Chapter Four: Rescuing Life And Setting Up Camp—With Salt-Grilled Milk Trout To Top It Off!
Wow. Once again, I’ve come to appreciate the high performance of Campy.
There was enough space around Mr. Oni to position Campy, but there wasn’t a clear path to ride to him. I thought, "Maybe If I can put it away for a moment…" and Campy suddenly vanished!
Panicking, I pleaded, “Come out again!” and it reappeared.
…It seems like I can turn off and on the skill at will! It’s amazing.
I collected the drained milk trout and fishing gear, then went over to Mr. Oni and activated Campy again to take out the camping supplies. This time, instead of using Campy’s kitchen, I’ll make a fire beside Mr. Oni and cook outdoors. It’s getting darker, and the temperature will drop. Even though he’s dry now, being soaked in water must have taken a toll on his stamina. It would be bad if he caught a cold without a heat source. I could have made a simple stove with rocks but I’ll use a portable grill to make the fire control easier.
Alright, let’s begin setting up! Hmm… Pitch the tent, gather some dry wood and grass, get the grill ready… I guess that’s a good start? I should get some things done while there’s still daylight, it’ll be hard to see once it gets dark. But let’s not light the fire yet since there’s still stuff to do.
By the way, Campy’s kitchen is truly something. It is impressive enough to make the blood of a cooking enthusiast stir. Under the sink, there’s a storage space neatly organizing cooking utensils like pots, pans, knives, as well as cutlery and tableware. Additionally, there’s a place for alcohol and oil. On the shelf above the kitchen table, there are containers of sugar, salt, and a spice box. And beside the table are high-end appliances like an oven with an air fryer function and a fancy rice cooker, and various small kitchen items like paper towels, all subtly arranged to give off a casual air.
…Personally, I feel like “air-fried” food is good for dieting and health management but somehow gives off the sense of being deceived. I don’t think I could easily become friends with that concept… I don’t dislike the taste itself, and if someone says it’s "fried-style something," I wouldn’t really feel anything special, but it’s not really "fried" food, you know…
…
Hey, who’s calling me fat!?
I-I just have big bones! And I only have a tiny extra around my chest and butt!! I have a waistline!!!
…It’s ok, really… I’ll aim to be a lively chubby…
…
…
Anyway, let’s talk about the kitchen!
“Let’s see… barley tea, broth concentrate, soup base for noodles, soy sauce… in the top shelf pocket there’s miso paste and… yes! There’s butter! There’s also wheat flour and rice down there…”
In Campy’s fridge, along with a tsundere-like note saying, "The contents are a service! It’s not prepared for you personally!" there are perfectly made barley tea, judging by the color; all sorts of seasonings; a bag of flour; and even rice in a transparent container of 1-liter PET bottle size. There’s ketchup, mayonnaise, and sauces… looks like most common seasonings are covered!
“On the top shelf, there’s sugar, salt… and a spice box. In the sink cabinet below there’s alcohol, vinegar, canned tomatoes, salad oil, and olive oil…”
I’m rummaging around the kitchen just to grasp what’s available, but… what’s with this feeling of being exceptionally well-stocked? Isn’t it suspicious!?
By the way, the labels affixed to each food item boasted various Japanese fonts. Surprisingly, it’s all made in Japan.
But somehow… the miso paste and soy sauce were from local breweries in my hometown, the butter was the same souvenir my dad brought back when he went on a business trip up north, the bottle of mayonnaise was the premium kind I bought on payday…
It seems like Campy’s groceries are somehow in line with the contents of my apartment’s fridge and cabinets…
I looked around more but that was all the food. I am glad that the staple items like flour and rice are there, but finding butter was a stroke of luck!
For now, I use the large kitchen knife found under the sink to fillet the milk trout. I cut it into pieces slightly larger than bite-sized, leaving the skin on. I season the skin side a bit generously and sprinkle salt and pepper on the flesh before skewering the milk trout onto a barbecue skewer. Anyway, when you grill it, the salt tends to wash away with the dripping fat and moisture from the flesh. Ideally, I’d love to skewer a whole fish so the juices do not drip out, but unfortunately, it is too big. Oh well, can’t be helped!
