Chapter 556 – Research on the Otherworld Ambassador

The rice dishes were quite well-received, and it looked like everyone would finish them completely. Seeing this, Forset smiled with apparent satisfaction.

“How is it? If there’s not enough, I can cook a bit more.”

“No, it seems to be quite filling after all.”

“That’s right. I think finishing what’s left will make us completely full.”

Hmm. Everyone seems generally satisfied.

“That’s good to hear. If food is left over, the flavor deteriorates over time. In that case, it’s best to keep it covered so it doesn’t lose moisture. Otherwise, it can become hard.”

“I see. Moisture, you say.”

“So… it can’t be eaten raw?”

Grace nodded while Sheila tilted her head. Since this was a tasting event, raw rice and rice hulls had been prepared for display purposes. They must have been curious about the raw rice.

“Yes. While raw rice is suitable for storage, it’s not suitable for eating… It requires various processing steps, and whether it’s cultivation or anything else, it’s true that it requires considerable effort.”

Forsett proceeded to explain various things about rice. Hmm. It’s definitely necessary to mention the disadvantages too.

Threshing, polishing, then building a fire, preparing clean water, and cooking it in a vessel to eat… Looking at it again, there are indeed many steps required before it can be eaten.

“I wish there were another way to eat it from its raw state,” Forset said with some disappointment.

From its raw state, huh? That makes me think of puffed rice.

It has a strong association with festival stalls where it’s made and sold on the spot… but considering it can be applied to other grains, made from raw rice, and used as portable or preserved food, it seems surprisingly valuable.

From that perspective, it might be a good thing to have. If I remember correctly… it should be made by applying heat and pressure and then releasing it all at once.

“Um… would it be alright if I experimented with the raw rice?”

“Did you think of something?”

“Mmm. A little bit.”

All eyes turned to me as I nodded in response to Sheila’s question.

I decided to try making puffed rice. It pops spectacularly with a loud noise, which would be perfect for livening up an event.

I made the raw rice float in the air and deployed a Magic Circle.

Using Wind Magic, I confined the raw rice while applying pressure, rotated it internally, and combined it with Fire Magic to heat it. This was the method for making puffed rice.

“Hmm. The power of fire and wind, is it?” Rakeld narrowed his eyes with interest.

“Trapping and compressing air… and exposing it to high heat,” Rosemary read the contents of the spell formula from the Magic Circle.

“I was wondering what would happen if I applied only heat and pressure without adding water. Essentially, I’m forcibly suppressing the expansion that would normally occur when the moisture contained in the rice is heated, by compressing the air and confining it within a fixed space. It could be somewhat dangerous if control fails, so please keep your distance.”

“That’s true. If you fail to control the spell formula, rice would probably scatter everywhere,” Claudia said with a wry smile, but the fact that no one seemed particularly tense might mean they trust me.

While having this conversation, I continued heating and pressurizing the rice floating in the air.

If I remember correctly… it was about 10 atmospheres. I’ve heard it requires several times more pressure than a pressure cooker, so it definitely needs considerable high pressure. When it seemed about right, I spoke to everyone.

“From here, I’ll trigger instantaneous expansion by releasing the pressure all at once. There might be a loud noise.”

After I said this, everyone nodded. Michelle and Lasnote, who were watching the process while maintaining some distance, had solemn expressions.

“Then—”

I created another large room enclosed by an air wall adjacent to the pressurized rice chamber, and released the pressure toward it, causing instantaneous decompression.

I thrust out my palm—and at the moment I clenched it. With a deep, resonant boom that echoed in the gut, the rice exploded. It was spectacularly scattered into the adjacent air chamber, but arranged so it wouldn’t fall to the ground. I used wind to gather and collect what accumulated at the bottom, like falling snow.

At first, everyone seemed surprised by the spectacle… but then applause broke out.

“How interesting. The rice has indeed expanded… but is it suitable for eating?” Old Sigmund peered curiously at the finished product.

“Shall we try it?”

