A Taste Long Forgotten
“Ah, there you guys are…” I nonchalantly spoke, while waving over at the three girls who came from down the hall.
“A-ah, Hide…” Miss Pitiful was the first to speak as they reached me. For some reason, she had a tired look in her eyes while her expression was shaped into a cramped smile.
The two beside her also followed. Cielle had a somewhat bored expression on while Hina’s eyes slightly widened while surveying the scene.
“So, I take it everything worked out fine?” I asked.
While they had arrived somewhat later than expected, seeing their unharmed figures in front of me reassured me that nothing terrible had occurred.
Before any of them could answer, Cielle walked up, and looked down at me. Ah, before anything else, I’d like to mention I was currently sitting crosslegged besides the newly excavated carcass. From my lowered perspective, she pumped her fists up close to her chest before she gave me an energetic thumbs up while flashing a somewhat smug smile on her face.
“...” I blinked once at that small thumb wiggling in the air. “Hahaha, that’s good to hear, that’s good to hear,”
I smiled an uncharacteristically large grin, while my eyes squinted into happy crescents. I don’t really know why, but for some reason, I’m feeling a bit happy right now. Like a whole load of my shoulders just suddenly disappeared.
It probably had nothing to do with the corpse besides me.
While I laughed mostly to myself, I noticed the girls looking around the hall. Since I was preoccupied before they got here, I hadn’t realized that currently, my surroundings could be best described as a “sea of blood”.
Somehow or the other, during my confrontation with the boar, the floor had gotten soaked red with its scarlet remains. This was due to a combination of it bleeding out on the floor and the fact that each sword strike that bit through its flesh sprayed a haphazard amount of blood all over the place.
Even now, I only just realized that there was a red splotch adorning my cheek.
As I nonchalantly wiped at it while I softly smiled, Hina spoke up. “Hide… did you do all this?”
Her voice had a strange hollowness to it, but her prior dead eyes had sort of enlivened a bit. I don’t know what happened between that small interval we were seperated, but it seems like her mood has improved.
“Ah, this?” I laxly looked around the hall. “Yeah, well, I couldn’t really wait for you guys to return so after it died, I went ahead and processed the materials.”
At my words, the trio looked around the hall. For the first time, they noticed the pile of red meat that lay atop a blood soaked fur hide. They hadn’t noticed before since the carcass blocked its view, but now, upon seeing it for the first time, there eyes widened.
While they admired(?), I noticed one girl whose shoulders were slightly shuddering.
I turned to look at her just as she began speaking in a somewhat shaky voice, “H-ha...hahaha, that scary monster that chased me around the halls and almost killed me…. to think that Hide killed it by himself…”
She had a hollow laugh as she repeatedly looked from the carcass then over to me.
Ignoring Cher’s sudden change, Cielle just went right along and said, in a somewhat soft whisper, “As expected… Hide…. so strong…”
Not sure what to do, all I could do was awkwardly scratch my head. In the process, the fresh blood that stained my hands accidentally contaminated my hair, giving my black pelt a scarlet sheen.
“Well, enough about that-” I clapped my hands, drawing their attention back over to me, “ For now let’s change locations and then we’ll decide what to do next,”
At my behest we began to move. In order to move the meat, I got a table from one of the classrooms and broke of its legs. Then I flipped it on its side, so that the broken legs stuck up to the sky, before I tied a rope around two of the legs. I then transferred the meat over to the table, making sure that the fur hide remained underneath all the spoils.
Like this, it became possible to drag the meat around the school. In addition, since the table kept the meat off the ground, no blood trail would be produced when we moved around.
At first, I gave the job of dragging it to Cher, unfortunately, she lacked the necessary strength to do it by herself. After all, the total amount of meat probably weighed close to 200 pounds. I could have gotten more from the carcass, but unfortunately I ruined most of the meat with my careless and inexperienced butchering.
Anyways, since she couldn’t do it by herself, I helped out. After I instructed Hina to burn the remaining remains into ash, we set off. Together, with a rope in each of our hands, we dragged the meat, walking in stride with both Cielle and Hina, who stayed vigilant and acted as our look out.
Along the way, maybe due to the good news, but Cher attempted to start a conversation. In truth, the fact that she had such energy, even though she was currently heaving and panting as if her life depended on it, impressed even me. Nonetheless, despite her fatigue, she continued talking.
“A-anyways...hah…” She began while pulling on the taut rope, “I-I was surprised… hah…. to find out that Hina could use m-magic… hah… like that.”