I wasn’t sure how much Mr. Oni would eat so I used two fishes, and that gave me a good amount of sliced meat. Any portions that will be left over, I’ll also fry and slowly eat later.
As for the last fish, I finely slice it into 3 fillets, wrap it in kitchen paper, and put it in the chiller. I’ll try it as sashimi or carpaccio tomorrow. Survival said it’s edible raw too! As for the head and bones, I will throw them into a pot and simmer them to make a broth. It could be useful later for some dishes.
Now that the ingredients are ready, it’s time to prepare the fire! I arrange easily ignitable grass, small twigs, and thinner branches in the grill, then use a lighter to set fire to the kitchen paper I borrowed and toss it into the grill. In no time, the fire spreads from the kitchen paper to the dry grass, followed by the small twigs… and a bit later, the thin branches catch fire smoothly. Once the intensity has settled a bit, I add thicker branches…
Good! The thick sticks have started burning nicely too. If I periodically add more firewood, it shouldn’t die out.
With the grill mesh set up over the fire, I stuck the skewers into the grill holes away from the flames. This way the fish can roast nicely! After roasting for a while, the excess moisture and fat drip down, sizzling, and smoke rises. This is the taste of open-fire cooking!
The sun has completely set and the surroundings are shrouded in darkness. Only the area around the portable grill remains bright as if it has been cut out from the dark. Despite being near such a lush, green forest, there is no sound of insects, no bird calls, only the crackling of the flames and the sizzling fish… It’s somewhat eerie.
Carefully turning the skewers to prevent burning, as the dripping moisture diminishes, a perfect golden-brown color gradually coats the entire fish. Since trout have high moisture content, thoroughly roasting to remove the moisture results in a delicious dish.
I think it’s about time to call him out. When I look up, I can see Mr. Oni starting to get up beyond the flames.
“Oh, you’re awake? How are you feeling? Any pain or discomfort?”
“…I’m hungry.”
“Ah, I see… Well, I’m glad you seem okay. This is just in time, would you like to eat?”
Mr. Oni approaches the fire with a blank, spaced-out look. I hold out a nicely roasted fish skewer. His gaze darts between my face and the skewer several times. Of course, he’d be wary of human-offered food at the first meeting.
But.
“Sorry… Thank you…”
“No no. We help each other in times of need…”
Giving in to the rumbling hunger, Mr. Oni frowns and accepts the skewer. After lightly blowing on it, he chomps down in one go. His body stiffens for a moment and his ruby eyes open wide, but he immediately takes two, or three more bites of the fish. He’s eating vigorously enough to make crunching sounds, yet somehow still appears graceful? I’m not sure why!
Anyway, I should eat too! I take a nearby skewer, cool it with some huffs, and then take a big bite! There is no room for manners or etiquette before the barbecue.
The skin roasted in its own fat is crisply baked with nice fat content, yet has no excessive greasiness. Yup. Just this alone is delicious! As I bit into the golden brown flesh along with the skin, fragrant steam rises from the freshly split surface. Though the surface has cooled, the inside is still piping hot, so I breathe in air as I chew the fish. The first sensation is a slightly strong saltiness. But as I chew, the sweet juicy fat spreads throughout my mouth, mixing with the saltiness.
The fine, snow-white flesh has lost excess moisture from roasting yet still melts softly in the mouth with each bite. In the end, a faint milky aroma escapes into the nose, perhaps because it is a “milk” trout.
Delicious!
Now that my mouth is all hot, I gulp down the barley tea from Campy’s fridge in one go!
Pwaahhh!
My mouth is instantly cooled down, washing away the saltiness and oiliness, now I can go again!
When I came to, Mr. Oni who had already finished one skewer was staring at me fixedly. I receive the empty skewer and hand him another fish one. Once again, a momentarily surprised expression appears on Mr. Oni’s face, but it seems he cannot resist his appetite. He’s chomping down ferociously.
