Even if my only strength is water magic, having modern knowledge should be sufficient, right?

Episode 32: The Work Continued Despite Feeling… Uneasy.

— It’s not my fault.

After all, I just reported someone suspicious, as anyone else would. I didn’t catch them, interrogate them, or… even put them on trial. …Let alone execute them.

But it still leaves a bad taste.

Did that young man really undergo a proper interrogation or trial?

Did he suffer? Was it my fault after all? Was it a miscarriage of justice?

My adult mind entertains unpleasant thoughts. Even though I know there are no answers, I still wonder…

“Is she okay?”

“Maybe she’s having stomach pains.”

“That must be tough.”

Before I knew it, I was covered in mud while working. There are many places to work, not just statues, but also slippery outdoor staircases that are discolored and can’t be cleaned easily. The palace is so vast that I feel like it would take months to finish even if I worked nonstop. Even in places well-maintained with brushes, they become clean with high-pressure washing. When I’m alone, unpleasant thoughts creep in and I start to feel bad, so I try to focus on my work.

“Frime, stop working.”

“Yes.”

It seems that a noble in expensive clothes had come nearby without me noticing. Lord Bursa and Sir Forblin were also helping. There are signs posted, but people still pass by. I bow my head and wait for them to pass.

“You should be more vigilant. Even though the spies have decreased significantly, there might still be some left.”

“……! Yes.”

Indeed, that’s true. More than ten suspicious individuals have been captured. Just like the black demon in the kitchen, there might be more. And maybe some of them are resentful towards me for their comrades being caught… Thinking about it makes me suddenly scared. I should try to hide behind the two big guys as much as possible. I want to be less noticeable, but there are nobles bringing gifts, and I’m invited to tea parties, standing out conspicuously. When I answer that I’m not of that status and need permission from my master, they usually back off. If they’re pushy, the scary-faced knight and supervisor deal with them. And a few days later, more people started paying attention to me, knowing that I’m doing the cleaning even in the toilets and kitchens, which made me stand out even more. It’s better to be clean. The maids and servants seem to think of me as a helpful fairy now that the toilets are clean… They started to pay a little more attention to me. If I have time to do such work, I’d rather finish the job I’ve been instructed to do from above, but once it’s done, there’s always another job waiting, and there’s no end to it. Lord Bursa got angry and stopped the work with the supervisor’s instructions, but… I feel so depressed being locked up in that shed that I refuse and keep working. If there are many people around, strange people probably won’t come, and surely safety increases by repaying favors. Now, even protective clothing version 2 made from various scraps of the palace and steak made by the palace chef are allowed.

“Is it delicious?”

“Yes!”

The chef uncle is a noble, but he’s a strange person who loves cooking. The scaffolding for cooking apparently gets dirty and needs to be cleaned, and the chef slipped and fell with both feet at the same time. He hurt his waist and elbow. He asked the apprentice to clean the place and was pleased when I came to check on him while doing high-pressure washing. Meat is delicious.

I didn’t have many opportunities to see many ingredients, but the ingredients in this country are completely different from what I imagined. There are vegetables like spinach leaves larger than my body and something like burnt brown carrots. And the butchering of an animal like a rhino…The culture is a bit too different and surprising, but there are still familiar things, which is somehow reassuring. The eggs are still the same shape, and the bread is made from grains about three times larger than wheat, but it’s similar.

“Is something wrong?”

“I was wondering if cooking is fun.”

“Do you want to try it?”

“Is it okay?”

“Of course. Since this kitchen is only for me, and I was told to watch over you… What ingredients will you use?”

The chef-san seems to still be in pain from his waist injury, but he was trying out new dishes in the dedicated kitchen. I, who was entrusted to the chef by Lord Bursa, is here.

There are so many ingredients that it’s overwhelming, but… what should I do?

Even though I used to cook for myself and could make most things, the ingredients here are different to begin with. Although there are dogs and people here, I think there are similar creatures to those on Earth, but I’m not familiar with most things in this kitchen.

“How about some bread, the meat from earlier, and a few vegetables?”

“Sure, feel free to use any ingredients you find here. I’ll be sleeping over there, so please don’t leave the kitchen.”

“Okay.”

It’s strange that a young girl is handling knives and fire for cooking. Let’s try various things… but it still doesn’t quite match my imagination. The meat from an animal like a rhino tastes amazing, like A5 beef. The leafy vegetables are juicy and have a good texture, even though they lack a strong flavor. The cheese is just as I imagined, although it’s a bit bland. The bread is generally hard, but it’s not as tough on the inside compared to the outside. I cut several types of bread with a knife and slice the already cooked meat thinly. I put the sliced vegetables and something resembling cheese between them… I need some sauce. I think adding some sauce would bring it all together, but there doesn’t seem to be anything suitable. At worst, I thought about sprinkling a little salt, but the salt was heavy rock salt and required quite a bit of force to grind.

