by Funa
Yeah, it was a nice place.
Once I had finished buying a bunch of fresh seafood, I went back to the inn in a pretty good mood. I would eat normal, cooked seafood at the inn and dining hall for today, and go sightseeing in town. I also wanted to check how advanced the ocean-related technology was here. Like how good their naval engineering and navigation were, for example.
Well, I was planning on going down the seaside road, so I didn’t have to look into everything in this town, specifically. I could look around for a little bit, then research some more in a different, bigger city. This was just a small, rural village, after all.
All right, I’m gonna leave this town tomorrow and make some sashimi where no one will bother me!
＊ ＊
It was just before noon, the following day. I forget what happened after buying seafood at the market. It wasn’t important. I looked around, ate, then went to sleep. That was all.
I woke up early this morning, then left without eating breakfast. Then I made my way along the road on the seaside, and it was finally lunchtime.
“All right, it’s time for lunch!”
“...Kaoru, isn’t it a bit early for lunch?” Francette objected, but I ignored her.
Unlike me, who intended to put everything on the line for this meal, everyone else had already eaten breakfast. But I didn’t care! I couldn’t wait a second longer!
“It’s already past 9AM.”
Everyone else yelled, “That’s way too early!!!”
Doesn’t matter!
I picked a spot to leave the road and descend toward the coast. I settled on a spot that had a nice view and couldn’t be seen from the road, with plenty of tree cover, then took out a tent for shade, along with a table and chairs, then told the others to rest there.
As for me...
“Work table, cutting board, knife, tableware, imitation wasabi, imitation soy sauce, water tank...”
One after another, I pulled out the necessary things from the Item Box and laid them out on the table. The water tank, which I had created before as a potion container, came with a stand and a valve near the bottom. It could be used as a water supply in a pinch. It looked like a wooden barrel at first glance, but it was actually made with reinforced plastic.
Then, it was time to bring it out. Yes, the raw fish I had obtained yesterday!
“Come forth, ingredients!”
And so, not the Kitchen Stadium, but rather the Kitchen Colosseum, had appeared.
“Allez cuisine!”
I quickly prepped the fish. I took off the scales, removed the head, extracted the spine, cut out the abdominal segment, then picked off the bones that were left on it. The whole segment left together would be too big to use, so I cut it into a block that would be easier to slice into sashimi.
Now I could turn it into sashimi, sear and marinate it into a tataki, or cook it any way I wanted.
I put the block back into the Item Box to prevent the flavor from degrading. Then, it was on to the other dishes.
Unlike me, the others probably wouldn’t be satisfied with just sashimi. The horse-mackerel-looking fish would be salt-grilled. I’d simmer some of the amberjack-looking one and teriyaki the rest. I’d had a lot of simmered and grilled fish in the past two days, but I was going to use Japanese seasonings and condiments, like the imitation soy sauce, and feed them to the others.
Once I finished getting the other dishes ready, I took the fish block I had prepped for sashimi out of the Item Box again. Now, to deal with the problem.
Antidote/healing potion, inside a container shaped like a bracelet, that can be controlled with my brain waves, to dissolve and eliminate parasites, bacteria, and other toxic substances, come out!
Then, a bracelet appeared on my right wrist just like I had imagined. I was afraid it could get lost or stolen if I could take it off, so I made it unremovable.
...What if I wanted to take it off? I could just put it back in the Item Box. If I wanted to put it back on, I could make it appear on my wrist again.
What’s that? A bandit could cut off my hand and take it? No, no. No bandit would injure prey that could be sold on the black market as a slave at a high price. The bracelet didn’t look like it was made of expensive metal, and there weren’t any jewels on it, either. If someone questioned why I wouldn’t take it off, I’d tell them that it was family tradition to leave it on, and I had done so since I was young.
This bracelet would warn me with a tingling sensation when there were parasites, bacteria, or toxic substances nearby. And if I mentally willed it, those substances would be dissolved. It would be soundless and undetectable by anyone watching, of course.
The reason I didn’t make it trigger automatically was because that would break down all medicine with even a hint of toxicity, so all sorts of chemical substances would be toast. As soon as I stepped into a drugstore, their entire stock would be wiped out. This could affect merchants and their carts full of wares as I passed by, too.
And if someone tried to poison me and was caught, the evidence would be completely destroyed. That’s why I made it so it would just warn me, and the actual elimination would be done at my will.
The effective range could be adjusted too. I kept it at a 30cm radius by default, so I could detect anything on a plate in front of me, or food at the end of my chopsticks or my fork. And if I wanted to include my friends in my effective range, I’d adjust it as needed.
Bzzz...
Ohh, it had detected something already...
Many types of parasites reside in the skin or the internal organs, but some of them move into the muscles once their host has died. I’d removed the outer skin and organs, but maybe they had already migrated into the meat, or it was a type of parasite that infested the meat section to begin with...
Actually, it could’ve been some sort of pathogen, accumulated heavy metals, or toxins contained in some creature the fish had eaten, and not necessarily a parasite. Taking all that into consideration...
