44th Episode: Rice Milling Operation

Inside the silo Hayato peered into, rice husks were packed tightly.

"Acrylic panel—could break it, I think."

The acrylic panel for visual inspection on the third floor seemed not especially thick.

At thirty meters high, the third floor was roughly midway.

The thickness was comparable to the lower part of a fifteen-meter-deep aquarium tank, or perhaps even less, since rice husks were less dense.

Seven to eight centimeters would be more than sufficient.

Hayato possessed strength akin to a grizzly bear, and the spear tip was made of Damascus steel.

Still, breaking the acrylic panel immediately would cause serious trouble.

Currently at the third floor level, the floor beneath his feet was a grid of metal.

Breaking the acrylic panel here would cause the spilled rice husks to fall all the way down to the first floor.

When I returned to Earth, I could get cleaning supplies at the supermarket. But thinking whether I’d rather eat rice collected with a broom and dustpan instead of buying it—no, that wouldn’t do.

Hayato hesitated, then left the silo and returned to the first floor of the facility.

The first loading warehouse he entered held a large pile of empty rice bags. Laying them out on the grid of metal plates would prevent the rice from falling through, and they could double as collection bags.

Thinking he should have stored them this way from the start, Hayato gathered rice bags of each size.

He had hesitated to collect them earlier because storage space was limited.

He was organizing items from the other world, but still had things he hadn’t discarded.

“I kept them because I felt it was wasteful. But three hundred bows? I don’t need that many.”

Hayato’s storage space held three hundred bows.

In present-day Japan, bows and arrows can be used against zombies and for hunting wild animals.

Hayato’s former unit had used bows and arrows for both combat and hunting. During野外 camps, they were very effective at securing additional meat.

But with Hayato as the only archer, three hundred were clearly unnecessary.

“Yui and Natsuki wouldn’t be able to draw the string, even if I gave them bows.”

Of course, they could serve as trade goods in the future.

The most difficult part of making arrows is crafting the bow itself.

A bow rest for the right hand and an arrow quiver can also be attached.

Arrows themselves cannot be shared. They will have to be made by hand. But shaping branches with a knife is not difficult.

Humans across the world once made arrows by hand. Arrows could also be reused after being pulled from prey.

The arrowhead could be made from thick nails found at a Home Center.

Fletching could be substituted with feathers from a chicken.

But Hayato wanted the pine cones in front of him more than future trade.

Scattering them might improve food supplies for groups like the New Order Coalition.

"Perhaps leave them behind at some household on the way back."

Hayato returned to the third floor with the bag collected. He laid the bag flat beneath the acrylic sheet. This created a tray to catch the pine cones when they fell out.

After finishing, Hayato drew his spear.

He raised it high, stared at the acrylic sheet, gritted his teeth, and swung.

"Nuahhh!"

The metallic ring echoed through the facility with Hayato’s shout.

The impact of the spear striking the acrylic sheet caused a large crack to form.

Hayato pulled the spear back and swung it again without pause.

"Nuahhh!"

A deep, resonant thud, no less powerful than before, shook the surrounding area.

The acrylic sheet shattered, the metal frame bent, and rice husks spilled out from within.

Hayato pulled the spear back once more and brought it down hard onto the dented metal section.

"Daahhh!"

The metal frame securing the acrylic sheet exploded outward, widening the opening further.

The compressed husks did not emerge, but the hole was now large enough for Hayato’s arm to pass through.

He reached inside and touched the husks—storage was possible.

Hayato exhaled, then looked at the spear tip that had shattered the acrylic sheet.

This spear was nearing the end of its life.

Hayato murmured, then left the broken spear tip where it lay, not bothering to store it.

He moved to a spot slightly apart and set out the machinery.

An inverter gasoline generator, a 20-liter can of engine oil, a rice huller, two one-pass rice mill units, acquired from the Home Center.

The rice huller could process one hundred kilograms of paddy into brown rice per hour.

The one-pass rice mill could polish thirty kilograms of brown rice per hour. With two units, sixty kilograms could be processed.

Hayato consulted the manual, poured oil and fuel into the generator, and began operation.

Turn the gasoline valve on. Pull the choke in all seasons except summer. Turn the engine start key on. Crank until it starts...

Hayato operated it. A whirring sound rang out. The inverter generator began to hum, gwang gwang gwang wan.

