The house purchased using accumulated points through summoning, though its mechanism remains a mystery, is fully equipped with essential utilities.
“When you turn the faucet, clean water flows out. There’s no gas or induction cooktop, but it comes with a magical stove for cooking. For lighting, magical lanterns work perfectly. It’s incredibly convenient…”
While there are no appliances, and buying them from large furniture stores is possible, outlets aren’t available, so I gave up on that idea from the start.
However, this tiny house has an additional option to use an air conditioner (or something similar powered by magic).
This seaside town, located in the southern part of the continent, is free from humidity but receives intense sunlight. The temperature hovers around 30°C. While the dry heat is manageable, being outside the shade for long periods can be quite exhausting.
But with an air conditioner in the house, it’s a different story altogether.
“Ahhh… The house is so cool. It’s amazing…”
To prevent heatstroke, I started taking more breaks during adventuring activities in the daytime, and thanks to that, I’ve been able to live comfortably.
While it does require magic stones instead of electricity, I’ve gathered plenty of magic stones from the beasts defeated along the way, which I now use for the air conditioner.
At first, Sheera was reluctant, suggesting that the magic stones should be sold at the guild instead of being consumed. But after experiencing the comfort of the air conditioner just once, she never complained again.
“Air conditioning is a truly wonderful magical device. Eating ice cream in this cool room is just too good…”
After quenching my thirst with barley tea, I make it a habit to have convenience store ice cream during snack time.
Sheera ’s favorite is vanilla ice cream in a cup.
Ketsue, the cat fairy, adores soft-serve ice cream made from freshly squeezed milk. In his sweet, childlike voice, he adorably asks for some. Since a whole serving is too much for him, I portion it out onto a small plate.
“What should we have for dinner today…”
While nibbling on a wafer ice cream sandwich, I start thinking about the dinner menu.
Cooking at home is more economical than eating out, and above all, it tastes better, so I’ve been preparing all three meals at the cottage recently.
“For dinner, I think pork cutlets and fried oysters would be perfect!”
Sheera , a big eater, eagerly raised her hand to make her suggestion.
Ketsue, the cat fairy, let out a cry similar in volume to hers to show his agreement. His request was shrimp tempura and fried chicken.
“Didn’t we just have fried food yesterday?”
“I could eat it three times a day, every day, without issue.”
“Meow!”
“Seriously…”
I was left speechless by Sheera ’s deadpan expression and Ketsue’s vigorous nodding.
On the day we moved from the city inn to this seaside house, I cooked pork cutlets for Sheera , who was tired of seafood.
Using thick cuts of pork stored in my [Item Box], I tenderized them and deep-fried them to perfection. Accompanied by rice cooked in an earthen pot and shredded cabbage, the dish turned out to be a masterpiece. Sheera , trembling with emotion, devoured it all in no time.
I was amazed at how much this slender girl could eat. She even had seconds—three thick pork cutlets, each about three centimeters thick.
Well, considering how delicious a meat dish was after a long time, it couldn’t be helped.
Since I had already used the oil, I also prepared shrimp tempura, horse mackerel fry, and fried oysters alongside the pork cutlets.
Ketsue loved the pork cutlets too, but he especially adored the shrimp tempura and started requesting it at every meal.
The shrimp caught near the rocky shore aren’t large, but they’re fresh and plump, making for excellent tempura. Ketsue, happily munching on it with plenty of tartar sauce, looked truly blissful.
Sheera , tempted by the sight, gave it a try as well, but she seemed to prefer the fried oysters.
(Sheera has good taste, appreciating the charm of fried oysters.)
She couldn’t stand the smell of grilled oysters, but once fried, she had no problem with them. With a drizzle of tonkatsu sauce, she quietly polished them off.
Incidentally, she showed no interest in the horse mackerel fry at all. It’s delicious when paired with rice, which seems like such a waste.
The leftover pork cutlets and horse mackerel fry became sandwich fillings for the next day’s lunch, and they were well-received too.
Thanks to the [Item Box], we can enjoy freshly fried food at any time. Long live this otherworldly life!
(As a celebration for dropping the rare “house,” I sent some pork cutlets and seafood fries to my cousins, and they were absolutely thrilled.)
Apparently, there’s no ocean near where they’re staying, so it’s rare for them to get fresh seafood. They were overjoyed when I sent them sashimi too. Next, I’ll send them a seafood bowl.
If I just send them fish, I doubt they’ll know how to fillet it properly. They’d probably appreciate cooked dishes more.
“Having fried food all the time isn’t good for your health, so let’s go with a seafood menu today.”
“That’s so mean, Tohma -san…”
“Fuuunya…”
“Fake crying isn’t going to work.”
“Boo.”
Sheera puffs her cheeks and sulks.
Lately, she’s been showing a wider range of expressions, which makes me think we’ve grown closer. While she’s busy pouting and acting spoiled, it feels like she’s trying to build a “family” relationship she’s never experienced before.
(Does that mean she might go through a rebellious phase too?)
That thought is a bit scary. My cute cousins were pretty troublesome during their rebellious phases. My cousin Natsuki , in particular, had intense mood swings and was a handful.
She’s a sweet and adorable little sister figure now, but she was also the scariest when she got mad.
“For today, you can skip helping out and enjoy this instead.”
“Potato chips! Thank you! Ketsue-san, let’s eat together!”
Potato chips taste great after sweet ice cream. The endless cycle of sweet and salty is hard to resist.
Since I’m making Sheera skip meat dishes today, I handed her barbecue-flavored chips. Fried food prep usually calls for help, but today I can handle things faster alone.
“Alright, let’s make some seafood mentaiko pasta.”
I suddenly craved it, so I decided to boil some pasta.
The sauce is mentaiko cream, using a ready-made product from a 100-yen store. The toppings are shrimp, squid, and clams, sautéed in butter, then mixed with the cream sauce and pasta.
By using fresh seafood instead of frozen mixes, the result is incredibly delicious.
“For the salad, let’s make carpaccio. I wish we had salmon, but we’ll go with sea bream sashimi instead.”
The vegetables come from the garden Ketsue and I grew in the great forest, so we still have plenty.
I piled lettuce and baby greens into a bowl and arranged the sea bream sashimi neatly on top. For the dressing, I used one specifically for carpaccio. Looks tasty.
“The soup will be a gentle cabbage and chicken soup.”
With chicken stock powder, it’s bound to taste good. I used thigh meat from a “Kokko bird.”
Adding garlic, ginger, black pepper, and sesame oil gives it an appetizing aroma that hits hard.
“If it’s just this, Sheera and Ketsue will probably complain it’s not enough, so I’ll make dessert too…”
Since they spent the day hunting Sahagin and digging for shellfish, they should burn off the calories easily.
I decided to make crepes using bananas bought from the town market.
The crepe batter is made by mixing hotcake mix from a 100-yen store with milk.
Since I’m at it, I’ll make a batch for later. The filling is chocolate-banana.
I spread custard cream on the crepe, laid sliced bananas on top, drizzled it with plenty of chocolate sauce, then folded it in half.
I used to make these for my cousins as snacks, so I swiftly prepared a stack of chocolate-banana crepes.
Before I realized it, Sheera, munching on potato chips, was watching the growing pile of crepes with sparkling eyes.
Checking my phone, I saw it was already 6 PM.
“It’s a bit early, but should we have dinner?”
“I’ll help!”
An eager Sheera set the table with plates and cutlery.
Ketsue was already seated, waiting eagerly for the meal to start.
Smiling at the lively dining table, I served everyone heaping plates of seafood mentaiko pasta.
