Marco and the others quickly gathered around, calling out in their childish voices, "Yuuki!"
"The tavern is so clean now. You've all worked hard. Here's a reward for you," Yuuki said.
He reached out to ruffle their heads gently, then pulled out some candy he had bought from a shop along the way and handed it out to the children.
Marco and the others cheered even louder.
"You're spoiling them a bit too much," Rebecca said softly as she walked over.
"They're just kids," Yuuki replied with a small smile.
"Yuuki, are these the ingredients you prepared?"
Luka, still chewing candy, looked curiously at the huge bundle on the table, his words slightly slurred.
The other younger siblings leaned in with equal curiosity.
"Yes. These aren't sold in stores, so I went out to gather them from the wild—it took some time," Yuuki explained with a nod.
"They look kind of strange… are these beans?"
Marco picked up one of the pods and gently squeezed it, revealing a few yellow beans inside. His eyes widened in surprise.
"These are grass beans?" Rebecca asked, seeing the hard yellow beans in Marco's hand.
"Grass beans? Is that what you call them here?"
"I didn't expect you to know them. I prefer to call them soybeans," Yuuki said, glancing at Rebecca with mild surprise.
Indeed, the huge bundle he had collected consisted of wild soybeans.
Yuuki found it curious—soybeans had been an important staple in his previous life, but in this world, they seemed largely ignored, not even sold in shops. Yet they grew in the wild in many places.
"Can grass beans be used in cooking?" Rebecca asked softly, her expression a little strange.
"I read in a book once that these beans could be used to make delicious dishes, so I wanted to try it," Yuuki offered, giving a reason.
Seeing Rebecca's odd, almost conflicted expression, he couldn't help but ask, "What is it? Is something wrong?"
Rebecca hesitated, realizing Yuuki genuinely didn't know much about grass beans. After a short pause, she said:
"These beans aren't usually eaten. Their taste isn't great, and if you eat too many, they… um…"
She stopped mid-sentence, her cheeks flushing slightly, unsure how to continue.
Yuuki immediately understood: "If you eat too many, they cause… gas."
"Mm," Rebecca nodded, a little embarrassed.
"That's why these beans have long been considered a low-grade ingredient. Not tasty, not filling—commoners used them only as an additive," she continued.
Then, realizing she'd mentioned "commoners" in front of Yuuki, she panicked slightly, waving her hands: "Yuuki, I didn't mean it like that."
"It's fine," Yuuki said, smiling and shaking his head. "In my eyes, being a commoner isn't shameful, and I don't see it as something to hide."
Class distinctions were deeply ingrained in this world, and a few exceptions couldn't change that.
Among the Nine Magic Knight Captains, only one truly came from humble origins: Jack, the "Emerald Mantis" Captain.
As for Yami, he was an outsider.
His family in the Land of the Sun was noble.
Yuuki thought it reMarcokable that Jack had become a captain—it had to be thanks to Magic Emperor Julius.
Unfortunately, whether it was Jack or Yami, both were just pawns in the grand scheme of Magic Emperor Julius.
Because such a system was so entrenched, Licht's vision of building a new nation, even if genuine, seemed like a castle in the air.
Overthrowing the Clover Kingdom or creating a new one wasn't the hard part. The challenge lay in discerning who among the revolutionaries truly cared about the common people.
Kill a few nobles, and new ones simply rise in their place. Dragon slayers could become the next evil dragon, repeating the cycle.
This was something Yuuki had been contemplating for some time.
Seeing that Yuuki bore no anger, Rebecca finally breathed a heavy sigh of relief.
"Don't underestimate these beans," Yuuki said gently. "Though they look unreMarcokable, even considered low-grade by most, with proper preparation, they might become something astonishingly delicious."
He smiled, then asked Rebecca, "Did you manage to get the grinding stone I asked for?"
"Yes, it's already in the kitchen at the back," she replied.
Though still skeptical that grass beans could be turned into a gourmet dish, Rebecca nodded quickly.
"Leave it to me. Tomorrow, you'll see the finished dish," she said.
Yuuki smiled and lifted the massive bag of soybeans from the table, heading toward the kitchen.
Yes—what he intended to make was tofu! A food that didn't even exist in this world.
"Yuuki, I believe you can succeed," Rebecca suddenly said, her voice ringing out.
Yuuki paused, carrying the heavy bag toward the kitchen, and turned to give her a small smile.
Rebecca's face instantly turned bright red, and she instinctively covered it, completely unsure why she had spoken up.
Her siblings looked on curiously at their sister's flushed face.
Yuuki busied himself in the kitchen. Making tofu wasn't complicated, and with the aid of magic, he had no worries about stamina or small details.
He worked until nightfall, finishing just as the tofu needed time to set. Throughout the process, Marco and the others hadn't asked him to tell stories, not wanting to disturb him.
Once he was done, Yuuki turned his attention to the extra-dimensional space. Ever since returning from the Magic Palace, he had been thinking about the ancient magical artifacts he had obtained from the treasure palace.
Only now did he finally have the time to examine them.
Though this tavern was meant as a cover for staying in the capital, and a reason to blend in, it still needed to be run properly.
(End of chapter)
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