Eliminate!
The area of effect would, of course, include everything on and around the table. I wasn’t sure if eliminating them dissolved them at a subatomic level or sent them away somewhere...
Even if they were rendered dead and harmless, I didn’t want to eat a parasite, so I’d be fine with it regardless, as long as I knew there were no parasite corpses in my food.
So, I’d leave the method up to the “Goddess Workshop.” I had no problem with how it worked as long as she chose a method that was easy and convenient.
Oh, I should take out all the seafood from the Item Box later, purify it, and then store it again. I just felt like getting it all done at once, since I didn’t want to do this process every single time.
And it was done! Kaoru’s special full course seafood! Even though there was sashimi, no one here would refuse to eat it out of an abundance of caution. This was a meal cooked by a goddess’s own hands, after all.
Not to mention, I had made them because I wanted to eat them. It was highly unlikely to be dangerous, and no one would doubt a goddess who they trusted unconditionally and in whom they placed their faith.
...Besides Roland, that is.
Emile, Belle, Francette, and Layette immediately began munching away at the sashimi. Roland was the only one who avoided it.
There were small bottles of wasabi and soy sauce for the sashimi.
“Delicious!”
“Mmm, this is so good!”
They didn’t just like the simmered and grilled dishes, but the sashimi was also a hit! It actually tasted even better after being aged a bit. The texture was better when fresh, but aging it would bring out the umami far more. But if you messed up the preparation or aged it for too long, it would decay. It required far too much knowledge for an amateur to try. I didn’t care about all that for now, though.
All right, time to eat!
＊ ＊
We headed southeast, along the seaside road.
Th
e peninsula jutting out of the west side of the continent ended and turned into a part of the main body, so the perimeter was expanding to the south.
The occasional fishing villages we saw only had a few small boats, if any.
I’d heard that this country was working on constructing ocean-going ships to expand into the islands to the west of the Kingdom of Aligot, but that was probably happening in the bigger port towns or even the naval ports.
...Well, supposedly, bigger port towns and naval ports hadn’t even existed until recently. They only existed on a much smaller scale. Like, just ports at small fisherman villages.
But now, countries along the sea were in the middle of a shipbuilding renaissance. They were working on serious ocean-going ships modeled after the historical carracks from Earth, with a focus on transportation capacity.
Of course, these were made with the knowledge I had brought over as a base, and I had given Aligot the edge at first, but since then I’d given each country equal treatment and they all had the same documents. It was still too early to reveal the compact and mobile caravels and the improved form of carracks known as galleons.
Incidentally, the Santa Maria that Columbus sailed to the New World and the Victoria, the ship Magellan and his crew used to sail around the world, were also carracks.
It was a bit surprising to see how small they are by modern Japanese standards. Caravels were basically from the same era. They’re a bit small, but boast superior mobility and speed. Caravels served as the consort ships of Columbus’s Santa Maria, and the two ships used by Columbus and his crew to return home were the very same model.
Galleons were what later became the basis for the ship of the line, and I was afraid those would lead to an outbreak of naval warfare, so I was a bit hesitant to spread this knowledge. The high carrying capacity of the carrack, and the swiftness and maneuverability of the caravel, should’ve been more than enough.
They could improve upon the technology without any further help from Earth knowledge from this point on.
I’d be fraught with guilt if they ended up progressing in a strange direction and the standard ended up being catamaran battleships or ships that could combine multiple units into one like the Apollo Norm.
Chapter 30: Meanwhile...
“What?!”
Fernand rose from his seat reflexively upon hearing the report from his subordinate.
“Kaoru is in the Kingdom of Jusral right now?”
The report stated that the messenger and the Goddess Celestine had appeared in the neighboring Kingdom of Jusral and had saved it from imminent danger. Not only that, but the messenger had been running a medicine shop in the royal capital of Jusral for some time.
“It’s Kaoru! I don’t know whether it’s alpha or beta, but that doesn’t matter. In any case, we must find her and bring her back here. Prepare to leave immediately!”
Fernand, the crown prince of the Kingdom of Brancott, was certain that “Alfa Kaoru Nagase” was the same Kaoru who had been working as a waitress at that restaurant.
There couldn’t be two women like her...
Indeed, there were the battles in the Aligot Empire, at the peace conference, and the many episodes over the course of the four years after. Those were more than enough confirmation.
Her stopping by the restaurant she used to work at as she passed through Brancott couldn’t be a coincidence, either.
I’ll bring her back, no matter what... Fernand resolved to himself, but Fabio had a disapproving look on his face as he watched Fernand.
If Kaoru had been a citizen of his country... And if she had been an ordinary person... If that was the case, Fernand could have applied pressure to get what he wanted, being the crown prince of a powerful kingdom.
But being from another country and having been given superhuman powers by the Goddess Celestine, as well as permission to use them as she pleased if she happened across injustice, Kaoru wasn’t someone who would be cowed by demands simply because they came from the son of the ruler of a kingdom of men.
...This wasn’t going to end well. But no amount of reasoning would convince Fernand to give up. Fabio had known him long enough to understand this.
