Love-Sick Boiled Tofu - Part One

The season became chilly.

Nearly half a year had already passed since I came over to this side. The calendar was the same, which was a huge help as it was easy to understand.

The trees shed their leaves, and the wind was gradually turning colder…. Would I be able to go back, I wondered.

Hello, I’m Shuri.

I tried saying something a bit poetic, but my lingering attachment to Earth was already fading. A person missing for half a year would surely have been fired from their job, and my parents had no doubt given up on me.

I was seriously worrying over whether they could make a law like an Otherworld Abduction Protection Act.

Rather than that, since I was employed here, I had no choice but to make a living in this world.

The war over the salt concessions ended, and we obtained a large amount of reward money and ingredients. Gungrave-san was overjoyed. With this, it seemed we could increase our troops and upgrade our equipment.

Though it looked like getting an assistant for the cook would still take a little longer.

“Why aren’t you recruiting an assistant for the cook?”

“Because there’s no one skilled enough to keep up with your cooking. At this point, bringing in someone who can only make mediocre food just wouldn’t do.”

It seemed my struggles would continue.

It’s not like I couldn’t teach them if it came down to it, though.

“Your cooking techniques are a bit too much to spread to others.”

I-Is it really that much of a problem?!

Even though I had Rir-san and Kuuga-san liking my food, for what it was worth….

I felt a bit shocked, but during this cold season, a war was breaking out in an even colder region.

The reason this time was straightforwardly mineral resources, it seemed.

Things like iron and copper. For now, raw materials that were likely to become weapons or everyday necessities.

Well, it wasn’t gold or silver, apparently.

However, since it was iron capable of producing high-quality steel, conflict was unavoidable after all.

It was cold.

Because it was a cold season in an even colder region, snow was stacked up.

It hadn’t just accumulated. It was stacked.

If it was piled up a meter high, wasn’t that at the level of being stacked?

“It’s cold, isn’t it, Rir-san?”

“…”

Oh no, Rir-san had frozen solid.

It couldn’t be helped.

“Here you go.”

“…Warm!”

It was sweet sake, a warm drink I recently made.

I made it using sake lees. Since it contained alcohol, I didn’t spread it around much.

“Sweet. Doesn’t taste like alcohol.”

“But it’s still alcohol, so just one bottle, okay?”

Rir-san sipping it down was so cute.

Glancing over, I saw Gungrave-san devising a strategy while drinking the sweet sake I had made.

Since he was talking with the unit captains, it was probably about how to cross this snowy mountain and strike the enemy.

Hmm, one of the unit captains was looking this way. What could it be?

In the end, it seemed we would rest today and advance tomorrow.

Rir-san and I would remain here as part of the rear guard unit.

Doing the dishes on a day like this was tough. It cut to the bone.

“Do you have a moment?”

Hmm?

“Ah, Arius-san?”

“I have something to talk to you about.”

Arius-san was a magic specialist who led the mage unit.

When I watched from afar before, she had relentlessly dropped a huge fireball—one that looked to be a meter in diameter—onto the enemy’s encampment.

That kind of person was Arius-san. A woman of peerless beauty.

She was a woman with glossy, long silver hair, refined facial features, slightly taller than me, and with a perfect figure. Though, her chest was flat.

She wore a robe unique to mages and carried two short wands at her waist.

Why did such an Arius-san speak to me?

“What is it?”

“W-Well, you see…”

As I felt a sense of eroticism from Arius-san acting a bit embarrassed, I knew I was normal.

“I want you to teach me how to cook.”

…That was the face of a woman in love.

The thing was, regarding Arius-san.

It seemed she was in love with Gungrave-san.

I mean, anyone could tell just by looking.

Glancing at him constantly, attentively tending to him, and so on.

She obviously had gentle eyes that she would never turn toward the other men.

I knew it in a single glance without even asking. Because it was blatant.

Since she herself intended to hide it, I refrained from digging deeper.

The only one who didn’t notice was Gungrave-san himself, you know?

“Cooking, is it? I don’t mind, but do you have any cooking experience?”

“I have none…”

With this, if I taught her cooking, I could only foresee a grotesque stomachache ending.

“Have you ever held a kitchen knife?”

“…A little.”

“Even though you have no cooking experience?”

“I’m sorry, I was putting on airs…”

As I felt a sense of eroticism from Arius-san awkwardly crossing her arms, I knew I was healthy.

“Hmm, asking me to teach you cooking all of a sudden is… I have no issue teaching, but it won’t be easy, you know?”

“No way…”

“But why so suddenly?”

Until now, there had been no opportunity for her to speak with me.

After all, when we first met, this person said to hurry up and kill him.

I was scared and couldn’t quite talk to her.

“Um… would you promise not to tell anyone?”

“My lips are sealed, so there’s no problem.”

“I… I like Gungrave.”

