Sizzle-sizzle-sizzle!
I coated chicken thighs, which had been marinating in sake, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a little grated onion, with flour and potato starch, then fried them in oil.
It was best to use plenty of flour. That way, the coating would turn crisp and stay delicious even after it cooled.
I started with oil at a slightly lower temperature.
When I dropped the chicken in, big bubbles burst and popped in the oil. I fried it slowly, without rushing. Once the bubbles turned finer and the sound rose to a higher pitch, I lifted the pieces out before the heat reached the center.
The color should be on the pale side. Golden brown at this point is no good.
I left them for a while on a wire-racked tray to cook through with residual heat.
Then, right before eating, I heated the oil until it was scorching. It was just right when it was almost startlingly hot.
After resting, moisture had seeped out from inside the chicken thighs, leaving the coating a little limp. When I boldly slid it into the oil, the moisture burst with a startling crackle-crackle-pop-sizzle-sizzle!
It wasn’t a good idea to fry it for too long, either. The trick was to stop as soon as the surface became crispy.
Fry it quick, lift it out quick. That removed just the right amount of moisture from the surface, leaving me with a perfectly crispy karaage, traditional fried chicken.
“Big Sister… taste test…”
“No. If you have one, you won’t be able to stop, Hiyori.”
“If I don’t taste-test, I’ll die! My mouth is going to rot if it doesn’t get fried chicken right now.”
I was hopelessly soft when it came to my little sister, so I laughed, said "Oh no, that would be terrible," and popped a piece of fried chicken into her mouth.
Taking advantage of the moment, I ate one too.
—Crunch, juicy burst.
I bit through the crispy coating and tore into the meat, and juices flooded my mouth. Because I’d finished it with residual heat, the chicken was moist. Thanks to the grated onion, it was tender. Then came the savory aroma of soy sauce, with garlic and ginger working hard behind it to make their presence known. My mouth was wrapped in blissful, mellow richness. It was so good I hated to swallow.
“Hah. So good… One more.”
“Denied.”
“Big Sister, you meanie!”
I dodged my sister’s reaching hand and set the fried chicken aside to cool a bit.
I glanced at the pot I’d been heating.
Inside was boiling water, bacon, and peeled potatoes.
Next up was potato salad.
You could microwave the potatoes for potato salad, but boiling them made them much moister and tastier. Boiling the bacon alongside them also let the potatoes absorb its savory juices, adding a great deal of flavor. Frying the bacon separately and mixing it into the potatoes along with its rendered fat was delicious too, but I preferred this method because it tasted lighter.
After boiling the potatoes for a while until they were thoroughly tender, I drained the water. Then I turned up the heat and shook the pot.
As the potatoes rolled around in the pot, their moisture evaporated rapidly. It was important to dry them out thoroughly at this stage; otherwise, the salad would turn watery. Once most of the moisture had evaporated, I transferred the potatoes to a bowl and mashed them while they were still hot.
I mashed them vigorously until no lumps remained, then added a generous amount of mayonnaise and a little whole-grain mustard.
One finely chopped boiled egg went in, along with cucumber I’d salted and squeezed beforehand. Finally, I ground pepper over it with the mill to tighten the flavor, and it was done.
“Big Sister, I want umeboshi and salmon for my rice balls.”
“I couldn’t get any salmon, so please make do with salmon flakes.”
“Whaaat!? Ugh, this other world is the worst! My salmon!”
“I’ll look for something salmon-ish eventually.”
As we chatted, I packed the side dishes into the bento. I included sweet rolled omelet, potato salad on a bed of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, and meatballs on skewers. I filled the remaining spaces with fried chicken and added two small rice balls.
I put the lid on the bento box and wrapped it in a cute cat-print cloth, and it was finished.
“Heh heh. It’s been so long. Big Sister’s bento.”
“Just the standard side dishes, though.”
“That’s what makes it good! Sometimes I just crave it like crazy.”
“Really?”
My sister hugged the bento box to her chest, delighted.
I sat on a chair and watched her.
It wasn’t even seven yet, but the sky was already quite bright.
There wasn’t a cloud in it. At this rate, it might get warm enough to work up a light sweat by noon.
A refreshing early-summer morning.
—Today was the day my sister set out on her purification journey.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
The Kingdom of Gilberta lay on the largest continent of this other world.
Scattered across that continent were tainted lands where miasma spewed forth.
The taint that naturally arose from the life activities of all living things in this other world first seeped into the earth. It accumulated deep underground and grew more concentrated until, once it reached a certain quantity, it began leaking back to the surface. There, it became miasma, defiling the land and contaminating any living creature it touched.
