Side: Yuki
"Mm, cold..."
In the morning, I woke up with my body completely chilled.
Instinctively, I searched for the blanket, only to find Riel curled up inside it beside me.
Ah... Riel's completely naked too. It'd be wrong to forcibly strip it off her. Looks like we'll need to start using two futons instead of one soon, or we'll freeze.
For now, let's get dressed.
I pulled some clothes out of the dresser and put them on.
I usually sleep in a yukata, but since it's gotten colder, it's time to bring out the secret weapon.
"Riel, wake up. It's morning."
"Nn... Yuki-san, kiss~"
Riel is quite the spoiled girl. When it's just the two of us, she becomes incredibly clingy.
She usually projects an energetic and lively image, so she only acts this girly in front of me.
I like this side of her too, so I gently woke her up with a kiss.
"Thanks~"
"Yeah."
Once she finally woke up, she wriggled out of the futon she was wrapped in.
"Uwah, it's cold!"
"It is. Here, put this on."
"Mmh? What's this?"
"It's standard winter homewear from my world."
"From your world, Yuki-san?"
"Yeah."
She watched how I wore it, then smoothly put on the jacket.
"What's it called?"
"It's commonly called a hanten — a padded haori. You wear it around the house on cold days. You can wear it outside too, but a jumper is warmer."
"Jumper? I don't know what that is, but this hanten is really warm."
But the hanten's true value isn't just its warmth.
I'm sure everyone experienced this at least once as a child.
"Riel, come over here."
"Hm?"
As Riel tilted her head and approached, I wrapped her up inside my own hanten.
The pre-fusion version of the classic "two-person haori."
Everyone's done it before — sneaking into a parent's or sibling's hanten or jumper and shouting "We fused!"
"Warm~"
"Right?"
Riel happily rubbed her face against my chest while staying inside the hanten.
Watching her like this suddenly reminded me of when I was a kid.
I wonder if my dad and mom used to do this too... I can't see them anymore, and I barely remember them, but at least I can pass on this warmth to someone else.
"Alright, face forward. Let's go."
"Yeah!!"
Riel poked just her face out from inside my hanten as we walked.
"Onii-chan, Riel-neechan, good mor—Ahhh!! That's unfair!! So unfair!! I'm jealous!!"
"What's going on, Nii-sama!! Me too!! Me toooo!!"
Aslin and Filia started chirping like baby birds.
When my eyes met Riel's, she made a slightly troubled face before quickly looking away.
"Yeah, I've had my fill. Go on, you two should get Yuki-san to do it with you too."
"M-Me first!!"
"Nii-sama, me!!"
The two immediately ran over.
I was wondering who to do first when I had an idea after seeing how small they were.
"Here we go!!"
""Kyaa!?""
I wrapped both of them inside my hanten at the same time. It was only possible because they were so small.
"So warm~"
"Nii-sama's smell~!!"
Just like Riel, both of them pressed their faces against my body and nuzzled.
"...Ara ara, what a terrible betrayal. To think you'd exclude me and enjoy yourselves like this."
Labyris appeared with a gloomy expression. She's pretty weak in the mornings.
"Alright, Aslin, Filia — let's pull Labyris in too."
""Okay!""
And so, Labyris was squeezed—barely—into the hanten as well.
"Mm. Thank you."
Labyris looked pleased.
Now, usually, this would have ended in the kitchen so I could make breakfast, but...
I was wrong.
"Good morning, Yuki-sa... ma..."
"Aslin, Filia, good mor... ning..."
The light vanished from Killue and Sheila's eyes as they stared at us with pure envy.
They looked terrifying, and it wasn't like it would cost me anything, so after releasing Aslin and the others, I immediately wrapped Killue and Sheila... Their moods improved instantly, but I couldn't help but feel like I'd just stepped on a landmine.
* * *
After that, breakfast ended normally, and later, when I secretly got some alone time with Seraria, I tried the hanten hug with her too.
"...You should do this for everyone else too. If they find out you kept this hidden, even I won't forgive you. Your scent, your warmth, being able to feel both at the same time... this hanten is wonderful."
Just like the others, Seraria buried herself inside the hanten, inhaling deeply, and told me I needed to do it for the rest of the wives too.
Yeah, if Seraria says so, it must be true. I realized at that moment that not doing it would create problems later.
The Hanten Incident was eventually resolved by me giving each wife a one-hour hug.
It was honestly exhausting. That kind of thing is best done casually for a short time, not for long periods.
* * *
After that, I went back to my usual duties.
We're moving secretly in the Marauder while the army marches, but we won't arrive for another three days.
My main concern right now is tonight's dinner. I have a general concept in mind.
But this particular dish has endless variations. There are simply too many kinds. It's a winter staple, and there's even a grandiose title like "General of the Pot" that oversees it. A representative winter dish of Japan.
Nabe (Hot Pot).
I doubt there is a single Japanese person who hasn't eaten this. Yosenabe, Yudofu, Kamo-nabe, Mizutaki, Shamo-nabe, Chanko-nabe, Sukiyaki, Sukinabe, Botan-nabe, Motsu-nabe... and that's just off the top of my head. Every household has its own original version!
"That's right... Original!!"
I had a flash of inspiration. Sure, the famous types are great. But a pot unique to one's own family is what makes a gathering lively. I didn't know how well I could recreate it, but I started noting down the necessary ingredients while remembering the taste of the pot I used to eat with my family. The soup is the most important part. Since you simmer and eat it right there, you don't have time to adjust it later.
