Bring Your Own Cookware 10: Chapter 10: Coming for Dinner?
Bring Your Own Cookware “Damn, seaweed.” Feeling a tug on the rod, Shiki pulled it up only to find a large clump of dark green seaweed.
After struggling to unhook it, he realized the bait was gone too—a complete loss.
“Seaweed is fine, I guess.
It has a bit of saltiness.
After drying it out, I can eat it like kelp; it should restore at least some stamina.” He crumpled the clump of seaweed and tossed it into the chest he had placed earlier.
He had come to the Seaside fully prepared, and that preparation specifically meant this chest.
When beginners start playing Stardew Valley, they always forget to bring a chest to the beach to store fish, junk they reel in, and various items from treasure chests.
It’s a miserable feeling when it happens—you want everything, but you can’t carry it all.
It’s like during a hatchet run when you find seven or eight pieces of rare loot back-to-back, but your backpack is so small you’re tempted to throw away your gun just to fit the loot.
Experienced veterans always place a chest for junk at their frequent fishing spots.
After all, even trash like broken glasses, soggy newspapers, and driftwood can be converted into useful resources through machines.
Replacing the bait and casting again, Shiki continued to ponder the previous question.
He took out his phone and found the request posted by Yakumo Ran.
As the master of this world, he could contact the requester via phone.
It was just like a shop’s backend interface; a single tap allowed him to enter the chat page, which was very convenient.
“Hello dear, are you there?” He habitually added the word ‘dear’ out of pure muscle memory.
Shiki only realized it after hitting send.
It was all because this customer service backend looked exactly like the one he used at his old job—it was a conditioned reflex.
Yakumo Ran was at the Lost Home, tidying up the furniture that had been messed up by the Great Tengu’s mischief earlier that morning.
Suddenly, one of the nine tails hanging behind her started vibrating.
She quickly turned around, rummaged through her tails, pulled out the vibrating phone, and tapped the chat notification.
Dear?
What kind of address is that?
Yakumo Ran tilted her head, finding it a bit strange that ‘that adult’ would use such a term.
Indeed, an ‘adult.’ In Yakumo Ran’s eyes, the other party’s status was even higher than Lady Yukari’s.
This was an existence in charge of an entire world, practically the Lord Dragon God of an alternate world.
“Hello, I am here.
Is there something you need?” Trotting to the table, Yakumo Ran used her finger to write characters on the screen.
Forgive her for being an old-timer who hadn’t used such high-tech gadgets; Lady Yukari was even worse than she was and currently relied on voice input.
Shiki watched the ‘typing…’ status for several minutes.
It took that long for Yakumo Ran to send a single sentence, nearly killing him with anticipation.
“It’s like this: I came fishing today and expect to catch a few fish.
I’ve already caught one.
However, I need these fish to fill my stomach for the next few days, so I can’t give them to you.
But I can’t finish a whole fish by myself, so there’s enough for a bowl’s worth.
Want to come?” “Image.jpg” Shiki took a photo of the Flounder with his phone and sent it over, then went back to waiting.
He saw the ‘typing…’ status again, but this time several minutes passed and it just kept showing ‘typing…’ Meanwhile, at the Lost Home, Yakumo Ran was deeply captivated by the fish on the phone.
What a perfect fish!
Though it looked a bit ugly, its plump body and springy flesh all indicated that it would taste wonderful.
She just didn’t know why that adult had placed a small shell next to the fish—was it to emphasize the fish’s size?
However, based on the wooden planks beneath the fish, she could calculate its true size.
It was a bit over a pound—not huge, but enough for a meal.
After struggling to send a ‘Thank you for the invitation,’ Yakumo Ran stuffed the phone back into her tail and headed out to find the playing Chen.
She forcefully held down the bath-hating cat and washed her until she smelled wonderful, dressed her in clean clothes, and finally contacted Yukari, who was hiding from the annoying Great Tengu.
“No problem, remember to bring your own cookware.” Upon receiving the reply, Shiki sent one last message.
According to customer service rules, as long as the customer spoke, they had to reply to ensure they had the last word; otherwise, it would affect the 5-minute response rate and the shop’s exposure.
Fishing without using stamina really depended purely on luck.
The first fish was hooked in minutes, but the subsequent ones took so long that Shiki almost fell asleep.
By 5 o’clock, he still had two portions of Scallop guts left unused.
But if he didn’t head back now, he’d have to find his way home in the dark.
Shiki, who was afraid of the dark, put the guts into the chest and hauled tail.
Today’s haul wasn’t bad: four fish.
They weren’t very big, but it was meat!
When Shiki returned to the farm, he immediately saw Chen squatting by the field looking at the nearly ripe windbreak grass, with Yakumo Ran standing nearby with cookware at her feet.
They had both changed clothes today, not wearing the same nightgown style as Yukari.
They looked…
quite formal?
“Where is Miss Yukari?
Did she not come?” Shiki knew that Yukari, Yakumo Ran, and Chen were always stuck together, so seeing Yukari missing was somewhat strange.
“Apologies, Lady Yukari is currently tied up with some matters and cannot make it.
Only Chen and I have come to the feast this time.” The expression on Yakumo Ran’s face was a bit strange, as if she wanted to laugh but didn’t dare.
She simply took the three fish Shiki handed her and began processing them.
Gensokyo.
If there was medicine for regret in this world, Yukari swore she would have only let Reimu go to Youkai Mountain to ask for seeds alone.
These Tengu were too annoying!
Since they couldn’t beat Reimu, they came to harass a weak woman like her.
“Let go of me!” “I won’t!
If you’re brave enough to steal seeds, be brave enough not to run away!” Iokamaru Ryu, one of the Great Tengu of Youkai Mountain, gripped Yukari’s arm tightly.
Heaven be her witness, she had been at home enjoying a treasured strawberry.
She had just sliced a piece off with a knife when these two bandits kicked down her door.
One searched for seeds, while the other pinned her down without a word and threw that strawberry into her mouth, even complaining that it wasn’t very fresh!
Nonsense!
She had saved that strawberry for a whole year.
It was one of the few strawberries offered as tribute the previous year, and she only allowed herself one piece each week.
Now it had been ruined like this.
If she weren’t unable to defeat Hakurei Reimu, she would have attacked the shrine long ago.
Now, she could only bully Yukari, who wouldn’t fight back.
“I’m begging you, please let go~~” Yukari’s tone suddenly softened.
Ran had told her that ‘that person’ was treating them to fish today.
She really wanted to go, but this ‘dog-skin plaster’ was stuck to her, making it impossible to slip away quietly.
There were only a few fish.
If she brought Iokamaru Ryu along, there wouldn’t be enough to eat.
Moreover, everyone knew of the other world’s existence, and food production had just begun.
If she brought someone along for a meal now, what about next time?
It is not the scarcity that is the problem, but the inequality.
Let her, the Youkai Sage, bear the burden of this’scarcity’ so as not to affect the unity of Gensokyo.