Once contaminated, living creatures fell into darkness of mind and became savage monsters that thirsted for blood. These monsters injured others and destroyed everything around them, silently multiplying as they generated yet more corruption.
Although they appeared to have lost all reason, the monsters never left the tainted lands. It was unclear whether this was due to the miasma’s influence, but for some reason, they remained there, devoting all their efforts to steadily expanding the corrupted regions.
The knight orders of every nation and region poured their very hearts into exterminating the miasma-contaminated monsters. Reducing their numbers to a certain level could hold back the encroachment of the tainted lands. In this way, people had protected their nations, their families, and the lands where they lived.
Yet the balance between miasma and humankind, maintained through such steady effort, collapsed with terrifying ease.
Deep underground, miasma that had lain dormant without reaching the surface finally had nowhere left to go as the corruption continued to accumulate—and it began to burst up to the surface all at once.
—The miasma surge period. It marked the beginning of a miasma flood, an event that had also occurred several hundred years ago.
People’s efforts proved futile. The eruptions of miasma increased dramatically, and the monsters multiplying outnumbered those the knight orders could cull. Before long, towns were destroyed and plundered by monsters, and the tainted lands spread rapidly. People came to live in fear of the miasma and of the monsters.
One after another, the kings of the various nations sent envoys to the Kingdom of Gilberta. They desperately appealed to Gilberta, the only nation that possessed the secret art of summoning a Saint capable of purifying miasma.
—Give us a Saint! The only being who can purify miasma!
Gilberta, for its part, had not stood idly by and watched this situation unfold. Anticipating the miasma surge, it had spent years, even decades, preparing in advance to summon a Saint to this world.
And then the miasma flood they had feared struck the world.
The Kingdom of Gilberta decided to carry out the summoning ritual. Performing it once the surge period arrived was the pact it had made with the surrounding nations.
The summoning ritual was carried out without incident… and so the Saint, the hope people had been waiting for, was summoned.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
I stood on the pure white castle wall, a place I usually only looked at from a distance.
It was quite high off the ground. The gate guards below looked like ants.
A strong wind blew, whipping my hair and clothes about.
I gripped the edge of the wall tightly and watched the company of riders grow distant.
Bathed in the early-summer sunlight, the knights’ armor glinted fiercely, so bright at times that I had to squint.
How many of them were there? At the head of the many knights rode Dazil, alone in jet-black armor, astride a black-coated horse and carrying a long lance.
Near the middle of the company was a large two-horse carriage.
My sister and Prince Cain should be inside it.
“—…Akane.”
“Mr. Jade. My sister will come back safe, won’t she? I’m sure she will.”
Without taking my eyes off the carriage, I asked, and Jade answered, "Yes. I’m sure of it.”
After a while, when the carriage had disappeared from view, I finally loosened my hands, which had been gripping the edge the whole time. I must have squeezed hard, because my fingertips had turned white.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
The market was as noisy and crowded with people as ever today.
Holding the jar of umeboshi I’d finished making the other day, I visited the herb merchant.
“Well, hello. It’s been a while.”
“It’s been a while. …This is the salt-cured batch. You can eat them now, but if you leave them in a cool, dark place for about three more months, the saltiness mellows out, and they taste better.”
When I handed the jar to the herb merchant, he hummed, thought for a moment, and peered inside.
He sniffed, looked briefly surprised, and popped one into his mouth.
Ah, I thought, but it was too late.
“—!?”
It must have been sour enough to hurt, because the herb merchant clapped a hand over his mouth with watering eyes and crouched down.
“A-Are you all right…?”
Still crouched, he waved one hand as if to say don’t worry, pulled a bottle of water from a wooden crate at the back of the stall, and gulped it down.
Then he puckered his lips and spat out the umeboshi pit, and suddenly burst out laughing.
“Ahaha! What is this stuff? So chiko fruit gets this sour when you salt it! For a moment I thought something had gone wrong with my mouth!”
He found it so funny that he laughed for a long while.
When the laughter finally subsided, he wiped his tears and settled back into his usual spot at the stall.
“Ah, that was hilarious. —Normally, I’d expect you to laugh along with me, miss. But today, you seem… a little down?”
As he spoke, he pulled an orange glass from inside his robes.
“Here, the cup I promised. May happiness come to you, miss—”
I accepted it with mixed feelings.
Up until now, every time I received one of these glasses with their lovely patterns, I’d felt happy, as though happiness really would come to me. But today the herb merchant’s words somehow rang hollow.
I felt a little guilty toward him, since he was so kindly giving me cups from his homeland.
