ISTHR 150

１５０

During these 5 days, they will settle things with the guilds and make some preparations for our journey. Saine will also talk to the old man in the Guards Guild and convince him on this trip.

And so both Saine and Dole went to the guild the next day to meet the old man the next day. I’m not really involved with it so I was planning on going to the market but Saine did not give me his permission. He brought me to the guild with him.

I find the Guards Guild fun and I also like it, but even so, it just makes me think. I get the feeling Saine doesn’t trust me to be on my own. He’s probably worried I’ll cause trouble somewhere, like when I said too much to Haruka’s husband.

While Saine was talking downstairs at the temporary guild, I went up to the second floor. I was playing finger wrestling with Gyos, a first-year hero, when suddenly, Saine appeared out of nowhere. Before I knew it, he had grabbed my wrist in a firm grip and pulled me away.

‘What are you doing?’ His voice was absurdly low. Why did he sound so threatening?

Gyos wasn’t married, and he wasn’t connected to any reincarnated person. That meant I hadn’t said anything I wasn’t supposed to. There was no forbidden connection between a husband and a reincarnated person in Gyos’s case. And yet, for some reason, Saine was angry.

Not understanding a thing, I apologized to both Saine and Gyos. You shouldn’t argue with someone who’s mad. It’s better to just apologize and bow your head. About one in three times, it only ends up pouring fuel on the fire—but still. 

Looks like I messed up today. Saine’s brows furrowed even further. Hmm… he must have seen right through me—I apologized without even knowing what for.

Without a word, Saine grabbed my arm and marched out of the guild. Since we weren’t heading home, we were probably going to the northeastern market. It wasn’t the kind of situation where I could casually ask, Where are we going? Even I knew better than to open my mouth right now.

Thanks—though that’s not the right word—to the monster disturbances, the usually packed southeastern market wasn’t as crowded today.

The lumberjacks, who work closest to the monster territory, were taking a break. Farmers were still going out to the fields, but with visible unease. Ranchers, on the other hand, had no choice but to keep working—leaving livestock unattended wasn’t an option, no matter how dangerous it got. That must take real guts.

Everyone kept saying monsters are no big deal, but deep down, they had to be scared. The southeastern market, usually busy with people buying and repairing tools for work, was unusually quiet today.

Saine silently led me to the northeastern market, where we bought ingredients before heading home. I had expected street food, but apparently, that wasn’t happening today. Still, I couldn’t ask anything.

Watching Saine pick out ingredients at random, I planned out the meals in my head. But just as he was about to rush home, I stopped him to buy something crucial that had been completely forgotten—worms. Without them, I couldn’t make oil, and without oil, I couldn’t cook anything properly.

Since Saine still had a grip on my arm, we walked right past Haruka. My best friend and I exchanged a glance and a small wave. Haruka’s husband gave us a weird look, glancing back and forth between me and Saine.

When we finally got home, Saine let go of my arm. After being held for so long, it felt numb. I swung it around and clenched and opened my hand a few times to get the feeling back.

[Cook.]

He gave the order in a low voice, and I started making worm oil. But it was still early afternoon. Was this supposed to be lunch?

Question marks popped up one after another in my head, disappearing just as quickly. At the same time, cold sweat trickled down my back.

I didn’t fully understand what was going on, but one thing was clear—Saine was furious. He had been in a bad mood all day, but now it felt like he had reached his limit.

I have a habit of making people angry without realizing it. I thought I had been careful, but clearly, I messed up somewhere.

What was Saine going to do with me? Yell? Hit me? If that was all, it wouldn’t be so bad.

But what if he wanted to get rid of me? What if he decided I was more trouble than I was worth?

I want to stay by his side… but what am I supposed to do?

My thoughts spun in circles while my body moved on its own. My hands, working mechanically, ended up producing far more oil than I needed.

