“Well then, I beg your leave…”
Chiffon Chel left the kitchen, leaving me alone with Roy.
“Well, well. It will save me a lot of trouble if you leave too.”
I ignored the grumbling Roy for now and checked out the kitchen.
If there weren’t all these troubles, this would be an exciting moment. The owner of this mansion was either a noble or someone of similar standings. Hence, the facilities here were far better than any found in the Forest's Edge and Post Station Town.
It was 6 to 7 m wide and could be divided into two 10 m2 rooms. The walls and floor were made from bricks, and there were several windows at the top of the walls used for air and lighting. The air circulation was poor though.
On the right wall was a set of culinary tools. Aside from the meat cutting knife and vegetable knife, there were wooden ladles of all sizes, steel grater, and things like strainers. The tools were as varied as in my hometown.
Further in was a small cupboard, with pots and equipment of various sizes in it. I could see a frying pan, a mortar, and an assortment of bowls.
On the opposite side were stoves. There were four stoves of various sizes, all built from stones. The crates beside them were filled with firewood and dark pieces of wood— charcoal. I saw the actual thing before I could ask Michael about them.
Further to the side was a large steel chest. Half of it was embedded in the wall, with a rectangular door in front of it. I opened it curiously and found two layers of steel netting inside. This was definitely an oven.
The working counter in the middle of the room was big too. There were many flasks filled with water too. The empty large jar was probably used for the disposing of kitchen waste; it was clean but still had a faint smell of rotten meat.
What a luxurious place this was. Aside from the lack of gas stove and electricity, this was the best cooking facility I had ever seen. Even in this technologically backward world, it was possible to prepare such facilities.
While I looked in awe, the large gulf between the life of nobles and commoners made me feel complicated.
“You are instructed to make a main dish…”
I could imagine Roy’s cold smile from his tone, and I turned towards him.
“You have to make it with kimyusu meat and karon milk. The food store is this way…”
That was the place where Roy was in before we came. Inside was a scene right out of heaven. The evenly spaced cupboard was filled with vegetables that looked familiar. There were dried fruits and herbs on the wall, and the cupboard on the innermost side was filled with bottles. On the floor was a large pot with a cover, and the pot was probably filled with salted meat. In the basket beside it were two differently sized eggs. They presumably were eggs from the chicken-like kimyusu and the ostrich-like Totos. I seldom saw eggs in the market, because they were only sold in the kimyusu or Totos shops; I was curious about them.
“This is incredible… As expected of a noble’s mansion, everything is top class.”
“Hmmp. This is a kitchen for servants, you know?”
“Servants?”
“This is a small kitchen used to cook for servants. It’s suitable for brats like you though.”
Just as he said, a better environment than this would be wasted on me. So I wasn’t mad even though he showed a mocking face.
“Let’s get started quickly. The bell for the third koku had rung; you won’t make it in time for dinner if you dally any further.”
<TL: 刻, means time>
“Third koku… I was abducted a little after high noon, how much time do I have?”
“Dinner is at dusk, on the sixth koku.”
“Oh. Is noon 0 koku? Or the 1st koku?”
“… Noon is noon. When the bell rings 6 times, afternoon has passed; that means the sun has set.”
Roy looked surprised that I didn’t even know that.
So the period from noon to dusk is divided into six parts. So right now is mid-afternoon.
Which meant, I would usually be done with my work in the Post Station Town right about now.
What did everyone do after I was abducted? I only realized that now. Were Ludo Wu and the others injured? Was Neil released? Did Leina Wu and the others operate the stall until the end of the day?
I was absent from my work in the inn. What did Neil, Naudiz, and Milano Mast think when they heard I got abducted by villains?
And Ai Fa…
Did someone tell Ai Fa yet?
I must return to Forest's Edge safely.
I turned to Roy firmly and said:
“Is this karon milk?”
Roy walked to the cupboard without a word and took out a bottle that was about the size of a fruit wine bottle.
“All the blue bottles are karon milk. There are five left for today.”
I opened the cock-like cover and sniffed. The aroma of milk entered my nostrils.
“It’s fragrant, can it be drank directly?”
“Of course. If left alone until tomorrow, it can only be made into nyuushi and clabber.”
“Nyuushi?”
I had never heard either term before. But an idea sprang up in my heart.
“Is nyuushi the made from the fats in the milk? Or…”
Roy waved his hand impatiently and cut me off, and then took out a small pot from the cupboard. Under the cover was a fragrant and glossy milk white object… This was definitely something like butter.
“Oh! This is amazing! What’s in the other bottles?”
“… This bottle is reten oil, that one is karon fats. Below is mamaria fruit wine, and bubbling wine imported from Jaguar, Gyama kumis from Semu, and vinegar made from mamaria.”
<TL: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%99%BA%E6%B3%A1%E9%85%92 >
<TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis >
“Vinegar! There’s even vinegar!?”
I couldn’t help shouting while Roy frown impatiently.
“Mamaria vinegar isn’t that uncommon. Don’t shout so suddenly.”
“There’s no vinegar in the Post Station Town. Is reten oil a type of vegetable oil?”
Roy answered by making a ‘do you even need to ask’ face.
Just like how my knowledge was constrained to the Post Station Town, he only knew about the city. That’s why he couldn’t understand why I seemed so shocked by butter, vegetable oil, and vinegar. The anxiety of being separated from my comrades in the Forest's Edge and the excitement of seeing unknown ingredients mesmerized me.
“This row over here are seasoning procured from Jaguar, Tau sauce, sugar, and banam honey.”
The Jaguar sugar was brown, just like those extracted from sugarcane, and the grains were a little coarse.
Banam honey was a glossy golden liquid that was similar to maple syrup. There were also the familiar rock salt, Pico leaves, lilo, and a few other herbs. There were even dried and crispy gigo.
There were two type of curd, Gyama cheese and karon cheese. The texture of Gyama cheese I was familiar with resembled Camembert cheese. The karon cheese had a milkier taste, felt soft and chewy, and was as white as snow. It was like top quality Mozzarella cheese.
And last of all was the mysterious light yellow powder.
“This is stock powder made by brewing kimyusu meat with bones, karon shoulder meat, and a few other vegetables.”
With permission from Roy, I tasted it a little.
Saltiness and tastiness exploded in my tongue. It was a condensed stock powder that reminded me of the bouillon cube.
“Impressive. How is this powder made from the soup?”
I thought these things couldn’t be made without the technology to freeze dry food, but Roy had a simple answer:
“After brewing the stock, coarser grain of fuwano and salt is sprinkled on it and then left to dry.”
So this was fuwano powder that had absorbed the stock. Fuwano was a wheat-like ingredient that could be bought in the Post Station Town. The staple food of the denizens of Forest's Edge was poitan, so I had only eaten fuwano a handful of times.
“That’s all the seasoning in this kitchen. Chef from the Post Station Town, is there anything you aren’t satisfied with?”
“I don’t have any complaints.”
Milk, butter, vegetable oil, animal oil, vinegar, salt, honey, and bouillon cube… All the seasonings I yearned for were here. It made me wonder why I even worked so hard all this time.
However, this wasn’t my original job. My job was to make a dish with the ingredients and seasoning that could be found in the Post Station Town. I was getting pissed at myself for feeling so excited.
There is such a great difference between the two sides of the rock wall. The denizens of Forest's Edge have to hunt kiba to protect the farmlands, the farmers grow crops in the fields, and the people in the Post Station Town and travelers run businesses… But what the people of the city are doing to accumulate so much wealth?
I was born in Japan and only learned in school about the nobles and royalty ruling over a walled up society. Hence, I didn’t know about the gulf between nobles and citizens.
“So, I have to use karon milk and kimyusu meat, huh. Normally, what sort of dish would be served with these ingredients?”
I suppressed the anxiety in my heart and asked Roy.
“Since there is karon milk, it will either be vegetable stew or soup, or used to grill the meat. It’s impossible to make a decent dish without using more ingredients.”
“That’s true. Hmm… It will be better to make cream stew after all…”
“Cream stew?”
“It’s a dish from my hometown. It will be great if the nobles like it.”
I didn’t know about their preferences, but I could only make dishes I knew.
I decided to try the karon milk and butter.
“Hey, if you are going to taste the milk, shake the bottle.”
“Huh? Why?”
“If you don’t shake it, the water and the fats will be separated…”
I see. Fresh milk that has not been homogenized will separate into water and fats.
<TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenization_(chemistry)#Methods >
I heeded Roy’s advice and shook the bottle before tasting the milk. It was thicker than the cow milk I knew about and tasted more gamey too.
It wasn’t as gamey as I thought, it was probably pasteurized. Anyway, it had a thick texture and probably had more fats than cow milk.
By extracting the fats from the milk, nyuushi could be made. It didn’t look like it had been fermented, and the sweet taste was similar to what I knew.
However, salt had been added, probably to preserve it. It was very salty, and most of the salt had melted into in because of the high room temperature. It probably had a short shelf life.
Anyway, if I could use karon milk and nyuushi to replace cow milk and butter, it wouldn’t be hard to make cream stew. With complicated emotions, I decided to focus on the vegetable selection.
“By the way, how many portions should I make?”
“Four… No, three portions.”
Dinner for three, huh.
Just who might they be?
Speaking of which… Dell was staying in Pyschkurewuss’ mansion, could it be this one? I didn’t think he would abduct someone to his mansion where a guest was lodging, however, I couldn’t be sure of a noble’s thought process.
“Main dishes for three, so one plate each. The quantity isn’t much so I won’t need to trouble you when cooking.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Roy wasn’t too unhappy, the corners of his mouth twisted in a smile. Maybe helping me was just an excuse, and his job was to keep watch over me right from the start.
Never mind, there were still two armed guards outside. I went to the vegetable cupboard with a ‘keep watch if you want to’. I quickly found aria, chachi, and another vegetable found in the Post Station Town, neenon.
Neenon was an orange colored vegetable that was similar to a turnip. It was sweet and turned very soft after boiling. This was the meshed up vegetable found in the kimyusu meat bun I ate during my first visit to the Post Station Town.
After boiling it adequately, it would have the texture of carrots. When cooking ‘Kiba soup’ at home, I would add it in.
It will be perfect if I have some broccoli, but I’m reluctant to try vegetables I’m not familiar with.
Hence, I decided to add the green tino in. Tino was similar to cabbage, and the color and taste were both strong. It wasn’t bad as an ingredient for cream stew.
These vegetables were enough.
However, I couldn’t find the key ingredient to increase the viscosity of the stew, poitan.
When I asked Roy, he just said with a sarcastic laugh: “No way.”
“It’s impossible to make a decent dish with poitan. Are you asking for a lashing?”
Oh right, Kamyua Yost once said that poitan was portable food for travelers and soldiers, and even the people in the Post Station Town wouldn’t serve them on the dining table.
I laid out the vegetables onto the working counter and fell into deep thought. A vegetable stew that wasn’t thick couldn’t be called a vegetable stew.
“Erm… Sorry to bother you, is the staple food in the city fuwano?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
“How is the fuwano processed into this form?”
“Huh? The fuwano is ground and then the water is added. You are a chef, yet you have never baked fuwano before?”
“Yes, because there wasn’t a need for me to bake fuwano in the past. Are there any ground fuwano here?”
Roy gestured to the corner of the food store with his thumb.
Behind the vegetable cupboard was a giant sack. I opened it, and it was filled with white powder.
Poitan was milky white, but this powder was as white as snow. The grains were very fine, and when I put some in my mouth, it tasted just like wheat.
Hmmm, this will do. By the way… This might be more similar to wheat than poitan.
With the substitute of milk and butter here, I could start making the white sauce by following the normal procedure. I decided to start from here.
“Please let me borrow the stove.”
I shifted all the food I needed onto the work table and then stood before the stove. I lit a fire in the stove, heated up a small pot and put the nyuushi into the pot. The nyuushi melted immediately, and the butter-like fragrance was appetizing.
I then added a little fuwano powder and spread it to a spatula to avoid it from bunching up. The poitan would get burned easily during this process, as kiba fats were used instead of nyuushi. When making vegetable stew for the house Lutim banquet, I added raw poitan into the pot to give the stew a coerciveness and texture.
The result was… The fuwano powder and karon nyuushi were mixed together.
I added karon milk into the semi-liquid sauce and tried the taste. Both the flavor and texture were thick. It tasted stronger than a sauce made from milk and butter and wasn’t too sticky either.
I didn’t add rock salt, Pico leaves, and the bouillon cube-like thing in to season, and made a fuwano sauce that could be served confidently anywhere.
“Your methods are really strange.”
Roy said sarcastically, but I ignored him since he didn’t ask for a taste test.
Okay, next are vegetables and meat.
Aria, chachi, tino, neenon— the substitutes for onion, potato, cabbage, and carrot, respectively. Chachi and tino were chopped into bite-size, the aria was shredded, and neenon— sliced. The quantity wasn’t much since it was just dinner for three.
I decided to use kimyusu breast meat. This was the main dish, so I added more meat.
And thankfully, the kimyusu meat in this mansion had skin on them. Kimyusu meat with skin was expensive, but that might just be a trivial amount for nobles.
The meat and vegetable knives here were high quality. It was ironic how good the environment here was.
“Erm, can I use nyuushi to fry meat and vegetables?”
“Huh? Whatever, you are really annoying with your endless questions.”
“Because, nyuushi is expensive, right? A lot of milk is needed to make this small quantity.”
I heard that 1 liter of cow milk could only make 20 g of butter.
But Roy just mocked me.
“That might be so, but using it to make a mediocre dish is better than letting it spoil.”
“Letting it spoil… It will be thrown away?”
“What else can we do? Smear it over your body like the princesses in the capital? Forget it… We can buy more if this isn’t enough, that’s the way the nobles do things.”
What a tasteless way of acting. Karon milk, nyuushi, as well as curd were all ingredients that couldn’t be bought in the Post Station Town. It couldn’t be helped if it was too expensive to buy… But the nobles buying them recklessly was the reason for their inflated cost.
By the way, meat from the karon torso could only be bought in the city.
How maddening.
The thought that the cream stew I made would only end up in the mouth of the nobles made me feel empty inside.
Is there a way to buy karon milk in the Post Station Town? If I can make them into nyuushi and curd myself, I will be able to expand my repertoire greatly with just these two ingredients.
Gyama curd and oil could be bought from traveling merchants. If I figured out the supply chain and price, I might be able to let karon milk, reten oil, and sugar from Jaguar be sold in the Post Station Town. But I could only think about doing this.
“Hey, if you dally any further, you will really have no time.”
When I heard his joking tone, I turned and looked at Roy.
He was a western youth without any prominent features and could be seen anywhere. He had a sharp tongue, but I didn’t think he was a bad guy. However, he didn’t seem to understand how great his environment was.
“… Please let me use the stove again.”
Anyway, I had to finish this job that was forced onto me quickly and then think about the Forest's Edge and Post Station Town. But since I met with something so unreasonable, I wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t take some useful information back with me.