“Thank you. …I’ll treasure it.”
As if he’d seen right through my feelings, the herb merchant grinned with his crimson eyes, made a point of standing up, and gave my head a couple of light pats.
“…You’re back.”
When I returned home, a sullen face greeted me for some reason.
Luvan was sitting on the veranda, throwing the ball Leon kept bringing him, over and over.
Pooong, pitter-pitter-pitter-pitter! Pooong, pitter-pitter-pitter-pitter!
Leon, tongue lolling out, came trotting back with the ball to Luvan, looking extremely satisfied.
…What is this man doing, exactly?
“…Could you tell Leon to stop, please?”
“Uh… sure.”
“I keep telling the dog we’re finished, yet it brings the ball back endlessly. Honestly, it’s becoming rather troublesome.”
He pushed his silver-rimmed glasses up with a click, wearing a deadly serious expression as he said this.
If Dazil had been here, he would surely have burst out laughing. The scene nearly made all the strength drain out of my body.
“I think you should just hide the ball.”
“Hm. …I see. So that’s how it works.”
Luvan seemed to get it, and he put the ball into the pocket of his civil official’s uniform. …The pocket bulged out, looking awfully suspicious.
Leon, having lost the ball out of nowhere, sniffed Luvan’s hand, then snuffled around, searching the area.
…Even though it was plainly right there, my beloved dog couldn’t find it. Was this pitiful? Or should I say that foolish children are the cutest? I couldn’t decide.
“…So, what brings you here today? The research session is supposed to be off today, right?”
The only reason a busy man like Luvan would come here was for research. And Leon, who had apparently become his friend, seemed to go visit Luvan on its own whenever it pleased.
At my question, Luvan let his eyes wander for a while, mumbled to himself, and then produced a large ceramic jug from behind him.
“Ah, well. …Dazil asked me to give you a little something.”
“Mr. Dazil did?”
When I took the jug he thrust toward me, it was heavy, and I heard liquid sloshing inside.
“…It’s a milk wine commonly drunk in the fishing villages of this region. …Mildly sweet and easy to drink, but quite strong. …It’s just right as a nightcap for sleepless nights.”
“…Eh?”
“You like drink, after all. He said it was thanks for the meals you always treat him to.”
Luvan said this with his gaze slightly averted from me, then stood up straight and made to leave.
I’d been frozen by the sudden gift, but seeing him go, I hurriedly called out to stop him:
“Wait… Mr. Luvan! Please wait there!”
“What is it? I am busy.”
Leaving the suddenly disgruntled Luvan waiting there, I dashed into the kitchen. I took out the lunch box my grandfather used to use, hurriedly packed it with what was left from the bento I’d made for my sister, and returned to the veranda.
“Please return the container another day. It’s for your lunch.”
Luvan made a strange face at me, muttered something that sounded like thanks under his breath, and left.
I looked at the jug of milk wine in my hands. It was the same drink Dazil had given me once before, when I was cooking the milk shells.
A small smile came to my face.
I looked up at the sky, and the sun was dazzling.
—Before I knew it, it was almost noon.
As I was thinking that, Jade invited me to lunch.
“Now that the Saint has set out, why don’t we take the rest of today off and relax?”
I hesitated for a moment, but drawn in by the gentle smile on his face, I found myself nodding.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
Under the cherry tree in the garden, whose leaves were now lush and green, I spread out a picnic blanket. Jade, who had gone back to the knight order’s barracks and changed into civilian clothes, and I sat down on it together.
He had suggested eating out somewhere, but I wasn’t in the mood, so we decided to share the bento instead.
The early-summer sunlight was gradually getting harsher, but the shade was still cool and just right.
I poured ice-cold barley tea from the thermos into cups, and we put our hands together and said, "Itadakimasu.”
Fried chicken was delicious even when cold.
It lost that juicy quality it had when freshly fried, but the fried chicken had been thoroughly marinated, and the garlic and ginger gave it a savory saltiness that made you want to eat more rice.
Still, I didn’t remember eating much cold fried chicken. Whenever I made it for dinner, my sister would say it would make her fat and then finish every last piece. Our grandmother and I used to watch her in exasperation.
The sweet rolled omelet my sister liked. Personally, I preferred mine seasoned with soy sauce. Whenever I occasionally put unsweetened rolled omelet in her lunchbox, she’d eat every last bite and then come home to complain about it.
Meatballs in teriyaki sauce. My sister always said she preferred teriyaki to ketchup flavor…
Potato salad was another of her favorites. She always saved some until the next day and, at breakfast, piled it on toast with cheese and baked it. …I’ve never tried it, but she always eats it with a big smile. …Is it good?