Hina gave a slight nod of acknowledgement to the compliment. While her eyes weren’t as hazy or brooding as before, she was still seemingly lost in thought. Although she did still manage to pay attention to her surroundings.
“How did you learn it? … hah… your skill I mean,” Cher questioned.
After a brief lapse of silence, Hina put her index finger to her chin, before she tilted her head and said, “Ah… I guess, if I had to say, it was because of Hide then,”
“H-Hide?” Cher’s eyes widened slightly as she glanced over in my direction. In response, I only shrugged while I continued pulling on the rope.
“R-really….” She managed, “T-then how about you, mistress?” This time, she turned towards Cielle. “You have that weird healing skill, don’t you? How did you learn it?”
Cher had experience Cielle’s own power first hand back when we were setting up the traps. The power to both heal and inflict pain, [Blue Gemini].
From her location up ahead of us, Cielle turned around and stared at Cher. At first, she held that gaze before quickly turning to me. After a brief second of looking, she turned back around to face the front before replying with a, “...It was Hide… too…”
“Hide again?!” She yelled in shock. Her eyes widened like saucers as she turned to me once more. “W-what are you… a god?!” She managed, while a strange look in her eyes persisted.
Seeing this, I sighed helplessly. “It’s not like that… you’re misunderstanding…”
For a while that strange look which made me uncomfortable persisted, before, as if a spark connected in her head, her eyes widened and her mouth formed an ‘O’ shape. “Ah, could it be… If I stick around Hide, he’ll grant me a skill too?!”
“W-wait, that’s not exactly how-”
Before I could protest any further, Cher pumped herself up as she turned to me.
Her eyes sparkled as she stared with earnest emotion. This time, that expression of hers changed into one as if they were looking at a toy store. Like I held within me some strange new toy for her to play with.
I sighed tiredly… “That’s not-you know what? Nevermind, believe what you want to believe…”
I turned back around to face the front, with a weary expression on my face.
“Yes sir, yes!” Cher spouted. “I’ll earnestly wait until I get my own skill!”
While having to deal with Miss Pitiful’s sparkly eyes and obnoxious expression, we continued moving forward, as the last rays of the afternoon passed and moonlight began seeping through the night sky.
****
We didn’t go back to the base. Instead, we arrived at a half decimated culinary classroom. This particular room, was decked in second hand kitchen appliances, and usually hosted classes for the seniors before the apocalypse.
Cielle flicked on the nearby light switch, but unfortunately, the room stayed dark. By this point in the night, we could only rely on the faint moonlight that seeped through the windows to guard our way through.
Well, that is until Hina activated her fire magic, and produced a small flickering flame that produced no smoke and illuminated the dim room to a considerable extent.
As we lugged the meat with us through the door, Cher’s legs wobbled as they gave out on her and she stumbled to the floor.
While, heavily panting, beads of sweat trickled down her pale face as she stared listlessly at the ceiling above. “W-w-why… did we… hah...hah… h-have to go… hah… all the way… over here….” Out of breath and with her stamina bar reaching dangerously low levels from lugging around close to 200 pounds, she managed to push the question out using every bit of effort left in her shivering body.
I somewhat ignored her, while I casually surveyed the room.
-As expected, they took all the food… the knives are gone too…
I checked through the cabinets while I replied, “Isn’t it obvious?”
“O-obvious?… hah… hah…”
“Don’t you want to eat food?”
“W-well, yeah…” Cher began steadily regaining her breath. She took a large gulp of air before asking, “But can’t we just do that back at the base? Having to go all the way here… hah…. at the opposite end of the building…”
Hearing her complaints, I chuckled softly, while I searched through the room, opening cabinets and kitchen drawers as I went.
“You don’t want to eat the meat raw, now do you?”
“N-no…”
“Then it’s obvious that we need a place to cook.”
“... But can’t we just do that back at the base?”
I shook my head once and replied,“The culinary classroom is a much better location than our base. This place has a ventilation system, so smoke won’t congregate the halls, but more importantly- we won’t attract anything… troublesome to our home.”
I spoke as I continued rifling through the room. Just, as Cher was about to interject, I suddenly jumped to my feet “-Ah, Cielle, bring me that frying pan!” I called out to Cielle, who had been imitating me this whole time. I pointed directly at the frying pan that wound its way in her arms.
“A-attract you say…” Cher spoke with dubious eyes just as I examined the pan.
