kscans

Chapter 159 - Zenzai

Eight days after creating the weapon destined for the shelf, the Mottled Blade Sword, Yuri had visitors in his village.

"It has been a while, you two."

Appearing through the still snow-covered mountain path were Old Man Audel and Otta from End Village. It seemed Dona was staying home this time.

"She insisted on coming until the very end. But we could not let her walk this snowy road."

At the old man’s words, Otta, who looked like he had been clearing snow all the way here, nodded with a tired expression. Seeing this, Yuri understood that it could not be helped. Just shoveling snow and clearing it off the roofs within the village was a huge task even with magic. For two people without magic to have cleared the snow all the way here with only physical strength must have been an unimaginably difficult task. He wanted to at least offer them something to relieve their fatigue.

After the two seemed to have regained some semblance of their humanity with hot tea, Yuri served them a warm zenzai-like dish while guessing that this sweet treat was probably what Dona had been after. The two looked at the zenzai-like dish as if seeing something rare, Otta a little fearfully, but then, as if making up their minds, they put it in their mouths… and their eyes widened as they froze.

"It’s—sweet!?"

"Yuri-kun! What is this!?"

(...Huh? Is zenzai that unusual?)

Whether it was zenzai or shiruko, there was likely no Japanese person who did not know of it, but in truth… even on his past life’s Earth, eating beans prepared sweetly was almost exclusively limited to Asia. Moreover, in this country where sugar was not widespread, a sweet bean stew was an item they could not even imagine.

"Um… it’s a dish… or rather, a snack called zenzai… Is it not common here…?"

"I’ve never eaten it before… in fact, I’ve never seen or heard of such a thing. ...Well, it is extremely delicious, but…"

Otta was nodding his head vigorously in silent agreement. He seemed too busy chewing, savoring, and swallowing to do something as uncivilized as opening his mouth to speak.

(...Well… they seem to like it… so I guess it’s fine…)

Thinking this, Yuri added,

"Those are the beans I bought in Laurenzen last year."

"Oh… those small beans. I was wondering what you would use them for…"

Speaking of an, one thinks of adzuki beans. That is common sense for Japanese people, but if asked why adzuki beans, not many could explain. In fact, to achieve the smooth yet light texture of an, the selection of the beans to be used as ingredients is crucial. That texture cannot be obtained unless one uses beans with high starch content like adzuki or kidney beans. If one uses beans with high oil content like Soya Beans or peanuts, they may become a paste, but they will not have that an texture. In the case of zunda, which is made from edamame, that an texture is achieved by using immature Soya Beans, which have a low oil content.

That preamble was a bit long, but what Yuri purchased in Laurenzen last year were beans that looked like large mung beans. They were much larger than the mung beans he had seen in Japan in his previous life, about the size of small adzuki beans. Initially, he bought them thinking he could make bean sprouts, but later, when he consulted with Mr. Appraisal, he was overjoyed to learn that there were various cooking methods, including making an. When winter came and it grew cold, Yuri promptly challenged himself to make zenzai, as if it were a seasonal tradition. The result was a thick, dark green paste with white flour dumplings floating in it, a sight that would likely make an unknowing person recoil. But if he thought of it as matcha an, though it was completely different, he did not mind and savored it with delight. Incidentally, during the Edo period, there was said to be a shiruko made from green yaenari, or mung beans, but Yuri did not know of this. Whatever color it was, it was his first zenzai-like dish in a long time. What did it matter if the color changed from red to green? In terms of traffic signals, it should have become safer, should it not? The fact that a traffic light analogy came up in his evaluation of zenzai was already quite suspect, but Yuri, who was high on zenzai, paid no mind to such trivial matters and had been eating it every three days. The zenzai he served the two had also been made a few days prior, but thanks to Storage, it had been preserved warm.

"In your hometown, Yuri-kun, do you eat those beans this way?"

"No, the real thing uses a different kind of bean, but it seemed I could make it with these beans too."

"Hmm… sweet bean soup is a strange thing, but it is a blessing for a tired body."

"Sweet things are effective when you’re tired."

"Is this also made with wood honey?"

"No, I tried using the sugar I bought in Laurenzen for this one."

"That is quite a luxury… I feel like I’d get a scolding if I don’t keep this quiet from Dona…"

The old man glanced at Otta beside him, and Otta, who seemed to share the same thought, nodded silently. Yuri thought he could share some with Dona, but that would likely create a rift with the other villagers. On the other hand, serving it to the entire village was out of the question, so in the end, Yuri had no choice but to agree.

"...Let’s keep this a secret between us…"

The old man and Otta, his accomplices, nodded silently.