Volume 1 Chapter 5 Part2 (1/2)

Translator: Skythewood

Editor: Hiiro

The day after the mayonnaise and potato salad received rave reviews, Yuri got up earlier than usual. There wasn't any alarm clock in this world, but he could get up early with the alarm clock function in his smart phone.

… The truth was, Yuri's phone and music player were now magic tools, so it wouldn't run out of battery. He thought they had run out of juice after keeping it in his bag for so long, but surprisingly, it could still be used. It couldn't make phone calls, send messages or surf the net, but the functions could still be used, so he used it as an alarm clock… The clock and calendar showed the date and time in this world too, so it was really convenient.

Yuri usually got up at 6am, but he changed it to 5am for today. He rushed to the kitchen right after getting up. Kamir and him were in charge of breakfast today, but Kamir was still sleeping, since Yuri decided to wake up earlier on his own.

Yuri took out a bunch of bread and started cutting them into thinner slices than usual. He also cut off the sides too, and transformed the bread into thin slices without the sides in no time.

「The egg salad from last night, lettuce, ham and cuc.u.mber… Let's leave the ones with fruit jam as dessert.」

He hummed happily and started preparing breakfast.

He took out a few plates from the fridge, one was crushed eggs mixed with mayonnaise, and seasoned to make egg salad. A bowl of washed lettuce laid over a colander to drain out the water, a bowl of thinly sliced ham, a bowl of cuc.u.mber cut into long strips, and the last bowl was left over mayonnaise.

It should be clear by now that Yuri wanted to make sandwiches.

He was making egg salad sandwich and ham sandwich. For Yuri, ham sandwich was lettuce, cuc.u.mber and ham. There wasn't any reason, that was what he ate at home since young.

He spread mayonnaise on one side of the bread, put on lettuce, ham and cuc.u.mber, then covered it with another slice of bread. He placed the sandwich onto a tray, cover it with a clean piece of cloth, and put a mid sized pot on top, careful not to crush the sandwiches. This would ensure the sandwiches were compact.

After putting the pot on top of the ham sandwiches, he started on the egg salad sandwiches. This part was easy, he just needs to spread enough salad, and make sure they didn't spill out. He quickly made them and placed them on a tray.

And finally, he took the strawberry jam out of the fridge and made jam sandwiches. This would be the dessert, so the quant.i.ty was much lesser than the other two variants.

After finis.h.i.+ng with the sandwiches, Yuri took out a kitchen knife and cut the sandwiches in half without any hesitation, making them into triangles. He then put the cut sandwiches into a basket with a lid, which already had a nice piece of cloth laid out inside. He divided the three different types of sandwiches into three different baskets, and he had already decided on the quant.i.ty ahead of time, so they fit in just right.

「Okay, the sandwiches are done.」

He said with a smile, and started boiling water. He then added the hot water into a teapot to make tea. When the tea was done, he finally poured them into three flasks. These flasks were made with metal that had insulating properties, so it could keep the content warm and the outside of the flasks wouldn't be too hot.

After pouring the tea, he carefully screwed on the cover to avoid any tea from spilling out, and placed them together with the basket. He then took out cloth bags he made for fun a few days ago, and put the basket and flask inside, preparing three portions. Yuri then brought the bags to a table near the entrance of the dining hall.

And waited for his target to appear.

A while later, he heard the footsteps of three people. They were probably being careful to walk quietly and speak softly as it was very early. Yuri didn't know what they were talking about, but he could tell they were coming near the dining hall.

「Good morning.」

「...Yuri?」

「Hmm? Isn't that Yuri? Why are you up so early?」

「Morning Yuri.」

Yuri greeted Brooke, Glacier and Lelei with a smile. They stood there and blinked as they didn't expect Yuri to be there, and only Lelei accepted the situation immediately, and greeted Yuri.

They would be going on a long trip. As they had accepted a quest to collect materials from a dungeon far from here, they had to leave very early, and eat a simple breakfast along the way. This wasn't anything new, and they would usually bring a flask and bread along with them.

However, Yuri couldn't accept this.

Yuri was in charge of all the house ch.o.r.es in the 《Scarlet Lynx》. He didn't want to be a treasure hunter, and was lodging with the 《Scarlet Lynx》 as he had nowhere to go. His mission was to complete all the household ch.o.r.es such as cooking, laundry and cleaning. For a girlish boy like Yuri, household ch.o.r.es weren't troublesome at all, and he was enjoying his life here.

And because he was Yuri, no, because he had the values of a modern j.a.panese High Schooler, he couldn't accept knowing someone leaving early for work without breakfast, and not making a Bento for them.

If this was modern j.a.pan, he might not give this too much thought. After all, there were convenience stores open 24 hours all over j.a.pan, and food chains that operates from early morning until late night. But this was a different world, there might be food vendors along the streets, but there weren't many of them. And they were not headed for a large city this time, so they would definitely starve.

