While two liters is manageable, larger quantities won't work with just the carbon from the sky. I need to find coal somewhere. Though coal isn't readily available, charcoal can be found at home improvement stores, and I suspect it can be procured in that other world as well. As long as I have carbon, even raw wood should suffice.
I managed to secure gasoline for the generator. While waiting for its arrival, I thought I'd tackle a few other tasks.
Though it hadn't been in today's plans, I decided to grab some mayonnaise and a classic seasoning, Ajinomoto, from the supermarket. Just a sprinkle on a dish can enhance its flavor—at least, that's the theory. I'm not entirely sure, though. I also picked up a few bottles of slightly pricey dressing. Even my unsophisticated palate finds these dressings delicious on a vegetable salad.
Next, I bought curry roux. With four kids and two adults, I figured medium-spicy would be best for our first curry, as the hot variety might be too much for them. Sweet curry is out of the question for me, of course. Since I'm not planning to make traditional Japanese dishes, I skipped the bonito-flavored stock.
Then there's the rice. Even with rice available, there's no rice cooker on the other side. Wait, I think I've heard somewhere that you can cook rice in a pot. Although I'm not that skilled, maybe Lisa can figure it out.
Hold on a second—rice is just a chemical transformation of rice when you add water and heat. So, theoretically, it should be easy to make rice from just rice and water in this alchemical workshop.
Let's give it a try, then. So I wandered to the prepared foods section and bought a pack of cooked rice, then headed to the rice aisle to pick up a 10-kilogram bag. I can just store some tap water in the item box when I get back to the apartment. Eventually, I might travel to a beautiful tropical island and collect seawater for cooking. It's easy to get salt that way, and I'd also have access to trace minerals found in seawater. I think seawater could be quite a valuable resource for various uses.
After completing my shopping at the register, I stowed my items away in the item box, making sure they were out of sight, and then I transferred directly to the entrance of my apartment.
Next, I plugged the bathtub in the unit bath and turned on the faucet to fill it with water. Once it was full, I stored just the water in the item box and moved the rice I bought today to the material box. It was finally time to cook!
I moved the contents of the rice pack to the duplication box and created an identical portion. In an instant, the rice was ready. It was still cold, so I warmed it a bit, scooped a bite-sized amount onto my palm, and tasted it.
"Delicious! Just like rice should be!"
Now I found myself craving accompaniments like pickles, ochazuke (rice soup), raw egg, and furikake (rice seasoning). So, off to the supermarket I went. I transferred to a secluded spot I had used previously.
I wish I could say that no one was around, but there was an old man standing nearby. He seemed startled by my sudden appearance, and as I casually walked towards the aisles, I overheard him mumbling to himself, "Huh? That guy just appeared out of nowhere. Did I zonk out for a moment? It's not even hot enough for heatstroke; has he lost his marbles?"
I pushed the shopping cart through the aisles, filling it with packs of pickles, ochazuke, furikake, and fresh eggs. To make sure I didn't forget, I also grabbed two one-liter packs of soy sauce. I almost overlooked the seasoned seaweed, but I quickly added that to the cart as well. With all this, I felt invincible!
Since I had no idea when I would make it to the ocean again, I bought another ten kilograms of salt. I figured as long as I had salt, I could easily make homemade soy sauce from soybeans and barley without the need for koji, just like producing alcohol in my alchemy workshop.
All that was left was the tea bowls. I had bought a set of adult-sized bowls, a slightly smaller set, and four even smaller ones. I also picked up chopsticks to match, but since only I could use them, everyone would likely be eating rice with spoons at first. Learning how to use chopsticks would come later. The kids would pick it up easily, but the eldest, Lisa, might struggle a bit. Once they got the hang of it, though, it would be quite convenient.
After checking out, I moved to a secluded corner to store my purchases in the item box before jumping back to my room in the mansion.
I realized that while I referred to this other world as "the other world," it was about time I gave it a name. The locals must have some understanding that this is their own world, but they didn't seem to have a specific name for it. If I had to force one, it would be "Earth," but that would confuse it with our planet.
I figured it was enough for me to recognize the name, so I decided to call it "New World."
Back at the mansion, I had Lisa take care of the groceries from today's shopping, aside from the salt and rice. I skipped the explanation since I was feeling lazy, but Lisa was quite surprised to see a pack of ten raw eggs. By the way, I bought three packs. With a family of six, that meant only five days' worth if everyone had one egg a day. When I lived alone, a pack would last quite a while, but with a big family, things changed drastically.
At that time, the three girls were traveling to the outskirts of Valen for a hunting expedition, escorted by the temple guards as part of their training. All three rode together in the same carriage, but while Emily Yamada and Kazuha Tahara chatted away enthusiastically beside each other, Michinoin Hana sat silently across from them, feeling overlooked.
