Chapter 89

Sunlight conches, black tray clams, and club trumpets.

These three were Edlen village's representative specialties.

"Club trumpets need to be purged, so..."

"If you just eat them, you bite into mud."

"That's right. Iser, would you help me?"

"Yes, of course."

Iser skillfully picked up the basket holding only the club trumpets and began the purging work.

Perhaps because it had been so long, he fumbled a little, but his hands, too, quickly found their way and continued the work.

"We do a similar process on Earth too."

"Ah... is that so?"

"There are some small differences, though."

These representative specialties would only spit out their mud when purged with Edlen village's fresh water.

With water from other regions, the clams would wither, so it was a little different from Earth's method of purging, where all one had to do was adjust the salinity of the water with salt.

Iser nodded as if he found it unexpected.

"They spit out mud even when it is not water from their own region."

"Right, it seems like if you just get the salinity roughly right, they accept it and spit it out."

"Could it be that they have a weaker sense of self than the clams of the Edlen region?"

"Let's not attach a sense of self to clams we're about to eat."

The basin filled with club trumpets was soon covered with a black cloth.

"Now we only have to leave them alone until the stew is finished."

Club trumpets, the pride of Edlen village, were famous for purging quickly.

Whether it was because their whole bodies were closer to lumps of flesh than innards or what, they had not swallowed much mud in the first place, so they only had to be left for at least thirty minutes, or an hour at the very longest.

"It would be better to change the water midway, but..."

"I will do that. Would once every ten minutes be enough?"

"Hmm, yes. Please do."

Once every ten minutes was a little excessive, but there was no harm in being careful.

'There is nothing that makes me angrier than biting into sand while eating.'

This was Jio, the self-proclaimed gourmet and gourmand.

He aimed for thorough cooking that would allow no interference whatsoever when he ate.

If he felt displeasure while eating, then it did not qualify as food.

"Then now for the stew..."

Simply put, stew was Western-style soup.

"You just put in whatever you want."

"I do know the recipe too..."

"So have you made it for yourself?"

"..."

"Quietly listen to my lesson."

Some people occasionally asked what the difference between stew and soup was, and it was convenient to think of stew as being about the solids, while soup was about the broth itself.

In a word, stew was a dish where liquid was added in order to boil the ingredients.

"Will you come with me?"

"Pardon? Where..."

"To the kitchen garden."

And so Iser saw Jio's kitchen garden.

"Ta-da."

"... Kitchen garden?"

"Yes, what is the problem?"

"No, a kitchen garden..."

"It is a kitchen garden."

"... I understand."

Iser accepted it.

"You never do farming normally, not even once."

"What did you say?"

"As expected of the smiling tyrant of the seaside village..."

"Tyrant?"

"I did not say anything at all. What could you have heard?"

"Now you even know how to say all the right things. How admirable."

He truly accepted it.

"Now, inside there are cherry tomatoes..."

"To my eyes, I can only see pumpkins pretending to be tomatoes."

"Your eyesight must have gotten worse. Don't let your guard down just because you're a mermaid, and get glasses fitted too."

"I am not sure whether this is truly a problem of eyesight."

Unable to hold back any longer, Iser asked.

"Why on earth is this a kitchen garden?"

"It is narrow and adorable, isn't it? Then it is a kitchen garden."

"It only looks narrow in comparison because the crops are far too large, and not a single crop here is adorable."

"Our Elizabeth the Thirty-Second might hear that and be hurt, so I would appreciate it if you were careful with your words."

"Who on earth is Elizabeth the Thirty-Second..."

CRRRUNCH.

At Jio's words, the leaves of a tomato the size of pumpkin leaves curled with a vigorous sound.

At the sight of its shape, as if it were clenching a fist, Iser finally lost his smile.

"... You're saying you intend to eat this?"

Having realized the seriousness of the situation, he became almost as solemn as when he watched his sister's research process.

"This?"

"They're just overflowing with a bit of personality. They're all self-sacrificing, good children."

"I feel as though if I tried to eat it, it would grab my uvula and refuse to go down into my stomach."

"They're not that rebellious. I told you, they're very docile."

"That..."

Iser nodded.

"I understand."

"You do?"

"Probably..."

"Then follow me."

"If I am to die, I would still prefer the sea."

"Don't say strange things."

Jio exchanged greetings with the crops in the kitchen garden, which he had grown close to through their communications, and approached his target.

The tomato, glowing a vivid red, looked fully ripe, yet was still connected to the stem by a sticky bond.

