TN: Now I feel like eating MOS Burger. But the nearest location is quite far from my house. Even if I request for delivery, it would be soggy once it arrives. *sobs*
Rice Burger
"Chirinchirin", to the sound of bell, the owner who was preparing in the kitchen looked up to the clock.
The time was half past six in the morning. Too early for Aletta"s usual time.
[Owner, are you there!?]
Immediately after that, a voice could be heard from the entrance.
It was a voice that the owner had memorized.
It was a young female regular though she didn"t come that regularly. It was surely Faldania.
She made an impression due to the fact that he had to make various meals without using any animal products for her (she seemed to be a member of a race called Elves).
Although she looked like a high school girl at first glance, maybe she was older than she looked since she"s an elf.
[Yes, please wait a moment.]
Maa, she"s a customer after all.
The owner spoke loudly and headed to the dining room… he looked at the customer that was a bit mysterious.
There were 2 customers at the entrance.
Faldania had blonde hair and long ears of an elf with a bow slung on her shoulder, well, that was normal. The problem was there was an unfamiliar customer just behind her.
She looked the same age as Faldania. Since her ears were long, perhaps this person was also an elf.
She wore ordinary clothes that Aletta usually wore.
Although she tried to hide behind Faldania, she was taller than her so she could still be seen.
[This child is my companion. We would like to eat now, is that okay?]
[Etto, maa. You have to wait for a while, is that fine?]
Looking at the owner"s confusion, Faldania inquired and the owner nodded.
[I understand. Also, I entrust the choice of food to you but this girl is also not good with meat, fish, eggs and milk, so please don"t use it.]
She told the owner the necessary things and turned back to look at her companion.
[Alice, let"s go. Don"t worry. The human here is sure of his cooking skill and can make food that we elves can eat deliciously.]
[…Un.]
She took her hand and guided her to a seat.
[Here. For the time being, I brought your lemon water and towels. Please wait for a while. The food I can make for you is limited, is that okay?]
[Ee, I leave it to you.]
She received the cold water and warm cloths.
[I understand. Please wait.]
After saying that, the owner left.
Faldania wiped her hands and looked at the "little girl" in front of her.
Though she was cowardly and anxious, but she saw her looking around with curiosity, she thought that she had picked up someone ridiculous this time.
(I give up. I have no experience as a babysitter.)
Faldania was an only child, which was not uncommon for elves, so she did not know what to do.
Why did this happen yesterday evening?
Alice was wandering through the forest, frightened by the sound of beasts from here and there.
(Why? Why?)
It went round and round her head. She was just 30 years old.
Her father, mother, siblings and other villager said that she had "weak intellect" and she thought so too, but there were things that she too understood.
(Am I abandoned? What to do, what to do!?)
Looking around the dark forest wrapped in the dark as the night sky showed neither the moon nor the stars, she could not see anything.
Alice did not have the wisdom of not wandering around to conserve energy.
She just wanted to escape from this darkness, she listened with her pointed ears while wondering around the forest and falling over and over.
Alice was born in a small half-elf village at the edge of the Princ.i.p.ality.
Owing to its old history and tradition, the Princ.i.p.ality had more "replacement children" than other countries.
Because of that, the number of half-elves that were trampled by the society and gathered together to make a village was also higher than other countries.
The half-elves that gathered together married each other and maintained the villages by producing half-elf children.
Alice was a daughter born from such half-elf parents.
However, Alice was different from other villagers… in a bad way.
When she was born, she had a little more magical power than normal girl. At least that was not a problem, it was even welcomed.
However as the years pa.s.sed, Alice was found to be "special in a bad way".
Alice was an idiot. Even at the age of twenty, she did not have the wisdom of those that were half of her age. And when she was thirty, she repeated her mistakes like a child.
Alice was clumsy. She was unable to do housework that could be easily done even by girls of 10 or 20 years.
Alice had unbalanced diet. She was not good with milk of a cow that was kept by the villagers and frowned at its smell.
…And when other villagers of her age were already adults and old enough to make children, Alice still continued to live with her parents.
And when an epidemic struck the village and killed half of its inhabitants including her parents, she was discarded.
In this difficult time when they had to rebuild the village, the villagers were unable to feed the useless girl that was unable to do anything.
And now Alice was left behind in the forest and wandered around.
(A, someone!)
However, that action brought good fortune.
Alice"s eyes found light in the night forest.
On that evening, Faldania was camping at that forest.
Using the mushrooms she harvested from the forest and the Cobbler"s fruit she bought at a town, she simmered a soup with bonfire and added the "miso" she obtained from Chris.
[…Un. I wonder if it"s something like this.]
She sipped the soup and was satisfied with its taste, so she turned off the bonfire and called a small light to illuminate her surroundings.
