CH 81

C81: RICE BALL OFFERING

After Hades and Persephone left, I restored Miss Glasya’s broken sword as promised.

The Demon King thanked me over and over after what I did for them this time, and went back to his capital to settle things with the human race just as he pledged to Hades.

“It will probably be a one-of-a-kind war in all of history, but I will do everything in my power to avoid troubling you, Lord Saint. When the war is won, I will return to report to you.”

“Please don’t say that. You’re more than welcome to come visit us from time to time.”

A war isn’t something that can be won in a matter of days, after all.

Although I told him that, he just smiled and said nothing, bowed deeply and left with his two boisterous wives.

…It must be tough having two wives.

I need to be careful too.

By the way, our new faces, Puffer, Lampeye and Garra Rufa were completely dumbfounded with the Demon King’s visit and our audience with Hades.

“Why is the king of the demon race visiting you so casually?! Why is the god of the demon race being summoned so casually?!”

“I thought I had fully grasped the fact that this is an extraordinary place, but please don’t go beyond what I my brain can take!!!”

“No more! I feel like my head is going to explode and scatter spores all over the place!!!”

W-Was it really that startling?

Both Hades and the Demon King are very approachable people once you get to know them, you know?

…Okay, I’m sorry.

For the sake of their mental stability, I’ll be gradually introducing phases the next time we do something out of the ordinary.

And so, the time to harvest rice has come.

“Isn’t it too early?”

I know we spread the hyper fertilizer made by Platy to enhance their growth speed, but it hasn’t even been over a month yet since we planted them.

“I wonder why. Maybe the blessing Hades gave this land has something to do with it?”

Really?

Oh well, there’s no use wondering about it now that they have ripened.

We immediately harvested, threshed, and polished the rice. At last, the white rice I’ve sought for so long is here!

“…Master, what’s there to be overjoyed about these white grains?”

“We never really know what Dear is always thinking, so what’s new? Honestly, even I was wondering what sort of amazing crop we’d get after all that hustling and bustling, but instead we get…this. It doesn’t even taste good. Tomatoes or potatoes are much, much better.”

Don’t just eat the rice grains.

It can’t be helped. I’ll show Platy and Veil rice’s true worth.

We already have a rice cooker with us from the time we were still building the house, so I just need to try using that to cook it.

First on a low flame, and then on a high flame. If a baby starts to cry, make it stop.

Done!

I served the pearl-white and glossy rice to both of them.

“Hot! Hot! Hot!!!”

“It’s burns! It burns!!!”

Were the words that came out of their mouths after devouring the rice like crazy.

“It’s too bland.”

“The texture was good, but there wasn’t any flavor at all. How about you add miso or salt to it?”

They didn’t like it that much, but it is what is, I suppose.

Our ladies’ evaluations aside, I started preparing the rice I wanted to offer to a certain someone.

I dissolved some salt in my soaked hands and molded the rice into a ball.

I made a vow when I started cultivating this land that one day, I will make rice balls from the rice I will be growing here and offer them to Hephaestus.

Hephaestus is the god who blessed me with “The Hand of Supremacy.” That’s why I want to repay him somehow. I’m sure he would love rice balls!

Hence, I made rice balls from my first harvest, wrapped it in seaweed, and offered it to the improvised altar.

“Lord Hephaestus, because of the gift you gave me, I can manage to live in this world.”

The fact that we have been able to expand our settlements this much is also thanks to the ability you blessed me with.

It’s pretty late, but please accept this humble offering made with everyone’s help.

May it fill you to your heart’s content.

“…Mhm!”

I feel so accomplished as if I just finished the first chapter of my cultivation chronicle. The second one starts now!

“…Lord Saint, do you worship Hephaestus?”

“Yipes!”

To my surprise, Sensei was right behind me.

…Please stop that, Sensei.

Anyone will get the chills if an undead king like you that looks straight out of a horror movie creeps behind others!

“Lord Saint, I found myself a new hobby after a long while.”

“A hobby?”

“The art of god summoning. I feel like I can do all sorts of things after summoning Hades, and that includes summoning Hephaestus himself!”

“No! No, no, no, no, no!!!”

Please don’t take interest in such crazy ideas! I’m sure he’s terribly busy with other things too, so you don’t have to go out of your way to summon him!

Besides, summoning gods isn’t something that’s normally accomplished by any practitioner, even if they spent their entire life mastering it!!!

After trying my best to keep him on his ground, Sensei unwillingly complied and went back to his dungeon.

He probably doesn’t have the courage to summon any god without a valid reason, so I think he’s just looking for some kind of excuse to do so.

Thankfully, a Lifeless King still has the rationality to separate gods from other beings.

By the way, after Platy and Veil recognized the true power of rice…

“…I feel like something’s missing.”

“Since then, I can’t help but think of wanting rice with whatever I eat! What are you supposed to do about this?!”

It seems their body can’t live without rice anymore.

I did something I’ve been personally wanting to try for a while now.

I cracked and scrambled the egg from the yoschamos I started raising some time ago and poured it over the steamy rice. I then drizzled some soy sauce on top, and mixed them altogether.

“Tamago kake gohan!!!”

It’s so good!

“Aah! Dear is eating something tasty by himself!!!”

“No fair! Let me have some too! Egg, rice, and soy sauce? That’s like three times the goodness! Of course, it’s going to be crazy delicious!!!”

Uh-oh, Platy and Veil found me.

Note: The line “First on a low flame, and then on a high flame. If a baby starts to cry, make it stop.” Is actually something that originated from the Edo period, and teaches people how to cook rice. There’s a more in-depth explanation about it, but it was an entire article written in Japanese that I personally didn’t have the patience to read completely (lol). Originally, the line goes as “First on a low flame, and then on a high flame. Don’t take off the lid even if a baby starts to cry.”

“Tamago kake gohan” can be literally translated as egg-on-rice, but it’s usually mixed with some salt, soy sauce, and kakenori to taste. After translating this chapter, I also gave it a try ‘cause it seemed like the perfect dinner for a lazy ass like me. So, I did. But maybe I was too conscious about getting salmonella poisoning from the raw egg because I wasn’t able to enjoy it at all…it tasted bland. The egg drying up around my mouth felt annoying too.

Oh and, I got a stomachache later that night. lmao