The stream had been a bit disappointing (well, aside from the donation from this 'lanserboi' which would probably eclipse any other donations we would get for several months) but there was little that could be done about it. I had been hoping for a boost to views or our sub count, but neither of that had really happened.
Ah well, the money would meant that I wouldn't need to worry about groceries for the next two months- or two weeks if Filo continued to stay over (thank god that wasn't going to happen).
Filo immediately bounced off Raphtalia's lap and went to bother Melty- who was busy studying.
"Hey Filo, don't bother Melty when she's reading," I called out to her.
Melty looked up from what she was doing and then immediately shut the book, saying "It's alright, I'll go catch up on this later."
Filo took some time to peer at the cover of the book that Melty was reading- I recognized it as one of the 'History of Law' textbooks we were assigned in first year. Filo was having some trouble reading out the title, it seemed, and she flipped it open, curious, but quickly lost interest (likely because there were no pictures to attract her attention) and then closed it.
"Hey- Filo isn't dumb!" she called out to me, likely having read my face regarding what I thought about her. Honestly the two girls couldn't have been more different regarding their dedication to studying- or in Filo's case, the complete lack thereof.
Eclair was looking out the window, muttering something under her breath but otherwise seemed to be alright.
Raphtalia looked at me expectantly- again, I thought that it was perfectly fine if she wanted to go home right now, as it was the stream was over... but I was getting the strange feeling that that was the wrong thing to try to say to her.
Instead, I took note of what we had brought and set out to start working. I had promised Filo a grandiose dinner after all, and whether or not the stream had been successful otherwise, it still had brought in the dough, both literally and figuratively, I thought as I began kneading the dough. I began pulling out pots and pans and frowned- I hadn't used some of these in a very long time, meaning I'd have to wash them. I also had vegetables that needed to be diced up as well- and oh look at that, my cutting board needed to be cleaned too-
Raphtalia seemed to notice my frustration, "Do you happen to need any help, Mr. Naofumi?"
I honestly did, but at the same time I was kind of reluctant to ask someone who was a guest in my house to do work. If my parents saw that I was doing something like that, they'd definitely give me an earful.
"Ah, no," I said. I began the long process of washing everything, only to be pushed aside by Raphtalia.
"Here, I'll handle this, and you can do something else," Raphtalia said. I made to protest, but her expression was very firm and told me that she wasn't going to bargain on this.
Even Eclair stopped birdwatching or whatever it was that she was doing and offered to help slice up the vegetables, even saying that she could call for a cook/maid if I needed additional assistance but I didn't want yet another person crowding the apartment.
I had decided on what I was going to make- the main course of the evening would be a hot pot (been some time since I'd made one of those) and as an appetizer would be chicken momos. For the sauce to be served with the momos, I decided to make it myself by blending together tomatoes, green peppers, paprika, and a few other spices in a blender.
"Hey!" Melty called out. I had turned on the blender to make the sauce, causing quite a bit of noise- meaning she and Filo couldn't hear the television. I normally wouldn't have cared to do something like this, but given that Melty looked so annoyed when I was making dinner, I decided to leave the sauce in there and turn the blender on at irregular intervals to annoy her- usually when her show was getting to the good bits.
Raphtalia frowned after I did this a couple of times, and truth be told, if I did it any more, it would be too watery and no amount of cooking would fix it so I stopped.
They were watching- 'Magical Girl Kiiroi' reruns, though there was an advertisement in between episodes for a show called 'Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill.' I snorted- isekai titles really were getting too long for their own good. Come to think of it though, if I was ever transported to another world, I would probably end up getting some kind of useless ability just like that with my cooking skills getting even better- in other words, I would be totally worthless in combat. Either that or something even more ridiculous like being reincarnated as a vending machine.
For dessert, I had brought vanilla ice cream and I intended to top it off with warm caramel sauce, though this was as simple as heating it in the microwave, which was something that Eclair could do easily (she seemed to be rather clumsy with other things in the kitchen other than cutting vegetables). I would also probably have wanted to serve wine or sake at the end, but I didn't really have the budget for something really good, not to mention with Filo and Melty here I didn't think that would be appropriate.
The meal was coming along nicely with Filo glancing over, likely fascinated by the smell.
I had to correct what Raphtalia and Eclair were doing at times. "No, use olive oil for that instead of mustard oil. That dish is going to need a lot more salt, and those vegetables need to be diced, not just sliced into long pieces. And adjust the flame to a simmer over there, please." I hoped I wasn't turning into some kind of Gordon Ramsay-like character, come to think of it- yeah, with my temperament, it was probably for the best that I didn't work in a kitchen.
I didn't like it when other people made a big deal about my cooking, though I had to admit- I think that I had outdone myself today when it came to dinner. Eclair and Raphtalia were also eyeing it with greed that would rival that of a dragon lord.
With the chicken cooked now, I just had to fold it into the folds of flour to make the momos, and I set up the pressure cooker to steam cook them.
The whole deal had taken almost two hours to complete, I had probably went a bit overboard this time truth be told, but it didn't look like anyone was complaining about either that or the time it had taken to get everything ready. Well, aside from Filo of course, but that was to be expected.