「Here's a Bento, please take it with you.」

「Yuri?」

「There are three types of sandwiches inside, ham, egg salad and fruit jam, and a flask of tea. The jam is strawberry, so you can eat it as dessert.」

「W-Wait, Yuri.」

「What is it, Brooke-nii?」

Brooke interrupted Yuri who was explaining the details. The Swordsman Brooke was usually calm and collected, but he looked surprised. Glacier and Lelei didn't notice Brooke was acting strange, as they were equally surprised too. No, they were younger than Brooke, and even more surprised by this scene.

They first asked Yuri「What is a Bento.」

Yuri then realized there wasn't a culture of Bento in this way. There were food that could be carried around easily, the concept of bringing food to eat at a destination far away was alien to them. Even if they brought food with them, it wouldn't be a Bento. This was a clash of cultures.

They then asked 「What is a sandwich.」

Yuri explained it as a food 「bread with fillings in between them.」 He used the leftover ingredients to make sandwiches for Kamir and himself as an example. Lelei and Glacier pounced on it immediately, but was stopped by Brooke. He said calmly 「Don't s.n.a.t.c.h other people's food」, which made them deflate like a flat football.

Yuri felt their sincere reactions were really cute, cut the sandwiches into bite sizes, and offered some to them with the excuse of taste testing. The two of them ate without any question, and of course, Yuri offered a sample to Brooke too. They only ate toast by spreading b.u.t.ter or jam on it, so they were shocked when they ate the sandwich.

As the side dish was clamped between the bread, so it was easy to carry and could be eaten with one hand. Brooke was hesitant to speak, and looked at Yuri with a complicated face. Yuri was clueless, but Brooke was thinking that 「you can make a lot of money just from selling this recipe.」 Tiffana thought the same way in the past too.

However, the carefree girlish boy wouldn't think so much.

「Why did you go out of your way to prepare this for us?」

「Hmm? Because I heard you will be setting off before breakfast.」

「You mentioned that earlier, but how did it lead to this? You even got up early.」

「That's right, the sandwiches taste great, and we are really happy, but why?」

「... What do you mean why? In my hometown, preparing a Bento for someone who couldn't have a proper breakfast in the morning is normal.」

「「...」」

Yuri didn't give it too much thought, and answered warmly with a bit of confusion. That was all to him. Preparing rice b.a.l.l.s meal or sweet rolls for family members who didn't have time for breakfast was normal in j.a.pan. That was all Yuri thought..

But as mentioned earlier, this was a different world, not modern j.a.pan. There was a spirit of mutual support here too, but the food culture was way different from j.a.pan. The people here didn't have the custom of putting a lot of effort into preparing take away meals for family members.

Hence, when the three of them saw Yuri took out sandwiches with a smile, their heart was filled with overwhelming grat.i.tude. They were already grateful that this ever smiling youth took on the housework everyone found annoying (For Yuri, housework was a reward and his hobby, but that was unfathomable to them). They never thought Yuri would get up early to make breakfast for them, and sandwiches which was troublesome to make at that. Instead of water, the flasks were filled with tea.

「Yuri, souvenirs, is there any souvenirs that you want?」

「Huh?」

「We will be going on an expedition, so we might come across something rare!」

「Hmm? I don't have anything I particularly want… By the way, why are you so excited, Clay?」

「Anyone would get excited!」

「But why?」

The wall of cultural divide wasn't just tall, but thick too.

Glacier drooped his shoulders depressedly, and Lelei tapped his shoulders gently. Brooke just smiled awkwardly in resignation. For Glacier, Yuri was around his age and a newbie who just joined the 《Scarlet Lynx》. Glacier was overwhelmed with joy when Yuri made Bento for them, so Glacier asked Yuri if he wanted any souvenirs to repay his kindness.

He didn't expect Yuri to brush it off as nothing with his usual silly att.i.tude. Poor Glacier.

「Give it up, Clay. Our common sense doesn't apply to Yuri.」

「Brooke-nii, but we...」

「T-Then, it's fine for us to buy back random souvenirs, right?」

「That's true, he will probably like it if we brought back rare ingredients.」

「Alright, it's settled then!」

「What?」

They decided to buy souvenirs with no regards for Yuri's wishes. Yuri tilted his head confusedly, and they looked at Yuri's childish, naive face with a warm smile… As if they were looking at a young child.

After this small commotion, they thanked Yuri with a smile, and left with the sandwich Bento. Yuri watched them go and said 「Have a safe trip」 with a smile. They were surprised when they heard that, which then turned into a smile. This scene left a deep impression on Yuri.

… This carefree girlish boy, was evolving into a mother.

「Is everyone doing alright...?」

Yuri looked at the guild members (top management level) who were focused on eating cuc.u.mbers, but they didn't answer. Harold and Yak who were accompanying and surveilling Yuri showed a face of understanding as they watched the staff members stuff their faces with cuc.u.mbers.

