The Magnificent Mochizuki Mochi Malleting

"This is from Tokugawa-sama, it is..."

A large whumph rang out as Yae dropped a massive sack of rice on the floor.

A usual sack's around sixty kilos, isn't it? Wait, no... Eashen is like Japan in the

Sengoku Era, and they measured it differently back then... Or at least, that's

what my grandpa said. But why did they send rice?

Brunhild grew both wheat and rice in equal measure. We had plenty of

Eashenese citizens, so it was true that we sometimes imported rice when we

had a shortfall, but I didn't remember making any such order. We had more

than enough in the castle's stores, after all.

"Oh, it's finally here! This looks like more than enough!"

As I was pondering, Arcia poked her head in and ran toward the bag of rice.

That was enough for me to realize what had happened. She must've put in an

order for this bag through the gate mirror room.

"Why the sack, exactly?"

"This is glutinous rice, father."

"Glutinous rice, is it? That is a rather out of season order, it is..."

Eashenese people would ring in the new year by eating rice cakes made out of

this stuff, but it was well into the year at this point. Then again, it wasn't like

that was the only use for it. Dango was a popular year-round treat, after all. You

could also make mochi with it, and that could have all kinds of tasty fillings. Still,

did we really need this much sweet rice? I was certain we had some in the

pantry already...

"I've always wanted to try making various mochi treats, but I never had the

opportunity!" Arcia grinned boastfully, but Yae and I were more concerned by

the figure standing behind her.

"So you took the liberty of ordering it through the gate mirror, did you? Do

you think it's proper to use government channels for your personal ends?"

"Ah?! M-M-M-Mother?!" Arcia let out a small yelp in response to her mother

showing up.

Lu was smiling just as her daughter had been, but her eyes were devoid of

light. She ended up lecturing our daughter for a while after that, and I ended up

settling the fee out of my own pocket. I didn't want to have our taxpayers cover

it, since there'd be hell to pay if they ever found out... When all was said and

done, it ended up being a bit pricey, though.

I'd said it when I founded the country, and I reiterated it again, the Mochizuki

family was to live on their own dime, not propped up by the taxes of the

populace.

If Arcia wanted sweet rice so much, she should've told me. I would've just

gone to Eashen myself.

"So, you were planning to make something with this, you were?" Yae asked,

butting in on the tail end of the lecture and rescuing Arcia from more of her

mother's wrath.

Clearly pleased to be saved, Arcia replied, "Uhm, well...yeah. I'd like to make

all kinds of dishes. I want to make traditional mochi candy, rice cake gratin, and

any other things we can think of..."

"Mochi treats, you say...? That reminds me of the zunda mochi I had not too

long ago, it does."

"Oh yeah, that was some good stuff..."

Right, I remember having some good mochi that time when the Date princess

was on the run in Eashen. It was really good. I've wanted to do some oldfashioned mochi pounding for a while now, but I never found the time... Maybe

this is the chance I've been waiting for?

"Let's do some mochi pounding."

"Hurray! I knew you'd agree, father!" Arcia exclaimed as she charged over to

give me a big hug, only for Lu to drag her away by the scruff of her neck.

"What was that for, mother?! I was just bonding with him!"

"Clearly nothing I just said sank in at all. I'll have to start again from the top."

"Wh-What?!"

Without any further delay, Lu dragged Arcia away. I could see my daughter

silently begging for help, but there was nothing I could do when faced with Lu's

glare.

"L-Let us prepare for the mochi pounding in the meantime, yes? Shall I

prepare us a mortar and mallet, shall I?"

"I can make those. You need to soak the sweet rice for a day, right? Guess we

can start that today and do the actual pounding part tomorrow. We'll ask some

off-duty knights and maids to chip in and help."

My [Modeling] Null spell would make it easy enough to create everything we

needed to pound the mochi.

I'll have my kids help out too. It'll be fun if we all eat the mochi we make

together.

I smiled to myself as I pulled out some wood from [Storage] and set to work

on the tools.

◇ ◇ ◇

"All steamed!"

Lu and Arcia heaved the steaming sweet rice into the large barrel mortar I'd

constructed.

We were all gathered in the courtyard alongside everyone who wanted to join

in on the fun. My family was there, as was Ende's. Then there were various

knights, maids, and a few interested civilians who'd been vetted. The plan was

to pound all the rice, so we didn't want any to go to waste.

I made three sets of mortars and mallets. Each one had a designated pounder

and a designated mochi mover assigned to them. I was on the first one, with

Yae turning. Then the second one was manned by Yae's brother Jutaro and his

fiancee Ayane. The third was being manned by Tsubaki and one of the former

Elite Four of Takeda, Baba. They were all from Eashen, so they had experience

with this kind of thing.