I served some in a bowl on the table, picked up a piece, and put it in my mouth. There was a light, crispy texture. Yeah, it’s definitely puffed rice.

“Since the base is rice, the flavor might be rather plain. It might be good to sprinkle some salt or sugar on it.”

With that, everyone else tried some too.

“It’s quite… fragrant, isn’t it?”

“It’s fluffy. How mysterious.”

“I like the crispiness… maybe.”

“This has a completely different texture from normally cooked rice. I’m surprised.”

Sion and the others, along with Forset, were also curiously putting puffed rice in their mouths. Making the Halvaronis members surprised was the best outcome.

Sugar and salt were brought over, and people tried eating it with a light coating, treating it like a proper snack.

“With this, it won’t become hard from losing moisture… right?”

“On the contrary, I feel the texture would change if it got damp. Because it has extremely little moisture.”

“In that case… wouldn’t toasting it work? If it doesn’t spoil easily, it could probably be used as preserved food.”

Alfred seemed quite interested too. Hmm. If they want to reproduce this, making it into a Magic Tool would be essential, so I understand why they’re showing interest.

Anyway, since it should be possible with other grains like wheat too, even if Magic Tools come before rice becomes widespread, making puffed rice should still be possible. In any case, it has the feel of a classic cheap snack, so I hope everyone likes it.

And so—with demonstrations of puffed rice production and such, that day’s tasting event ended, and the flow shifted to everyone enjoying cards, billiards, chess, darts, and other games in the game room.

Since Michelle, the Water Dragon Parent and Child, and the Spirit Kings all seemed to be enjoying the games quite a bit, the tasting event and invitations could probably be considered generally successful.

Now then. Starting today, Lasnote will also be staying at the house, and Michelle will remain in Termwills until the full moon Summoning Ritual is over. That means they’ll all be able to go see Irmhild and the others’ performances at the theater together.

The next day. Today’s plan was to spend time visiting workshops and training. But since there were various things to do, I headed to Peresford first thing in the morning.

“So today, you’re borrowing different things than usual. Language textbooks, adventure stories, castaway accounts, and monster encyclopedias… hmm,” said Old Dean, the librarian in charge of the Peresford Academy library, tilting his head as he looked at the books I brought. That’s because I usually borrow books related to sorcery, or architecture and art books connected to Magic Construction.

“That’s right. Various plans have come up.”

The books I’m borrowing today… are essentially teaching materials for Lasnote.

If she learns ordinary language instead of relying on magic for communication in dragon form, we could talk casually and she could read books too.

Additionally, through adventure stories, castaway accounts, and such, she can learn knowledge about various places, wisdom for survival, points to be careful of, and gain knowledge about different areas from monster encyclopedias.

She won’t be able to read through everything immediately, but having teaching materials like these would help make our conversations more substantial when I explain various things to her.

“Hmm. This is a sorcery book, isn’t it?”

Dean was writing down each book’s title and author name on paper with a quill pen, proceeding with the checkout process.

“Yes. I think that will be necessary too.”

I’ve heard there’s magic that accelerates fermentation using combinations of Wood Magic, Water Magic, Earth Magic, and others, so this book is for researching that.

“I’ve been quite amazed by the various magics of the Ambassador. I’m somewhat looking forward to what you’ll do next,” Dean said with a kindly smile.

Ah… He knows I borrowed books related to Magic Construction too. He’s probably heard that I later built my home and the theater, so he seems to find it quite interesting.

“I’m thinking of trying to make fermented foods. Well, I don’t know how it will turn out at this point.”

“Hoh hoh.”

Well… while it’s magic for making things like cheese, I’ll probably need to apply or modify the spell formula in various ways to use it for soy sauce or miso. That part will involve researching and disassembling the spell formula.

Fortunately, Forset understands the temperature, humidity, and other conditions that make koji mold active, so if things go well, accelerating fermentation itself shouldn’t be too difficult.

It seems like using magic to establish a production method first, then establishing the normal method—which feels like the order is reversed.

Anyway, I’ve gathered the necessary books, so I’ll return to the workshop and make progress on various things.