The quantity was significant, so after settling the bill, I sat back down at my seat in Sky and sipped the tea while awaiting my order. About twenty minutes later, the sushi was ready.
"Thank you for waiting," the staff member said as they handed me a plastic tray packed with sushi, tightly wrapped in a plastic furoshiki.
Once outside, I placed the furoshiki package containing the sushi into my item box and turned down a side street to head back home. Just then, I felt a tug of curiosity towards something behind me. I turned to see a man glancing my way, but he quickly averted his gaze and walked off. It felt eerily similar to when I was being followed by pursuers from the temple.
Could he be an undercover cop?
It seemed that I had somehow become a suspect—or at least a key person of interest—in the case of the missing high school girl. I had just bought a large quantity of sushi, which definitely looked suspicious. This was not good. However, there wasn't much I could actively do at this point, so it seemed wise to avoid this town for a while.
Thinking back, it struck me that around the same time as the girl's disappearance, a part-time worker had gone missing without notice and was uncontactable. That was highly suspicious. Moreover, since the incident, I had repeatedly sold off gold bullion. Was I in over my head?
This was serious! I had thought I was thriving in the other world with two jobs, but here I was, marked as a key person of interest in Japan. I might even get put on a wanted list.
Surely, the plainclothes officers must be lurking ahead in this alley. I should get out of here as soon as possible.
"Transfer!"
When I appeared in the mansion's living room, I found music playing. Lily and the children were seated on the sofa, enjoying classical music.
"Welcome back!"
"Welcome home, Master!"
"I'm back. Don't mind me; just keep listening to the music."
As I sat down on the sofa and listened to the classical pieces, I started to feel a bit more at ease. I thought about sharing what had just happened with Lily, but it seemed unfair to burden her, so I decided to keep quiet for now.
Having exhausted myself mentally from just buying sushi, I took an early bath. The children followed me shortly after, and since Lisa had no dinner preparations to make today, she joined Lily in the bath before dinner.
"Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes, so please gather in the dining room."
After calling everyone who had been relaxing in the living room, I headed to the kitchen to set out small plates for the soy sauce, wash the teacups I bought today, then duplicated them using the replication box to make enough for everyone. I returned to the dining room and arranged the small plates, teacups, and the paper napkins we got from the store on the table.
I added a tea bag to each cup, then created purified water in the alchemy workshop, warmed it to about 70 degrees, and poured it into the teacups. Although the proper way to prepare tea would be to boil the water first and then let it cool, I couldn't boil water in the alchemy workshop, so I had no idea what kind of tea it would turn out to be. Still, I doubted it would be undrinkable.
I poured hot water into the teacup and waited for about thirty seconds before putting the teabag back in the item box. Finally, I spread out a large pack of sushi on the table, ready to serve. I had prepared tempura as well, but looking at the amount of sushi, it seemed like the tempura wouldn't be necessary this time.
"Hey, everyone! Everything's ready!"
Everyone came from the living room and took their seats, surprised by the colorful array of nigiri sushi and shiny black seaweed rolls before them. Lily looked astonished, likely at the sheer quantity.
"First, tear open the white bag in front of you and wipe your hands with the towel inside."
I demonstrated by ripping open the plastic bag and pulling out a towel to clean my hands. They all quickly followed my lead.
"Alright!
Now, this is sushi. It's a dish made of slightly sweet and sour rice, topped with various ingredients. Some are cooked, but there are also raw fish, shellfish, and fish eggs on the nigiri. The thick, round black rolls are called futomaki, while the thinner ones are named after their fillings; the yellow ones are shinko maki, and the ones with cucumber are kappa maki. The black paper-like wrap around them is called nori, which is dried seaweed. Of course, it's edible, and you eat it together with the sushi.
By the way, there's a green, sticky paste spread between the rice and the topping; that's wasabi. It's spicy and can give a sharp kick to your nose if you try to taste it on its own. But if you eat it with the sushi, it's perfectly fine. If you really can't handle it, you can peel off the topping and remove the wasabi. Just be sure to grab your own chopsticks from the kitchen for that."
"Alright, let's eat!"
"Let's eat!"
"Oh, I almost forgot one thing. I poured soy sauce into a small dish set in front of everyone. We dip a little of the sushi topping into the soy sauce before eating." I drizzled soy sauce from the bottle onto the small plate before picking up a piece of squid sushi from the pack. I took off the topping to show everyone the wasabi inside.
"This is wasabi."
The kids and Lisa nodded in understanding. Once everyone confirmed, I reattached the topping, flipped it over, lightly dipped the tip in the soy sauce, and popped it into my mouth.
"Delicious! You can eat nigiri and rolls with your hands!"
After that, I took a sip of the tea from my cup, and it was real green tea. Now it was time for Lean Meat's tuna. I dipped it lightly in soy sauce and took a bite.