I pondered as I used the nyuushi to fry the large slices of kimyusu meat. It had already been marinated in salt, so the only seasoning I used was Pico leaves. When the skin turned yellowish brown, I added in the vegetable. After a while, I added in water and cooked it over a weak flame.
Thirty minutes later, I heard a heavy bell from afar, and the chachi that was the toughest to cook had turned soft.
Since I didn’t cook kiba meat and there was a substitute for bouillon cube, it didn’t need to be cooked for too long. I stirred it slowly over a weak fire and tested the taste after it had been thoroughly cooked.
It didn’t feel salty enough, so I added some rock salt and Tau sauce as a hidden taste.
This was the nostalgic taste of the cream stew. I never imagined that I could make this dish in this world. How blissful it would be if I could let Ai Fa, the denizens of Forest's Edge, and the people in the Post Station Town try this dish. I kept this thought inside my heart and informed Roy that I was done.
“Hmmp. That’s fast. Hey… The food is done!”
Roy yelled, and the door opened. Chiffon Chel appeared before us.
“Thank you for your hard work, Asuta-sama, Roy-sama… Ara, there’s the aroma of karon milk…”
Chiffon Chel closed her eyes as if she was mesmerized.
I then scooped up the cream stew with a ladle, followed by handing the plate to Chiffon Chel. She bowed towards me and picked up a spoon.
“Well then, allow me to test for poison…”
So this woman got such a duty.
I looked at her with despair… Chiffon Chel took a bite and then opened her eyes wide: “Ara…”
On her face was a smile of surprise and compliment.
“This… is such a delicious dish… I had never tasted something so good in my life…”
Roy raised his eyebrow.
“Hey, watch it with your flattery, slave girl. Don’t forget who makes the dishes you taste test every day.”
“I didn’t forget, and I’m not demeaning anyone else’s cooking… I just think this is a perfect dish…”
“You don’t seem to get it. The top chefs of Genos are all gathered in this manor. I warn you, if you say anything that implies they are fools, you will get more than a lashing.”
“Ehh… But I’m from Mahildra… My taste sense is different from westerners, so I don’t think I’m demeaning anyone…”
Chiffon Chel said with a reserved smile.
Roy’s face started to turn nasty.
“… So you’re saying you won’t retract your retarded words?”
Chiffon Chel tilted her head troubledly and nodded: “Yes…”
The next instant, Roy threw the ladle beside the pot at Chiffon Chel. The ladle hit her temple, and Chiffon Chel yelled weakly.
“Don’t be retarded, lowly slave!”
Roy grabbed the karon bottle on the working platform, and when he was about to throw the bottle, I grabbed his arm.
“Stop! Don’t use violence over such stupid things!”
Roy looked at me with his bloodshot eyes.
“Unhand me, Post Station Town chef, do you know who I am?”
“Who gives a shit. Aren’t you the one who is hiding your identity?”
Roy started struggling, and I increased my strength.
“However, you are also a chef, right? Then don’t abuse the precious cooking tools and ingredients.”
Roy twisted his face from pain. The blue bottle dropped onto the working platform.
“It hurts! L-Let me go! My arm is breaking!”
I was taken aback and said: “You are exaggerating too much.” I was shocked by the tears flowing from Roy’s eyes. Did it really hurt that much?
“Asuta-sama… Please stop…”
Chiffon Chel who was on the floor grabbed my legs.
I looked back at her and held my breath. The two guards behind her had their hands on their sword hilt.
I let go, and Roy collapsed onto the floor clutching his arm.
“Thank you… But, standing up for someone like me won’t do Asuta-sama any good…”
I sighed deeply upon hearing what Chiffon Chel said.
I want to go back to Ai Fa and for her to enjoy my cooking. This thought filled my entire mind.
2
From then until the night was a painful time for me.
I couldn’t leave before their employer finished dinner, so I was confined to the room I woke up in.
I finished the dish in less than an hour, so there were still two hours before dinner started at dusk. I didn’t have anything to kill time since I was captured in enemy territory. The only thing I could do was lie in my soft bed and brood.
“Asuta-sama… would you like me to prepare you something to drink…?”
Chiffon Chel leaned out from behind the screens and said quietly.
“No, no need.”
“You don’t need it, huh… There is still some time before dinner, so you don’t need to hold back… It is my job to attend to your needs…”
Chiffon Chel walked over quietly as she said that.
“My only wish is going back home as soon as possible.”
“… Aside from that, I can do everything else to satisfy Asuta-sama…”
The bed started to screech.
I took a look, and Chiffon Chel was already leaning on the bed.
She rested one arm on the bed and bent her slim waist to lean her upper body towards me. I couldn’t help curling my body up with her purple eyes staring at me.
“T-Then, want to chat a little to pass the time? Let’s talk about idle things, aside from the nobles and this manor.”
“Ara…”
Chiffon Chel smiled with her hand on her mouth.
“But, I don’t know anything outside this manor… I’m not permitted to step outside…”
“But, you were forcefully brought here, right? I still don’t really understand the relationship between the west and the north”
I propped myself up and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed.
It wasn’t an exciting topic, but it was better than brooding endlessly.
“By the way, I don’t really understand the slavery system in this country. Your movements seem quite unrestricted… Are you really a slave?”
“Yes… I was caught by Selva soldiers when I was young and got brought to Genos… But I learned to speak western faster than anyone else, and was permitted to live in this manor.”
“That’s cruel. I don’t really understand it is though.”
“Not really… Genos is very peaceful… probably because it is far away from Mahildra… At the borders, the westerners and northerners loathe each other… But I’m not treated too harshly here…”
I almost mentioned about the ladle thrown at her, but that probably wasn’t harsh treatment to her. This was too heavy a topic for someone born in Japan like me.
“The south and east kingdom are still fighting at their national borders, but they can coexist in Genos. Can northerners and westerners coexist in the eastern kingdom?”
“I don’t know… How should I put this… My hometown is very far from Semu, so I don’t really know either…”
Chiffon Chel didn’t empathize with my situation; was it because she didn’t show it, or had she lost the emotions to feel sad for others? I didn’t know that, but I did know she might be a girl I could talk to without any reservation in this manor.
“Asuta-sama… you are really an unfathomable person…”
Chiffon Chel said with a warm smile.
“You are from the Post Station Town, yet you can cook such delicious meals… You are a westerner, yet you protected me… And despite your gentle appearance, you are unexpectedly strong…”
“Huh, there aren’t many who are as weak as me in the Forest's Edge settlement.”
But that youth named Roy was weaker than me. Maybe I got stronger after living in Forest's Edge.
“How strange… We will be parting in a few more hours; I’m really reluctant to do so… This is the first time I felt this way since I left my hometown…”
“Chiffon Chel, I don’t dislike you either…”
After Pyschkurewuss fall from grace, would they be freed?
Considering the relationship between the west and the north, that was too optimistic… But I had to tell Kamyua Yost that I met a girl like her here.
“… It is getting dark…”
Chiffon Chel stood up, walked behind the screen, and came back with a candle stand. No, it might be more apt to call it a lantern. It had a metal handle, and a fire burned inside the glass cover.
Light from the small window used for illumination was gradually fading. It was almost time for dinner.
Would my dish be to their liking? Even if they enjoyed it, would I be released as agreed on? If not… I would need to consider escaping by force.
Ai Fa… She must have reached home and heard about this from Ludo Wu…
How angry would Ai Fa be that I didn’t come home on time, and how sad would she be.
My heart ached and my head was heavy. The dark murkiness in my heart turned into black mist and seeped out of my body. Ai Fa who didn’t know anything must be in even more pain. If not for that, I would have cried out loud shamelessly.
And so, I spent a torturous time quietly in the dim room… When I was almost at my limit and put my legs onto the floor, the door opened without any warning from the outside.
“Asuta of the Fa house, my employer permits an audience with you.”
It was one of the guards keeping watch over me.
Maybe this wasn’t anything special, so I glared at his arrogant face.
“This way, please. Woman… Stay here.”
I could finally see the one behind all this. Anyway, I had to handle this calmly. I asked Chiffon Chel to prepare my change of clothes and stepped into the corridor.
Is it Pyschkurewuss himself, or his minion? I can finally find out the truth.
I wondered as I walked down the passageway that was still dim despite the numerous lanterns.
The route there was longer than the trip to the bath hall and kitchen. It was just like a maze, with endless brick walls and carpeted floors everywhere, with no way to discern their differences. Even if I had the chance to escape from the guards, I wouldn’t be able to make it outside or even make it back to the room I came from.
After walking down the stairwell, we walked for quite a distance before climbing up some stairs. A few minutes later, a door finally appeared before us.
This door was obviously different from the one I saw before. It was very big, reinforced with steel on the edge. The carvings on it looked more grand, and it felt intimidating like the gates to hell.
“Asuta of the Fa house has arrived!”
One of the soldiers announced loudly. The door was so thick that they couldn’t hear from the inside if he didn’t yell so loudly. A deep male voice came from the inside: “Enter.”
The soldiers pulled open the heavy door.
Bright light poured onto the corridor. It seemed really bright inside. To avoid being blinded, I squinted my eyes as I walked inside.
And then… I met her.
“Stop.”
A low male voice boomed.
The door closed slowly, with two guards standing on either side of it.
So, is she the one behind all this…?
I gulped.
Kaslan Lutim once described Pyschkurewuss’ appearance to me. But there was no way she could be Pyschkurewuss.
“My mistress… This is Asuta of the Fa house.”
The man said in a deep voice. The one who had been speaking all the while was just the bodyguard beside his mistress. His armor looked more elegant than the one on the soldiers beside me, and he seemed to have quite a high standing. However, his dressing didn’t really match how he looked. He was short, fat, and had the face of a retarded cow.
However, all that didn’t matter.
What was important that the mistress of this room was lying on the soft couch and glaring at me… She was the one who put me through this terrible experience.
“Hmmp. He doesn’t look like much, isn’t he just a brat?”
A high pitched voice commented.
It was a high pitched tone like a child, and the words were a little slurred.
No…
She was unquestionably a very young girl.
“This child actually made that dish, how incredible. Is he really Asuta of the Fa house?”
“Yes, he is.”
The short and fat bodyguard answered in a deep voice, and that girl checked me out after a grunt. She had arrogant and condescending eyes, but she was just a kid.
She was about ten and was lying lazily on the couch so I couldn’t tell her height. But she was petite and thin. A white dress with lots of ribbons were covering her tiny body.
The design covered her upper body perfectly, and below her waist was a multi-layered dress. It was as elegant as a wedding dress.
Her bare shoulders and arms were ivory skinned and adorned with silver and gem accessories. Her brown hair draped onto her chest, with a sparkling silver hair accessory on her head.
The girl lay onto the couch lazily, with half of her fluffy skirt crushed under her. What a waste.
She was probably the daughter of some noble, and she had the face that befitted one. Her light brown eyes were wide open and glaring at me. She had a petite nose, petal-like lips were even and proportionate, her face was small and seemed smaller than my palm, and her skin was smooth and seemed untouched by any sunlight.
However, the proper face of this little girl seemed displeased and had a negative expression that was completely different from Ai Fa and Lala Wu.
She looks quite handful… An alarm rang in my mind.
“… What are you looking at?”
The girl said in a flustered voice:
“Are you misunderstanding something just because your cooking is somewhat good? Normally, a lowly person like you wouldn’t be standing before me.”
I already thought of several ways to rebuke her.
But I might get a lashing if I acted too rashly. The things this girl said filled me with unpleasant feelings.
“… So you are the one behind my abduction to this place?”
I wasn’t sure how to interact with such a tiny tyrant, so I tried my best to keep my tone gentle. But I still replied to her in a not too polite way.
The girl didn’t have any problem with my tone, but she pouted impatiently:
“You still want to talk about that now? Well… Who are you? In which country did you learn your cooking techniques? You are definitely not from Genos, right?”
“Before asking about you, shouldn’t you introduce yourself? Who are you?”
“I’m Lifuria.”
She probably thought that this was good enough for a self-introduction… Lifuria continued:
“I had never tasted such cooking before. Where did you learn to cook? You look like a mixed-blood to me, are you part Semu? Jaguar? Or could it be Mahildra?”
“My hometown is an island from outside this continent, a country called Japan.”
I answered without any proof, and Lifuria opened her eyes wide: “A migrant?”
“I see, you are a migrant… That explains why I have never seen your cookings before! What is a migrant doing in the middle of the continent? Migrants trade a little with Mahildra and Jaguar, but they then go home right after doing so.”
“No, I’m…”
“Kimyusu and karon can only be found in Selva and Jaguar, right? Then why can you cook like this? And you are a young brat too. Who are you?”
It looped back to the original question again.
I decided to organize the situation to figure out what was happening. In the meantime, I surveyed the room. It was an extravagant room adequate for a noble, but it wasn’t too big. The flooring was covered in rugs, and the walls were covered with drapes sewn with delicate designs, covering almost the entire brick wall.
The couch the girl was lying on was big enough for four adult men to sit on it.
Between me and the mistress was a long and wide table covered in a grape-colored tablecloth and decorated with baskets filled with all sorts of flowers.
In the corners of the rooms were strange stone statues. They were probably used to ward off evil and also served as decoration. It had the head of a lion, torso of a man, and the legs of horses or deer, a very strange sort of chimera.
It was carved out of a very smooth marble-like stone, and they were all facing the middle of the room with their swords or spears. Lions baring their fangs, bulging shoulder muscles hoisting weapons, and hooves raised up high were all carved boldly, giving an impression that they might move at any moment.
The illumination inside the room deserved a mention. On the high ceiling was a sprawling chandelier, and its white light shone into every corner of the room. It was about 1 m wide and shaped like a crown. It wasn’t too lavished in my hometown, but considering the civilization standard of this world, it was probably a marvel. The material was either glass or crystal, and the light from dozens of candles reflected chaotically within it, making it shine like the sun.
I wondered what the candles were made from. They gave off a sweet and gentle aroma in the room and had minimal smoke, so it was definitely expensive and rarer than the animal fats used in the Forest's Edge.
“… Answer my question. Why are you just standing there?”
Lifuria rushed me with an angry voice.
“… I can’t give you an answer that will satisfy your curiosity. When I came to, I found myself in this place.”
I answered carefully.
“In any case, I’m not from this continent, and there are many people my age who can cook back in my hometown. You might find this queer, but that’s how it is.”
“… Hmmp.”
“So, you don’t intend to answer my question? Who are you, why did you bring me here? Threatening me with a knife is a mockery of the law.”
The girl shut her mouth and then glared at me unhappily.
“That man over there…”
I turned towards the bodyguard standing beside the couch.
“You are the one who abducted me, right? Why would someone who works in a noble’s manor commit such a lawless act?”
Part of the reason I said that was to bait out his words.
However, his stout stature and deep voice did seem familiar.
