As dinnertime arrived, the group of young men, including Hiroaki, Rei, Kouta, Masato, and Rio finished their bath after the girls and entered the dining room.
“All right, it’s time for sukiyaki!”
“It actually smells like sukiyaki in here.”
“I can’t believe I’d get to smell this in another world...”
“I’m starving!”
The room instantly became more lively.
“You’re right on time. Your table is over there—on the opposite side of Queen Christina and the others,” Satsuki said, in the middle of setting the table.
“Got it. Now, how shall we sit...”
Hiroaki rubbed his chin as he considered the order of seating based on those already sitting down. The table was a long rectangular shape, and one side had Roanna, Flora, Christina, Lilianna, and Charlotte seated in that order.
Furthermore, Satsuki was to sit on the other side of Charlotte. And since Hiroaki and the boys were to sit across from them...
“Look, Kouta, it’s like a mixer.”
“Let’s be quiet, Rei.”
Rei was fidgeting excitedly, and Kouta looked ashamed to know him.
“In that case, how about the two heroes sit in the middle?” Rio suggested as the host, gesturing for Hiroaki and Masato to sit first.
“Well, that makes sense. Let’s sit, Masato.”
“Okay.”
Hiroaki sat across from Christina, and Masato sat down opposite Lilianna.
“Then the two guests can sit over here. Sir Haruto, please take a seat across from Princess Flora,” Charlotte said, beckoning Rei and Kouta over to herself and Satsuki.
“Okay!”
“I-If you don’t mind.”
Rei raised his hand and nodded eagerly, while Kouta hurried to his seat while blushing.
“Hee hee. What a delightful group of people,” Charlotte said with a giggle.
Satsuki was also smiling in amusement. “There’s no need to be so nervous,” she said to them.
“Then I’ll be taking this seat.”
Once Rio confirmed his guests were all seated, he took his seat in front of Flora. On the right of her was Roanna, while Christina was to the left.
“Thank you for inviting us today, Sir Haruto.”
“And me as well, Sir Amakawa.”
Flora was in high spirits at being able to eat together with Rio, whereas Roanna was staring at Rio’s face closely as she bowed.
“It’s my pleasure,” Rio said, returning the bow with a soft smile.
“I guess I’ll be beside Haruto, then.”
Celia came over and took the seat to Rio’s right, across from Roanna. The male to female ratio was no longer equal, but they maintained the shape of six people sitting across from six people.
“Yay, I get to eat dinner with the professor! It’s like a school reunion, isn’t it, Roanna?” Flora said excitedly, clapping her hands together cutely in joy.
“Yes, it does seem like that.” Roanna looked between Rio’s and Celia’s faces and nodded cheerfully.
“Sorry for the wait.”
Just then, Sayo and Aoi arrived, carrying their meal on trays.
Hiroaki made a sound of joy. “Ooh!”
On the trays were an empty iron pot on a pot stand and a separate plate loaded with the ingredients for sukiyaki. It included beef, the main ingredient of sukiyaki, as well as the orthodox composition of tofu, mushrooms, parsley, shirataki noodles, scallions, and onions.
“Oh? A sukiyaki using the soy sauce-based stock of the Kanto region, I see. The scallions and onions have been heated already too. Looks like you know what you’re doing.” Hiroaki looked down at the empty iron pot and ingredients with a satisfied smirk.
“It smells appetizing,” Christina said, sniffing the air.
“That’s the smell of scallions after being fried in beef tallow. If you fry them first, the scent of the scallions and beef tallow transfers better into the soup,” Hiroaki explained smugly.
“I see.”
“By the way, onions also take a while to cook, so it’s an absolute rule to heat it separately first. This way, the onion flavor seeps into the stock when it’s boiled,” Hiroaki continued, showing off his knowledge with a triumphant expression. It seemed he had rather strong opinions about the making of sukiyaki, which was no surprise, considering he had been the one to request it.
“You sure have a lot to say about it when you’re not even the one who prepared it,” Satsuki sighed in exasperation.
“Ha ha. Well, it’s Hiroaki,” Rei agreed with a laugh. Before long, a tray was placed in front of everyone.
“That’s enough of that. Let’s eat already! Can I put the stock in?” Masato’s hunger must have reached its limit, as he immediately picked up the jar with the stock in it. However...
“Masato, you idiot! Wait! Listen up, there’s a correct way to eat sukiyaki. First, you fry a small amount of the meat, spreading the fat around the pot...!” Hiroaki, appointing himself boss of the pot, stopped Masato from proceeding.
“What? I just boil it all together.”
