I was reborn.
Well, that does not really matter.
Even though I came to another world, I had no magic power and no sword.
My days were just helping out with fertilizer in my local village or being forced to butcher animals at the hunting lodge. More than that—
Right now, this local village was burning in the fires of war, and screams echoed everywhere. I was wondering what to do about it.
Did monsters attack the village, or perhaps some kind of bandits?
Lately, because of the Demon King’s influence, both types of outlaws were active. Well, either one is fine.
Anyway, as I hid in a hunting lodge on the edge of the village, I was comfortably nursing a vague suicidal thought: “Maybe I should just die here too.”
That was when someone knocked on the door of the lodge.
Strictly speaking, it was not a knock. It was a single violent kick.
Along with the wooden board I had hooked to the door like a barricade, the tip of a woman’s high-heeled shoe smashed the door open.
“Hey, you. Do you have anything to eat?”
“……Yes?”
I was stunned by the woman’s extremely straightforward demand.
She was a truly beautiful girl.
She had a doll-like face and long, glossy silver-gray hair. Her slender and long body wore a mismatched outfit.
Under the robe draped over her shoulders was a thin dress like the ones nobles wear to parties.
By any logic, it was not a suitable outfit to wear while walking around in the middle of a war zone.
“……What is wrong? Do you not have any food?”
“Ah, ah. Um, please wait a moment.”
Since she spoke with a poker face just like a doll, I hurried to search around the hunting lodge.
I watched her out of the corner of my eye.
Her refined appearance, the fabric quality of her dress, and the way she walked were all overflowing with strange elegance. There was no doubt she was not a commoner.
The woman casually chose a chair in the lodge, sat down, and took off the robe she had been wearing.
The dress underneath revealed an unexpectedly large amount of skin, especially from her shoulders down to her back and waist.
Since I did not think her goal was to seduce a man with such an iron expression, I figured it must have some magical meaning.
“If it is dried meat, you can eat it right away, but—”
“I hate things that smell like wild animals.”
I see, I thought as I put the dried meat back into the shelf.
“Vegetables are—”
“They smell green. And I dislike weird sweetness.”
“Then how about wheat or millet—”
“I cannot accept brown grains. White bread is fine.”
There is no such thing here.
I was certain. She was a young noble lady. I did not know why she was wandering around a place like this, and without any guards at that.
Still, well, it cannot be helped if she dislikes those things.
“Then, I will make something.”
I decided to prepare something for this picky young lady.
I picked up a whole chicken hanging from the ceiling.
It was a weak monster called a Kurogane-dori. It protects itself with hard, sharp feathers like iron blades, but the inside is tender and clean instead.
I used the kitchen without permission and butchered the chicken.
“……Is that okay?”
“Because you are hungry, right?”
“Well, yes.”
Behind me, the woman probably nodded.
“You can remain so calm, you.”
…………
Well, certainly.
Perhaps I was cold-hearted. My parents and the owner of this lodge were probably dead in the village.
But I hated this village.
Shortly after I was born, everyone in the village thought it was creepy that I neither cried nor laughed. That included my parents.
So, I was ignored and bullied. Butchering beasts was a job full of impurity, so they assigned it to me.
Eventually, I came to hate them too.
This young lady, who was staring intently at my hands from behind, was overbearing in her attitude, but she was still much better than the people in the village.
Just knowing she cared enough to ask if it was okay made me a little happy.
“Do you like hard meat or soft meat?”
“Soft meat is better.”
Then, I will use the thigh meat.
I removed the yellow fat and sinews that cause the bad smell, and then chopped it into a coarse mince.
Northern garlic, herbs, and salt were also chopped and mixed in.
I threw in as many kinds of herbs as I had. Then I tore them into small pieces and rolled them into balls.
“Meatballs?”
“Yes. It makes the hardness and sinews less noticeable, and the masking effect of the herbs spreads throughout the whole thing in a short time.”
“Masking effect?”
“Um, it is a way to remove bad odors.”
The Kurogane-dori is a chicken with no unusual taste, but I made sure to thoroughly eliminate even the slightest wild smell.
Following the straw and withered grass, the fires of war had already reached this lodge.
This fire happened to be convenient. I used tree branches to take some of the fire from outside and moved it to the stove.
“…………”
“Eh, what is it?”
“It is nothing. Please continue.”
The young lady put her elbow on the table and looked at me with a suspicious expression, as if wondering what kind of person I was.
Since she told me to continue, I continued.
From the direction of the village, I could hear the roaring sound of blazing fires, the clashing of metal, and the screams of the villagers.
After making the chicken meatballs, I baked them on the bottom of the pot.
Getting a light sear is also the secret to fragrance, which softens the bad smell of the meat.
In addition, I thoroughly washed the chicken carcass, sprinkled it with salt, and roasted it over an open flame. Once it was completely dry, I broke it into small pieces and threw it into the pot.
“……Why did you break the bones?”
“Because good flavor comes from the marrow inside the bones.”
“Why did you roast them?”
“The moisture inside bones is the cause of a raw, unpleasant smell. If you dehydrate them with salt and roast them until dry, almost all the odor disappears.”
Next, I boiled it in sake.
It was distilled liquor that the old hunter had hidden in the back. I boiled the chicken meatballs and broth bones thoroughly until the alcohol evaporated.
“You use sake? Is that also to remove the smell?”
“Yes. When alcohol evaporates due to heat, it takes the food’s bad smell away with it. That is why we boil them together. This is called the azeotropic effect.”
“Azeotropic effect…”
Before I knew it, the young lady had stood up from her chair.
She came right up behind me and peeked into the pot with great interest.
“……That is knowledge I do not know. Where did you learn it?”