“Well, yeah, the smell might attract other survivors or monsters. And if it does, its best to misdirect them away from our base.” I stated simply while nonchalantly swung the pan. “Even now, all the way here, the risk still exists…”
“...Isn’t Hide a bit too cautious? It’s like you're worried about everything…” Cher pointed out, finally getting into an upright position as she recovered her breath.
I, in turn, scoffed at her words. “Nonsense, in this world, a moment’s slip up could mean death.”
“D-death…” She shuddered at the mere utterance of the word.
“Yes, yes, that’s right, death.” I elaborated. “Take heed, those corpses out there could be you the very next day...”
Hearing this, Cher couldn’t help but gulp nervously as she shuddered feverently.
I continued searching through the room, having finally dealt with Cher’s incessant questioning. Unfortunately, the only thing I could find was a container filled with pepper, not really the most extravagant of spices.
With all the ingredients gathered we set about to cooking. Hina, uncharacteristically volunteered to be the cook. Seeing as how I wasn’t a very spectacular cook in my own right, and how the rest of the girls weren’t any better, we allowed Hina to take the reign.
She ordered me to cut up the meat into thin slices while she created a small flame with her magic. Using [Pyrokinesis] she directed the flame over onto the stove. While the gas did not work, she simply allowed her self created flame to heat up the iron on the stove before placing the frying pan over it.
Like that, she began pan cooking the slices of meat to the best of her abilities. I didn’t really know what she was doing. Every now and then, she’d splash some water onto the pan, flip the slabs of meat, and sprinkle some pepper on it. It was series of actions that looked both natural and well executed.
The single bead of sweat that trickled down her forehead as she concentrated starkly on the task at hand was quite a sight to see. Halfway through, she slightly widened her eyes as her eyebrows arched upwards. Although it was clear something had happened, she didn’t elaborate any further.
As for me, I guessed that it had something to do with this world’s system interface. Maybe she had received a new skill… or maybe a title… I could only begin to speculate.
Not long after, the aroma of cooked meat- a scent I haven’t had the pleasure of smelling in a long time- filled the room just as she produced a towering plate of finely cooked slices of boar.
The slabs of cooked meat, somewhat resembled pork, but gave off a beef-like smell. Every now and then trickles of cooked fat oozed out from their pores as a faint sizzling could be heard, signifying its “fresh-of-the-grill” quality.
All four of us deftly stared at the plate with swirling eyes. We gulped in anticipation as we attempted to control our dripping saliva.
Well, although we were eager at the prospect of eating fresh food, I wasn’t idiotic enough to instantly munch down on something potentially dangerous. While the boar did indeed look very much like a pig, and while the fragrant aroma that Hina’s cooking did indeed smell very much like beef, the source of the meat was still labeled as a “monster” by the system. And whether or not monster meat was actually eatable was still up for questioning, and unless one of us took one for the team and test it before hand, then all we could do was stand here idly and twiddle our thumbs.
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On a whim, I used [identify] on the food. Unfortunately, only rows upon rows of question marks greeted me. This strange occurrence put me at a loss, as I helplessly stared, unsure what to do.
As if she understood my intentions, Cher was the first to take a step forward. In her eyes, I could see past memories of regret and fear swirling within her. The idea of starving again… was what probably drived her. An experience she would honestly rather not have to go through again, if this potential food source turned out to be a bust…
… Even I’d be heartbroken. If such an ending were to result then I can only think that recklessly speed running the rest of this dungeon was the only other option left before we all collapsed from starvation.
“I-I’ll test it!” She said, a heavy hint of nervousness and fear interlaced in her words. She, as well as anyone, knew how potentially dangerous monster meat consumption was, after all, she also bore witness to that tragic event involving a couple of idiots and a dead slime. She took another step forward, and ripped a piece of the finely cut slabs of meat using a fork, before she put it up to her slightly parted lips.
The meat oozed with fat, while her lips wettened with saliva, creating for a fairly mesmerising comparison.
She hesitated for a moment. I don’t really know what she was waiting for, but her nose wriggled slightly as she shot each of us a glance. Whether she was expecting any of us to stop her or not… I don’t know. Just that, none of us were willing. Be it death through food poisoning or death through starvation, we would all die if this meat ended up being indigestible for the regular person.
She trepidly tasted the food, chewing it thoroughly, while rolling it around her mouth. We all watched deftly, waiting, hoping. Eventually, we heard a faint gulping sound, as Cher parted her lips in satisfaction.
“....”
“....”
“....”
