The year 3901 is now in December and the month is almost over! It is December 30, which is just one day away from .......
In the continental calendar of Ars, December ends on the 30th, so it was New Year's Eve.
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Jin had come to the village of Kaina, as he had said before.
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"Please tell them that I entered Nido Castle last night.
"Yes, Master Jin."
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Freddy nodded.
It was a bitter excuse because they could not make it public that they had come through the warp gate, but none of the villagers doubted it.
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The companions were Elsa, Reiko, Rubina, Shu, and Grina.
Rubina and Shu were a reward for Jin's concern for the <
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"This place <
"<
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Rubina seemed to like the keep and came up several times a day to admire the view.
But it was winter, the opposite of the season on the Tropic of Cancer, and the village of Kaina was in the northern part of the continent, so it was cold.
Fortunately, the snow came late in the year and has not yet accumulated.
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However, the wind from the northern mountains is cold, and Jin warns us to put on a jacket to avoid catching a cold.
But Rubina, who grew up on a warm island and is not accustomed to wearing heavy clothes, is always wearing light clothes.
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"......I can't help it. ......"
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Jin puts up a
"Oh, thank you, Jin-sama.
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"Oh, thank you, Jin-sama." "You really don't want to catch a cold, do you? ......I'll call Amanda, okay?"
"Oh, and don't call my grandma, okay?"
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The free-spirited Rubina is not very fond of her grandmother Amanda, who is a strict disciplinarian.
"I won't call you grandma, you listen to me."
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"Yes, sir."
"...... don't you dare answer me! ......Yes, we're going to be pounding rice cakes in the square in front of Nido Castle soon. Make sure you come down."
"Yes, I remember."
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In years when there is a lot of snow, we have to remove the snow before pounding the rice cakes, but this year there is still no snow on the ground, so we can pound the rice cakes without any problem.
From this morning, golem maids of five different colors have been steaming glutinous rice.
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Butlers B and C are preparing the pestles and mortars.
The villagers are led by Ellis, the lord, and his grandson Freddy.
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Freddy was preparing various details with Gulina.
"Daikon grated radish, soybean flour, red bean paste, soy sauce ......, what else do you need?"
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"Sesame seeds would be nice."
Sesame is from Onogoro Island.
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Grina prepared roasted sesame seeds.
You can either grind them or just put them on.
You can choose between sweetened and unsweetened sesame seeds.
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The plain one tastes better with a little bit of soy sauce added.
"Oh, I forgot the seaweed.
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Freddy remembered Jin's previous assertion that nori is the most common ingredient in rice cakes.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The glutinous rice steamed in the steamer is placed in the mortar and kneaded with the tip of the pestle to stick the grains together, and then the pounding begins.
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The pestle is coated with a special coating to reduce the coefficient of friction, which prevents the rice from sticking to the pestle and makes the process more efficient.
The golem maids' hands, which were used to flip the rice cakes, were covered with
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The sound of pounding rice cakes echoed through the village.
The villagers and the five-colored golem maids were pounding the rice cakes.
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"Wow, it's delicious!
The village children are eating the freshly pounded rice cakes.
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"I like soybean flour!
"I like red bean paste.
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"I like red bean paste, too.
"Sesame is good, too."
I like soy sauce. I like it wrapped in nori.
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I like grated daikon with a dash of soy sauce: ......
Some of them were talking like they were pretending to be gourmets.
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Jin was eating freshly pounded rice cakes in grated soy sauce.
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"Yes, it's good."
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"Mmm."
Next to her, Elsa is eating rice cakes with grated soy sauce as well.
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By the way, this time all the rice cakes were round.
The five-colored golem maids were rolling up the freshly pounded and hot rice cakes without a care.
The slightly flattened round rice cakes were bite-sized.
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Even if it gets stuck in your throat, Butler B and C can remove it using <
And since Erza was with them, they were well prepared.
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"Jin, yes.
"Oh, thank you."
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After the grated soy sauce, Erza offered me a rice cake dipped in soy sauce and wrapped in seaweed.
"Yes, this is delicious too.
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The flavor of the rice cake would be even better if it were dipped in soy sauce and baked, but since our goal was to enjoy the taste of freshly pounded rice cake, we did not bake it this time.
However, since I pounded a sufficient amount of rice, I plan to save the remainder as noshimochi and eat them at New Year's. I also made other kinds of mochi, such as Daifuku (bean-stuffed rice cake).
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I also plan to make and keep bean- Daifuku, kinako mochi, ankoromochi, etc., for New Year's food.
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"If you eat too much, you won't be able to eat New Year's soba at night," Freddy said.
Freddy would say,
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"Don't worry! A little exercise will make you hungry!
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the children reply.
The New Year's Eve in Kaina Village ends in a lively atmosphere.
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* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As dusk falls, the soba (buckwheat noodle) making process begins.
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The buckwheat flour is eight parts buckwheat and two parts wheat.
The soup is a combination of bonito broth and kelp broth, sweet and dry, and hot soba is also available.
Condiments are sharoto (long green onion), wasabi (Japanese horseradish), shichimi (seven spice) chili pepper, spicy daikon radish (also known as mouse daikon), and so on.
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Vegetable kakiage, chikuwa tempura, prawn tempura, etc. are also available, and you can choose any combination you like.
By the way, the rice cakes and soba noodles are all free.
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"This is delicious!
"What a good lord!"
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Jin's face lights up at the sight of the happy villagers.
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"...... Jin, you look so happy."
Erza, who was drinking buckwheat noodle soup next to Jin, said.
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"Yes, I am. I thought the village of Kaina is a nice village after all.
"Hmmm.... ...... Jin was busy at the end of the year, he should take it easy."
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"Yes, but ...... early next year, there will be an opening ceremony for the Adriana Memorial Museum.
Yes, because of the three-hour time difference, we can go to the village of Kaina to see the first sunrise and then take a nap before going to the Shoro Kingdom.
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"I'll relax on the 2nd and 3rd of the New Year."
"Hmm."
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Since Jin had set his own schedule, he could not complain to anyone.