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High School Hack and Slash Chapter 146×1 Part 2

A member of the mysterious Asagi-sou Defense Force tottered and passed by in front of the two.

「Those are some ripe tomatoes.」

「Red and shiny, no matter how many time I look at them, they always look so tasty.」

The mysterious tomato, apparently put in a good mood by the compliments, stretched out a vine and plucked off the fruit it was bearing.

「Th… thanks?」

The mysterious tomato, which shook its vine in a surrealistic manner, walked away in a tottering manner.

Karin, who had been silently staring at the tomato she had received, raised her face.

「I got a tomato from a tomato.」

「They’re so sweet. It’s on the level that you could even call them fruit.」

「No, that’s not it… I wonder how I should put it….」

Karin, at a loss for words, pressed her hand against her forehead.

「There’s a trick to eating it, so be careful. After all, if you gobble it from the side, it explodes.」

「It explodes?!」

「Tomatoes explode when they become too sweet. Didn’t you know that?」

「As if I’d know! I mean, if it explodes, it’s not food anymore, is it?!」

Asura, wagging her tail in a yare-yare manner, showcased the dubious knowledge she had heard from Akehi.

「Not only tomatoes, but when it comes to vegetables and fruits, the higher the sugar content? they contain, the higher the explosive power they have, apparently.」

「You’ve been tricked there, there’re no way that can be true.」

「But in fact, all vegetables that grow in the field of Asagi-sou do explode.」

Asura, who once tried to steal the veggies in a salad buffet manner, had already received a baptism.

The moving series which was blending together regardless of species boasted more explosive power, but such moving series also tended to be sweeter, juicier, and tastier.

The vegetable garden was like a minefield, unapproachable except by Akehi, who would come to apply some dubious skills or spread some dubious fertilizer.

「We’ve arrived at Asagi-sou.」

「Heeh… I wonder why. It looks like nothing but a raid boss castle to me.」

The Asagi-sou building they were looking up there was nothing more than an ordinary wooden student dormitory.

Of course, it was a disguise.

The underlying reason was: I think we’ll get scolded if it were to be found out by the academy, so let’s refrain from remodeling the visual of the front part.

Though, like an Escher’s trompe l’oeil, the space was subtly distorted.

「Pardon the intrusion~」

The side-opening front door was opened.

「There is a waterfall, huh.」

「They say the negative ions are good for your health and beauty.」

Water cascading down from the second floor of the atrium flowed into the semi-subterranean waterfall basin.

For indoor interior furnishing, the scale was a little large.

Or rather, in the first place, the size was odd compared to the exterior of the building.

Around such a waterfall basin, a number of dorm residents were casting fishing lines.

「Huh, they have fishes released there? Or rather, you can fish them?」

「I got some bonito. Looks like I have no choice but to have it turned into tataki (filet dish).」

Asura, holding a freshly caught, watery, bouncing bonito in her hand, moved up into the dormitory as she pulled the boar along.

「It’ll make the hallway dirty, so you can’t pull it along the way, no? I mean, don’t you think it’s strange in a lot of ways? Right?」

「Then, please carry the bonito, Karin-chan.」

Asura, lifting up the boar with a heave-ho, marched toward the dining hall with toddling steps.

「Wait a minute. In the first place, is this really a bonito? It’s got horns, though?」

「When you eat it, it tastes like bonito, so there’s no problem with calling it bonito.」

The dormitory students who were fishing were by no means fishing enthusiasts either; they were simply trying to catch something to go with their supper.

It was a poly-collection waterfall basin where they could catch other kinds of fish as well, such as flounder, sillago, landlocked salmon and trout-like ones, indiscriminate of whether they were from the sea or river.

The door to the kitchen installed at the back of the dining hall, which was located on the first floor of the dormitory, was opened.

「Ta-daah. I brought you a gift.」

「Oh my, welcome. The good work party starts in the evening, but you sure are early, aren’t you?」

Only breakfast and dinner were served in the student dormitories.

These were cooked by cooks who commuted to the dormitory.

As for the remaining period of time, it was open to the dorm residents.

「That’s one huge horned boar you’ve got there.」

Kurumi, clad in an apron as she was doing prep work, welcomed Asura and Karin.

With her tied up hair wrapped in a kerchief, she was dressed in osandon (kitchen maid) style.

「I want you to roast it whole!」

「Yes, yes. Then let’s roast it in a cauldron once we’re done dismantling it.」

For skinning, bleeding, and maturing, she basically made use of her skills.

Kurumi’s Craftsman skills had been specialized as a chef.

However, what served as the base was her own skills and knowledge.

With a single knife, the boar turned into a mass of meat in no time at all, with the skin peeled off and the entrails pulled out.

「What to do with the entrails, I wonder? I guess I’ll put them all together and make a miso stew.」

「… Amazing.」

Fascinated by the masterful dismantling that didn’t even let her feel raw-ish grotesqueness, Karin murmured to herself.

「Oh my? You’re not a student from Asagi-sou, are you? By the way, that, if you want to eat it as sashimi, I can cut it for you, you know?」

「E, eerrrr.」

「I want tataki. With lots of garlic and ginger, please.」

「Yes, yes~. We’re at it anyway, so let’s make it into warayaki (straw roast). Can I serve this at the good work party too?」

「S, save the fun for later….」

As Asura gulped, Meiron, who was finishing up in the back of the kitchen, popped her face out.

「Asura-chan, here is, the promised, seven-colored popcorn.」

「Oooh! Thank you very much~.」

Asura’s eyes sparkled as she received the popcorn that was solidly crammed inside large paper bags.

It was colorful popcorn that came in seven flavors: salt, caramel, butter soy sauce, cheese, strawberry, basil, and curry.

Just in case, to prevent the flavors from mixing, the popcorn was divided into two large bags, one for the salty and one for the sweet flavors.

Asura, holding large bags in both hands, hopped a dance of delight, spinning around and around.

「Please take the sweet one, Karin-chan. I mustn’t eat all of them, after all.」

「I can’t eat that much! … Ah, but it’s delicious.」

「The banquet starts in the evening, so go play with your friend until then.」

「… Huh, I’m not her friend or….」

「Yes~.」

Asura, replying cheerfully, pulled Karin along with her.

There was no deep meaning behind the act, but there was a possibility that she was thinking of her as a popcorn carrier.

「Hey, wait a minute, duh. I’ve come to look for Saki….」

「If you’re looking for Saki-chan, she might be in the club room.」

「Club room in the dormitory?」

Karin, who was walking down the hallway while being pulled by Asura, kept her mouth shut.

Bouncing up and down on the hallway and passing them by was a paper umbrella which had a single leg that looked like a radish.

It also seemed to have one big eye and a tongue that was sticking out of its mouth, which split into a crescent moon.

「Some strange creatures are moving about here all so naturally.」

「Such a thing, there are a lot of them around these parts.」

「Heeh….」

As the two entered the recreation room area, a mysterious biwa was being chased by the dorm residents, strumming death metal all the while.

The biwa had been sealed off time and again as a countermeasure against the noise, but as it was resurrected from time to time, it strove in death metal propagation.

The dormitory students who succeeded in subjugating the biwa would be given sweets during dinner, so it was regarded as a rather popular wandering boss.

It was just that, recently, indoctrinated Death Metaler dorm residents seemed to be performing a resurrection ritual, and the increasing frequency of its pop-up was being viewed as a problem.