Tensei Shite Inaka de Slowlife wo Okuritai

Chapter 260: Soy Sauce And Mayonnaise

「That reminds me, Nord-dono. I heard that the soy sauce among the souvenirs that you brought to us goes really well with raw sashimi, is that really true?」

「I actually never tried it before so I can not tell you about it, but…… They go well with each other right, Al?」

Egar-san asks, but I guess it’s because he never tasted it before that Nord-tousan pass-ed the question to me.

「Un, they do. You can get rid of the raw smell of the sashimi if you add soy sauce to it, and the taste will also become refreshing」

「……they were tastier than usual」

「Ooh, is that so!」

「It’s a different seasoning from a fruit-type sauce……I’m curious about the taste」

After I and Luna-san said those, Egar-san and Natasha-san nodded as if impressed.

If Luna-san who is familiar with eating sashimi said that, then their interest and credibility would rise.

So if the people of the Sylford family are interested in soy sauce then it would probably be a good idea to let them taste it.

「Then, let’s try eating it together with sashimi」

「Ooh, certainly, please!」

「Please do」

Egar-san and Natasha-san happily reply after Nord-tousan says that.

As expected from a family who eats sashimi procured from near their living area, it looks like they are curious about the existence of soy sauce - that goes well with sashimi.

「Larg-san, can you bring me the soy sauce?」

「Certainly. I will bring it immediately」

Larg-san leaves with a bow when Nord-tousan asks him.

Then less than 10 seconds after he left, Larg-san returned with Kagura’s container containing soy sauce inside.

It has obviously been prepared beforehand. Or they probably tried to study it before after hearing that it was a new kind of ingredient and is now being moved here.

After Larg-san showed the container to everyone, he continue to pour the soy sauce into a small plate.

「Ooh, I heard that it was a sauce that is closer to black in color, but it is truly blackish, isn’t it」

「It smells very fragrant. Just by the smell alone, it’s like I can imagine rich taste」

Unlike us who are already used to seeing it, Egar-san and Natasha-san - who sees it for the first time - are making a fresh comment on the soy sauce.

「I have heard that sashimi goes well with soy sauce, but this is the first time I’m trying it」

「That’s right」

「Soy sauce has a strong taste after all, so it’s better if you don’t add too much to the sashimi」

Elna-kaasan and Nord-tousan might know about it but Egar-san and Natasha-san may add too much since it’s their first time.

Since they have specially introduced such a delicious ingredient to them, in the end, they of course would like to let them eat the food deliciously.

「Thank you very much. Now then, let’s try a little of the soy sauce first」

「Umm, you’re right」

After the two of them nod, they add a little bit of soy sauce on a spoon and put it into their mouths.

「Ooh, it’s certainly strong in taste. It can even be said to be salty. However, the salty taste is unlike salt at all, they are complex and rich in taste」

「It’s different from the bitter taste of spices. It’s a taste where you can feel the weight of the years」

Just as Natasha-san says, it’s not a taste that would come out in one or two days. Soy sauce has that much of a complex taste.

「Just as Alfried-kun said, it’s going to be just right to add a small amount of it」

「Yes, shall we try it?」

Egar-san silently nodded after Natasha-san asked then he added a small amount of soy sauce to a Crowana sashimi, then he ate it.

Immediately after that, Egar-san’s eyes snapped wide open.

「Ooh! This is delicious! I thought that the taste of raw fish are already perfect as it is but, to think that there was a sauce that increase the taste so much……!」

「It’s also harmonized perfectly with the fish meat, isn’t it. Eating with the soy sauce makes the meat tastes firmer compared with using the fruit-based sauce, I like this!」

I guess the two of them liked it that much since they blurt out such impressions, then they continue to eat the next sashimi they took by adding soy sauce to the sashimi.

That’s cause sashimi and soy sauce are a perfect combination after all. So I understand it even if they got addicted to the taste.

「Ara, this is really delicious. This makes eating them easier for me compared to eating them without adding anything to them」

「I like the taste without adding anything to it, but it may taste better if you add a sauce that will give a certain accent to the taste like this sauce」

Since you will be able to feel the faint fishy smell coming from the meat if you don’t add anything to them. Setting people who are used to those aside, it will be easier for the ordinary person to eat them raw with soy sauce to remove the bad smell.

