22nd Shot: Desire = Justice

"What a beautiful haul,"

This was undoubtedly one of the prettiest things she's ever seen in this stone world.

If she's dramatic enough or maybe extraordinarily outward similar to Chrome, then she would already be in tears because the view her eyes rested on just radiated pure satisfaction and joy. After moving from spot to spot and befriending with dirt the whole day, the ground survey team managed to gather two baskets filled with spring mountain vegetables–they gathered so many it's almost towering.

Sure, each of them varies when it came to amount, however it would be more than enough with the addition of bountiful fish Turquoise and Jasper caught. They will be having a feast tonight–a nice relief from how frequent they consumed meat and fish on daily basis even though it's a good source of protein.

Shinko was starting to think that the lack of edible vegetables and proper meals is getting her–somehow, that's justified knowing they only eat grilled or boiled things because their choices are extremely limited in this stone world.

Ukyo chuckled. "Maybe this is the first time I've seen you really into something."

In Ukyo's case, it's probably true knowing they're around each other constantly. And for the first time, the rush of excitement swimming in her bloodstream was welcomed. To be honest, Shinko herself almost forgot this feeling of pure giddy pumping in her veins–after months being injected by adrenaline from the events they went through.

"What can I say?" she replied, gesturing to the spring haul they collected. "It's been a while since I've seen vegetables! Everyone seemed adamant not to eat them and goes for mushrooms instead."

"Are you really that thrilled over…" there was a halt in Chrome's sentence as he tried to find the right words to continue–brown eyes narrowed at the vegetables they harvested. "Greens? Aren't they taste disgusting?"

Staring at the stack of greens with lack of appetite what-so-over, the brunette was doubting it could be eaten normally.

"If not properly prepared!" Shinko replied enthusiastically–and it's rather amusing knowing some people still had a distaste towards veggies even in this new era. Some things never changed. "But now that we have flour, we can cook many things! And I can even make these taste good with just oil, flour, and salt!"

It seemed the listed ingredients were simple enough to make Chrome's eyes sparkled in curiosity. "Really!? That's bad!"

"Then we just have to regroup so you can start," Ukyo suggested as he picked the woven basket with ease–Shinko couldn't even hear a huff coming from him. Being a part of military did give him wonders in terms of strength even though not as unlimited as Taiju, still Ukyo has better stamina than she is. Meanwhile, Chrome took it as his duty to lift the other. "Knowing how Senku is, he's probably done with his part."

"Let's get back!" Chrome pumped his fist and proceeded to yell as he trudged downhill–leaving the two behind in the dust although not really far.

"It's almost refreshing seeing how enthusiastic Chrome-san is," she commented, watching how the brunette called them out from the distance–urging them to immediately move so they could return to the village.

They done what they had to do quick enough–morning transitioned to mid-day, so even though it's still really bright at the time it would be still called a feast.

"His positivity is much appreciated," Ukyo replied, a smile of his own present. He turned to face her, ushering for her to go on ahead while he trailed behind. "Shall we get going?"

"Come on you two!"

"We're coming, Chrome-san!"

.

.

If you have set your expectations on a certain extent, you're looking for something to fit to your ideal standards–or at least close to it. Shinko learnt not to set one knowing every individual in this world has different settings or taste and views in everything–she decided to just went with the flow because fixing on an expectation sometimes led you to be disappointed at something you couldn't control and it's downright unfair.

Well, you could but shouldn't put too much hope in it–maybe around fifty-fifty so you wouldn't be too upset and pretty much control your comments or what you're trying to convey with words.

But ever since they're being revived in this stone world full of nothingness as well as endless probabilities, Shinko learnt to stop expecting something especially if it involves Senku and science–a lethal combination on humankind's side.

The young man managed to make the impossible became possible so far it almost sounded and looked absurd, but here they are with the on-going series of wanting to revive humanity also sprinting to modernity. Steam-engine tank and car, freezer, dynamite, electricity, hydroelectric power plant, light bulbs, hot air balloon, phone, and the list goes on. The more manpower they have and the more materials they discovered, the more complicated the things they aimed to get.

Yes, that includes the hybrid ship which meant to get them to the other side of the globe.

And asking for oil was probably one of the easiest things Senku could possibly being given a task of–just from one word, without a doubt he already had thousands of plans to go and even pocketed some spares in case one didn't go well.

