Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind, Volume 1

by Kiri Komori

I started refining the ingredients per the book’s instructions. I mixed them together while pouring in mana… And soon enough, the materials began breaking down. They dissolved into an oddly colored fluid. This was likely fine, since I did everything by the book.

  “All right.” I nodded before proceeding.

  “Wow…” Enofa exclaimed as she watched me.

  I placed the prepared ingredients into the pot then applied more mana. The book did say that once I started adding in mana, a small amount would do…

  I mixed the ingredients together. Stir, stir, stir… I poured in a small amount of mana. Stir, stir, stir…

  The pot then lit up, and I poured in more mana until the result hardened. The soap would have to solidify next. It was a good thing I had that wooden box ready.

  “What’s that?”

  “A box I use to store the dried leaves I always use as ingredients. I’ll cover it with a cloth and close the gaps, then put the raw soap inside so it can solidify.”

  “But it looks like you’ve got a little too much…”

  “Yes, when you transmute things, sometimes you get a little more than you expect…”

  “Huh.”

  I figured I’d just make a small bar of soap, just for testing purposes, so despite preparing a relatively big box, it ended up a bit flabby. I was surprised to see how much soap the transmutation produced.

  Did it expand or something…?

  But it wasn’t really a problem. I could just cut it into smaller chunks later.

  “How long are you gonna have to wait?”

  “I don’t know. It’s my first time making soap…”

  “Oh yeah. But for how weird the ingredients were, the fluid’s milky-white and pretty.”

  “It really is.”

  For now, I could leave the soap to harden. I used another box in place of a lid.

  “So that’s it?”

  “Yes. Thank you for helping.”

  “Don’t mention it. It was interesting to watch.”

  After leaving the undiluted soap near the house, we noticed Roin approach us from the direction of the lake, carrying a wooden bucket.

  “Oh?”

  “Oh my.”

  He probably went fishing.

  He was supposed to start helping Dad with the inn tomorrow, so it wasn’t as if he was hiding from work.

  “You went fishing, Roin?” Enofa asked.

  “Yeah, it’s pretty fun once you get the hang of it.”

  “Let’s see what you got… Ah, aaaaah, a snake!”

  “Huh?!” Roin exclaimed.

  “Nnnf?!” I squeaked as Enofa clung to me.

  B-Boobs…squeezing me…!

  “N-No, Enofa, listen! The owner said this is a fish! It’s called an Unan fish!”

  Unans were eel-like fish. They were really big though, like the ones you see in places like New Zealand. I wondered whether I could have some broiled eel by cooking an Unan, but it was far too big for me to cut at the moment, so I had to shelve that plan for now.

  But how do I make the soy sauce for it…?

  I was pretty sure I’d need soy sauce for broiled eel. I’d have to check if I could make it with alchemy. Unans exuded a pungent stench, so the custom in this world was to cook it in fragrant herbs that soaked up the smell and added to the flavor. Apparently, the clash between the Unan’s scent and the herbs’ aroma made it surprisingly tasty!

  “That thing’s edible?! But it’s a snake…!” Enofa cried, still disgusted.

  “Apparently, it’s very tasty if you roast it with herbs,” I told her. “You could ask Dad to cook it for you.”

  “Roasted with herbs…? Really?” She still seemed suspicious.

  I decided to prove it to her. I called Dad, and we decided to have a campfire that night. Dad cut the Unan into multiple slices, which he filled with herbs, salt, and pepper. He then covered them in pieces of paper smeared with Ruck oil.

  We surrounded the campfire with rocks and let it cook slowly in the residual heat.

  “Mmmm! It’s delicious!” Enofa exclaimed upon biting into her serving.

  “It’s really tasty!” Roin agreed.

  “It’s good, isn’t it? Pops taught me how to make it.”

  “It’s great, Dad!”

  “Good to hear.”

  The sky above us was full of twinkling stars, and the moons floated side by side as if nestling against each other. Having a campfire by the lake like this, having dinner with the guests, eating the fish they caught…

  This inn is such a lovely place…

  Dad wasn’t a great cook, but this fish really was tasty. Maybe it’s because Grandpa taught him how to make it. No…the credit goes to Dad for learning well. And someday, he’ll teach me how to make it too!

