Chapter 38
Chapter 38: Satiety and Hunger 「I am deeply sorry for the lateness of the meal preparation . Since this is an inland region, it doesn’t have a full set of delicious foods like the ones from the Fraise Territory, however I hope you might enjoyed this . 」(Havel) It was one hour after Kazura left the bath . The four people: Havel, Kazura, Valetta and Valin, were sitting at the table in Leveson’s Mansion where various luxurious dishes were served in front of them . It was a long rectangle table, its length might’ve reached 4 meters . There were a lot of platters placed atop the table within arm’s reach, where the various dishes were neatly arranged .
Havel and Kazura were sitting on the so called 「Seat of Honor」[1], while Valetta and Valin sat at the table’s side . There were 2 maids stood near the table, who will wait the table . In front of them was a little table covered with cloth . Atop of the table were several copper pitchers that contained beverages . One of the maids was Marie, while for the other maid, this was the first time Kazura’s group saw her since they arrived at the mansion . Havel had taken off the armor he had worn, currently he was using a loose-like robe similar to what Kazura currently worn . Valin and Valetta also wore clothing resembling a robe, although it was a bit different in appearance from Kazura’s . 「This is extremely……」(Kazura) As Kazura spoke this, he looked at the various dishes lined up in front of him with admiration . After all, the quality of the dishes placed in front of him was fairly exceeding Kazura’s expectation . Of the dishes placed atop the table, there were a lot of dishes made from ingredients that Kazura hardly ate in this world such as meat or fish . The dishes variety was also plentiful . Among the lined up dishes, there were meat dishes similar to roasted beef, fish slices that seemed to have been grilled with sauce, there were also several types of dishes that Kazura already knew since it also exists in j.a.pan . Although there were also several dishes that could make a j.a.panese faint if they catch sight of it, such as skewered roasted caterpillar or caterpillar sauté . However if it was served atop this table then that means it might be a high cla.s.s cuisine . Since Kazura habitually eats Valetta’s handmade high cla.s.s caterpillar dishes, he didn’t felt any disgust or had any problems with the existence of caterpillar dishes . 「Amazing…… I never saw any dishes this luxurious . 」(Valetta) Valetta spoke this out while being a bit nervous . Valin also agreed and nodded . The food of the n.o.bles was something that a common peasant hardly ever saw, so this was a natural reaction . 「It would be my pleasure if you can enjoy this . We also have prepared a superior fruit wine, can everyone here drink alcohol?」(Havel) 「Certainly!」(Valin) Valin made a powerful reply . Havel smiled, 「I’m glad to hear that . 」 and then he called Marie who then began to pour fruit wine into the copper cup that was placed in front of Valin . 「How about both of you?」(Havel) 「Could I have one?」(Kazura) 「Alcohol is too……」(Valetta) 「Oh my, is that so? Then, how about juice for the beverage?」(Havel) 「Ah, yes, it is fine……」(Valetta) Hearing Valetta’s answer, Havel gave instructions towards another Maid who stood by in the room . Marie, who had with pouring fruit wine to Valin’s cup, began to do the same to Kazura’s cup . 「Then, please enjoy yourselves on this . The maids will help you for the dishes outside your reach, so please don’t hesitate to order them . 」(Havel) After Havel said this, he began to move the dishes from the large platters to his small plate . Seeing this, Valin and Valetta also began to move the dishes to their own small plates . Following the other three, Kazura moved the nearby roast beef like meat dish to his small plate . 「Itadakimasu . [2]……… Hm, this is delicious!」(Kazura) Kazura, who feel dizzy from the hunger, excitedly put the meat dishes to his mouth and expressed his admiration . The meat dish inside Kazura’s mouth had almost similar texture and taste to a roast beef . Actually, this dish was made by roasting meat with a pinch of salt in a closed pan and then covered with sauce made from herbs and concentrated fruit, so the cooking method was quite similar to a roast beef . As for the familiar taste of roast beef that Kazura could eat in j.a.pan, although the needed seasonings such as garlic, pepper, wasabi or shouyu[3] might exists, it would be considered as luxurious items . 