Elf Tensei Kara no Cheat Kenkoku-ki

Extra Chapter 1: A Day Off for Cyril, the fire fox little sisters, and Mizuame Candy

「Hey, Cyril. What are you making?」

「Just a little sweet treat.」

Today, for the first time in a while, I found myself with some free time, so I busily engaged in my hobby of cooking. I diligently grated potatoes, resulting in a milky-white liquid.

「The ingredients you've prepared are just potatoes and carrots, right? Can you really make sweet treats with them?」

「Yes, I can make an exceptionally sweet candy with these two.」

「Making sweet candy from unsweet sweet potatoes and carrots sounds like magic!」

Lucy peeked in from behind with deep interest. Her hair brushed against my cheek, tickling me slightly.

「Magic, huh? It is indeed somewhat like magic. The candy I'm making is a bit unusual.」

I continued with the cooking. I wrapped the grated potatoes in a fine cloth and squeezed hard, resulting in a brownish liquid.

「We have to let this squeezed juice sit for a while. How about we have some tea in the meantime?」

I smiled and brewed some mugwort tea using dried mugwort. The pleasant aroma of mugwort spread around us. I poured some for myself and Lucy, and also set out three more cups for guests.

「Cyril, are we expecting guests?」

「Yes, some adorable guests. Today, Yukino is bringing Kurone and Kemin over to play. I had asked them to do a little job, and they did it well, so I promised to give them a reward.」

「Ah, those kids.」

「Should I not have?」

「No, not at all. Actually, I'm quite happy about it. I like little kids. Yukino is cute, but Kemin and Kurone are adorable too. They all have fluffy tails, and I've always wanted to touch them.」

「You might want to refrain from that. Fire foxes get really angry when their tails are touched.」

After all, only family and their husbands are allowed to grab their tails. Even if it's someone of the same sex, they'd likely get angry.

「That's a shame. Maybe they'd let you touch them, Cyril.」

「That's hardly likely.」

I couldn't admit that I often held Yukino's tail. Admitting it could lead to all sorts of trouble.

As I pondered this, there was a knock on the door.

「Cyril-niisama, thank you for inviting us.」

A tense and stiff yellow fire fox, Kemin, greeted me politely.

「We're here, Cyril-niisama. Kuro is really looking forward to your cooking!」

The black fire fox Kurone, with an innocent smile and a carefree laugh, greeted me energetically.

「Yukino was also looking forward to it. Yukino loves everything Cyril-niisama makes.」

The silver fire fox Yukino seemed emotionless at first glance, but she was the most spoiled of them all. She immediately jumped into my arms, burying her face in my chest while wagging her tail.

「Ah, everyone welcome, come in.」

Lucy arrived and ushered the three of them inside the house.

「「「Excuse us for intruding」」」

The three of them greeted us and entered the house.

「I'm going to finish making the candy, so why don't you all have some tea and chat?」

While I was busy with the final touches of the candy, I decided to let Lucy entertain the three of them. They were bombarding Lucy with questions, mostly about me, which made me feel a bit awkward. They were seizing the opportunity to ask things they couldn't directly ask me.

While keeping an eye on them occasionally, I continued with the cooking. Looking at the potato juice I had filtered earlier, I noticed that the top part was a brown liquid, while the bottom had turned into a white substance. I carefully discarded only the brown part.

This process left me with a lump of starch. Upon heating, it began to thicken and develop a sticky texture. I then added the squeezed juice from the carrots. This juice helped break down the starch into sugar.

I kept skimming off impurities while letting the moisture evaporate, increasing the viscosity. Finally, I achieved the desired result: a thick, golden syrup called mizuame. I let it cool a bit, then tasted it with my finger. Yes, it was sweet. It was a simple process, but that was all, The candy was ready.

「Everyone, it's ready.」

Holding the pot, I headed to the living room.

「Wow, Cyril-niisama, what is this?」

「Kuro has never seen anything like this before.」

「It smells sweet. Yukino wants to eat it quickly!」

The three little ones leaned forward eagerly to peek into the pot. Their fox ears twitched with anticipation, and their tails swayed.

「This is a candy called mizuame. You can eat it now. You wrap the mizuame around these two wooden sticks to eat it.」

I distributed wooden sticks to my three little sisters and Lucy. Then, I demonstrated how to wrap the mizuame around the sticks, twisting and kneading it skillfully. The three girls watched with sparkling eyes. Mizuame was a simple candy, but in this era where sugar was a precious commodity and everyone craved sweetness, it was a supreme luxury.

Since our maple syrup stock was running low, I decided to prepare this instead. I hoped it would be to their liking.

Then, each of the three girls played with the mizuame on their sticks before tasting it.

「「「So sweet!」」」

Holding their cheeks, they showed me their brightest smiles. Seeing them this happy made me, as their elder brother figure, feel delighted. It's nice to have days like this. Catching Lucy's eye, I realized she was thinking the same. And so, my day off passed by peacefully.

Tomorrow, I'll get back to work with renewed vigor.