Chapter 242: Chapter 226: Dispute

“Say, Takumi.”

“What is it?”

“Wouldn’t it be possible to enjoy different kinds of flavors by using those salts I got from you?”

Ohh! You have noticed, Rudolph-san!

“I was just thinking about that too.”

I think the kids would like things like curry salt the most.

“Rudolph-san, what do you mean by salts of different flavors?”

Iris-san was wondering as Rudolph-san and I were talking. She inquired about the salts.

“I got these from Takumi, they are kind of salts with different flavors! You just have to sprinkle some on the vegetable or meat to enjoy different flavors each time!”

“That’s incredible! What kind of flavors are there!?”

“So there was something this useful around!”

“Eh! What’s that! Isn’t that revolutionary!”

When Rudolph-san proudly explained to his party about the salts, the three seemed really interested.

“Listen up and be surprised! There’s pepper, curry, garlic, soy sauce, lemoné, minsu, herbs, chili, oren, yuzu, lime, green tea. There are twelve different flavors!”

“””Ohh!”””

Even I forget the flavors of the salts though I was involved in the production, but Rudolph-san seem to have memorized it after hearing them just once. What an incredible memory.

“So it’s fine just to sprinkle it over what you are grilling!”

“That’s perfect for camping, isn’t it!”

“”We can be liberated from Iris’ cooking with this!””

Zack-san and Gilm-san were in perfect sync.

Iris-san’s state started getting strange after her two companions exclaimed such words.

“... Zack, Gilm.”

She’s angry. Iris-san is undoubtedly furious.

Moreover, I think I heard menacing sound effects.

“”... Au~””

Seeing Iris-san like that, Allen and Elena got scared.

“... Even though I did my best so that we did not have to eat only preserved foods! What do you take a person’s kindness for!!”

“No one asked you to!”

“I’m grateful for your feelings, but no matter how hard you’ve tried, it was not edible~ Moreover, you were wasting ingredients, you know?”

“What did you say!!”

Zack-san, Gilm-san, you don’t have to add fuel to the fire.

“... They started with it again?”

“Rudolph-san, is it fine to not stop them?”

Rudolph-san moved away to escape the argument of the other three, so I took Allen and Elena and moved to a remote table.

“Well... this is the usual business. Zack is the type who always says what’s on his mind, and Gilm is a mature guy, but he doesn’t like wasting things. Iris is, despite her appearances, a stubborn person who takes action the more you tell her not to.”

“... And so, you are the spectator?”

“I don’t have the energy to stop them. Besides, those three get along well. Think of it as messing around.”

... That seems more like a quarrel than messing around to me, though?

“I can’t see it.”

“I thought so.”

I was worried that they were fighting, but Rudolph-san showed no concern, so I really believed that it must be the usual business.

“Right, Takumi. Do you have an easy way to cook soup outdoors by any chance?”

Rudolph-san suddenly changed the topic. It seems that he’s leaving Iris-san and others totally on their own.

“A soup?”

“Yeah. Grilling exceptional meat will be much easier thanks to the salts you have given me. That being the case, I would like to improve on our soups.”

“N~?”

A way to make a soup easily, huh~ Although he says that, cooking soup is not that difficult to begin with, no?

You just boil the ingredients and add seasonings, after all.

To make even that easier would be the pour hot water type... like powder, or freeze-dry?

I don’t have tools for powderizing, so freeze-drying should be the way to go. Freeze-drying is freezing and sublimation, right? That could be done with magic then.

“... It does seem possible.”

“Really!?”

Rudolph-san’s expression brightened when he heard me muttering.

“I don’t really know whether it will work, but I will give it a try before long.”

“Ou! Thanks!”

A freeze-dried soup will last long, so I can also let the twins carry it on them as emergency rations, so I will try hard.

“But, why do you want to start making soup all of sudden?”

“Those guys get into fights only when talking about food. I thought that their quarreling would decrease as long as the bad food disappears.”

I see. I thought he was leaving them alone, but Rudolph-san was caring about them in his own way.

Still... it’s amazing how often we talk about food. Well, does that mean that Iris-san’s cooking has that big of destructive power?

“You guys, the kids will come to hate you if you don’t stop it already.”

“””Eh?”””

Probably because the dining hall was about to open, Rudolph-san decided to stop the three.

Then, Iris-san and the other two looked at the children with strange faces. Allen and Elena were clinging to me.

“They have been completely terrified because of your loud voices.”

“””Eh!?”””

“Getting disliked by the children means eventually getting disliked by Takumi as well.”

Well, he’s right. If the children were scared of Iris-san and others, I would make sure to not get close to them too often.

“That would mean no delicious things for you guys anymore.”

“””Ehh~!!”””

Hearing Rudolph-san’s words, Iris-san, Zack-san, and Gilm-san raised shriek-like voices.

That’s what you are worried about!? What’s important to you are delicious things!?

“... Rudolph-san, you are speaking as if my only value was cooking.”

“The cooking was just an easy-to-understand analogy, you are a good guy so don’t be bothered about something like that!”

“......”

I couldn’t say anything more to the grinning Rudolph-san.