I seem to have been reincarnated. And as one hell of a gorgeous pretty boy, at that.
But does it make any sense to be reincarnated in an inn in the middle of a forest with no trace of people anywhere?
Fuck, that sentence itself doesn’t even make sense. How can it be an inn when there are no people?
What kind of lunatic thinks to build an inn in the middle of an uninhabited forest?
Anyway, even a shabby inn was still an inn, so there were a few ingredients left, and the bedding was good enough that living here wasn’t bad in itself. For about two days, that is.
Three potatoes, half a carrot, half an onion, half a cabbage, three tomatoes so ripe they were about to burst, a leek with only the white part left, a heap of chicken bones that had been washed clean and dried, a handful of coarsely milled flour, and two eggs.
That was the list of provisions I checked on the morning of the third day after my reincarnation.
If I cooked properly and filled my stomach, I could just barely last the day. If I endured by eating one boiled potato, one tomato, and a couple leaves of cabbage per meal, I could probably hold out a few more days.
Survival or gastronomy… If I thought rationally, then of course it would be right to eat sparingly, last longer, and look for a way out, but my pride won’t allow that.
A ghost who dies after eating has a better complexion, and no matter what you do, things only go smoothly once you’ve eaten well.
If anything, since this might end up being my last meal, I plan to put even more care into making it and eating it. If I die after this, well… maybe I’ll reincarnate into another world again, right?
Anyway, I haven’t decided what to cook, but first I should make stock with the chicken bones.
It’s a fine base that won’t cause problems no matter where I use it, and if push comes to shove, I can just slurp it down as is.
On my first day after reincarnating, I barbecued the whole chicken, stripped off the meat, and gathered what was left. The bones still had faint black marks here and there, and after drying well they’d gone a little stiff. I washed them clean once more and put them in cold water.
Since I was making stock, not cooking a dish, I’d start from cold water and simmer it slowly for a long time.
It depends on the amount, but with just under one chicken’s worth of bones, an hour and a half should be enough to extract everything.
What I’ll boil with it is cleanly washed carrot peels, half a piece of leek, the onion core, thyme, whole peppercorns, bay leaf, and parsley stems, maybe?
It would be better if I had whole garlic or celery too… but it seems I can’t make that sort of aromatic vegetable.
That’s right. My ability is the power to create whatever seasonings and spices I want….
Even so, it only produces exactly enough for cooking, and if it isn’t consumed in the dish, it disappears almost immediately, so getting filthy rich off whole peppercorns like people might imagine is impossible.
To begin with, even if that were possible, there’d have to be a place willing to buy them. How the hell would that work here, when I’m the only person around?
In all those stories about reincarnating into another world, everyone runs around mowing down enemies with a single sword or blowing everything up with magic. So because I used to cook before, I’m supposed to cook here too?
Still, maybe they felt bad about giving me only one unimpressive ability, because I really did get one absurdly amazing face.
Even from my perspective as a man, it’s enough to make me think, “Wow, this crazy bastard is fucking handsome…” so women would probably swoon on sight.
Of course, as I’ll say again, in a place like this where I’m the only person around, having a great face isn’t particularly useful.
If only I’d looked plain instead and gotten an ability that could at least create food. But no, they had to be stingy and give me only spices….
“Ah, fuck, I wanna get laid~! Am I seriously supposed to die without getting laid even once in both my last life and this one, you fucking God?! I’m just saying I want to use the thing I was born with for once, so what the hell is your problem?!”
Since there was no one to hear me anyway, I shouted to my heart’s content. To be honest, it was also a shout meant for someone to hear.
Wouldn’t a woman fall from the sky or something? If that happened, I could even give her all the food I have.
…Damn it, the more I think about it, the more unfair it feels! Why the hell did they give me such a painfully plain ability?
Tch… At least thanks to it, I’ve been able to eat tasty food, so I guess that’s enough.
I stretched once toward the sun that had just begun to rise. The weather was disgustingly nice.
At the spot where I’d barbecued the day before, I simply set up a pot hanger, drew water from the well right beside it, and poured in plenty, enough to cover the contents.
After roughly looking around this area, I hadn’t found any traces of other humans, so rather than wasting effort for nothing and exhausting myself, I planned to sit comfortably and watch the stock boil.
This is actually not bad for killing time… If you stare blankly at it bubbling away and skim off the foam, time passes in an instant.
Why was I reincarnated in this world? If they were going to do it, couldn’t they have given me a more useful ability… and other such unproductive thoughts.
If you keep repeating the same task endlessly amid stray thoughts, a clear, ivory-colored, appetizing stock is completed.
I don’t have a clock, so I can’t know exactly, but judging by the color and the amount left, didn’t it boil for about two hours?
After rinsing the ladle I’d been using to skim the foam, I scooped up some broth and drank it. The clean savoriness unique to chicken stock was the first thing to wrap around my tongue.
Next came the subtle sweetness drawn from the onion, carrot, and leek. Finally, the scent of thyme perfectly covered the faint lingering gaminess and the earthy smell characteristic of carrot, a root vegetable.
Even so, there were still empty spots here and there in the taste and aroma, so I wasn’t completely satisfied, but considering it was made in the current situation, which was close to an ingredient famine, it wasn’t a bad result.
Though the sun had fully risen, the air was cool because the forest was close, so the warm stock seemed to seep even deeper into my body.
Shivering pleasantly, I hauled the pot into the house with a grunt.
Should I say I felt satisfied? With one ladle of freshly boiled stock in my empty stomach, I felt relieved and sleepy. Or maybe I simply wanted to turn my eyes away from the current situation.
But here, there were no orders flooding in like mad, and no nightmare customers lodging complaints, so I could take a break whenever I wanted.
Thinking that way, even the desperate situation of my provisions running out didn’t feel all that bad.
I don’t know why it was built here, but in any case, it was an inn building, so the lodging facilities were fairly neat as well. I didn’t have to worry about a place to sleep.
I went into the best room on the second floor, stretched out both legs, and was just about to enjoy what might soon become my final pleasant rest.
Bang, bang bang, bang!
Had I misheard? My ears, which had heard nothing but sounds made by nature, caught an artificial noise produced by someone with intent, and for a moment, my brain stopped processing.
Just as I stood frozen at the completely unexpected situation, as if to prove I hadn’t misheard, a desperate knock struck the door again, and along with it came a woman’s voice, cracked to the point of breaking.
“Excuse me! Is anyone there? If anyone is… please show mercy, cough… and let me stay for a while.”
Hallelujah! O God who answers even prayers that aren’t really prayers… thank you.
However, shameless as it is, I ask for just one more thing. Please let the woman outside the door be my type… or if not that, at least let her be pretty.
If only that much is true, I’ll somehow manage to seduce that woman, who may become this inn’s first and last guest, and bring her to bed.
A short deep breath, and then the bolt was lifted.
And so began the business of the otherworld inn Sage.