Shinko's thoughts were a bullseye–it didn't even need more explanation, just the existence of maybe at least five jugs of oil before her already spoke a thousand words. Maybe even a whole speech. The disbelief might as well fry her braincells because even with Chrome's yelling it went past her ears like a breeze.

"T-This is amazing," muttering in disbelief, she peered into one of them–her eyes studied the transparent but thick yellowish liquid residing in it. Undoubtedly, it's perfect–that much she knew in the middle of reminiscing a grocery shopping duty her mother frequently sent her to back in their modern days. "How did you make all of these? We don't have any seeds other than wheats."

Also it's rather impossible to find a tropical plant to make palm oil. They haven't discovered any other plants that could potentially be a source of vegetable oil.

"Well, we have a great source of oil not far from here!" Senku cackled as he whipped out an extremely familiar plant as evidence–something which made both Ukyo and Shinko's eyes widened in realization.

"Of course, sunflowers!" Ukyo exclaimed, laughing in amusement. "They're a great source of oil as well!"

"Just stripped the seeds off the dried flowers," the scientist started explaining. "Grind them to into fine meal consistency and then bake at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Make sure you stir constantly every 20 minutes and once you're done, just spin them! A ten billion jackpot if you found a field!"

"Senku-san you just annihilated a flower field," Shinko chuckled nervously at Senku who didn't even look at least a bit guilty after murdering an entire field. However, sacrifices must be made in order to gain something–you could never receive something without letting something go in return. That's one of the universe's laws. "And I'm guessing Kohaku-chan's the one who did the spinning?"

"That's correct!" the mentioned blonde replied, flexing her arms proudly. "It's a nice exercise!"

"So now, what're we supposed to do next, Shinko?" thankfully, Ukyo was there so save her from completely smoke her brain. If the conversation continues, she felt as if her soul being chipped off bit by bit along as her sanity. Bless his beautiful soul.

"We already have everything, so," shortening her sleeves by folding them, she gave a thumbs up. "We can start!"

It was immediately responded by cheers of excitement–mostly from both Chrome and Kohaku. By her instruction and another work-divide, they will be covering a few things. The kids, who's beaming with energy and wanted to be involved was given task to re-wash the vegetables so it could be thoroughly cleaned.

The elders volunteered to clean and prepared the fish–which was a huge delight. Before letting them work, Shinko made a demonstration on how to clean them in a more effective way along with some direction to make fillets out of them because they didn't need the bones. Both Turquoise and Jasper seemed to outdone themselves–a basket full of fish being presented to her as soon as they arrived.

Ryusui and Ukyo setting up a stove–thankfully, the village already had a quite big clay pot that could be used. While the sailor was stacking the fire wood, Ukyo began preparing the oil and poured it into the clay pot.

"Senku-san," Shinko called out to the scientist who's on his way from the main house–bringing along a few clay plates and bowls as well as cooking utensil. "Is the flour ready?"

"Yeah, it's cooling down under the shade for some time," he replied while putting down the objects near her. "I think it's ready."

"I'll go get it!" Kohaku volunteered and without waiting for another reply, she sped up towards the direction Senku gestured with his thumb.

Before making the batter, Shinko already thought about heating the wheat flour to make it less gluten. This is the home method that her grandmother taught her if there's only limited ingredients–she's eternally grateful for her tricks and tips in cooking. Shinko made herself busy by beating the cracked eggs Kohaku gave her from her previous hunt using wooden chopsticks until the white and yolk combined perfectly.

Senku grunted as he stood up and dusted off his clothes. "I'm going to get the water."

"Thank you, Senku-san!"

Kohaku was back magically at the same time as Senku who's holding small jug of water on hand–which means it's time for her to start working. Kohaku and the scientist's stare didn't mind her one a bit because her hands moving almost automatically out of muscle memory from her days in the kitchen with her grandmother.

Pouring the water into the beaten eggs, Shinko multitask by doing both the mixing and pouring. After she deemed it was enough, then she added along the heated flour.

"Um, why didn't you just put them all at once, Shinko?" Kohaku questioned, confused on why did she only add the half of it.

"We need to avoid making clumps in the batter," she answered as her hand moved–knocking the flour into the egg water using chopsticks.

"And you're not stirring," Senku rose a brow. "It won't evenly mixed."