It had been over a year since Faldania departed from her native forest.
The journey made her more or less accustomed to travelling.
(Well… un?)
When she was about to eat her dinner, Faldania"s ears heard the rustling of bushes.
[Who? Is anyone there? Come out!]
It was a little too loud for animals of the forest, so Faldania shouted sharply at the direction of the sound while preparing to attack.
[Kyaa!]
A person was surprised by the sound and fell out of the bush when she jumped.
She wore shabby clothes…
(…Why is there a child in such place?)
Faldania who saw the figure tilted her head while decreasing her vigilance.
[Hey, you. Why are you out in such a time? It"s not the time for children to be outside.]
She asked while she offered her a hand.
[Etto, today everyone goes out to the forest…]
The girl who badly answered her was a bit taller than Faldania.
(The explanation is unreasonable for her age… is there an elven forest around here?)
While watching such Alice, Faldania had a thought.
Certainly there"s no elven forest around here.
If there"s one, she would not camp here and ask for lodging there instead.
(When it comes to it…)
[Perhaps you live in a village near here?]
She remembered that there"s a rumour of a half-elf village near here that she heard back when she"s in the city.
[Un. That"s right?]
Faldania blankly looked at the nodding girl while judging the situation.
[Is that so… girl, what"s your name?]
[Etto, I, Alice!]
The girl answered cheerfully… Alice.
[I see. Alice-chan… do you want to eat this soup?]
After she replied cheerfully, Alice looked at the soup that Faldania made and her stomach growled. So she asked her.
[Un!]
To Alice who nodded vigorously to that question, Faldania gave her dinner with hard preserved bread.
She couldn"t put up with a hungry child.
[…A! This soup, delicious!]
(It really is a terrible thing to do.)
Alice tasted the unknown soup innocently and ate it deliciously… seeing the "elf child", Faldania felt indignant.
Considering the story so far, Faldania had grasped the truth.
(Certainly in human society, there are many "replacement children"…)
True, Alice was a replacement child.
A replacement child. A phenomenon that the "half-elf" was born when human and elf gene intersected each other though usually when they had human and elf parents.
That replacement had another meaning.
When half-elves copulated with each other, the probability of "replacement child" being born was higher than humans and elves.
Usually if there was only one half-elf parent, the child born would be either "human" or "elf".
If the child born was "human", there would be no problem.
Humans became older faster than half-elves… but the time it took for them to become adult was the same.
The child became adult in 15 years, then the child became independent.
In contrast, elven growth was slow.
For elves that lived for a thousand years, it took around 100 years for them to become adult both physically and mentally.
(Perhaps there are no other cases at the half-elf village.)
Elves whose appearance did not change much from their birth to their death were able to roughly read their age through their magical power.
When Faldania did so, she found that Alice was only a child of 30 years.
Compared to humans or half-elves of similar age, she was really just a child.
And the outside world… in human society, 30 years were considered a long time.
For humans, it was a phenomenal to live for 100 years, and half-elves usually had the life-span of 200 years and it was rare for them to live up to 300 years.
Alice was abandoned… due to their difference in lifespan.
(…Let"s talk tomorrow for the time being.)
She saw Alice getting sleepy after she filled her stomach so she gently covered her with a blanket.
The expression was as soft as a mother thinking of her daughter.
The next day.
[Ne~e, wake up. Fal, there"s something strange.]
Faldania, who slept after she set up a barrier to repel undeads and monsters, were woken up by Alice.
[N~u, what happened… eh.]
Faldania, who rubbed her eyes after she woke up, saw something familiar.
[…Come to think of it, there"s a strangely strong magical power.]
A black door with a picture of a cat.
The magical door had appeared at a place where magical power had acc.u.mulated only a few steps from Faldania"s sleeping location.
[Nee, what is that?]
[…Maa, it"s not a bad thing.]
Faldania said with a smile to rea.s.sure Alice who had become uneasy after she saw an unfamiliar thing.
[It"s connected to a different world, there"s delicious food… eh!?]
After hearing the description halfway, Alice went to open the door without hesitation due to her curiosity, so Faldania chased after her.
"Chirinchirin", the door opened with the bell sound, startling Alice to go inside.
[Owner, are you there!?]
Because it"s too early for its business hours, there"s n.o.body inside… Faldania asked sharply while feeling uneasy about the fact that there"re no customers or even the waitress.
[…Yes, please wait a moment.]
Fortunately the owner was already there and seemed to be preparing for business.
A voice was heard from the back and the owner showed himself.
Thus, the two elves became customers of otherworld dining hall.
Then, when Faldania finished recalling the events so far, the food arrived.
[Sorry. I have not cooked rice yet so these are made from cold rice.]
Saying that, he placed the food before the two of them.
