Translator: P411

Editor: Evelet

Read at Watashi Wa Sugoi Desu!

Chapter 076 – Witch-style Medicinal Hot Pot (Taste is guaranteed)

When we passed through the gate, I got off the horse, approached the gatekeeper who was on duty, and called to them. 

“Good afternoon!!”

“Hey, Mac. Welcome back. You look quite fine. Vidello was worried sick about you. Unfortunately, he’s not here today.”

“He isn’t?”

I was hoping they would call him for me, but instead, I learned something unexpected and was quite surprised by it. No, no, this shouldn’t be a surprise at all. 

I didn’t know the exact date when we would return, so it couldn’t be helped. Also, it was up to him to decide how he would like to spend his days off, so it was a given that he wasn’t here today.

Somehow, I expected he would still meet me even just a little bit on his day off. 

I felt like I might have been becoming too greedy.

Having all of his time even on his day off was becoming the norm for me. 

Not good, not good, I had almost forgotten what we were here for. 

“Thank you for telling me. Then, we’ll be going now.”

“Aah, sorry you can’t meet him today, but I’ll let him know that you came looking for him, so return safely.”

I waved back at the gatekeeper who was waving at me apologetically and ran to catch up with Yuuta’s group, who were walking alongside their horses. 

“What, the gatekeeper wasn’t there?” Yuuta asked.

“Yeah, it’s his day off.”

“What, you’re not letting him off on his day off too? You’re quite passionate, Mac. I mean… wife?”

Hey, hey Brave. Just what the hell were you saying? It wasn’t what you thought. 

I just wanted to see him. I swallowed my sigh l and headed to the horse. 

---

Then, for the very first time, I invited Yuuta’s group to my workshop. 

Up until now, we just passed by and I hadn’t properly invited them once. I did tell them it was okay to come here but somehow the timing didn’t work out as planned. 

I entered first, and then quickly put the alchemy-related materials into storage. After that, I changed my settings to allow Yuuta’s group entry into my storehouse. When I opened the door, all four of them were waiting with their eyes shining with curiosity. I had a feeling that they mistook my workshop for some kind of a cave.

They stepped into my workshop and looked around the rooms while spouting some strange words of astonishment. 

“Hey, Mac. Isn’t this room a little weird?” Yuuta asked.

“Huh, what part of it is weird?”

I was quite confused when he asked me with a straight face.

He turned his gaze to the corner. 

In the direction where he was looking, there was my usual companion, the bed. Next to it was the table I used for making potions, so it was quite convenient. 

“Like that one and that one there.” 

Yuuta pointed to the bed behind the screen where I used to make love with Vidello-san. That room wasn’t quite noticeable right after someone entered the workshop and plus it was also near the kitchen, so we could roll into the bed as soon as we were done with our meal. Everything was convenient. 

“And over there also.” He pointed to the cot near the place where the herbs were hung to dry. It was there as it was convenient for me when I was working over there or when I got sleepy. I felt sleepy while I was waiting for the herbs to dry. 

“Isn’t this strange? Why are there so many beds here?”

“Because it’s convenient.”

“Looking at these numbers, this isn’t the level of convenience anymore. Could it be…. the gatekeeper lives here?”

“Vidello-san has a proper room at the guard’s station.”

Was it this strange? 

When I tilted my head in confusion, Kairi butted in with the fact, “It’s true that this is too much.” 

It was my room, so I thought it was fine to put whatever I like in it. 

Yuuta heard my whisper and laughed saying, “There’s a limit to everything you know.”

But this was so convenient. 

Why did I bring them here? It was to treat them to dinner. 

This was also a way to show thanks for helping me raise my level.

I stood in front of the kitchen, checked my cooking level, turned around, and called out to them.

“The tarts take a long time to bake, so I’ll make something else.”

“We’ll leave it to you.”

After that, all the members of Takahashi’s group promptly sat down in a proper manner. 

Eh, I still hadn’t started making anything yet. They were gonna wait like that… Well, it was fine.