I crossed my arms and stared at the small pot, now half-filled with insect oil. This was ten times the usual amount. The mistake had been buying five small bags of insects at the market instead of just one. Even as I was doing it, a voice in the back of my head had questioned, Why are you buying so much when we’re about to leave? But I had been too nervous to stop myself. Saine’s silent pressure had been terrifying.

On the table, there was pork and Ras meat—enough Ras meat for three full meals. Had Saine forgotten about our trip to the Royal Capital?

Or… had he decided that if he was going to sell me, then Haruka wasn’t his concern anymore?

I shook my head violently, trying to chase away the awful thoughts. He told me to cook. That’s my job—to make good food. I should just focus on that.

We hadn’t bought any vegetables, but there were pickled turnips in the garden. He had bought eggs, and we had bread. There was even rice. I thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered—oh, right. There was a dish I had been wanting to try. A grin spread across my face as I grabbed the bread.

The bread here isn’t soft unless it’s freshly baked. It dries out quickly. I knead the dry, stale bread with my hands and grind it into flour. Just as I’d made two batches of flour, Saine came into the room. He was making a clatter in my room, and now I know why. Saine was holding a sword in his hand, not the one he usually carries at his waist.

He leaned the sword against the corner of the room and peered at my hands.

[What are you doing?]

[This? I’m making breadcrumbs.”]

Maybe breadcrumbs don’t exist in this world. Or maybe Saine, who doesn’t cook, just doesn’t know about it. I spread the breadcrumbs on a plate and placed them on the edge of the table, and placed the pork on the cutting board. I cut around the edges with a knife.

The pork was the size of a thick steak, so I pounded it with a rolling pin-sized stick that was in Saine’s tools.

[……Are you angry?]

Saine watched me beating the pork flat as if I was hitting my parent’s enemy.

[Huh? Why?]

After all, that should be my line. Saine is mad at me, isn’t he?

[Aren’t you taking your anger out on the meat?]

[That’s not what I’m doing. I heard that if I do this, it will make the meat tender.]

And at the same time, it somehow feels like the amount has increased. I put a lot of salt and pepper on the pounded pork, then dip it in beaten egg, and then breadcrumbs. Uhihi. Tonkatsu, tonkatsu. I didn’t have any flour so I skipped it, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.

After prepping the tonkatsu, I grabbed some rice and a pot and headed to the garden. It had taken several attempts, but I had finally learned how to cook rice without burning it. Since rice needs time to steam after cooking, I could use that window to fry the tonkatsu. As for the Ras meat, leaving it raw until tomorrow wasn’t a good idea. I decided to turn it into karaage.

But there was a problem—we didn’t have any flour. This world did have wheat flour since there were bakeries around. A grandma from the Reincarnators’ Association once told me that using potato starch instead of flour made for crispier karaage, but nobody in this world had managed to find something as fancy as that. I frowned, glancing down at the rice in my hands. That’s right. How about I try making rice flour?

I placed the pot on the stove in the garden and set the colander of rice on the wooden bench that the carpenter next door had made for me. Positioned along the wall of the house, that bench was surprisingly useful. I couldn’t stray too far from the fire while cooking rice, but at least I could sit there and zone out while keeping an eye on it.

After setting everything up, I headed to the bathhouse. I wanted to wash my hands with soap after handling raw meat. But when I opened the door, I was surprised—the bathtub was already filled with water.

So Saine hadn’t just been searching my room for a sword; he had also filled the tub.

When I stepped back outside, soap in hand, Saine was standing there.

[You filled the bath, huh? Thanks.]

Household chores were my responsibility, but Saine often helped out, mostly with the heavy lifting. I appreciated it, but I knew I couldn’t rely on him too much. If I got lazy, I’d end up useless in no time.

As I scrubbed my hands with soap, Saine silently drew water from the well for me. He might look gruff and unsociable, but he was surprisingly considerate. Actually, most people around here were like that—big and intimidating on the outside but kind at heart. The problem was their lack of restraint when it came to strength and their rough way of speaking. The grannies were especially strict about that and always gave them low marks. The men around here were definitely getting the short end of the stick.