NOVEL NEXT Chapter 5
Leftover Cooking Is A Housewife’s Wisdom
Yak, a newcomer, appeared and explained the situation to Yuuri. He almost cried while doing so.
In Scarlet Lynx, newcomers are responsible for cooking and cleaning the bath. Of course, everyone takes turns, but it’s a rule for apprentices to take charge of cooking duty. Probably, it’s the first training because they have to live with limited ingredients in the dungeon. However, not all newcomers understand that.
“I get it. Food is important. It’s basic to do your best with what you have.”
“Yeah, it’s basic.”
“We have limited food expenses per month, and more importantly, the leader doesn’t easily replenish supplies as long as ingredients are available. It’s because it’s wasteful.”
“Yeah, and it’ll go bad. It’s basic to use everything up.”
Yak’s words were met with a nod from Yuuri. Despite being a newcomers dressed in nice clothes, Yak was moved by his words. Although he suddenly appeared, from Yak’s perspective, compared to the seniors who are just above them, he’s much more reliable. Especially in the current difficult situation.
It’s nothing much. People like Yak, who aren’t from wealthy rural areas, understand the importance of ingredients. They think they can just buy them. And since they don’t know how to cook, naturally, their usage of ingredients is rough.
“We have plenty of bread and potatoes. These two are staples, so the leader buys a lot.”
“Oh, potatoes are considered staples too. Don’t you have rice or pasta?”
“We do, but we don’t use them much. We seem to have a contract with a nearby bakery, so they deliver more than the daily amount.”
“Wow, directly from the bakery every day? That’s nice.”
It was quite a dreamy situation for Yuuri, who grew up in modern Japan. If they match the timing, Yuuri can have freshly baked bread every day. What a wonderful situation. However, they’re delivered in the morning. So the bread might be cold by lunch or dinner. Still, freshly baked bread on the same day is delicious. Somehow, Yuuri was looking forward to dinner.
“So, towards the end of the month, we run out of ingredients due to rough usage.”
“…That’s troublesome.”
“Yeah, it is. So, as the end of the month approaches, I steam the potatoes. Potatoes fill you up.”
“Potatoes are versatile.”
“Versatile?… No, potatoes are only good for steaming, right?”
“Huh?”
Yuuri thought Yak was kidding. In this other world, potatoes seemed to have a very low status. Moreover, judging from Yak’s tone, it seemed they just steam the potatoes. Yuuri thought it wouldn’t be tasty without putting butter on them while they’re hot. Or, they could be boiled with salt.
While Yuuri was puzzled, Yak continued to complain. Not really complain. It was an explanation of the current situation.
“So, I try to adjust like that, but the seniors use ingredients as they please. And when I serve steamed potatoes each time, they say, ‘Can’t you cook anything else?’…”
“…Uh, Yak-kun?”
“Even I can cook if I have the ingredients! But they use them recklessly, leaving only scraps when it’s my turn to cook. What am I supposed to do?!”
Yak slammed the work table in the kitchen. It could be called hitting. It seemed like Yak had been accumulating frustration. Yuuri gently patted Yak’s head.
Yak considers ingredient distribution seriously when cooking, but the seniors ruin it. They don’t realize it, yet they criticize Yak’s cooking. And today, at the end of the month, they’ve run out of ingredients, and Yak doesn’t know how to make dinner anymore.
Lunch, however, seemed to have been made with the remaining ingredients, as the seniors pleased. Yak looked at the kitchen afterward and slumped, as there was hardly anything to eat.
“Um, can I check what’s left? I might be able to help.”
“Yuuri, can you cook?”
“Just as a hobbyist, you know. I can’t serve customers. But I can cook for my family.”
Yuuri, with a smile, said. Since he didn’t work at a café, his cooking was just for home. Sometimes Yuuri looked up recipes online or recreated things he saw on TV, but mostly, it was dishes he learned from his mother, a housewife. It has the taste of home. He could only make simple and ordinary dishes, so he’d be troubled if asked for something extravagant.