"Now inviting any little tomatoes who wish to board the basket~"

At Jio's words, several tomatoes expressed their intentions by hanging from the stem and swaying slightly left and right.

When Jio held the basket directly beneath them, a tomato the size of a small watermelon soon landed in it with a thud.

"..."

"Wow, done. Easy, isn't it?"

"... Yes."

In that way, Jio was able to harvest a basketful of tomatoes in an instant.

"Personally, of all stews, I like tomato stew the best. It may be because that was what I always ate in Edlen village, but it is much easier on the stomach than cream stew."

"Ah... that's right. I remember you liked it because you could eat a lot without getting heartburn."

Iser, having regained a smile that resembled Giovanni's, continued.

"You also said it was the best food to make in large quantities and eat for a long time."

"You remember all of that."

"It is difficult to forget things about you, teacher."

"To think I was this easy to figure out. I will improve."

"Um... please don't... how much more do you intend to improve from here..."

"No one can stop me."

"Please let us be able to stop you."

"You could not stop me even when I was an ordinary priest."

"Teacher."

"It will be even worse now."

Still, he was a teacher in name at least, and he did not want to become a human whose development lagged behind that of his mermaid students.

Jio was a broad-minded adult who did not set limits for himself.

"I think tomato stew is easy to eat partly because it contains almost nothing but vegetables. I do not know if a sturdy, lively young man like you would understand, Iser..."

"Ah, you still count me as a young man? It has been over a thousand years."

"The family tree will get tangled, so be quiet. In any case, once you get a little older, an upset stomach is truly difficult. Especially for someone like me, who likes to eat, it is a harsh ordeal."

"I doubt that is an ordeal the Sun God has ever given, at least."

At the mermaid's retort, Jio furrowed his brow as if saddened.

"Where did my student Iser go, the one who would only smile shyly even when I spouted nonsense?"

"... It has... been a while... since he disappeared..."

"Do not worry, Iser. People can regress again at any time."

"What are you planning to turn me into?"

"A plump pig?"

"..."

Iser gave a soft laugh.

It was a smile more adult and composed than Jio's.

"You truly have not changed. Including the fact that you are different inside the house and outside it."

"... Huh..."

"When you were with people you were comfortable with, you made quite a lot of these amusing jokes. Very different from the public face you had as the one called the saint of the sun."

"..."

"When I was young, I did not even know that was a sign of trust you were giving me, so I only became flustered every time. I still remember it vividly."

Who are you?

Where did the little boy from my house go?

Who is this unfamiliar gentleman?

'Why did he grow so much in the meantime?'

It had been a rare joke with which Jio had expected him to laugh awkwardly like before or be appalled like Honey, so when things suddenly turned wistful like this, Jio, who had no intention of becoming wistful at all, could not help feeling a little awkward.

"... Well, anyway."

"You are avoiding it because you are at a disadvantage."

"We do not reminisce before a meal. That is how the dining table becomes uncomfortable."

Having firmly cut off the wistful sentiment, Jio continued.

"Even without meat, perhaps thanks to the main ingredients being tomato and onion, tomato stew has excellent savoriness. It also goes well with many kinds of additional ingredients."

Tomato stew went well with any meat.

If one added a little wine and sliced in beef, it had a mature flavor, and if one added chicken, it blended with the tomato juices and produced a harmonious taste.

"Lamb is not bad either."

"Isn't the smell a bit strong?"

"That is why I could not make it often when I lived with all of you, since you hated strong smells so much..."

Not only these siblings, but mermaids as a species originally avoided strong aromas.

If it was just a light sprinkling of pepper or adding a hint of fragrance, it was fine, but if the aroma became the main point, they hated it enough to want to run away.

"Now that I think about it, I too must have smelled quite strong while I was rotting away, but you managed to eat me. I suppose you had no choice because you were drugged?"

"..."

"... Um... yes, I think this one really was my fault. I did not bring it up with any particular intent, so please do not make that face..."

"... Yes..."

"I am sorry that your teacher lives without thinking."

The ruined mood was only barely restored after quite some time had passed.

Jio smiled awkwardly and said,

"Lamb on Earth does not smell that strong. Would you like to try it later?"

"... My tastes have changed a little since then too. Even if the smell is strong, it will not be a problem."

"Ah, they have changed?"

"I suppose it is because a great deal of time has passed... Humans also have things they could not eat as children but can eat once they grow up, don't they?"

"It seems even mermaids cannot withstand the years."

With a noble face unique to priests, Giovanni spouted nonsense.

