NOVEL NEXT Chapter 28
An Egg Rice Porridge For The Sick
Suddenly, in the Scarlet Lynx’s hideout, there is one very frail man. His weakness is so apparent that one might wonder why he’s even an adventurer. However, he’s not suffering from a chronic illness or anything; rather, he’s just a pure indoor type who isn’t physically strong.
“…Is he bedridden?”
“Yeah. Don’t worry, it’s a regular thing. He’ll be back on his feet in a few days.”
“I see…”
Yuuri nodded slightly with a troubled expression at what Ali told him. Jake hadn’t been bedridden since Yuuri arrived, but it seemed he had been bedridden for the first time in a while. The cause was simply lack of sleep and overwork—basically, a classic case of poor lifestyle habits. Naturally, staying up late every night will inevitably wear you down.
After finishing the whirlwind of breakfast and cleaning up, Yuuri completed his daily chores of laundry and cleaning the entrance before heading to the sick man’s room. Almost everyone was out today, leaving only the apprentices to watch the place. Ali also had errands in the morning and was out. …Well, she’d be back for lunch.
“Jake, how are you feeling?”
Knock knock, no answer. Knock again, and a weak voice replied, saying it was open. Yuuri gently opened the door and peeked inside. …The room was filled with books, almost like a library. Yuuri understood why Jake’s room was on the first floor—it was packed with books. Wondering if the floor would hold, Yuuri stepped inside.
Despite the number of books, the room was well-organized, reflecting its owner’s personality. …It was a room that was meticulously neat, at least in the areas of interest.
From the bed, only a face peeked out—that of Jake, the room’s owner. Jake was a treasure hunter but worked as a scholar. He researched various things and wrote papers. Scholars, being researchers, usually have higher intelligence than average but often lack physical strength. Indoorsy types tend to fall ill after nights of reading.
Jake was a prime example of this scholar type, so it was usual for everyone to expect him to recover in a few days. This happened so often that no one considered it serious.
“Ah… Yuuri-kun… I’ll be fine, just need to sleep…”
“You’ll collapse if you keep staying up all night. I did ask you to sleep properly.”
“…Sorry. I just got caught up in the book…”
“I figured. …Are you hungry? I’ll put some lemon water in the pitcher, okay?”
“Thanks… Not really hungry…”
Jake fell silent, possibly due to sleepiness or exhaustion. Sighing, Yuuri added lemon slices to a pitcher by the bedside. He also threw in some fennel for a refreshing touch, thinking the flavored water might stimulate Jake’s appetite a bit.
Despite being a natural-born girly girl, Yuuri’s actions, based on modern Japanese common sense, often surprised others here. Yet, he didn’t mind and continued at his own pace.
Leaving Jake’s room, Yuuri headed straight to the kitchen. Although Jake had no appetite, he needed nutrition. Lack of sleep and overwork or not, he had to eat. Yuuri, just a high school boy, though good at home economics, was not a professional chef and had no cooking job experience. His skill was limited to home cooking and easy recipes from the internet or TV.
“…Pretty sure there’s some leftover rice in the cooker…”
Breakfast was usually bread, but rice or pasta was used for lunch or dinner based on the cook’s preference. Last night, a rice dish was requested, resulting in a tempura rice bowl, as there were leftover vegetable scraps.
Opening the rice cooker revealed about a bowl of rice, which satisfied Yuuri. He filled a small pot with water and added konbu. Konbu dashi is wonderful. Ideally, he’d also like katsuobushi or niboshi, but hadn’t found any yet—he seriously planned a trip to a port town to source dashi ingredients.
Considering Jake’s lack of appetite, too many ingredients seemed unwise, but no ingredients would lack nutrition. Yuuri chose enoki mushrooms for their mild flavor and digestibility. They’d also add a good broth.
Bringing the broth to a boil, removing the konbu before it boiled, he seasoned it lightly with salt, sake, and soy sauce. Adding enoki and the leftover rice, he simmered it—creating a simple yet hearty rice porridge.