I was actually the least experienced person present. I'd only made a little at

my grandpa's when I was a kid. From what I remembered, you had to knead

and crush the rice up with the mallet before pounding it.

"All right, everyone! Go!"

"Got it!"

I was still grinding the rice when I saw Baba and Tsubaki start pounding away.

They were moving in perfect tandem.

"Hup!"

"Hah!"

"Hyup!"

"Hah!"

Jutaro and Ayane were working in perfect sync as well. I didn't want to lose... I

wanted to show everyone how well Yae and I could work together!

Let's go!

"Hup! Ack—?!"

I swung the mallet, but staggered slightly on the way down and hit the edge

of the container.

Gah! It's surprisingly hard to get the balance right!

"Ahhh, dear... You must not exert yourself, you must not. It is best to raise the

mallet and let it fall naturally, it is."

R-Right... I should just let it fall with its own weight instead of swinging it.

I took Yae's advice and raised the mallet again before letting it drop down

directly.

Ka-flat!

"There you are. That was a good hit, it was."

Squish!

"One, two... One, two..."

Squish!

Yae's words served as my guide, allowing me to keep up the frantic pounding.

Yeah, I'm doing good now! If I keep this up, I'll have no problem at all!

"Daaad, me too! I want to try!" Linne called out from behind me as I was in

the midst of my mochi malleting. She seemed to have taken an interest in the

matter.

Mmm... I wanted to do a little more, but I guess it's fine. I'm doing this for my

kids, so it's whatever.

"Yae, let me do the turning. We'll swap out every so often," I said as I handed

the mallet over to a very excited-looking Linne and took my new position. The

mallet was pretty heavy, but it didn't seem like the kind of thing my kids

couldn't handle.

I dipped my hands in water to prevent the pounded mochi from sticking to my

skin.

"Go!"

"HYAAAH!"

SPLAT!

A sound that shouldn't have been generated by mochi pounding inexplicably

erupted around us. The mortar had sunk into the ground a little, while the

mallet had sunk into the middle of the mochi, leaving an indent that had it

looking more like a donut.

D-Did you just use [Gravity]?! Are you stupid?!

"Linne! You can't cast that!"

"Huh?"

What do you mean, huh?! I cast [Protection] on both the mallet and the

mortar, but you could still break them! And even that aside, you could destroy

the mochi itself!

"Okay, let's try that again! Go!" I barked out as I started to turn over the

mochi as Linne began pounding away at it.

"Next!"

"Okay!"

"Ne— Ack?! Wait! Too fast! Get the timing right!"

I only just pulled my fingers away in time to stop the mallet from crushing my

fingers.

What the hell, Linne?! Get it together!

Part of me glared up at her in suspicion... Was she trying to get me on

purpose? Was this all a joke to her?!

"Touya, let me take your place..." Linze mumbled. She'd apparently noticed

my stress, which prompted her to swap places with me. I reluctantly accepted,

hoping her fingers would be spared.

"Hup!"

"Next!"

"Hup!"

"Next!"

In a display that completely contrasted to how I'd been doing it, Linne and her

mother pounded the mochi in perfect tandem... I couldn't help but feel a little

jealous.

I looked over and noticed that Tsubaki and Baba had swapped places with

Ende and Allis.

"Hyah!"

"Hngh!"

"Haaah!"

"Gwah?!" Ende yelped as he moved his fingers out of the way just in time to

keep them from being flattened. Allis's swinging had a pretty unique rhythm to

it, but there was definitely a pattern. Ende probably felt like he was being

psyched out on every swing, though.

"Endymion! Knead it more firmly!"

"That's right! Support Allis! Put your back into it!"

The look on Ende's face said it all... He wanted to tell them to try it

themselves if they thought it was so easy, but the poor bastard held his tongue.

Melle simply smiled over at the mochi-pounding duo, thoroughly entertained

by the display.

"Ready!"

At Linze's call, Arcia pulled out the pounded mochi and plopped it down on a

flour-covered board. Lu then divided it into bite-sized chunks and started

spreading them out.

"Fresh mochi over here! I'll be making more, so there's no rush!"

At the sound of Lu's voice, some of the surrounding individuals headed over

to the table with small plates. They started eating the mochi rice cakes, using

toppings like natto, sesame seeds, red bean paste, green soybeans, and roasted

soy flour. Some of them even opted to simmer the mochi in broth.

"Here, father!"

"Oh, hey, thanks."