"You are growing old together with me."

"Ah..."

After pondering, Iser answered.

"That does not sound bad."

"I told you not to do that, but you keep being wistful. I dislike that sort of thing."

"Ahaha..."

Iser laughed awkwardly and asked,

"Then were you planning to put meat in this stew? Since you said you were making Edlen stew, I expected you would put in clams or fish..."

"I am thinking of making two kinds. I have venison and sausages stored in the warehouse in excess, so I want to use them up while I have the chance. Not bad, is it?"

"That sounds good. I might feel full for the first time in a while."

Mermaids immediately converted the food they ate into nutrients and consumed it to maintain their strong and flexible bodies.

Even if they did not take in nutrients through their mouths, they could maintain themselves that way through their skin while in the sea, but when they ate food, their stomachs tended to empty very easily.

"Tomato stew especially goes well with bacon or ham that has a bit of aroma soaked into it. It also works well with tough dried meat that is hard to eat raw, and since you can put in all kinds of vegetables in particular, it is good for adjusting the seasoning in various ways..."

Jio held a tomato from the basket lightly up to the sunlight.

"It is definitely different from those on Earth or in Edlen village."

"... I ask again, but is that really a tomato...? It is very different from the ones in Edlen or on Earth that I know."

"I planted and grew seeds from Earth, so it probably is a tomato, at least."

The cherry tomatoes Jio had grown—no, the honored cherry tomatoes that had grown all on their own—were a little different from those on Earth.

They were as large as small watermelons and slightly elongated like date tomatoes, and they were strangely translucent so light passed through them, while their taste was halfway between clean and sweet.

"I don't really like sweet stew."

"Nor do I."

"But we have to make do with the ingredients we have, so I will need to solve it with other ingredients."

"Ah, by adding more salt, perhaps?"

"We already have sausage that is salty and rich in aroma. We will use that first, and hmm. What else should we put in beyond that..."

Jio said the thought that suddenly occurred to him.

"It would be fun to make bacon."

"Your homemade bacon is excellent, teacher."

Iser nodded.

"So much so that the villagers would gather and look forward to receiving a slice each."

"That is me. A genius priest of the sun who can do anything."

"Even after receiving such a person's grace, all those wicked wretches knew how to do was commit foolish deeds..."

"Calm down while eating a tomato."

Perhaps because he had seen the sound sense of self of the cherry tomatoes earlier, Iser hesitated for a moment before soon biting into the flesh.

"Oh..."

"It's good, isn't it?"

"I have never eaten such a delicious tomato before."

"I am this good at farming too."

The highly resilient tomato had parts that were faintly bouncy like jelly.

At the same time, the vivid crumbling sensation unique to tomatoes with firm flesh remained, and while it had a sharp tang like citrus fruit, the subtle sweetness that quickly wrapped around it was harmonious.

"Now that I am touching it, it is also soft like a slime."

"Isn't calling it a slime going a bit far...?"

"The texture is interesting."

Though he had been appalled for a moment, Iser seemed to like the tomato quite a bit.

That was because Iser had seen too many sights over the long years to be truly appalled by a moving tomato.

"Then what else should we harvest now? In truth, I do find it very strange to use the word harvest for a place called a kitchen garden, but in any case..."

"I am thinking of putting in this and that."

As expected, the charm of stew was in eating it as a hodgepodge.

"Carrots are the safest choice. The mild sweetness and faintly bitter aroma unique to carrots go very well with tomatoes."

"What about potatoes? When you put potatoes in stew, teacher, I very much liked how the starch that came out of them made the stew lightly thick. I still think of it even now."

"Then let us add potatoes too. Starch that naturally seeps out of the ingredients is not terribly sticky or slippery, and has a gentle sweetness like bone broth, so it is excellent."

"When they are cooked fluffy and soak up the tomato stew broth, they also mash softly. As expected, I would very much like you to put in potatoes, teacher."

Holding the basket of tomatoes, Iser smiled with a faint excitement.

"I think cabbage would not be bad either. Cabbage thoroughly cooked in hot broth is both crisp and soft, so the texture was truly good."

"It really is good. When warm, cooked cabbage juice moistens your mouth, it is truly ecstatic in winter, isn't it? If you cook it completely soft and crush it with your tongue, that is fun in its own way too..."

"..."

At this ordinary and everyday conversation, Iser could not help recalling the memories of the past.

"... It feels like we have come to the market."

"I think it is similar."

"I see..."

As if perhaps he were dreaming.

It was hollow, and frightening.