Atelier
Hey there, welcome to Egetsu's Atelier. I won’t go into details, and I’m still pretty green, but I’ve got confidence in my thighs.
Anyway, that’s how I ended up playing pretend as an alchemist.
First, I pour the freshly harvested, super-giant aphid bodily fluids—no, not into a tarai (tub), but onto a sieve placed over one to strain it roughly.
[Splish-splash… splish-splash…]
And right now, I’m using a hishaku (ladle) meant for scooping bathwater and washing off vegetable dirt, but after a thorough acid wash and a perfect boiling-water sterilization, there’s not a single speck of room for germs or bacteria to sneak in. Yep, sterilization is flawless.
Next, the roughly strained super-giant aphid bodily fluids get filtered again through a finer coffee filter.
"Alright, everyone, I’m counting on you."
"""Pipi!"""
<figcaptionattachment__caption"">Here’s where my little assistant pixies come in handy. Each of them holds a funnel fitted with a filter, carefully watching as the strained liquid drips into the bottles below.You might think it’s odd for a musclehead like me to be doing such delicate work, but nah.
At heart, I’m actually an otaku. I’m used to spending hours glued to the TV or PC, carving parts, painting models—so this kind of meticulous work doesn’t bother me at all.
Plus, I’ve even got this handy skill now: [Crafts].
"Pipippo, pii~?"
<figcaptionattachment__caption"">At my question, the pixies play dumb and look away.
(Hmm, I see…)
I resume work and keep an eye on them—and sure enough, I catch them frequently licking the liquid from the bottles.
"Ah, I knew it! Hey, I’ll get you snacks later, so quit sneaking bites!"
Cute pixies licking bottles? No big deal for us, but don’t do it around others, okay? Some people might freak out over monsters or whatever.
"Pippipo, poo~"
"Wait, that was ‘tasting,’ and now it’s ‘quality checking’? Pretty thorough checks, huh. But at this rate, there’ll be nothing left by the time it’s done."
"Pi!"
"Pipi!"
Then they scoop up more liquid, taste it, put on serious faces, and nod at each other—"Hmm!" Oh, I get it. They’re doing the commander impression.
That’s from Episode 38 of Okazu Sentai Yuuhanjaa, Full Speed! Soba-Making Showdown!, right?
The usually silent, cool-headed commander goes nuts over soba, even showing off his noodle-making skills. Seeing that unexpected side of him was hilarious.
Well, you guys helped me survive, so it’s fine. But if you keep sn