The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick up Trash - Volume 4 - Chapter 184

Chapter 184:

Getting Ready

I’d finally calmed down from the minor bombshell Druid had just dropped, so I was ready to hear the shopkeeper’s plans for the day.

I’m Druid’s messiah? No way. Not even slightly possible. If anybody is Druid’s messiah, it’s Sora.

“So, it’s like this,” the shopkeeper began. “The wealthy are hoarding grain, so we’re running out of food faster than we expected. They’ve imposed some limits, but it’s already too late.”

“I can’t believe those bastards!” Shurila sounded a bit on edge. “In times like these, we’re supposed to help one another!”

She was right. The actions people take in times of crisis greatly impact the future.

“And that’s where we come in. The guild sent in a request. They want us to get the public eating ryce as soon as possible.”

“Oh, I see. Did they give us a deadline, sir?”

“Could we do it right now?”

Right now? But there are preparations… Actually, they’re not needed, are they? We’ve got rice. And we picked a sauce recipe whose ingredients we can get in large supply at short notice, so we can make a lot of it right away.

“That shouldn’t be a problem, sir. Could we make the products here?”

“We should,” Shurila answered. “I think the smell of those onigiri will lure customers here better than word of mouth ever could. We need to make them forget that they’re eating animal feed.”

She was right. The aroma was quite savory and mouthwatering. Ahhh, just the thought of it is making my stomach growl.

“Ivy, dear, could you teach me how to steam the ryce?”

“Of course, ma’am. I’m still at the experimental stage myself, though.”

“Hee hee. Okay, thanks.”

Shurila really was so pretty. I don’t know whether to describe the feeling she gave people as fluffy or fuzzy… Whenever she was near you, it felt like a gentle breeze was caressing your heart.

“So, you need ryce and a pot for this recipe?” she asked as we walked over to the kitchen area.

“Yes, ma’am. You also need bana leaves and a wooden box.”

We both started getting everything ready for production. I put rice in the pot and adjusted the water level until it was just right. The air felt a little humid, so I used a bit less water.

“I sure hope this works, ma’am.”

“Oh, don’t worry. If we ruin this batch, we’ve got huge piles of ryce stored up in the shed out back.”

“Really?”

“Oh, yes. None of the other shops have any use for it, so Father bought up most of it. That means we have heaps of ryce to spare. My husband and I would always fight over how much ryce went to waste every year, but I really like the way Father is doing business. I want to keep it up.”

Rice went to waste? I didn’t quite follow. If they had too much rice, they could always just grow less of it…so what was the problem?

Noticing my look of confusion, Shurila smiled kind of sadly. “There are farmlands just outside the town walls. And for some reason, the only thing that can grow in the dirt there is ryce.”

What?! Rice is the only thing that will grow? I didn’t even know that was a thing.

“They were going to expand the farmlands to counter the overpopulation, but since ryce was the only thing that could grow there, it was a big disaster. But the folks who bought land there had nowhere else to go, so they resigned themselves to growing ryce. But it’s normally used just to feed livestock, remember? So there wasn’t any money to be made in it. All the other shops sell it dirt cheap. Father’s managed to push his stock a little, but we always have huge amounts of it left over every year.”

Druid’s father sure was something, to buy a bunch of rice when he knew he wouldn’t be able to sell it all. But I was still surprised to hear about the dirt that only grew rice. Did such a thing really exist?

“Um, the people who farm those lands…haven’t they tried to change the soil somehow?”

They could have added fertilizer or put in new soil…what’s that called again? Breaking ground? No, wait, I think that’s something else…

“Well, they tried all sorts of things, but that soil just stayed the same. They even tried replacing it altogether, but that didn’t work.”

Not even changing out the soil did the trick? Wow, I guess that dirt really can only grow rice.

“Well, if rice gets popular and everyone starts buying it, then those farmers could earn enough money to finally move somewhere else.”

“Huh? Ivy, if there ends up being enough demand for ryce, I don’t think they’ll need to move.”

Hm? Oh, right! They did say rice grew even in bad soil. For that matter, they were on land that could grow nothing but rice. Past Me’s knowledge of rice was messing everything up: They knew rice as a grain that required very rich, wet soil to grow.