“I know Hiroaki was the one to request sukiyaki, but I thought it’d be a good opportunity to try making it ourselves. It’s a simple matter of heating the pot and placing the ingredients in it in order, but if anyone has any concerns, we can have it prepared for you. What do you think?” Satsuki said to the members who had never had sukiyaki before, ignoring Masato and Hiroaki.
“Since you’ve gone to all the trouble, let’s try it ourselves,” Christina said, looking at Flora and Roanna. Flora nodded enthusiastically, and Roanna didn’t make any particular objections.
“What an interesting idea. I’d love to try making it myself,” Lilianna agreed, choosing to make her own sukiyaki as well. Thus, it was finally time to place the ingredients into the pot.
“Now, let me teach you the most delicious way of eating sukiyaki. Listen up. First goes the meat. You fry just the meat by itself. With this, the fat of the meat seeps out, allowing you to enjoy the taste of the meat alone.”
Hiroaki picked up slices of beef with his long chopsticks and placed them into the iron pot. The pot stand was a magic artifact that could heat the pot, so the moment the meat was placed inside, it sizzled and released an appetizing smell. Smoke started to rise as well.
“Wow...” Flora muttered, eyes sparkling.
“It smells good,” Roanna said, her expression brightening too.
“There are some fools that boil the meat with the ingredients in the stock right away, but that’s heresy to me. First, you fry the meat, then add the stock while there’s still some red to the color. But take care not to add too much or the flavor of the meat will weaken. Normally, you add a bit of the stock as you fry more of the meat. You add the other ingredients after you’re done frying the first meat and savoring the taste.”
“Look, the meat’s a good color now. Isn’t it enough?” Satsuki asked, interrupting Hiroaki’s detailed explanation in an annoyed tone.
“Shut it. I know what I’m doing. Who do you think I am?”
Hiroaki looked irritated as he poured the stock over his still-red meat. The sizzle of evaporating liquid could be heard as the sweet smell of the stock spread through the area. After soaking the meat in the stock, Hiroaki finally brought his carefully prepared slice of beef to his mouth.
“Guh! It’s so good!” The taste of the saucy meat exploded in his mouth, making him groan with emotion.
“Now, you eat some rice.”
Hiroaki ate a mouthful of the white rice in his bowl. Beside him, Masato gulped as he watched Hiroaki eat his food.
“I can’t wait anymore! I’m going to fry mine too!” he shouted, hitting the limit of his patience. He fried his meat as Hiroaki began to fry his second slice.
“Shall we fry ours too?” Satsuki suggested.
“Yes,” Kouta said.
“I don’t want to wait anymore,” Rei added.
“We should start too. If there’s anything you don’t understand, please ask me,” Rio said to Flora and the others sitting across from him before frying his own meat.
“Well, you don’t have to follow the fussy guy’s instructions to the letter. Throwing everything in with the stock still tastes delicious,” Satsuki said frankly to the princesses.
“Hey, Satsuki, who are you calling a fussy guy?” Hiroaki snapped.
“I didn’t name any names.”
“Hmph. Whatever. I don’t have time to pay attention to you today. I’m busy tending to this meat.”
Hiroaki’s gaze was fixed on the meat in his pot. It was just about ready for more stock to be added, which he did so before serving it onto his rice. He then scooped both meat and rice into his mouth and swallowed.
“Gah! It’s impossible to avoid this. This endless loop of bliss. I could melt at the taste,” he said, beaming with satisfaction.
“Everyone, your meat should also be ready soon. You can add your stock now,” Rio said to Flora and the others around him.
“Right. I just pour this sauce on it, yes?” Flora nervously poured her stock on the beef in her pot. The sound of sizzling could be heard as smoke rose.
“W-Wow, that’s amazing!” she said, round-eyed and smiling. She couldn’t use chopsticks, so she elegantly cut her meat with her knife and fork before bringing it to her mouth. Flora closed her eyes happily. “Mm!”
“It’s delicious...”
“The meat just melts in my mouth.”
Christina and Lilianna also ate their meat beside her and smacked their lips at the taste.
“There’s a sweet taste to this sauce,” Roanna noted, blinking in surprise.
“That’s because there’s sugar in it.”
“How is it different from soy sauce?” Flora asked Rio.
She had eaten at the mansion a few times now, so she had experienced soy sauce-based dishes before. The stock used in the sukiyaki had resembled that color, so she had assumed it was soy sauce being used here too.
“It’s a mix of ingredients. There’s soy sauce in it, but there’s also cooking wine, a liquid called mirin, and sugar, like I just said,” Rio explained.
“So that’s why I can taste so many things.”
“It’s a wonderful flavor with depth.”
Flora and Roanna both seemed impressed.
“It’s so strange. When I hear ‘sugar,’ I normally think of desserts. I never imagined it could be used to improve the taste of savory food like this,” Celia said, watching the pleasant sight of her former students eating together.