After sampling each side dish in turn, I drank some barley tea. With a sigh of relief, I thought that my sister would be eating her bento about now.
My sister got cranky when she was hungry, so I hoped she’d managed to eat before her stomach got too empty.
I bit into a rice ball. The sea scent of the nori. The rice, cooked slightly firm, and the sourness of the umeboshi whetted my appetite.
“…Akane.”
Just then, Jade wrapped his arms around me from behind.
The illustration’s description: Jade wrapped his arms around Akane.
—Mr. Jade, I told you sexual harassment is a no-go, didn’t I?
I wanted to say it, but with my mouth crammed full of a rice ball, I couldn’t make a sound.
—My vision was blurring, and I couldn’t see the scenery.
—The rice ball tasted saltier than usual.
“I think you’re wonderful when you’re strong… but…”
I finally swallowed the rice ball I’d been chewing.
“You don’t have to be strong even at a time like this.”
—Why? My throat twitched, and I couldn’t draw a proper breath.
With trembling hands, I put the rice ball back in the bento box.
Jade’s warm hand wrapped around mine.
“I… I only have my sister left…”
Jade listened in silence to my halting words.
“Dad, Mom, Grandpa, Grandma… everyone, everyone is gone… All I have is my sister. I’m supposed to protect her! I’m her big sister, and yet…! And this whole thing, too! If I really cared about my sister, I should have stopped her from becoming the Saint, even if I had to hit her! Something with a risk to her life! A big sister should have put a stop to it! I probably could have stopped her, but… but…!”
…I didn’t want Jade to see the ugly side of me.
But I couldn’t keep it in.
I was desperate to spit out the black thing that had gathered deep inside my heart.
“I was thinking of myself! Once I came to this world, as long as I was the Saint’s sister, food, clothing, and shelter were guaranteed. If I refused and got thrown out into a world where I had no connections at all… it was obvious I’d struggle. I had no idea what would become of me…”
Ugly. How ugly I was.
For my own sake, I had offered up my sister to the people of this world like a sacrifice.
I could never say this to her. Even someone like me couldn’t give up the desire to be a big sister my sister could rely on.
“Mr. Jade. This is the kind of person I am. So… please, don’t be so kind to me…”
My body had lost all strength.
I wanted to curl up right there, seeing nothing and being seen by no one, but Jade held me too tightly for even that.
“Even so, I will be kind to you.”
“…”
“Even so, I won’t stop spoiling you.”
There was a note of pain in Jade’s voice.
“You have no idea how much you and the Saint have saved us. I want you to know that. This world, which was heading toward ruin, has finally found a ray of hope thanks to you two… even if it was built on your sacrifice. I know no apology could ever be enough. I know that apologizing changes nothing. But we were powerless, and this world was hopelessly stuck—we had no choice but to cling to the existence of a Saint. So let me say this. Akane. Thank you… Thank you for coming to this world.”
Unable to bear it, I shook my head in refusal.
Jade held me even tighter.
“Thank you for always smiling and cooking such delicious meals. Thank you for supporting the Saint. The Saint was able to keep smiling because you were there. Not just anyone could do that. You should be proud of it. I’ll wait with you. Let’s wait together for the Saint and everyone to come back safely. Let’s keep doing what we can. No matter what you may be thinking in your heart, to this world—and to me—you are salvation.”
A sob escaped from deep in my throat, unstoppable.
Jade’s warmth was so comforting. His voice was so gentle. I knew I shouldn’t, but I couldn’t hold back—I turned around, buried my face in Jade’s chest, and wept aloud.
The way Jade patted my back, pat, pat, so gently, was the same gesture I used to make for my sister once upon a time.
A sudden, overwhelming longing for her welled up, and the tears spilled over again.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆◇
When I woke up, I cleaned and ate breakfast. I went to the market to buy ingredients, and while making lunch, I prepped for dinner too. After that, I stood on top of the castle wall and gazed in the direction my sister would be coming home from.
That was my routine these days.
Lately I’d become acquainted with the soldiers guarding the wall, and we’d gotten friendly enough to chat a little.
The top of the wall had no shade, and even though it was early summer, it was quite harsh. I used a parasol, but my arms had still gotten faintly tanned.
Two weeks had already nearly passed since my sister’s departure. Word was that my sister and Prince Cain were doing wonderfully in every region, and news of purifications kept pouring in. That was the only thing that eased my heart.
Ever since the day I made doughnuts, the twin princesses had been visiting our house from time to time. Naturally, Crux had been left behind somewhere.
