Because of that, it was customary to drink it as quickly as possible.

Rude remembered that the milk had separated slightly after being left overnight, which gave him the idea for this.

"Hmm, hmm... I’ll think of a good method. Really, Rude, you’re a treasure trove of knowledge."

"Ahaha. I’m just a big foodie, that’s all."

"I’ll take care of it. You’ll see, it’ll be great."

"Yeah. I’m counting on you. Oh, wait..."

"Huh?"

"Ahahaha. You shouldn’t throw away the milk after removing the fat. It’s delicious if you mix in some sugar. There’s still plenty of nutrition left."

"Got it. I won’t waste it. Now, it’s time to get busy again."

Tabatha said she would get to work on the experiments right away.

Rude and Croquette decided to return home first and start preparing for the journey.

When they returned, Ilys had already finished the preparations.

"Lord Rude, Lady Croquette, the preparations for departure are perfect."

"Ah, Ilys is really amazing when it comes to things like this."

"Y-Yes, that’s true-nya."

Then, Ilys joined them, and they headed towards the Elise Trading Company.

Ilys had a large bag strapped to her back.

It was so large that one might wonder where she got the strength to carry it.

That’s probably something only a Fenrir could handle.

When they arrived at the Elise Trading Company, everyone was already busily preparing for the trip.

This time, three carriages were prepared in the back.

In the meantime, Rudia and Yetta appeared to have nothing to do, drinking tea at the eaves.

When they spotted Rude and the others, they waved at them with smiles.

It seemed like they were glad to see Croquette getting along with everyone.

Chapter length 5510 characters.

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