Published at 25th of February 2023 8:12 pm

Chapter 297: Seafood Soup and Small Crabs

This chapter is updated by NovelFree.ml

Dragged by Eleonora-neesan, we ended up having our meal while being exposed to the villager’s strange gazes.

「……why do we also have to eat here」

「Cause it’s hard for just the two of us to get out while being surrounded by the villagers」

「Hahah, saying that it’s hard to get out of here just because you were surrounded by a lot of people, Eleonora-neesan is not that weak――ouch! Why are you hitting me!?」

「Cause I’m annoyed」

That’s unreasonable. I was just telling the truth.

Even when I sent a protest-filled look at her, Eleonora-neesan ignore me and continue to eat the seafood soup.

Well fine, whatever. I’m a bit concerned with people’s eyes on us, but they are mostly toward Eleonora-neesan so it has nothing to do with me.

Let’s just eat the seafood soup without minding them.

I carry the Psychic-powered floating seafood soup toward Mina.

「Ah, it’s still quite hot」

And perhaps the wooden bowl was still pretty hot that she hurriedly grab the top of the bowl.

「So it’s still quite hot, huh. Have to be careful then」

「That’s terrible of you Alfried-sama! You used me as a test for that!」

「Sorry sorry, I didn’t mean to do that」

I only know that the wooden bowl was still hot thanks to Mina unexpectedly. Still, I would never do such a terrible thing.

「Come on, here Eric too」

「O, ou. Put it on the bench」

And when I try to give it the same way to Eric, he says that to me, guess he was spooked.

「It’s okay. It will not be that hot if you hold the top of the wooden bowl」

「You think I will believe you when you say it while smirking like that! Just put it on the bench!」

「……che, okay」

The moment he tries to touch the top of the bowl, I was thinking of shifting the bowl so that his hand will touch the slightly hotter spot with Psychic.

Since Eric is being vigilant and I can’t see a behavior in which he will receive the bowl with his hand, I have no choice but to put the bowl on the bench around where he sits.

「Alfried-sama, I knew it, you made me test how hot it is at first....」

「No, I’m not aiming for Mina you know」

I also sit on my own place while Mina asks me again for an explanation and is subjected to her suspicious gaze.

Okay then, let’s eat the seafood soup first. According to Mina, it looks like it is still a little hot so I have to let it cool before eating it.

I blow on the soup while holding the top part of the wooden bowl.

Just by doing that, the fragrant smell of the soup wafted out. I really want to quickly eat it due to the fragrant smell it gives off, but I endure it.

I prudently blow on the soup to let it cool while stirring the soup with the spoon they gave us.

And when the steam from the soup had thinned out to some extent, I take some and bring it to my mouth.

The flavor of seafood spread inside my mouth. The light and sweet taste of white-fleshed fish meat, the umami of the shrimp, and the shellfish broth, all of that make a complete whole of flavor.

It’s amazing that the flavor of each of them didn’t affect each of them while all sorts of seafood ingredients were mixed in.

As I’m absorbed in the flavor and put the next spoonful to my mouth, this time there were chunky shrimp, chinese cabbage, and carrot went inside my mouth. The big shrimp burst open with a *buri*(sfx) when I chew on it and let out a rich flavor in my mouth. And maybe it’s because the chinese cabbage and carrot were cooked well that they absorb the soup and also became soft.

「It’s hot, but delicious!」

「The taste of the seafood is becoming concentrated」

「It’s great that you liked it」

Eric happily said that as I and Mina were immersed in eating the soup.

He’s probably pleased that the villager's cooking was being praised.

I think it’s unrefined in flavor compared to the seafood dishes I ate in Eric’s house, but this is a different hearty meal and has a conventional deliciousness to them.

As expected, I can’t make light of the local dish.

After I eat a bit of the seafood soup, next I try the small crabs. The plate is packed with bright red small crabs.

It looks like it’s going to come alive any time when I try to pick it up with my fingers to look at it.

