Because I've Been Reincarnated As A Girl I Just Want To Do Yuri Things, But Things Aren't Going Well Chapter 218

Published at 21st of February 2023 07:30:35 AM

I came to a place of memories for me and Mikoto. There is a big rock in a clearing in the forest… that's what I remember, but even though it's a clearing, it's narrow, and what I thought was a big rock feels smaller than I remember.

The reason is simple: since we stopped coming here, various things have grown around us. That's why the clearing is getting narrower with more plants growing in it. Furthermore, it was many years ago and our bodies have grown so much that the rocks we thought were big at the time now seem small.

Even in Japan, when you see the scenery you saw as a child for the first time in a long time, you will feel that it is very small and low to the ground. I'm sure many of you have wondered if the walls of the house you used to walk to school when you were a child were this low, or if the place you used to play in was so tiny.

Plants are beginning to grow thickly around this place, and moss is also growing. At the time, we thought the rock was big enough for two people to sit on, but now that we look at it, it's surprisingly small.

“This rock is so tiny,” Mikoto said as she looked down at it.

“I was thinking the same thing, Mikoto,” I said as I dropped off Alexandra and went up beside her.

It's not that there's anything sacred about this place. It's just a nostalgic place from a few years ago. It may be just that I and Mikoto, those who have memories of this place, feel nostalgic for that time but for everyone else, it may just feel like nothing more than a clearing in the forest.

“Huh… it's a quiet place, isn't it?” Louisa asked.

“It's too hard to hike here…” Alexandra said, looking exhausted.

Alexandra is the one with the least stamina. She probably has the same physical ability as Mikoto, but I think Mikoto is assisting herself with some kind of magic. That's why Mikoto looks like she's fine even after walking all the way here.

“It's a place of memories for me and Mikoto… but there's nothing in particular here… what should we do now?” I asked.

I came here because Mikoto wanted to come here, but I couldn't stand alone in such an empty forest. There is nothing to do. I'll ask everyone what they're going to do with the rest of the time.

“Let's go eat,” Mikoto said.

“I didn't bring any lunch today, but…” I said.

I have some light snacks and water, but I didn't bring a boxed lunch as I did at the last picnic. I didn't expect a full-fledged meal from emergency rations.

“Don't you get it?” Mikoto asked. “We're in the middle of the forest, so let's gather ingredients together and cook here.”

“Huh… I don't mind, but…” I said.

Since I was a child, Father taught me something like field cooking. I was often forced to go into the forest behind Manor Carruthers, gather the ingredients myself, cook them, and eat them, so I didn't have much resistance to the idea.

But can we bear the fact that we, the daughters of aristocrats, hunt and gather around here, cook it in a way that can't even be called fine dining, and eat it in the wild without grace or utensils?

Claudia will probably be fine. The Knights should have had such training. They should be eating field rations and training to procure ingredients locally, so it will work out somehow.

What about Louisa? Louisa also grew up in poverty, so she might be used to picking and eating something unexpectedly around here. It's been a long time since she lived like that, and I don't know if she still can do as she did then…

I don't know what Katharina's life was like while she was away from me. However, perhaps because she used to be malnourished, she now takes the initiative to eat anything. She was raised in a viscounty and still serves me, but she may be surprisingly fine.

If there is anything to worry about, it will be Mikoto and Alexandra are the first to come to mind. It seems that Alexandra has never eaten such a meal in the first place. Even Mikoto is a member of the royal family, so she probably has never eaten such a dish.

“I don't mind if I try to make as much as I can, but… is everyone really okay?” I asked.

“Yeah. Fine by me,” Claudia said.

“Me too……” Louisa said.

“Let's try it!” Mikoto said.

Some people are a little uneasy, but it can't be helped… if we start hunting and gathering now and then cooking, it will be just right to kill time until noon. It is better to decide immediately whether to return to Floren or to procure locally here and act on that plan. Everyone seems to be enthusiastic about it, so let's just try it for the time being…

We decided to split up with the hunting and gathering. I, Louisa, and Claudia are accustomed to such things, and so we made it so we're separated as much as possible from each other and accompany the rest. If you leave it to just Alexandra and Mikoto, who have never collected anything, there is a high possibility that they will also collect poisonous species.