He was a westerner with yellowish brown skin and curly dark brown hair. His face was fat in an unhealthy way, and it was hard to judge how old he was. But he seemed somewhat capable. His brown eyes under his slightly swollen eyelid were dull, as he glared at me without a word.
“I have an idea who owns this manor. However, he should be attending a conference in the Genos castle right now. Does he know what you lot are doing? He definitely doesn’t want to have any trouble with the denizens of Forest's Edge right now.”
“…”
“You are Lifuria, right? How are you related to Count Pyschkurewuss Turan?”
Lifuria stood up suddenly.
Her fluffy dress shone under the light of the chandelier. And then… Lifuria suddenly stomped her feet.
“I don’t care about father’s issues! Father isn’t in, so I’m the mistress of this manor!”
“Father… Lifuria, so you are Pyschkurewuss’ daughter.”
It wasn’t a complicated conclusion. Since enslaved northerners worked here, this must be Pyschkurewuss’ manor, although Pyschkurewuss was in the Genos castle… I had finally solved this contradiction. And since she was Pyschkurewuss’ daughter, she might have heard about me from Dell.
The doubts in my mind had been cleared.
Pyschkurewuss was definitely not involved in this. He would never permit this to happen while he was away.
“Yes, I get the gist of it now. So… What do you plan to do about me? You would have forbidden me from doing business in the Post Station Town if I didn’t cook a proper meal, right?”
“…”
“As I explained, I’m a chef from a foreign nation, and I already did my very best. I’m not sure if the locals would like this taste, but I won’t hold back.”
I suppressed my bloodlust a little and said to her in a gentler tone.
Taking Neil hostage was unforgivable, but since this stemmed from the curiosity and mischief of a daughter of a noble who grew up in a glasshouse, we could end this without further incident.
“I don’t need your compliments, just let me go home. I hope you will allow me to continue my business like before. That is all I’m asking for. Can you grant my request?”
Lifuria pursed her lips in silence.
A girl like this shouldn’t have the authority to close my stall, but it was hard to say for sure.
In any case, I didn’t want to drag this any longer. If my stall gets shut down over something so ridiculous, there would be a riot in the Post Station Town. When Pyschkurewuss and Malfreed return from the castle five days later, we would have another chance to appeal and negotiate.
I was fine with anything if I got to go home. That was my only request.
Lifuria finally scowled her beautiful eyebrows nefariously and said: “… You are really an infuriating man.”
I thought I might have spoken too anxiously, so I straightened my posture.
But Lifuria didn’t burst out in anger and just straightened her slender fingers on the table. There was something akin to a tiny treasure chest on the table, and Lifuria took out a small metallic piece that was shimmering with a tint of silver.
That metal piece was tossed through an air in the arc and fell by my feet. It was a silver plate, and the Fa house possessed quite a number of them. One silver plate was equivalent to a hundred white copper plates or a thousand red copper plates. The only other place I had seen this plate was at the money changer post in the Post Station Town.
“… You want me to take this as a reward? But this amount is too much.”
By the way, I could earn one silver plate in four days. My daily profits were about 250 red copper plates.
I should just accept and hand it over to Neil as compensation for his troubles.
As I was thinking about that, Lifuria said with a malicious face:
“What are you talking about? This is payment for your work.”
“Payment?”
I picked up the silver plate and tilted my head quizzingly.
What was the difference between reward and payment?
“I have not acknowledged your work completely yet. In short, you have done a job that deserves this payment.”
“Hmm? I don’t really understand…”
“Next task will be tomorrow’s lunch. If you can serve a meal that satisfies me, I will give you another silver plate.”
Lifuria announced, dismissing everything I said, and turned around suddenly.
“I’m going to rest. Do your preparation for tomorrow then.”
“W-Wait! Are you kidding about lunch tomorrow? I thought I can go home whether you are satisfied or not?”
Lifuria stopped and cast a malicious sideways glance at me.
“You are so annoying. I’m the mistress of this manor, so you have to obey me if you are in this manor.”
“How can you be so lawless! Even if you are a daughter of a noble, there are things you can and can’t do!”
I stepped forth unconsciously.
The guards beside me grabbed my arms, but I didn’t stay silent.
“I will be frank, doing this won’t help your father at all! Your father is in all sorts of talks with the denizens of Forest's Edge. If his daughter did something like this, it would make his position very awkward!”
“… I said you are annoying.”
“You are the one who should listen properly! If you don’t want to make matters worse, let me go right now! If you stop now, it will just be laughed off as a bad joke! If you worsen your crime…”
“You said my father’s position would turn awkward?”
Lifuria cut me off again. A devilish smile appeared on her proportionate face.
“That’s interesting. What kind of face will he make when he returns in five days. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Hey, you…!”
“The time limit is five days. My father should be back in the morning of the fifth day, so make a dish that satisfies me before that. I will pay you another silver plate, and I might even let you go home early.”
Lifuria then showed a mischievous expression.
“… But if your cooking taste too nasty, I won’t let you do your business in the Post Station Town no matter what father says. If you don’t want that, work hard.”
“Hey, wait!”
My angry roar bounced off the petite back of that girl.
And so, the young tyrant disappeared through the door opened by her stout bodyguard… Meanwhile, the guards grabbed both my arms; my body was quivering with rage, with a shimmering silver coin in my hand.
3
What kind of joke is this!? I have enough of this farce!
When I was escorted back to my room, my heart was still simmering with rage. Pyschkurewuss wasn’t involved in this farce, which was good news, but I found it hard to accept being confined to this manor for five days.
Just what was Lifuria thinking? She only did this after learning about my culinary skill from Dell. Even if I took a million steps back and forgave what she did, I still couldn’t accept her going back on her words and continuing to confine me.
She might be on bad terms with her father, Pyschkurewuss, but that had nothing to do with me. I wished they could settle this father and daughter feud somewhere else.
Anyway, it was useless for me to fume over this. Chiffon Chel who was supervising me spoke to me timidly:
“Asuta-sama, are you alright…? Would you like some wine before turning in…?”
“No, no need.”
“T-Then, would you like something to eat… If you need to stay in the manor, would you like to eat something before sleeping…?”
I didn’t want to stay here at all.
I really wanted to shout, but Chiffon Chel was innocent.
“Erm, I want to ask you for a favor, Chiffon Chel.”
“Yes… How may I help…?”
“Are there any servants or guards that look like easterners in this manor?”
“Easterners…?”
Chiffon Chel tilted her head troublingly.
I felt she wouldn’t be able to answer this question, but she thought over it carefully:
“Well… I don’t think there are any in this manor…”
“Which means, one of the servants that commute to work here might be an Easterner?”
“No… Basically, the guards and servants all stay in this manor… Some people like the assistants of the chef have other work so they can commute to work… But I had never seen any dark-skinned people when going to the kitchen to test for poison…”
Chiffon Chel tilted her head the other way as she said that.
“However… There is quite a number of Semy people who visit in order to conduct business with the master… They usually return in the same day, so I don’t have any chance to serve them…”
“I see. Thank you.”
So, even if Sangjura was related to this manor, he wasn’t lodging here.
The last doubt in my mind was Sangjura.
The one Sangjura called his “employer” seemed to be Lifuria and not Pyschkurewuss. But why was Sangjura employed by this young tyrant?
And did he approach my stall because he was ordered too? Were his smile and gentle attitude all a trick to make me let down my guard? When I thought about that, my mind became a mess due to the rage and feelings of emptiness because of the betrayal of someone I trusted.
But now wasn’t the time to be agitated over something like this.
I shook my head hard and cleared my mind.
“Chiffon Chel, I believe you, so I want to ask you one more thing.”
“Hmm… what is it…?”
“I want to escape from this manor. Can you let me go?”
I knew very well that this was an illogical question. If she was loyal to her master, contrary to what I thought, this would all be in vain.
But, if I wanted to escape, I needed to take care of this girl, who would be spending the night with me in the same room, and hide this from the guards outside the door. I wasn’t confident of doing so.
Chiffon Chel didn’t look surprised and said: “Well… It’s impossible for me to do anything… And this manor is guarded by a large number of soldiers…”
“I think the chances of success are very low. But I might get killed if I fail.”
“That’s not true… They won’t do something as dangerous as killing you… Lifuria-sama is just a ten-year-old child…”
“I have said this many times, I was abducted to here at knifepoint. Wasn’t that the princess who gave this order?”
“That might be so, but I think Lifuria-sama only gave the order to invite Asuta-sama here… I’m also not sure how it turned into something so barbaric…”
My thoughts wandered back to the bodyguard who was like a bull beside that girl. He must be the one who carried out his mistress orders in such a way.
“So I will just get lashings if I fail, huh. I feel braver now.”
“Asuta-sama… that’s dangerous…”
Chiffon Chel sat down on the bed and grabbed my arm. She wasn’t wavering at all and had the face of someone coaxing a child.
“Lashings aren’t child play… I’m fortunate to only have only suffered it a few times… It is a pain that will make you want to give up on life…”
“… Is that so?”
“… Would you like to see my back…?”
“N-No need.”
That caught me completely off-guard, and I moved away from Chiffon Chel with complicated feelings.
“Even so, I don’t want to submit to this fate. I’m not asking you to help, but can you turn a blind eye to this?”
“… Why are you doing something so precarious…? You can return home safely in five days even if you don’t run, right?”
“I can’t trust that so readily. When the real master returns from the castle and learns of his daughter’s lawless act, he might just bury me into the darkness.”
She answered me with a sad and quiet smile. She didn’t refute the possibility of Pyschkurewuss doing that.
My impression of Pyschkurewuss was on point; this was such a heartwarming moment.
“As I said, I think it’s worth risking my life to break out of this fate. Can you let me go…?”
“Yes… But the door is locked from the outside, and the guards will keep watch through the night…?”
“That’s true. So I have to escape through the window.”
I just noticed the large window behind the screen. There was a curtain that was made of sturdy material too. This room was on the second floor, and I could climb down to the first floor if I made use of the curtain.
“If you will let me go, I plan to tie you up to give the illusion that I used brute force to escape. You won’t be lashed in that case, correct?”
“Yes… You are already in danger, and you are still thinking about others…?”
Chiffon Chel smiled happily.
“It can’t be helped if I get a lashing… Please, don’t worry about that…”
“Then… Do you want to escape together?”
I leaned towards Chiffon Chel.
“I might be coercing you to do something bad… But you will be lashed either way, why not bet on this chance?”
“No need… I’m different from Asuta-sama; if I fail in my escape attempt, I will definitely be executed… Not by Lifuria-sama, but the master who will return in five days…”
My understanding of the slavery system was too naive. Chiffon Chel probably thought of me as a fool.
“If Asuta-sama is determined to follow this through, I won’t stop you… Please, follow the path you wish to take… I will stay here and pray for your success…”
“But, you might get a lashing?”
“Please, don’t worry. But… When I heard that Asuta-sama will be staying in this manor for five days, I felt a little happy… So I’m a little reluctant…”
Chiffon Chel then smiled again.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking with that smile, and she looked just like a fairy.
“Asuta-sama is really unfathomable… The easterners and southerners sympathize with me too, but no one treated me as kindly as Asuta-sama…”
“That was definitely because I came from a country without any slavery. And I’m a denizen of Forest's Edge. The denizens of Forest's Edge are persecuted for changing their faith. I don’t really understand the war between the northerners and westerners, but I can’t accept people being judged because of their heritage.”
Chiffon Chel muttered with a smile: “Is that so…” I still didn’t know if her heart was filled with despair.
“Pardon me, I will be making a rash attempt to escape. If escape is unlikely, I will return before the guards find out… You won’t need to get a lashing then.”
“… I will pray for Asuta’s success…”
Given what might become of Chiffon Chel, I felt really guilty for only thinking of running away by myself with such abysmal chances.
However, I didn’t feel like covering myself with the blanket and going to sleep. Lifuria’s words were too decisive so I couldn’t be sure that things would end well five days later. Therefore, I had to do my best and fight for it.
“… You really don’t need me to help…?”
“No! Please, don’t peek, okay?”
First, I changed into the clothes I asked Chiffon Chel to return to this room. My own white T-shirt and canvas shoes, as well as the vest and waist clothe Ai Fa gifted me… I then tied the wrinkled white towel on my head, and I was done. I placed the silver coin on top of the clothes I took off.
Next, I prepared for my escape.
I went around the screen and took the curtain down. I tore it vertically with my teeth and fingers and then tugged at it to confirm it was strong enough before tying them together. After taking down three curtains from the two windows, I made a strong enough substitute for a rope.
I then used the leftover cloth to tie up Chiffon Chel’s arms, which made me feel really guilty.
If Chiffon Chel called for help, she wouldn’t need to worry about lashings, but she didn’t do that.
“Please, stuff my mouth too… If I pretend to be unconscious, I won’t get faulted…”
I stuffed her mouth as she asked and then let her lie in my bed behind the screen. Finally, I nodded at her and blew out the fire in the lantern before opening one window.
It was completely dark outside. The moon and the stars were high up in the skies, but the entire world was black. But it seemed that I didn’t need to worry about guards patrolling with lanterns.
I investigated when it was still bright outside, and there seemed to be a wide courtyard outside. If I walked straight down the courtyard, I would reach the stone wall around the manor. In this city protected by rock walls, this manor was surrounded by another layer of stone wall.
Even if I wasn’t discovered by the guards, I couldn’t climb over this rock wall. If I did make it over the wall, I would be inside an unknown city.
Could I exit the city without an entry permit? This was an escape attempt with too many unknowns and almost zero chance of success. If I failed, I would be lucky to just get a lashing. Before pushing myself to take on this retarded challenge, I tied my handmade rope to a bedpost.
I leaned out and looked around, and found the windows in the other room shut. After confirming that, I lowered the other end of the rope out the window.
Okay, let’s go.
Climbing at an inappropriate time.
The ground was about four meters away, which wasn’t a fatal fall. But the ground was stone-paved, so I might fracture a bone. I trusted the arm strength I trained in the harsh life within the Forest's Edge and started moving out the window.
When I put my entire body weight on it, the rope started to creak. With my feet on the wall, I slowly and carefully lowered myself. My arms started shaking in no time. The night breeze was really comfortable, but I was sweating all over. I needed to replenish my calories before embarking on such exercises.
But I wasn’t discovered by anyone, and I didn’t slip. After climbing down before exhausting my strength, I landed steadily.
I rested my hands on my knees in the dark and caught my breath.
The world was engulfed in darkness with a tint of blue. I could see the surroundings clearly after my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Only the grounds around the building were paved with stone; the grounds five meters away was trimmed grass.
It’s dim here, just how big is this courtyard?
In any case, no one would patrol a place without light. The guards were probably watching the yard and the outside too.
As I strode forth while thinking about that, a window about a meter away opened with a creak.
I quickly leaned against the wall, and my calm heart started racing again.
Was this a coincidence, or did I make some noise without realizing it? I started praying that no one would lean outside.
My prayer was unanswered as a girl’s pale face poked out.