Arcia brought me a bowl of broth with some fresh mochi in it. It was a

simplistic dish with chicken, radish, fish paste, and honeywort.

I looked down at the mochi cake as it soaked in the broth. It looked pretty

yummy. Meals didn't have to be complex to be delicious, after all. One bite

proved that. Right as I started to dig in, Lu walked over with a bowl in her hand.

"Please try this one as well, dear."

"Mother? I-Is that...curry mochi?!"

The bowl Lu had brought over contained what appeared to be curry roux in a

broth, as well as a mochi rice cake.

Wait...curry and mochi? Together? Well, I guess bread and other grains work

with curry, so this should work too.

I took a bite.

Wow! This is great! Curry really goes with everything, huh?

The mochi acted as a great offset to the curry's spiciness, while the sliced

vegetables really accentuated the aftertaste.

"Grr... That's not a proper dish!"

"There are no rules when it comes to culinary delight, dear. If it tastes good,

then the sky's the limit. You ordered so much rice because you wanted to try

out various dishes, yes? Then you should experiment until you're satisfied."

"I will, then!"

I silently finished my curry. Arcia, apparently fired up by seeing Lu's creation,

dashed back to the kitchen area to get started on something else.

Lu smiled softly, sitting down and taking a spoonful of the broth Arcia had

created.

"Delicious. She's certainly got the fundamentals down, that's for sure. I'd

expect nothing less from our daughter."

"Why not just say that to her face?"

"I can't have her getting too complacent yet, now can I? She's still got a ways

to go before transcending my talents."

...You're both princesses, aren't you? It's not like either of you HAVE to cook.

Besides, I doubt she'll get complacent...

I glanced over and saw the three Phrase girls chowing down on enough rice

cakes that one might think they were participating in an eating contest...

"Ahhh, delicious! Allis really made something great today!"

"Indeed... She must've put her heart and soul into it. I'm proud."

"Great job, Allis. We love it."

"Hee hee hee... It's not THAT great!" Allis exclaimed as she blushed red due to

her mothers' praise. Her father, on the other hand, was pale white with

exhaustion.

"Been a while since I've had some good mochi."

"You're quite right, Naito. Maybe we should make some more?"

"Sounds like quite the plan. I'm sure there must be a demand for it. What do

you think, Kousaka-dono?"

"Aye. I think we can popularize the practice around here."

The former elites of Takeda quietly put a plan into motion as I tucked into a

delicious nori-wrapped morsel.

"The soy flour mochi is really nice, mother."

"Sure is! I'm pretty big on this red bean soup myself."

"Nomph! It'sh sho good! More!"

"Linne! Don't talk while you're eating!"

Elna, Elze, Linne, and Linze all seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"This is yummy!"

"It is truly delicious, it is!"

"...Are you two going to be done any time soon?" Hilde asked. She could only

look on in horror as Frei and Yae devoured a veritable mountain of mochi

before her very eyes. If anything, it was more impressive that Frei was doing it,

given how much smaller she was.

I looked over and saw the knights chowing down too. The Eashenese ones all

appeared to be nestled in nostalgic memories, while the others were intrigued

by the food they'd clearly never had before.

"Father, here!" Arcia said as she came back from the kitchen area with a few

pieces of mochi cut into squares.

...Daifuku cakes? A sweet treat to balance out the curry, huh?

I took a bite and sweetness soon spread out inside my mouth. It was

strawberry mochi... I hadn't tasted this particular flavor in years.

"Strawberries? I hadn't considered including that alongside the red bean

paste... I must admit you've outsmarted me, Arcia," Lu stated as she ate the

strawberry mochi with a mixture of surprise and satisfaction on her face. Her

words prompted our daughter to bashfully avert her gaze, which earned a

raised brow from both me and Lu.

"...Arcia, did you think of this on your own?"

"Umm... Well...you made this in the future, mother...so I wanted to try

making it too... It was really good."

...Lu made this in the future? But didn't Arcia just teach Lu about it for the first

time here? Isn't this a huge time paradox?! Where did Lu learn about the

strawberry mochi to begin with?

I just sighed and quietly assumed Granny Tokie and the time spirits would

take care of any issues. There was no point in questioning the power of the

gods.

"Mmm... You can do lots of other stuff with mochi cakes."

"Other things? You mean more fillings and such?"

"Really, father? Like what?"

The two girls turned to me with inquisitive eyes. It was moments like this that

you could really tell they were mother and daughter.

"Well...there's pineapple mochi, mandarin mochi, kiwi mochi...grape mochi?"

"Those all sound rather sour... I wonder how well they'd go with the bean

paste."