Mushrooms, as well as grasses, bulbs, and fruits, all can be poisonous. If someone without any knowledge picks up and eats the things around, there is a high possibility that they will be poisoned. In the first place, if you touch something you are not familiar with, you may get a rash just from skin contact. Those who do not have such knowledge must act together with those who have the proper knowledge.

“Miss Floto,” Katharina whispered as I peeked out from some bushes.

“Shhh…” I went.

Just let us be quiet now. Aim properly and…

“Wind.”

“-!”

My magical Wind Blade cut the boar's head off, it died without having time to let out a sound. Now, we can get meat.

“Come on, let's quickly drain the blood,” I said.

If you do not quickly drain the blood or cool the prey, it will start to stink and rot. Blood is very nutritious and circulates throughout the body through the blood vessels. When bacteria propagate through the blood, the meat starts to foul.

In the old days, blood was removed immediately as a way to deal with them. If you suppress the invasion and propagation of various bacteria that spread throughout the body through blood vessels, the meat will not foul up. Our predecessors who knew this through trial and error drained the blood immediately after hunting prey.

It is only in recent years that we have come to understand that it is best to suppress the existence of bacteria and the like and their methods of propagation. Most bacteria become inactive or die when cold. Instead of leaving the warm corpse for a while, cooling it all at once suppresses the growth of various germs.

I intentionally cut off the head to make it easier to drain the blood. It is hung from a tree to drain it. After it's done, you can throw it in a pond or something to cool it down…

“Miss Floto… you seem quite used to this, but…” Katharina started.

“Ah…… Katharina, didn't you know?” I said. “Since I was a child, I was tossed into the forest behind Manor Carruthers and forced to obtain ingredients by myself and cook it in the field, too. I'm used to it.”

Well, the knowledge of my previous life is also mixed in. No need to say that. In fact, rather than the half-baked knowledge of my previous life, the things I learned in this life and the things I learned on the field after being tossed into the forest so many times are much more useful. My past life knowledge is just a useful bonus and helps efficiency's sake.

“I see……” Katharina said, looking a little bewildered.

Well, even maids don't go into the forest to kill prey and cook. I think they've done enough to strangle birds, but I don't think she's ever hunted a boar and field-dressed it on the spot.

I've finished draining the blood, but there's no pond or river nearby. I had no choice but to cool it down with magic. It's a little too cold, or rather, it's frozen a little, but don't worry about it. When I returned to the first place with the boar on my shoulder, everyone had already returned.

“Seems you're done, Floto,” Claudia said.

“Seems you've got quite the haul, too, Claudia,” I said.

From her familiarity, Claudia has collected most of the standard fare. Roots, leaves, and fruits that mainly grow in forests and which are also easy to identify.

As expected, the Royal Guard Division is also taught about locally procured ingredients such as wild grass as part of the field training. However, I think that they mainly teach common things that are difficult to mistake for anything else and avoid camouflaged and complicated species that require specialized knowledge to identify properly. It would be up to the members to decide whether to further hone their knowledge from there, or whether they would be satisfied and not study any further.

Claudia didn't force herself to collect things she didn't understand, and only took what she had confidence in. There was no need to worry about poisoning or tainting our food because all of them were edible even if I just looked at them.

“Take a look at this!” Mikoto said, puffing up her chest as she showed a fish.

There is a river not far away. Mikoto and the others must have headed for the river from the beginning to catch fish. There were also mushrooms with the fish. This must have been collected by Louisa, who accompanied her.

“There are also mushrooms and wild vegetables,” I said. “Impressive, Louisa.”

“I just picked up a little bit…” Louisa said. “Mikoto caught the fish, so she's more amazing.”

Yes, yes. Louisa is humble too. She is so wonderful

“So was Alexandra alright?” I asked.