"That's the point of this method," Shinko replied. "We're not making bread so we don't need to do it. Besides if we evenly mix the batter, we're creating gluten and we won't have the crispiness we're looking for."

"The oil's ready!" Ukyo informed from the distance–it almost amazes her on how everything seemed to fall into its place and having the most excellent time.

"The vegetables and fishes are done too!" Chrome added with a grin, showing rows of freshly washed mountain vegetables along with perfectly fish fillets in the woven basket.

Shinko wasted to time to approach the stove with a bowl of batter in hand. Dropping some batter into the pot filled with oil using chopsticks, it immediately bubbled and turned the batter into crisp–something which made Chrome and Kohaku watched in awe.

Then she moved to the actual cooking process–one by one, she dipped the vegetables in the flour before straight into the batter. Once it was coated fully, it swam in the hot oil followed by extremely familiar sound of frying. Bits of batter also appeared once she placed the vegetable in the oil.

In one frying session, Shinko could do five or more vegetables at the same time and after a session, she would scoop up the floating bits to get rid of it using woven strainer made by Natri. The cooking process didn't even take a long time–maybe two minutes each session, so in just a matter of ten or fifteen Shinko already had a stack of freshly fried vegetables on the plate.

When the vegetables were all finished, she moved on to the fishes and got it done with the same method. It took a bit longer because she had to make sure the meat was cooked through but all of it ended up as a success. Huffing in satisfaction, she put down the chopsticks–signaling that she was done with her work.

"These are tempura!" Ukyo exclaimed, smiling widely at the entirety of modern food in front of his eyes. "You're amazing, Shinko!"

"Not bad at all, huntress!" Senku laughed in amusement. "At last, another food from our time besides ramen!"

"I thought this could be a moral boost," it was rather tiring just eating meat every single day, so this would be a great relief and change of pace for all of them. "Now that we have flour, we can try many things!"

"Can we eat now and talk later!?" Chrome interjected–Shinko almost snorted because she witnessed how drool pooled up and made clear track to the brunette's chin. However, it was an absolute honor to see someone being so thrilled over food–especially when you're the one who cooked it. "It looks so good!"

Shinko laughed in glee. "What are you waiting for? Dig in!"

There's no word in existence that could represent the absolute delight she felt when everyone was snatching a piece and take it to their own plate–followed by series of shocked reaction before their hand moved to get another piece from the pile. Their enthusiasm made her rethink about making another batch just for the sake of them enjoying it the fullest. If there's a projection for emotion, there would be sparkles all over the place.

"It's so crunchy it's delicious!"

"I've never tasted anything like this before!"

"Vegetables can be this good!?"

"The fish is even flavorful than before!"

Maybe this was what the view was like the time Senku invented ramen–for people who lived all their lives knowing and using two methods of cooking with limited variety of ingredients, might as well as called a new type of food a blessing. Aside from that, fish and mountain vegetable tempura were a huge success.

"You should try it with a little bit of salt, it tastes even more delicious," Shinko suggested, referring to the small plate of salt being placed not far. They only had this spice so far but tempura with salt on its own is a great combination from the start.

Chrome was the one who dived trying first, saying something about 'a science user never hesitates to jump on anything new!'. Once he shoved an entire fish tempura into his mouth, there were literal tears of joy sprang from his eyes. However, his positive reaction spread through the villagers and coaxed them to try it on their own.

"He said that too before," Kohaku piped between her chews. "I'm pretty sure he just wants to be the first to eat it."

Her words without a doubt pried a series of laugh from Shinko. "Well, it's completely safe so you could jump in without hesitation."

"So, that's why you baked the flour," Senku hummed in understanding, ruby eyes shining in as he studied a piece of tempura on his plate–his statement stole many attentions and gained stares of curiosity. "You use the heat to denature proteins in it, it produced less gluten flour."

"Oh, yeah, you keep mentioning that for a while, Shinko," Chrome's head perked up once he comprehended the existence of the new term. "What's gluten anyway?"

"Two proteins contained in flour," the scientist answered without a hint of hesitation. "With water, they combined to form a mesh with viscoelasticity in it."

"What Senku-san meant was when I stir the flour and egg water too much, it will produce a thick batter." Shinko decided to jumped in noticing how Chrome only became even more perplexed by more alien term being mentioned. "If that batter is fried, you will get different texture from this crunch. It will be thicker and chewier."