  “By the way, how did the soap turn out, Tina?” Dad asked me.

  “Oh, right! It should have hardened by now.”

  “We can check on it after we eat.”

  After we finished our dinner, Enofa carried over the box I filled with the undiluted soap solution. She set it near the campfire and opened the lid. We all peered inside.

  “This is soap? Isn’t it kind of big?” Roin asked.

  “Yeah, I think you made a pretty big piece,” Dad said.

  “Well, I’ll be cutting it into smaller pieces.”

  It was hard to use such a large lump of soap for anything.

  Where did I put the knife… Ah.

  “Hey, Dad… Do you have a knife I can use to cut the soap?”

  “A knife that’s good for cutting food won’t do?”

  “No, I don’t want to use one of those for this…”

  I preferred not to use one of the knives meant for food. I mean, soap isn’t something you put in your mouth… I remembered seeing all sorts of really cute soaps that had labels warning they were not to be eaten.

  “Well, you can use my knives,” Enofa offered.

  “What knives?” I asked.

  “I use throwing knives in some of my shows. No need to worry about anyone accidentally trying to eat with those.”

  “Great! Then, um…”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Well, Dad said I can’t use knives or blades until I’m older, so…” I said, fidgeting a little.

  I did think he was being overprotective… But letting five-year-old handle knives is dangerous. Dad wasn’t wrong. But if Enofa could do it for me, that wouldn’t be a concern.

  “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”

  “Thanks, Enofa,” Dad said, bowing his head.

  “Why not just let Tinaris handle knives?” Roin asked.

  “What are you, stupid? It’s dangerous,” Dad snapped him.

  Calling a guest stupid struck me as a bad decision, but I was grateful that he cared about me. Enofa sunk the knife into the wooden box and cut into the soap. She turned the box over, and once a bit of air entered the cut, the soap slipped out.

  “Ooh, it looks better than I thought,” Dad said, impressed.

  “Now I just need to add in some scent… I guess I should mix some flowers with strong aromas? I wonder if there are recipes for essential oils. I could apply some scent if I had those…”

  “What’s that?” Enofa asked.

  “Ah, nothing, never mind. Could you cut it into smaller pieces?”

  “I don’t mind. How small?”

  “Eight pieces that are this size.”

  “Like this?”

  About two inches vertically, three inches horizontally. The pieces weren’t too big. And with this, my soap was ready! I handed two pieces to Enofa and Roin, who looked at them with amazement.

  “Please use them; they’re samples. You helped me make the soap, Enofa, so please have some.”

  “Oh, can I? Thank you! I know what you used to make it, so I’m a bit torn about it… But looking at it now, it’s pretty. I’d love to have it!”

  “Wh-What is this made out of…?” Roin asked anxiously.

  “You’re bette
r off not knowing,” Enofa replied coolly.

  “What?!”

  Yeah, I think it’s for the best if Roin doesn’t know how this sausage is made…

  “Hehehe.”

  “Ahahaha.”

  Enofa and I exchanged a meaningful look and giggled as we thought back to her story from earlier. We could imagine how he’d react even now and it was pretty funny.

  “Aww, come on, what do you mean?!” he insisted, frustrated.

  “What about the rest of it?” Dad asked.

  “We’ll use it. We can use it for laundry or to wash the dishes!”

  “Can we use it on utensils?”

  “Well, not directly. You rinse it with water until the soap foams. But only when you need to get really pesky oil stains off!”

  “I see.”

  “And then you wash it off with water!”

  “A-All right. You gotta follow a lot of instructions to use soap, huh…?”

  “I’d actually like to see how it affects the skin when you try to clean your body with it… But first, I’ll want to try it on cloth and utensils and see if it doesn’t hurt your hands.”

