Ch.34The Eve of the Storm (2)

When I returned, I could see a fox holding a fish in its mouth.

Hersy rubbed her eyes while trying to tame her disheveled hair.

“When did you wake up?”

Ruide asked as he set down the mushrooms.

“Just now…”

Speaking in a voice still heavy with sleep, Hersy noticed the mushrooms in Ruide’s hand and asked, “Are we having mushroom dishes?”

“Today’s a bit different.”

Blegh! Miho spat out a fish in front of Ruide. The fish had emerald-colored scales, and it looked quite unappetizing.

“Eek!”

Hersy belatedly jumped back in surprise.

“F-fish.”

She seemed quite startled.

Ruide asked Miho, “Can you prepare fish too?”

He was just checking, just in case.

Miho tilted her head.

[Why would I need to prepare the fish?]

“…Never mind.”

Ruide reached into the air and rummaged through his spatial storage. With a frown, he searched for a while before pulling something out.

“What’s that…?”

“It’s my sister Irene’s.”

It was a longsword that looked exactly like ice. Though it dragged on the ground, being too large for Ruide’s body, it instantly adjusted to fit his frame, becoming a usable dagger.

Pop!

Ruide gripped the sword with both hands and drew it. He firmly pressed the now-smaller scabbard against the ground.

After grabbing the fish with his left hand, he placed it on the scabbard, using it as a cutting board. Then, without a moment’s hesitation, he brought the sword down on the fish’s head.

Thwack!

“Eek…!”

[Gulp.]

Hersy was horrified, while Miho drooled profusely.

Ruide summoned a water element, thoroughly washing the fish before beginning to prepare it.

‘Good thing I worked at that sushi restaurant before.’

This was a moment when the dozens of part-time jobs Ruide had in his previous life came in handy.

Fortunately, the structure of fish in this world seemed to be the same, so he was able to prepare it without much difficulty.

Hersy marveled, “I heard people in the North enjoy hunting because food is scarce… I guess that’s true.”

“Yeah.”

Ruide gave a casual response and began slicing the fish for sashimi.

He cut pieces just the right size for sushi.

Soon, about 10 pieces were ready. After arranging them neatly, he immediately began the next step.

He summoned a water droplet and placed all the mushrooms inside it.

“Fox, fire.”

[Yes sir!]

Miho opened her mouth wide and breathed fire. The flames enveloped the water droplet. Ruide thought it looked just like a dragon’s breath.

“Keep it up until I say it’s enough.”

[Okay.]

As the water droplet began to boil, Ruide nodded.

“That’s enough now.”

The fire stopped abruptly. Miho quickly scurried to Ruide’s side, clearly wanting praise. Ruide stroked the fox. Miho rubbed her head against him and yipped happily.

“Now then…”

It was time to make the rice.

Ruide took out one of the well-boiled mushrooms. He squeezed out the moisture by gripping it tightly, then, channeling his inner sushi chef, shaped it into a round ball.

Hersy, who had been watching blankly while hugging her knees, suddenly asked out of curiosity, “Ruide, what kind of food is that?”

[Hehe, he said it’s called sushi.]

“…Sushi?”

Hersy tilted her head at the unfamiliar name.

[Is this your first time seeing it?]

“Yes. It’s my first time. Can you explain it to me?”

Miho curled her tail and lay down.

Ruide gave her an incredulous look.

‘She doesn’t know either.’

Anyway, he had made the sashimi and the “rice,” so all that was left was the wasabi.

‘What can I use for that?’

He tried to recall the faint taste of wasabi. It definitely had that sharp sensation in the nose.

‘Something that makes your nose tingle…’

Was it because he had a genius brain?

A good idea came to him immediately.

Ruide rummaged through his spatial storage again. The Windsor family vault had everything except what wasn’t there.

He took out what he wanted.

“What’s that…?”

“Sauce.”

“Th-that doesn’t look like sauce to me.”

Hersy was bewildered.

What Ruide had taken out was some kind of plant.

A root that remarkably resembled a human shape…

“I-isn’t that a mandrake?!”

It was indeed a mandrake.

Ruide looked at the mandrake with dull eyes. Despite being a plant, it had a mouth.

‘This really looks disgusting.’

“KIEEEEEK!”

“Be quiet.”

Smack!

Ruide knocked the mandrake out with a slap to its face.

Hersy was covering her ears with a confused expression.

There was a rumor that hearing a mandrake’s cry would cause magical overload and death.

“That’s just a lie, Hersy. As you can see, it’s so annoying-looking that people who fainted from shock spread such rumors.”

Hersy lowered her hands, blushing.

“…I knew that.”

She muttered in a very small voice, but it wasn’t convincing.

Ruide plucked a leaf from the mandrake with a snap. He tossed the body into the void as if throwing garbage into a trash can. The spatial storage swallowed it.

“B-but what are you going to do with that? Surely not…”

Hersy gulped nervously.

Ruide tore off a leaf and placed it on top of the mushroom.

Hersy stared at Ruide with blank eyes.

“Aren’t the leaves poisonous…?”

“That’s a lie too.”

This was actually true. Mandrake leaves are extremely poisonous.

‘As long as it tastes good, that’s all that matters.’

Ruide used a bit of detoxification magic to neutralize the poison.

This way, they would only get a slight stomachache. He planned to use healing magic after they finished eating.

“I… didn’t know that.”

Though very suspicious, Hersy had no choice but to accept it.

Ruide neatly completed the sushi and clapped his hands once.