"To make it less gluten, the huntress did the right thing," Senku pointed out–raising his fore and middle finger. "First, keeping the ingredients chilled. That's why we done everything in the shade so far. Second, not stirring too much so moisture won't be combined with the flour."

"My grandma beat that knowledge in my mind in a hard way," Shinko laughed nervously. "She's really strict with cooking. Aside from that,"

Even if she had the audacity to laugh right in front of Ukyo's face, she still had some conscience not to do so–how could she when all she saw was pure bliss and satisfaction present on his face as he kept chewing. "You're tearing up, Ukyo-san."

"Finally," the said archer whispered wholeheartedly. "A proper meal."

"Thank you for your compliment, but it's nowhere near proper," Shinko decided to give his back gentle pats as a form of consolation, even though it wasn't needed. "We don't have soy sauce, konbu, daikon, mirin, and many other things to make the sauce. It's incomplete. Still, thank goodness we still have salt."

"But this will be the best meal I have for the whole year," Ukyo replied, swallowing his food before nudging his shoulder against her playfully. "You're a life-saver."

Scoffing in return, Shinko chose to leaned her weight against his fully. It's an entertainment on its own seeing Ukyo hastily placed his chopsticks on the clay plate, an arm settled around her shoulders to steady her. The young man didn't mind the sudden addition of weight, instead he retaliated by gently bumping his head against hers.

Kohaku was definitely getting use to the blatant display of closeness–she didn't think much of it because Ukyo made it clear that he was thinking over the terms he and Shinko were involved in. Despite being so comfortable with each other, if one questioning probability of a special kind of relationship the two has–Ukyo turned into a short-circuited, flustered mess.

And that spoke loud enough–other thing that she needed to do was asking Shinko the same question and see how she would react.

"Hey, Kohaku-chan," humming in reply, the blonde turned–only to face Natri, who's standing close to her. "Are those two has a special relationship?"

Kohaku's kind of expecting this sooner or later from the villagers, it was quite hard not to ask about what's happening between Ukyo and Shinko. The question was bound to be asked sooner or later.

Shrugging to answer, she sighed. "I still don't understand what is going on, but you could say that."

"Oh?" Natri's brows rose in realization, smiling softly. "So, those two haven't notice it, yet. Well, I understand. While it is an apparent display for us, the most clueless ones will be them. Don't worry, they get a hang of it someday."

"Maybe."

They will, Kohaku could bet everything she had on this matter–however, the main and biggest question appeared would be; when exactly?

.

.

"HAHAH! EAT UNTIL YOU DROP DEAD!"

"That's not a good idea, Ryusui-san."

Aside from the villagers, the other party who enjoyed this lunch to the fullest was Ryusui–and he didn't even have any hesitation to made sure people know it. As if some kind of battery fully re-charged, the young man was pumping full of energy. Food has done different kind of wonders in this era more than anything it seemed.

"Lunch's over," Senku informed. "It's time to test on the bread, we still have many hours to spare."

Tempura couldn't survive a day if they were thinking of adding it as a food supply in their voyage. So, the food mentioned was just a boost of morale and served for it only. They still needed to create something hardtack to be stored while they're out in the ocean. Bread was the main priority in this matter.

It was decided that bread would be dubbed as the magic word starting from now on because with that just one simple word, Ryusui was back on track. If every one of them ever admitted that they didn't miss the modern day food, they will be crowned as the biggest liar of the century. Now, standing near the clay stove most of them watched as Senku was ready to take out their storable food out.

Ryusui was already dreaming and went excellently close to drool a river–it was clear enough that he's in the middle of imagining lines of pastries in his mind.

"Don't go expecting fluffy delicious-baked goods like that," Senku reminded, big wooden ladle in hand–and he correctly assumed what the young man was picturing inside his head. "I'm no professional chef here."

"Hmph! It's not like I'm only saying it out of my own greed! Quality is important!" Ryusui exclaimed, eyes shining in eagerness. "In reality, during the great age of sail, the bread they bought with them on voyages was so rock hard and disgusting they'd only eat it as a last desperation before death! You could hardly call that a food supply now, could you?"

"That sounds horrifying," Shinko muttered–scenarios about experiencing the whole horror of withstanding consuming almost inedible food already had her stomach stirring uncomfortably. "Will we even survive if we have to eat something like that?"