「I am glad that it suit your taste . Since there are a lot of dishes prepared here, feel free to eat to your heart’s content . 」(Havel) Havel showed a relieved expression after he saw Kazura wholeheartedly stuff his cheek with meat . Since he didn’t know what kind of food would please Kazura, he prepared a lot of dish varieties as many as he could possibly do, however who could know that it succeed just at the first item that Kazura chose . 「By the way, Kazura-sama, this might be rude of me, but there is something that I want to request from you . 」(Havel) Fifteen minutes had pa.s.sed since they first began to eat the dinner, everyone was satisfied as their stomach had been filled to some extent . Havel had been consistently bringing up topics about harmless and inoffensive content such as about the food or the city until now, but then he stopped touching the food and began addressing Kazura . 「Yes, what is it . 」(Kazura) 「In the future, in the occasion that Kazura-sama needed to prepare or search for a person or goods in Isteria, please, I hope you entrust it to me…… Even though I may look like this, but I am well known by the merchants or other n.o.bles in Isteria, so I think this might be useful . 」(Havel) Hearing Havel’s sudden proposal, Kazura placed back the skewered caterpillar he wanted to put into his mouth at the small plate . By the way, the skewered caterpillar is not Arcadian Bug but of another species . 「That is a pleasing suggestion . On the occasion Havel-san’s power is needed then I will surely ask you, at that time I hope for your cooperation . 」(Kazura) Kazura replied with a slight nod . Hearing Kazura’s answer, Havel put both of his hand on the table . 「Thank you very much . Please order me anything if you need something to be done . 」(Havel) He said while bowed deeply . ✦✧✦✧ After the dinner, Kazura’s group returned to the room and were having a friendly chat while resting with full bellies . 「Kazura-san, is something wrong?」(Valetta) While sitting at the sofa that was placed at the end of each bed, they were talking about their impression of the dishes, however Valetta noticed that Kazura’s expression was unusual, and so she inquired him . Being inquired by Valetta, Kazura rubbed his stomach that had swelled to the limit and made quite a frown .
「No, it just that my stomach’s condition is somewhat……」(Kazura) 「Eh!?」(Valetta) Kazura’s statement that his stomach is in bad condition just after eating the dinner alarmed Valetta, and then she rushed over towards Kazura in a hurry . Valetta immediately feared if the host unexpectedly put poison in the dishes, however she then noticed Kazura’s strange condition . He didn’t particularly look suffering in pain, and just rubbed his stomach with an expression as if he was unsatisfied with something . 「As expected, this is strange……」(Kazura) 「Are you okay!? Does your stomach hurts?」(Valetta) Kazura looked at his own stomach with displeased expression . Valetta then nervously put her hand on Kazura’s stomach . 「Ah, no, it’s not in pain or aching… . 」(Kazura) Because Valetta put her hand on his stomach with anxious looks, Kazura was being fl.u.s.tered as he tried to give an explanation . He was certainly sensing a discomforting feeling in his stomach, however, it was not pain that a.s.sailed Kazura . 「It’s just that I feel hungry and dizzy……」(Kazura) 「……Eh?」(Valetta) Hearing that Kazura felt hungry, Valetta and Valin were flabbergasted . No wonder, after all Kazura just ate dinner, moreover he showed a large appet.i.te and ate such large amount that his stomach was visibly swelling . Actually Kazura’s stomach was already full and there were practically no s.p.a.ce left where a food could enter . Even, Kazura still couldn’t help feeling hungry . He didn’t understand what this means . 「Actually yesterday…… No, since the day before yesterday, my stomach hardly felt full from eating . Yet, yesterday was still a bit less objectionable, however…… Ah, the problem is that I hardly felt full even when I have eaten in such amount that make my stomach is bulging… . 」(Kazura) Kazura said this while rubbing his stomach . Valetta also rubbed Kazura’s stomach with confused expression . Kazura thought for a minute about his condition, however, he didn’t understand the reason . He thought that maybe his satiety center was broken, so no matter how much food he ate, his body couldn’t feel any satiety . If this was true, then it wasn’t a situation where he could go dilly dallying like this . He needed to go back to j.a.pan and visit the hospital . 