Initially, he thought umeboshi porridge would be good for an illness, but since there was no umeboshi, he opted for the more nutritious dashi-based rice porridge.
“What?”
A faint voice was heard, and when Yuuri turned around, there was Magg, staring intently at the small pot. Yuuri, looking bewildered, was asked again by Magg, who pointed at the pot.
“What?”
Finally understanding that he was being asked what he was making, Yuuri broke into a smile. He began to explain with his usual cheerful grin.
“Jake is bedridden, so I’m making rice porridge for him. There was some leftover rice in the rice cooker.”
“Dashi?”
“Yeah, rice simmered in dashi tastes really good.”
“…Tasty?”
“Yeah. But this is for Jake, so no.”
“…”
“No means no.”
Despite Magg’s silent stare, Yuuri cheerfully refused. In such moments, Yuuri showed an unbeatable strength. Seeing Magg’s frustrated expression, Yuuri tilted his head. rice porridge was indeed tasty, but it was typically thought of as food for the sick, not something a growing boy would crave.
Magg’s keen interest was because he was fascinated by dashi and umami flavors. His sharp palate made him particularly sensitive to such tastes, and when he cooked, he could create dishes with low salt yet rich flavor using dashi and natural umami. He had a promising future in a different sense.
Once the rice was soft and had absorbed the flavors, Yuuri proceeded to the final step. He beat an egg in a bowl and poured it into the pot. As it started to bubble, he turned off the heat and covered the pot, letting it steam.
After a short wait, he opened the lid to find the egg perfectly soft and fluffy. The aroma of dashi filled the room, making it smell delicious. Satisfied with his creation, Yuuri placed a trivet on a tray, set the pot on it, and prepared a bowl and spoon, including a small ladle.
With Magg trailing behind him like a remora, Yuuri headed to Jake’s room. Realizing he couldn’t knock, Magg quickly knocked for him, and a small voice answered. They entered the room.
“…Yuuri-kun?”
Jake looked puzzled at Yuuri holding the tray, but Yuuri approached without concern. He placed the tray next to the water pitcher and removed the lid of the pot, releasing a delicious aroma that made Jake’s stomach growl.
“…Um.”
“It’s bad for your health to eat nothing. I thought you might be able to eat this. Don’t worry if you can’t finish it, I’ll eat the rest.”
Yuuri smiled as he served the egg rice porridge into a bowl. Jake, bewildered by the steaming dish, was silent. …In this world, while porridge existed, dashi-based rice porridge like Yuuri’s was not well known. Risotto was known, but it included cheese and wasn’t considered food for the sick.
“This is a dish from my hometown called ojiya. It’s seasoned with dashi and soy sauce, so it’s light. The ingredients are just enoki mushrooms and eggs.”
Jake accepted the offered bowl. Despite having no appetite earlier, the aroma in front of him made his body suddenly crave food.
He carefully took a spoonful, blew on it to cool it, and tasted it. The well-cooked rice was soft, the egg was perfectly tender, and the finely chopped enoki added texture. The gentle, warm taste of the kombu dashi and soy sauce spread through his body, and Jake slowly but surely continued eating.
“…If you can’t finish, leave it.”
Magg’s quiet words made Jake nod slightly. But despite his earlier lack of appetite, Jake steadily finished the bowl and asked for more. Magg’s disappointed aura grew as Jake ate more and more of the rice porridge, unaware of Magg’s intent to eat the leftovers.
In the end, Jake finished the entire pot of egg rice porridge. His face looked much healthier than before, clearly improved by the meal.
“Thank you, Yuuri-kun. It was delicious.”
“I’m glad. …Please take care and don’t overdo it anymore, okay?”
“Yeah, I will.”
Their conversation was warm and friendly. …Meanwhile, behind them, Magg was dejectedly tapping the empty pot with a spoon. The two cheerful boys didn’t notice. Poor Magg.
This incident led to a rumor spreading around the hideout: “If you get sick, you get special food!?” But that’s another story.