I ALREADY KNEW THAT!!!!! AND SO DOES EVERYONE ELSE!!!!!!

Seeing a beauty confess her feelings for a handsome guy in person really made a surge of murderous intent rise up.

Right now, I felt like I could fire a Destruction Wave Attack through pure murderous impulse.

I swallowed the urge to say that everyone already knew.

“Ah, is that so?”

“So, recently I’ve often seen Gungrave eating your food with such enjoyment. I was… a little jealous.”

THERE ISN’T A SINGLE SHRED OF BL ELEMENTS IN THIS, THOUGH!!!!!

“Well, that’s…”

“I thought that if I could make food for Gungrave too, he might turn his head toward me. Lately, Rir’s and Kuuga’s units have been active, so his attention is drawn over there. I want to do something for Gungrave’s sake. I’ll also learn more magic.”

A melancholy love. A secluded young lady.

Argh, the beauty bonus was incredible.

“Arius-san, it’s not like you’re actually having trouble with magic, right?”

“…Just a little.”

So she was having trouble.

Because of what happened with Rir-san and Kuuga-san, I wondered if that might be the case.

“Magic is a different field, so I can’t weigh in on it. However, I can lend a hand with your romance.”

“Huh!? Really!?”

Too close, too close, such a nice smell….

Ha, what on earth was I thinking?!

“In the region where I used to live, there’s a dish we eat with people close to us. The timing and the region are just right, too. Let’s invite Gungrave-san and make it for the two of you.”

“Huh? You’ll be there too?”

“At that time, please just think of me as part of the background.”

I felt like crying as I said it.

“So? Inviting me was for a cooking gathering?”

That evening, I invited Gungrave-san and Arius-san over.

For cooperation, I had Rir-san craft a table and chairs.

The cost was hamburger steak. My beef supply was rapidly shrinking.

“Right this way, guests. Please take these seats.”

I softly ushered them to the chairs and had them sit down.

I prepared plates and spoons on the table, and even prepared a substitute for ponzu sauce.

With fish sauce, dipping the green onions into it would ruin the flavor of this dish.

“Well then, I will now prepare the dish.”

“Ho, cooking right in front of us?”

Gungrave-san looked amused.

Arius-san had eyes filled with a murderous aura.

Like I said, there are no BL elements!

“That said, the broth is already made. It’ll be finished in just a bit.”

This time, I took the liberty of making boiled tofu.

When I stayed in the coastal town before, kelp was being sold, so I bought some.

The quality was high, making a great broth.

“Drop the tofu in here.”

It was freshly made tofu crafted from soybeans and nigari obtained from the sea.

This was a pain to make.

Because I had to start by making the tools to produce it.

For that reason, I owed Rir-san hamburger steak. The beef stock was looking bad.

“Simmer it gently, and it’s done. Boiled tofu.”

“…Just this?”

Gungrave looked surprised.

“This is precisely the kind of dish that tastes supreme because we eat it in cold weather.”

“I see. So, are you going to serve it to us?”

“No, I won’t be involved beyond this.”

“Huh?”

I handed over a specialized ladle.

The one with the holes in it.

“The two of you serving each other and sharing a single pot. That is the true delight of pot dishes.”

At that moment, Arius-san made a face as if she had realized something.

“Gungrave, let me serve yours.”

“Hmm? Ah, please do.”

Arius-san put three pieces of tofu onto Gungrave-san’s plate.

“Then I’ll serve yours.”

“Huh?! Ah, th-then, please…”

She offered her ladle and plate with a bashful air.

After serving three pieces to each other, the dinner party began.

“Delicious!”

“It really is… even though it’s such a simple dish.”

Both of them were surprised.

However, calling it simple was a bit much.

“Gungrave-san. What do you think would happen if kelp wasn’t put into this pot?”

“It’d taste the same, wouldn’t it?”

“No, the flavor would be dramatically different.”

Both of them looked puzzled.

“I’ll skip the detailed explanation, but the tiny element of savory flavor contained within the supporting actor—the kelp—dissolves into the pot, and when that soaks into the main star—the tofu—it creates a taste like this. How about it? For the main star that is Gungrave-san, who is the one imparting that savory flavor?”

Saying it myself made me feel kind of embarrassed.

Gungrave-san had an enlightened look on his face, while Arius-san was looking at Gungrave-san with an impassioned gaze.

“Could it be, Arius…”

“…Yes.”

Arius-san affirmed with a shy blush.

With this, my job was done.

Leaving their conversation in the distance, Shuri makes a cool exit….

The next day, Arius-san thanked me.

Apparently, he gave a manly response: he couldn’t make her his lover right now, but once things settled down, he would confess from his side.

I used to think that normative couples should just explode, but…

When companions close to you become happy, you don’t think like that, do you?

By the way, since I was asked about components, atoms, and molecules, I answered.

Although we won the battle after that, it seemed Arius-san went completely unrivaled.