「Uu, I felt so hungry… Maybe I could eat just one piece of fruit……」(Kazura) Kazura said this and stood up to pick the fruits placed on the table . But, when he stood up, suddenly his leg staggered . He fell down on the spot . 「Kazura-san!」(Valetta) Valetta who was beside Kazura, who was going to hit the floor, immediately embrace him to support him . Because she catch Kazura’s frail body, that seemed look to lack any power to support himself, to stop Kazura from falling . 「So-sorry, somehow I feel lightheaded……」(Kazura)
Grasping Valetta’s shoulder who was supporting him, Kazura fixed his posture to firmly stand at his foot . And then, after thanking Valetta, he wanted to let go his hand from her shoulder . At that moment, he noticed the faint trembling on his finger . 「……What the……」(Kazura) His fingers were slightly trembling . Even if he was standing, his feet felt unsteady . This was something that Kazura had experienced before . Yes, it was surely something that happened when he was still working himself like a work horse every day as a company employee . There was an exhausting work that continued for several days that made him don’t have any time to spare for catching a meal . When he realized, he hadn’t eat anything from morning to evening and was just clinging on the company’s desk . He was experiencing the symptoms like what he currently had . When he was wondering what was happening at his body, he entered his symptoms on the internet and did a search, it ended in one word . 「Ah…… I see, so it is that, huh?」(Kazura) He rubbed his stomach with his right hand, while looking at his shaking left hand fingers who grasped Valetta’s shoulder, when Kazura looked that he had realized something . He turned towards the worried Valleta . 「Valetta-san, I am already alright, thank you . 」(Kazura) Kazura thanked Valetta and let go off his hand and then he sat down in front of the travel bag that was placed inside the room and began to search inside the bag . 「That was a close call…… If I don’t notice it, I might died from hunger……」(Kazura) 「Do you already know the reason?」(Valetta) While Kazura was searching for something inside the bag, Valetta asked him from behind . Although Kazura seemed to understand something, Valetta completely had no idea of what was happening . 「I believed this is hypoglycemia . Just a maybe though…」(Kazura) Hypoglycemia was when blood sugar level was extremely low, with symptoms such as trembling hand or lethargy . There were individual variations in what symptoms someone would experience, however most of the symptoms would appear when the blood sugar level decreased due to prolonged fasting . However after taking something to eat and the blood sugar level increased, the symptoms would subside . [4] 「Hypoglycemia…… Ah, it is something I have learned before . However……」(Valetta) Hearing the word “hypoglycemia”, Valetta showed an expression that she wasn’t completely satisfied by this reasoning . This was not surprising since in the reference book that she learned together with Kazura, it was written that hypoglycemia was mostly happened when someone was fasting . Kazura had just finished eating so he couldn’t possibly be suffering from it . 「Well, if it is really hypoglycemia or not, we will know after eating this…… Uumm, although I felt hungry, but my stomach is bulging…… I wonder if it could enter……」(Kazura) While receiving Valetta’s sight who seemed to wanted to object, took out a plastic spoon and canned orange from inside the travel bag . The he pulled out the pull tab and opened the lid . When the can lid opened, a peculiar metallic sound resounded in the room, a faint sweet smell wafted from the can . Kazura ate the canned food and gulped the syrup content, and then he gulped the orange with the spoon . He ingested a large amount of calories and sugar, but if Kazura’s conjecture was right then there wouldn’t be any problem . 「If I recovered by this then it could explain why the crops in the village had rapid growth, and everyone in the village had tremendous recovery . About the increased physical power…… maybe more or less they could explain this……」(Kazura)
