Isekai Yururi Kikou ~Raising Children While Being an Adventurer~

“Takumi-san, please, no more gifts. I’m begging you.”
Cedric-san looked a little desperate as he declared that the souvenir-giving was over.
“You don’t have to be so wary. The only thing left is food.”
“Food… It’s not high-grade monster meat, is it?”
“If you want some, I have a few.”
When it comes to ingredients, I have plenty!
“No, I’ll pass!”
“Then I’ll just go with some decent monster meat.”
Last night’s souvenir assault ended with Cedric-san’s surrender.
Well, he seemed willing to accept ingredients of a reasonable quality, so I quickly joined the Risner household’s chefs to prepare today’s breakfast.
“Takumi-sama! Th-this is… could this be the ‘Pink Rock Salt’ said to be found in the Dungeon of Scorching Heat!?”
“Oh, you recognize it? That’s right.”
Risner’s head chef, Ryan-san, was trembling as he stared at the pink rock salt.
“Please use this as well.”
“Go-Golden Salmon!!”
“Oh, I have plenty, so feel free to use it for everyone.”
After the rock salt, Ryan-san trembled even more when he saw the Golden Salmon.
“”Shaking, shaking~””
“Yeah. They’re both rare, so he must be excited.”
““Rare?””
“Yeah. They’re not widely available, meaning they’re not sold in stores.”
“”Ohhh~””
These are ingredients that adventurers specifically request through the guild, so they probably rarely appear in shops.
“Ryan-san, time to focus. What will you make with these?”
“With such high-quality ingredients, the best option is to keep it simple and grill them with salt!”
“That makes sense. Let’s do that.”
If it’s grilled salmon, a Japanese-style meal would be a good match.
“I’ll cook white barley… but since some people might not like it, they can have bread instead.
Then, a miso soup loaded with vegetables, sweet and spicy simmered konnyaku, and chilled tofu with kinua seeds… No, I’ll fry it into thick-fried tofu instead.”
Crispy, piping-hot thick-fried tofu with grated daikon and soy sauce—it’s perfect.
“How does that sound?”
“”Sounds yummy~””
“There were a lot of unfamiliar words, but if you are the one saying it, it must be good!”
“Ehh…”
I feel like Ryan-san has way too much faith in me, but it’s probably best not to dwell on it.
“Allen, Elena, is this good for you? Anything else you want to eat?”
“”Something sweet?””
“Oh, should I make something with ant honey?”
“Yay~!”
With dessert added to the menu, we swiftly got to cooking alongside Ryan-san and the others.
“... Was Golden Salmon really just a ‘decent ingredient’? It lives deep in mountains filled with strong monsters, and it’s hard to get fresh due to the need to preserve its quality, right?”
Once the meal was ready and everyone took their seats, Cedric-san looked bewildered.
It seemed Ryan-san had informed him that the ingredients weren’t exactly “decent.”
“Haha, well, for us, it’s a pretty easy catch.”
“Easy~”
“We caught a lot~”
The difficulty of the request was relatively high, but we just went out for a casual stroll and got them.
Plus, we even had the rare experience of catching them alongside wild bears.
“Since we’ve prepared this, let’s eat while it’s still warm.”
“Indeed. Let’s begin.”
[Yay! Let’s eat~!]
At Cedric-san’s signal, the children all started eating at once.
“”It’s delicious!””
“Yummy~”
“”Tasty, right~””
Children are often said to dislike fish, but Allen and Elena have no food aversions, and even the Risner kids were happily eating the Golden Salmon.
“This is… delicious.”
“It feels like we’re indulging in luxury from the morning.”
Even the lordly brothers seemed to enjoy it.
“This ingredient has a unique texture.”
“It’s chewy!”
“But tasty!”
“Yes! And this one is crispy!”
“Theodore-kun, Latis-kun, both of those were found in a dungeon.”
“”Ohh~””
Upon learning that konnyaku and tofu were dungeon ingredients, Theodore-kun and Latis-kun became even more intrigued and continued eating with great focus.
“I also prepared something sweet. Can you still eat more?”
““Yes!””
“Loretta can eat too~”
For dessert, I made steamed dorayaki by sandwiching whipped cream in steamed cakes flavored with ant honey.
I wouldn’t call it an original creation, but it was a little twist on a classic.
“Bugs!? What kind of bugs are in it?”
“Hmm~ what kind, I wonder?”
Surprisingly, Theodore-kun and Latis-kun weren’t alarmed that insects might be in their food.
Instead, they were extremely curious about what kind of insect it was.
“It’s not actual bugs. It’s just food steamed with heat. We used ant honey, which has a similar sweetness to regular honey, but there aren’t any insects in it.”
“”What~””
Patrick-san, whom I was meeting for the second time, didn’t seem surprised, but Cedric-san let out a horrified “Bugs!?” in shock.
Meanwhile, Theodore-kun and Latis-kun were actually disappointed to learn there were no insects in the food. They’ve got guts.
“So pretty~”
“Loretta-chan, the pink one is iichi-flavored, the yellow one is nana fruit, the brown one is choco, and the green one is ena grass!”
I made them colorful, and it looked like Loretta-chan was pleased.
“Loretta-chan, which one do you want?”
“… Which one?”
“… Uniyu~”
Knowing she wouldn’t be able to eat them all, Elena asked which one she wanted, but Loretta-chan looked like she was about to cry.
Seeing that, Elena also seemed close to tears.
“Elena, what do you do when you can’t eat a lot?”
I couldn’t just leave things as they were, so I gave her a hint.
“… Nyu? Share!”
“That’s right. Well, maybe not half this time—how about splitting them into quarters? That way, she can taste all of them.”
“I’ll do that!”
Quickly catching on, Elena eagerly broke the steamed dorayaki into smaller pieces and handed them to Loretta-chan.
“So yummy~”
“Yummy? I’m glad~”
Watching Elena show her big-sisterly side once again, I realized that having younger kids around really is good for emotional growth.