Now then, it’s kinda boring to just look at them. There are these sashimis with various colors.

I have to check each one of the sashimi’s tastes with soy sauce.

Sashimi without anything added to them will become quite delicious if you addsoy sauce to them. I'm sure that there are probably a lot of other things that will become delicious with soy sauce.

Doss Tuna, Kygnus, salmon-like fish, I try them one after another and taste them with soy sauce.

Un, I knew it, Kygnus is kinda delicious. Since it has meat at the base of the fin, was it a type of fish similar to a flounder?

Though the taste is light, it seems that the sweetness is emphasized due to eating it with soy sauce. Despite eating them raw it’s kinda unsatisfying so I supplemented it with the taste and fragrant smell of soy sauce, making the taste turn just right.

「Oi, Eric. The Kygnus will be tastier if you add soy sauce and eat them!……Eric?」

When I try to tell him about the compatibility of soy sauce with the Kygnus, I saw Eric looking at the sashimi with a serious expression on his face.

……that’s certainly a skipjack tuna sashimi. Just what is he thinking by comparing that with soy sauce?

(Tuna sashimi with soy sauce)

Could it be it didn’t go well with soy sauce?

While I was having my doubt, Eric slowly stare at me.

「……Alfried?」

「What?」

「Did you bring any mayonnaise with you?」

What’s he saying now all of a sudden?

「What do you mean?」

「If I add soy sauce and then mayonnaise to this fish, it will be even more delicious. My intuition said so」

「Liar. You just want to eat with mayonnaise, right」

「It’s not! In any case, you will know it if you try. You said that you always carry around those seasonings, right? Then bring it out if you have it with you!」

So I told him, but Eric’s expression still looks so serious.

I certainly said that, but that's just because I’m carrying them around with Space magic.

Still, I can’t use magic recklessly in front of Nord-tousan and Elna-kaasan - who are sensitive to magic power. Be that as it may, it would be strange if I tell him I don’t have it with me after telling him that I always carry them around with me.

He’s going to say something like ‘Why did you not carry mayonnaise around with you, despite having soy sauce at the ready back when we were at the ship?’

「Fine. I’ll bring it here, wait a bit」

「Ooh!」

Eric’s mood immediately turns for the better after I tell him that and got off my chair.

To be in such a good mood with just mayonnaise, what a simple guy.

As I walked out through the door while thinking about that, Larg humbly called out to me.

「I shall bring it to you if you like?」

「It’s fine. I put it in my room, and I also want to go to the restroom while I’m at it」

「Is that so? My deepest apologies」

The killer technique of 'restroom'. If you use that then you can go out without making the other party concerned about you.

I cordially smiled as I left the dining room when Larg opened the door for me.

Then I head upstairs just like that and entered the room I’m assigned to, then I cast Space magic.

A subspace appear in the air - in a place where there was nothing before - then I imagined a bottle of mayonnaise while putting my hand inside the subspace, and I was able to naturally pull the bottle out.

Un, it’s a fresh mayonnaise.

After checking the condition of the mayonnaise, I sit down absent-mindedly to camouflage myself as though I was in the toilet for three minutes to pass the time, and then I return to the dining room.

And perhaps he sensed my footsteps when I was approaching the door, Larg opened the door for me.

After politely thanking Larg, I return to my seat.

「Ooh, I’ve been waiting!」

Eric immediately picks up the mayonnaise and put it on his spoon when I place it on the table.

「……is this the mayonnaise that Eric said to be tasty?」

Luna-san stares at the mayonnaise. It seems like Luna-san is also curious about mayonnaise.

Since I already introduce mayonnaise and put it on the dining table at home, no one is that curious about mayonnaise anymore.

But, seeing Eric’s action, Eleonora-neesan and Sylvio-niisan - who weren’t interested in it - had their eyes widened.

Right, Eric put mayonnaise into the soy sauce.