Yak’s eyes sparkled. There weren’t many men who could cook. They were trying hard because it was training, and the seniors weren’t particularly good at cooking either. Among them, a newcomer who could cook appeared. He was undoubtedly a savior.
“Alright, I’ll explain.”
“Okay.”
“The vegetables left besides potatoes look like this.”
“…Wow, it’s just scraps.”
“…Yeah.”
Yak and Yuuri smiled at each other with distant eyes. What remained were vegetable skins that seemed more like they’d been shaved than peeled. Yak sighed, realizing that those scattered vegetables were all that was left. It felt like seeing rabbit food.
Next, when the refrigerator was opened, there was meat. No, it was something that used to be meat. Or rather, bones with a little meat clinging to them. There was hardly any meat left.
“I shaved a lot of meat at noon and grilled it…”
“…I see.”
“With just these bones and a little meat left, how am I supposed to cook?”
Perhaps feeling sorry for himself, Yak sniffled. It was pitiful. Yak hadn’t done anything wrong. Yet, he was taking all the blame. If this was the fate of a newcomer, it was too cruel.
Yuuri looked around, checking seasonings and cooking utensils. They had running water and a stove. Well, the stove didn’t seem to be gas, but it had knobs that seemed like heat controls, so it should work similarly. Unfortunately, they could only find salt, pepper, soy sauce, and little else for seasonings. Disappointing.
There were plenty of eggs and milk in the refrigerator. When Yuuri looked at them wondering if they could be used, Yak answered with a smile, or rather, proudly.
“We get milk and eggs delivered from a nearby ranch every day, so it’s okay to use them! So, for breakfast, we have milk, eggs, and bread, you know…”
“…Ah, if ingredients got overused, there’s nothing else, huh.”
Even so, they’ve managed somehow until now because of the large amount of potatoes, and daily deliveries of bread, eggs, and milk. Ideally, they’d want more vegetables and meat, but with at least these, they should be able to prepare a simple morning meal. Probably, it’s Ali’s mercy or support, Yuuri thought.
And Yuuri smiled at Yak. He thought they could manage to make a simple meal. If he’s allowed to go shopping after using up everything, they can get through today with this, endure with a simple breakfast of milk, eggs, and bread tomorrow morning, and then buy fresh ingredients.
“Then, let’s prepare dinner. How long until dinner?”
“Huh? It varies, but the first person will probably come in about three hours.”
“Got it. Let’s do our best.”
Yuuri said cheerfully, and Yak blinked repeatedly. Yak didn’t understand. In front of them were ingredients that couldn’t possibly be cooked into a meal. He couldn’t understand how Yuuri could laugh so carefree when faced with this situation.
Yuuri, however, was excited. Being a girly boy, he loved cooking. Although he had suddenly been transported to this other world, since he had secured a place to live and guardianship, he was thrilled to be able to cook, his favorite thing.
Yuuri is just a girly boy.
“Hey, hey, Yuuri!”
“Huh? What’s up?”
“Can you really cook dinner?! With these ingredients?!”
“With just these, I can make some simple home-cooked meals.”
“What?!”
Ignoring Yak’s astonished cry, Yuuri picked up a loaf of bread from the basket, probably from a few days ago, and stiffened bread in his hand. The loaf was quite hard. Holding the bread that would probably be hard even if baked, Yuuri took out a bowl and held a grater.
“Yuuri?”
“For now, help me make this. Cut the bread and grate it into the bowl.”
“…A-Alright.”
Yak nodded for now at Yuuri’s smiling face. Since he couldn’t come up with anything himself, he thought he’d leave it to the eager newcomer. If they got scolded later by everyone for being in charge, he’d explain that there were no other ingredients! While thinking so, Yak and Yuuri quietly grated the bread and made a lot of breadcrumbs.