Part 1: Cooking with a fellow Japanese
After some calculation, Atur has been in Roa for over a year. And what does that mean?
That's right, his batch of soy sauce is complete!
Since he arrived in Roa, he had excitedly bought a pile of soybeans to try fermenting. The result was he tried over and over again, countless times, to create the type of mold that would produce soy sauce. Unlike when making alcohol, the exact soy sauce mold is very hard to distinguish, so Atur could only be sure by tasting it. And whichever one didn't poison him when eaten, that was the soy sauce mold.
Luckily, there is something called detoxification magic in this world. Thanks to that, Atur didn't need more than one life to taste test all 50 soy sauce samples he was fermenting.
However, one person was extremely concerned seeing Atur constantly tasting soy sauce, coughing up blood, detoxifying, and repeating it over twenty times.
"Hey Atur... I think you should stop."
Rudeus was extremely worried seeing his fellow Japanese friend become so strange. Normally, Atur always showed great perseverance when practicing the sword, focus when researching magic tools, and perversion when staring at Ghislaine's armpits and chest. But this was the first time he saw this friend laughing heartily with a mouth full of blood like this.
Doesn't he look like a mad scientist!?
"No no, no stopping." Atur kept smiling brightly, giving a thumbs up. "As a man of science, I do not accept failure!"
And so, one person continued to cough up blood and have diarrhea; the other had to use detoxification magic continuously for almost the entire day.
And like a comedy story, out of 50 jars of fermented soy sauce, exactly the 50th jar - the last one - was the one that truly became soy sauce.
Atur called it the beauty of science, having to experiment many times to get results. Rudeus just thought it would have been better if his friend had tested in reverse order from the beginning.
But Rudeus's discomfort would soon fade.
Because the product of this soy sauce would create something this other world never had.
Teriyaki chicken!
Mixed with rice!
"R... Rice!?" Rudeus exclaimed seeing a bowl of white rice right in front of his eyes. "There's rice in this world!?"
"Yes, there is!" Atur gave a thumbs up proudly. "Usually the rice is a bit yellowish-brown, but I bought the best kind all the way from Begaritt haha!"
Unlike the type usually found in the King Dragon Kingdom's market, the rice coming straight from the South of Begaritt is whiter and softer, even sweet, but the grains are smaller, making it picky for eaters. But with those characteristics, it is exactly what every Japanese person wants. However, compared to the king of rice Koshihikari, it is still far inferior.
What can you do, that is the result of thousands of years of breeding and the pride of Japanese agricultural technology.
"Anyway, itadakimasu!"
Atur pushed the rice bowl towards Rudeus, and the two friends from the same planet started their meal. And that was the first time Rudeus genuinely shed tears in this life. They were tears of happiness.
"Rice... is truly wonderful, isn't it?" Rudeus said.
"That's right, rice is number one." Atur nodded in agreement.
Rudeus had to admit that Atur had a knack for cooking. If compared, it must be at the level where he could open a restaurant and become rich, or even get a Michelin star. He didn't just recreate dishes from Earth but also combined local ingredients and tastes to create something new and unique.
And many restaurants have already used Atur's recipes.
In Roa, there is now even a pizza shop. But unlike on Earth, pizza here without pineapple would be heresy.
Everyone loves pineapple pizza. Rudeus had no problem with it so he agreed, but if an Italian were to reincarnate to this world, Atur would probably be the first one hunted down.
But no matter what, most dishes created by Atur are still delicious.
Except for a few like panna cotta.
Even Rudeus with his Earth palate found it terrible.
...
Part 2: Rudeus's Religion
Today is a beautiful day and a day off, so Eris will sleep in later than usual. That's why I planned to go to Rudeus's room to invite him to breakfast and the library.
"Rudeus! Are you up yet, buddy!"
I opened the door and walked straight in.
And the scene in front of me was something I never thought I would see in this life. Rudeus was kneeling before an object placed on the table, hands clasped together, clearly praying.
It shouldn't be anything strange. Everyone has their own religion. Like me following the Millis faith. I don't have a habit of judging or discriminating against any religion because Japan was a free country in that regard.
