Track 1

Hm... North...or south...

(Oh, it’s Raito-san. What is he muttering about...?)

Is something the matter?

Ah, Chief. It’s about time to go ahead and start prototyping the specialty yakisoba we’ll be having for our stall… However, I’m having a hard time choosing between north or south.

(...North or south?)

(He must be talking about the upcoming summer festival that Ev3ns is collaborating with... Since Raito-san is in charge of the yakisoba stall, it’s probably about that…? )

Um, this is for the yakisoba trial run, right...?

But of course. For this endeavor, I want to be especially particular about the “water” used in noodle-making from the very beginning.

In other words, I need some high-quality spring water right now―but after looking at two different divinations, both north and south came up as lucky directions.

I-I see...?

Glacial water from a Nordic Fjord, or spring water from the Blue Spring in New Zealand... I can’t decide which water I should procure.

A-are you really going that far to get it?!

…Hm, I suppose that is a bit far after all. Let’s just go with Hokkaido or Okinawa this time, then.

No, I still think that’s too far as well…!

Water is definitely important, but for now, how about we just try using water that’s easy to get?

Water that’s easy to get?

Yeah, I mean… The water in HAMA is not bad. Besides, most of the customers coming to the festival will be locals, right?

If so, the people of HAMA might actually prefer HAMA’s water.

I see…. So you mean using water that they’re accustomed to drinking. That makes sense.

(Phew, thank goodness. I want to respect Raito-san’s standards, but things were about to get way more complicated than I expected…)

Thank you, Chief! Now, since we’ll be using HAMA’s water, the next step is sourcing wheat flour for the noodles. I’ll begin by checking soil samples from every region in the country and finding the one that best matches HAMA’s water—

(Oh no, if we leave it like this, we’ll never get around to making the yakisoba…!)

Um...! Today, as a warm-up, how about we try making a prototype using the ingredients we already have here at the dorm? I think we have chilled yakisoba in the refrigerator.

I’m going to help, too, okay!!!

Oh… You’ve got a lot of drive, Chief.

Even though they’re both noodle dishes, I am certainly not as well-versed in yakisoba as I am with ramen. I suppose I could use some practice.

Besides, it sounds fun to make it together with the Chief, too!

Right! So let’s make some delicious yakisoba together!