It wasn’t Lifuria, but someone slightly older.
Her beautiful profile surprised me. She was incredibly gorgeous, with a well proportioned nose and gentle curves outlining her forehead to her jaw. Her skin was pale white. Lifuria had pale skin too, but she wasn’t as white as this girl. She looked just like a glass statue under the illumination of the moonlight.
Her brown bangs drape over her smooth forehead. I could see her left side of her face, and the silver hair accessory she wore on her hair.
She was resting her hand on the window sill and leaning her body forward. On her body was a lightly colored nightgown that was on the thin side.
Her hair was very short, and I could see her pure nape.
A girl with an angelic face.
But her eyes were melancholic, and she was looking out into the night with a hint of sadness.
She sighed softly through her fair lips… And, before pulling her face back into the room, she looked my way nonchalantly.
The thin brows hanging over her large eyes became round from surprise.
“… Asuta! What are you doing here!?”
I was shocked too.
The face which was as serene as an angel’s carving suddenly showed human emotions and reverted back to a timid girl.
“D-Dell? So it is you…”
I stood stiffly from shock, and Dell quickly scanned the dark surroundings. She looked anxious.
“Forget it! Come here quickly! If you stand there, you will get mauled to death by the guard dogs!”
“G-Guard dogs?”
“Yes! Guard dogs are set loose in the yard at night, so you can’t go there! Ah, you don’t know what are dogs, right? It’s quite common in the south… Enough with that, come over quickly!”
I was more troubled than Dell and started moving towards her unconsciously. She then pulled me by the collar into the dim room.
“Ah, that scared me… Don’t frighten me like that! Asuta, what are you doing here!?”
Dell shouted and then covered her own mouth with both hands. At this moment, someone knocked the door on the wall adjoining to the window.
“Dell-sama, do you need something?”
This was the familiar voice of Dell’s escort, Lavis.
“Nothing! I’m just talking to myself. We need to work early tomorrow too, so you should turn in early, okay?”
“… Sweet dreams, Dell-sama.”
After saying that with an emotionless and stiff voice, Lavis didn’t say any more.
There was a door in this room leading to another room, and Lavis was staying there.
“Dell… So you really are staying in this manor.”
“What do you mean by ‘really’? Asuta, why are you in this city?”
Dell quietly closed the window as she lowered her voice and then looked surprised again:
“Ah, could it be… The dishes we had earlier were made by Asuta?”
“Ah, the kimyusu meat dish made with karon milk? That’s me.”
“So it was you. Ah, that tasted delicious!”
Dell said with a big smile. This was an angelic expression in another sense.
“Because I ate a delicious meal, it reminded me of Asuta. As I opened the window, I was wondering if you are well and if you are already sleeping, and then the real Asuta appeared before me! I almost died from fright!”
So Dell was thinking about me when making that sad face. For some reason, I started feeling bashful.
And because of the light inside the room, I could see Dell’s face clearly. Her uneven colored hair and eyes that were as beautiful as jade… Dell, who was dressed differently than usual, was right before me.
She had a plain and thin nightgown, with laces on her collar and her sleeves. Her thigh that was much whiter than her dress lay bare before me. Her bangs were held up by a silver accessory, showing a little of her forehead. Just being dressed like this made Dell look like a completely different person and really cute.
No, she was one in ten thousand in terms of cuteness in the first place. And Dell looked even cuter right now. Once again, I regretted how blind I was in mistaking such a cute girl for a boy.
“… So, Asuta, are you cooking in this manor now? Aren’t the denizens of Forest's Edge getting along just fine with the people in the city?”
Even though staying here for too long would be dangerous, but meeting her here was like encountering a Buddha in hell. So I gave her a brief breakdown of the situation.
“Huh?” “Really?” “Uwah…” Her face changed like a kaleidoscope as Dell listened to me until the end.
“Erm… That means, boasting about Asuta’s cooking to Lifuria led to all this?”
Dell showed an incredibly sad expression.
“I’m really sorry… I caused a lot of trouble for Asuta…”
“That’s not true. To me, the disaster is that brown-haired princess. If she was logical like a normal person, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
I couldn’t stand seeing Dell being discouraged like a depressed puppy.
“But Lifuria only got serious because Asuta’s cooking is very delicious, right?”
“Got serious? What do you mean?”
“Actually, there were two dishes made with karon milk and kimyusu meat. Lifuria asked us to try and see which was better.”
Dell looked even more apologetic.
“The other dish must have been made by the resident chef. It was a vegetable stew made with karon curd and kimyusu meat. But the soup with a lot of vegetables was clearly tastier… Asuta, you made that soup, correct?”
“Yes.”
“I knew it! That is an amazing dish! But… I just think it tastes amazing! As expected of the manor known for its cookings! Lifuria must be intrigued by this.”
So the three portions I made were eaten by Lifuria, Dell, and Dell’s father. Dell’s father was a steel merchant from Jaguar and an important business partner of Pyschkurewuss.
Leaving all that aside, there were still things that didn’t make sense.
“If the chef that was abducted made more delicious food, wouldn’t they feel frustrated? I don’t understand.”
“No, Lifuria probably didn’t expect you to make such a delicious meal. That girl is always saying that the chefs in the Post Station Town can’t make a proper meal.”
Dell did say something like that before. That was why she wanted to bring my cooking back to the city in order to change Lifuria’s mind.
“Now that I think about it, Lifuria looked unhappy when we started eating that dish. She was probably hoping that we would praise the other dish and then call Asuta over to shame us.”
“Uwah, how devious!”
“Instead of devious, she just doesn’t want to lose. Well… I don’t like to lose either, that’s why Lifuria did that…”
“Dell, don’t take it to heart. But… Why did she confine me? Is she trying to compete until I lose?”
“Hmm, how should I put this? It has nothing to do with competition, Lifuria simply fell in love with Asuta’s dishes. She also wolfed down your cooking with her brows raised angrily.”
Like father, like daughter, I guess. I was targeted by a troublesome person.
“The girl’s father didn’t participate in this incident, correct? By the way, she only did something so retarded because her father left her behind to watch the house.”
“Yes, that must be it. When I talked about Asuta, the old man wasn’t interested and just smiled. If he was around, he would never let Lifuria do something like this.”
Dell leaned in close after saying that.
“Asuta, you can’t accept Lifuria’s way of doing things and want to escape, right?”
“Yes. I know it is reckless though.”
“It’s too reckless! I told you earlier about the guard dogs in the yard, and the manor is surrounded by walls that are this— tall. And aside from the guard dogs, there are guards patrolling the walls. This is the manor of one of the prominent nobles in Genos city after all.”
“Hmm…”
“Even if you escaped, you can’t leave the city. The drawbridge is raised and passage prohibited at night, and you will need an entry permit during the day. You will be apprehended as a criminal if you force your way through.”
Things seemed hopeless.
I was depressed, and Dell looked at me worriedly.
“Sorry, Asuta, this is all my fault. But… Your culinary skill is better than the city’s chef, just as I thought! Why don’t you become this manor’s chef? You can earn enough silver plates and gold plates to enjoy for the rest of your life.”
“No. I can’t serve someone who did something like this, and I don’t want to abandon the Forest's Edge.”
“I see. But it feels like a waste for Asuta’s cooking to be confined to the Post Station Town…”
Dell’s face seemed to say that this was a pity. It was probably an honor to build up a business in the city too.
I wouldn’t dismiss the value of doing so, but I was raised in a family restaurant. Instead of nobles, I preferred to cook for the people in town. They might be real nobles, but I still didn’t want to be their exclusive chef.
“Erm, Dell, can you help me persuade Lifuria? I want to return to Forest's Edge as soon as possible.”
“No, I can’t. Lifuria will never listen to me… And if I did butt in, she will just take it even more seriously.”
“Then, can you relay my situation to the people in the Post Station Town? You just need to let the innkeepers that do business with me know, and then they can pass the message to the denizens of Forest's Edge.”
“I will be a little busy, and can’t leave the city. My father wants to expand the business as much as possible while that old Count is away. My father has a hunch that relying just on that old man alone is dangerous…”
“I think that is the right choice. Anyone in the Post Station Town will do, I just want to let my friends and family know that I’m safe.”
“Family, you mean that mean blonde girl?”
Dell puffed her cheeks.
But she became deflated with an apologetic face.
“Never mind that for now, this will be hard… Even if I told my father, he will definitely say that helping the denizens of Forest's Edge will earn the ire of the nobles… And my father took my entry pass away.”
“Is that so…”
I remembered Dell’s escort Lavis. Dell was on great terms with me, but he was still adamant on being unfriendly towards us. To the Jaguars, the denizens of Forest's Edge were traitors who deserted the southern god. Those who knew me through my business in the Post Station Town were nice to me, but if not for that, they would have viewed the denizens of Forest's Edge with contempt.
“But there’s no need to make the trip to the Post Station Town, right? I can just tell the guards about this, behind my father’s back! Even if she is a noble, this is still a crime!”
“No, the guards in the city are also part of the towns guard, and not the castle guards, right?”
“Huh? I don’t really understand how things are in the western kingdom, but the castle guards protect the castle, right? Be it the city or the Post Station Town, aren’t them all just guards?”
That wouldn’t do. The commander of the townsguard was Pyschkurewuss’ brother. If he learned of Lifuria’s crimes, he would definitely cover it up.
“The Forest's Edge is on bad terms with the towns guard. I’m sorry, but don’t tell the people in the city about this.”
“Huh? But… I don’t want Asuta to die to the guard dogs?”
Dell held my hands with an anxious face. She had firm and warm hands.
“I don’t want to die in vain either. But… I’m at my wits’ end…”
There had definitely been a big fuss in the Post Station Town. But the problem was, the Post Station Town didn’t have any evidence that someone related to Pyschkurewuss had abducted me. Therefore, the denizens of Forest's Edge and Zashuma wouldn’t be able to do anything about this.
“I’m so useless… If not for me, Asuta wouldn’t have met with something like this…”
The expressive Dell started to tear up.
I squeezed out a smile with everything I had.
“If you have the time, it will be great if you can relay the message to my friends from Forest's Edge. You are the only one I can depend on in this city, Dell.”
“I understand. If I have the time, I will do that, I promise!”
Dell seemed to be too loud, and someone knocked on the door again.
“Sorry for disturbing, Dell-sama. Is something the matter…?”
“Dream talking!”
“… Is that so?”
Our secret meeting was almost at its limit. The rope I used to escape was still hanging there. If someone discovered it, Chiffon Chel will get a lashing for nothing.
“I’m going back to my room then. Thank you for listening to me for so long.”
“Ah, wait! One last thing… It’s about that kid Lifuria…”
Dell lowered her eyes and looked reluctant to speak, but she still made up her mind in the end and said:
“Actually, I also hate the nobles. If it wasn’t for the sake of business, I wouldn’t want anything to do with them. But I don’t hate that little girl.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes. That girl isn’t happy about being a noble at all. Her father only cares about work and cuisines and have no time for her. She also needs to learn in the morning and has no time to play… That girl craves for a delicious meal for a different reason from her father.”
The young tyrant that throws her temper. Which meant, there was a reason why she turned out this way.
“Doesn’t Lifuria have any other kin aside from her father? Isn’t the Count Turan house a prominent noble house in Genos?”
“Yes, she has plenty of relatives, but the only ones living in this manor are Lifuria and that old man. There are also servants and old man. Or guests like my father and me. That girl doesn’t have anyone she can talk easily with.”
“I see…”
“So she doesn’t care about being lectured by her father for doing something like this… That child probably just wants attention from her father.”
“Is that so. That’s quite pitiful.”
But that meant I had nowhere to vent my rage.
So I was just caught up in a quarrel between father and daughter.
“I can’t forgive her for treating Asuta like this, but that girl probably didn’t think Asuta would have any complaints. A chef getting invited to this manor is an honor, and she is probably wondering why you are not grateful at all.”
“Hmm, this is a difference in perspectives.”
“And abducting you by force without even asking is probably not the intention of Lifuria, but something Moose did on his own.”
“Moose?”
“If you saw Lifuria, you have probably met Moose, right? He is a short and fat brown-haired bodyguard that looks like a karon.”
“Oh, I see. I think he is the one who abducted me too.”
“I suspected as much! That guy has been Lifuria’s guard since she was born. Loyalty is a nice way of putting it, but he is willing to do anything for Lifuria. That’s scary in its own way. I was almost beaten up by him when I quarreled with Lifuria. And, of course, Lavis stopped him.”
“… Hmm. So a selfish and arrogant princess and a body guard that follow orders blindly.”
What a chilling combination.
However, I still wasn’t sure if Sangjura was involved. I still confirmed one thing — that Moose was a problem.
Neil must have seen Moose’s face when he entered the 《Cryptic Venerable Inn》 disguised as a guest. If he hid in the city, he wouldn’t need to worry about being recognized and might let his guard down. If I informed Zashuma about this, Malfreed could take action.
“Well then, Dell, could you please visit the Post Station Town, if you have the chance, and tell them about Moose? My comrades can then make a report against him.”
“I understand… What about Lifuria? I might just scold her out of the blue when I see her.”
“No, that’s too dangerous. Don’t let her know that I have met you, Dell.”
“But that girl might boast to me though? And say something like ‘I caught your favorite chef!’ or something.”
“Huh? Then she is admitting that she is a kidnapper?”
“She can just say that she paid to hire you. From that girl’s personality, she wouldn’t just keep quiet.”
That girl was too obnoxious.
Could we make use of this? But I felt that things would develop in a negative way.
“If that happens, just say something appropriate to brush it off… Anyway, thank you for agreeing to pass the message to the Post Station Town. We should avoid drawing their suspicion for now.”
“Ugh… I get it. I will endure it as much as possible. It’s my fault that things turn out this way, I’m very sorry, Asuta…”
Dell made a depressed face.
I couldn’t squeeze out a smile anymore and patted her shoulder to cheer her up.
“Don’t apologize for that. And since Dell will be eating it too, I won’t need to cook with a feeling of emptiness tomorrow.”
“Yes… I’m glad to taste Asuta’s cookings too.”
Dell smiled bashfully, and I nodded at her as I placed my hands on the window sill.
After checking for guard dogs and patrols, I started climbing again. I returned to the room all sweaty, and Chiffon Chel who was lying in the same position as I left her welcomed me with gentle eyes.
“Asuta-sama… we meet again…”
I undid her bonds and gag, and Chiffon Chel smiled at me with warm eyes.
“I hope you won’t be mad… But I’m really glad to see you…”
There were all sorts of people living their lives in this manor.
Some of them weren’t irredeemably bad. However, sadness and helplessness filled my heart. After two and a half months in this different world, this was the first time I was apart from Ai Fa at night.
How did Ai Fa feel about spending this night alone? I looked at the pale moonlight outside the window and suppressed my heartache with all my might.
“Well then, I beg your leave…”
Chiffon Chel left the kitchen, leaving me alone with Roy.
