Chapter 142: A Respite From Adventuring IV (1/2)

I decided to make yakisoba(fried noodles) for lunch.

The sisters had just returned home, so along with Lanseal, the four of us had lunch together. Misuranika-sama was nowhere to be seen. Maria wasn't back from visiting her parent yet.

The dwarf's meals were all handled by Makina, so I didn't make his share.

「Onii-chan, what's the deal with this?」

For some reason, my sister was glaring at me fiercely.

「What's the deal, you ask......it's yakisoba. Rana, how many fried eggs do you want with yours?」

「I'll take two」

I flipped the fried eggs in the frying pan, then put them on top of Rana's yakisoba.

「What about you, Lanseal?」

「I’m fine with one」

One for Lanseal.

「What about you, Ea?」

「Haaaa~」

Ea shook her head in dismay and let out a deep sigh.

「Onii-chan, this ramen is no good」

「It's not ramen, but yakisoba though」

My sister ignored me and went on.

「One of the good points of ramen is the sense of comfort and feeling of satisfaction that comes from knowing that there will still be plenty of broth left after finishing the noodles and eating the ingredients. That luxuriousness is its selling point. This dish kills off that aspect of ramen. It reduces the supreme dish of ramen to the level of a normal dish. I don't acknowledge this, you hear?」

「Oh, I see」

It appears that Ea isn't pleased with the yakisoba.

I'll take her plate back and whip up something else for her.

「You two can go ahead and eat first」

『Itadakimasu』

Rana and Lanseal put their hands together and then started eating the yakisoba. Both of them were using chopsticks. Rana was still getting used to them, but Lanseal had mastered them with ease.

「Oh, it's delicious. The sweet and spicy seasoning becomes richer when mixed with the runny yolk of the fried egg. I like this dish very much」

It looks like Rana likes it.

「Souya, it's very tasty. I can see Maria and the others liking this dish a lot. Please teach me how to make the noodles. And also how to make this sauce」

Likewise for Lanseal.

「The noodles are pretty easy to make, but the sauce may be a little trickier. I'll need to work on that」

Otafuku sauce.[1]

Can it be reproduced in the alternate world, I wonder?

「Well then, Ea, there's some leftover pot-au-feu, so I'll use that to make potage, and you can eat it with bread, alright?」

When I grabbed Ea's plate, she grabbed my arm.

「I didn't say I wouldn't eat it. I'll also have two fried eggs. You should be more confident in your own cooking, Onii-chan」

「………………Okay」

Despite complaining about it, my sister still devoured the yakisoba with gusto.

「Hmmm. How about mixing in some curry powder? I think it needs to be a little spicier. This sweet sauce is really good though. As expected of you, Onii-chan」

That's just Otafuku sauce though.

I sat down next to Rana and put my hands together before the yakisoba.

「Itadakimasu」

The ingredients were simple, just some bean sprouts grown in our home's basement, pork belly from a dungeon pig, and thinly sliced leeks.

For seasoning, I used an unfamiliar pepper from the alternate world and salt from the famed demon realm, Mojubafuru Ocean. The clincher was Japan's Otafuku sauce.

As I picked up the noodles with my chopsticks, the sweet smell of the sauce filled my nostrils. It whetted my appetite immensely, and I devoured the yakisoba.

I couldn't get enough of eating the slightly fatty belly meat together with the noodles. The small amount of bean sprouts and thinly sliced leeks added a delightful texture to the noodles.

And then there was the Otafuku sauce.

Amidst its sweet and spicy flavor was a concentrated taste that was rich in history.

They won't lose. Japanese seasonings are more than a match for the diverse ingredients of the alternate world. They go well with and dominate them all.

After savoring the flavor of yakisoba by itself, I tore apart the fried egg and mixed its yolk with the noodles.

Yeah, it's delicious.

Why does it taste so good when the yolk is combined with the deliciousness of the sauce? Honestly speaking, I think it would be good to have fried eggs with many other dishes.

I couldn't help observing the way in which everyone was eating their yakisoba.

Rana, like me, had torn apart the egg and had mixed the yolk and egg white into the noodles.