“Um, please help yourself and eat as much as you want. There’s still more.”
There’s no reply from Mr. Oni. He nods slightly but is focused on eating now. In the blink of an eye, he devours one skewer after another without uttering a word. It’s very satisfying for me as a cook because I feel like his sparkling eyes are telling me how delicious and tasty the dish is!
But, at this rate, I’m worried I’ll run out of skewers…
I add more firewood and place the fish slices directly on the grill mesh. Cooking directly over the flame requires careful attention to the heat, but right now there’s no time to worry about that! While eating the fish skewer in hand, I adjust the fire intensity and continue grilling the fish. Meanwhile, Mr. Oni’s eating pace shows no sign of slowing down. In the time I eat one skewer, he might eat about three!
Sure enough, in a flash, he devours most of the fish from the mesh, about one and a half milk trout in total. Mr. Oni, who seems to have finally calmed down, is sitting cross-legged behind the flames and begins to nod off.
You get sleepy when your belly is full… I totally understand.
However, sleeping here might get chilly with the night breeze, and the ground is full of stones, which could be uncomfortable. So, I’ll lend you my tent, mat, and blanket. As for the sleeping bag, well… it’s probably too small for you, so bear with just the mat and blanket tonight.
“Um… behind you, there’s a tent… I mean, a solo-person canopy and a blanket… Please use them if you’d like.”
“Mm… sorry… thank you…”
As I approach, I give Mr. Oni’s shoulder a light pat, and he sluggishly crawls toward the tent.
Well… I might worry about him stealing my gear, but with Campy here I won’t be lacking much equipment-wise even if stuff gets taken. Of course, I’d be heartbroken if cherished items got stolen.
But Mr. Oni, he doesn’t seem like the type of person to do that kind of thing… I don’t know why, but he just doesn’t look that way to me. Well, I have no warnings from Survival either, so I think it’ll probably be alright.
Now then, I’ll take care of the fire and call it a night! The charcoal extinguisher container is quite handy. Yup. I’ll try using this charcoal sometime in the future…
When I look up at the sky, there are two moons hanging… Is this a binary system, perhaps? With one a crescent and one full—an impossible sight in Japan—the sense that I’ve come to a completely unfamiliar world gradually seeps in. Quickly emptying the contents of the grill into the fire extinguishing container, I rushed into Campy’s cabin as if escaping.
I couldn’t stand in this world filled with an otherworldly atmosphere any longer…
When I close the curtains, the night sky with binary moons disappears from view. As I settle onto the springy sofa, the otherworldly sensation I have been feeling gradually begins to subside.
Until a few hours ago, I was firmly standing on my own two feet in the society. I worked using the knowledge I gained and somehow made a place for myself. On days off I played with friends and immersed myself in hobbies, enjoying small pleasures.
But what about now…?
I have no job. No money. No knowledge. No common sense. No family, friends, mentors, seniors, juniors, clients, or patients… A world where everything I’ve been involved with is nonexistent. A world where none of the people I’ve known exist.
What should I do from now on…?
As a burning sensation gripped my throat, and I fought back the urge to cry, my vision was gradually swallowed by darkness.
Ah… If only it were a dream…
My voiceless murmur gets swallowed by my swirling consciousness…
The translator complains
Two moons, one of which is crescent and the other one is full... At first I thought I translated something wrong, but no, even in the manga the two moons were in different phases; moreover, the two moons were the same Earth moons, T_T. Remember, moons can only be in different phases if one of them is emitting light and its phase is just not visible, or if the sun is so close to the planet (like being in orbit of the planet, haha) that it would illuminate the two moons at different angles.
I don't understand why authors/illustrators of various manga/manhwa (especially of manhwa!) are so neglectful of moons. After all, it's one of the elements of immersion in another world. For example, I still remember the first time I saw the incredible moons of Morrowind, even though I played the game many years ago.
Thanks for picking this up. I love the manga very much and very looking forward to the novel too.
ReplyDeleteTranslation are good and colorful. It's easy to read. Keep up the good work!