第４１９堀：ザ・クッキング！！ とあやふやな我が夫 (Part1)
**Chapter 419: The Cooking!! And My Vague Husband**
**Side: Seraria**
“First, we prepare the milk~!”
“And then, eggs, sugar, and vanilla essence.”
For some reason, a simple cooking show was unfolding on the monitor before me.
What’s more, the ones doing the cooking were two goddesses and one male god—a truly baffling situation.
“Judging by the ingredients, that’s ice cream,” I noted.
“Correct. Good guess,” my husband replied.
Yuki was the one who confirmed my answer.
“I know that much. I looked up whether I could make it myself once, and the recipe popped right up.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
By the way, the other wives and I generally don’t make things by hand because we can just buy them directly with DP. Kirue and the other maids seem to make it themselves, though, given their profession.
Well, it can’t be helped. No matter how hard I try, I can’t beat the taste of a Meiji Super C*p or Häagen-D*zs. I know this because I actually tried making it.
As expected of Earth’s famous ice cream companies. I felt it in my soul—the level of quality and the history they’ve built up is just on another level.
I mean, Kirue’s handmade stuff isn’t bad, but… comparing my own attempt to the pros just made me sad.
“Wait, that’s not the point! Why are the gods cooking? Didn’t you say they came to investigate Yuki?”
*Nod, nod.*
The other wives who had gathered around also nodded in agreement.
We had received a report that a god from this continent had visited Lilishe-sama to probe for information about my husband. We hurried over in a panic, only to find them… cooking. It made no sense.
“To put it simply, I guess you could call it a cultural exchange,” Yuki said.
“Cultural exchange?”
“Yeah. Lilishe was talking to him until just a moment ago, but their perceptions were so wildly different that they couldn't reach an understanding. So, she figured that instead of words, a demonstration would be better. She asked them to cook something safe.”
“A difference in perception? What does that mean?”
As I asked, I turned my gaze toward Jessica, who had been watching the scene with Yuki from the beginning. Jessica nodded and spoke up.
“It’s quite literal, but to explain simply: they cannot keep up with the technology Yuki possesses. It seems they believe Weed is only being maintained through the power of Luna…-sama. They were discussing gathering information on such a ‘tyrant’ to drag him down.”
“Hah?! I can understand them not keeping up with the tech, but the second half is completely off-base! I don’t get it. He just takes the gathered magical energy as DP and receives rewards in exchange for it.”
“Yes. To us, that is exactly how it works. However, over there, the common understanding is that magical energy can only be obtained from those killed within a dungeon. Therefore, they were certain it must be the power of Luna…-sama.”
“…For now, you don’t need to add ‘-sama’ to Luna’s name. She gave us the okay herself. But I see. By that logic, it would seem like we’re entirely dependent on Luna. But why has the story turned out that way?”
I looked back at my husband.
“Who knows where the root cause is. Maybe the Dungeon Master cooperating with them is holding back information, or maybe they genuinely don’t know that DP can be recovered over time. Or perhaps the gods who sent Faide and the Dungeon Master are in cahoots and haven't told him anything.”
“…What would be the point of that information blockade? It would only make Faide lose his credibility, wouldn't it?”
“Hmm. I’d like to know that myself… Well, judging from the conversation so far, it boils down to a few possibilities. Either they’re banking on us not being able to answer because they’re demanding proof, or they honestly don’t know about time-based recovery. If they are in cahoots, they might be planning to use some made-up reason to haul Faide away once he returns.”
“It’s hard to judge. In the first place, they’re here to gather info on Yuki, right?”
“Right. So, it’s also possible the gods didn't think Lilishe and I were that close. There seems to be a lot of bickering among the gods anyway, so they might have viewed it as Lilishe pretending to cooperate with me while actually spying.”
“Ah, if they don’t know the facts, they have no choice but to take Faide’s claims at face value. *If* they don’t know the facts, that is.”
“Well, talking about it here won't get us past speculation. That’s why we’re starting with a peaceful, easy-to-understand method to change Faide’s perception.”
“And that method is cooking.”
“Exactly. A suppression by force wouldn't prove anything since Lilishe and Hifi are here. On the other hand, we shouldn't show off modern weaponry like firearms. Showing the magic fluctuations would reveal our financial sources, which I’d rather avoid, and if they claimed we were just faking the numbers on the spot, there’s nothing we could do. So, I thought we should demonstrate a technology that wouldn't hurt us even if it were leaked.”
“I see. Vanilla ice cream requires refrigeration technology and vanilla. By showing him how to make it using techniques and ingredients that don't exist on this continent—and in a way anyone could do—you can prove it’s not a divine miracle, but simply human progress.”
“Exactly. If Faide starts to believe us, there’s a chance we can pull him over to our side. Then we might be able to get some information out of him instead.”
I understood what my husband was trying to say. It was certainly a good way to persuade Faide.
But… watching the gods busily cooking on the screen made me feel incredibly sad. I mean, I know Lilishe-sama and Hifi like making sweets, but cooking just to persuade a god? What is this?
I understood the explanation, but I couldn't quite wrap my head around the reality of it. Truly, life with my husband is never boring—always in the most unexpected ways.
“Now, please stir it~!”
“O-Oh. Like this?”
“No, no! You have to mix it thoroughly so the thickness of the eggs spreads through the whole thing~!”
*Clink, clink, clink…*
Prompted by Lilishe-sama, Faide was desperately whisking the ingredients in a bowl with all his might. That looks exhausting.
“Still, I knew Lilishe disliked him, but she *really* dislikes him, doesn't she?” Yuki remarked.
“You’re right. She casually pulled out a hand mixer right next to him. She didn't even tell him to use it; she just prepared another bowl and started using it herself…”
I wonder what happened between them in the past. Lilishe-sama was happily whisking away at high speed with her hand mixer right next to Faide, who was ostentatiously stirring by hand. When she’s this thorough about it, it’s almost… yeah.
“Hey! If you have a tool like that, bring it out sooner! I mean, why are you trying to put it away without giving it to me?!”
“Oh my~? Weren't you the one doubting us, saying everything we use is the power of Luna-sama~? That’s why you won't be satisfied unless you do everything from scratch with your own hands, right? If I gave you this hand mixer and it had some strange trick to it, it wouldn't serve as proof. This way, when we’re done, we can compare the tastes and prove there was nothing suspicious about the mixer, right~?”
“Guh… Argh, fine! I just have to do it, right?!”
“Yes~. You’re a man, so do your best. Keep going until it looks like this~!”
“Uooooooh…!!”
Wow. Lilishe-sama’s reasoning was sound, but she was clearly using it as an excuse to harass Faide.
“Women are scary. I’m starting to want to take Faide’s side…” my husband muttered beside me.
“It’s okay. We would never force something impossible on you, dear.”
“Yeah. If you ever tried to force the impossible on me, I’d run away.”