A Former Police Officer Who Died And Get A Second Life!-Chapter 71: Preparing for the Heat

Remembering what Joa had previously told him that’s to make sure he prepare preserved food, Qiong Xing had decided that asking the professionals would be best and so he had dropped by the kitchen in between lunch preparations.

Not everyone there had mates, but several of them did and they had kindly listened to his concerns.

Unfortunately, all of their answers were basically the same.

It wasn’t that bread or dried meat were bad.

Qiong Xing himself had relied on bread and dried meat many times since coming to this place.

Thick slabs of dried meat that he would never have been able to chew through in the past could now be eaten albeit with some effort and even enjoyed.

But if that was during a heat period, it was a completely different story.

In a state where he would undoubtedly be utterly exhausted, it was hard to imagine Qiong Xing still having the strength left to chew through dried meat or hardened bread.

"Dried fruit is still okay, but the others are kind of..."

"Your jaw’s weak too, after all."

Yes, he heard that perfectly clearly.

They definitely said jaw, didn’t they?

It seemed that Qiong Xing’s treatment here was closer to that of a child.

He was a little hurt, but he decided not to retort that by beastman standards, Qiong Xing would probably be considered under five years old anyway.

The reason he thought under five was because, once, when he had arm wrestled with the children, he had lost to a five year old.

It’s so frustrating.

"Even if it’s fine for the men, are the women really okay with that?"

It might be acceptable for the men, but when Qiong Xing asked whether it was truly all right for the women who were on the receiving end, the reaction was exactly as expected, apparently, they had plenty of complaints.

"That’s right! It’s ridiculous to tell women to eat that!"

"Exactly. Men might be able to finish it and feel refreshed, but it’s hard on women. As expected of Qiong Xing, you really get it."

"No matter how much of a beastman you are, you don’t have that kind of strength in the middle of it."

"......"

It was painful for the men to hear.

Since it was a concern unique to those on the receiving side, it would be difficult to expect the men to fully understand it.

If even beastwomen felt this way, then Qiong Xing felt it would be even more impossible for him.

When he asked what they usually did during heat periods, the answer was that they still ate bread and dried meat, but they would soaking them in water to soften them first.

That was one way to do it, at least.

"Hmm, so that really is the only option..."

At times like this, he wished there were a refrigerator, but there was no helping it since there wasn’t one.

"At the very least, could we add some flavor to it?"

"Flavor?"

"Like jam."

"Jam?"

It was something he had been thinking for a long time, but although they had bread, it seemed the idea of changing its flavor simply didn’t exist here.

Since they were the ones preparing the food for him, he hadn’t said anything, but he had often wondered whether they never got tired of eating the same taste every day.

"It’s fruit simmered down sweetly with sugar. I think raspberries would work well too."

"What is that? It sounds delicious!"

"That sounds good! I want to eat it!"

It seemed women really did like sweet things.

They could also make it into syrup and dilute it with water.

People said sweet things were good when you were tired, and if you ate the preserved fruit along with it, it would fill your stomach too, nothing but benefits.

"I think it would also be delicious to spread the red bean paste from the botamochi we made the other day. And if someone doesn’t like sweet things, I think it would be good to put cheese with pepper or eggs on top and lightly toast it."

"I want to eat that!"

"I want it!"

"I want to eat it!"

"I want to eat it!"

"I want to eat it!"

With everyone in agreement, they decided to try making it as soon as the next day and so they would spend the afternoon going to gather the raspberries since it was the necessary ingredient.

"So, I’ll need you to guide the way, Joa."

"I don’t mind, but why is it ’guide the way’ instead of ’let’s go together’?"

He probably wanted to say that since they had gone there before, Qiong Xing should remember the route by now.

But!

"I was too busy being obsessed with muscles to look around."

He honestly admitted that he had been completely absorbed in muscle talk and hadn’t paid attention to his surroundings at all.

Even aside from that, it was honestly quite difficult for Qiong Xing to remember paths in the first place.

"...Yeah, I figured. If you actually had the ability to remember directions, I wouldn’t have gone through so much trouble."

"Exactly!"

Having already given up on that part of himself, Qiong Xing straightforwardly asked Joa for help.

Qiong Xing immediately decided to head into the forest together with Joa.

But today, neither Cari nor Mayo was with them.

It was just the two of them alone.

He had actually tried to bring both of them along, but Cari had fallen asleep for his nap and leaving Mayo alone in the room by himself felt pitiful, so Mayo had been left behind as well.

Cari would probably feel lonely later, but since Qiong Xing had already talked about making jam, he couldn’t betray the expectations of everyone who was restlessly waiting and looking forward to it.

"Don’t you ever get tired of bread, Joa?"

"I’ve never even thought about getting tired of it. Bread was just... normal. It was the standard. I never even thought about trying to do anything extra with it."