Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 115
Kazuki read every single one of Editrix’s thoughts. With a few words, he had planted a hateful seed inside the green creature’s mind. Testing one’s loyalty and pushing the boundaries of how much shit one could eat. Editrix was on the verge of exploding.
(Excellent. He isn’t the most clever, but his anger and his skill set leave an opportunity. I may be able to use this.)
Later on, Kazuki was wandering around the open field. There were several people, mostly soldiers, training. These soldiers were already wielding the swords Kazuki had made yesterday.
As metal clashed with metal, swords ignited in beautiful orangish red flame. A certain spirit was in the air. Some were tense but most were raring to go. They could not wait to destroy the shriekers once and for all. Each one of them had full confidence in Mefius and his abilities. It was as if they were following a war god into battle instead of a Gerian man.
(Understandable. To them, Mefius is invincible. A being that cannot come to harm. If they ever sat and questioned it though, does it make sense? If he really were almighty, why would he allow the shriekers to still exist all of this time? Couldn’t he have ended them and brought his so-called peace to them long ago? The brainwashing is deep and set in the minds of these people.)
As soon as Kazuki came to the field there were many people who came over to talk to him. Kazuki greeted them politely while also talking about many different things. Entertaining on the one hand and interesting on the other. These people were mostly interested in his previous world and how he lived.
One thing they couldn’t seem to wrap their heads around was the food. Kazuki was quite a foodie. He loved eating and he also loved cooking. Spices, herbs, meat, sauces, fats. All the many flavors and textures one could experience were almost like a high. These Gerians didn’t understand it. Their food was simply meat from creatures or different types of flame.
Kazuki wondered how he could better explain food when something came to him.
The day he had come to the city, he had actually seen salt, or rather rock salt. He had thought nothing of it as his mind was on other things like being a slave or the strange statues everyone had but just now it came to him. From what he gathered, the people of this city did not use it for cooking nor did they even know it could be used for cooking. Some people found it to be a niche product and simply used large fist-sized chunks of it for decoration.
The city was poor and would not waste trading primordial flame fragments for much of anything least of all decorations. Thankfully though, these decorations were in the eyes of most just worthless rocks that fell apart easily.
Some people would harvest bits of rock salt from a cave just outside the city. Most would not leave for anything but there were always a few eccentric people.
Kazuki described what rock salt was and someone instantly volunteered to go get some. Apparently, they had some in their room because they found the thought it looked interesting.
After bringing it back, the female soldier handed it over and got closer to Kazuki.
“So how do you sue this with food?”
Kazuki smirked.
“I’ll show you right now. Can someone also go and bring some meat. If you do you’ll be one of the first who gets to try
Before he could finish is sentence several people in the crowd pulled meat out of a pouch or bag they carried.
Kazuki laughed and so too did they.
“Right, I’ll show you how simple yet incredible meat can actually be.”
Kazuki had a not so bad selection of meat to choose from. Surprisingly even though these people had no sense of taste for things like salt or spice in general, they still knew that fattier cuts were more delectable and had more flavor than leaner cuts.
Grabbing a piece with a good heft of fat, not too much nor too little, Kazuki took it with his aura.
With a thought, he trimmed it just a little before he broke the salt down into much finer crystals. Slathering it on the chunk of meat he reserved the rest before opening his hand up and emitting a flame. His fie began to cook the meat covered in salt. At the same time, he used his aura to put pressure on every inch of the meat.
His aura and heat became like a pressure cooker. He sent pulses of aura and heat throughout the meat, cooking it faster without ruining the texture or overcooking it. The inside of his aura became a near-perfect environment for cooking and because of his magic, it took a mere minute before it was done.
Watching from the outside, the crowd of Gerians couldn’t understand why he was doing what he was doing. It simply looked like he was heating it the way they did and nothing more.
Their view completely flipped when Kazuki lowered his aura a bit releasing some of the pressure along with steam. The outside environment was completely different from the cooking environment his aura provided and was a little tricky. However just as he released some of the pressure from his ara, a tiny bit of steam escaped from the meat and filled their nostrils with an enchanting scent. Due to the world’s extreme heat, this steam vanished almost instantly leaving these Gerians in disbelief.
They questioned their sanity for a moment as the smell had disappeared far too quickly. They all shared a look with one another as if to say did you just smell that, it was amazing.
For the first time in history, these Gerians had a real appetite.
Kazuki didn’t stop there. Once the cooking was done, he added a bit more salt and then resealed the cooking environment. He allowed the juices to reabsorb into the meat, fat, salty, savory, and juicy, this meat became something they had never heard of.
(They’ve only ever had raw meat or overcooked meat. Because of this world’s natural temperature, if they don’t eat uncooked meat right away, it starts to dry out rather quickly add them throwing fire on top of it, they’re food basically becomes charred coal. Thankfully the piece of meat I got was from a fresh kill, otherwise, it would have been drier than a desert. The only liquid I’ve seen these creatures drink has been the blood from their food so they have no idea about the juices this meat really contains.)
After mixing a little more salt and allowing the melted fat and juices to get reabsorbed, Kazuki was ready to give them some meat.
Of course, though there was a problem. There were well over ten thousand people on the field currently. The piece of meat he had received was only the size of a melon.
(Well first come first served. I’ll share with the two who gave me the ingredients as well as a few others.)
“Ok, eat it before it dries out.”
Kazuki once more unsealed his aura. This time he fully unsealed it so the smell spread further and gave many of them a better whiff. Even those who had still been training suddenly caught the smell of meat and it was unlike any meat they ever smelled.
Kazuki quickly cut the meat into a dozen or so pieces and gave it to the two people who gave him the ingredients as well as those closest to him.
These Gerians looked at the meat in the hands of their comrades and felt extreme envy. Their red eyes glowing as if they would attack the meat bearers at a moment’s notice brought a chill down the lucky recipient’s spines. Before anyone could say anything or beg for the meat, all dozen of the meat holders shoved the pieces into their mouths.
As soon as they did, there was an audible gasp from the crowd while the meat eaters had a blank expression.
This blank expression quickly turned to shock and then euphoria as a few of them held their cheeks in pure pleasure, and a few even had their knees grow weak and collapse to the ground.
Some thought something went wrong, and a few thought Kauzki may have even poisoned them. All of this changed, however, when the meat eaters began to exclaim one by one.
“How! How can something be this good!?”
“No, that’s not the right word. It just doesn’t do it justice. Amazing, no, even more than that, this is simply divine!”
“It actually melted in my mouth. Meat can actually melt like this. What mysterious power is this and the taste? Food can be delicious!”
“MORE, I WANT MOARRRR!”
The crowd was shocked by these proclamations.
Kazuki wouldn’t consider this as important, but the look in the eyes of those who got to taste the meat as well as the looks of all those who had missed out was dangerous, to say the least. Not just them, but the others who had still been training grew curious and began to gather around as well.
Kazuki laughed at the sight.
(Maybe I could ruin Mefius’s plan with enough salt and meat.)
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