Chapter 52 - Back to Normal
"Hey, Pops, I need you to make something urgently."
"You again, kiddo? What is it this time?"
"A whisk, a mesh ladle, and an oil-draining tray."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Do you have any rust-resistant metal?"
Dwan brought out some kind of metal ingots while grumbling.
"This is an alloy. It's made by mixing various metals. It hardly rusts at all."
I didn't know something like this existed. Is it something like brass?
"Okay, I'll start making them, so pay close attention. I think we'll be mass-producing them eventually."
"What are these tools for?"
"They're cooking utensils. The real products would be more refined, but since I'm in a hurry today, I will just make the simple ones."
Gail used earth magic to turn the ingot into a wire.
"Pops, cut this wire into four pieces about this long."
Dwan sniped the wire with a metal shear.
"Dan, bend this wire like this and wrap the base with this wire."
"Like this?"
"Yeah, that's perfect."
The head of the whisk was finished. Gail used magic to create the handle and then fused it with the head to complete it.
"Kiddo, how do you use this?"
"You use it to whisk eggs and other things. That’s why it's called a whisk. If you whisk only the egg whites, it will becomes foamy."
"What are you going to do with foamed egg whites?"
Ignoring Dwan's question, Gail focused on making a mesh ladle and an oil-draining tray.
"Hey, what are these for---hmmph!"
Gail shoved a piece of yesterday's fried chicken into Dwan's mouth to shut him up.
"What the hell is this!?"
"Then, see you later!"
"H-Hey, wait! Do you have more of this...?"
"Dan, run! If Pops catches us, we won't make it in time."
A burly man runs through the town carrying a toddler. If I scream for help now, people will mistake him for a kidnapper.
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Gail and Dan headed straight for the kitchen as soon as they arrived at the mansion.
"I'm back. Let's start cooking right away. Brick, make some hard-boiled eggs."
Gail instructed Brick to crack the larger end of the eggs a little before boiling them, while he was preparing a bowl of ice water to soak them later.
Now then, it's time to make mayonnaise.
Gail separated the whites and yolks of the fresh eggs he bought yesterday. Just to be safe, he also cast clean magic on them. He then added some vinegar and salt to the egg yolks.
I don't need the egg whites this time, so I'll leave it to Brick to decide whether he's going to throw them away or use them for something.
"Dan, use the whisk I made before to stir these egg yolks."
"Do you mean this one?"
"Yes, that one. If you keep stirring egg whites with that, they will turn into a white foam. Today we won't do that, though."
"Is this enough?"
"No, keep stirring while I add the rapeseed oil little by little."
"Young Master, they will not mix together."
"That will be the case if it's just vinegar and oil. However, there are also egg yolks in this mixture."
Brick looked puzzled, so Gail told him to just watch it himself.
*whisk*
*whisk*
*whisk*
It's starting to look like mayonnaise.
"Just a little more, Dan.... Brick, are the hard-boiled eggs done yet?"
"They're almost done."
"When they're done, immediately soak them in the ice water."
"In ice water?"
"That's right."
Brick soaked the eggs in the ice water with a puzzled look.
"You can stop now, Dan."
"Huff.... Huff.... Young Master, this is tough."
"I see. I will ask Pops to make a better tool next time."
I'm planning to have Dwan make a hand mixer.
"Once the eggs have cooled, Brick and Misha, peel the shells."
"I'm terrible at peeling egg shells..."
"It's fine. You can do it."
Gail tried to reassure Misha.
"Oh, the shell came off so easily!"
Misha was delighted, and Brick was surprised.
"Now then, Brick, can you crush the boiled eggs you just peeled into small pieces?"
"Eh? You are going to crush them? Even though I've peeled them so beautifully...."
Misha looked sad.
"We're going to use it for the sauce. The fried chicken we had yesterday will taste even better."
Hearing that, Misha and Brick started crushing the eggs in a good mood.
"Next, add the sauce Dan just made to these mashed eggs and mix them well."
This is it, a makeshift tartar sauce!
Brick served the sauce on small plates for everyone to taste.
The vinegar used in mayonnaise is wine vinegar, so it tastes different from what I'm used to eat, but it's still delicious in its own way.
"W-What is this called?"
Brick asked with a trembling voice.
"The sauce Dan made is called mayonnaise. When you mix mayonnaise with crushed boiled eggs, it becomes tartar sauce. Normally, you'd also add pickled cucumbers and onions, but we didn't have time for that, so it's a bit lacking."
"N-no, this is.... a revolution!"
In this world with so little variety in flavors, this must be a shock. I want to make things like soy sauce, miso, and worcestershire sauce, too.
"Brick, after you make lunch like usual, you'll have to make bread, fried chicken, and chicken meatball soup for dinner, so you'll be busy today."
"I'll do it! I'll definitely do it!"
It seems Brick's culinary spirit has been ignited, and now is burning fiercely.
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Time passed and it was almost time for dinner. Gail returned to his room with Misha and Dan.
"I was wondering what you were planning, Young Master, but it was all for Young Master Bent."
"I feel something bad would happen to our family if we don’t do something about Bent soon. Well, the rest is up to Mom and Dad."
"Madam understands your feelings, Young Master. I'm sure it will go well."
Misha said with a gentle smile.
I'll pretend I didn't see her wiping drool from the corner of her mouth.
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Dinner time. Everyone was sitting on their seats in silence. The servants then started bringing the food in one after another. Everyone except Gail stared intently at the dishes they were seeing for the first time.
"Let's eat. "
On Arnold's cue, everyone started eating their dinner. John and Bent took a sip of the meatball soup and looked incredibly surprised. Next, they took a bite of the bread.
"Wow, it's so soft!"
Bent exclaimed.
Yeah, he talked!
After that, the fried chicken and tartar sauce were brought in by Brick himself. The two brothers were even more surprised by it.
"You can eat this as is, or with the tartar sauce here, whichever you prefer. Please be careful, the fried chicken is hot."
"Fried chicken? Tartar sauce?"
The two looked puzzled.
"Go ahead, try it."
Aina encouraged Bent and John. The two then took a bite of the fried chicken.
"Hot! But it's so delicious!"
Bent beamed with a big smile.
Now it's your turn, Arnold!
"Bent, your mother and I are sad because you barely talked to us these past few days. Because of that, we asked Brick to make a new dish to cheer you up. How is it? Did you like it?"
"Dan and Mom.... for me...."
Bent started to get teary.
I was worried about what he'd say, but it was perfect, Arnold.
"Bent, you are our child. If there's anything you want to say, don't hesitate to tell us. Because the two of us are so unreliable, we've made you feel sad...."
Aina also began to shed tears.
"Dad, Mom, I was wrong, I'm sorry...."
Bent burst into tears. All the pain and loneliness from not talking to his parents for the past few days started to overflow. Gail felt relieved, thinking that now things would go back to normal, but at the same time, he felt a little sad as he noticed a part of himself watching it all as if it were someone else's business.
"Well then, please enjoy the rest of the food before it gets cold."
Brick withdrew after saying that.