Master Inventor from Hunter x Hunter, Section 5

Under Mog's scolding, Uvogin was planting seedlings with sweat pouring down his face.

If this were outside under normal circumstances, and Mog dared to use that tone and those words on him, Uvogin swore he would definitely twist his head off and shove it under his own ass.

But in this bizarre rice field, he just obediently followed Mog's orders and arrangements.

And so, with the trio's rough and clumsy efforts, the entire field was planted with... relatively neat seedlings.

"That's basically done for now," Mog said, wiping the sweat off his face as he turned to the two behind him, who were covered in mud spots like they'd crawled out of a mud pit.

"In about two hours, we can harvest."

Two hours, huh...

Machi, not even bothering to wipe the mud splattered on her face, looked up at the artificial little sun and the dark clouds overhead.

Add in the rice fields and seedlings on the ground, plus that strange Mochi Maker machine...

None of this looked like anything a normal person would have.

Uvogin, whose back was nearly breaking from planting seedlings, also stared intently at the field of sprouts.

Though this kind of physical labor was nothing to him, Lord Uvogin, it was his first time doing it, and under such eerie circumstances, he couldn't help but stay on edge.

But seeing the field full of seedlings and knowing that in just two hours he'd see the results, thinking that he had planted them with his own hands, Uvogin couldn't help but crack a grin.

For some reason, he felt an extraordinary sense of relief.

Not knowing that this was called a sense of accomplishment, Uvogin and Machi both stared eagerly at the little sun and clouds in the sky.

Luckily, what came next didn't disappoint them.

Originally, after Doraemon and Nobita had planted the seedlings, the season-control machine malfunctioned, causing too little rain under the clouds and a surge in the artificial sun's heat, drying the field until it was nearly cracked.

While Doraemon grumbled that you get what you pay for, he ran downstairs and got a bucket from his mom, who was cleaning, finally solving the field's drought crisis.

But then they poured too much water, causing the clouds to release too much rain, which risked rotting the rice.

So they had to put a sunshine doll in the middle of the field, making things quite troublesome.

Now, with this field equipment invented by Mog, there was none of that hassle.

Normal sunlight exposure, regular and moderate rainfall from the clouds—all of it gave the rice seedlings excellent growth.

After alternating like this for over an hour...

"They've grown taller?!!" Uvogin and Machi watched as the rice visibly grew at a speed they could see.

Soon, the green seedlings began to form ears of grain, gradually turning yellow as they matured.

Originally, before the rice fully grew, there would have been some locust eggs mixed in that needed to be caught by hand.

But after Mog's invention, even the locust eggs inside were eliminated.

Well, if a swarm of locusts had actually appeared, for Uvogin and the others, they might not have needed to eat mochi at all—they could have just gone straight to roasted locusts.

And so, two hours passed in the blink of an eye.

That golden, buttery field of grain came into view for the three of them.

Each plump ear of grain hung heavy on the stalks, almost bending them over!

Chapter 007: Delicious!!

"This is... the rice we grew?!!" Uvogin witnessed it all firsthand, especially having watched the entire process from planting to maturity.

The exhilaration in his heart welled up naturally, even stronger~!!

This feeling was truly too satisfying~!!

"..." Machi still didn't say much, but the slight curve of her lips and the faint brightness in her eyes were enough to show her inner state.

"Alright, one last step," Mog said, tossing each of them a small sickle, both included in the planting kit.

"Cut the rice and put it into the top opening of this machine's chimney."

At this point, no extra instructions from Mog were needed.

Uvogin had already rolled up his sleeves, full of drive, and stepped back into the field.

Machi followed closely behind, and the two of them stared at the golden wheat ears, their throats involuntarily bobbing.

They could almost already smell the fragrance of the wheat.

Their stomachs, already empty, felt even more hollow after two hours of labor and waiting.

Now, seeing the results, they could no longer hold back, swinging their sickles as they charged forward.

Snap~ Snap~ Snap~!!

For a moment, the entire room was filled with nothing but the sound of wheat being cut.

Soon, pile after pile of rice stalks began to stack up in front of Mog.

"Put these rice stalks into the machine, and it'll automatically husk them, steam the rice, and then turn it into mochi that comes out on its own..."

Mog dumped the rice stalks all at once into the top chimney opening of the machine, and as it shook, he pulled down a lever.

And then~~~

When Uvogin and Machi had finished harvesting all the wheat and climbed out of the field, "What is this..."

They saw, as the machine shook, a square, sticky block of mochi, carrying the fragrance of glutinous rice, emerge from the bottom outlet!!

Still steaming with a bit of heat, it instantly swept away all the fatigue from Uvogin and Machi.

Their eyes locked onto the freshly made mochi that came out, and~~~

Drip.

One after another, fresh, steaming mochi popped out from the machine's lower opening.

"Mmm..."

Mog casually picked up a mochi that had jumped out from the machine's opening and popped it into his mouth.

The fragrance of glutinous rice, mixed with that sticky, chewy texture...

"Not bad~~~"

He savored it in his mouth, then nodded at Uvogin and Machi, smiling as he gave his verdict.

Uvogin: "..."

Machi: "~~~"

Clang!!

The two of them tossed their sickles aside and charged over like starving tigers pouncing on prey.

Chomp chomp chomp!!

Uvogin grabbed three mochi in one hand and shoved them straight into his mouth.

He chewed noisily, the sticky, fragrant taste rushing from his mouth through his nose and straight to his brain!!

"Delicious~~~"

He only managed to mumble those two words before stuffing more mochi into his mouth.

If it weren't for how sticky and messy this stuff was, Uvogin would have already wolfed down all the mochi.

But even so, he kept up—basically, as soon as one popped out, he'd shove one in.

Machi's eating style wasn't as wild as Uvogin's, but she still managed to puff out her little cheeks full.

"This is better than the church's mochi."

In the gaps between chewing, Machi let out that one sentence.

Mm, this was the second thing she'd said since meeting Mog.

"Made with your own hands, the taste is naturally different."

Mog smiled, casually picking up another piece of mochi and sending it into his mouth.

Mm, the taste was indeed good, but it was a bit dry—some kind of drink would make it even better.

Uvogin and Machi didn't respond, just buried their heads in eating mochi.

Mog, meanwhile, watched the numbers jumping on the [Mochi Maker].

The top row kept increasing, while the bottom row was fixed at 219.

That meant the rice they'd cut so far could make 219 mochi.

It should have been 259, but because Uvogin and Machi were inexperienced, some of the rice hadn't grown properly.

Still, over two hundred was enough—they could split it into three portions, 73 each.

But clearly...

Mog glanced at Uvogin, who was still inhaling mochi like a storm.

This big idiot had no intention of sharing the food that had reached his mouth with anyone else.

But that was fine~~~