“Even if you ask where…”
I could not say “in my previous life,” so,
“From a place very, very far away.”
That was the only way I could answer.
After that, I added salt and water to adjust the flavor, and once it came to a boil, it was done.
I served the chicken meatballs in a bowl and strained the soup through a clean cloth. I poured it in while removing bone fragments, scum, and harsh tastes.
“It is herb chicken meatball soup.”
“Thank you.”
The young lady looked visibly hungry. When she received the bowl of soup with both hands, she immediately brought her nose close to it.
“……It does not smell like a beast.”
She stared intently at the surface of the soup.
Although the simmering time was short, because I broke the bones into small pieces, it turned into a slightly golden chicken soup.
She scooped the soup which carried the umami of the meat, fragrance, and a faint scent of garlic and herbs with a spoon.
She took a small bite into her mouth, and then immediately bit into a meatball.
Tentatively, she chewed—
She chewed, chewed, chewed, and then swallowed.
“It is not hard, and there are no sinews. It does not have a wild smell, but every time I chew, I can taste the meat…”
“I made the salt for the seasoning a little bit strong. Salt has the role of bringing out other flavors, so I think the umami of the meat will feel stronger.”
“I see. The aroma is also refreshing. Multiple kinds of herbs, is it?”
She convinced herself of that, and then took another bite.
Good. It seemed to be to her liking.
I sat across from the table and had the same thing.
The coarsely minced meat retained a soft yet springy texture.
Every time I chewed, the salty umami, the oil, the crisp northern garlic, and the complex scent of herbs filled my mouth.
Suddenly, when I raised my head and looked at the young lady—
“Yeah, it is delicious.”
Saying that, she relaxed her mouth slightly.
──She smiled.
I see. This girl smiles? I was kind of surprised.
Just as I was about to be caught up in it and let out a smile—that happened.
A giant appeared, smashing through the already kicked-in entrance door and taking the wall with it.
“Whoa…!?”
“What is this, interrupting a meal. Such ill-mannered fellows.”
The retort of “Look who’s talking” did not come out of my mouth right away.
Making snorting sounds like “Bu-mo, bu-mo,” the thing that pushed its way in was a giant with a pig’s head—
A monster commonly called an orc. They are plunderers who form packs and attack humans.
Inorganic pig eyes glared down at us.
From the direction of the village, no one’s screams could be heard anymore.
“Hey, you.”
“M-Me?”
“Yeah. What is your name?”
Self-introduction at this timing?
The young lady did not even stand up from her chair, and with her back to the orc, she was only looking at me.
Meanwhile, I looked back and forth between the orc and the young lady, and answered with no other choice.
“I do not have a proper name. Whenever everyone calls me, it is just dirty words of abuse.”
“I see. Then I will give you one. I will call you Pino.”
“P-Pino?”
“Yes. It is an adorable name, like a puppy.”
It might certainly be adorable, but I did not particularly have the disposition of a puppy.
Well, whatever.
“……And you?”
“I am Belze. Belze Myth Miralgod. I am the third princess of our Miralgod Empire.”
…………
Huh? A princess?
My stopped thinking was left behind, and the princess continued speaking.
“My magic is ‘Gluttony’—a strange ability that remembers the magic power of things I eat and mimics and copies their bodies and magic.”
And—
Right after that, black wings grew from Princess Belze’s back.
The dress, which was wide open at the back, did not get in the way of the iron-black wings spreading out with a flurry.
The structure, where each feather was honed like a steel knife, was, yes, the exact body of the Kurogane-dori she had just finished eating.
“Y-You copy the things you eat…”
“Yeah. How is it? Amazing, right?”
Belze snorted proudly.
With a flap of one wing, at that moment—
The iron-black wings neatly sliced off the neck of the orc approaching right toward us.
“Bu-mo—!?”
…It was just a single blow.
First, it chopped off the arm of the orc that was about to swing its club, and the unstoppable wings still went on to slice off the pig’s head.
A pig’s head rolling around on the ground.
A giant body collapsing from the knees.
By that intense wind pressure, even the wooden wall behind us was peeled off and blown away.
Shielding herself and me from the heavy spray of blood that erupted belatedly by using her iron wings as an umbrella, Belze protected us.
“Ho, these wings are quite easy to use. I like them.”
Leaving aside my astonishment, Belze proudly praised the blood-soaked wings growing from her back, and then looked at me next.
“Pino.”
“W-What is it?”
“Thank you. It was very delicious. Your scholar-like knowledge and careful work are both wonderful. I have also come to like you. Therefore—”
“Starting today, you will be my personal cook.”
The woman was as beautiful as a doll, cold-hearted, and merciless, yet she wore a soft, affectionate smile.
…I had no choice but to nod.
Because she was the first person who ever praised me and smiled at me.
I thought I would live a little longer and cook meals for this person.
◆
Later on, I learned more detailed things about her.
The Miralgod Imperial Family, Third Princess—
The witch of beauty, Belze Myth Miralgod.
Belze is an archmage hailed as the strongest in the long history of the imperial family. But her temperament had a major flaw.
She runs across the ground with the speed of a dragon, sometimes flies through the sky, and sometimes crosses the sea. No one can keep up with her.
Leaving behind maids and guards and walking around all parts of the world freely all by herself—that was the kind of troublemaker Belze was in the empire.
On that day, Belze hired a personal cook for the first time.
He was a young man she had picked up in a small village burned by the fires of war in the middle of her usual walk.
Belze, who had stubbornly shaken off the pursuit of her guards as “annoying” countless times until then, suddenly chose that man as a retainer to accompany her on her journey.
──Yes, that is me.
I later heard that it was the very first event in Princess Belze Myth Miralgod’s life of ten-some years, and a huge piece of news that shook the entire imperial family.