And yet, I wonder why shrimp and crab look so delicious when they have this kind of red color. I didn’t think about it even when I saw the normal blackish type in my previous life, but when I see the red ones it made me want to eat them.

Incidentally, crabs and shrimp turn red because they store a component called astaxanthin which is contained in the algae they ate.

First , they bind the protein with their body and become black in color, but when heated, the protein separates from their body and they become bright red in color, which is astaxanthin original color. 1

As I have fun looking at the bright red crab, I then open my mouth and eat just like that.

It has the right amount of firmness to chew them as it is. The crunchy texture when I chew them inside my mouth is so satisfying. The more I chew on them, the more the taste of the crab and the salty-sweet sauce oozes out, it makes me want to keep on chewing them.

「This will go well with a――」

「A?」

I stopped myself when I was about to say ‘This will go well with alcohol’.

No, this firm texture and the salty-sweet taste that comes out the more you chew them. This will definitely go well with a beer. But, I shouldn’t know about the flavor of liquor and I shouldn’t be drinking them.

「A tasty snack」

「That’s right! It’s sweet, salty, and delicious! They also have such a size, you can’t help but want to keep picking them」

For now, I managed to correct myself and smooth over the situation.

As for Mina, even if the size is not so handy for her, she will always reach for snacks.

「……small crabs are cheap and have convenient sizes. It is widely popular from being children’s snacks to companion for adult sake」

「Heeー, so it’s like that. Let me have some」

Maybe she wanted to eat it after seeing us eating the small crabs, Eleonora-neesan took the small crabs from me and eat them.

A satisfying sound of crunching can be heard from near me before long.

「Ah, it’s delicious」

And after Eleonora-neesan thoroughly chewed and swallowed the small crab, she reached out her hand again toward me.

Then she continues to snatch five small crabs from my wooden plate.

Thanks to that, my small crabs have been reduced to about half.

「Just buy it if you liked the food」

「No way, the stall is crowded. It’s fine like this.」

After saying that, Eleonora-neesan eats the small crabs *crunchcrunch*.

Indeed, buying something while receiving curious gazes and being paid attention to by others is troublesome.

「But, are they really that curious about a noble young lady that came from outside of the territory?」

「……in a village where many people have tanned skin, it’s unusual to have a girl with such white skin as Eleonora. And besides, Eleonora is pretty」

Luna-san is explaining the situation when I grumble about it while looking around at the surrounding somehow or other.

I see, certainly, there are a lot of people who went out to sea and the fishery is thriving here. And even if you went out to play, it would be natural to go to the sea or swim.

So among a lot of people who have tanned skin, a beautiful girl with white skin like Eleonora-neesan will really stand out.

Well, it’s fine that they only look at Eleonora-neesan. Smooth, straight, reddish-brown hair, with white skin. With a toned body, slender and well-proportionated limbs.

And moreover, there’s the ‘brand’ of being a noble young lady, so it’s natural that she gathers everyone’s attention.

Although, everyone, you all can’t see her inside.

「Ah, so that means I also gather everyone’s attention in the same way.....!」

「「Fuh」」

「Hey, why is everyone laughing at me, Alfried-sama, Elenonora-sama!?」

「Nah, sorry. I mean, I can’t imagine Mina being flattered like that」

「Yeah, I mean, it’s Mina」

I couldn’t imagine the figure of Mina turning too beautiful and attracting attention from everyone in my mind.

「Both of you are so cruel! Even I will get noticed if I walk around!」

「「(Of course) You will stand out if you wear a maid outfit」」

「Uuuuh! That’s not true! I’m sure it’s because of my white skin and my cuteness!」

「Uh-huh, right right. Mina is overflowing with adult charmー」

「What is that, such an uninterested remark」

I tried to calm down Mina - who looks like she was going to go in a troublesome direction if left alone - but it seems like she didn’t really take it to heart. I got needlessly angry at Mina.

「……Mina is the calming type of a woman after all」

Indeed, rather than saying Mina has the charm of an adult, she’s more like a cute small animal-type woman.

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