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Everyone from Otaku Translation
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Son of a Greengrocer
As I was chatting with Ayla, I saw that the meat had been finished cutting and father had paid for and received a large leather bag.
“I guess vegetables and mushrooms are next.”
I waved to Carlo as I finished my shopping at the butcher shop and headed for the vegetable section.
Here, too, there was a wide variety of foodstuffs, both familiar from previous lives and unique to this world. The vegetables packed in wooden boxes were all very green and fresh.
When my father saw the vegetables, his eyes became stern as he picked them up and began to examine them.
I guess he was trying to get the freshest vegetables he could.
“Tori, Ayla, which do you think is fresher, this or this carol?”
Dad asked as Ayla and I was absentmindedly looking at the other vegetables.
He showed us a vegetable called ‘Carol’. It’s a vegetable, similar to cabbage, but purple
in color and with soft leaves, a vegetable unique to this world.
“Let me see the root.”
“Here it is.”
When I say this, my father grins and shows me the root on the underside.
When I look at the root, the right side is white and the left side is a little grayish.
“The right carol looks fresher to me.”
“I think so too!”
“You're right!”
Just as Ayla and I were about to answer, a voice interrupted us.[1]
I looked over and saw a serious-looking boy with dark hair and glasses standing there, wearing an apron.
“The whiter the root, the sweeter the carol! The best way to be sure is to look at the root like this. If the leaves are warped or have black spots on them, they're old, so be careful!”
It was Hart who began to explain about carol in such a breathless rage.
He is the son of a grocer and a friend of Carlo's age.
“Uh, oh. I was told everything I was trying to say.”
Sometimes my father asks me to check my discernment and knowledge.
I'm not just a baggage handler, I'm also a student.
This time, though, Hart explained everything to me.
“Okay, next. What kind of turnips are fresh here?”
“The skin is fine and shiny with no cracks. The smaller the leaf, the more tender and delicious it is!”
Ayla and I tried to answer, but Hart said it all.
“Oh, oh, I think that's a perfect answer, but I was going to let Tori and Ayla answer…”
“I’m sorry! Whenever someone asks me about the properties of vegetables, I just reflexively answer!”
“Well, that's how your parents trained you.”
I've heard that Hart's parents trained him to know about vegetables from an early age by asking him these questions. Well, is it inevitable that this would happen? No, don't think it's just that this family is just weird.
“Okay, now the next question. Hart, stay out of it, okay?”
“... Yes.”
When my dad nailed him, Hart looked blatantly disappointed.
He likes to get asked questions about vegetables and foodstuffs like this.
“Can you tell the difference between these mushrooms?”
This time, Dad showed me a wooden box full of white mushrooms.
I've never seen these mushrooms before. I've never used them in a store before.
“What? Aren't there just one kind here?”
“No, there are two kinds, one right in the middle and one left.”
“No way! They all look the same to me.”
“Haha, it seems that Marc hasn't been able to teach you about a lot of mushrooms.”[2]
My dad laughed, probably amused by Ayla and my reaction.
“Fugu! Fugu!”
My dad was covering his mouth when Hart tried to speak.
Hart seems to understand. He looks like he wants to say it so badly.
However, I also like to spend time thinking about the strange ingredients in this world, so I'll let him be quiet.
The shape of ... is just like a normal mushroom. There's nothing big or round about it. It doesn't have any conspicuous features, so I can't tell the difference right away.
“It's a bit grayish in color, like this one.”
“What? Isn't it just the shadows that make it look that way?”
“No, it's not.”
“But this one is very white, but there's also a little bit of gray in it. Isn't color ambiguous as a distinguishing factor?”
“Oh, yes.”
It's common for the same item to be slightly darker or lighter in color.
“That's right. Well, color is not the key to distinguishing them.”
So, maybe it's not the appearance.
“Take a good look! Both of you! You're disrespecting the food! What's back there—— fugo!!?”
“You shut up!”
Hart tried to shout something but was forced to shut up by Dad doing an iron claw.
“Can I touch it.”
“Fugo, fugo?”
I asked, and he nodded, holding in the pain.
After getting permission, Ayla and I picked up one mushroom on the right side and one on the left side to see how they felt.
Both felt the same and slippery to the touch.
There doesn't seem to be a clear difference between the two. It's the same with the spit and the tsuka.
I don't get it at all.
Ayla may have thought the same thing, but she kept tilting her head as she compared both.
“You don't understand? Well then, I guess it's no use.”
“Both of you, look at the folds on the back!”
My father exhaled as if he was sick, and Hart, who should have been hit with an iron claw, shouted.
I'm sure you'll be able to see the folds on the back of the casa.
“The line of the folds is slightly askew on the white mushroom. The folds with slightly slanted lines are white mushrooms, and the ones with straight lines are prim mushrooms!”
“Eh? What is that? It's too subtle!”
“... Now that you mention it, I think the lines of the folds are slightly different.”
That's what I'm talking about, it's subtle.
It's a subtle difference that makes you wonder if it's just a little personality or habit.
“Hmmm, even if you know about it, it seems difficult to tell the difference.”
“If you’re not careful, you might mistake it for poison.”
“As long as I'm here, there will be no poisonous mushrooms in the store!”
When I muttered, Hart said with a confident look.
It's a little cool to hear him say that, like a hero of justice. He's just a grocer's son, though.
“Haha, that’s right! Hart is in the store, so you don't have to worry.”
“Yeah, that's why when you buy vegetables or mushrooms, buy them at my store.”
And in the end, even the appeal of my store is still strong in business spirit.
“You say everything I say.”
“I'm sorry! But I haven’t reflected on it!”
Dad said somewhat sulkily, probably because he hadn't had a chance to show his pride as a father.
But Hart didn't seem to mind that and had a radiant expression on his face.
Well, everyone knows that this guy is a foodstuff knowledge idiot.
[1]= It seems that the author made a typo here, and wrote Letty instead of Ayla, which doesn’t make sense cause Letty stayed at the inn with her mother.
[2]= Probably Ayla’s father
[3]= My personal opinion, but it seems that Hart is a vegetable-otaku!
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