Apparently, when the twin princesses later learned that I didn’t know the saint of legend had "died on his journey," they’d turned pale. After being thoroughly scolded by Crux and the other adults around them, the twin princesses realized they’d wrongly assumed I knew everything except about the Saint’s Festival, and they’d apologized to me in tears for having hurt me.
Ever since then, perhaps as a form of atonement, the two of them came to play together, bringing delicious snacks as gifts.
It was probably a child’s kind of consideration. The twin princesses’ adorable appearance was very soothing, but it reminded me of my sister when she was little, and my chest ached a little.
I didn’t know whether Titania had listened to my plea to protect my sister, but she hadn’t shown herself since that day. Knowing how capricious the fairy queen was, perhaps she simply hadn’t felt like visiting. Even so, I could only hope she’d help my sister in some way.
Today, too, I kept gazing far off toward the east from atop the castle wall.
Jade always accompanied me in silence. I really was always relying on him.
A breeze, heavy with heat, brushed my cheek.
Just then, a beautiful voice, like the ringing of a small bell, sounded right beside me.
“—Ah, I’m weary. You, there’ll be a drinking party tonight. I shall drink to my heart’s content. None shall stop me.”
I looked around instinctively.
“Hush. Do not look about so. I am speaking so that only you can hear. If the armored male hears, explaining will be a bother… sigh.”
—Titania!
I nearly shouted, but I swallowed it down with all my might.
Tilting my parasol low, I spoke in a voice too soft for Jade to hear, to the unseen Titania.
“…Why are you here?”
“Ho. ‘Why,’ you say…? Have you forgotten your own wish? Humans are so forgetful; it is most trying.”
I sensed Titania laughing near my ear.
“Tonight, I desire the fruit steeped in liquor, and the white snacks of fish and milk. Do not forget. If you forget, I shall curse you.”
With those parting words, Titania’s presence vanished.
I couldn’t stand it any longer, and I left my parasol behind and broke into a run.
“Huh—!? Akane!?”
Far behind me, I heard Jade’s startled voice.
I flung the door open and rushed down the stone stairs inside the wall, my feet tangling now and then.
My heart pounded loudly. It was hard to breathe. Sweat kept pouring out.
—Titania’s words! If they were true, then I’d serve her cheese-tara and all the liquor she wanted! I’d give her such a lavish welcome she wouldn’t have time to curse anyone!
—Get ready, Fairy Queen!
I kept desperately racing down the steep stairs until I finally reached the very bottom.
The castle gate towered high, still tightly shut.
Many soldiers were bustling about near the gate in a flurry.
Standing before the gate, I steadied my breathing and faced straight ahead.
Just then, as if on cue, the gate began to open with a dull creak.
Through the gradually widening gap, in the little bit of scenery I could see, a company of riders gleamed in the distance, glinting brightly as they reflected the light.
I gulped and started running again.
Voices calling for me to stop reached me from somewhere, but I paid them no mind and kept running.
At the head of the group, the jet-black knight—Dazil—noticed me and turned his horse back. Then, hoisting someone onto the saddle, he came galloping toward me at full speed.
I want to see her, quickly—with that single thought, I ran even faster.
“Hiyoriiiii!”
Her ears probably couldn’t hear me yet.
But I didn’t care, and shouted anyway.
“Hiyoriiiii!”
“…Sis!”
I could faintly hear it.
The person on horseback—my sister—was shouting too.
“Big sister!”
Tears threatened to spill over, but I bit them back and ran on, nearly stumbling.
I kept running and running until, just as my stamina was almost spent, I finally reached the black horse. And from atop the horse, which was circling wildly from its own momentum, my sister leapt down toward me.
There was no way I could support her; the two of us tumbled to the ground in an embrace.
When our momentum finally died, we lay side by side on the ground. My sister sprang up, threw her arms around me again, and said, with a beaming smile:
“I’m home! Big sister!”
I answered with a tangled, twisted smile of my own.
“—Welcome back, Hiyori…!”
We hugged each other so tightly, it almost hurt.
The illustration’s description: Akane and Hiyori are hugging each other.
“Big sister, please make a feast tonight! I’ll die without your cooking!”
“Ahahaha! It’d be a problem if you died. Let’s make a feast. I’ll make lots of your favorites.”
My whole body ached from running so hard. My airways were wheezing, and my throat was parched. I was a wreck, but my heart felt bright and clear.
“Leave it to your big sister!”
“That’s my big sister. I’m counting on you!”
And so we laughed together.
An early summer afternoon, fresh and bright.
My sister’s first purification journey had come to an end.