There’s sake and vinegar. I crack open eggs, which are smaller and different from Japanese eggs, add a little salt and vinegar to a container, and mix them together while gradually adding oil to make mayonnaise… but I don’t have the strength or stamina for that.

“”

It would be nice to have a high-pressure shaker, but there doesn’t seem to be anything convenient like that. Using a large bowl and a big spoon, I float the spoon in a water bubble and spin it rapidly.

I can control the water bubble as I like. Floating it, moving the water, and keeping it together is fun, but I wonder if there’s any other way to use it.

Now, even a distant broom can be cleaned with water. Sometimes the broom breaks or I get poked by the broom handle or splashed with water when she makes a mistake, but I’ve gotten quite used to it.

Controlling water is more difficult than just spraying it with high pressure, but it’s convenient. Frim-chan’s toddler body is tired from cleaning every day, but if it’s magic, she can still keep going.

I’m tired of trial and error, but the chef woke up.

“What’s that?”

“It’s mayonnaise.”

Mayonnaise made with the knowledge I saw during a factory tour. There were other mysterious seasonings, but there was a problem. If there were seasonings here that were like “you shouldn’t eat it without heating it,” it would be fatal. It might be thought that I have a stomachache, but I would actually get one. There was a seasoning that was like pickling fish.

“There are quite a few, but do you really use that much in one dish?”

“I thought I’d like everyone to try it… Was that not okay?”

I made a lot of mayonnaise. The taste of the egg yolk, vinegar, salt, and oil… Each had its own uniqueness, and as I adjusted the quantities, it ended up being quite a lot. Although the eggs are small, the taste of the yolk is very strong, and the vinegar is more distinctive than rice vinegar. The oil is not a mild or controlled taste like salad oil, but a strong taste like a mixture of sesame oil and olive oil. It was quite difficult to crush and dissolve the rock salt.

After mixing everything together and adjusting it, I ended up with something that was surprisingly delicious compared to modern mayonnaise… but there are scary parts. Although I washed all the eggs with water before cracking them open, there’s still a possibility that bacteria like Salmonella could be breeding. And that’s if the vinegar’s sterilizing power was weak.
So, I think making fresh mayonnaise is dangerous, as I saw in the news overseas. It’s different from Japan, where raw eggs can be eaten casually… I wanted to eat it and tried tasting it many times, but hmm, there might be a risk of food poisoning. And if others eat it too, there could be mass food poisoning?

…There were plenty of eggs, and I wanted to use them all!

“Oh no, if that’s the case… Can I taste it?”

“Um, there’s a possibility of stomach upset, so it’s recommended to eat it in a few days.”

“What did you use to make it, anyway?”

After explaining, he seemed to understand somewhat.

“So, you used the preservative effect of vinegar to preserve the eggs, and that’s how this… egg? became like this? Sorry, can you tell me again? What is this?”

They seem to understand now that there are pickled items here, but now that I think about it, the person who came up with this idea is amazing.

Why did they mix eggs, vinegar, and salt, then add oil and patiently emulsify it? Maybe it was a skill born from their passion for food or their spirit of exploration.

“It’s mayonnaise. It’s delicious when it’s freshly made, but it might be better to eat it when the vinegar has had time to stabilize.”

“I see, I’ll try it then.”

“Chef!!?”

The chef couldn’t resist and tasted the dish.

It must have been very delicious because he ended up eating all the portions I had prepared for cooking.

“This… this is an incredible dish.”

“No, it’s a seasoning.”

The chef-san stared at the mayonnaise tremblingly.

“A seasoning… So, this is not a finished product, but something to be used for something else?”

“It’s used for vegetables, bread, and meat. Um, it might upset your stomach.”

“That’s fine. Anyway, I spend most of my day sleeping due to my back pain… It’s delicious. It’s so smooth and rich, with a pleasant acidity. It’s delicious on its own, and it goes well with vegetables, meat, and bread… I never knew there could be something so delicious in this world…”

He cried. A grown man cried while munching on vegetables, meat, and bread with mayo.
Well, it’s nice to be praised for cooking. But this is kinda gross.

“What’s this?”

I aimed to make a sandwich, but the bread that was placed here was of various types, so it didn’t go smoothly.

The large bread I had in mind had a hard surface, so it was impossible to use. I was in the middle of trying two types of prototypes: one made by slicing the softest, roundest bread horizontally into a hamburger shape, and the other made by cutting a bit hard baguette into a sandwich.

“It’s a sandwich and a hamburger. I thought they’d be delicious when combined.”

I actually wanted to make a soft, fluffy white sandwich, but reality fell short of my ideal. I think the deliciousness of both the burger and the sandwich depends on the hardness of the bread. There’s still plenty of room for improvement.

“A sandwich… Can I have one?”

“Of course! But it’s still a prototype, so I’m not satisfied with it yet.”

“Huh?! Y-you mean this taste is unfinished?! Ridiculous!!!”

A mayo enthusiast was born. It’s scary to see them slather mayo on the bread they’ve cut so big. Are they already eating a bowl full of mayo?