  “O-Okay…”

  I assumed it’d be fine so long as it foamed properly, but I’d see how it went tomorrow. If this went well, I could mix in ingredients that were good for the skin and make body soap. Or materials that were good for hair to make shampoo. If I could store it in glass containers and sell it, I could double our female customers!

  “Hehehe… Soap… There’s still plenty of room for improvement with soap… Heheheheheheh…” I cackled to myself.

  “T-Tina?” Dad asked with a hint of concern.

  ♣♣♣

  THE next morning, I went to water the fields after I finished sweeping the entrance to our inn.

  “Oh…!”

  The seeds were already budding!

  But we only planted them yesterday! The manure’s amazing!

  It seems the harvests really come sooner than I thought.

  “Good morning, Tinaris,” Enofa greeted me.

  “Good morning, Enofa! You’re up early. Out on a walk?”

  “Just practicing for a bit. If I don’t dance every so often, my body gets out of practice.”

  “I see.”

  Enofa walked to the other side of the fence and started dancing. She was a dancer, after all. She raised her arms, extended her limber legs, and began gently rotating in place. But then, she suddenly squatted down and bent her upper half backward.

  She’s so flexible…! And pretty…

  Every movement she made, from the tips of her fingertips to her toes, was calculated. It was the very picture of feminine form… It made me realize that women really were pretty. I was a woman myself, of course, and that was exactly why Enofa’s beauty was so striking to me. So much so that it didn’t even incur a sense of envy.

  “It’s beautiful!” I cheered.

  “Thank you. Well, I do this for a living, after all,” Enofa said with a light smile.

  “It really feels, well, professional! I wish I could be like you when I grow up.”

  At least in terms of that figure…and those proportions.

  “How come? I think if anything, you’re a lot more impressive than I am,” Enofa said.

  “How?”

  “I mean, aren’t you? Despite being so little, you learned alchemy and you’re helping your father.”

  Leaning on the fence, she placed her chin on her hands. The rising sun made her smile seem that much more dazzling.

  “You’re an amazing girl, Tinaris. I think most girls your age wouldn’t learn alchemy, no matter how bad things got.”

  “U-Um…”

  I couldn’t tell her I was an adult on the inside. Learning alchemy at this age really was strange, wasn’t it?

  Maybe I should stop using it in front of strangers… But she did help me gather ingredients. That was a big help. Maybe it won’t be as strange once I get a little older.

  “I’m positive you’re talented. Believe in yourself and let it push you to new heights.”

  “…I will!”

  My…talent.

  I had no talents to speak of in my past life, so hearing her say that made me happy. I was all too plain back then. A girl without charm or any redeeming qualities, and the only thing I could do was work myself to the bone to compensate for those faults.

  But having become Tinaris, I had a talent for alchemy. Doing it was fun, and I could create all sorts of things that delighted Dad and the guests. Seeing their happy faces made me feel fulfilled.

  I liked alchemy, and I wanted to learn how to make more useful things. No…I knew I’d do it!

  “Thank you so much, Enofa… Ah!”

  “Hm?”

  My hands, which I held up, went limp. Through the sunny sky, I could see the outlines of the two moons, and they were closer than last night.

  This is…!

  “What’s wrong?” Enofa followed my gaze. “Huh..? The moons… Were they that close before?”

  “Enofa! I think this is it!” I said excitedly.

  “Oh…! R-Right…” Enofa stuttered, her cheeks turning rosy.

  We almost forgot! The two of them came to Rofola so Roin could propose to her!

  “I’ll go tell Roin!” I said.

  “Ah, um, sure…”

  I’d finished watering the fields, so I dashed toward the guest cottage… But I soon ran out of breath.

  Haa, haa… I forgot…I still have a little girl’s body… Haa, haa… My legs are too short… But do kids really get this tired from running…?! Oof…!

  Just as the cottage was coming into view, I tripped and planted my face right into the ground.

  “Mmnf!?”

  O-Ooooow…

  “Oh no! Are you all right?!”

  Roin, who happened to come out of the cottage just then, helped me to my feet. He looked shocked to see me trip.

