No, I'm making onigiri today!

Oh, a rice ball. Nice.

　Hearing Meena's words, Mother Erna said with a smile.

　I see...onigiri. It's as royal as a sandwich as food on the go like this.

''You taught the Silford family's cook to make it right away, didn't you?

'Yes, he just asked me how to use the rice, and I suggested that I teach him and have him for lunch.

　Come to think of it, you also brought some rice as a souvenir of the Silford family.

'I mean, Meena, she learned how to cook rice.

'Of course!　Rice goes just as well with hamburgers as it does with bread!　I'm sure you'll learn this one already!

　When I say that, Meena clenches her fists and says in an enthusiastic voice.

　I see, she's not just going into the kitchen for the food Bartolo made, right?

　When I'm a little impressed with Meena, Eric, who's sitting next to me, lightly tugs on my sleeve.

'Hey, Alfried, what is rice?'

I'm curious too.

　Taking advantage of Eric's question, Luna, who is in the back of Elinora's sister's room, also asks.

　Sister Elinora, who is in between, is staring at the basket without any particular response, as if she doesn't intend to answer.

'It's one of the staple foods eaten in Kagla. They're small, white, sweet grains that go well with meat and fish.'

Is it sweet?

No, not the sugary sweetness, but the sashimi sweetness, the flavor.

"...nah, I see.

　Eric and Luna-san nodded with a subtle expression as I gave a light supplementary explanation.

　I'm pretty sure neither of them are on the same page. Well, it's faster to see the food in person than to explain it in words.

''Then I'll open it.

　Meena said cheerfully, and the basket in the center opened up.

　There was a beautiful triangle shaped rice ball crammed in there.

'Well, they're beautiful and white. How do you eat these?

Just grab it with your hand and eat it, just like a sandwich.

'So it is!'

　If you only listen to the dialogue, it's like when a naive young lady eats food from a commoner's cart.

　However, if you are faced with an exotic cuisine that you have never seen before, anyone would be like that.

This is the rice you mentioned, Nord. Well then, let's get on with it.

　Mr. Aegal grabbed a rice ball with his big hand and brought it to his mouth without hesitation.

''Oh!　The more you bite into it, the sweeter it gets!

　After taking a bite of the onigiri, Mr. Agal let out his thoughts.

''Hm?　What's this?　What's in it?

Yeah, onigiri are usually eaten with a side dish, and you put the side dish inside.

Okay, it's like a sandwich. Let's see what's inside.

　Mr. Agal bit into it with a heartfelt look of excitement.

''Hmmm?　What's this, it's seasoned like yesterday's soy sauce!

'Yes, the cooks thought it would go well with soy sauce, so they dipped the grilled fish in a soy sauce-based sauce.

　When Aegal voiced her doubts, Meena, who had been holding back, explained.

　What is that, of course it's absolutely delicious. It's got grilled fish and soy sauce-based sauce in it, or something that's definitely bad!

'I see, this certainly goes with rice!　No wonder they put the stuffing in!

　Seeing Aegal's delicious chewing, Natalia, Eric and Luna also reached out to her.

''Meena-san, are the ingredients all the same?''

'No, there are a few different kinds in there. The three rows that Mr. Aegal took are the same ingredients.

There are no vegetables in it, are there?

There are no vegetables in it.

　You don't stuff a rice ball with vegetables, do you? I mean, if it's a sushi roll or something, that is.

That's a good idea.

　As if there is no one to be afraid of when there are no vegetables in it, Eric grabbed a rice ball that was appropriately nearby.

''Where's the ... meat?''

I think it was somewhere around here!

　When Meena pointed, Luna-san and her sister Elinora quickly reached out to secure it.

　That's an easy action to understand.

''Then I'll try this one!

I'll take this one.

　Natasha and Mother Erna grabbed the ingredients without asking Meena.

　Then they ate it as it was, pecking at it with their little mouths.

'Oh, sure!　I'm sure you'll agree that Al, you're sweet!

　Natasha says, shaking her head with a cockle-crackle.

　Mmmm, rice is more than delicious, the word sweet comes first.

　I've eaten several kinds of rice in my past life, but Kagura's rice is by far the best.

'What are my ingredients?　It's nice to know, but it's also very exciting to not know.

'Yes. Even in a yakashiki, sometimes I'm surprised at the unexpected ingredients in a dish.

'Yes!　What side dish was in it then?

There was some sausage and cheese in there.

We haven't eaten together before, but I think we'd fit right in.

They both go well together, but I liked the cheese better.

'I'll have my cook try some things too!　

'Yes. I think we could mix some veggies in with the meat.

　The conversation between Natasha and Erna's mother turns from a friendly conversation to a smelly one.

　Apparently, they're trying to deal with Eric's dislike of vegetables more than I thought.

Mmm, is this roasted Dos Tuna? The flavor and saltiness of dosage tuna goes well with it.

　My son, on the other hand, who doesn't like vegetables, tasted his onigiri without noticing it.

　This will probably be the last time he can eat onigiri with his hands. From now on, he will have to eat onigiri nervously, or use a knife and fork.

　Next time I see him, he'll probably say that he can't eat onigiri without a knife and fork.

　Well, I'll just let it go and eat mine.

　The soy sauce-based sauce is good, but I'm sweating now, and I want the saltiness of the Dos Tuna.

　I grab a handful of rice balls from the same row as Eric, and I bite into them too.

　Then the grains of rice melted in my mouth, and a bit of the fillet of Dos Tuna, the ingredient, entered my mouth.

　The sweetness seeps out of the rice as I chew it, blending perfectly with the salty flavor of the dos tuna.

　Yeah, the saltiness is especially delicious because I've been sweating a lot.

　It's as if the salt that runs off from the sweat is instantly replenished.

'.........these rice balls go very well with the meat.

Right?

　Luna-san and her sister Elinora seemed to like the onigiri with meat in it, and they were eating it with great gusto.

　If we leave it like this, we're going to run out of onigiri with meat in them, so I'll take one of them and reserve it for myself.

　And when I finished the Dos Tuna Onigiri, I tried that one as well.

　Mmm, the beef with the sweet and spicy sauce was irresistible.

　Grilled fish with salty sauce was good, but sweet and spicy meat and rice like this was also wonderful.

Yes, I still prefer fish.

Me too!

　While I was eating my two rice balls like that, Nord's father and Silvio's rice balls, which were grilled fish with a soy sauce-based sauce, were rapidly decreasing.

　That one was also endangered, so I hurriedly went to the plate to get them.

　When I noticed that the contents of the basket, which had been stained white, had a lot of empty spaces, and some of the onigiri were gone without being eaten.

　........It's nice to have a favorite ingredient, but I'd like to have it eaten a little more evenly.