We all stared at her. Cher’s still half closed eyes showed no notice of us. After a while, Hina was the first to speak up, “How is it?”
“Um… it tastes sort of like pork… or maybe beef?” She spoke while listlessly staring at the plate of food, exposing her hunger for more.
“No, that’s not what I mean…” Hina tiredly replied. “Do you feel… anything strange?”
Cher tilted her expression to the side. After a moment of consideration she shook her head.
“Did a status panel pop up?” I posed a question as well. “Maybe you got a new skill, or a title?”
“Nope, nothing really happened…” She blankly replied.
“I see…” I nodded. I thought some more before saying, “Then, have you checked your status window? Do you have any abnormal status effects in play?”
“Ah, not yet… wait- let me check…” As she spoke, she squinted her eyes slightly. From the motion of her scanning irises, it was clear that she was reading through her panel.
I also used [identify] on Cher. While my skill level was high enough to check for a few abnormal status effects, it did not register everything. Currently, it was like [identify] gave me only a tiny piece of the complete puzzle.
After a moment passed, Cher once again perked up. She smiled blithfully. “Nope! Nothing, I’m completely fine- rather, can I have some more?”
Hearing that, I exhaled a breath I did not even realize I was keeping. There was a good reason too. In this world, the status panel was integral. While it had many uses, one of its most important features was the ability to highlight a person’s abnormal status effects. It did what a trip to the doctor’s office did instantaneously.
Seeing her careless expression, most likely produced by the first taste of cooked meat since forever, the rest of us relaxed. Cielle, Hina and I all exchanged a brief glance.
“Then…” Hina began.
“With this, it should be…” I also stated, trailing my words off as I glanced back over the slices of meat.
Cielle, nodded vigorously, her eyes swirling with little caricatures of cooked steak. By this point, she made no attempt to hide the saliva that dripped down her chin.
With one final push from the first guinea pig, “Let’s Eat!”, the rest of us began devouring our first taste of cooked meat ever since the start of the countdown.
Like Cher said, the food tasted a fair bit like pork and beef. Rather, it was sort of a combination of the two different animals. While, I could tell that it was cooked rather hastily, my stomach was more than just satisfied. In fact, in a moment of blithe, I haphazardly used [Sensory-Remapping +] to augment my sense of taste, bringing this already joyous experience into new heights.
Comparatively, the one who showed the most enthusiasm was Cielle. While I already knew she was quite the ravenous eater, her current display was simply something else. She ate almost double the amount I had. Her puffed up cheeks and constantly moving mouth resembled a chipmunk, giving of a sort of soothing atmosphere.
While Cielle was indeed eating like there was no tomorrow, there was one person who rivaled her in both enthusiasm and amount. Cher, maybe due to her prior experience with starvation, ate as if her stomach was a black hole. Although, when compared with the way Cielle ate- with her slobbering expression and with all the little pieces of meat stuck to her cheeks… Miss Pitiful looked pretty pitiful.
Hina, halfway through our meal, had began cooking once more. Due to the endless pits known as Cielle and Cher, Hina frantically cooked, with a somewhat happy expression on her face. Occasionally, she’d stop every now and then to eat her own share as well.
All in all, with the combination of a fresh shower and a hot meal, today shaped up to be a good day that filled all of us with renewed hope and vigor.
***
About two hours later, we were walking back in the darkness towards our newly formed base. Although travel through the night was considerably dangerous, the risk of staying at the culinary room was too great. For one, the ventilation system which I had hoped would filter out all the smoke and smell, was pathetically broken. It took quite a while to notice, but the permeating smell of freshly cooked meat floated freely throughout the room and into the adjacent halls.
Frankly speaking, the eastern building could be best considered “monster territory”. Populated by dozens- if not hundreds of monsters, it wouldn’t be a surprise to find the culinary room ransacked in the morning.
Like that, we walked quietly, extra vigilant of the change the darkness brought to our surroundings. Cielle and I had experienced first hand the “exclusive” monsters that came out at night, and we knew full well of their danger.
The table which Cher and I dragged produced a rough scraping sound, although not as bad as when we first started. Prior to our departure, We wrapped the uncooked meat with several layers of plastic film and placed the remainder in a collection of ziploc bags which we found in the culinary room. Since all of us we’re unsure how to properly preserve meat, we simply hoped for the best.
Before we left, Hina also cooked a fair amount of the meat, as a sort of counter measure against the meat from spoiling. Currently, we filled two pots full of pan cooked pork-beef. She would have cooked some more had I not stopped her. I mostly worried she’d deplete the rest of her mana in the process.