[It"s rice burger with Kinpira Kakiage1. I don"t use eggs for the coating, so don"t worry.]
[Fuwa~a…]
Alice exclaimed happily after smelling the food.
Along with brown soup like yesterday"s, something pale yellow was sandwiched between two brown boards and placed on a beautiful white stone plate, an unknown dish.
The drifting smell tempted her empty stomach.
[Nee, we can eat this!?]
Spontaneously, Alice asked Faldania.
[…It"s probably hot so be careful not to burn your tongue.]
[Un!]
Listening to Faldania whose face was slightly frustrated, Alice began to eat.
After wiping her hands with the warm cloth, she used her hands to lift the food.
As it neared her nose, she smelled a little of that scorched scent, prompting Alice.
She couldn"t stand it any longer.
She opened her mouth and took a bite.
(This, delicious!)
At that moment, Alice was surprised with the taste spreading in her mouth.
The first thing she tasted was a flavor like bread with ingredients in it.
A solid, slightly hard skin and the white and soft part of it crumbled in her mouth.
It was hot and had hidden delicious taste, unlike the taste of ordinary bread.
It was sweet, salty and smelled good. It was delicious.
The vivid taste of her first bite was unknown to Alice and was more delicious than anything she had ever eaten.
And the thing sandwiched between the two breads was also delicious.
It contained vivid orange-coloured Caryute and tree root sliced into thin needles.
When she bit it, it was crunchier than the bread and was sweet, salty and slightly spicy.
Together with the bread-like food, they were delicious.
Without noticing it, Alice ate it vigorously.
Faldania calmly tasted the food while thinking that he had done it again.
(…This, is Grilled Onigiri.)
She immediately found out the ident.i.ty of the bread.
The shape was a round and elegant board, but this was Grilled Onigiri seasoned with shoyu.
The shoyu"s saltiness, the umami of ocean scent, and then the slight sweetness of sugar mixed with a little alcohol.
Faldania knew that the aroma and that burnt taste made it a feast on its own.
(I wonder what this Kinpira Kakiage is. It"s an unknown dish.)
According to the owner"s words, this Kinpira cuisine was made by dissolving flour into water to make its coating, deep-frying it in oil to maintain its shape of Kakiage, which made this cuisine double its time and labour.
(I guess that in Kinpira Kakiage, the vegetable contains its taste and the coating was fried in oil.)
Root vegetables generally soaked in flavor.
So Faldania knew that they were delicious when used in soups or seasoned with rich flavor.
The vegetables were tree root with faint earthy scent and sweet Caryute.
It was seasoned with shoyu and a little sugar and the taste was very satisfying when the coating was deep-fried in oil.
(…I give up. This, just one is not enough.)
That"s what she thought while sipping the miso soup contained the umami of ocean scent, deep-fried tofu, and shredded Oone2 (a vegetable that originated from the Western Continent, but it seemed that it had been recently cultivated in the Eastern Continent).
Of course, she reviewed her a.n.a.lysis while she was eating.
And having grasped a brief overview, the food had already disappeared from its plate.
(In the meantime, I still have room in my stomach…)
She raised her face and checked.
It was delicious, but she was not satisfied.
Such a feeling showed on the young girl"s face.
[…Owner, I wonder if I can order two more of the same thing? For me and this child.]
[Okay. Please wait a moment, I"ll make it now.]
She wryly smiled at the owner"s casual words.
(…Maa, I"ll forgive him today for this child.)
Faldania obediently ate today"s dish of "rice burger".
She ate a meal with company after a long time.
It was a valuable time for Faldania who embarked on her journey alone.
When the sun had completely reached its peak, the two returned to their previous location.
(I have to go to the next town soon…)
While arranging her trip preparation, she glanced at Alice.
She was an abandoned child. Even if she was returned to the village, she wouldn"t be happy.
Faldania knew that.
[…If you"re interested in making delicious food… would you follow me?]
A younger brethren she met in her travel.
If she took her along, she would be a burden for decades.
But Faldania knew that she couldn"t abandon the child.
[…That, rice burger, are you able to make it?]
Whether or not she understood Faldania"s words, Alice tilted her head.
[…Perhaps.]
Of course she couldn"t. Because she did not know how to make shoyu.
However, Faldania"s will of reaching that point someday was overflowing.
[Then, I"ll go.]
With her feelings transmitted, Alice gently took Faldania"s hand.
[I see. Then, best regards from now on, Alice.]
Faldania accepted it as if it"s nothing and prepared to leave.
In the later years, the girl who was regarded as the founder of Elven cuisine and her apprentice.
That was their moment of encounter.
Kinpira Kakiage - tempura of thinly cut vegetables (typically burdock).オーネ - it read Oone. I don"t know what kind of otherworld vegetable this is. Something leafy? Maybe it"s spring onion.