Chapter 355

Great Fortune

The day after our visit to the castle, I didn’t feel like going out, so we stayed inside the Ruven residence.

“I’m going to make Daif.u.ku.”

“”Snack?””

“Yeah. It’s made from mochi (glutinous rice cake) and anko (red bean paste).”

“”Ohh! Let’s make Daif.u.ku~!””

I decided to make strawberry Daif.u.ku, as requested from Syl… no, Marianora-sama, and borrowed a section of the kitchen at the Ruven residence. Although I say that, it was only a work table in the corner of the room.

The cooks seemed to be curious about what we were going to do, but they were busy with their own work, so they gave priority to their own tasks. Maybe we should prepare some refreshments for them later.

“First of all, let’s cook a big batch of Red Wheat…”

We have a lot of Red Wheat, so I decided to make a large quant.i.ty.

That being the case, we will also need to prepare a large quant.i.ty of anko. Strawberry Daif.u.ku uses… kos.h.i.+an (fine red bean paste)? Or was it s.h.i.+roan (white bean paste)? Well, why not make both? Oh, we don’t have to make Daif.u.ku only with strawberries, but we can also use other fruits, right?

Let’s say we make regular Daif.u.ku as well, so for all that we will need tsubuan (chunky red bean paste), kos.h.i.+an, and s.h.i.+roan. And then… s.h.i.+roan mixed with chocolate, or is.h.i.+uri—pumpkin, sweet potato, and so on.

“”What can we do~?””

“Let’s see, how about you guys make anko dango?”

“”Anko dango?””

“The kind with anko rolled into a ball. Strawberry… I mean, could you try rolling Ichi in anko… at least to this size?”

“”Alright~””

I prepared some not so big Ichi fruits that were more uniform in size, and made a sample dango by sticking some kos.h.i.+an on one of them. Allen and Elena then proceeded to make more anko dango in a familiar manner.

Meanwhile, I decided to prepare the mochi. Mochi is made by steaming and mas.h.i.+ng Red Wheat, but it becomes hard when it cools down, so I added sugar to the rice while mas.h.i.+ng it so that it does not become hard.

“… It’s quite a ha.s.sle when making a large volume, huh~”

It was quite a ha.s.sle to crush them manually using a mortar and pestle. But that doesn’t mean that working with a mortar and pestle is too ostentatious. Come to think of it, I was thinking of having something like a kneader magic tool made, but I had just ordered a variety of other magic tools, so I had put that on hold and forgotten to ask for it.

“Oniichan!””

“What is it~? are you done already?”

“”Not yet~ You see, you see.””

“Please give.”

“Nana fruit.”

I thought they had already finished making the anko dango, but it seems the children wanted Nana fruit.

“Nana fruit? Sure… you want to eat it?”

“”Noo~””

“Wanna put it in chocolate.”

“Like we did Ichi!”

“Ohh!”

Nana fruit in chocolate red bean paste! Yeah, that sounds like a match made in heaven!

“Allen, Elena, you are geniuses! What a great idea!”

“”Ehehe~””

“How amazing~ If you come up with other matches, please say so.”

“”Fruits~?””

“Fruits, berries, nuts, whatever is fine. Anything that you think would go well with mochi.”

“”Then, ice!””

“Ohh!”

Ice cream Daif.u.ku! My kids really are geniuses!

Ah, but the ice cream Daif.u.ku I’m imagining is not made with mochiko (sweet rice flour), but with s.h.i.+ratamako (different kind of sweet rice flour), isn’t it? But, well, even if it were made with mochiko, it should definitely taste delicious.

“Good, good!”

I have plenty of ice cream in my Infinite Storage, so I can make it with no problem… Oh, how do we roll the ice cream, though? I remember thinking about asking for an ice cream scoop, but… I totally forgot. At any rate, I will have to somehow manage to roll it up with a spoon today.

“”Oniichan.””

“It’s done.”

“We have finished~”

“Ohh~ you made a lot. Thank you.”

When Allen and Elena finished making the anko dango, I also finished preparing the mochi.

“Then, let’s get wrapping next.”

Here comes the crucial moment! Or rather, the difficult part.

After cutting the mochi into a sheet and dusting it with potato starch to prevent it from sticking to my hands, I lightly stretched it out and wrapped the anko dango in it.

“Wow! So sticky!”

“”Oniichan, do your best!””

“Ah, I pulled too hard and made a hole!”

“”Oniichan, a little more!”

The mochi stuck all over my fingers while I was trying to wrap it.

Allen and Elena were cheering me on with excited looks.

“I, it’s done~”

“”Ohh~””

The first piece of strawberry Daif.u.ku was somehow made, although it was quite misshapen.

“Anyhow, let’s try tasting it.”

“”Yay~””

It was difficult to cut Daif.u.ku with a knife, so I used wind magic to quickly cut it into three equal parts.

“”Yummy~””

Next, I wrapped regular Daif.u.ku and banana-chocolate bean paste in mochi, struggling to get it right, and we tasted it right away.

“”Both are delish~””

The appearance of the mochi still looked ugly, but the taste seems to be fine.

Well, as for the appearance, it was better than the first one, so it will get better with more of them.

“Alright! Let’s keeping them going!”

“Can Allen try~?”

“Elena wants to give it a try, too!”

“Sure, but… it’s quite difficult, you know?”

The kids wanted to try making Daif.u.ku, so I let them try.

“”Muu…””

“Put a little more flour on your hands.”

“”Nn?””

“Right, right, just like that.”

Allen and Elena wrinkled their brows as they wrapped it up with serious expressions on their faces.

“”It’s done~!””

“Ohh~ looking good!”

Maybe better than my first time. No, definitely better.

“So, are you two going to help me?”

“”Leave it to us!””

“Alright. Let’s keep themgoing then.”

“”Oh~!””

Allen and Elena were now in force, and the three of us ma.s.s-produced Daif.u.ku.

“Okay, this is the last one.”

“”We are finished~!””

“Allen, Elena, I will take care of the cleanup, so can you deliver the freshly made Daif.u.ku to Rebecca-san and the others?”

“”We will help cleaning up~?””

“Don’t worry, it won’t take long. Go ahead and ask for tea to be prepared.”

“”Okay~””

“Will go first.”

“And ask for tea.”

After seeing Allen and Elena off with the Daif.u.ku, I cleaned up. Well, although I say that, I have been cleaning as we progressed, so it didn’t take me too long.

“Barry-san, I hope you could eat this with everyone.”

“Ah, thank you so much!”

“They get hard when they dry, so if you can’t eat them right away, please keep a cloth over them.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“Then, I’m sorry to have disturbed you~”

I gave the cooks’ share of Daif.u.ku to the Head Chef, Barry-san. I’m sorry, but each of them only got one. I gave them a mixture of different flavors of Daif.u.ku, so I don’t know who will get what flavor. Oh, I didn’t know when they will eat them, so I did not give them the ice cream filled ones.

“I have to deliver them to Syl next~”

I left the kitchen and sent Daif.u.ku to Syl in a secluded place, and that was the end of my mission.

The request was for strawberry Daif.u.ku, but I ended up sending an a.s.sortment of various Daif.u.ku. I wonder if she will like them?