159-158 I scream




 Well.
 I wanted everyone to enjoy the natto I had made, so I got a little prankster in me.

 The spirits of the earth who help me clean and organize the house every day.
 My thank you to those kids is a piece of butter.

 When I replaced it with natto (fermented soybeans)....
 When I replaced it with natto (fermented soy beans), I was super pissed off.

"He's a stinker! It stinks, sir!
Why is your husband harassing us like this?
It's a clear-cut case of bigotry, sir! We'll stand against you!
It's the right of the innocent!

 And I went on strike.
 I got a sackful of anger from Prathi, Batty and others.

You've given us all this stuff for the spirits! You're all bent out of shape, aren't you!
No, because natto is 100% of the earth's bounty...! I thought the same earth-derived spirit would be pleased...!

 I was completely wrong in my expectations.

''Even if I provided you with another supply of butter for today, you wouldn't change your mood at all! Master, do something about it!
I saw that the only way to please those kids was to offer them something even more twisted and surprisingly delicious in the butter family! Maybe the saint has a better idea. You have just the right idea! Don't be stingy and spit it out!

 Ummm.
 The plan presented is to have the spirits of the earth improve their moods with a new dish that they have yet to see and will certainly be pleased with, right?
 The favorite food of the earth spirit is butter.

 It's similar in shape and texture to that, and it's a sweet and easily recognizable food that children would like.
 Well, dairy products are appropriate.
 In that.........

"...Good.

 We've got one hit.

Let's make ice cream.

              * * *

 Ice cream.
 It's magical food.

 Ice cream.
 Cold and melted.

 No, I don't know.
 In the world I was from, it's cold and sweet and very popular among children and adults alike. The shape is also semi-solid and creamy, just like butter, and the ingredients are the same dairy products. ........it should be.

 If you make this ice cream and feed it to them, the spirits of the earth who were upset by natto (fermented soybeans) will take up arms against it!

 .........
 Natto is delicious, too.

 Oh well.
 I'll get back on track and try my hand at making ice cream!

 This time, we have a collaborator from the Mermaid Team, Puffa, who is known as the "Frozen Cold Witch"!

'Oui-su...!

 It's ice cream!
 The environment is as important in the creation of a product as the ingredients. A low temperature below zero is essential, and there is probably no one better suited to the task than her.

 After all, she is the "Frozen Cold Witch".

 It's not often mentioned, but she specializes in freezing potions that can freeze anything.
 She uses it to great effect in regards to food storage on our farm.

 The food warehouse that was originally built under Prathi's direction has been lowering the temperature inside by placing the freezing potions, and it is now acting as a refrigerator.
 Furthermore, Puffa's modifications made it possible to perfect the circulation of cold air and keep the warehouse at an evenly cool temperature, which made food storage ideal.

 Puffa is now the reigning queen of the refrigerator as well as the brewhouse.
 Prathi is now focused on being my assistant, Lamprey often gets involved in hunting and guarding, and Gala Rufa, who is a weak character by nature, is practically the chief executive of the food processing and storage department.

'As expected of the future Mermaid King's queen!
'Shut up! ...why? What do you want to do today? If you understand the nature of Atai's job, then you know he's busy as f*ck, right?

 That's enough.........

''But this time, I really need Puffa-san's help...! This, this, this kind of thing...!
"Hmmm?

 I tell them about the ice cream and that I need Puffa's skills to make it.

I don't want to do it. First of all, Prince Arowana doesn't like sweets very much...
Don't connect your love life directly to everything!

 Anyway, working with Puffa, the ice cream making attempt began.

              * * * *

'But isn't that the first part of the story where Atty. For all intents and purposes, it's the last thing you want to do is chill out, right?

Right? I don't know much about how to make it either, so it's going to be a bit of a trial and error process.... First and foremost, I think what you need is whipped cream.

Do you have that ready to go? You know, whipped cream is made from milk, right? So where did it come from...?

'I don't think about that! I don't think about it either!

Since it's so f*cking sweet, maybe you should put more sugar in it.

'I agree. Let's put in so much that I don't feel like I made a cake.

''If it's activated, it's the same as winning!

Well, yeah, but.... The Supreme Bearer will guide you through the process, adding cream and eggs and sugar. Oh, you're going to mix it in from here while it cools. Puffa, your wrists get tired, so take over.

No! At least I'll take over when you're tired!

Then you mix it a hundred times and I'll take over.

Very well.

Mix it up, mix it up, mix it up, mix it up..., okay, a hundred times.

No, it's only been ninety-eight times, right?

What? ...then one, two! Okay, a hundred!

It's only been ninety-six.

"Further backward? Now, make an extra one hundred and thirty-five sixty seven hundred and ninety! All right, over 100 times!

They should've done this a couple of times.

              * * *

 That's how I finished the ice cream.
 I've never done this before and it turned out great! Dear Supreme Bearer!

 I immediately offer this to the earth spirits to see if they can break the spell.

 At first, the spirit girls were puffing up their cheeks in anticipation. They were curious about the first ice cream they had ever seen.

"What's this?
Butter? But what's the difference? Is it cold?
Fake! The good sir, you are deceiving us again! But it's yummy!
No, they're not! This is not butter! But this is so delicious! Thank you, Goshujin-san!
It's been nominated for our Delicacy of the Year award! It's the award-winning Yoo-hoo!

 Good.
 She was in a good mood.

 I made up for lost points with natto with ice cream.
 ...and natto (fermented soybeans) is delicious.

What choice do I have? A child's taste buds would definitely appreciate the obvious sweetness of ice cream.

 Puffa was licking his own ice cream and said, "But it's good even for you, Atay.

But it's good, even for you. Do you want to save some space in the fridge?
Are you trying to stabilize production?

 The problem was solved and was about to end in a harmonious atmosphere, when Prathi swooped in to hear the spirits' joyful voices.

''..........''

 And as soon as he swallowed the situation, he took a big breath, hyo~........

''Meinahhhh! The master made another delicious meal!
Why are you telling them?

 But the dam was broken.
 Most of the farm dwellers responded to Prathi's voice and rushed in.

 And tasted the ice cream.

"Yummy! It's cold!
'Not only is it sweet, it's cold! Isn't this perfect for those of us who have been sitting in front of the baking kiln all day long and feeling hot as shit!
'That saint! You made this with our milk too, didn't you? It's awful, and you don't tell us about it!

 And naturally, it was a big hit.
 And of course, the ice cream became one of the most popular sweets on the farm.

...Mm-hm.

 In the midst of the gathering, of course, there was Veerle, too.
 And this guy seemed to have come up with something useless again.

'I've got an idea! If it's cold, it should taste better in the heat!
Oh.
So I'm going to eat this in the summer area of my dungeon! Hahahahahaha! You lowlifes! You can envy me the ability to eat good food in a better environment! Hahahahahaha!

 After saying that, Veerle returned to his dragon form and flew away with the cup of ice cream.

''..........''

 ...but that's okay, Veerle.
 It's a reasonable distance from here to your mountain dungeon, and no matter how many dragon wings you have, it will take a reasonable amount of time to travel.

 If you have that much time, the ice cream....

              * * * *

'Master! The ice cream! The ice cream is melted and gone!

 See, I knew it.

 I had to make another batch of ice cream for Veerle, who came back crying.