  “Ah, Roin… The moons… They’re coming closer…” I murmured, rubbing my aching nose.

  “Huh?!” Roin looked even more surprised.

  I was happy I managed to tell him, but…

  “Eep…”

  Looking up, he saw the moons were indeed growing closer. His face stiffened in suspense. I couldn’t blame him. Proposing to the person you love is a once-in-a-lifetime event…

  “Good luck!” I told him cheerily.

  “…Th-Thanks!”

  I was confident it’d work out! But him being nervous had little to do with how likely he was to succeed… All I could do was cheer for them. And if that’s all I could do, I’d do it with gusto!

  Go, go, Roin! You can do it!

  “I’ll go help make breakfast!”

  “Y-Yeah… Then, I’ll, uhh, I’ll keep chopping the firewood left over from yesterday…”

  “All right.”

  That meant we’d have plenty of firewood today… And he was going at it pretty mindlessly, so he’d probably do it until nightfall. And while having more wood was by no means a bad thing…I felt kind of sorry for him.

  “Dad, the moons are coming closer!” I said as I entered the inn. “The Twin Moons are probably tonight!”

  “Oh, I see. Then it’s time for Roin to pay the piper, is it?”

  “Don’t you think we should make tonight extra special?!”

  “Cook up a feast, eh? All right, what should we make?”

  “How about roast bird?”

  “Oh, that sounds good. All right, I’ll handle it. I’m almost done cleaning out the blood from a wild bird I hunted the other day… Oh, and, could ya wipe the tables? Breakfast’s almost ready.”

  “Okay!”

  Yeah, it was probably too soon for me to see him dismember a bird. I was still five and I didn’t really want to see that either. I indulged in Dad’s consideration and went to clean off the tables.

  And so, dinner for today was decided. Roasted bird. A staple Christmas food from my past life. To do that, one would need to dismember
the bird…pluck off its feathers, cut off its head, remove its organs…

  Ugh, that’s pretty gross… But I’ll have to get used to it someday…

  I decided to leave the gore to Dad and wiped off the tables, and then started lining up the ingredients for the roasted bird. Normally, you’d want to keep the bird submerged in alcohol for a day to soften it up, but this celebration was done on short notice, so I figured we’d cut it down to half a day.

  I sliced ciarorots, oniuns, poteitos, timates, punpkons (pumpkins), and pompoteitos (sweet potatoes), which we’d roast up with herbs. One could add garlic or mushrooms for flavor, but this was a matter of preference. I hoped Dad would let me help with the roasting.

  Once we cooked the vegetables, we’d stuff them into the bird’s belly, smear butter over its skin, and then roast it in the oven until it took on the right color. Also, normally you could roast apples with the bird to further soften the meat, but apples were hard to come by. All the fruit growing on the mountain were berries.

  The result wouldn’t be as pretty as it could be. But considering we could only buy butter when a peddler passed by, and we’d have to use a whole bird when they weren’t that easy to hunt, it was a pretty luxurious meal… It was a roasted bird!

  “Okay, tables wiped and vegetables cut! Next up…”

  It occurred to me that having the coffee corner stay as is was a bit dull, given the occasion.

  Maybe I could decorate it? No… It’s too soon. Maybe I could just get a nice tablecloth ready without them seeing it?

  “Tiiiiinariiiis!” I heard someone woefully cry my name.

  “Aaaaah!” I yelped as the door opened with a thud.

  Roin stumbled into the house.

  Wh-What?! I didn’t call for them yet! Breakfast and the feast aren’t ready… Dad’s cooking in the kitchen; when did he have time to call for them?

  Roin looked really flustered… Did something happen?

  “Th-The ring! The ring’s gone!” He told me, half in tears.

  “…Uh?”

  Huh? What? What did he… The ring’s…gone?

  “Huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh?!”

  It’s gone?! Did he just say the ring is gone?! But aren’t you supposed to give a ring when you propose?! Okay, now’s not the time to be daydreaming!

  “What happened?!” I rounded on him.

  “I know I put it in my bag after buying it! But I checked for it just now, and it was gone!”