I took out vegetables from Kyle-san’s farm, not forgetting the herbs and also the monster meat…

“Ah, I don’t have meat. Yuuta, do you have any meat?”

“I have wolf meat. How much do you want?”

“I think one lump is enough, but how much do you plan to eat?”

“A lot, so I’ll give you a lot. Yui, Kairi, and Brave, just take out your meat!”

“Roger!”

All of them started taking meat out of their inventories almost immediately and within a few seconds, there was a huge meat mountain in front of me. Such amazing cooperation. 

“Rabbit meat, wolf meat, wild boar meat, bear meat… Huh, what’s this? There’s also frog meat. Let’s use them all.”

I wouldn’t use all of them, but I would like to try using them each once, so I immediately took out a large pot I bought on impulse and put it on the stove. Yui filled the pot with her water magic and I just had to wait for it to boil. While waiting, I threw the ingredients in one after another. The order didn’t matter. 

As a kind of performance, I ground the herbs in front of her, then threw the ground herbs into the pot and stirred round and round with a large ladle. The color was pretty green, so I felt like I really became a witch and I was having fun stirring. 

Of course, I also added plenty of vegetables to make a broth. When the soup became thick enough, I added one portion of sliced Piera fruit as a secret ingredient. Instantly the green color changed to yellowish-green color. This was so fun. 

Ignoring what everyone was saying, I single-mindedly continued stirring the pot. After adjusting the flavor with a few more seasonings, it was all done. 

Then, I placed this yellowish-green colored soup pot in the center of the table where everyone was waiting.

“Uwa…”

“What is this…?”

“Somehow, this…”

“Is this… edible…?”

From the top, Yuuta, Yui, Kairi, and Brave each delivered their own first impression looking at the pot. Well, this was a medicinal hot pot. 

From what I had tasted, I could guarantee that this was delicious. The fact that you could tell that it was a witch soup and delicious from just one look was a plus.

I had been waiting for this moment because I could pull this kind of prank with Yuuta’s group only.

In addition, this soup had an ‘increase natural recovery’ effect. Maybe this was because of the Piera fruit. I had a few of them left in my inventory, so I had better use them wisely from now on. 

Laughing sheepishly, I put dishes in front of everyone. While looking at the bubbly yellowish-green soup, all of them were dripping in cold sweat and gulping air, one after another. 

They were communicating with their gazes, asking who would go first. I was having so much fun looking at the hesitation in their eyes.

Someone had reached a decision and it was their leader, Yuuta, who held the first spoon.

He promptly raised the bowl and, with a grim face like a falsely accused victim forced to drink poison, he quickly shoved the spoon into his mouth.

“…BUWHA!”

He was so shocked that he almost spat it out.

The changes in his expression were quite a spectacle to behold. 

From resignation to surprise, from perplexity to bliss.

His final impression was “…This is clearly a fraud.”

I had a look of triumph, concluding that this was my complete victory.

After that, he cleaned the entire bowl and asked for a refill. 

Watching him gulp down the soup with full vigor, the others decided to take a sip.

“Wow, this has [ Increase Automatic Recovery: Medium ] attached to it. How can a dish have such an effect?”

“I think it was thanks to the ingredients and my cooking skill level. I used some rare ingredients in this soup, so be thankful and eat it all.”

When I answered his question, he made a ‘mm’ face, then filled the empty bowl again, saying, 

“Thank you, thank you,”¹ and he returned to fill his stomach again. 

“This is really delicious… despite its appearance.”

“Eh, what?! Is this really a fraud, Mac?”

The two girls had faces of disbelief while eating their meals elegantly.²

We had a delicious meal. Masuda-kun, there was no fraud. 

“That gatekeeper is such a lucky guy to be able to have Mac as his wife.”

“What the— Brave-san?”

I was happily shocked to hear her words. Was it my imagination that I got tested a lot by Brave these days? Yep, it must be my imagination. 

Still, today was Vidello-san’s day off. I would check the gate tomorrow when I logged in.

As I carried the empty pot to the kitchen, I thought about Vidello-san, whom I couldn’t meet today, and let out a little disappointed sigh.