"We won't," Ukyo chuckled humorlessly, maybe to the point of despairingly it's frightening.

"It's finished baking!" Senku announced, elevated by the news of their first bread successfully baking. "The stone world's very first stone oven baked bread!"

After seeing the results, Shinko chose to erase the word 'successful' wholly from their vocabulary. The… thing sitting innocently on the wooden ladle had no similarities to a bread–gravelly dark to the point it was black in every inch, as flat as a wooden board, and is that crackles she just heard?

Forget being appetizing, it was no-where near decent–definitely inedible.

She wouldn't be the only one pondered of what was that thing because Ukyo, Senku, and Ryusui parroted her disbeliefs.

"NO, DON'T EAT THAT-" rest in peace Senku and Ryusui after having a sudden impulse on tasting their creation. She tried to stop them but it was futile–now, he and Ryusui collapsed to a heap on the ground and she hoped it wasn't caused by food poisoning. They just straight up slain their taste-buds into nothingness.

However, what was more marvelous is the reaction of the villagers who got their hands of this so-called 'bread'. In their view it was a delish, splendidly done cuisine that smelled good and had fun texture.

"IT'S DELICIOUSSS!" Chrome exclaimed as he chomped down.

"It's… like a rock!" Kohaku commented, mimicking the brunette. "The gravelly consistency is quite enjoyable!"

"It's pitch black but it smells delicious!" even Turquoise enjoyed it to the fullest.

"These primitives' tongues are just far too refined…" Ukyo breathed shakily, staring at the black mass upon his palm. "After all, there have been times food has just been so unpalatable that people have starved to death. I learned that in S.D.F survival training and I guess they've learned how to survive in this world…"

"I understand what you mean, Ukyo-san," Shinko muttered in concern. "And, please don't… consume that thing…"

"HUNTRESS! Can you-"

"No, Senku-san. I don't have any ability or knowledge to make bread."

Shinko spoke only the truth and didn't even feel a least bit guilty–she may have been capable in whipping up simple meals, but it's only reserved for main meals. Pastries and others that resembles that department is out of her capability. Rather than disappointing them later, disappointing them now was far more suitable.

"We'd all be drop dead with this bread for food…" Ryusui's words were a nail on the head–it wrapped up the main point they could get from this poorly results with traumatizing taste. Being depressed was a correct respond.

"Gaah!" Senku yelled frustratingly. "If we're gonna travel to the other side of the earth in the great age of sail, we'll definitely croaked."

"WE NEED TO AWAKEN A PRO CHEF! NOW!" both Senku and Ryusui reached an absolute conclusion to their current hurdle.

"They harmonized." Ukyo muttered after witnessing how the two became in sync.

"There it goes." Shinko followed, expecting the reaction.

.

.

"I WANT IT!" there goes Ryusui's soul crying in despair. Their ideal bread was galaxies away from the actual one they created–without a professional chef in hand, they would croak if they insisted on using the current bread as food supply for the voyage. "WE NEED A PRO-CHEF!"

"Even if you say that, our petrification revival formula stock is at zero." Senku remarked. "I can make some out of feces, but it'll take a little while maybe in a few months-"

"NO, I WANT IT NOW!"

"Listen when other people are talking." Chrome deadpanned at Ryusui's exaggerating demand.

"HAHAH! Don't worry! I'll be the one to find at least enough of the revival formula for one person!" At least, with a high demand of his, Ryusui wanted to be involved and had a plan ready to commence in his palm.

"And how are you going to do that, moron?" the scientist asked in a bored tone. "We don't have any of the necessary nitric acid."

"Without nitric acid, we couldn't make the revival fluid," Shinko added, trying to make the point clearer for the young man. "If we couldn't even make it, how could we find it?"

"Hmph! However," Ryusui stated cynically, face resembled much of a villain from modern era–the face crystal clear that he was up to a skeevy plan. "There's a bad guy holding some back without giving us a clue about it!"

"Uhm, Ryusui-san," Shinko muttered, chuckling nervously.

"Your face!" Chrome exclaimed. "No matter how you look at it, you're the bad guy!"

With that plan on motion and Ryusui being the temporary leader for it, he marched towards the science shed–followed by Senku and Chrome on tow. Knowing it would somehow work on its own with Senku and Ryusui on board, Ukyo and Shinko decided to just stay behind and waited for the results.

