Episode 2: Starting from Where I Ended Up
Seriously hilarious, isn’t it?
Would you believe me if I told you that the moment I parted ways with that old geezer, my eyes were enveloped in light, and before I knew it, I was a baby in a remote, cold village?
Well, you don’t have to.
My policy is that people should freely believe whatever they want to believe.
However, from my perspective, it was like being suddenly thrown into a medieval European fantasy world, where I’m living a somewhat amusing life.
“Amusing” is a bit of an exaggeration, but I have to spice things up a bit, or it’d be too depressing.
Do you really want to hear the common isekai tropes?
Like growing up enduring abuse, escaping after being sold to slavers, and then my village being caught in a war and everyone getting massacred…
I don’t want to talk about things that aren’t funny.
Thinking about that stuff makes me miss Earth’s civilization, but I’ve been living abroad for so long that I don’t really care that much.
It’s like those cliché backpacker sayings, “Going to India changes your perspective!” but it’s actually pretty true. Makes you realize Japan is paradise!
…Enough with the idle chatter.
Looks like prey has arrived.
“Buruuu!!!”
“Haaah!”
With the iron staff in my right hand, I slam the side of the Fang Boar’s head as it charges at me, deflecting its attack!
“Bugyii?!”
“There!”
Then, I thrust the short sword in my left hand into its neck.
“Pugigyii!!”
I pull the blade, and slash!
“Gi…”
Alas, the boar… its neck is almost completely severed, and it collapses, spewing blood from its throat…
After confirming its death, I look around to make sure no one is watching…
『שמור אותו קפוא (Keep it frozen nicely)』
…With 『Magic』, I freeze the meat, preserving its freshness.
I hoist the slain boar onto my back.
Fang Boar, as the name suggests, is a magic beast with large fangs. It might sound intimidating, but the fangs are the only large part, the body is only slightly larger than a large dog.
The average weight for this species is around 100kg, a little more. Well, just like the wild boars in Japan on Earth.
I’ve heard stories of larger individuals, several times heavier and twice as big as normal ones. Those are a different breed altogether, the terrifying King Boars, said to reach 3m in height. That’s a boar the size of a truck, scary stuff.
That’s the kind of monster it is. No wonder you can’t kill one with a sword on Earth, where there’s no 『Magical Power』 for 『Body Enhancement』.
Conversely, in this world where 『Aether』… magical power… fills everything in the universe, anyone capable could punch a grizzly bear to death with their bare hands.
Thinking about such things, I leave the forest and return to the town.
The town of Midford.
“Oh, Apothecary. You’re back.”
A town guard. A middle-aged man wearing a cannonball-shaped iron helmet and boiled leather armor.
He wears hard leather armor, with iron breastplates and plates sewn onto his gauntlets, a short sword at his waist that’s easy to wield even in the narrow city streets, and a round shield in one hand.
He stands in front of the iron gate in the 5-meter-high stone wall and calls out to me.
“I’m back.”
I raise my hand in greeting.
Greetings are important in a tight-knit community like this.
“You’ve got meat again?”
“Yeah, might as well use the 『Hunting Rights』 I have.”
“No, but, aren’t you supposed to become a 『Strider』 for more than just hunting rights…?”
“But if anyone other than a Strider enters the forest and hunts magic beasts without permission, they’ll be caught for poaching.”
“Aren’t you a well-known Apothecary? You could just buy meat.”
“Hunting it myself is the freshest and cleanest way. The animal fat and liver can be used as medicine ingredients, and it’s on the way when I’m gathering medicinal herbs.”
“I don’t get you, Apothecary… Ah, you can go through.”
“Thanks, excuse me.”
After chatting with the guard at the gate, I enter the town with the boar on my back.
I walk along the packed dirt road, and when I reach the shopping district, I take a slight detour…
To a shop and house with a spacious garden in a less crowded alley.
This brick house with two signs, “Andrews’ Apothecary” and “Bar of Soap Available,” is my home.
“Hey, I’m back!”
“Ah, Andrews-sama! Welcome back!”
When I call out, the door of the house opens, and a small shadow jumps out to greet me.
It was a small girl with shockingly pale blue hair.
“I’m home, Tris.”
“Yes, Andrews-sama!”
Tris.
Tristia.
She savors the name I gave her, as she is called by me.
She is a 『Mazoku』 girl with horns like a sheep or goat.
One day, I bought her when she was being sold as a slave, she is my property.
…Well, not exactly a slave.
To be precise, this world doesn’t have that many social resources, so high-class livestock like slaves aren’t that common. It’s more like a discriminated class like the Mazoku happened to be captured by kidnappers, so I solved the problem with money.
“Ah, Andrews-sama, you hunted a boar?”
“Yeah. It’s early autumn, so the forest’s bounty should be getting tasty soon.”
As I say this, I hand my backpack and weapons to Tris, grab a knife, and go to the garden.
Tris wipes the weapons and tools I used with a dry cloth next to me, then applies maintenance oil.
Meanwhile, I butcher the boar with the knife.
I took out the unusable organs immediately after killing it and buried them on the spot, so there’s no need to process them, but skinning a 1.2-meter-long beast and cutting up the meat is quite the heavy labor.
When I first came to this world, I failed at even this simple task many times.
But it’s been over twenty-five years now, so I’ve gotten used to it.
I quickly butcher it before noon, cut up the meat, and preserve it by smoking, drying, or salting it.
And the best parts, I’ll make into a wine stew while they’re fresh.
I sear the surface in a frying pan, then sauté minced onions, celery, and garlic in the oil to bring out the aroma.
Then, I add strained tomatoes and red wine to the meat, along with salt, pepper, and sugar in appropriate amounts.
I add pre-made dried fond… well, a granular consommé-like substance, and simmer it slowly.
I bake bread.
And it’s done.
I add pickled vegetables from a pre-made jar and enjoy the wine stew.
Wild boar meat with a strong gamey flavor, stewed in wine and flavored with spices.
This way, even a modern person like me can eat it without complaining.
“It’s delicious, Andrews-sama!”
“Indeed.”
And so, I spend the day making preserved food and end the day.
At night, I take a bath with Tris and go to bed while holding her.
Reincarnation.
Not bad, but well, it is what it is.