"Tasty!"
In the cup in front of everyone was green water, which was the green tea. I noticed a string coming out, so I pulled it slightly to reveal a bag filled with green tea leaves. I swirled it around a few times to let the tea flavor seep into the water before lifting it out.
With no place to set it down, I crafted a makeshift plate from the alchemical workshop and placed it on the table.
"Put the used tea bag on this plate."
I swirled the teabag in my cup a few times before placing it on the plate I had just prepared. As I took my first bite, everyone else started to reach for the sushi. Except for Lily, the others followed my lead, lifting the toppings to check the wasabi, sniffing it, and then gasping as the sharp scent hit their noses. It was my oversight not to warn them how potent the wasabi aroma could be.
Three of them got up and headed to the kitchen to grab some chopsticks. "Once you get used to it, you'll find sushi lacks flavor without wasabi," I remarked. The remaining trio—Lily, Lisa, and Iona—seemed to be enjoying the salmon roe nigiri, shrimp, and flounder.
"This is delicious," Lily said.
"Since it was just made and stored in my item box, the rice is still warm."
"Isn't it amazing to find sushi in another world? I'm so happy," she replied.
If she felt that way, then my effort to get sushi was worth it.
"Master, I never knew raw fish could taste this good."
"Well, what Lisa just ate wasn't raw; it was cooked shrimp. The raw ones are the slightly translucent ones over there. In any case, it's seafood. You can eat as much as you want without worrying about an upset stomach. If anything happens, I'll have a potion ready to heal you."
"What did I eat?" Iona asked.
"You had flounder. It's a flat fish, but I'll get you a fish encyclopedia one of these days," was the reply.
"Is an encyclopedia a book with pictures and descriptions?"
"That's right. You're quite clever, Iona."
Iona didn't say anything further, but her face lit up with joy.
The three others returned with chopsticks, reducing the wasabi and beginning to savor their sushi. Eva, with her bobbed black hair, was eating hamachi, while Olivia, sporting straight blonde hair, had lean tuna. Kiria, with her brown hair in twin tails, held a type of clam called torigai. They dipped just the tips of their sushi into soy sauce before bringing them to their mouths.
"This is delicious! What is it?" Eva exclaimed.
"It's absolutely delightful," Olivia added.
"So good! As expected of our master," Kiria chimed in.
It was just like them as usual.
"Eva's eating hamachi, Olivia's having lean tuna, and Kiria chose torigai, which isn't a fish but a type of shellfish. Also, that thick roll over there doesn't contain any wasabi."
"Yes!" the three responded in unison.
"But it tasted great paired with fish and the sweet and sour rice, so I think I can do without the wasabi now," Eva said, and Olivia and Kiria nodded in agreement.
No need to dwell on how they were all growing up step by step; I simply took a piece of lean tuna and brought it to my mouth. As expected, tuna truly is the best.
"Yum, so good!"
I let out a little burp.
I had finished most of the sushi, leaving behind almost all of the rolls untouched. I decided to save those rolls for my late-night snack.
"Anyone want a refill on tea?"
Three hands went up, so I dropped some tea bags into their cups and poured in hot water at 60 degrees.
"I think that's it for now." The tempura could wait for later.
"Once we clear the table, we'll move to the living room for ice cream. You don't have to force yourself to eat, though."
"Oh no, if it's ice cream, we can!"
So ice cream it was. I stuffed the last three pieces of sushi into my mouth, stashing the remaining rolls in my item box. Everyone else helped clear the table, and since I took care of the trash, the cleanup was done in no time.
"Phew, I'm full! Let's head to the living room and listen to some music."
My stomach was bursting too.
We all gathered in the living room, settling into our favorite spots to listen to music. The CDs were all lined up next to the player, so we could play any of them at any time. Now even the kids could operate the player.
Today it was Iona's turn to choose the music, and Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" filled the air. It had a somewhat somber feel, but even someone like me, who had no musical training, recognized this well-known piano piece.
Listening to such masterpieces must undoubtedly make one smarter. After all, I've self-analyzed that my lack of intelligence stemmed from my childhood hatred of music. Quite convincing, isn't it?
This afternoon, I was immersed in the music, temporarily forgetting what had happened in Japan, until the piano shifted into a more intense tempo, bringing ice cream to mind. Responding to everyone's requests, I served up scoops atop cones.
After a while, the bell chimed at 9 PM. The children had already retreated to the second floor.
"Good night, Mr. Rockwell."
"Good night, Master."
With that, Lily and Lisa headed upstairs.
I stretched out on the empty couch in the living room, listening to CDs while pondering tomorrow.
"I doubt they'll come all the way to my apartment to keep an eye on me, but it's probably wise to stay away for a while.