"From my hunches, it will be someone from the empire," Ukyo hummed, thumb under his chin. "And someone's close with Tsukasa since he's the only one who has full access to the cave and formula in the past."

"Is it Hyoga-san?" Shinko questioned, which immediately getting head shook from Ukyo–signaling that her answer was off the bat.

"Who's the person Tsukasa trusts to choose the people to be revived?" the young man pointed out and just with that little nudge, she instantly knew who he was talking about.

"You mean Minami-chan!?"

.

.

After an intense negotiation full of yelling and demanding could be heard from the science shed, in Ryusui's part, they finally came to an agreement. As an exchange for the last revival fluid for one person in Minami's hand, Senku would build an object that the reporter longed for a long time since they're awake in this stone era. Knowing how capable Senku is, it wouldn't be a problem and he's not the kind of person who would betray his promises.

"You said 'Francois'," Ukyo remarked as they regrouped back on the yard. "Then are they French? Do they speak Japanese?'

"That's right, if they couldn't speak Japanese it would be another problem," Shinko nodded. "If it's only English then Ukyo-san, Senku-san, Gen-san, me, or even Ryusui-san could manage, but none of us had the grasp of French."

Language barrier will be forever a problem on its own and if this Francois didn't have any ability in understanding or speaks in Japanese, then they had another problem resurface. Communication is an important thing, so if they failed even in that part they will get to nowhere.

"Hmph, I never noticed." Ryusui confessed. "They're probably Japanese. Francois or Francoise. I forgot their actual name and gender."

"Their gender too!?" Kohaku shrieked at the outstanding ignorance he portrayed.

"That's too irresponsible," Chrome deadpanned at the information.

"Aren't you required to know basic information about your employee, Ryusui-san…" Shinko muttered–inwardly began questioning on how could this Francois or Francoise could still be hired and still loyally done their duties under Ryusui's cluelessness.

"I only know one thing for sure," the young man remarked confidently. "That guy is the most sought-after butler in the world! More than nationality or gender, skill comes first, am I wrong?"

"Excuse me, Master Ryusui, everyone. I will start by seeing the already complete bread."

Feeling her soul almost fly up to high heavens by the sudden figure walked past them as if it was a normal thing to do, Shinko stumbled on her feet out of surprise. Thankfully, Ukyo was close enough to prevent her from tumbling to the ground beneath by placing his hands on her shoulders.

Their additional guest made an appearance just in a gap of a few hours after the call–it was already an exceptional feat because the plain was two days of walk from Ishigami Village. Dressed in an actual butler outfit that Yuzuriha stitched, a bag slung over their shoulder, strawberry blonde hair with curls that reminded Shinko of the classic hairstyle in old British era–Francois didn't even break a sweat, face composed and calm as if it was programmed that way.

Professionality–the word perfectly represents them in every aspect.

"THEY'RE HERE!?" Chrome screamed in disbelief.

"Jeez~ Almost two days non-stop…" Another guest on their side was their mentalist, who's crawling on the ground–oozing complete exhaustion.

"Here's some water, Gen-san," Shinko, noticing how he was stripped out of his energy, immediately kneeled on his side to offer a bamboo container filled with water.

"Is it okay not to explain anything!?" Kohaku asked, taken aback by how Francois didn't portray even a bit of confusion.

"That's unnecessary!" Ryusui remarked. "Francois has definitely confirmed the state of things on the way!"

The young man reached for the plate where they placed the left-over bread and presented it to Francois. "This is our bread made from wheat!"

If anything, they froze on the spot–rooted and stiffened as their eyes landed on the horrifying nightmare of a food upon them. Sure, Francois was still composed and tried their best to be as calm as they could prior to the shock experienced–however, it was still extremely difficult for a chef to not react at the inedible something being showed to them.

"To hypothesize the worst-case scenario is also a part of my work," Francois held a handkerchief upon their mouth, maybe a way to prevent them from actually hurl at the thought of people consuming it. "But could it be that this industrial waste was set before the guests?"

It was amusing to hear Francois referred their failed bread as industrial waste–it fit almost perfectly.

"HAHAH! That's right!" Ryusui cackled, confirming their words.

"For today's menu, please inform me of the guests' requests." Reaching out for an apron, Francois unfurled it.

"Preserved food for a long-term sea voyage," Senku announced. "That's still safe to eat after keeping it for a real long time. We want that level of bread."

