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Chapter 262: Salty

Butler is awake now so I’m going home. I can 【Teleport】back to a certain place as long as I carefully remember where it is, but it doesn’t work when there are people around. And so, I move a little further away —

But first, I punch the focaccia dough again to expel extra gas then it’s time for the second round of fermentation.

「… You… 」
「Jean-sama… 」
I rummage Khan’s cloak again.

He’s wearing a cloth that looks like a carpenter’s apron and a piece of fabric wrapped around his waist down to his shins underneath that cloak. Unfortunately, there’s a side slit near his thigh, so I have to be careful with the placement of the dough to avoid any ‘mishaps’. As for whether he’s wearing underwear or not — I didn’t ask.

Alright, I’m off to take a stroll with Riche, for real this time.

The sky is still dark as we run through the mountain. There are days when we also take our time to walk slowly while making several detours every now and then. And there are also times when we cover a lot of distance running, just like today. Well, I did say run, but it’s mostly me accompanying Rich while briskly walking or jogging. He’s small, after all.

After the run, Riche and I take a leisurely walk around the fields and fruit orchard, and time seems to pass by so fast. Riche doesn’t want to go out of the house in the mountains other than going to the sanctuary in the forest, apparently. I already took him to my Canum house once before, but maybe he’s already satisfied after checking that place that time because he doesn’t budge any more even if I invite him to go with me after that.

He’s not ill or anything, but I think he prefers to stay in this house that has a barrier set up by the deities. He also likes that sanctuary that seems to be his former territory — maybe he’s doesn’t feel confident that he’ll be able to win against the black spirits and monsters if he were to fight against them?

I want to go to lots of places with Riche, but I’ll never force him to do anything that he doesn’t want to, so he is primarily house-sitting. I rub him all over again before returning to the Labyrinth.

「I’m back. 」
「Welcome back. 」
「Welcome back, Jean-sama. 」
「…Ou. 」

Did Butler stay awake even when it’s Ash’s turn?

「Is it done? 」

I rummaged through Khan’s cloak again and took out the focaccia dough. Khan looked extremely bothered, but he should just give up.

I stretched the dough and shaped it into a square before stuffing it inside the sandwich maker — uh, the thing is actually a bit too big to call that — then brushing some olive oil on it. I line the semi-dried tomatoes and round slices of black olive, add some shredded cheese, basil, and sprinkle some salt.

I poked the low fire to make it stronger, then baked the dough. I also reheated the leftover grilled meat from yesterday, then boiled some water. A lot of stuff crowded the firepit.

「Ou, that smells good .」
Dinosso said, waking up.

「I’ll grill some more, so go ahead and eat. 」
I divided the freshly baked focaccia into eight slices, two for each. Retze also woke up, but he has to wait for a bit.

「Hey, why is Noth looking uncomfortable? 」
「It’s nothing… 」
Butler averted his eyes at Retze’s question.

「Did Jean do something again that humans can’t do? Oh, this is tasty. 」
Dinosso took a huge bite of focaccia. Butler also took out some cheese and dried figs.

「Well, if it’s the question of whether it can or cannot be done, then it should be the former. 」
Noth replied.

Butler’s eyes darted around until his gaze finally landed on his share of focaccia.

It was piping hot, with steam wafting from it.I shouldn’t be tooting my own horn, but I do think it looks awesomely scrumptious. Just cool it a little bit and it’ll be perfect.

「Oh well, it doesn’t seem to have contact with the skin… 」
Butler seemed to steel himself as he gingerly took a bite. What’s with that, Ash is already eating, you know.

「It is indeed palatable…. 」
Hey, stop with that doubtful tone.

「If it’s lacking, sandwich some meat in it. Add olive oil if it’s too dry for your taste. 」
The meat is leftover from yesterday, so let’s give him some olive oil too.

The porcelain jar was wrapped in cloth to prevent it from breaking. Actually, I also have an unbreakable glass bottle that looked like it’d work well as a blunt weapon, but the ordinary pottery jar that I prudently bought from Canum weighed less, so that’s what I chose.

Dean and Chris had also woken up by the time the next batch of bread was ready.

「Is this red one a tomato? 」
「Yup. 」
Retze could also quickly memorize the name of things, huh.

「Refrain from showing things that aren’t widely available to people, alright? 」
「It’s fine if you want to enjoy it by yourself, but do that only when no one is around. 」
Dinosso and Retze warned.

「Yes, yes. 」

Tomatoes are slightly common in the south as ornamental plants, but it’s not yet widespread here, huh. Well, can’t blame them, it’s called ‘poison apple’ and is handled like it’s a toxic plant, after all. It’s true that the nightshade family (which includes eggplants) contains toxins, and even tomatoes were said to have an alkaloid toxin called tomatine. Still, they would have to consume tons of them before it’ll have any effect.

We need to spread tomatoes and eggplants as soon as possible. Potatoes have started to enter the countries in the coastlands. They are smaller than the ones I’m familiar with and they also have a reddish color, much like sweet potatoes. They came by ship from Nalluahdid.

Maybe the potatoes I sell will be available on the market by next year? The merchant I sold the seed potatoes to seems to be working hard to increase the yield.

「It has the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness. 」
「Mm, the saltiness is also nice. 」
Butler and Ash.

「Any vegetables that go well with meat are welcome! 」
Dean dexterously sliced the bread and crammed as much meat as he could into his sandwich.
「It’s truly wonderful that we get to enjoy such warm meals in this place so early in the morning! 」
Chris ate his focaccia with one hand while tightly gripping the mug of Butler’s tea with his other hand.
Hm? Does Chris also get cold easily?

But not as much as Khan, it seems. Alright, let’s ask his preference later.

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T/N: LOL, Butler reluctant to eat thinking the dough rested under Khan’s butt, and yet Jean seems totally oblivious about the poor man’s inner turmoil. XD XD XD XD