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Relaxing Roast Sweet Potato
「……I’m bored」
Arte mutter as she lay down in the external corridor.
Centered on me, Arte, and Camila, we have been helping out with harvesting the wheat fields of the village for 3 days.
And the harvest work is over in no time at all, and we have started the wheat drying process.
We also tried to help with that, but as expected, we were told not to work anymore.
「It seems that they are usually so busy every year, but we’ve done most of the work this year」
「Nonetheless, we are relaxing at home like this while everyone is working outside!」
Unable to endure it anymore, Arte - who have been lying down - get up.
「We’ve worked hard using magic for 3 days, you know? You can think of it as a proper rest」
「Kureto is strangely calm, unlike me」
「You work when it’s time to work. And rest when it’s time to rest. Living in two locations - the royal capital and the countryside - naturally made me pace myself」
I still have not completely shaken off my corporate slave mentality when I first came to this world and similar to Arte, I was often feeling uneasy.
However, living in 2 locations gives my life and mind a sense of balance, and I become naturally able to switch my mindset between work and vacation. Thanks to that, I can lead a relaxing life.
「It will be a waste if we can not enjoy the Harvest Festival if we work too hard doing the harvest work, right」
「I guess that’s true. In that case, I’ll take plenty of rest today as Kureto said」
Perhaps she's convinced by my point as Arte lay down as though relieved.
「It would be good if you could direct your enthusiasm here toward official business even if a little.....」
「That’s impossible ja」
When Camila mutter that, Arte ruthlessly cut her off.
Camila’s shoulders drop in dejection.
It seems like her enthusiasm in her hobby and work is in a completely different direction.
As I am smiling wryly at that, there is suddenly the sound of footsteps coming from the yard outside.
「Ah! There you are!」
Looking over, it was Nina.
「What’s the matter, Nina?」
「I’m thinking of making roasted sweet potato we just harvested. Do you all want to join?」
「What is this roasted sweet potato ja?」
Arte tilted her head in confusion at Nina, who asked us while holding sweet potatoes.
That’s understandable. There is no way the First Princess would do something like roasting sweet potatoes.
「You put sweet potatoes into the campfire and roast them as they are, then you eat them
「Oooh! That sounds interesting ja! I want to do it too!」
Once I explain what it is, Arte suddenly jumps and shouts.
As if to say, ‘How can I miss such an interesting thing’.
「That’s right. Let’s do it together」
「Yay!」
Once it’s decided, we act quickly.
We’ve been lazing around at home but we quickly stand up, put on our shoes, and go outside.
「I want branches and fallen leave,s so let’s gather them first」
You need kindling to start a fire to roast the sweet potatoes.
At Nina’s words, we walk to the forest entrance near my house to collect branches and fallen leaves.
It hasn’t rained that much recently, so most of the branches and fallen leaves are dry.
「Is this enough?」
「Un! Enough!」
Once we gather enough kindling to roast sweet potatoes, the four of us carry the kindling to the back of Nina’s house.
We place the branches and fallen leaves so that it will be easy to light the fire, and a thick mound is completed.
「So, can I light the fire?」
「Please do!」
Once I got Nina’s approval, I took out a Fire Magic tool from my subspace and set it on fire.
Smoke rises up from the kindling, and a small flame flickers to life. The fire quickly spread through the dry branches and leaves.
「Ara, thank you for gathering a lot of kindlings」
「No, thank you for inviting us」
Just as I am adjusting the fire with tongs, Stella and Andre come over from inside the house.
All the people who are going to roast sweet potatoes have gathered.
「So how do you make these roast sweet potatoes ja?」
「You wrap tp the sweet potatoes with leaves, and then put them into the campfire」
While Arte tilted her head in confusion, Nina wrapped a sweet potato up with leaves and then just tossed them into the fire, just like that.
「How splendid!」
「Won’t it get completely burned ?」
「Adjusting the fire to make sure that won’t happen shows the cook’s skill」
「Ooh, it looks simple but actually quite deep」
Arte and Camila nod as if impressed after hearing what Andre say.
「But well, there’s gonna be some parts that’d burned anyway」
We don’t have anything like aluminum foil that has good heat conductivity and protects the ingredients here, after all.
It’s probably much more difficult to adjust the fire compared to roasting sweet potatoes in my previous world.
I carefully wrap the sweet potatoes I receive from Stella with leaves.
Once I finish wrapping it, I just throw it into the campfire just like that.
Roast sweet potatoes, huh.....haven’t done it since back in my elementary school.
As I got older, various regulations got stricter, making it harder to do it openly.
It’s been a really long time since I last did this.
Andre, Stella, and Nina tossed their sweet potatoes with practised ease, while Arte and Camila gingerly tossed their sweet potatoes.
As the branches and fallen leaves burned and turned black, Andre use a scoop to cover the sweet potatoes that has been tossed into the campfire. Then he pile more fallen leaves on top to completely cover them.
Rather than roasting it using a high-temperature flame, it feels more like cooking slowly over a low-temperature flame.
White smoke starts to blow out from the piled-up fallen leaves.
A burning, sizzling sound came from the fallen leaves, and there were also bachibachi sounds coming from the small amount of moisture contained in the branches and leaves as they burned.
「Kureto, it won’t cook quickly even if you stare at it that intently, you know?」
Just as I was staring blankly at the campfire, Nina lightly tugged on the hem of my shirt as she asked.