「O, oi. 」

「Don’t get flustered. This will turn out well」

Even when I unconsciously called out to him, Eric still nod as if there is nothing wrong with his action.

Eh? Mayonnaise will go well with soy sauce? And it’s also going to be added to sashimi, you know?

When it comes to sashimi, I’ve eaten sashimi with complements like wasabi1 and grated daikon and chili, and ponzu2. I wonder how about adding mayonnaise to soy sauce.

(Soy sauce + Mayonnaise)

But, it goes well with conveyor belt sushi.

So it might work out in other things.

「Geh, you never done this before?」

While I was also trying to copy Eric and add mayonnaise to soy sauce, Eleonora-neesan - who sits beside me - made a startled sound.

「I’m just giving it a try」

「I will pass then」

Eleonora-neesan refuses even when I casually ask her to try it.

But, since it’s Eleonora-neesan she will try it out when I start saying that it’s tasty. It’s as if she’s letting me step on a landmine on a dangerous road to ensure her safety.

「Do you also want to try it by any chance, Luna?」

「……I won’t. I will only try the mayonnaise」

It looks like she was curious about the taste since Luna-san doesn’t know the taste of mayonnaise.

After she put a little mayonnaise on her plate, she scoops it up with her spoon and put it into her mouth.

「……ah, it’s tasty. Just this alone is going to be enough to have it as a side dish」

「But still it will be getting stronger if you keep eating it」

As expected from the mayora’s sister, Luna-san. Asserting that mayonnaise was a side dish.

Oh well, but right now Eric is more important.

After he finished combining soy sauce with mayonnaise, Eric took a skipjack tuna sashimi and dip it into the mix.

After that, he throws it into his mouth without hesitation.

「「…………」」

We all stare at that Eric from our seats.

It’s like everyone was saying things like 「Is it delicious?」 with their gazes.

Eric chews the sashimi, then he swallows.

Then, he slowly opened his eyes and remarked.

「Delicious」

It was just a single word, but that was full of emotions as if he expressed it from his heart.

Since Eric is a mayora, it might just be a difference in a sense of taste.

However, after looking at Eric deliciously eating that, for some reason, it makes me also want to try it.

As Eric is taking the second piece of sashimi, I try to dip the skipjack sashimi on my plate into the soy sauce mayonnaise mix like him.

Instead of only soy sauce, there is also the thick yellow mayonnaise sticking to the sashimi.

The appearance doesn’t look tasty at all on the surface……

Despite being a little hesitant about this, I resolve myself and bring it into my mouth.

The taste of the skipjack sashimi and soy sauce spreads inside my mouth. If it were normal soy sauce then the peculiar smell of skipjack tuna will come out, but the mellow flavor of the mayonnaise has been emphasized as though to mask that.

Ooh, the peculiar taste of the skipjack tuna was being suppressed. And besides, the taste of soy sauce and mayonnaise surprisingly goes well with each other.

The balance from the seasonings is mixed together with the tuna, giving them an indescribably delicious taste.

When I swallow the tuna sashimi, Eleonora-neesan nervously asks.

「H, how is it?」

「This is surprisingly good」

「What do you mean with ‘surprisingly’! This is the best, alright!」

Then Eric stands up and interjects when I answer her like that.

But can the action of adding tuna sashimi to a mix of soy sauce and mayonnaise be considered the proper method?

「But still to me, eating with soy sauce still feels right to me. But, just like the carpaccio, this is also delicious」

「I disagree since that was not the best way, but since you think like that then I guess it’s good enough」

After I say that, Eric sat down on his seat despite looking a bit dissatisfied.

Well, each person has their own preference after all. There are various differences.

「Give me that for a bit」

While I was casually thinking like that, Eleonora-neesan - who is beside me - took the small plate of soy sauce and mayonnaise from me.

Then she put it on her tuna sashimi - as if to try - and eat it.

「This indeed matches well, surprisingly. This might also go well with rice」

Good grief, this sister. She can just follow the road that someone had taken before her from behind.

◆

After the amicable dinner with the Sylford family ended, we returned to the room assigned to us to rest.