As we silently walked, I pondered over what to do. In truth, while there was a book about curing meat back at the base, whether or not I could successfully replicate it was still up for grabs. The necessary tools might not be available or I might just lack the skill at this particular activity... On top of that, despite our earlier joy about the recent solution to the hunger problem, we still had many issues.
Mainly, two important issues which the current me had trouble handling. One was preservation. Finding a way to preserve the meat was important, otherwise, the majority of our spoils would rot even before a day passes thanks to the summer heat. The other, was cooking. Like I told Cher, carelessly cooking the food could very much attract monsters as well as survivors. The smell would permeate and bring those with mixed feelings of hunger, and wrath towards our door steps.
That was something I needed to avoid.
Of course, there was actually a simple solution to this problem. One I came to realize a while ago, but had tried desperately to ignore. And that was- the cafeteria.
They had all the necessities we currently needed. A walk-in freezer to preserve the meat, as well as a reasonable place to cook. Earlier, when I interrogated Cher, she had confirmed that the cafeteria did indeed still have electricity. Somehow or another, they had managed to redirect the rest of the school’s power supply over towards the cafeteria. This information was later confirmed by the president whom we recently spoke too. Apparently, someone from the school faculty was responsible for it.
While the merit of properly preserved and properly cooked meat was enticing, honestly, there was one additional factor- a factor that may prove more beneficial for us in the end. That was- misdirection. After this precedent, the smell of cooked meat is impossible to hide. When rumor starts spreading that someone managed to acquire food, then there’s no question that Satou will immediately take action.
Of course, we could always eat the meat raw in order to avoid the smell, but that was an unreasonable leap in logic. Whether we liked it or not, Satou will definitely involve himself.
If that were to happen, it would be better if he developed the misunderstanding that the Cafeteria group was the one responsible for the food, and not me. That way, the two groups can duke it out to their hearts content while leaving me out of all that troublesome stuff.
Of course, I’d need a middleman in order to accomplish that. In order to safely supply them the food, and receive the cooked food in return, without being found out. Let’s see… someone like the President would be good. While I’d dislike it if more people came to rely on me, if I somehow managed to put the brunt of that responsibility over towards the president, while at the same tying securing a sort of favor from him…
The weak and unreliable ones would cling to the President, while the ones with reasonable war potential (i.a. the scouting group) would be under my debt.
The benefits were piling themselves on top of one another the more I thought about it.
After all, it wouldn’t be very favorable for me if the cafeteria group starved to death. After all, they both acted as an intermediary for Satou’s wrath as well as a potential fighting force for the boss battle, no matter how weak they may seem. Having them die off now would just plummet my own future fighting potential.
Despite all this, there was still one problem… Hina.
Hina was integral into our monster hunting method. Her ability was what allowed us to separate the boar from its herd in the first place. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say her presence alone could secure a steady food supply.
Currently that type of important girl had a quiet, downtrodden expression on her face. I don’t know whether she wanted to return to the president or not, but… that possibility… I can’t let that happen. It wasn’t a conclusion based on intimacy, but rather, necessity. We needed Hina. Or to be more blunt, we needed her ability.
Whether or not she’d reject my proposal, or whether she’d use my proposal as an opportunity to run back to the President… that was a risk I was afraid to take.
As I pondered all this, lost in my own thoughts, from up ahead of me, I heard a quiet voice call out.
“Hide,” It was Hina. She glanced over her shoulder with one eye while holding a delicate expression on her face. An indescribable look which I could only tilt my head at.
“Yeah?” I replied nonchalantly, masking my earlier thoughts and concerns to the best of my ability.
“Let’s…” She hesitated for a moment, before resuming once more, “Let’s give some of the meat to the Cafeteria.”
“...” I solemnly stared at her. For a while now, Hina had been lost in thought. Whether her current proposal was one with intentions which matched my own, or whether driven by personal feeling… it was difficult to tell.
That indecipherable, delicate look on her face left me boggled.
In the end, after a few seconds of silence, and with me repeatedly weighing the pros and cons, I replied back. “Yeah, okay. Let’s head out the first thing, tomorrow.”
At the behest of my reply, Hina nodded curtly. She murmured a quiet thanks before she turned back around and continued walking down the night trodden hall.
****
Author's Note: If you liked this chapter, or this story in general, please rate or review. I appreciate the feedback.
Also I added in a poll this chapter, since it's been a while, and I'm bored.