But this time I will have to judge.
Because the thing Rudeus is worshiping is a god damn panty. Pure white. The kind I think is for children.
I should have knocked.
"Ah Atur! I can explain!"
Of course you can, Rudeus.
I hope that stuff isn't Sylphiette or Eris's.
...
Okay, turns out it wasn't Sylphiette or Eris's panty. They were just Roxy's panty - his magic tutor. Thank god, phew... But wait, is it really any better? Rudeus is still a pervert who steals underwear and worships it, right?
Anyway, at least they're not a child's.
"Um... seems like you worship your Master Roxy a bit too much, huh?" I said sarcastically.
"That's right! Master Roxy is a goddess! I still have much to learn from her! She's the best!" Why does he seem proud?
Indeed, I also tried asking Paul about Rudeus's Master Roxy once. According to the story, she was 'less' divine than what Rudeus recounted. But based on what I can deduce myself, it seems that mage helped Rudeus more than just teaching him. Because according to what he shows, Roxy is not an ordinary 'goddess' but a 'savior goddess'.
I don't want to ask deeper about that relationship because knowing more won't help anything. And every time I ask, Rudeus spends half a day telling me how wonderful his Roxy is. To the point where Sylphiette has to feel uncomfortable is enough to understand.
Honestly, I might have a similar view of Isolde? Although I bear the title of Water God's disciple, it seems Isolde taught me swordsmanship even more than Master Reida. If I had to talk about goodness, that girl must be at the level of a saint. Kind, gentle, talented, diligent, just a bit arrogant, but that gives her character. Luckily no one asks, otherwise I think I could talk about Isolde all day and not run out of wonderful things about her.
Although not to the point of stealing panties, I did take her saliva and keep it for myself. Seems like that's even worse than stealing panties urggg... Best not to bring that up.
But suddenly I thought of something.
"Hey Rudeus, do you think we are here for a reason?"
"What do you mean?"
Honestly, I don't know how to say it either...
"Call me obsessed with manga or whatever. But if it was just me, I would say it's reincarnation or something, but now that both of us are given a new chance, could it be because some supernatural force intervened?"
"Yeah. You are obsessed with manga." Rudeus confirmed it flat out. "If someone really summoned us here like a god or something, they should have appeared when we just died to give us a mission, right?"
"According to the trope, that's true." I nodded.
"If no one appeared to give a mission, it means we can freely live however we want. So you don't have to worry." Rudeus shrugged. "Unless you want to be a hero saving the world or something, I won't stop you."
"No. I prefer living peacefully in a village like Paul."
"And I just want to live life to the fullest."
That means neither of us has the qualities to become a hero or anything. Even though I intend to deal with Pilemon and Darius. But that's purely for personal reasons, not for any noble goal. So Rudeus and I are equally selfish, huh? Maybe that's why we could become friends immediately.
What is called 'brainwave synchronization' is truly wonderful.
To be honest, I quite understand Rudeus a little more after talking with him like this. Well… Remember the time that I said I think he's middle school at best? I think he's maybe around my age or something now. He's a lot more mature in terms of the way he speaks and acts. A little bit sour and overthinking sometimes too. I think he may work in a graveyard shift or something so it made him like this.
Although he's quite smart and sharp in terms of brain power, the guy is still having a lot of flaws like being a very obvious pervert sometimes. I don't mind him being like that since I'm not any better when it comes to Ghislaine. Or sometimes he just acts like he's not a freaking genius and that bugs me quite a lot.
Oh wait, talking about being a genius, maybe I'm a kind of genius too huh? Maybe I really am a hypocrite.
But still I'm not planning on changing him or anything. I did have many flaws before like being a coward and now it's starting to fade. I'm also starting to believe more in my ability as well. And I can do that because I need to be like that. A person can only be better if they really want to. And which way is better also depends on their perspective as well. I get what I have today mostly because of that.