“Done.”

“Thank you…”

Ruide gave Hersy a piece of sushi.

Hersy carefully accepted it, gulping nervously.

Stare—

Her eyes were full of distrust.

“Fox.”

[Yes!]

Drool dripped from Miho’s muzzle.

“Wait.”

[What…?]

Miho looked at Ruide with a pitiful expression.

Ruide picked up the sushi he had been looking forward to.

‘Since I used good ingredients, it should taste good, right?’

Ruide was proud of himself.

Creating sushi in the medieval era?

This was worthy of the Dellin Award.

Also, he thought it would definitely taste good after all his effort.

Ruide was about to eat the sushi when he stopped.

“There’s no soy sauce.”

“Soy sauce…?”

“Just wait a moment.”

He couldn’t postpone eating just because there was no soy sauce when everything else was ready.

Ruide thought of a substitute for soy sauce.

Soy sauce is salty.

So, salt dissolved in water should be similar—with this thought, he took out a salt shaker.

He sprinkled salt on the sushi and finally gulped it down in one bite.

Chew, chew.

Ruide’s brow gradually furrowed.

‘As expected, it doesn’t taste good.’

Hersy smiled awkwardly.

In her opinion, there was no way this could taste good.

She didn’t know about the rest, but mandrake was a medicinal herb. How could something with that in it taste good…?

“Delicious.”

“Huh?”

Ruide smiled broadly.

“It’s tasty.”

“R-really?”

“Try it, Hersy. You too, fox.”

As soon as Ruide finished speaking, Miho ferociously swallowed a piece of sushi.

“…!”

The fox stopped chewing, her eyes wide open.

‘Is it really delicious?’

Seeing that reaction, Hersy stared at the sushi in her hand.

‘Ruide worked hard to make this, so I can’t not eat it.’

Remembering Ruide’s efforts, she closed her eyes tight and put it in her mouth.

“How is it?”

Ruide was watching Hersy with interested eyes.

Hersy trembled slightly at the intense flavor she felt in her mouth.

The soft texture of the mushroom.

Combined with the flesh of the “unknown Lake Dellin fish” that had just been caught, it was chewy.

The mushroom had a sweet taste, and its rich juice filled her mouth.

And the mandrake leaf sandwiched in between…

It erased all those textures and flavors!

“…!”

Hersy hurriedly covered her nose.

Her nose was tingling…!

**

“I thought it was delicious.”

Ruide felt a little guilty looking at Hersy with her red eyes.

He hadn’t considered that the taste of wasabi would be so unfamiliar and intense to people in this world.

Well, basically all the food here was bland anyway.

[I thought it was delicious too!]

The fox perched on Ruide’s shoulder yipped happily.

Hersy, still gripping her nose from the lingering intense flavor, glared at the fox. Her eyes were still watering.

“Miho, you ate the fish…!”

The fox flinched guiltily.

In truth, after tasting one piece and finding it not to her liking, she had eaten the leftover parts from the fish preparation.

“If it doesn’t suit your taste, you shouldn’t have eaten it.”

The flavor was so intense that it seemed impossible to eat two pieces, but Hersy had forced herself to eat it.

She didn’t want to disappoint Ruide.

She quickly removed her hand from her nose and said, “N-no, I… liked it too.”

‘Liar.’

Ruide half-opened his eyes.

He remembered how she had eaten the sushi as if it were poison.

“Where are we going now?”

Hersy cleared her throat and changed the subject. Ruide had been walking through the academy saying he had important business, but he hadn’t told her where they were headed.

“Looking for the villain.”

“What?”

Ruide put his hands in his pockets and gazed languidly at a certain building. It was the Expert Class women’s dormitory.

Originally, the villain of the second episode was, of course, Hersy.

Like a true villainess, she played the role of the final boss.

She was the one guarding the path to the library at the end.

Normally, Hersy wouldn’t lose to someone like Justin, seeking revenge—

But the protagonist’s group, all five of them, ganged up on Hersy.

No matter how much stronger than average Hersy was, she couldn’t handle being outnumbered.

The highlight was Justin awakening with the protagonist’s buff, bringing the episode to a close.

Of course, Ruide had no intention of letting Hersy be part of this trivial farce.

‘The person who can really cause trouble is, of course, that guy.’

Ruide headed toward the women’s dormitory.

Normally, men would be doused with water just for approaching, but as Ruide approached, everyone just smiled warmly, with no one showing any wariness.

Feeling somewhat offended by this, Ruide stood at the door.

“Who are you looking for?”

A maid asked with a gentle smile.

“I’m here to report a shameless pervert who snuck into the women’s dormitory.”

“W-what?”

The startled maid understood Ruide’s words and tensed up.

“Thank you for the report. Do you happen to know the name?”

The villain of the second episode.

The person who would take the stones instead of Hersy was…

“Damon Kairos. He should still be inside.”

It was the rogue prince, Damon.

“I have personally come to bestow my grace. Is there a problem with that?”

Ruide looked up at the familiar voice. On the third-floor railing, Damon was looking down with an arrogant expression.

“Well, I was just about to come find you.”

Damon jumped down from the railing. Landing gracefully, he put his hands in his pockets and walked over with confident strides.

…His buttons were misaligned, as if he had buttoned up in a hurry.

Most notably, despite being caught doing something suspicious in the women’s dormitory, his attitude was remarkably confident.

‘Truly a genius villain.’

Ruide couldn’t help but admire him.