Besides, the chances of it working weren’t necessarily zero. Even if they were one in a thousand, or one in ten thousand, they were still greater than zero...
＊ ＊
After stuffing my face with seafood at the seaside, I proceeded down the main road for a few days, eventually ending up at a medium-sized city. The city faced the sea, and even though it had a small port, it wasn’t exactly booming with maritime trade. Ships, the sea trade, and large-scale fishing still hadn’t developed enough in this world. The Aligot Empire was the only nation that had proper blue-water sailing vessels up to this point.
But many of these ships were currently in construction in various countries, and once finished, maritime trade would likely prosper, leading to the rapid development of existing and new port towns. Moreover, it was said that a new type of ship was being constructed in this town with the combined effort of the entire country behind it.
I was thinking I wanted to get a look at it when the ship entered port. It was small by my standards, but everyone here would consider it to be a properly massive ship. Also, the sailing ship was equipped with a strangely familiar figurehead with scary-looking eyes at its bow...
Yes, it was certainly the Aligot Empire’s new-model sailing ship. It wasn’t all that impressive yet, but it was capable of crossing the ocean while loaded up with crew and goods, putting it a step above the boats that had been used up until now.
Yes, I helped raise that thing! No, really. I contributed in various ways, like providing model ships I created as potion containers and suggestions on improving their shipboard compasses.
...When they started asking about the firing holes for the cannons, though, I somehow managed to avoid mentioning their real purpose. Right now, they’re being used as windows for letting in light and fresh air. Someone may eventually realize their true purpose and use them as firing holes for arrows, spears, and ballistas, but that’s on them, and certainly none of my concern.
I’d seen the inside of a ship from the Aligot Empire in the past, when I stopped by the Kingdom of Balmore’s northern port. It was pretty much the same model, so I didn’t much care to look at this one. More importantly, I didn’t want them to notice me and start making a fuss.
So, even though I wanted to check out the current construction of this world’s first large-scale sailing ship, I decided not to bother visiting the imperial shipyard.
...But then I found out that, not only had the ships of this country not been rigged yet, but that it would be some time before even the hull was finished being built.
Though, thinking about it, I guess it wasn’t really that surprising. Even when some higher-ups suddenly order you to start working on such a project, you can lose months on problems with the budget, rights and interests, facilities, engineers, and plenty of other obstacles.
Even the Kingdom of Balmore and the Kingdom of Aseed had just recently finished small prototype ships and were still working on their large-scale models, so it made sense that other countries still had a ways to go.
The Aligot Empire was the truly abnormal one, what with having large-scale sailing ships already in service. Well, I suppose other countries could hardly compete when, to the Aligot Empire, failure isn’t an option, and they’d consequently poured all of their resources into the project.
All right, I’m skipping this city and moving on to the next.
“Lady Kaoru!”
Gyaaaaaa!
“Y-You must have the wrong person...”
“No, there’s no mistaking those eyes!”
Shut up!
Looking more carefully, I realized that I recognized this person. He was one of the Aligot Empire’s engineers. I remembered the discussions we’d had before.
Using only model ships as references, I remembered havi
ng heated debates about how to use square sails and fore-and-aft sails, about dynamic lift and drag, about how to maintain the shape of the expanded sail, and about how to suppress the loss of air current against the sails. I was an amateur, and one who only had knowledge gleaned from movies, novels, and manga, while they were engineers who lacked firsthand knowledge but made up for it with abnormal sharpness, and we had spent our days testing our theories with small boats.
...Those were fun times.
Even though I’m a normie and an amateur, I felt like I had become a cutting-edge engineer at the forefront of scientific development. I got to experience what it was like to be one of the top-class technicians of this world.
Having top-secret meetings and conducting experiments with the Aligot Empire’s design group, while trying not to get caught by the Kingdom of Balmore’s own engineers, had been incredibly thrilling.
I had so much fun...
As I stood, reminiscing, the engineer seemed to have lost his patience and opted to make a bold move.
“If you insist on denying it, you leave me no choice!”
With that, he drew in a deep breath, and...
“Ah! It’s the great friend of the Goddess, Kao—”
“Stop that!” I quieted him with a swift punch to the gut.
He crumpled in pain, clutching his stomach, but that wasn’t my problem. He deserved it!
“Th-That was cruel...” he said, with a reproachful tone, after finally recovering from the blow. He had basically blackmailed me, so I didn’t apologize.
“That’s what you get for trying to make such a disturbance when I’m keeping a low profile!”
“I’m sorry...”
The people of the Aligot Empire should really have known by now that it’s not a good idea to make me upset. Even if he was desperate to keep me from escaping, he also seemed to realize he had made a mistake, and was very apologetic about the whole situation.
I supposed I could forgive him...
“So, what is it you want from me?”
“Oh, no, I don’t need anything in particular. Of course I’d want to talk to you when I happen to see you at a place like this! I would love for you to see this ship, because we’re incredibly proud of it, and if you could possibly offer some opinions and advice...”