“Sorry, yes, you’re right. Well, let’s do our best to help those poor farmers!”

“Yes, and let’s make my blockhead of a husband ashamed of himself for telling Father he was wasting his time and money!”

Shurila seemed to be unleashing her sassy side more and more… Every rose has its thorns, I guess. Hm? There’s Past Me again. She just keeps popping things into my brain. I really need to be careful not to say them out loud.

The aroma of steamed rice filled the kitchen. I always found that smell very soothing. I grabbed the lid and said a little prayer. Everyone seemed to get uncomfortable when I showed too much emotion at this part, so I was discreet. Dear rice, please turn out good… I lifted the lid, and…

“Oh, thank goodness. It steamed up really well.”

“It sure did. It looks delicious. I’m pretty sure I know the right amount of water, but is it always the same ratio?”

“No, it’s a bit humid today, so I added a little less water.”

“Oh, I see. I guess I’ll just have to learn through trial and error then.”

She’s so cute when the wheels in her head spin. Gee, I hope I’m a cute woman like her when I grow up.

“Okay, then! It’s ryce ball time…”

“Wait, no! We need to put it in the wooden bowl to cool off a little before we shape it into balls. It’s too hot right now.”

I had tried to make an onigiri just once with freshly cooked rice, and I regretted it terribly. My already misshapen rice balls were even more misshapen—and the rice burned my hands, too! It was so hot!

“I’ll just make the sauce while we wait.”

“Oh! That’s right, I got the piece of paper from Father with the correct ingredients and ratios.”

I looked at the paper. The ingredients for our onigiri sauce were neatly written down in detail. Wow, I’m impressed. If I were left to my own devices, I’d just wing it. But that’s wrong: If I want lots of people to like my onigiri, I have to make them perfectly every single time. All right, I’ll measure everything carefully for the sauce! Gee, this’s the first time I’ve cooked using a recipe.

“The sauce is ready.” It sure was a hassle measuring everything.

“Okay, let’s turn them into balls! I had a lot of fun yesterday just making that one ryce ball. I had a hard time shaping it into a triangle, but today will be different! I’m gonna make the best-shaped onigiri ever!” she declared, gripping her fist.

“Just don’t squeeze too hard, okay?” I remembered she’d messed up yesterday because she’d squeezed too hard, so I needed to warn her in advance.

“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t make the same mistakes I made yesterday…I hope.”

As we stood there, forming onigiri together, Druid and his father popped into the kitchen.

“We’ve set up the grill. Do you need help with anything?”

Druid walked over and examined our onigiri. “Shurila, you need to squeeze more gently.”

“Urrrgh, I know that. I just can’t help but squeeze too hard.” Apparently, no amount of warning could suppress her iron grip. She was a lot stronger than she looked, especially with those delicate hands. She truly was a woman of many wonders.

“All done.” Phew, that was a lot of work. Wait, the second batch of rice is almost done cooking. We’ll have to form that into onigiri next.

“Ivy, do you think this is the right amount of water?”

I looked at the paper the shopkeeper showed me. It had the amounts of rice and water written on it.

“Yes, sir. That should be okay.”

Druid deftly carried three wooden bowls over to the rice-cooking area.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Sure thing. All right, let’s get to grilling.”

“Oh, okay! Let me put the sauce on first.”

“Shurila, don’t steal any bites while you cook,” Druid’s mother warned as she handed her a brush for the sauce. Funny, she didn’t seem like the type of person who’d nibble on the food she was making.

“Oh, don’t worry. I’m not gonna steal any bites—I’m gonna scarf down all the onigiri I want.”

Appearances really were deceiving with her…

“Now, that really won’t do, honey.”

“Hey!” Shurila protested. “The bowl at the bottom has my onigiri.”

“Huh? Ohh…right. The onigiri duds.”

Sure enough, several of Shurila’s first attempts at onigiri had been squeezed way too hard. We’d decided they weren’t good enough to sell, so they were Shurila’s personal supply.

“Grilling o-ni-gi-ri! Grilling o-ni-gi-ri!”

Shurila sang gleefully next to me as we painted the sauce on the rice balls. I stole a glance and she’d already painted one of her failed onigiri with sauce and put it on the grill. It smelled so savory and yummy. Now I think I want to eat those failed onigiri, too…