“Yeah… well…” Claudia mumbled.

Alexandra should have been with her but Alexandra doesn't look too good. She must have forced herself to come here, and after walking around collecting wild edibles and seeing the decapitated boar corpse laying around, it's natural she'll start turning pale.

“Then let's cook. There aren't many seasonings, but…” I said.

For the time being, I brought a small amount of salt and pepper, but I didn't bring enough to cook a full-fledged meal. Louisa and Claudia have picked herbs for me, so I use them to add fragrance.

“It smells nice.”

“So appetizing!”

It's easy to roast or stir-fry, but it'll still feel delicious when you're hungry and cooking outdoors. There's no way a dish that uses ingredients that they've worked so hard to get will be bad. I have to keep from making mistakes while cooking…

Mikoto and Alexandra weren't capable of cooking, so the remaining 4 were cooking. Mostly I'm the center and the other 3 are helping me out a bit, but I can't say that out loud.

“Now then, it's ready!”

“Woah! It looks delicious!”

“If you can make something like this, it would have been nice if you could have made it last time,” Mikoto said.

So she says, but I didn't carry salt and pepper with me at the time… in the first place, pepper was difficult to obtain. It wouldn't have been possible to just sprinkle salt on it and roast it, but…

“I'll-I'll have some of it,” Alexandra murmurs as she timidly brings the food to her mouth.

It's completely different from what she usually eats at home, so I understand this kind of reaction. If I wasn't used to it, I would have become like Alexandra. When I was in Japan, I'm sure I would have had a similar reaction.

“Oh, it's delicious!” Alexandra said.

“Fufu, that's good to hear,” I said.

But if you eat a bite, you'll be surprised. In terms of true taste, the food we eat at home probably tastes better, but if you gather it yourself, cook it, and eat it under the blue sky on an empty stomach, it tastes even better.

“Eat this fish, too.”

“This is what Mikoto caught with magic!” Louisa cried. “Or, I think she did.”

The two are pushing Alexandra with this and that, but with Louisa… with magic, she said! What does she mean? I don't understand it at all. Louisa is also a mage, so it's not like it's impossible… but is there anything else to it?

“It's really delicious. I'm glad I came today,” Claudia said.

“That's right, that's right,” Mikoto said, beaming once more.

Well, that's fine.

In this way, we returned to the mansion after enjoying our last day out in Caan territory.

Finally, there were 10 days left in the 60 days of vacation. Considering the schedule to the royal capital and the spare day just in case, we have to leave today. That's why we said goodbye to Carruthers and Caan territories, where we had been staying for more than 50 days, and headed to the capital again.

“I'll be leaving now, Mother,” Alexandra said.

“Yes, safe travels,” Gabriella said.

She will remain at Manor Lingerburg in Carruzan, so she won't be able to see her for at least 4 months. But their greetings were straightforward.

“Are you sure you're ready?” I asked.

“Yes. I'm sure we'll meet again,” Alexandra said. “That's enough for me.”

I see……. Alexandra is a strong child. Well, my wives are all separated from their parents, and in this world, it might be normal at this age.

“Then shall we depart?” I said.

“Sir!” the coachman said. “We'll leave at once.”

The carriage starts to move. I didn't say goodbye to my parents. That's because…….

“Ha~,” Mother sighs. “Carruzan was really good. If I could have, I think it would be better to live here…”

“You and Father have your jobs, don't you?” I asked. “There's no need for you to join me on the trip back to the royal capital…”

“No! Flora dear, you still have a long way to go! Mother will have to do her best!” Mother says.

…. No, please don't try too hard…

Unlike House Lingerburg, my parents are supposed to go to the royal capital together again. As far as I'm concerned, I wanted my parents to stay in Carruzan, but…

And then Helmut's parents are riding in another carriage with Christa. It seems that it is to visit House Reingen and discuss the engagement and marriage of the two. After all, the number of people has increased since we returned. While thinking that this trip was going to be lively, the carriage rocked on the road back to the royal capital.

Chapter end