Chapter 27

Late's! Two and a half hours of cooking!!

No, that's long.

By the way, in this world, the units of time are of course different, but it's too much trouble to convert them, so I'm using the units from my previous life. Besides, no one really cares about the exact time.

So, what am I doing now? I'm cooking that monster deer. Since it needs to be cooked for a long time, I'm doing outdoor cooking outside the gate. I made a makeshift stove with earth magic and am boiling it in a pot borrowed from the inn. I keep skimming off the scum as it rises.

“Are you still cooking?”

Kokushin, who had gathered some dry wood, looks exasperated.

Yes, I am. I'll cook it until it's tender. The seasoning is just salt, leaves to remove the gamey smell, honey, and lots of vegetables. Hmm, I wish I had something else.

“Late, can't we practice here?”

He seems to be bored.

“Take a break. You'll collapse next time.”

Is this kid just bad at staying still? He reluctantly starts swinging his sword at my suggestion. He's so serious. My former colleague has been watching him.

Kokushin is officially retired due to personal reasons. Since he's traveling with me, some people think I've recruited him as an adventurer. It's fine, but it's wrong to look at me with a resentful gaze. Boss, I fired this guy.

A pleasant aroma starts rising from the pot. Hmm, hmm. It seems to be going well. When I poke it with a chopstick, it slides right through. Is this good enough?

I'll take the pot to the innkeeper who lent it to me. Kokushin will carry it. I'll put out the fire, clean up, and destroy the stove. If I kick it to pieces, it's fine. The gatekeeper looks like he's saying, "Ah~" It's in the way, isn't it? Oh, did he want to eat it? Maybe next time if there's an opportunity.

Now, let's eat.

I reheat it lightly and serve the meat and vegetables in a deep dish. The fork slides through effortlessly. This is dangerous. It must be delicious. I can tell even without eating. But I will eat.

“Mmm!”

The deer meat melts in my mouth. It's not dry. The flavor is well preserved. There's no gamey smell, and a hint of sweetness. The vegetables are delicious too. The soup is drinkable. Ah, it would be even better with some butter.

Looking at the innkeeper and Kokushin, they are silently moving their forks and spoons. I guess it's delicious.

I want to eat some congee. But there's no rice.

“Ah, it was delicious.”

He drinks wine while looking very satisfied. Since he's an adult, he can drink. This wine is light.

“No, I didn't know it would become this tender. I only heard about it, but this is beyond my expectations.”

The innkeeper also seemed to enjoy it.

“Is this meat hard to come by?”

“Hmm, there should be many, but the horns are in demand. The meat is labor-intensive and not popular, so the guild doesn't buy it, I heard.”

“Indeed. It's true that it wouldn't be profitable to cook it for a long time.”

If there's no buyer, it can't be sold.

“Maybe we could accept special orders at a special price for anniversaries. Or hire someone to do the cooking. Even a child could watch the fire… but skimming the scum might be dangerous.”

The second half became a mutter, but the innkeeper's eyes sparkled.

“I see. That sounds interesting. There are plenty of idle people. Maybe we should try it. First, we need to get the meat.”

“Hey, come out for a moment!” The innkeeper calls to the lady of the house and leaves us in a daze, heading somewhere.

“Um, thank you for the meal. By the way, Kokushin is so quiet… Wait, what?”

Kokushin's mind seems to have wandered off. That's a face you shouldn't show to others. I'm glad he's embodying how delicious it was.

“Was it that good?”

After a while, when Kokushin returns to his senses, I ask him. He nods, looking embarrassed, “Yeah, um, yeah.”

“When I was at the orphanage, I didn't care as long as my stomach was full. Even after becoming a guard, I never paid much attention. I thought it wasn't worth spending a lot of money… but this is good. It makes me happy.”

I see. Please don't be so honest; it's making me uncomfortable. My butt is tingling.

“You can always eat it. The meat is free, so try to get more!”

“Hmm. That's true. Thinking about it, I need to consider how to attack.”

He's so serious.

“Hmm. Basically, I aim for the neck, but I've never used a sword.”

“Do you use a bow?”

“Or earth magic. Honestly, both are long-range, so you can act as the front line to keep them at bay, and I'll look for an opening to strike.”

Because of my small size, I'm not good at close combat. I have a knife, but I've never used it in battle. My magic power is limited, so I need to train.

“Magic. I haven't seen you use it for attacks.”

At Kokushin's words, I tilt my head. “Is that so?”

Then, let me show you. We should show each other what we can do and practice coordination.

It's already dark outside. We borrow the inn's courtyard.

“Light”

I create a tennis ball-sized orb of light and hang it on a tree. I lift some earth to complete the target.

“You're quite skilled.”

You can do various things with wind too. Like a hairdryer, a wall, or even using sound to carry your voice. If you think on a larger scale, you might be able to compress air.

“Okay, here we go.”

Pew! Thud!

I shoot a projectile from my fingertips. Hmm. A hole appeared in the earth target, but it didn't penetrate. I still have a long way to go.

“What did you just do?”

“I shot a small stone at high speed. I aim for the eyes or head. It probably won't work on larger targets yet.”

“The eyes. If you can hit them at that invisible speed, there's no stopping you. Can you do this with wind too?”

“Huh? Hmm.”

If I push Kokushin's demonstration of shooting wind to its limits, maybe I can do it. There's something called an air gun, right? It uses air pressure to shoot pellets. But if you can shoot air itself, it should have power too.

Pew! Thud!

I made the stone larger. It's the size of a bowling ball. The target cracks. Hmm, not bad. How about scattering smaller stones to distract?

Pitter-patter!

It's not very impressive. Then,

“Late, stop having fun and teach me.”

Ah, sorry. I forgot about you, Kokushin.