The cause of this was mayonnaise.

Harold advised Yuri to apply for a patent with the Production guild for mayonnaise. Yuri followed his advice, and came to the guild with Harold and Yak. Harold was one of the top merchants in the capital, so the guild got their top management level to attend right from the start, but Harold requested for the guild master… The staff members didn't expect Harold to be so confident of this merchandize, which caused the atmosphere in the Production guild to grow tense. Yuri was not aware of that at all.

And so, the staff brought them to the Guild Master's office, together with two other top management members. In the end, the Guild Master, two top management staff and the Principle Secretary taste tested the mayonnaise with cuc.u.mbers before Yuri and the others (It was the leftovers from yesterday, but the taste wasn't too badly affected).

This was fine since checking the merchandize was the Production guild's job. a.s.signing values to products by scrutinizing the goods carefully was their work, so when Harold suggested Yuri to bring mayonnaise along, he also brought some cuc.u.mbers. He did so because there were cuc.u.mbers left over in the fridge, and Yuri felt that compared to other vegetables, they were easier to eat, and he just needed to cut them into strips.

The problem was, they were too focused, and ignored what Yuri said. They ate the cuc.u.mber dipped in mayonnaise with amazing concentration, and instead of eating, this was closer to ravis.h.i.+ng.

「Harold-san, what...」

「Anyway, let's wait until they finish.」

「Okay...」

Harold said with a smile. He experienced the shock of mayonnaise yesterday, and was calm right now. He requested to visit the Guild Master's office because he expected this to happen. Harold insisted on coming along as he was afraid Yuri would take out the mayonnaise at the reception counter, and cause a commotion by starting a taste testing exhibition.

Yuri was completely lost, and Yak patted his shoulder. Yuri was carefree and unaware of all the 「troubles」 he caused, but Yak and Ari knew Yuri well, so Yak told Yuri to keep quiet for now with his gaze. Fortunately, Yuri got the message and nodded.

The taste testing session continued until the cuc.u.mbers ran out. They were still excited after eating all that, and the Guildmaster looked at Yuri and said:

「... You want to apply for a patent for the recipe of this condiment called mayonnaise, right?」

「Yes, I don't understand why mayonnaise is so important, but since Harold-san and the people in the Clan said so...」

「...... You don't understand?」

「Yes, I don't get it.」

「......... Really?」

When Yuri said that with a firm smile, the Production Guildmaster's shoulders drooped dejectedly. The two top management patted his shoulders, while the Secretary cast a sympathetic gaze towards him, and then left to get more tea. Yuri was confused, while Harold and Yak looked at each other and shrugged. They already expected Yuri to react this way.

「Anyway, this is the recipe for mayonnaise, but this is just the basics. I will include the other applications.」

「... This piece of paper...?」

「Oh, that's my personal item.」

Yuri said with a smile. The memo he showed them was torn out of his notebook, which surprised everyone, since the paper manufacturing technology of this world couldn't make this. Yak didn't pay too much mind to it, but Harold's eyes were s.h.i.+ning, a merchant would never miss such an opportunity. But he remained calm and didn't disrupt the conversation abruptly.

The Production guild members didn't ask about the recipe, and asked about the paper instead. Yuri was dense as usual, and Yak drank the tea disinterestedly. Harold understood the impact this had on them, and looked at them supportively.

「Guildmaster, so you will accept my patent application for this recipe?」

「... Of course, I will inform the restaurants immediately and a tenth of the revenue will go to you.」

「Alright.」

「Recipes usually go for a hundred Gordes each, so for each one that is sold, you will get ten Gordes.」

「Okay, should I come here to get the money?」

「The money will be deposited into the Production guild's vault, just collect it whenever you need to drop by.」

「Got it.」

Yuri understood what the guildmaster was saying, and thought casually 「So this is a patent and commission.」 Actually, he didn't think his recipe would sell, and was thinking 「is it fine for me to earn from this?」 The carefree girlish boy was the same as usual.

The Guildmaster asked 「Is there anything else?」, and Yuri nodded. Yak then smack the back of Yuri's head, which confused Yuri.

「...Yak? Is there something else?」

「There's the patent application for the scrunchies and hair clips. And to sell the material.」

「Oh, that's right.」

Yak felt relieved that he tagged along when he saw Yuri's silly smile. Yuri was kind, but his denseness was unbelievable, and his carelessness led to such mistakes from time to time. However, Yuri just didn't think the scrunchies and hair clips had such values.

「Crunchy? Hareclip? What are those?」

「Here, scrunchies are hair accessories to tie up one's hair, and hair clips are used to pin down some hair.」

Yuri said as he took out some scrunchies and hair clips from his Student bag, as well as the original materials, which were the hair band and black hair clips. The hair band came in a bundle, and would never run out. The hair clips were kept in a bag, which seemed limitless. After Yuri's possession became magic tool, they were overpowered in all sorts of ways.