「I know. I’m just watching the campfire」
「Is it fun just watching the campfire?」
「Aah, it’s fun watching how the flame changes their shape and the branches and leaves burn away, isn’t it」
「Ehー? Really?」
「Kureto is like an old person. What’s so fun about that ja?」
Taking advantage of Nina’s reply, even Arte talk like that as if she can't understand what I mean.
Hey, don’t say I sound like an old person.
Stella and Camila - who have been watching intently - had their eyebrows twitch, see.
「I guess it’s a bit too early for kids to understand how interesting this is?」
「I, I’m not a kid mon!」
「That’s right ja! Don’t treat us like a kid!」
Nina and Arte loudly boo-ed at me when I say it teasingly.
Setting Arte aside, Nina is still a kid, right?
Inflating her cheeks and seriously denying that makes her exactly like a kid, but she’ll get angrier if I point that out, so I don’t say anything more.
As we are having such a silly conversation, the added branches and fallen leaves start burning.
Andre scatters some rice husks over the campfire.
That’s probably to keep the fire from escaping from the inside of the campfire.
After a while, Andre began digging the sweet potatoes with the scoop.
When he finds a sweet potato, he pushes it out with his bare hand.
「Andre-dono, isn’t it hot?」
「Hm? Aah, this much is fine」
Andre cheerfully smiles when Camila reflexively calls out in concern after seeing that.
Seeing that, Arte reached out her hand, trying to imitate him, but I hurriedly stopped her.
「People who touch hot things habitually have thicker skin on their hands. It will definitely scald you if it were people like us who are not used to it 」
「Is that how it is」
Arte nods as though she understands right away when I warn her.
First Princess-sama, please restrain yourself.
Although Camila is here this time, it would be troubling if she got injured while being outside.
「Are your hands thick too, kaasan? Touch it like tousan」
「Stela is handling flames often, so this much is no pr――ugghh!」
「My hands are not that thick to touch something this hot, you seeー」
Stella answers Nina’s question while having a gentle smile on her face.
For a moment, I feel like she drove a sharp elbow strike at her husband, who is about something unnecessary, but I guess it’s just my imagination.
「……it should be ready now, right?」
Andre takes out 4 sweet potatoes with the scoop while making a slightly pained voice.
The people wearing gloves, me, Nina, Arte, and Stella, carefully picked them up.
Perhaps it's because they are wrapped in several layers of leaves that the sweet potatoes themselves don't appear burned.
「Wawa! It’s hot even with gloves on!」
「Right? It was a good thing you didn’t touch it with your bare hands, right?」
I can't help but smile seeing her juggling her sweet potato in her hands like otedama.
Incidentally, I hold mine for several seconds in one hand and switch it to the other since it’s too hot to hold for a long time.
Nina seems to be doing the same as me but Camila doesn’t seem like she’s doing so.
I guess Nina also noticed that as she stared at her.
「Are your hands thick too, Camila-san?」
Camila flinched in response to Nina’s question.
As to be expected from a kid. She asks such a question without hesitation.
If it were Andre or me who asked that, we’d either get a cold look or be slapped.
「……no, it’s hot」
Only now - belatedly -, Camila starts switching the hand holding the sweet potato at proper intervals.
That manner of doing it makes it seem like it’s not hot at all.
She probably developed calluses from doing activities like sword training, so the skin on her hands has grown thick.
However, even if a woman of marriageable age has thick skin on their hands, it seems the fact is hard to accept.
After letting the sweet potato sit exposed to the air for a while, it's cool enough with no problem, so I try unwrapping the leaves.
There’s no problem with the surface of the sweet potato being slightly burned.
Putting some strength and trying to split it in half, a clean, light yellow flesh appeared.
「Ooh, what a nice color」
I bite into the roasted sweet potato that let out a slight steam directly.
「Hott!」
It’s naturally still hot, but I can't help it. I chew while rolling around the sweet potato flesh inside my mouth to cool it down.
The sweet potato is really fluffy and crumbly, with sticky sweetness to it.
It's not dry at all. It seems to have been cooked evenly all the way through.
「Was it cooked all the way properly through?」
「Un, it’s sweet and deliciousー!」
I firmly nod at Andre’s question, and Nina also says so with a smile.
Seeing us eating the roasted sweet potato, Arte and Camila also bit into theirs cautiously.
「Muoh! Delish!」
「Indeed, this is the first time I’ve had a sweet potato with such a refined sweetness」
The two of them continue to eat, nibbling with small mouthfuls.
Especially Camila, she seems to take a liking to the sweet potato, as she shows the biggest reaction ever since she came to this village.
Andre’s family - who grow the sweet potatoes- also seems to be happy with this.
Once we finish about half of our sweet potatoes, Andre hands me the tongs and the scoop.
「Would you like to try roasting them next?」
「I’ll give it a try」
「I also want to do it!」
Arte also took advantage of that - guess she was listening to our conversation - and so it’s been decided that the two of us will try roasting the next sweet potatoes.
「……it’s burnt black ja」
After we dug out the sweet potatoes from the campfire after some time, the sweet potatoes that has been burnt black until the inside appeared.
Looks like it’s difficult for a beginner to do it without using aluminium foil.
The burnt sweet potatoes are carefully removed from the pile, and Arte and I responsibly eat them. www.ihavesinnedtranslation.com
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