In other words, the two were ignoring Hana. As she contemplated the uncertainty of her future outside the temple, she endured the discomfort in silence.
"Now that I think about it, that old man I was with when I first came to this world—he had no job or skills and was just taken away somewhere. If I had also lacked a vocation or skills back then, would I have been taken somewhere too? I want to escape from here so badly, but it's impossible right now."
The old man Hana referenced was living carefreely several kilometers away, coming and going to Japan whenever he pleased, a situation beyond her imagination.
The carriage carrying the three girls, under the guard of the temple soldiers, arrived at their destination—a wild expanse owned by the temple—by late morning. There, they were to set up camp and prepare for the afternoon's training.
The open field was a grassy expanse dotted with shrubs, and deep within it lay the entrance to a recently discovered dungeon, currently sealed by the temple guards. Today, the training session planned to hunt the local wildlife, including wolves, raccoons, deer, and boar.
After the three of them took a brief break and shared a simple lunch in their tent, the captain of the temple guards announced the beginning of the exercises. The trio formed a party and headed south toward the dungeon entrance, hunting wildlife along the way. They would turn back at a suitable point and return to their starting tent. About five temple guards followed closely behind, keeping a vigilant eye for any unexpected events.
Having bought various supplies at the market, I took charge of breakfast for the next day and decided on a traditional Japanese meal. However, cooking was not exactly my forte, so I planned on serving rice topped with a raw egg and drizzled with soy sauce—a simple egg over rice dish. There would also be a variety of furikake for garnish, along with seasoned nori. I wished I had remembered to buy instant miso soup, but it slipped my mind.
That night, I transmuted some gold before going to bed, ensuring a deep and restful sleep. Before worrying about gold or money, this method proved to be an effective means to sleep soundly. With this routine, I was certain I wouldn't forget to transmute gold regularly.
The next morning, I told Lisa I'd take care of breakfast. I asked her to prepare a basket and soup bowls, and to relax until I called everyone for the meal.
Once everyone was ready, they gathered around the breakfast table. "Today, I'll be serving a dish from my country," I announced. "It's not anything extravagant, but it's tasty."
I noticed everyone was watching me with a hint of tension. I began by serving a generous scoop of warm rice into a wooden bowl. I had forgotten to buy a rice paddle, so I used a large wooden spoon instead. I filled the soup bowl with water, dipped the makeshift paddle into it, and started dishing out rice into each bowl. The first serving went smoothly, but from the second serving onward, the rice stuck to the spoon more than I expected. I had to repeatedly dip the spoon in the water to get the rice out. After some effort, I managed to fill each bowl with rice.
The soup bowl, now filled with grains of rice, looked a bit messy, but I knew that I could just store it in the material box later, so nothing would go to waste. It was a true zero-emission effort.
"The white grains in your bowls are called 'rice.' The more you chew, the sweeter it becomes. And this bowl is called a 'chawan.' Make sure you remember that!"
"Yes!" they all replied enthusiastically.
Next, I took a pack of raw eggs from my item box and transferred them into the basket on the table. I saved the plastic packaging for the alchemy workshop's material box, since it could be recycled into plastic material.
"This is a chicken egg. You might find some for sale around here, but this one is safe to eat raw."
The children seemed to take my word for it, but Lisa looked like she wanted to say something.
"You won't get an upset stomach. I guarantee it. And even if you do, we have potions, so you'll be fine."
As comforting as that was, nobody wants to risk a stomachache, even with a quick remedy on hand.
I placed two chopsticks from my item box in front of everyone.
"What I've just set before you are called 'chopsticks.' They're like a replacement for forks. Here's how to use them. It can be tricky until you get the hang of it."
I demonstrated by holding the chopsticks in my right hand and clacked them together.
"This is how you move the chopsticks to pick up food."
Then I picked up a grain of rice from the bowl in front of me to show them.
"Master, you're so skilled, even with your fingertips!"
"Impressive, just as I expected, Master!"
"That's some solid technique!"
Just by moving the chopsticks, I had earned the admiration of the three children. Iona and Lisa remained silent, awkwardly gripping their chopsticks and fumbling with them.
"The key is how to hold the chopsticks. Place one stick between your index and middle fingers, and hold the other between your middle and ring fingers, pinching them together with your thumb. Like this."
I exaggerated my movements with the chopsticks, creating a loud clacking sound again.
"Since this is still new to you, just do it casually. Next, everyone will take one egg from the basket. But first, make a small indentation in the center of the rice in your bowl like this." He used his chopsticks to press down at the center of the rice.