If someone comes and tells me to believe in the system more and cope with the fact that nobility like Darius is necessary for this country then I would give him a middle finger to the face. Maybe Darius *is* necessary, but I refuse to believe in that.
I have my own life, Rudeus has his too, his way of 'better' depends on how he wants to live. So instead of trying to make others be better in my standard, I think it would be better if just let Rudeus choose his own path.
Instead all we can do is give advice and respect each other.
Like how real adults treat each other.
But hmmm…. maybe it's time to talk about 'that matter', right?
"Hey Rudeus. Do you remember the time I talked about fighting a group of assassins?"
So I told my story and the incident with Prime Minister Darius to Rudeus.
"So you... want to take revenge on that prime minister?" Rudeus came to a conclusion. He looked calmer than I thought.
"No." I shook my head. "Because of many other complicated things, I can't do that. I know I can't do it alone."
Well I do *want* to kill him but I can't.
"So you want me to help you kill him?"
"No either."
My goal is not to find someone to help me purge this world or to complain and seek sympathy. Just wanted to let my friend know this world is really not as rosy and cheerful as the reincarnation stories we both knew before.
"You told me your secret, so I have to tell you mine." I said honestly. "That's only fair."
"I see." Rudeus nodded. He paused for about half a minute then spoke again. His calm voice suddenly became angry. "However, hearing these things makes me feel a bit troubled indeed."
I think Rudeus must have just thought about the scenario if Sylphiette were kidnapped like that to have this reaction, judging by the way he glanced at the elf girl figurine. I also know Rudeus is an overthinker, but daring to imagine that scene is indeed a bit excessive.
"That is also one of the reasons I want to become stronger." I continued, looking at the Eris figurine Rudeus was making on the table. "I want to be strong enough to protect those important to me."
Now I've said exactly a line from shounen protagonists. But unlike usual, this time Rudeus also nodded.
"Me too. I won't let any ugly bastard lay hands on my Sylphie."
I guessed he would say that. And because of that, I have a proposal.
"Hey Rudeus. What do you think if we become allies?"
"Aren't we already?"
"True. But I want us to become allies for life. In the future, we will be on the same front line no matter what happens. If we have any misunderstanding, let's talk it out. If there are secrets, share them together. Like Nobunaga and Ieyasu or Naruto and Sasuke. What do you say?"
Rudeus raised an eyebrow at me as if I just said something weird. But he also started thinking and seemed to understand what I meant.
"Alright." Rudeus smiled and held out his right fist. "I'll leave my back to you, Sasuke."
I bumped fists with him. "I should be Naruto, right? I was an orphan since birth."
"At least I don't want to take revenge on a family member. And I have more chakra."
"Fair enough."
And so the so-called 'Reincarnation Alliance' of mine and Rudeus was established with a single common goal: To live a happy life together in this world.
Talking about Naruto. I wonder how that story ended huh? We just died right at the start of the final arc, too bad.
"But still, what is your ideal wife?" Rudeus asked, which is not even related to what we are discussing.
"Yamato Nadeshiko." I replied immediately.
"Tch tch… So backward, so backward."
I can't deny it. I know it's backward and unreasonable. But I did want a wife like that. But I didn't say it has to be that way. I also love muscular and strong women too hehe.
Oh wait, if we talk about a Yamato Nadeshiko then isn't Isolde matched that requirement quite well? Now I feel a little bit jealous of whoever gets her as a wife.
"So what's your ideal style?" I asked back.
"As long as she's pretty and loves me deeply. I'm a very open-minded person." What's with that smirk, it's not something you should be proud of.
And that dude just said that I'm a backward person.
But yes, that made sense. I think Rudeus is like me, a person who never knew the warmth of the opposite sex before so thinking like that isn't wrong either.
"Maybe I will follow your principle as well." I said with a serious face.
Rudeus pulls out a thumb up. "So you are a man of culture as well."
Yes I am.
"Anyway, let's not touch any girls under 18 okay?" I add.
"Dude, we are Japanese, 13 is fine."
"Let's follow this world's principle then. 15."
"15 it is."
And so we start to talk about some random bullshit until midnight.
…