“Well, well. It will save me a lot of trouble if you leave too.”
I ignored the grumbling Roy for now and checked out the kitchen.
If there weren’t all these troubles, this would be an exciting moment. The owner of this mansion was either a noble or someone of similar standings. Hence, the facilities here were far better than any found in the Forest's Edge and Post Station Town.
It was 6 to 7 m wide and could be divided into two 10 m2 rooms. The walls and floor were made from bricks, and there were several windows at the top of the walls used for air and lighting. The air circulation was poor though.
On the right wall was a set of culinary tools. Aside from the meat cutting knife and vegetable knife, there were wooden ladles of all sizes, steel grater, and things like strainers. The tools were as varied as in my hometown.
Further in was a small cupboard, with pots and equipment of various sizes in it. I could see a frying pan, a mortar, and an assortment of bowls.
On the opposite side were stoves. There were four stoves of various sizes, all built from stones. The crates beside them were filled with firewood and dark pieces of wood— charcoal. I saw the actual thing before I could ask Michael about them.
Further to the side was a large steel chest. Half of it was embedded in the wall, with a rectangular door in front of it. I opened it curiously and found two layers of steel netting inside. This was definitely an oven.
The working counter in the middle of the room was big too. There were many flasks filled with water too. The empty large jar was probably used for the disposing of kitchen waste; it was clean but still had a faint smell of rotten meat.
What a luxurious place this was. Aside from the lack of gas stove and electricity, this was the best cooking facility I had ever seen. Even in this technologically backward world, it was possible to prepare such facilities.
While I looked in awe, the large gulf between the life of nobles and commoners made me feel complicated.
“You are instructed to make a main dish…”
I could imagine Roy’s cold smile from his tone, and I turned towards him.
“You have to make it with kimyusu meat and karon milk. The food store is this way…”
That was the place where Roy was in before we came. Inside was a scene right out of heaven. The evenly spaced cupboard was filled with vegetables that looked familiar. There were dried fruits and herbs on the wall, and the cupboard on the innermost side was filled with bottles. On the floor was a large pot with a cover, and the pot was probably filled with salted meat. In the basket beside it were two differently sized eggs. They presumably were eggs from the chicken-like kimyusu and the ostrich-like Totos. I seldom saw eggs in the market, because they were only sold in the kimyusu or Totos shops; I was curious about them.
“This is incredible… As expected of a noble’s mansion, everything is top class.”
“Hmmp. This is a kitchen for servants, you know?”
“Servants?”
“This is a small kitchen used to cook for servants. It’s suitable for brats like you though.”
Just as he said, a better environment than this would be wasted on me. So I wasn’t mad even though he showed a mocking face.
“Let’s get started quickly. The bell for the third koku had rung; you won’t make it in time for dinner if you dally any further.”
<TL: 刻, means time>
“Third koku… I was abducted a little after high noon, how much time do I have?”
“Dinner is at dusk, on the sixth koku.”
“Oh. Is noon 0 koku? Or the 1st koku?”
“… Noon is noon. When the bell rings 6 times, afternoon has passed; that means the sun has set.”
Roy looked surprised that I didn’t even know that.
So the period from noon to dusk is divided into six parts. So right now is mid-afternoon.
Which meant, I would usually be done with my work in the Post Station Town right about now.
What did everyone do after I was abducted? I only realized that now. Were Ludo Wu and the others injured? Was Neil released? Did Leina Wu and the others operate the stall until the end of the day?
I was absent from my work in the inn. What did Neil, Naudiz, and Milano Mast think when they heard I got abducted by villains?
And Ai Fa…
Did someone tell Ai Fa yet?
I must return to Forest's Edge safely.
I turned to Roy firmly and said:
“Is this karon milk?”
Roy walked to the cupboard without a word and took out a bottle that was about the size of a fruit wine bottle.
“All the blue bottles are karon milk. There are five left for today.”
I opened the cock-like cover and sniffed. The aroma of milk entered my nostrils.
“It’s fragrant, can it be drank directly?”
“Of course. If left alone until tomorrow, it can only be made into nyuushi and clabber.”
“Nyuushi?”
I had never heard either term before. But an idea sprang up in my heart.
“Is nyuushi the made from the fats in the milk? Or…”
Roy waved his hand impatiently and cut me off, and then took out a small pot from the cupboard. Under the cover was a fragrant and glossy milk white object… This was definitely something like butter.
“Oh! This is amazing! What’s in the other bottles?”
“… This bottle is reten oil, that one is karon fats. Below is mamaria fruit wine, and bubbling wine imported from Jaguar, Gyama kumis from Semu, and vinegar made from mamaria.”
<TL: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%99%BA%E6%B3%A1%E9%85%92 >
<TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumis >
“Vinegar! There’s even vinegar!?”
I couldn’t help shouting while Roy frown impatiently.
“Mamaria vinegar isn’t that uncommon. Don’t shout so suddenly.”
“There’s no vinegar in the Post Station Town. Is reten oil a type of vegetable oil?”
Roy answered by making a ‘do you even need to ask’ face.
Just like how my knowledge was constrained to the Post Station Town, he only knew about the city. That’s why he couldn’t understand why I seemed so shocked by butter, vegetable oil, and vinegar. The anxiety of being separated from my comrades in the Forest's Edge and the excitement of seeing unknown ingredients mesmerized me.
“This row over here are seasoning procured from Jaguar, Tau sauce, sugar, and banam honey.”
The Jaguar sugar was brown, just like those extracted from sugarcane, and the grains were a little coarse.
Banam honey was a glossy golden liquid that was similar to maple syrup. There were also the familiar rock salt, Pico leaves, lilo, and a few other herbs. There were even dried and crispy gigo.
There were two type of curd, Gyama cheese and karon cheese. The texture of Gyama cheese I was familiar with resembled Camembert cheese. The karon cheese had a milkier taste, felt soft and chewy, and was as white as snow. It was like top quality Mozzarella cheese.
And last of all was the mysterious light yellow powder.
“This is stock powder made by brewing kimyusu meat with bones, karon shoulder meat, and a few other vegetables.”
With permission from Roy, I tasted it a little.
Saltiness and tastiness exploded in my tongue. It was a condensed stock powder that reminded me of the bouillon cube.
“Impressive. How is this powder made from the soup?”
I thought these things couldn’t be made without the technology to freeze dry food, but Roy had a simple answer:
“After brewing the stock, coarser grain of fuwano and salt is sprinkled on it and then left to dry.”
So this was fuwano powder that had absorbed the stock. Fuwano was a wheat-like ingredient that could be bought in the Post Station Town. The staple food of the denizens of Forest's Edge was poitan, so I had only eaten fuwano a handful of times.
“That’s all the seasoning in this kitchen. Chef from the Post Station Town, is there anything you aren’t satisfied with?”
“I don’t have any complaints.”
Milk, butter, vegetable oil, animal oil, vinegar, salt, honey, and bouillon cube… All the seasonings I yearned for were here. It made me wonder why I even worked so hard all this time.
However, this wasn’t my original job. My job was to make a dish with the ingredients and seasoning that could be found in the Post Station Town. I was getting pissed at myself for feeling so excited.
There is such a great difference between the two sides of the rock wall. The denizens of Forest's Edge have to hunt kiba to protect the farmlands, the farmers grow crops in the fields, and the people in the Post Station Town and travelers run businesses… But what the people of the city are doing to accumulate so much wealth?
I was born in Japan and only learned in school about the nobles and royalty ruling over a walled up society. Hence, I didn’t know about the gulf between nobles and citizens.
“So, I have to use karon milk and kimyusu meat, huh. Normally, what sort of dish would be served with these ingredients?”
I suppressed the anxiety in my heart and asked Roy.
“Since there is karon milk, it will either be vegetable stew or soup, or used to grill the meat. It’s impossible to make a decent dish without using more ingredients.”
“That’s true. Hmm… It will be better to make cream stew after all…”
“Cream stew?”
“It’s a dish from my hometown. It will be great if the nobles like it.”
I didn’t know about their preferences, but I could only make dishes I knew.
I decided to try the karon milk and butter.
“Hey, if you are going to taste the milk, shake the bottle.”
“Huh? Why?”
“If you don’t shake it, the water and the fats will be separated…”
I see. Fresh milk that has not been homogenized will separate into water and fats.
<TL: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenization_(chemistry)#Methods >
I heeded Roy’s advice and shook the bottle before tasting the milk. It was thicker than the cow milk I knew about and tasted more gamey too.
It wasn’t as gamey as I thought, it was probably pasteurized. Anyway, it had a thick texture and probably had more fats than cow milk.
By extracting the fats from the milk, nyuushi could be made. It didn’t look like it had been fermented, and the sweet taste was similar to what I knew.
However, salt had been added, probably to preserve it. It was very salty, and most of the salt had melted into in because of the high room temperature. It probably had a short shelf life.
Anyway, if I could use karon milk and nyuushi to replace cow milk and butter, it wouldn’t be hard to make cream stew. With complicated emotions, I decided to focus on the vegetable selection.
“By the way, how many portions should I make?”
“Four… No, three portions.”
Dinner for three, huh.
Just who might they be?
Speaking of which… Dell was staying in Pyschkurewuss’ mansion, could it be this one? I didn’t think he would abduct someone to his mansion where a guest was lodging, however, I couldn’t be sure of a noble’s thought process.
“Main dishes for three, so one plate each. The quantity isn’t much so I won’t need to trouble you when cooking.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
Roy wasn’t too unhappy, the corners of his mouth twisted in a smile. Maybe helping me was just an excuse, and his job was to keep watch over me right from the start.
Never mind, there were still two armed guards outside. I went to the vegetable cupboard with a ‘keep watch if you want to’. I quickly found aria, chachi, and another vegetable found in the Post Station Town, neenon.
Neenon was an orange colored vegetable that was similar to a turnip. It was sweet and turned very soft after boiling. This was the meshed up vegetable found in the kimyusu meat bun I ate during my first visit to the Post Station Town.
After boiling it adequately, it would have the texture of carrots. When cooking ‘Kiba soup’ at home, I would add it in.
It will be perfect if I have some broccoli, but I’m reluctant to try vegetables I’m not familiar with.
Hence, I decided to add the green tino in. Tino was similar to cabbage, and the color and taste were both strong. It wasn’t bad as an ingredient for cream stew.
These vegetables were enough.
However, I couldn’t find the key ingredient to increase the viscosity of the stew, poitan.
When I asked Roy, he just said with a sarcastic laugh: “No way.”
“It’s impossible to make a decent dish with poitan. Are you asking for a lashing?”
Oh right, Kamyua Yost once said that poitan was portable food for travelers and soldiers, and even the people in the Post Station Town wouldn’t serve them on the dining table.
I laid out the vegetables onto the working counter and fell into deep thought. A vegetable stew that wasn’t thick couldn’t be called a vegetable stew.
“Erm… Sorry to bother you, is the staple food in the city fuwano?”
“Do you even need to ask?”
“How is the fuwano processed into this form?”
“Huh? The fuwano is ground and then the water is added. You are a chef, yet you have never baked fuwano before?”
“Yes, because there wasn’t a need for me to bake fuwano in the past. Are there any ground fuwano here?”
Roy gestured to the corner of the food store with his thumb.
Behind the vegetable cupboard was a giant sack. I opened it, and it was filled with white powder.
Poitan was milky white, but this powder was as white as snow. The grains were very fine, and when I put some in my mouth, it tasted just like wheat.
Hmmm, this will do. By the way… This might be more similar to wheat than poitan.
With the substitute of milk and butter here, I could start making the white sauce by following the normal procedure. I decided to start from here.
“Please let me borrow the stove.”
I shifted all the food I needed onto the work table and then stood before the stove. I lit a fire in the stove, heated up a small pot and put the nyuushi into the pot. The nyuushi melted immediately, and the butter-like fragrance was appetizing.
I then added a little fuwano powder and spread it to a spatula to avoid it from bunching up. The poitan would get burned easily during this process, as kiba fats were used instead of nyuushi. When making vegetable stew for the house Lutim banquet, I added raw poitan into the pot to give the stew a coerciveness and texture.
The result was… The fuwano powder and karon nyuushi were mixed together.
I added karon milk into the semi-liquid sauce and tried the taste. Both the flavor and texture were thick. It tasted stronger than a sauce made from milk and butter and wasn’t too sticky either.
I didn’t add rock salt, Pico leaves, and the bouillon cube-like thing in to season, and made a fuwano sauce that could be served confidently anywhere.
“Your methods are really strange.”
Roy said sarcastically, but I ignored him since he didn’t ask for a taste test.
Okay, next are vegetables and meat.
Aria, chachi, tino, neenon— the substitutes for onion, potato, cabbage, and carrot, respectively. Chachi and tino were chopped into bite-size, the aria was shredded, and neenon— sliced. The quantity wasn’t much since it was just dinner for three.
I decided to use kimyusu breast meat. This was the main dish, so I added more meat.
And thankfully, the kimyusu meat in this mansion had skin on them. Kimyusu meat with skin was expensive, but that might just be a trivial amount for nobles.
The meat and vegetable knives here were high quality. It was ironic how good the environment here was.
“Erm, can I use nyuushi to fry meat and vegetables?”
“Huh? Whatever, you are really annoying with your endless questions.”
“Because, nyuushi is expensive, right? A lot of milk is needed to make this small quantity.”
I heard that 1 liter of cow milk could only make 20 g of butter.
But Roy just mocked me.
“That might be so, but using it to make a mediocre dish is better than letting it spoil.”
“Letting it spoil… It will be thrown away?”
“What else can we do? Smear it over your body like the princesses in the capital? Forget it… We can buy more if this isn’t enough, that’s the way the nobles do things.”
What a tasteless way of acting. Karon milk, nyuushi, as well as curd were all ingredients that couldn’t be bought in the Post Station Town. It couldn’t be helped if it was too expensive to buy… But the nobles buying them recklessly was the reason for their inflated cost.
By the way, meat from the karon torso could only be bought in the city.
How maddening.
The thought that the cream stew I made would only end up in the mouth of the nobles made me feel empty inside.
Is there a way to buy karon milk in the Post Station Town? If I can make them into nyuushi and curd myself, I will be able to expand my repertoire greatly with just these two ingredients.
Gyama curd and oil could be bought from traveling merchants. If I figured out the supply chain and price, I might be able to let karon milk, reten oil, and sugar from Jaguar be sold in the Post Station Town. But I could only think about doing this.
“Hey, if you dally any further, you will really have no time.”
When I heard his joking tone, I turned and looked at Roy.
He was a western youth without any prominent features and could be seen anywhere. He had a sharp tongue, but I didn’t think he was a bad guy. However, he didn’t seem to understand how great his environment was.
“… Please let me use the stove again.”
Anyway, I had to finish this job that was forced onto me quickly and then think about the Forest's Edge and Post Station Town. But since I met with something so unreasonable, I wouldn’t be satisfied if I didn’t take some useful information back with me.
