Chapter 007: Delicious!!
"Is this... the rice we grew?!!"
Uvogin witnessed this scene with his own eyes, especially since he had watched the entire process from planting to harvest.
A sense of exhilaration welled up in his heart, growing even more intense~!!
This feeling was truly exhilarating~!!
"..."
Machi remained mostly silent, but her pursed lips and slightly brightened eyes were enough to reveal her inner thoughts.
"Alright, just one final step."
Kaizen tossed each of them a small sickle, both included in the planting kit.
"After cutting the rice, just put it into the top chimney opening of this machine."
At this point, no further instructions from Kaizen were needed.
Uvogin had already rolled up his sleeves, brimming with energy, and stepped back into the field.
Machi followed closely behind. As they gazed at the golden wheat ears, they couldn't help but swallow.
They could almost smell the fresh aroma of the wheat.
Their already empty stomachs, after two hours of labor and waiting, felt even more hollow.
Now, seeing the results, they could no longer hold back and charged forward, swinging their sickles.
Snip~ snip~ snip~!!
For a while, the only sound in the room was the continuous cutting of wheat.
Soon, piles of harvested rice began to accumulate in front of Kaizen.
"Putting this rice into the machine will automatically hull it, steam the grains, and finally, Mochi will come out..."
Kaizen dumped the rice into the machine's top chimney opening and, as the machine shook, pulled down the lever.
And then—
Just as Uvogin and Machi finished harvesting all the wheat and climbed out of the field...
"What's this..."
They saw, amid the machine's vibrations, a square, mochi with the fresh aroma of glutinous rice emerging from the bottom outlet!!
Still steaming slightly, it instantly washed away the fatigue weighing on Uvogin and Machi.
Their eyes were fixed intently on the freshly made, piping hot mochi, and...
Drip!
One after another, freshly made, steaming mochi popped out from the machine's opening.
"Mmm..."
Kaizen casually picked up a mochi that had jumped out of the machine and popped it into his mouth.
The fresh aroma of glutinous rice, combined with its sticky, chewy texture...
"Tastes pretty good..."
He savored it, then nodded at Uvogin and Machi with a smile, offering his evaluation.
Uvogin: "..."
Machi: "..."
Clatter!!
The two casually tossed their sickles aside and charged forward like starving tigers pouncing on prey.
Crunch crunch crunch!!
Uvogin grabbed three mochis at once and shoved them directly into his mouth.
Munch munch—he chewed vigorously, the sticky, fresh aroma rushing from his mouth to his nostrils and straight to his brain!!
"Delicious..."
He only managed to mumble these two words before continuing to stuff mochis into his mouth.
If it weren't for the fact that these treats were somewhat sticky and prone to clogging one's mouth, Uvogin would have already devoured all the mochis in one go.
But he maintained a rhythm—basically, as soon as one appeared, he would stuff it in.
Though Machi's eating manners weren't as unrestrained as Uvogin's, her small face was still stuffed full and puffed out.
"This tastes even better than the church's mochis."
During a brief pause between bites, Machi managed to blurt out this sentence.
Hmm, this was the second sentence she had spoken since meeting Kaizen.
"Of course, the flavor is different when you make it with your own hands."
Kaizen smiled, casually picked up a mochi, and put it into his mouth.
Mm, the taste was indeed good, but unfortunately, it was still a bit dry. It would be even better with something to drink.
Neither Uvogin nor Machi responded, simply burying their heads in eating the mochis.
Kaizen also glanced at the flickering numbers on the Mochi Maker.
The upper row was continuously increasing, while the lower row remained fixed at 219.
In other words, the rice they had harvested so far could produce 219 mochis.
It should have been 259 originally, but due to Uvogin and Machi's inexperience, some of the rice hadn't grown properly.
Still, over two hundred was enough—just enough to divide into three portions, 73 each.
But clearly...
Kaizen glanced at Uvogin, who was still stormily consuming mochis.
This big oaf had no intention of sharing the food within his reach with anyone else.
But that was fine...
The real delicacies were yet to come.
Finally, after all two hundred-plus mochis had been made and swiftly devoured by Uvogin like a whirlwind...
"Burp~"
Though he didn't feel particularly full, Uvogin politely let out a belch anyway.
"Amazing, simply amazing!!"
Uvogin contentedly wanted to snap off a twig to pick his teeth.
But after glancing around the empty room, he had to abandon the idea.
Nearby, Machi wiped the remaining mochi residue from her face, her small eyes beginning to fixate on Kaizen.
Humans only begin to think more deeply after filling their stomachs.
For instance, who was this person before them, and why had he specifically treated them?
And then there was this so-called invention—the Mochi Maker—that had suddenly materialized out of thin air, along with all these accompanying tools...
All of this made one unable to resist pondering and letting their thoughts wander.
While Machi could grasp this point, Uvogin—despite his rough exterior—was actually quite meticulous in his thinking.
Unlike Machi's habit of staying silent, he was very direct and spoke up like this.