"Hmm… as expected, we only have these."
Looking at the small box of ingredients in front of him, Shirou rummaged through it a bit.
It was pretty much what he had expected, it was mostly ingredients that keep well, like white radish, potatoes and sweet potatoes, though not in large quantities. After all, when traveling outside they mainly relied on dry rations. These were just extra options for when they set up camp in the wild.
This was already considering that Shirou was coming along. Otherwise, Yith would probably have stuffed even more dry food into the supplies.
As for fresh vegetables, forget it. By the time they went out and came back, they would likely be spoiled and smelly, and there was no guarantee they would even be used.
At that point, the ones suffering would be everyone at Penguin Logistics or Yith himself.
"So, Shirou, do you have any ideas?"
Looking at the rather pitiful selection of ingredients, Croissant could not think of anything to cook either.
A potato stew with meat would still be missing some ingredients, and it would probably taste odd.
Now everything depended on Shirou. Croissant was perfectly happy to just lie back and wait to be fed.
"Hmm… white radish should be enough."
After thinking for a moment, Shirou decided to base the dish on white radish.
The sweet potatoes could be roasted later and the potatoes could be left for Miss Dalia to cook or taken back.
"Just white radish?"
Hearing this, Exusiai started imagining the result.
Yikes… that did not sound too promising!
Even someone as godlike in cooking as Shirou could not work miracles in this situation?
"Yeah. White radish and beast meat soup. In this kind of weather, soup would be best."
Once he decided on the dish, the rest became simple.
The problem now was how to cook it.
Judging by that chunk of meat which was about half the size of his upper body, Shirou figured it would be hard to handle without a large pot.
Unfortunately, Miss Dalia's house did not have one, it only had medium and small cookware.
So Shirou went to the back of Penguin Logistic's vehicle and pretended to take out a large iron pot and a big soup pot. Of course, both were projected constructs.
Miss Dalia was not surprised. She just found it amusing that Penguin Logistics would bring such large items on a trip.
As for the four who actually knew what should be in the back seat, they stared at the brand-new pots in Shirou's hands with question marks all over their heads.
"Did we bring those?"
Exusiai asked the others. She had gone upstairs midway to reheat her apple pie so she did not know what had been loaded afterward.
"I have no idea."
Texas had been too absorbed in the joy of driving the new car to notice.
They both turned to look at Sora and Croissant.
"I definitely did not see those while packing. They are so big, I could not have missed them, right?"
Croissant was starting to doubt her own eyesight.
"You think… Shirou projected them himself?"
Sora connected the dots quickly.
"…That is ridiculous."
Croissant's lips twitched.
The others silently agreed. Once again, they realized just how absurd Shirou's projection ability was, it kept redefining their understanding of reality.
Using such power just for cooking… well, they could only say… nicely done.
"You four, come help me."
Before they could keep overthinking, Shirou called them over.
This was not like Lungmen, here using fire required gathering firewood and water had to be fetched manually.
If Shirou did everything himself, it would take too long, so he decided to have everyone lend a hand.
"Alright! What do we do?"
Sora was quite excited to help.
The others did not mind either, it beat sitting around chatting.
"Get me some firewood and water. There should be water near the village, ask Miss Dalia."
After assigning tasks, Shirou began preparing the ingredients.
They were simple: white radish, beast meat, and salt.
If possible, adding vegetables would improve it but unfortunately, there were none.
Shirou sliced the radish into thin strips and cut the meat into thin pieces.
It was simple work but the meat was huge and the cold weather had made it tough.
Using the knife prepared by Yith, Shirou got to work.
By the time Exusiai, Croissant, and Texas returned with a large bucket of water guided by Miss Dalia, Shirou had finished most of the prep.
Sora had also successfully started the fire.
"You can go rest now. Wash your hands first."
With everything ready, Shirou told them to take a break while he continued cooking.
In fact, he was already halfway done.
He just needed to put the radish into boiling water and then stir-fry the meat.
"Add a bit of salt while frying that way combined with the meat's flavor the soup will not need extra seasoning and the meat will not taste bland either."
As he stirred the meat in the pot, Shirou thought through the steps.
This method came from a "clean out your fridge" video he had seen online in which simple ingredients were turned into a dish.
"Once it is fully cooked, pour the boiling soup into the hot pan. That will turn it into a milky broth."
Wearing thick gloves, Shirou carefully poured the radish soup into the pot. A large amount of steam burst out.
"Whoa…"
Seeing the steam and hearing the crackling sounds, Exusiai thought Shirou had blown up the kitchen.
"It smells so good."
As the aroma spread with the steam throughout the house, everyone waiting nearby caught a whiff.
Croissant was practically drooling.
After pouring in the soup, Shirou reduced the fire by removing some firewood.
Then he skimmed off the foam to prevent any unpleasant taste from mixing into the broth.
Once that was done, he added a bit more salt and it was ready.
"Miss Dalia, please."
Shirou served her first, as the host of the house.
Then he filled bowls for everyone using their own utensils.
The fire was kept low so the soup would not cool too quickly.
"…As expected of Shirou."
Sora looked at the soup in disbelief, he had made it using only meat, radish, and salt.
"Gulp gulp gulp…ahh! So good!"
Croissant downed her bowl in one go, replenishing herself with fresh meat energy and immediately went for another.
"Careful, it's still hot. There's plenty, no need to rush."
Seeing her finish so quickly, Shirou handed her a tissue.
"Mm… if Penguin Logistics ever goes bankrupt, at least we will not worry about eating well."
Exusiai said while drinking.
"…Do not say such unlucky things."
Shirou did not even bother responding seriously.
Who wishes for their own workplace to go bankrupt?
Texas, on the other hand was quiet, she was just calmly drinking her soup.
Shirou wished Croissant and Exusiai could learn from her.
Could they at least be a bit more refined while eating?
"Seems like we cannot finish it all. Should we save the rest for dinner?"
After eating her fill, Sora looked at the still half-full pot.
"No. Let Miss Dalia share it with others."
Shirou did not plan to keep it.
After all, the meat had been distributed by Reunion. Letting Miss Dalia share it with the villagers and Reunion members made perfect sense.
"Then I will thank you on behalf of everyone."
Miss Dalia smiled warmly.
In such cold weather, having a bowl of hot soup like this truly was a simple kind of happiness.