I pondered as I used the nyuushi to fry the large slices of kimyusu meat. It had already been marinated in salt, so the only seasoning I used was Pico leaves. When the skin turned yellowish brown, I added in the vegetable. After a while, I added in water and cooked it over a weak flame.
Thirty minutes later, I heard a heavy bell from afar, and the chachi that was the toughest to cook had turned soft.
Since I didn’t cook kiba meat and there was a substitute for bouillon cube, it didn’t need to be cooked for too long. I stirred it slowly over a weak fire and tested the taste after it had been thoroughly cooked.
It didn’t feel salty enough, so I added some rock salt and Tau sauce as a hidden taste.
This was the nostalgic taste of the cream stew. I never imagined that I could make this dish in this world. How blissful it would be if I could let Ai Fa, the denizens of Forest's Edge, and the people in the Post Station Town try this dish. I kept this thought inside my heart and informed Roy that I was done.
“Hmmp. That’s fast. Hey… The food is done!”
Roy yelled, and the door opened. Chiffon Chel appeared before us.
“Thank you for your hard work, Asuta-sama, Roy-sama… Ara, there’s the aroma of karon milk…”
Chiffon Chel closed her eyes as if she was mesmerized.
I then scooped up the cream stew with a ladle, followed by handing the plate to Chiffon Chel. She bowed towards me and picked up a spoon.
“Well then, allow me to test for poison…”
So this woman got such a duty.
I looked at her with despair… Chiffon Chel took a bite and then opened her eyes wide: “Ara…”
On her face was a smile of surprise and compliment.
“This… is such a delicious dish… I had never tasted something so good in my life…”
Roy raised his eyebrow.
“Hey, watch it with your flattery, slave girl. Don’t forget who makes the dishes you taste test every day.”
“I didn’t forget, and I’m not demeaning anyone else’s cooking… I just think this is a perfect dish…”
“You don’t seem to get it. The top chefs of Genos are all gathered in this manor. I warn you, if you say anything that implies they are fools, you will get more than a lashing.”
“Ehh… But I’m from Mahildra… My taste sense is different from westerners, so I don’t think I’m demeaning anyone…”
Chiffon Chel said with a reserved smile.
Roy’s face started to turn nasty.
“… So you’re saying you won’t retract your retarded words?”
Chiffon Chel tilted her head troubledly and nodded: “Yes…”
The next instant, Roy threw the ladle beside the pot at Chiffon Chel. The ladle hit her temple, and Chiffon Chel yelled weakly.
“Don’t be retarded, lowly slave!”
Roy grabbed the karon bottle on the working platform, and when he was about to throw the bottle, I grabbed his arm.
“Stop! Don’t use violence over such stupid things!”
Roy looked at me with his bloodshot eyes.
“Unhand me, Post Station Town chef, do you know who I am?”
“Who gives a shit. Aren’t you the one who is hiding your identity?”
Roy started struggling, and I increased my strength.
“However, you are also a chef, right? Then don’t abuse the precious cooking tools and ingredients.”
Roy twisted his face from pain. The blue bottle dropped onto the working platform.
“It hurts! L-Let me go! My arm is breaking!”
I was taken aback and said: “You are exaggerating too much.” I was shocked by the tears flowing from Roy’s eyes. Did it really hurt that much?
“Asuta-sama… Please stop…”
Chiffon Chel who was on the floor grabbed my legs.
I looked back at her and held my breath. The two guards behind her had their hands on their sword hilt.
I let go, and Roy collapsed onto the floor clutching his arm.
“Thank you… But, standing up for someone like me won’t do Asuta-sama any good…”
I sighed deeply upon hearing what Chiffon Chel said.
I want to go back to Ai Fa and for her to enjoy my cooking. This thought filled my entire mind.
2
From then until the night was a painful time for me.
I couldn’t leave before their employer finished dinner, so I was confined to the room I woke up in.
I finished the dish in less than an hour, so there were still two hours before dinner started at dusk. I didn’t have anything to kill time since I was captured in enemy territory. The only thing I could do was lie in my soft bed and brood.
“Asuta-sama… would you like me to prepare you something to drink…?”
Chiffon Chel leaned out from behind the screens and said quietly.
“No, no need.”
“You don’t need it, huh… There is still some time before dinner, so you don’t need to hold back… It is my job to attend to your needs…”
Chiffon Chel walked over quietly as she said that.
“My only wish is going back home as soon as possible.”
“… Aside from that, I can do everything else to satisfy Asuta-sama…”
The bed started to screech.
I took a look, and Chiffon Chel was already leaning on the bed.
She rested one arm on the bed and bent her slim waist to lean her upper body towards me. I couldn’t help curling my body up with her purple eyes staring at me.
“T-Then, want to chat a little to pass the time? Let’s talk about idle things, aside from the nobles and this manor.”
“Ara…”
Chiffon Chel smiled with her hand on her mouth.
“But, I don’t know anything outside this manor… I’m not permitted to step outside…”
“But, you were forcefully brought here, right? I still don’t really understand the relationship between the west and the north”
I propped myself up and sat cross-legged in the middle of the bed.
It wasn’t an exciting topic, but it was better than brooding endlessly.
“By the way, I don’t really understand the slavery system in this country. Your movements seem quite unrestricted… Are you really a slave?”
“Yes… I was caught by Selva soldiers when I was young and got brought to Genos… But I learned to speak western faster than anyone else, and was permitted to live in this manor.”
“That’s cruel. I don’t really understand it is though.”
“Not really… Genos is very peaceful… probably because it is far away from Mahildra… At the borders, the westerners and northerners loathe each other… But I’m not treated too harshly here…”
I almost mentioned about the ladle thrown at her, but that probably wasn’t harsh treatment to her. This was too heavy a topic for someone born in Japan like me.
“The south and east kingdom are still fighting at their national borders, but they can coexist in Genos. Can northerners and westerners coexist in the eastern kingdom?”
“I don’t know… How should I put this… My hometown is very far from Semu, so I don’t really know either…”
Chiffon Chel didn’t empathize with my situation; was it because she didn’t show it, or had she lost the emotions to feel sad for others? I didn’t know that, but I did know she might be a girl I could talk to without any reservation in this manor.
“Asuta-sama… you are really an unfathomable person…”
Chiffon Chel said with a warm smile.
“You are from the Post Station Town, yet you can cook such delicious meals… You are a westerner, yet you protected me… And despite your gentle appearance, you are unexpectedly strong…”
“Huh, there aren’t many who are as weak as me in the Forest's Edge settlement.”
But that youth named Roy was weaker than me. Maybe I got stronger after living in Forest's Edge.
“How strange… We will be parting in a few more hours; I’m really reluctant to do so… This is the first time I felt this way since I left my hometown…”
“Chiffon Chel, I don’t dislike you either…”
After Pyschkurewuss fall from grace, would they be freed?
Considering the relationship between the west and the north, that was too optimistic… But I had to tell Kamyua Yost that I met a girl like her here.
“… It is getting dark…”
Chiffon Chel stood up, walked behind the screen, and came back with a candle stand. No, it might be more apt to call it a lantern. It had a metal handle, and a fire burned inside the glass cover.
Light from the small window used for illumination was gradually fading. It was almost time for dinner.
Would my dish be to their liking? Even if they enjoyed it, would I be released as agreed on? If not… I would need to consider escaping by force.
Ai Fa… She must have reached home and heard about this from Ludo Wu…
How angry would Ai Fa be that I didn’t come home on time, and how sad would she be.
My heart ached and my head was heavy. The dark murkiness in my heart turned into black mist and seeped out of my body. Ai Fa who didn’t know anything must be in even more pain. If not for that, I would have cried out loud shamelessly.
And so, I spent a torturous time quietly in the dim room… When I was almost at my limit and put my legs onto the floor, the door opened without any warning from the outside.
“Asuta of the Fa house, my employer permits an audience with you.”
It was one of the guards keeping watch over me.
Maybe this wasn’t anything special, so I glared at his arrogant face.
“This way, please. Woman… Stay here.”
I could finally see the one behind all this. Anyway, I had to handle this calmly. I asked Chiffon Chel to prepare my change of clothes and stepped into the corridor.
Is it Pyschkurewuss himself, or his minion? I can finally find out the truth.
I wondered as I walked down the passageway that was still dim despite the numerous lanterns.
The route there was longer than the trip to the bath hall and kitchen. It was just like a maze, with endless brick walls and carpeted floors everywhere, with no way to discern their differences. Even if I had the chance to escape from the guards, I wouldn’t be able to make it outside or even make it back to the room I came from.
After walking down the stairwell, we walked for quite a distance before climbing up some stairs. A few minutes later, a door finally appeared before us.
This door was obviously different from the one I saw before. It was very big, reinforced with steel on the edge. The carvings on it looked more grand, and it felt intimidating like the gates to hell.
“Asuta of the Fa house has arrived!”
One of the soldiers announced loudly. The door was so thick that they couldn’t hear from the inside if he didn’t yell so loudly. A deep male voice came from the inside: “Enter.”
The soldiers pulled open the heavy door.
Bright light poured onto the corridor. It seemed really bright inside. To avoid being blinded, I squinted my eyes as I walked inside.
And then… I met her.
“Stop.”
A low male voice boomed.
The door closed slowly, with two guards standing on either side of it.
So, is she the one behind all this…?
I gulped.
Kaslan Lutim once described Pyschkurewuss’ appearance to me. But there was no way she could be Pyschkurewuss.
“My mistress… This is Asuta of the Fa house.”
The man said in a deep voice. The one who had been speaking all the while was just the bodyguard beside his mistress. His armor looked more elegant than the one on the soldiers beside me, and he seemed to have quite a high standing. However, his dressing didn’t really match how he looked. He was short, fat, and had the face of a retarded cow.
However, all that didn’t matter.
What was important that the mistress of this room was lying on the soft couch and glaring at me… She was the one who put me through this terrible experience.
“Hmmp. He doesn’t look like much, isn’t he just a brat?”
A high pitched voice commented.
It was a high pitched tone like a child, and the words were a little slurred.
No…
She was unquestionably a very young girl.
“This child actually made that dish, how incredible. Is he really Asuta of the Fa house?”
“Yes, he is.”
The short and fat bodyguard answered in a deep voice, and that girl checked me out after a grunt. She had arrogant and condescending eyes, but she was just a kid.
She was about ten and was lying lazily on the couch so I couldn’t tell her height. But she was petite and thin. A white dress with lots of ribbons were covering her tiny body.
The design covered her upper body perfectly, and below her waist was a multi-layered dress. It was as elegant as a wedding dress.
Her bare shoulders and arms were ivory skinned and adorned with silver and gem accessories. Her brown hair draped onto her chest, with a sparkling silver hair accessory on her head.
The girl lay onto the couch lazily, with half of her fluffy skirt crushed under her. What a waste.
She was probably the daughter of some noble, and she had the face that befitted one. Her light brown eyes were wide open and glaring at me. She had a petite nose, petal-like lips were even and proportionate, her face was small and seemed smaller than my palm, and her skin was smooth and seemed untouched by any sunlight.
However, the proper face of this little girl seemed displeased and had a negative expression that was completely different from Ai Fa and Lala Wu.
She looks quite handful… An alarm rang in my mind.
“… What are you looking at?”
The girl said in a flustered voice:
“Are you misunderstanding something just because your cooking is somewhat good? Normally, a lowly person like you wouldn’t be standing before me.”
I already thought of several ways to rebuke her.
But I might get a lashing if I acted too rashly. The things this girl said filled me with unpleasant feelings.
“… So you are the one behind my abduction to this place?”
I wasn’t sure how to interact with such a tiny tyrant, so I tried my best to keep my tone gentle. But I still replied to her in a not too polite way.
The girl didn’t have any problem with my tone, but she pouted impatiently:
“You still want to talk about that now? Well… Who are you? In which country did you learn your cooking techniques? You are definitely not from Genos, right?”
“Before asking about you, shouldn’t you introduce yourself? Who are you?”
“I’m Lifuria.”
She probably thought that this was good enough for a self-introduction… Lifuria continued:
“I had never tasted such cooking before. Where did you learn to cook? You look like a mixed-blood to me, are you part Semu? Jaguar? Or could it be Mahildra?”
“My hometown is an island from outside this continent, a country called Japan.”
I answered without any proof, and Lifuria opened her eyes wide: “A migrant?”
“I see, you are a migrant… That explains why I have never seen your cookings before! What is a migrant doing in the middle of the continent? Migrants trade a little with Mahildra and Jaguar, but they then go home right after doing so.”
“No, I’m…”
“Kimyusu and karon can only be found in Selva and Jaguar, right? Then why can you cook like this? And you are a young brat too. Who are you?”
It looped back to the original question again.
I decided to organize the situation to figure out what was happening. In the meantime, I surveyed the room. It was an extravagant room adequate for a noble, but it wasn’t too big. The flooring was covered in rugs, and the walls were covered with drapes sewn with delicate designs, covering almost the entire brick wall.
The couch the girl was lying on was big enough for four adult men to sit on it.
Between me and the mistress was a long and wide table covered in a grape-colored tablecloth and decorated with baskets filled with all sorts of flowers.
In the corners of the rooms were strange stone statues. They were probably used to ward off evil and also served as decoration. It had the head of a lion, torso of a man, and the legs of horses or deer, a very strange sort of chimera.
It was carved out of a very smooth marble-like stone, and they were all facing the middle of the room with their swords or spears. Lions baring their fangs, bulging shoulder muscles hoisting weapons, and hooves raised up high were all carved boldly, giving an impression that they might move at any moment.
The illumination inside the room deserved a mention. On the high ceiling was a sprawling chandelier, and its white light shone into every corner of the room. It was about 1 m wide and shaped like a crown. It wasn’t too lavished in my hometown, but considering the civilization standard of this world, it was probably a marvel. The material was either glass or crystal, and the light from dozens of candles reflected chaotically within it, making it shine like the sun.
I wondered what the candles were made from. They gave off a sweet and gentle aroma in the room and had minimal smoke, so it was definitely expensive and rarer than the animal fats used in the Forest's Edge.
“… Answer my question. Why are you just standing there?”
Lifuria rushed me with an angry voice.
“… I can’t give you an answer that will satisfy your curiosity. When I came to, I found myself in this place.”
I answered carefully.
“In any case, I’m not from this continent, and there are many people my age who can cook back in my hometown. You might find this queer, but that’s how it is.”
“… Hmmp.”
“So, you don’t intend to answer my question? Who are you, why did you bring me here? Threatening me with a knife is a mockery of the law.”
The girl shut her mouth and then glared at me unhappily.
“That man over there…”
I turned towards the bodyguard standing beside the couch.
“You are the one who abducted me, right? Why would someone who works in a noble’s manor commit such a lawless act?”
Part of the reason I said that was to bait out his words.
However, his stout stature and deep voice did seem familiar.
