Chapter 1096: To the Friendship City ④

As one would expect from someone who runs a Set-Meal Restaurant, Kaori-san is very deft in her cooking.

[You’re very skillful.]

[Well, I’ve been running my restaurant for years after all. Ahh, right, right, you can expect a lot from my cooking…… but don’t expect too much from the rice.]

[Errr, does your rice not taste very good?]

When I asked her this in response, Kaori-san explained with a wry smile on her lips.

[No, it’s not that it tastes bad. But Kaito-kun, having been around this world for a while, you also realized that rice is a minor food in this world, right?]

[Yes, I certainly don’t see them very often. However, they are still made in many countries, aren’t they?]

[Unnn. That’s right, but it’s still expensive because production is low and there hasn’t been much progress in selective breeding or stuff like that that improves rice. For us Japanese, these matters were rather delicate, wouldn’t it? I also do my best to select and purchase rice, but it still tastes somewhat like foreign rice.]

[I see.]

Just as Kaori-san said, rice isn’t common in this world. The staple food in this world is bread, and the only person I know who eats rice as her main diet would be Neun-san, right? Neun-san is also a former Japanese though.

Incidentally, as for Kuro’s family, it’s not that Kuro has a particular preference for either bread or rice. She eats both of them, and rice is a normal part of her diet. Raz-san also likes rice and eats it often, but still, she eats bread just as much as rice.

Meanwhile, Acht and Eve said they don’t eat rice much because they feel uncomfortable having a meal without bread.

However, even if that’s so. Since I came to this world, I don’t think I have ever questioned the taste of rice, nor have I ever felt that it tasted like foreign rice or anything like that.

In fact, I thought the rice here tasted much better than the rice I ate when I lived alone. I guess this would probably be due to the difference in the ability of the producers.

[……Ummm, Kaori-san.]

[Unnn?]

[Can you try some of this? It’s a salted onigiri……]

[Onigiri? ……Shiny, it looks like it’s made of great rice.]

When I handed her the salted onigiri I had taken out of my magic box, Kaori-san took a bite with a curious expression on her face, before her expression turned to one of astonishment.

[Eeeehhhh!? W- What is this, this is delicious…… It’s on a level that can’t even be compared to our rice. The heck, you got this from Niigata? Is this Niigata rice!? Is this that Koshihikari premium short-grain rice!?]

[No, I don’t think this is Koshihikari rice…… That’s actually rice that a friend of mine grows.]

The onigiri that I had Kaori-san try was made with rice produced by Raz-san. Me, Aoi-chan and Hina-chan still prefers to eat rice, so I regularly ask Raz-san to share rice with us, but Raz-san’s rice is actually of a very high level, as even Neun-san, who is very fussy about Japanese food, is satisfied with the taste.

……Well, I didn’t bring this up to brag about how high quality the rice I have was.

[Just as Kaori-san said earlier, rice is a minor commodity in this world, and because of this, my friend seems to have a surplus of it, so she asked me to let her know if there is anyone who wants it.]

Yes, Raz-san seems to enjoy growing rice and has a good-sized paddy field, but there were few in Kuro’s family that eat rice, so she was worried that consumption was low for the amount of rice harvested.

Whenever I went to get rice from her, she would always ask “How about getting more?”. However, even with the amount consumed by me, Aoi-chan and Hina-chan…… which has increased a bit recently with Mom and Dad living with us, it’s still only a fraction of what I consume. As a result, her inventory increases every year. Because of this, Raz-san feels like they’d end up being wasted, so she was thinking of reducing the size of her paddy field.

[So, if you want, should I introduce you to her?]

[Eh? Really!? If I can stock up on this rice, I for one would be very happy. Even if the purchase price is higher than the rice I’m currently using, it’d be perfectly acceptable for a rice of this level.]

[That would be up to your negotiation with her, but since she seemed to be having trouble with a large surplus, I’m sure you would be able to buy them wholesale at a reasonable price. Well, I’ll bring her some other time.]

[Thank you! I think this rice would make “Shigeru-san” happy.]

[Shigeru-san?]

Hearing a name I don’t recognize from Kaori-san, who speaks very happily…… It sounds somewhat Japanese-sounding, so I asked her back.

[Ahh, Shigeru-san, Shigenobu Okuma-san is also someone who played the role of Hero like me, and is now a farmer in the Hydra Kingdom. I also met him by chance. Even though he’s almost 90 years old, he’s still going strong and comes to my restaurant about once a year.]

[Heehhh…… There are also other emigrants from Japan huh. I would like to meet them if I have the opportunity.]

[Unnn. I think Shigeru-san would also love to meet you…… I myself would also like to meet the three high school kids that Kaito-kun mentioned earlier.]

With the topic turning towards the people in our homeworld, the both of us got excited and for a while, we had a pleasant conversation about the Japanese people we knew.

Serious-senpai : [I see, so this is how he’d make connections with the other migrants huh…… She hadn’t got a connection with the other migrant, right?]

? ? ? : [Right. However, since that one seems to be connected with Kuro-san, they might get to know each other through her.]

Serious-senpai : [Ahh~~ I see.]