When they led me to a mostly empty house, I raised my eyebrow. It seemed there wasn’t a place like an inn or tavern here.

“Ah, the only inn was filled by a merchant caravan when we got here,” the one who complained a lot said sheepishly. “The village head said we could use one of the empty houses. It seems there are a lot of them due to the attacks by magic beasts this last year.”

“I see,” I said. “At least it’s in fairly good repair.”

“It will be a bit for food to be done since we cook for ourselves.”

I nodded. A few minutes later, my jaw almost dropped when I realized they were just going to roast a piece of meat over the fire. They weren’t even going to use any seasonings or salt.

“You’re not going to use the stove?” I asked to make sure I was correct in my assumption.

They looked at me with slightly sheepish looks. Well, as much as their faces would allow anyway. My eyebrow rose again.

“None of you can cook?” I asked.

“We can’t, other than roasting it over a fire,” Tyr answered in a calm voice. “It’s generally not a problem. We have rations as well but would rather not eat those if we don’t have to.”

Everything was awkwardly silent after Tyr’s statement. I sighed.

“I’ll cook then,” I said with another sigh. “What ingredients or supplies do you have?”

“We have a lot of meat, and carrots since they can be eaten raw.”

I waited a moment longer.

“That’s it? Not even any salt?”

“We ran out of salt due to being attacked on the way here while setting up camp and it was spilt. We haven’t had a chance to restock since we got here.”

I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry with Tyr saying all that with a deadpan expression the entire time. Could it be that these are normal occurrences for them?

“Okay. Can any of you recognize plants that are poisonous or not?”

“That would be me,” said the one with the quiver. “I can’t guarantee they’re edible, but I can tell if they are poisonous. By the way, I’m Ari, the scout and archer of our group. Although at the moment I don’t have a bow. Damned variant Wind Tiger hit it with a fireball.”

I felt my eyes go wide. Hit by a fireball? And he’s not injured?

“No need to worry about him, little one. He's rather fire resistant with his Earth magic,” said the one who said they’d feed me. “I’m Veran de’Mortia. Shadow Mage.”

“I’m Bali Ravenheart, swordsman, and this is my partner Felix Callonia,” said the second man I heard speaking when I first saw them. Felix was the complainer.

“Hey, I can introduce myself,” Felix said while elbowing his partner. “I’m mostly a mage but also learned swordsmanship from childhood.”

“My name is rather difficult for most people, so I’m normally just called Tyr.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said politely. “I’ve taken the name Evren Enaid Pala, but you can just call me Evren or Ren. Some of the people here have called me Red since I was found in the forest. I’m not sure what happened but I’ve lost my memory and know almost nothing that is common knowledge here, so I ask for your understanding. Relearning that and learning about this world is what I need your help with. I found some plants earlier that I need to know about since they have the potential to be usable in cooking, among other things. Ari, I want you to go with me to identify them if possible. If someone else could get some salt and vegetables that would be great, if not, that’s fine too.”

Tyr nodded in agreement.

“Okay,” Ari said. “Lead the way and I’ll identify what I can.”

The first plant I asked about was the one with the mint smell and purple twigs.

“This one is called Zisel and it is not poisonous. It’s also an ingredient for several potions. I don’t know which ones or how it’s used to make them though. The leaves and twigs are what are normally gathered for requests.”

I nodded and borrowed a knife to harvest some. Next, I asked about a plant with a peppery smell like the basil from my world.

Ari nodded again. “This one is fine. I don’t know anything about it though. However, that red plant is Adsila. It’s a good plant. I’m surprised to see it here though. It’s normally in hot areas. It’s one of few plants that can survive in volcanic areas. The leaves are great for stopping bleeding. I don’t know about the rest of it other than the berries burn your mouth when eaten. They aren’t poisonous though.”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

I grinned when I heard that. It didn’t currently have any berries, but the flower had a spicy scent that made me want to sneeze. I collected some of the small flowers and leaves. It never hurts to have hemostatic medicines. I had the feeling that in this world it was even more important than in my old world.

As we walked to get some watercress, in the distance I saw reeds that looked like the cattails I knew. I hadn’t noticed them before. My eyes lit up and I hurried to drag Ari over to them.

“What about these?” I asked excitedly.

“These cattails?” he asked. “They're not poisonous, but I’ve only heard of them being used for weaving mats or baskets.”

Hearing that, I couldn’t wait to wade into the water to dig a few up. I knew from the residual feelings of this body that this one was also tasty. I guessed the previous owner liked eating them. They were so much bigger than me, I had to have Ari help pull them out after I cleaned the mud off the roots.