He was a westerner with yellowish brown skin and curly dark brown hair. His face was fat in an unhealthy way, and it was hard to judge how old he was. But he seemed somewhat capable. His brown eyes under his slightly swollen eyelid were dull, as he glared at me without a word.
“I have an idea who owns this manor. However, he should be attending a conference in the Genos castle right now. Does he know what you lot are doing? He definitely doesn’t want to have any trouble with the denizens of Forest's Edge right now.”
“…”
“You are Lifuria, right? How are you related to Count Pyschkurewuss Turan?”
Lifuria stood up suddenly.
Her fluffy dress shone under the light of the chandelier. And then… Lifuria suddenly stomped her feet.
“I don’t care about father’s issues! Father isn’t in, so I’m the mistress of this manor!”
“Father… Lifuria, so you are Pyschkurewuss’ daughter.”
It wasn’t a complicated conclusion. Since enslaved northerners worked here, this must be Pyschkurewuss’ manor, although Pyschkurewuss was in the Genos castle… I had finally solved this contradiction. And since she was Pyschkurewuss’ daughter, she might have heard about me from Dell.
The doubts in my mind had been cleared.
Pyschkurewuss was definitely not involved in this. He would never permit this to happen while he was away.
“Yes, I get the gist of it now. So… What do you plan to do about me? You would have forbidden me from doing business in the Post Station Town if I didn’t cook a proper meal, right?”
“…”
“As I explained, I’m a chef from a foreign nation, and I already did my very best. I’m not sure if the locals would like this taste, but I won’t hold back.”
I suppressed my bloodlust a little and said to her in a gentler tone.
Taking Neil hostage was unforgivable, but since this stemmed from the curiosity and mischief of a daughter of a noble who grew up in a glasshouse, we could end this without further incident.
“I don’t need your compliments, just let me go home. I hope you will allow me to continue my business like before. That is all I’m asking for. Can you grant my request?”
Lifuria pursed her lips in silence.
A girl like this shouldn’t have the authority to close my stall, but it was hard to say for sure.
In any case, I didn’t want to drag this any longer. If my stall gets shut down over something so ridiculous, there would be a riot in the Post Station Town. When Pyschkurewuss and Malfreed return from the castle five days later, we would have another chance to appeal and negotiate.
I was fine with anything if I got to go home. That was my only request.
Lifuria finally scowled her beautiful eyebrows nefariously and said: “… You are really an infuriating man.”
I thought I might have spoken too anxiously, so I straightened my posture.
But Lifuria didn’t burst out in anger and just straightened her slender fingers on the table. There was something akin to a tiny treasure chest on the table, and Lifuria took out a small metallic piece that was shimmering with a tint of silver.
That metal piece was tossed through an air in the arc and fell by my feet. It was a silver plate, and the Fa house possessed quite a number of them. One silver plate was equivalent to a hundred white copper plates or a thousand red copper plates. The only other place I had seen this plate was at the money changer post in the Post Station Town.
“… You want me to take this as a reward? But this amount is too much.”
By the way, I could earn one silver plate in four days. My daily profits were about 250 red copper plates.
I should just accept and hand it over to Neil as compensation for his troubles.
As I was thinking about that, Lifuria said with a malicious face:
“What are you talking about? This is payment for your work.”
“Payment?”
I picked up the silver plate and tilted my head quizzingly.
What was the difference between reward and payment?
“I have not acknowledged your work completely yet. In short, you have done a job that deserves this payment.”
“Hmm? I don’t really understand…”
“Next task will be tomorrow’s lunch. If you can serve a meal that satisfies me, I will give you another silver plate.”
Lifuria announced, dismissing everything I said, and turned around suddenly.
“I’m going to rest. Do your preparation for tomorrow then.”
“W-Wait! Are you kidding about lunch tomorrow? I thought I can go home whether you are satisfied or not?”
Lifuria stopped and cast a malicious sideways glance at me.
“You are so annoying. I’m the mistress of this manor, so you have to obey me if you are in this manor.”
“How can you be so lawless! Even if you are a daughter of a noble, there are things you can and can’t do!”
I stepped forth unconsciously.
The guards beside me grabbed my arms, but I didn’t stay silent.
“I will be frank, doing this won’t help your father at all! Your father is in all sorts of talks with the denizens of Forest's Edge. If his daughter did something like this, it would make his position very awkward!”
“… I said you are annoying.”
“You are the one who should listen properly! If you don’t want to make matters worse, let me go right now! If you stop now, it will just be laughed off as a bad joke! If you worsen your crime…”
“You said my father’s position would turn awkward?”
Lifuria cut me off again. A devilish smile appeared on her proportionate face.
“That’s interesting. What kind of face will he make when he returns in five days. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Hey, you…!”
“The time limit is five days. My father should be back in the morning of the fifth day, so make a dish that satisfies me before that. I will pay you another silver plate, and I might even let you go home early.”
Lifuria then showed a mischievous expression.
“… But if your cooking taste too nasty, I won’t let you do your business in the Post Station Town no matter what father says. If you don’t want that, work hard.”
“Hey, wait!”
My angry roar bounced off the petite back of that girl.
And so, the young tyrant disappeared through the door opened by her stout bodyguard… Meanwhile, the guards grabbed both my arms; my body was quivering with rage, with a shimmering silver coin in my hand.
3
What kind of joke is this!? I have enough of this farce!
When I was escorted back to my room, my heart was still simmering with rage. Pyschkurewuss wasn’t involved in this farce, which was good news, but I found it hard to accept being confined to this manor for five days.
Just what was Lifuria thinking? She only did this after learning about my culinary skill from Dell. Even if I took a million steps back and forgave what she did, I still couldn’t accept her going back on her words and continuing to confine me.
She might be on bad terms with her father, Pyschkurewuss, but that had nothing to do with me. I wished they could settle this father and daughter feud somewhere else.
Anyway, it was useless for me to fume over this. Chiffon Chel who was supervising me spoke to me timidly:
“Asuta-sama, are you alright…? Would you like some wine before turning in…?”
“No, no need.”
“T-Then, would you like something to eat… If you need to stay in the manor, would you like to eat something before sleeping…?”
I didn’t want to stay here at all.
I really wanted to shout, but Chiffon Chel was innocent.
“Erm, I want to ask you for a favor, Chiffon Chel.”
“Yes… How may I help…?”
“Are there any servants or guards that look like easterners in this manor?”
“Easterners…?”
Chiffon Chel tilted her head troublingly.
I felt she wouldn’t be able to answer this question, but she thought over it carefully:
“Well… I don’t think there are any in this manor…”
“Which means, one of the servants that commute to work here might be an Easterner?”
“No… Basically, the guards and servants all stay in this manor… Some people like the assistants of the chef have other work so they can commute to work… But I had never seen any dark-skinned people when going to the kitchen to test for poison…”
Chiffon Chel tilted her head the other way as she said that.
“However… There is quite a number of Semy people who visit in order to conduct business with the master… They usually return in the same day, so I don’t have any chance to serve them…”
“I see. Thank you.”
So, even if Sangjura was related to this manor, he wasn’t lodging here.
The last doubt in my mind was Sangjura.
The one Sangjura called his “employer” seemed to be Lifuria and not Pyschkurewuss. But why was Sangjura employed by this young tyrant?
And did he approach my stall because he was ordered too? Were his smile and gentle attitude all a trick to make me let down my guard? When I thought about that, my mind became a mess due to the rage and feelings of emptiness because of the betrayal of someone I trusted.
But now wasn’t the time to be agitated over something like this.
I shook my head hard and cleared my mind.
“Chiffon Chel, I believe you, so I want to ask you one more thing.”
“Hmm… what is it…?”
“I want to escape from this manor. Can you let me go?”
I knew very well that this was an illogical question. If she was loyal to her master, contrary to what I thought, this would all be in vain.
But, if I wanted to escape, I needed to take care of this girl, who would be spending the night with me in the same room, and hide this from the guards outside the door. I wasn’t confident of doing so.
Chiffon Chel didn’t look surprised and said: “Well… It’s impossible for me to do anything… And this manor is guarded by a large number of soldiers…”
“I think the chances of success are very low. But I might get killed if I fail.”
“That’s not true… They won’t do something as dangerous as killing you… Lifuria-sama is just a ten-year-old child…”
“I have said this many times, I was abducted to here at knifepoint. Wasn’t that the princess who gave this order?”
“That might be so, but I think Lifuria-sama only gave the order to invite Asuta-sama here… I’m also not sure how it turned into something so barbaric…”
My thoughts wandered back to the bodyguard who was like a bull beside that girl. He must be the one who carried out his mistress orders in such a way.
“So I will just get lashings if I fail, huh. I feel braver now.”
“Asuta-sama… that’s dangerous…”
Chiffon Chel sat down on the bed and grabbed my arm. She wasn’t wavering at all and had the face of someone coaxing a child.
“Lashings aren’t child play… I’m fortunate to only have only suffered it a few times… It is a pain that will make you want to give up on life…”
“… Is that so?”
“… Would you like to see my back…?”
“N-No need.”
That caught me completely off-guard, and I moved away from Chiffon Chel with complicated feelings.
“Even so, I don’t want to submit to this fate. I’m not asking you to help, but can you turn a blind eye to this?”
“… Why are you doing something so precarious…? You can return home safely in five days even if you don’t run, right?”
“I can’t trust that so readily. When the real master returns from the castle and learns of his daughter’s lawless act, he might just bury me into the darkness.”
She answered me with a sad and quiet smile. She didn’t refute the possibility of Pyschkurewuss doing that.
My impression of Pyschkurewuss was on point; this was such a heartwarming moment.
“As I said, I think it’s worth risking my life to break out of this fate. Can you let me go…?”
“Yes… But the door is locked from the outside, and the guards will keep watch through the night…?”
“That’s true. So I have to escape through the window.”
I just noticed the large window behind the screen. There was a curtain that was made of sturdy material too. This room was on the second floor, and I could climb down to the first floor if I made use of the curtain.
“If you will let me go, I plan to tie you up to give the illusion that I used brute force to escape. You won’t be lashed in that case, correct?”
“Yes… You are already in danger, and you are still thinking about others…?”
Chiffon Chel smiled happily.
“It can’t be helped if I get a lashing… Please, don’t worry about that…”
“Then… Do you want to escape together?”
I leaned towards Chiffon Chel.
“I might be coercing you to do something bad… But you will be lashed either way, why not bet on this chance?”
“No need… I’m different from Asuta-sama; if I fail in my escape attempt, I will definitely be executed… Not by Lifuria-sama, but the master who will return in five days…”
My understanding of the slavery system was too naive. Chiffon Chel probably thought of me as a fool.
“If Asuta-sama is determined to follow this through, I won’t stop you… Please, follow the path you wish to take… I will stay here and pray for your success…”
“But, you might get a lashing?”
“Please, don’t worry. But… When I heard that Asuta-sama will be staying in this manor for five days, I felt a little happy… So I’m a little reluctant…”
Chiffon Chel then smiled again.
I couldn’t tell what she was thinking with that smile, and she looked just like a fairy.
“Asuta-sama is really unfathomable… The easterners and southerners sympathize with me too, but no one treated me as kindly as Asuta-sama…”
“That was definitely because I came from a country without any slavery. And I’m a denizen of Forest's Edge. The denizens of Forest's Edge are persecuted for changing their faith. I don’t really understand the war between the northerners and westerners, but I can’t accept people being judged because of their heritage.”
Chiffon Chel muttered with a smile: “Is that so…” I still didn’t know if her heart was filled with despair.
“Pardon me, I will be making a rash attempt to escape. If escape is unlikely, I will return before the guards find out… You won’t need to get a lashing then.”
“… I will pray for Asuta’s success…”
Given what might become of Chiffon Chel, I felt really guilty for only thinking of running away by myself with such abysmal chances.
However, I didn’t feel like covering myself with the blanket and going to sleep. Lifuria’s words were too decisive so I couldn’t be sure that things would end well five days later. Therefore, I had to do my best and fight for it.
“… You really don’t need me to help…?”
“No! Please, don’t peek, okay?”
First, I changed into the clothes I asked Chiffon Chel to return to this room. My own white T-shirt and canvas shoes, as well as the vest and waist clothe Ai Fa gifted me… I then tied the wrinkled white towel on my head, and I was done. I placed the silver coin on top of the clothes I took off.
Next, I prepared for my escape.
I went around the screen and took the curtain down. I tore it vertically with my teeth and fingers and then tugged at it to confirm it was strong enough before tying them together. After taking down three curtains from the two windows, I made a strong enough substitute for a rope.
I then used the leftover cloth to tie up Chiffon Chel’s arms, which made me feel really guilty.
If Chiffon Chel called for help, she wouldn’t need to worry about lashings, but she didn’t do that.
“Please, stuff my mouth too… If I pretend to be unconscious, I won’t get faulted…”
I stuffed her mouth as she asked and then let her lie in my bed behind the screen. Finally, I nodded at her and blew out the fire in the lantern before opening one window.
It was completely dark outside. The moon and the stars were high up in the skies, but the entire world was black. But it seemed that I didn’t need to worry about guards patrolling with lanterns.
I investigated when it was still bright outside, and there seemed to be a wide courtyard outside. If I walked straight down the courtyard, I would reach the stone wall around the manor. In this city protected by rock walls, this manor was surrounded by another layer of stone wall.
Even if I wasn’t discovered by the guards, I couldn’t climb over this rock wall. If I did make it over the wall, I would be inside an unknown city.
Could I exit the city without an entry permit? This was an escape attempt with too many unknowns and almost zero chance of success. If I failed, I would be lucky to just get a lashing. Before pushing myself to take on this retarded challenge, I tied my handmade rope to a bedpost.
I leaned out and looked around, and found the windows in the other room shut. After confirming that, I lowered the other end of the rope out the window.
Okay, let’s go.
Climbing at an inappropriate time.
The ground was about four meters away, which wasn’t a fatal fall. But the ground was stone-paved, so I might fracture a bone. I trusted the arm strength I trained in the harsh life within the Forest's Edge and started moving out the window.
When I put my entire body weight on it, the rope started to creak. With my feet on the wall, I slowly and carefully lowered myself. My arms started shaking in no time. The night breeze was really comfortable, but I was sweating all over. I needed to replenish my calories before embarking on such exercises.
But I wasn’t discovered by anyone, and I didn’t slip. After climbing down before exhausting my strength, I landed steadily.
I rested my hands on my knees in the dark and caught my breath.
The world was engulfed in darkness with a tint of blue. I could see the surroundings clearly after my eyes adjusted to the darkness. Only the grounds around the building were paved with stone; the grounds five meters away was trimmed grass.
It’s dim here, just how big is this courtyard?
In any case, no one would patrol a place without light. The guards were probably watching the yard and the outside too.
As I strode forth while thinking about that, a window about a meter away opened with a creak.
I quickly leaned against the wall, and my calm heart started racing again.
Was this a coincidence, or did I make some noise without realizing it? I started praying that no one would lean outside.