"No, this limit a matter of months?" Francois stated, tightening their apron so it perfectly covered their figure. "I want as accurate a timeframe as possible, if you please."

"I almost doubted my ears…" Shinko muttered in disbelief, eyes widened when she fully comprehended their statement.

"Now we know that their ability is the best when in terms of cooking," Ukyo chuckled nervously. "No wonder Ryusui wanted them on board."

"Speaking from experience, a voyage exceeding one year would be unbearable for the crew and have negative results!" Ryusui explained, snapping his fingers. "In other words, ideally if it doesn't rot around ten months, that's enough!"

"Ten months, I see. I understand. In that case," Francois bowed down gracefully, accepting the term as if it was nothing difficult. "The menu we shall use is 'Goat's Blessing Stollen'."

"Stollen…?" Kohaku questioned, confused from hearing such an unfamiliar name never been mentioned before.

"I've never heard of it too," Shinko commented, tilting her head in confusion. "Is it some type of baked bread…?"

"It's Christmas sweet bread!" Ryusui answered to their questions. "It lasts for a long period of time while still remaining edible!"

.

.

Everything is limited–it's both the truth and reality they have to face, however, that doesn't mean they could just drop everything and relent to giving up. Sure many ingredients and materials are limited, but if they tried hard enough and be creative there will be a way to tackle it.

As long as Francois knew what to do and what to gather, all hands were on deck. For the second time that day, Ukyo, Shinko, and Kohaku ventured the hills and dips in search for the crucial ingredient. With the help of two ultimate sights and ultimate hearing, they managed to score a herd of mountain goats just in a matter of minutes.

Unlike before, this time they hunted to bring them alive. Shinko's arrows managed to get at least two entangled in ropes. Kohaku took it as her duty to hauled them over her shoulder. When they're back, Francois immediately went to work–collecting the milk they needed to make bread.

Once they gathered the right amount, Kohaku shook the container vigorously until the liquid turned into white solid mass. Soon, Shinko took over the duty of straining the mass from liquid. Placing the mass onto a dry leave surface, Ukyo watched in amazement at the dairy product he didn't know they could get that easily.

"This is amazing!" the young man studied the butter closer, making Shinko chuckled in amusement. "This is goat's butter!"

"We still had many things we need to do though," she reminded–knowing this was only a step from the multiple ones lining up to be done one by one.

Next one was dried fruits, with the help of villagers a bountiful of fruits could be attained. All of them were washed and cut before being dumped into glass jars. Senku poured some alcohol to it, enough to coaxed water to be stripped out of the fruits.

"I see, we're getting rid of all the water," Shinko hummed in understanding, peering into jars that began to gain more liquid–now the fruits were fully soaked. "If there's no moisture, germs couldn't grow."

"Right on the mark, huntress!" the scientist commented, standing beside her. "With things like butter, dried fruits, and sugar, the last bit of water is taken out. Without any moisture, germs can't multiply, and it doesn't rot."

This would be the most interesting thing to do of all–because it wouldn't be fair for Francois to do all the mixing and preparing dough for a huge batch, many of the volunteered to lend a hand including both Senku and Ryusui. Shinko and Ukyo were on the separate table, trying to knead the dough similar way Francois would do.

"It's a lot harder than I thought," Ukyo commented, wiping out some sweat using his sleeve–mimicking someone more professional was difficult.

Shinko huffed as she slammed the dough onto the flour covered surface. "Francois made it -looks so easy, they're an expert alright. And Ukyo-san, there's some flour on your face."

"That won't work on me, try again next time." He snickered when he saw Shinko scoffed harmlessly. She's really out for a chance to smear his face white.

Pursuing her lips in a feigned pout, she replied. "That's worth a try."

"Excuse me, Master Ryusui, Master Senku!" Francois's stern voice instantly stole their attention. They were reprimanding both Ryusui and Senku for not doing their work on the dough correctly. "The nuts are falling out and those areas shall certainly burn!"

In terms of process, Francois could be really strict if needed to be. It was amazing they weren't holding back from scolding the young men–just pure dedication and passion to present the absolute perfection on the plate.

When the dough was ready, they're moving on to the crucial step in bread-making–the baking. Fortunately, Senku already prepared a more advanced oven just for this occasion. Even though the appearance was rather primitive, it was more complicated and functioned like a modern oven should be.