"Well, you could go with watermelon or tomatoes, if that's not to your

taste..."

"Watermelon and tomatoes?! I can't imagine how that would taste..."

Me neither. I've never tried it.

"Oh, there's butter mochi too."

"B-Butter? I don't think that'd go well with the bean paste at all..."

"Oh, no. I didn't mean as a filling. It's a cake you make by mixing butter and

mochi. Here, take a look..."

I quickly looked up a couple of websites that showed some pictures, then sent

them to both the girls.

"Hm, so you mix it with butter..."

"It looks tasty. Should we make it, mother?"

"I'd be glad to try it. Let's go."

Lu and Arcia walked over to the kitchen area. I also found a recipe for butter

mochi with red beans, so I sent that over as well. That one didn't seem all that

hard to make or anything.

Man, I sure ate a lot... Better work some of this off.

I headed over to the mortar and found the knights hard at work pounding the

mochi.

Wait, why's it green?

"It's mugwort mochi. Tastes great when rolled into dango."

I turned around and found Kousuke offering me a skewer of green dango

dumplings.

Mugwort, huh? Sure smells nice. The color's good too... Oh yeah, this tastes

great.

As I was filling my stomach, I suddenly heard the sound of music drifting

through the area. In response, I looked over and saw Sousuke, the god of music,

playing his violin.

Hold up. That song, of all things? I guess it is a dumpling song, sure... Usually

dumplings come in sets of three, but this one's about four.

Sakura started singing along with the performance. It was an original song

created for a kid's show, but the lyrics were memorable enough for people to

get into it. Perhaps it was due to the song, but everyone started to gravitate

toward the dumplings. Dumplings weren't exactly meant to be the main food,

but everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, so it was whatever.

"Hrmm... This is yummy, but it's hard to eat..."

I looked over and saw Kohaku struggling with a rice cake. Luli and Sango

seemed to be struggling as well. Kougyoku seemed to be handling it just fine,

however, and Kokuyou was just swallowing the stuff whole. It'd probably be

easier for them if they were rolled smaller...and not on sticks.

I took a few mugwort dumplings off a skewer and put them on a plate for

Kohaku and the others.

"Thank you, my lord... It's easier to eat now," Kohaku said before she began

to greedily chow down.

...Is it okay for cats to eat mochi? Well, she's not really a cat, is she? She's a

heavenly beast, so I'm sure it's fine.

Luli and Sango started to gulp down their dumplings too.

"Don't eat too fast. They might stick to your throat."

"Understood."

I turned away from Kohaku and the others just in time to see my kids appear,

each carrying something.

"Father, we made different daifuku cakes for you."

Each of my kids held out a plate with different treats on them. Arcia's was the

butter mochi I'd told her about earlier.

Hrkh... But I'm already so full.

In the end, I gave in to the laser-eyed stares of my children and resolved to

eat everything. I figured I'd push myself through, so I needed to steel my

stomach and my soul.

"Here, try this," Elna said as she held out a little mochi cake toward me. It was

crudely shaped, but looked tasty. I took a bite.

"Oh! Pineapple!"

"Mhm... Arcia showed me how to make it..."

The sour taste of pineapple spread out over my tongue. Pineapples were

available in Mismede, so they could be imported for relatively cheap. It was

totally delicious.

"Me next, father!" Frei exclaimed. Her daifuku was a little more sloppy than

Elna's. I could see the red bean paste bulging out of it at certain parts. I popped

it into my mouth and was immediately struck by an indescribable fusion of

tastes and textures. It wasn't so bad that I wanted to puke, but it was a serious

taste mismatch.

"What...? What's in this?"

"Beef!"

B-Beef?! It's supposed to be a mochi cake! What are you feeding me?!

I gritted my teeth and finished the beef cake, hoping Frei would never, ever

make one again.

"Oh, please try mine next!" Yoshino pleaded. She was up next, it seemed. I

took a bite and was surprised to find a crunchy texture. There was a slight

saltiness mixed in with the sweetness, accentuating the paste as it spread

through my mouth.

"...What is this?"

"A pickle!"

A...pickle? That's a...weird combo... But I guess I saw something similar on TV

once... In Kyoto, maybe? The flavor isn't actually that bad, but it doesn't make

for a good mouthfeel at all.

"Mine next, father."

I took Quun's creation in hand, suspicious of the shining pink I could see

poking out of the side. It wasn't well wrapped at all, but I put it in my mouth

anyway.

Bwugh... What's this fishy taste?!

"I know you're fond of tuna, father, so I put it in the cake."