My prayer was unanswered as a girl’s pale face poked out.
It wasn’t Lifuria, but someone slightly older.
Her beautiful profile surprised me. She was incredibly gorgeous, with a well proportioned nose and gentle curves outlining her forehead to her jaw. Her skin was pale white. Lifuria had pale skin too, but she wasn’t as white as this girl. She looked just like a glass statue under the illumination of the moonlight.
Her brown bangs drape over her smooth forehead. I could see her left side of her face, and the silver hair accessory she wore on her hair.
She was resting her hand on the window sill and leaning her body forward. On her body was a lightly colored nightgown that was on the thin side.
Her hair was very short, and I could see her pure nape.
A girl with an angelic face.
But her eyes were melancholic, and she was looking out into the night with a hint of sadness.
She sighed softly through her fair lips… And, before pulling her face back into the room, she looked my way nonchalantly.
The thin brows hanging over her large eyes became round from surprise.
“… Asuta! What are you doing here!?”
I was shocked too.
The face which was as serene as an angel’s carving suddenly showed human emotions and reverted back to a timid girl.
“D-Dell? So it is you…”
I stood stiffly from shock, and Dell quickly scanned the dark surroundings. She looked anxious.
“Forget it! Come here quickly! If you stand there, you will get mauled to death by the guard dogs!”
“G-Guard dogs?”
“Yes! Guard dogs are set loose in the yard at night, so you can’t go there! Ah, you don’t know what are dogs, right? It’s quite common in the south… Enough with that, come over quickly!”
I was more troubled than Dell and started moving towards her unconsciously. She then pulled me by the collar into the dim room.
“Ah, that scared me… Don’t frighten me like that! Asuta, what are you doing here!?”
Dell shouted and then covered her own mouth with both hands. At this moment, someone knocked the door on the wall adjoining to the window.
“Dell-sama, do you need something?”
This was the familiar voice of Dell’s escort, Lavis.
“Nothing! I’m just talking to myself. We need to work early tomorrow too, so you should turn in early, okay?”
“… Sweet dreams, Dell-sama.”
After saying that with an emotionless and stiff voice, Lavis didn’t say any more.
There was a door in this room leading to another room, and Lavis was staying there.
“Dell… So you really are staying in this manor.”
“What do you mean by ‘really’? Asuta, why are you in this city?”
Dell quietly closed the window as she lowered her voice and then looked surprised again:
“Ah, could it be… The dishes we had earlier were made by Asuta?”
“Ah, the kimyusu meat dish made with karon milk? That’s me.”
“So it was you. Ah, that tasted delicious!”
Dell said with a big smile. This was an angelic expression in another sense.
“Because I ate a delicious meal, it reminded me of Asuta. As I opened the window, I was wondering if you are well and if you are already sleeping, and then the real Asuta appeared before me! I almost died from fright!”
So Dell was thinking about me when making that sad face. For some reason, I started feeling bashful.
And because of the light inside the room, I could see Dell’s face clearly. Her uneven colored hair and eyes that were as beautiful as jade… Dell, who was dressed differently than usual, was right before me.
She had a plain and thin nightgown, with laces on her collar and her sleeves. Her thigh that was much whiter than her dress lay bare before me. Her bangs were held up by a silver accessory, showing a little of her forehead. Just being dressed like this made Dell look like a completely different person and really cute.
No, she was one in ten thousand in terms of cuteness in the first place. And Dell looked even cuter right now. Once again, I regretted how blind I was in mistaking such a cute girl for a boy.
“… So, Asuta, are you cooking in this manor now? Aren’t the denizens of Forest's Edge getting along just fine with the people in the city?”
Even though staying here for too long would be dangerous, but meeting her here was like encountering a Buddha in hell. So I gave her a brief breakdown of the situation.
“Huh?” “Really?” “Uwah…” Her face changed like a kaleidoscope as Dell listened to me until the end.
“Erm… That means, boasting about Asuta’s cooking to Lifuria led to all this?”
Dell showed an incredibly sad expression.
“I’m really sorry… I caused a lot of trouble for Asuta…”
“That’s not true. To me, the disaster is that brown-haired princess. If she was logical like a normal person, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”
I couldn’t stand seeing Dell being discouraged like a depressed puppy.
“But Lifuria only got serious because Asuta’s cooking is very delicious, right?”
“Got serious? What do you mean?”
“Actually, there were two dishes made with karon milk and kimyusu meat. Lifuria asked us to try and see which was better.”
Dell looked even more apologetic.
“The other dish must have been made by the resident chef. It was a vegetable stew made with karon curd and kimyusu meat. But the soup with a lot of vegetables was clearly tastier… Asuta, you made that soup, correct?”
“Yes.”
“I knew it! That is an amazing dish! But… I just think it tastes amazing! As expected of the manor known for its cookings! Lifuria must be intrigued by this.”
So the three portions I made were eaten by Lifuria, Dell, and Dell’s father. Dell’s father was a steel merchant from Jaguar and an important business partner of Pyschkurewuss.
Leaving all that aside, there were still things that didn’t make sense.
“If the chef that was abducted made more delicious food, wouldn’t they feel frustrated? I don’t understand.”
“No, Lifuria probably didn’t expect you to make such a delicious meal. That girl is always saying that the chefs in the Post Station Town can’t make a proper meal.”
Dell did say something like that before. That was why she wanted to bring my cooking back to the city in order to change Lifuria’s mind.
“Now that I think about it, Lifuria looked unhappy when we started eating that dish. She was probably hoping that we would praise the other dish and then call Asuta over to shame us.”
“Uwah, how devious!”
“Instead of devious, she just doesn’t want to lose. Well… I don’t like to lose either, that’s why Lifuria did that…”
“Dell, don’t take it to heart. But… Why did she confine me? Is she trying to compete until I lose?”
“Hmm, how should I put this? It has nothing to do with competition, Lifuria simply fell in love with Asuta’s dishes. She also wolfed down your cooking with her brows raised angrily.”
Like father, like daughter, I guess. I was targeted by a troublesome person.
“The girl’s father didn’t participate in this incident, correct? By the way, she only did something so retarded because her father left her behind to watch the house.”
“Yes, that must be it. When I talked about Asuta, the old man wasn’t interested and just smiled. If he was around, he would never let Lifuria do something like this.”
Dell leaned in close after saying that.
“Asuta, you can’t accept Lifuria’s way of doing things and want to escape, right?”
“Yes. I know it is reckless though.”
“It’s too reckless! I told you earlier about the guard dogs in the yard, and the manor is surrounded by walls that are this— tall. And aside from the guard dogs, there are guards patrolling the walls. This is the manor of one of the prominent nobles in Genos city after all.”
“Hmm…”
“Even if you escaped, you can’t leave the city. The drawbridge is raised and passage prohibited at night, and you will need an entry permit during the day. You will be apprehended as a criminal if you force your way through.”
Things seemed hopeless.
I was depressed, and Dell looked at me worriedly.
“Sorry, Asuta, this is all my fault. But… Your culinary skill is better than the city’s chef, just as I thought! Why don’t you become this manor’s chef? You can earn enough silver plates and gold plates to enjoy for the rest of your life.”
“No. I can’t serve someone who did something like this, and I don’t want to abandon the Forest's Edge.”
“I see. But it feels like a waste for Asuta’s cooking to be confined to the Post Station Town…”
Dell’s face seemed to say that this was a pity. It was probably an honor to build up a business in the city too.
I wouldn’t dismiss the value of doing so, but I was raised in a family restaurant. Instead of nobles, I preferred to cook for the people in town. They might be real nobles, but I still didn’t want to be their exclusive chef.
“Erm, Dell, can you help me persuade Lifuria? I want to return to Forest's Edge as soon as possible.”
“No, I can’t. Lifuria will never listen to me… And if I did butt in, she will just take it even more seriously.”
“Then, can you relay my situation to the people in the Post Station Town? You just need to let the innkeepers that do business with me know, and then they can pass the message to the denizens of Forest's Edge.”
“I will be a little busy, and can’t leave the city. My father wants to expand the business as much as possible while that old Count is away. My father has a hunch that relying just on that old man alone is dangerous…”
“I think that is the right choice. Anyone in the Post Station Town will do, I just want to let my friends and family know that I’m safe.”
“Family, you mean that mean blonde girl?”
Dell puffed her cheeks.
But she became deflated with an apologetic face.
“Never mind that for now, this will be hard… Even if I told my father, he will definitely say that helping the denizens of Forest's Edge will earn the ire of the nobles… And my father took my entry pass away.”
“Is that so…”
I remembered Dell’s escort Lavis. Dell was on great terms with me, but he was still adamant on being unfriendly towards us. To the Jaguars, the denizens of Forest's Edge were traitors who deserted the southern god. Those who knew me through my business in the Post Station Town were nice to me, but if not for that, they would have viewed the denizens of Forest's Edge with contempt.
“But there’s no need to make the trip to the Post Station Town, right? I can just tell the guards about this, behind my father’s back! Even if she is a noble, this is still a crime!”
“No, the guards in the city are also part of the towns guard, and not the castle guards, right?”
“Huh? I don’t really understand how things are in the western kingdom, but the castle guards protect the castle, right? Be it the city or the Post Station Town, aren’t them all just guards?”
That wouldn’t do. The commander of the townsguard was Pyschkurewuss’ brother. If he learned of Lifuria’s crimes, he would definitely cover it up.
“The Forest's Edge is on bad terms with the towns guard. I’m sorry, but don’t tell the people in the city about this.”
“Huh? But… I don’t want Asuta to die to the guard dogs?”
Dell held my hands with an anxious face. She had firm and warm hands.
“I don’t want to die in vain either. But… I’m at my wits’ end…”
There had definitely been a big fuss in the Post Station Town. But the problem was, the Post Station Town didn’t have any evidence that someone related to Pyschkurewuss had abducted me. Therefore, the denizens of Forest's Edge and Zashuma wouldn’t be able to do anything about this.
“I’m so useless… If not for me, Asuta wouldn’t have met with something like this…”
The expressive Dell started to tear up.
I squeezed out a smile with everything I had.
“If you have the time, it will be great if you can relay the message to my friends from Forest's Edge. You are the only one I can depend on in this city, Dell.”
“I understand. If I have the time, I will do that, I promise!”
Dell seemed to be too loud, and someone knocked on the door again.
“Sorry for disturbing, Dell-sama. Is something the matter…?”
“Dream talking!”
“… Is that so?”
Our secret meeting was almost at its limit. The rope I used to escape was still hanging there. If someone discovered it, Chiffon Chel will get a lashing for nothing.
“I’m going back to my room then. Thank you for listening to me for so long.”
“Ah, wait! One last thing… It’s about that kid Lifuria…”
Dell lowered her eyes and looked reluctant to speak, but she still made up her mind in the end and said:
“Actually, I also hate the nobles. If it wasn’t for the sake of business, I wouldn’t want anything to do with them. But I don’t hate that little girl.”
“Huh? Is that so?”
“Yes. That girl isn’t happy about being a noble at all. Her father only cares about work and cuisines and have no time for her. She also needs to learn in the morning and has no time to play… That girl craves for a delicious meal for a different reason from her father.”
The young tyrant that throws her temper. Which meant, there was a reason why she turned out this way.
“Doesn’t Lifuria have any other kin aside from her father? Isn’t the Count Turan house a prominent noble house in Genos?”
“Yes, she has plenty of relatives, but the only ones living in this manor are Lifuria and that old man. There are also servants and old man. Or guests like my father and me. That girl doesn’t have anyone she can talk easily with.”
“I see…”
“So she doesn’t care about being lectured by her father for doing something like this… That child probably just wants attention from her father.”
“Is that so. That’s quite pitiful.”
But that meant I had nowhere to vent my rage.
So I was just caught up in a quarrel between father and daughter.
“I can’t forgive her for treating Asuta like this, but that girl probably didn’t think Asuta would have any complaints. A chef getting invited to this manor is an honor, and she is probably wondering why you are not grateful at all.”
“Hmm, this is a difference in perspectives.”
“And abducting you by force without even asking is probably not the intention of Lifuria, but something Moose did on his own.”
“Moose?”
“If you saw Lifuria, you have probably met Moose, right? He is a short and fat brown-haired bodyguard that looks like a karon.”
“Oh, I see. I think he is the one who abducted me too.”
“I suspected as much! That guy has been Lifuria’s guard since she was born. Loyalty is a nice way of putting it, but he is willing to do anything for Lifuria. That’s scary in its own way. I was almost beaten up by him when I quarreled with Lifuria. And, of course, Lavis stopped him.”
“… Hmm. So a selfish and arrogant princess and a body guard that follow orders blindly.”
What a chilling combination.
However, I still wasn’t sure if Sangjura was involved. I still confirmed one thing — that Moose was a problem.
Neil must have seen Moose’s face when he entered the 《Cryptic Venerable Inn》 disguised as a guest. If he hid in the city, he wouldn’t need to worry about being recognized and might let his guard down. If I informed Zashuma about this, Malfreed could take action.
“Well then, Dell, could you please visit the Post Station Town, if you have the chance, and tell them about Moose? My comrades can then make a report against him.”
“I understand… What about Lifuria? I might just scold her out of the blue when I see her.”
“No, that’s too dangerous. Don’t let her know that I have met you, Dell.”
“But that girl might boast to me though? And say something like ‘I caught your favorite chef!’ or something.”
“Huh? Then she is admitting that she is a kidnapper?”
“She can just say that she paid to hire you. From that girl’s personality, she wouldn’t just keep quiet.”
That girl was too obnoxious.
Could we make use of this? But I felt that things would develop in a negative way.
“If that happens, just say something appropriate to brush it off… Anyway, thank you for agreeing to pass the message to the Post Station Town. We should avoid drawing their suspicion for now.”
“Ugh… I get it. I will endure it as much as possible. It’s my fault that things turn out this way, I’m very sorry, Asuta…”
Dell made a depressed face.
I couldn’t squeeze out a smile anymore and patted her shoulder to cheer her up.
“Don’t apologize for that. And since Dell will be eating it too, I won’t need to cook with a feeling of emptiness tomorrow.”
“Yes… I’m glad to taste Asuta’s cookings too.”
Dell smiled bashfully, and I nodded at her as I placed my hands on the window sill.
After checking for guard dogs and patrols, I started climbing again. I returned to the room all sweaty, and Chiffon Chel who was lying in the same position as I left her welcomed me with gentle eyes.
“Asuta-sama… we meet again…”
I undid her bonds and gag, and Chiffon Chel smiled at me with warm eyes.
“I hope you won’t be mad… But I’m really glad to see you…”
There were all sorts of people living their lives in this manor.
Some of them weren’t irredeemably bad. However, sadness and helplessness filled my heart. After two and a half months in this different world, this was the first time I was apart from Ai Fa at night.
How did Ai Fa feel about spending this night alone? I looked at the pale moonlight outside the window and suppressed my heartache with all my might.
