The main course for lunch was freshwater prawn and crab.
Frying is an easy way to prepare them but you don’t see it often here.
The oil needed for uncooked frying is precious.
It takes a lot of hard work just to procure the amount of oil we need for deep frying in this world.
Even when we’re extracting through tedious means, we’re not yielding significant quantities.
And today, we used coconut oil for frying.
We have several cooking oils but this is basically what we use.
Its characteristic is that it has a stronger distinctive aroma than olive oil.
That can be good or bad, but Eri’s making good use of it.
「 I think I’m going to deep fry these shrimps! Grilled is good too 」
Arisa praises frying.
Despite the heat, she took a bite and loosened her cheeks.
「 Oh yeah. This is delicious 」
The salt gives it a nice kick of flavor, which is followed by the coconut taste.
It’s light despite being fried, so I feel like I could eat as much as I want.
Fried food has an exceptional taste in this world.
「 I’ve been thinking about it, but why are we using coconut oil? I mean, don’t we use olive oil for cooking when we’re in Japan 」
Mana asks.
She’s back in health on the surface.
Who knows if she’s back in health to the root.
「 I’d like that too if possible, but extracting a lot of olive oil is the problem. Coconut oil has much more yield than olive oil.
The only reason why we prefer coconut oil is because it has more volume extracted.
Especially in the case of deep frying, we need more oil.
The cost of using olive oil is just a lot.
「 How easy it is to extract coconut oil? 」
This time, Karin’s asking.
She threw the question to Eri, not me.
Eri’s the one extracting coconut oil.
「 It takes time, but the labor isn’t much 」
「 Really? Could you teach me how to do it? 」
「 Sure! Help me out in making dinner in exchange 」
「 Leave it to me 」
It’s easy to extract coconut oil.
Simply add water to the white pulp of the ground coconut and press it.
Coconut milk is then left to stand for about half a day, then it’s ready to use.
The milk separates, so you can extract the oil and use it.
Unlike olive oil, you can produce it in large quantities.
「 Can I ask another question? 」
Karin looks at me.
I nodded, and she said.
「 I remember watching cooking shows or something where they mix olive oil and salad oil, so we can use it to mix them too, right? 」
Everyone looks surprised, asking “is it okay to mix them?!”
「 Yes, it’s okay to mix them too 」
「 So why aren’t we mixing them? You said earlier that we can extract olive oil, so what if we mix it with coconut oil 」
「 That’s because it’s not good 」
「 Really? Why? 」
「 There are two reasons, first is that even if we mix them, there’s too little olive oil that it’s just meaningless. It’ll just become a slightly weaker aroma of coconut oil 」
「 And the other one is? 」
「 You can’t mix coconut oil with other oils when frying. It’s dangerous because it could spill 」
「 I see. You sure know a lot, Hokage 」
「 No, not really. 」 I only have stock knowledge from cooking shows. I think it’s the same as the same cooking show Karin mentioned earlier. You know, the one where a cooking pro pairs up with a celebrity who can’t even peel an apple and have a cooking competition? 」
「 Yes, that one! 」
「 Oh, I’ve seen that show before! 」
Mana joined the conversation.
The subject of the conversation veers off topic and gets into the cooking show.
This and that–
「 「 「 「 Thanks for the meal! 」 」 」 」
Lunch was over after enjoying a variety of meals centered on fried food.
◇
I was alone with Shiori in the afternoon.
I’m usually helping out Shiori with what she’s in charge of.
In the morning, she asked me to help her out, but in the afternoon, it was the other way around.
「 It’s rather difficult to get it to the lake 」
「 Right? But, I sleep better when it’s dried in sun 」
「 That’s true 」
We even have to come to the lake inside the hideout to hang the futon dry.
We’re hanging them dry right next to the laundry.
The sunlight makes our futon warm and fluffy.
It was Shiori who suggested that we hung the futon to dry.
I was dismissive at first, saying that it was too much of a hassle.
But now I’m convinced to air out the futon.
Frequent drying made our sleep much more comfortable.
Above all, the handicraft team is happy.
They’re pleased that the products they make are treated with care.
「 Do you always hang your futon by yourself? 」
「 That depends on the day, but for the most part, yes 」
「 That’s a lot of trouble, Good work 」
「 I say the same thing. I have to do it 」
「 If it’s hard, you can rely on others you know, like today 」
「 I get that, but I’m just bad at relying on others 」
True to her word, Shiori rarely asks for help
Although, she relies on others if they say that they’ll help her.
She’s not comfortable asking willingly.
「 But, you often rely on me 」
Shiori’s exception is me.
For some reason, she asks for my help in various ways.
However, that’ snot always the case, and she only does it when there is no one else around.
「 Hokage-kun’s a reliable leader. It makes me depend on you 」
「 I’m gonna get carried away if you keep saying that 」
「 That’s the objective 」
「 Really now, you got me 」
「 Ahaha, just kidding 」
Shiori smiles childishly, showing her teeth.
She only laughs like this when she’s alone with me.
When there are others, she covers her mouth when laughing.
「 You should show that smile of yours to the group 」
「 Hokage-kun, that’s what’s weird about you 」
Shiori’s face became serious.
「 Weird? 」
I tilted my head as if I didn’t understand.
「 Isn’t it usually the opposite? 」
「 The opposite? 」
「 I think that you shouldn’t want me to show it to others 」
「 Really? 」
「 Yes. I mean, it’s a look I only show to you, so that means that you get special treatment, and you should feel happy right? So, you wouldn’t want others to feel that special treatment too 」
「 I guess 」
I still didn’t get it even if she spelled it out for me.
「 But, Hokage-kun always thinks differently from what’s normal 」
「 I’m a reliable leader after all 」
I answered Shiori.
She laughed it off and looked straight at me.
「 You sure have the makings of a leader. I love that part of you, Hokage-kun 」
Hearing her say that straight up made my heart race.
Dokun, dokun, it’s pulsing so hard.
「 W-Well, the truth is I just don’t think that much, I guess? 」
I scratched the back of my head out of embarrassment and ended the topic.
Meanwhile, my gaze went away from Shiori’s face and went to her legs.
(Thinking about it now, her skirt’s short)
Shiori’s wearing her uniform today.
Her skirt is shorter, perhaps because she works at the river.
Her thighs are exposed.
(Shit)
I can’t look away from Shiori’s thighs.
Since she just said that she likes me, now I have an erection.
It’s just half-erect, but still, she can see it swelling
「 Ah 」
Shiori raised her voice.
Her gaze is on my crotch.
She noticed my erection.
「 Sorry, well, I’m still a guy you know 」
I tried to make excuses.
Shiori giggled and shortened the distance.
Now she’s in front of me, she coiled her arm around my neck and whispered.
「 I guess the mood’s gotten weird. It’s been a while anyway, so why don’t we do it? 」
「 Oh 」
「 Karin’s on her period, so you won’t do it with her today, right? 」
「 W-Well yeah 」
「 So, can’t we? 」
「 But pills… 」
「 I drank them, of course, 」
It means that she’s cool with creampies
I couldn’t move my head sideways anymore.