A thunderous roar echoed.

"Once the engine starts, release the choke. Engage the economy switch, and the noise will drop."

In economy mode, the generator groaned, a high-pitched whine, and the sound lessened.

Still, the generator was too loud.

Noise level was listed at fifty-five to sixty decibels—constant enough to interfere with conversation.

—Not suitable for the hotel.

Sakurai and his child next door might notice.

After all, no television or smartphone functioned. Modern people were sensitive to sound.

Sakurai viewed Hayato as an adult ally who protected Yui and Natsuki during the hotel’s absence, but he had no intention of revealing everything.

Next, Hayato reached into the empty hole and retrieved the touched mallow.

When retrieving chaff through spatial storage, gaps formed, causing surrounding or upper chaff to fall. Each additional retrieval allowed more chaff to be collected.

Not all could be gathered, but inserting a rice sack into the hole sealed the opening.

"The chaff condition appears stable."

Chaff retrieval began from the middle level of the silo.

Even so, over a hundred tons remained above, densely packed.

According to Natsuki, dense packing reduced air movement, stabilized temperature, and maintained dryness.

The chaff's actual condition was exceptionally good.

Hayato, having collected chaff via storage, inserted it into the rice huller's intake and activated the machine.

The rice huller emitted a loud GWAAN, spitting chaff to the side while grinding the rice into rough grains.

Hayato hastily placed a thirty-kilogram rice bag against the outlet where brown rice emerged.

He laid a wooden box beneath the rice huller to adjust the collection point for easier access to the brown rice.

Next, a single-pass rice mill. Busy work.

The rice mill accepted brown rice into its tank, switched on, lever pulled, and adjusted the whiteness setting from one to ten. It began milling.

It stopped automatically when the brown rice supply was exhausted.

On the rice mill Hayato had acquired, zero meant brown rice, ten meant white rice.

Brown rice contained more vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber than white rice.

It was not without drawbacks. Brown rice was considered harder to eat than white rice.

— Whiteness level would need discussion with Yui and Natsuki.

Brown rice appeared in shades of brown or reddish-brown. It could easily be mistaken for old rice in trade.

Even if switching to brown rice exclusively, it might still be better to keep some white rice on hand.

Beneath the rice polisher, capable of adjusting the whiteness of brown rice at will, is a bran box designed for four kilograms of bran generated during polishing.

Rice bran is a powder produced at a rate of approximately one kilogram per ten kilograms of brown rice polished.

It is used as fertilizer for fields, mixed into animal feed, or incorporated into detergents. It is also edible, being a byproduct of brown rice milling.

When Hayato operated the machine at standard settings, a high-pitched whine sounded, and polishing began.

— Carrying enough white rice to fill a room about eight tatami mats in size would be practical.

Apparently, the volume reduces to seventy percent after polishing. It would be wise to collect slightly more than one room’s worth initially, then gradually polish it over time.

Hayato’s polishing rate was sixty kilograms per hour, or two bags.

The work is laborious but not excessively slow.

Some could be stored in rice form for transplanting.

"About five hundred fifty bags fit in one room."

Hayato pulled his smartphone from the spatial storage and calculated five hundred fifty bags.

One bag is thirty kilograms, or thirty thousand grams.

Assuming one bowl of cooked rice is seventy-five grams, one bag of thirty kilograms provides four hundred meals.

At three meals per day, one bag lasts one hundred thirty-three days.

Five hundred fifty bags yield seventy-three thousand one hundred fifty days, divided among three people, that is twenty-four thousand three hundred eighty-three days.

Divide twenty-four thousand three hundred eighty-three by three hundred sixty-five days per year, and that is sixty-six years.

Hayato would not face rice shortages until he reached about eighty-seven years of age.

Additionally, rice can be cultivated if transplanted, so inventory concerns become negligible.

"Keep one room's worth for trade purposes."

White rice is usable in most transactions.

At Chukann Natural Hot Spring Hotel, lodging for one month cost two kilograms per person. The price reflected the difficulty of acquiring rice, despite it being essential for sustenance.

Rice was the standard tax during the Edo period.

Now that Japanese yen had become worthless paper, rice might be the strongest currency.

That day, taking into account various circumstances, Hayato converted nearby homes into a bow-equipped arsenal.