In contrast with Valin who was bewildered on what was going on, Valetta heard Kazura’s explanation with serious expression . 「Kazura-san, what is 『Haipogleekemia』?」(Valin) 「Ah, hypoglycemia is……」(Kazura) Valin questioned in a manner that showed he completely didn’t understand anything . Kazura then began to explain the details of the symptoms . Although Kazura remembered that Valin believed that Kazura is Greysior and it would be a strange story if he explain about Kazura having a hypoglycemia, since it had come to this it might be inevitable . He felt bad to Valetta, but he would entrust the further follow up to her . It had been 20 minutes after he explained hypoglycemia to Valin and answered Valetta’s question, Kazura stood up in place and then ascertained his body condition . His feet didn’t stagger anymore, and his hand stopped trembling . It seems that, his conjecture was correct . 「As expected… If it like this, then……」(Kazura) While muttering, Kazura folded his arms and started thinking . He was thinking about the content of the food he ate for the last few days and his symptoms . Kazura had thought up 2 hypotheses about the effect of this world’s food for him . The first hypothesis, the food in this world practically didn’t contain any nutrient . With this hypothesis, it could easily explain Kazura’s hypoglycemia-like symptoms and the rapid growth of the crops in the village fields . Kazura has hardly eaten any food from j.a.pan since noon three days ago . The only thing he ate was one canned food at the night two days ago when he was marching with the army and one canned orange he ate just now . If the food of this world didn’t contain any nutrition, Kazura, who has only eaten 2 canned foods for the last 3 days, would obviously become malnutritioned . It was also the same with the crops in the village fields, Kazura conjectured that the village crops were in chronic malnutrition state, so when it was suddenly given with forest humus or fertilizer from j.a.pan that had plenty nutrition, it regained its original condition . About the villagers, since their bodies were normally in extreme malnutrition state, when their body suddenly received the necessary nutrition it was possible that they regained their original power . In this hypothesis, the villagers had superb physical ability since the very beginning; however, they just lacked fuel to completely use it . However, in this case, how could this world’s human survive with practically no nutrient and still exhibit similar physical strength to Earth’s human?It couldn’t be just explained by low fuel consumption . They would be a life-form that exceeded common sense . The second hypothesis, Kazura just couldn’t absorb nutrients from this world’s food, also, the food and the fertilizer had an special effect on the villagers and crops . In this hypothesis, the food of this world contains nutrition, however somehow Kazura couldn’t absorb it . Although this could explain how this world’s humans survived, Kazura completely didn’t understand the reason of why the people of this world had tremendous recovery rate or gained superhuman strength after eating food from j.a.pan . Even if it a.s.sumed that the food and fertilizer had some kind of special effect, the food and fertilizer that Kazura bought were just common market goods . He had some idea that after it was brought over to this world it gained a special effect, however this way was too fantasy-like so it was difficult for him to accept this . Nevertheless, there was the matter about the room where it was possible to cross over to this world from j.a.pan, so it was already plenty fantasy-like . 「Ano, Kazura-san……」(Valetta) While Kazura was thinking to himself, before he realized, Valetta peered into his face with worried expression . 「Ah, sorry . I’m just thinking to myself…… I already feel fine . 」(Kazura) He was thinking about explaining the hypothesis to Valetta right now, however there was Valin in this place so he postponed the explaining to another time . Because Valin is Valetta’s father, Kazura believed there would be no problem to tell him everything about him, but since Valin believed that Kazura is Greysior, he didn’t need to deliberately disprove this . Since his stomach that’s already been filled was stuffed further with canned orange, as expected it started aching, so Kazura took stomach medicine from the travel bag and thrown several tablets into his mouth .