“We should probably head back,” Ari said after pulling the fifth one out and putting it in his magic bag. My stomach was growling again, so I didn’t argue. He looked at my drenched self and shook his head with a wry smile. “Let me dry you off first. It wouldn’t be good if you got sick.”

I watched as white lights condensed on his hand until they created a small whirlwind. He then directed that whirlwind to spin around me. It was a little cold, but it quickly dried my clothes.

The others were just getting back when we arrived. They proudly brought out a large variety of vegetables and a few fruits. I was surprised at the amount. They also got some flour and eggs. Tyr told me the names of all of them. Some were the same as ones from my world, but most of them were completely new to me. It seemed I’d need to do some experimenting.

They gave me a bit of a weird look when I had Ari bring out what we had collected, especially the cattail and watercress. I had each of them help with cutting up the various ingredients. Tyr used magic to light the stove for me.

Since there was no oil, I used some fat from the meat to grease the pan before I added the onions, carrots, and cattail root. I stir-fried them until they were fragrant and slightly soft before adding the slices of meat and a few pieces of adsila flower and basila leaf.

While that was cooking I added some zisel leaf and twig to boiled water to steep for a tea. I also added some meat, onions, and cattail root to another pot. After cooking them a bit, I added water, strips of cattail leaves and stems, and an adsila flower to make a soup.

Just before the stir-fry was done I added some watercress and a sprinkle of salt and basila leaves. Since I didn’t have another pan, I had to use that one to make some savory pancakes after removing the stir-fry from it. It worked out alright. The pancakes didn’t take long to cook, so everything was still hot when it was ready. I laughed at them when I saw they were looking at the food like hungry wolves.

“Okay. You don’t have to wait anymore. It’s ready.”

As soon as I spoke, they attacked the food. I was surprised for a moment when Tyr handed me a bowl and plate full of food.

“Thank you,” I said quietly.

He just nodded at me as he dished his own up.

“You guys should have some of the tea, too,” I told them as I ate small bites alternated with sips of soup or tea.

“I’ve never had food quite like this,” Felix said between bites. “It’s delicious though. I never knew cattail could be eaten, let alone like this.”

The others made various noises of agreement.

“You can also wrap the stir-fry in the pancakes,” I told them. Then I proceeded to do just that.

They watched me carefully before copying it. Their eyes lit up in delight when they took a bite. I sighed a little thinking about different condiments that would make it better. I was still satisfied with my first actual meal in this world, though.

“Captain, we need to keep him with us to cook regardless of any other abilities he has,” Veran said to Tyr. “If you’re willing, that is.” The last part was directed to me.

In the short amount of time I’d been around them, I’d grown quite fond of them. After thinking for a moment, I nodded in agreement. Tyr smiled slightly and nodded as well. The others gave a great cheer then proceeded to demolish the rest of the food.

“Ah,” sighed Bali. “That was the best meal I’ve had since we started this trip.”

“Indeed,” Veran agreed while the others nodded.

“So, what are you investigating and how can I help you?” I asked, sipping on another cup of tea.

It was delicious. Just like slightly sweetened mint tea. I could also feel a cool energy flow through my body, healing and soothing it. Tyr, Felix, and Veran seemed to be particularly fond of the tea as well.

Seeing their expressions suddenly turn serious and a bit dark, I raised my eyebrow but waited patiently.

“We were tasked with investigating why magical beast attacks have suddenly increased in this area. We’ve been to three other villages and two larger towns already that are all experiencing the same thing, but haven’t found any clues. All we know is that it suddenly started about a year ago, but none of the towns or villages notified anyone of the problem until three months ago.”

For some reason, the priests and Lord Garrot popped into my mind. I wondered if their energy or actions would affect the magical beasts.

“I don’t know if it might even remotely have any connection, but I think there’s something wrong with the priest running the orphanage here.”

Seeing their confused looks, I explained the reaction I had to the priests and Lord Garrot, as well as the events that took place earlier in the day and what their energy looked like.

“I don’t know what that kind of energy means,” I said, “but if they are doing the same thing in those other towns I wouldn’t be surprised if the magic beasts reacted to it. I’m guessing those beasts are more sensitive to magical energy. So, if there was someone with energy that they felt was a danger, it makes sense to me that they would either run away or try to drive it out of their territory. If they couldn’t kill it. The more aggressive the beast, the more likely they would be to attack.”

“Captain, do you think that slaver cult has resurfaced and are in the Church?” Bali asked with a dark look. The temperature around him dropped several degrees.