Tuna?! I-I do like it, yeah, but it has no business being in a mochi cake,

dammit! Does this have wasabi in it too? I think I'm gonna sneeze...

"Me next, dad! Me next!"

Linne's daifuku was a little larger than the rest of them. It was about the size

of a bao bun. I was honestly at my limit as far as eating went, but I was in too

deep to stop.

"Here I go..." I mumbled as I took a bite out of the daifuku, which made a

thick paste suddenly spurt out and fill my cheeks. I blinked in surprise, looking

at the thing I'd just bitten into. The paste inside was a reddish-brown.

Is this...curry? A curry daifuku? I've heard of that, maybe? But...I... Oh...

Ohhh...

"AUUUGH! IT'S HOT! IT'S SPICY! OW! OWWW! AAAAAAAAARGH!"

It was so spicy that I had to grit my teeth. It was like experiencing déjà vu. I'd

tasted this kind of spice before... It was a level of pain I'd hoped never to be

subjected to again, so it took me right back to the one and only time Elze had

ever cooked for me.

"Man...I knew this would happen..."

"Seriously, why does everything Linne cook turn out so spicy?"

Frei and Yoshino sighed as they glanced at each other.

Why didn't you warn me if you knew this would happen?!

Apparently, Elze's ability to turn any recipe into a hazard had been passed on

not to her daughter Elna, but Linze's daughter. Or maybe it was just some latent

ability unique to the Silhoueska bloodline.

Why won't it stop being so spicy?! It completely overpowers the bean paste!

This is way too much! There's no complementary flavor here... It's completely

annihilating every other part of the food... This is insane!

"H-Here, water!" Elna said as she passed me a glass of water, which I

promptly gulped down. The spiciness, unfortunately, went nowhere. It was like

there was an arsonist in my mouth and no fire station in sight. I munched on

Arcia's butter mochi to try and dispel it.

Oh, there we go!

I downed a few more glasses of water, which made the pain finally go away.

My tongue was still pretty numb, however.

"It wasn't that bad..." Linne mumbled. She seemed more puzzled than

anything as she reached for the curry daifuku and tossed some into her mouth.

...How? How can you do that?

"Linne... Remember what we said about being more careful when you cook?"

"Huh? But Mama Elze said it was tasty..."

"I mean...well, she would..."

Quun could only let out an exasperated sigh. Frankly, I didn't know why she

was talking down to her sister that way. Her tuna cake wasn't exactly an

inspired culinary choice either.

I didn't make it visible in any way, but I was getting very tired of the weird and

wacky foods that had been shoved down my throat.

"Here, Touya," Yumina said as she came over and slipped a pill into my hand. I

raised a questioning eyebrow in response.

"It's stomach medicine. I got it from Flora in the alchemy lab. It should make

you feel better."

Man, you're a great wife... Always so thoughtful...

I took the pill (alongside some water so my kids wouldn't notice), then

immediately breathed a sigh of relief. The medicine took immediate effect,

which didn't surprise me at all. Eccentricities aside, Flora was a reliable worker.

I considered mass producing some of her amazing medicine, but I didn't want

to take jobs away from the hardworking doctors and apothecaries at the guild.

A better middle ground was providing them with the recipes. Some of them had

rather complicated and rare ingredients, but they'd be able to hire adventurers

to track those down for them.

"I'm glad we all had a good day."

"Mhm, it's nice to have family events like this every once in a while."

It was a little out of season to be mochi malleting, but I was glad we'd done it.

I could've maybe done without the weird "treats" from my kids, though. This all

started thanks to Arcia going behind our backs, but it actually worked out in the

end...

Just as we were finishing up for the day, Kousaka walked over to me with a

confused expression on his face.

"My Lord... I have received a vast supply of buckwheat seeds from Tokugawasama. It would appear you've ordered a great deal..."

"Huh? I don't remember ordering any buckwheat. I mean, I'm pretty sure we

have a good supply of that alrea—" I suddenly paused and turned to glance at

Arcia. I spied her slowly sneaking out of the room, sweat beading at her brow.

Lu quickly grabbed the girl by her collar.

"...Arcia, did you order buckwheat as well?"

"W-Well, I was interested in making different kinds of soba noodles, so... I

mean, I thought we could experiment with different sauces too!"

"I'm glad you're so eager to learn, Arcia...but did you learn nothing from my

talk about public and private funds?!" Lu started raging as she dragged her

daughter away for another stern talking to.

Guess we'll have to hold a soba festival sometime.

With that in mind, I drew out some personal funds and paid Kousaka for the

crop of buckwheat seeds.