Lanseal was eating the yolk, the egg white, the noodles, and the ingredients in turn, carefully savoring each one.

Ea seemed to be eating the yakisoba first and leaving the fried eggs for last.

There's this dubious test that says that the way one eats their fried egg reveals their outlook on love. I wonder how that'd work when combined with yakisoba.

「But, you know, Onii-chan, you're horrible」

「Eh, what do you mean?」

Sitting opposite me, Ea said with a serious expression.

「If you can make ramen, you should have done it earlier. These noodles are way better than the ones in cup noodles」

「That's what you're talking about, huh?」

Certainly, they taste better than those in cup noodles. No, the noodles that Makina made are much firmer and much tastier than the ones I made on the fly earlier. She did a great job on these.

「I only found out today that we can make Chinese noodles on this side」

「Huh? How come?」

「What I needed, or more accurately, a substitute for what I needed to mix into the noodles was just found」

「A substitute?」

Ea asked while munching on a mouthful of yakisoba.

Her skill with chopsticks is much better than her sister's. All in all, my sister is very dexterous.

「Well, this may come as a surprise, but the wheat flour is mixed with detergent. However――――――」

「PFFFT」

She choked and spat out her yakisoba.

Hey, you got some on my face.

「Ea! What are you doing all of a sudden?!」

Rana got angry, which was rare.

「Ugh, koff, koff」

After drinking some water, Ea managed to pull herself together somewhat.

「No no no, Onee-chan. It's detergent, you know?! Onii-chan gave us detergent to eat, you know?!」

Makina is the one who made the noodles though.

「No no no, Ea. I boiled it properly, so it won't cause any harm to the body」

「But it's detergent, right?! I tried some in the past and it gave me a stomachache!」

「That's more of a problem, isn't it?」

「Look, even Lanseal's chopsticks have stopped!」

Ea dragged the frozen stiff Lanseal into it.

She also looks surprised in a lot of ways.

「Souya, ea, eating detergent is……」

「Like I said, I've boiled it, and the composition―――――」

「Haaaa~」

Rana let out a sigh with an air of incredulity.

I've never seen her act this haughty, or rather, with this much disdain. This is worse than how Ea was when I first met her.

「Ea, you’re just a『child』and sister, so it can’t be helped」

The word ”child” sounded extremely barbed to me.

「However, Lanseeeeeal」

She's sounding a bit like Norio Wakamoto.[2]

「The affection you have for my husband can be swayed by something as trivial as being given detergent to eat, I see. What a huge letdown. I'm so disappointed and disgusted. It's so hollow and empty」

「Urgh」

Lanseal clutched her chest.

I feel a little bit bad for her, so I'll try to help her.

「Rana, you didn't have to be so harsh. It's also my fault for not explaining」

「Both of you, listen carefully」

Ah, you're not listening to me, I see.

「Even if it's poisoned, I'll still eat up whatever my husband serves me without a second thought. That's the resolve of a wife」

No, I won’t do anything like that though.

「It can't be helped in Ea's case. After all, she's just a『sister』. It's alright for her to not have the level of resolve a companion should have. Even if they take baths together from time to time, it's a brother-sister thing, not a male-female thing, so it's alright」

『………………』

This time, it was the word ”sister” that was barbed. Ea looked chagrined, but my mind was on something else.

She knows that I had taken baths with my sister. The fact that she just let that slip out at that timing gives me the shivers.

「Lanseal, I'll give you a chance to explain yourself」

Rana gave Lanseal a cold look.

And here I was thinking that they had gotten closer recently.

「………What a blunder. Even for a moment, I doubted Souya」

「You lack training. Y・O・U, who should be better at housework than I am, why are you unable to trust my husband's cooking skills? Why did it not occur to you that he can turn detergent into delicious food? Why! Didn't you! Think of that?!」

「Errr, no one would think that normally, isn’t it?」

I couldn't help but blurt that out.

「Dear! Are you not frustrated?!」

「Eh, not really. I didn't think it was possible to make Chinese noodles from detergent either. And one more thing, the pancakes that you love to eat, Rana, they also contain stuff extracted from detergent」