"With fires both above and below," the scientist explained to Francois, who seemed to be taken aback by such grand oven. "You can control the temperatures separately."

"Excellent," they praised, pulling a wooden seat to watch over the heating machine intently. "You have my sincerest gratitude. It's perfect, no worries. To answer all 'desire' is our work. Desire equals justice."

"Huntress," the call made Shinko's head perked up. Knowing the familiar nickname coming from a certain scientist, she turned her head to face him immediately. Standing up and dusting off her clothes from her place sitting on the ground beside Ukyo, she walked to approach the said young man.

"Something you need, Senku-san? Or," directed her eyes towards Ryusui and Francois's figure staying in front of the oven. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, there's nothing wrong," he waved his hand dismissively. "Do you have the water gun?"

"You mean this?" holding out a crudely made imitation of a water gun from bamboo, Shinko handed it to Senku's open palm. "I already filled it. What will you use it for, Senku-san?"

"For hardening of the bread, we'll know victory or defeat in this first nine minutes," Francois remarked, eyes never leaving the machine that puffed out hot steam from in between the bricks every now and then. "The baking, or rather the expansion of bread, is only for the first nine minutes it's in the oven. In that small time period, we want the bread to receive as much as heat energy as possible. We must have an airtight oven."

Answering to Francois's wishes, Senku whipped up the water gun with a smirk adorning his face. Shinko opened up the fire pit below as little as possible and the scientist immediately sprayed the wood inside with water–as he successfully did so, she slammed the lid shut. Because of the sudden additional moisture, the oven puffing out hot steam abundantly.

"The most fundamental basis of science, water vapor," Senku cackled as he took a step back. Shinko right behind him trying to fan the steam away. "It has a much higher energy transfer density than air. Heheheh, in one hit, we've managed to add a huge amount of heat!"

Sighing in defeat, Shinko replied. "And you're probably the only one who could use it as you please, Senku-san."

It wasn't long before the air was filled with sweet and buttery scent–an extremely delectable fragrance which could be found in mass bakeries back in the modern days.

"Oh, whoa, that's amazing…" Chrome breathed, chocolate eyes focused on the uncountable amount of steam looming from the oven.

"I've never smelled anything so good in my whole life until now," Kohaku commented.

"Then wait until you have a taste, Kohaku-chan," Shinko remarked, patting gently on the blonde's shoulder. "You're in for a treat."

When Francois pulled the freshly made bread, it was perfect in every way–display worthy with breath-taking appearance. Just by the looks alone, it would make anyone drool in instinct. Shinko helped the butler distributed each cut to everyone evenly. Seeing that each person had a piece in hand, they finally could dive in.

"It's hard like madeleine," Gen commented, chewing onto the food. Even though he's not finished yet with his share, he's already reaching out for another piece. "I want a ton more of these!"

"WHOAAA!" Chrome was fully basking into the deliciousness–so much even it drove him into instant tears. "SHIIIT! WHAT IS THIS BREAD!? AM I GOING CRAZY!? IT'S TOO DELICIOUS!"

"You're perfectly sane, Chrome-san," trying to calm him down, Shinko didn't forget to take a bite for herself–immediately welcoming the soft and flavorful, high-class pastry they once had 3,700 years ago. It was as if a piece of heaven just fell into her mouth. "This is absolutely delightful, Francois-san."

"My sincerest honor, Lady Shinko," the butler bowed low.

"Ahahaha, somehow I'm crying," Ukyo didn't even lie or exaggerating–there were real tears trailing down from his eyes to his chin. However, his teal eyes shone in so much glee and happiness. "After several thousands of years, finally, some proper modern food."

"You're crying, Ukyo-san," reaching out, Shinko gently wiped a few stray drops away from his cheeks. She couldn't help but giggled merrily at how sincere his reaction was, he was in intense desperation of modern and edible food and somehow, she understood how he was feeling.

"I can die happy now." He added, dropping his head onto her shoulder gently. "My tastebuds have been blessed."

"Please don't," laughing in amusement, she bumped his head lightly with hers. "We still have a long way reviving humanity."

"Can I have your share?" Ukyo's hand sneakily reaching out for another slice still left, sitting on Shinko's plate waiting to be devoured.

Slapping his hand away playfully, she moved the plate farther away from him. "In your dreams. It's mine."

Finally, they acquired bread!