"Ria, we're going home."
"Eh? Ah, yes."
"Steve, I'm leaving the rest to you."
"......"
I shoved Steve, who had just come to give a report, into my chair and headed out.
"What's going on-ssuuu?!"
Forgive me. It's for my wives' dinner.
I'll make it up to you someday.
* * *
Today, I decided to use DP to gather ingredients.
Since it's hot pot, there are things Ratz' store doesn't carry. Anything the store didn't have, I got with DP. Time was precious.
First, I prepared miso, mirin, and kombu for the soup base.
"Um, this is miso, right? And what is this? A drink? What about this black one?"
"This is mirin — cooking sake. It's sake adjusted for cooking. The black one is kombu, a type of seaweed that makes excellent dashi."
"Sea... I've never seen the sea before."
That's right. This continent is huge, and the five major powers in the center don't border the sea. So naturally, there are few chances to see it.
Reproducing Japanese flavors here is quite difficult... But I have DP!! For moments like this, I'll thank Luna!!
"First, put this kombu in the pot and simmer it."
"Got it."
While that was happening, I had her cut the chicken and other ingredients.
After a while, a nice aroma began to rise from the dashi.
"Heh, it smells great."
"Yeah, but we're just getting started. Now add the miso. You might not have noticed, but this is red miso. It's saltier and richer than the miso I usually use for soup."
"There are different kinds of miso too."
I dissolved a generous amount of red miso, poured a little into a small plate, and tasted it.
"Isn't this a bit too strong?"
"No, this is perfect. With hot pot, we'll keep adding ingredients directly. The moisture from the ingredients will dilute it, so it needs to start strong. Normally, many hot pots have you dip ingredients into a flavored broth, but this time I want to use a miso flavor everyone's used to."
"I see."
"Hand me the cut chicken."
"Eh? Isn't it too early to add it?"
"No, chicken releases great dashi too. Combined with the miso, it should become even more delicious."
There's a dish called kamo soba or kamo nanban.
It's not called duck soba just because duck meat is placed on top.
The broth itself is made using duck. It creates a rich, deep flavor.
This is an application of that idea. Poultry tends to become rich when simmered, but when paired with miso, it creates a perfect balance with the miso's own taste.
"Well, it's also an experiment. If this works, we'll use it as the base. If not, we'll go with just miso and kombu."
"Ah, so that's how it is."
"And this is the basic technique when adding meat to soup pots. Today we're using mirin, but wine works too. Rub the chicken directly with mirin, then put it in the pot and add a little more mirin on top."
"What does that do?"
"It removes the gamey smell unique to meat, and the alcohol components tenderize it."
"Wow~ You really know a lot."
Well, it's basic knowledge if you live in Japan.
After simmering the chicken for a while, I tasted it again on a small plate.
"Fwaa!? Amazing, I've never tasted anything like this!! But it's so delicious!!"
"Yeah, this is good. Alright, since this is for 18 people... we'll make six earthenware pots."
"One pot for three people. Understood. Leave the ingredients to me."
"Thanks. I'll mass-produce the soup base."
Preparation finished without a hitch. Dinner time arrived.
* * *
"Ara? This is... It's a stove, right?"
"Are these raw meat and vegetables?"
"Eh, this is dinner?"
This is a culture made possible by Japan's irori (sunken hearth) — gathering around warmth to eat.
""Fufufufu...""
Ria and I placed meat, vegetables, and mushrooms into the pots in front of everyone and lit the stoves.
I had no intention of acting like a Hot Pot General and giving detailed instructions on ingredient order or etiquette.
At first, everyone watched our actions curiously, but soon the delicious aroma began wafting from the covered earthenware pots, and they grew restless.
Fortunately, everyone except Ria could use chopsticks, so there were almost no issues.
We placed ladles and small plates next to each pot.
"Alright, it should be ready. Ria, open the ones on your side."
"Yes."
Ria and I opened the lids from opposite sides. An even richer aroma filled the room.
"Okay, everyone. Use these ladles to scoop the ingredients from the pot onto your plates. You can use chopsticks too, of course."
I gave a demonstration.
Hafu! Oh, it's hot, but the flavor has soaked in perfectly thanks to the concentrated miso. Yeah, this is good.
With that as the signal, The First Great Nabe War broke out. Simply put: it was delicious, so a scramble for ingredients ensued.
"Hey, Ratz! I had my eye on that chicken first!"
"No way, I was here first!"
"The vegetables are so good!"
It was like this everywhere—everyone was checking each other's moves while stuffing their faces. I kept adding more ingredients, but they vanished instantly.
"Hah~ That was delicious, but I feel like something is missing~"
Riel patted her full stomach with a satisfied look, but she felt a void.
"Fufufu, well said, Riel. Nabe has a 'Closing' (shime)."
"""Closing?"""
All eyes were on me. Yes, the Closing. The tradition of what you eat at the very end.
"I'm going to add rice to three of these pots and noodles to the other three. What do you think happens when you put these into the miso that is now brimming with the flavor of all that meat and vegetables?"
"""!?"""
That's right—the very end of a nabe is the best part!!
And so, that night, for about an hour, every single person was too full to move.
Yeah, I overdid it. But I have no regrets.