After entering the room me, Eleonora-neesan, and Sylvio-niisan sat on the sofa.

I sit loosely on the lacking-ly cushioned sofa and release the tension in my body.

Eleonora-neesan - sitting beside me - pushes out her arms above her and loosened up her body. Then she exhales listlessly 「Fuu」, and places her arm on my head.

Hey, I wonder how can this person place her arm on other people’s head as if it was natural?

「……Eleonora-neesan, your arm is on my head」

「Sorry, your head is in the right position, you see」

I can’t use such dangerous words like ‘heavy’ here. Despite it being only an arm, it’s a creature called a woman who cares about that sort of thing. I’m also growing each day, you know.

Rather than that, in spite of apologizing for her action, there is no sign if Eleonora-neesan lowering her arm.

Eleonora-neesan’s arm is still on my head.

Oh well, it’s not as heavy as an arm in general and it’s soft, so it’s fine though.

After my head become Eleonora-neesan’s armrest for some time, Sylvio-niisan slightly smiles as he looks at us.

「Ahaha, the both of you look like you are tired」

「The meals were delicious but having to mind my manner was troublesome」

「Yeah」

No matter how friendly the other party is, it’s difficult to relax when you meet another noble family for the first time.

Especially for women like Eleonora-neesan, since she had to pretend to be quiet and polite to some extent.

「Sylvio-niisan didn’t feel nervous?」

「I didn’t. That’s because compared to the nobles I met at the Exchange Meeting, everyone in the Sylvord family is kind and friendly」

Sylvio-niisan answers while smiling wryly when I ask him that.

Ahh, it’s certainly so if you compare them with the nobles of the Exchange Meeting. There is no one who has an unbearable attitude or people who always brag about something here.

「I paid attention to it to some extent but the seafood dishes were really delicious. I even want to eat them every day 」

「Right. It can be said that just the meal itself is a good enough reason to come here」

「Hey! There is also regular training, you know!?」

Hearing Nord-tousan’s reflexive remark, Eleonora-neesan and I are shocked.

「Righ right. Let’s fully enjoy the seafood dishes and go sightsee」

And when I took this chance to take advantage of Nord-tousan’s remark, Eleonora-neesan silently pulled my hair.

It, it hurt older sister. The back of my head’s going to be bald.

「Hahaha, it means the meal was that delicious. So he will properly participate in the joint practice from tomorrow」

「Then, it’s fine like that」

Eleonora-neesan deeply sigh after hearing Nord-tousan’s words, maybe she was relieved to hear that.

「……che, if only I don’t have to join the practice and play in the sea」

「You can still play around with sand anyway. You can even play with the sand during the break, right?」

Eleonora-neesan taps my head *ponpon* while saying that in an amazed tone after hearing my muttering.

「We are going to have the practice near the sea so this is meaningful」

It is because it’s an ideal place on the beach that it makes me want to make something with high artistic quality. Eleonora-neesan doesn’t understand art.

「At any rate, we are going to have a joint training from tomorrow, so everyone sleeps early, all right?」

「「Yeeーs」」

「Al also understands, right?」

Maybe he realized that I’m the only one not replying to his question, Nord-tousan even call my name and ask.

Really, how sharp.

「Yeeーs」

Being stared at by Nord-tousan, I unwillingly say that.

「Well then, I’m going to return to my room to sleep!」

Eleonora-neesan easily stands up from the sofa, I guess he’s so eager for tomorrow morning.

Finally being released from the role of an armrest, I slowly stood up.

We had a hard schedule of riding on the carriage today, cruising on the ship, and playing with sand. So my stamina has reached its limit and I was also attacked by drowsiness.

「……kuaaa」

「Shall we return to our room then?」

As I let out a big yawn, Sylvio-niisan - who stood up with me - pushes my back as we walk to the exit.

「Good nighーt!」

「Right, good night」

As the three of us said our good night to Nord-tousan and Elna-kaasan and were about to leave the room, Elna-kaasan waved to us while smiling sweetly.

And after parting with Eleonora-neesan, Sylvio-niisan and I returned to our room.

The joint practice is tomorrow morning? It’s going to be troublesome.