Full belly, empty belly
The food supply was running out.
I stood before the fruit trees, all harvested.
Twenty more people had suddenly appeared—Mira included—so food consumption had spiked overnight.
Yesterday, we’d gathered every ripe fruit, barely scraping by.
Now, in the storage, there was barely enough left for one person.
Honestly, if things kept going like this, everyone would be starving by tonight.
To fix it, Madway and Yoshif were leading everyone out to hunt.
“Can’t guarantee we’ll catch anything… menu open.”
I pulled out DORECA and opened the menu.
I scrolled through the item list, searching for food.
Last time, there had been nothing. Just “fruit trees,” “fields,” and the like. We’d made do with tea and distractions.
But now there was food—some new kinds, thanks to the Fronds Card.
Looking at the food, the total mana consumption was high across the board.
"...Wait, wait, a shortcake for 3000? Are you kidding me?"
I couldn’t help but blurt it out.
Mana costs of hundreds, even thousands—normal. Desserts like cakes? Prices were higher than those of a wooden house.
After staring a while, I noticed a pattern.
"Luxury items, indulgences—higher cost."
Meat, vegetables, a few hundred (still steep), but a shortcake? Three thousand. A parfait? Ten thousand. That kind of scale.
Other items varied, but generally, the rule held—mana cost changed based on indulgence.
Which means—there’s one thing standing out, drastically lower.
Among the food, there was one item labeled "Pusini," with a mana cost of just one.
One. Just one.
I cast it into a magic circle.
An arrow appeared, pointing straight down to the ground beside me.
The soil beneath it began to glow.
I dug into the soil and placed it into the magic circle.
The circle shifted—something like a Pusine.
"……Kakari Meit?"
That was my first thought upon seeing it.
It was a block-shaped lump, like a nutrient block without packaging.
I picked it up, sniffed it, then licked it.
No smell. No taste. Not even a hint of either. Shocking.
I cautiously took a small bite.
"……Disgusting."
I couldn’t help voicing it out loud.
No flavor. No scent.
And it was dry—cracked, even. My mouth hurt just holding it.
In short—this was an outrageously terrible Kakari Meit.
But—
"Ah! My stomach’s bloating!"
I said it out loud again, stunned.
Just one bite, and I could *feel* my belly swelling up.
I rushed to the stream, poured the leftover bits into my mouth, and washed them down with water.
My stomach swelled again—just a little bit, but already tight as a drum.
Ah, so it’s low in magic consumption, ridiculously tasteless, but it does make you bloated.
That made sense. And I was grateful.
With this, I could feed not just twenty people, but hundreds.
I was thinking about mass-producing it when—
“Welcome back, my lord.”
Risha returned.
“Hey, Risha, perfect timing. I’m about to make something—help me out.”
“Yes.”
She answered with a smile, instantly.
“The material’s dirt. Just dig up whatever’s nearby and shove it into the magic circles I’m making.”
“Understood.”
I held DORECA, crafting one Pynei array after another.
Risha stayed glued to my side, digging up dirt the moment the circle was done and dumping it in.
Make circle. Add dirt.
Make circle. Add dirt.
Make circle. Add dirt.
We churned out emergency rations that used one unit of mana—just enough to make your stomach swell—two of us working in tandem.
It was absurdly tedious. We did it without a word, without pause.
Like some factory worker, mindlessly churning out food.
After an hour, a mountain of Pshini had piled up.
We stared at it. Wiped sweat off our palms.
“Good work.”
“You too.”
“By the way… what exactly is this?”
“A food called Pshini. People are multiplying. Rations aren’t enough.”
“Food…”
“…Want to try it?”
“Really?”
“It’s made for everyone, isn’t it?”
“Right.”
Risha took one Pshini, bit off about a third.
Pressed her hand over her mouth, chewed slowly.
“…Ugh.”
Her expression shifted. A tiny groan escaped.
“Haha, taste awful, right?”
“No, not at all… it’s something my master made, after all.”
“Nah, it’s awful. I just tried it myself. That said, it’ll blow your belly up something fierce.”
“…Ah, really?”
“Guess that’s just how it is. Tastes terrible, but your stomach’ll be full.”
“Yes….”
Risha stared hard at the remaining pshiny.
She looked utterly lost.
“…It’s my master’s.”
A moment later, with a “Hey now!”, she shoved the last of the pshiny into her mouth.
Chewing… her eyes watered like she’d been punched in the face.
No need to force it like that.
…
“Are you full now?”
“Huh? Yes! Thank you for the meal!”
“Could you fit a little more in?”
“Umm…”
Risha glanced at the mountain of pshiny, her face on the verge of tears, but still nodded.
“J-just a bit more…”
“Right, well, you know—no such thing as too much.”
“?”
“Menu open.”
With Doreca in hand, she channeled three thousand units of magic to draw the rune circle.
“Huh? The ingredients… weren’t they stored in the warehouse—Pusini, master?”
“Another one. Come on, bring the materials.”
“Understood.”
Risha brought the ingredients as commanded and tossed them into the rune circle.
From within the light… a shortcake appeared.
One shortcake, left behind in the warehouse—strawberries on top.
“What… is this?”
“Take a bite.”
“Yes….”
Risha hesitated, then cautiously bit into the shortcake.
“—Delicious!”
Unlike when it was Pusini, her face instantly lit up.
A grin so wide it could’ve been called radiant.
“Sweet… so sweet… amazing, master!”
“Is that so?”
“Making something like this on purpose… thank you, master!”
Risha bowed, overflowing with gratitude.
—Magic charged: +2000.
A voice echoed in her head—Risha’s delight charging her magic.
Made for 3000, charged with 2000.
Total loss, of course.
“Meh, whatever.”
It wasn’t like it mattered, really.
Now then, once Risha finishes eating, I’ll restart the production of Pshini.
After all, there are twenty residents here.
“Ah… um… master…”
“Huh?”
“Ah… aah…”
Risha shyly offered a bite of shortcake.
“……”
“Ah… aah…”
She did it again.
I was startled, but recovered and took the bite.
… Delicious.
Magic still a deficit, though.
“Good stuff, Risha.”
“Because you made it, master. One more bite?”
“Give it.”
I truly meant it—this was enough.
☆
That night, while Akito and Mira slept, Risha writhed on the futon.
Savoring the pleasure that had come late.
— Mmm, good, Risha.
Her master’s voice echoed in her head, looping again and again.
……kufu, fufufufu.
Her face split into a grin. A laugh slipped out.
As time passed, joy surged up inside her.
(Eaten it. Master ate it. Master ate it.)
So happy. Want him to do it again.
Risha writhed on the futon all night long.
Unseen by Akito, her magic charged faster and faster.