The market was glorious, and the scents and smells immediately made me determined to buy everything for the ship’s galley. I could smell spices and ingredients that I’d never even known existed!

I nudged Soriya lightly. “So, are we legally required to invent curry here?” I asked her quietly. “Now that all the exotic spices are for sale?”

Soriya snorted. “First, that’s anime, not a console game. Second…” She spoke louder to Daniyel. “Daniyel sweetie, have you tried jungle curry?”

Daniyel turned back and raised his eyebrows. “No. I much prefer the type from my homeland. It has been a very long time since I have tasted proper Salazar curry.

I twitched, and then blushed furiously.

Curry exists? I didn’t know it exists! I… am not even really sure how to… a light went on in my head and I said “Do you get the spices for your curry from Nanwe?”

Daniyel shrugged. “I do not know. I am a warrior, not a chef.”

Soriya shook her head in exasperation. “Do you even know how to make curry?! Boys don’t cook!”

I blinked at her and looked offended. “I cook!”

“You cook now. With all the help from before you.”

I glared at her. “I cooked then too!”

Soriya looked surprised. “Something other than boiled rice? Truly? Did you not have a wife?”

I spun to look at her, my mouth open in shock. “Soriya! I don’t need to have a maid to know how to cook! Secondly, I would never treat my partner like that!” I frowned, an idea slowly coming to me. “Is this… is that just… how things were for you?”

Soriya flinched, and her eyes grew dark. My mouth shaped into an ‘o’ of sudden understanding, and memories of our childhood together shifted into a suddenly new light.

She never cooked. Not for others, not once. She would eat my cooking, or come eat at Mother’s and happily accepted food as payment for her witchy services… but she never cooked for anyone else.

I leaned over and gave her a sudden squeezing hug. “Oh Soriya. I’m so sorry. But it’s ok. Nobody is asking you to cook for anyone anymore. You tell me if you see any spices that look right…” I sighed. “I’ve never made a curry. Not from scratch. I can’t make the spice base.”

“You don’t know how to make a roux?” She asked curiously. “But it’s easy!”

I raised an eyebrow and then said “With mysterious witchy powers, I’m sure. For me? No.”

Soriya’s dark mood blew away in the ripe sea jungle air and she smiled at me. “I can’t believe I’m going to teach the town cook an actual recipe.”

I glared at her, crossing my arms and tapping my foot. “Now who’s using anime tropes?!”

Soriya smiled at me with a teasing grin. “I never said I didn’t watch. Korea has lots of its own art. Though ours are a lot more of ‘corrupt power structures burn it all down’ sort.”

“Isn’t that what we’re doing?” I asked hesitantly.

“Well… not really? The imperial family isn’t corrupt, just distanced from reality. The villain was a shadow of yourself that’s had… well, I have theories, but the idea is something went wrong with the System. And the secondary villain is just a general who sees enemies under every bush, and so created them to prove himself right. That’s… not really anything about mega capitalist power structures that oppress anyone that might threaten them.”

I tugged on my braid thoughtfully. “They do that anyway, you know.”

Soriya laughed. “Well of course I know! It’s what power structures do!”

I sighed. “They shouldn’t though.”

Soriya shook her head. “Honestly, it’s why the whole System thing was doomed from the start. I bet they thought ‘We’ll just give the power to everyone through a perfect system that distributes power impartially.’ They probably thought it was like the world’s biggest library.”

I blinked at her and stopped walking. “Soriya, how did you figure all this out?!”

Soriya looked back at me in surprise. “Isn’t it obvious?”

“No!” I said emphatically.

She paused, then said slowly “Well… there’s a lot, but I guess so I don’t give a full Symposium lecture, how about I say that the first clue was how skills are gained by class, but you can still learn skills the normal way. If you think about it, I’m pretty sure you’ll see how it all follows from that, and what we’ve learned already.”

I stared at Soriya, suddenly feeling that I’d never known her at all. This was… this was brilliant.

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Just how smart is she?!

I couldn’t even imagine the second step, and she was talking about a first step that I hadn’t even realized, even thought it was sitting right there in front of me. I did know how to cast magical spells the ‘hard’ way. But it was so much easier to use the {Heal} skill that I never even considered working a ritual to do it.

I only ever work a ritual when I need something that the normal Skills don’t do. And then the grooves in reality… it’s just so much easier to think in certain ways, to behave…. I snorted suddenly, then giggled. “And here I am wanting to break it all… because I don’t want to die.”

“Best way to break a System, be on a cause for justice that the System itself thinks needs to succeed.” Soriya smiled. “Now come on, I want to see what kind of spices an exotic fantasy jungle makes.” She hurried to catch up with the others, and I was left to trail along behind her in bemused silence.

The market smelled like heaven. If heaven was a spice rack. Which, to be fair, it kind of was for me. I liked to cook, even before I’d merged with this otherself of me.

Come to think of it, it was yet more proof that Soriya was on the right track. I’d known how to cook, I had cooked quite proficiently, but it was only when I started to focus on it to aid others that the System had given me the {Gourmet} class.

But regardless of that, Soriya and I went around to the various stalls, dragging the others with us. Soriya made Daniyel sniff the various spices, trying to figure out which of the various spices might go into a ‘proper’ Salazar curry. Eshaan followed me around in bemusement as I sniffed at various fruits, spices and half familiar things. I asked Camaxtli and Lakshmi for help as well, but Camaxtli only told me the scientific names, the combinations of esters and aromatics, and Lakshmi shrugged helplessly and confessed that she’d just had her cooks prepare food for her. That, or eat the simple provisions that airship troopers ate, or eat at a local restaurant. She’d never considered learning how to cook for herself.

I found myself more than slightly offended to learn this. Cooking was… it was fun, it was how you blended raw ingredients into something more, it was…

Well it was how you showed affection to others when you couldn’t get the words out, darn it! I thought defiantly.

With several strange jungle fruits and spices in hand, I felt a slight nudge of inspiration from the System as well as my own thoughts on what would be good, and we set off to acquire lodgings where I could perform my own brand of witchcraft. It might not be much in the way of a spell at least not like Soriya’s witcheries, but I used a cauldron, sometimes, so I decided that it counted.

My thoughts on possible uses of leftover ice fruit were interrupted by an unfamiliar voice accosting us.

“You! You are captain Lakshmi the Red?” it said.

I looked up to see a slender dark green haired man in brightly patterned Nanwe garb.

Lakshmi stopped and stared at him frankly, her hands on her hips. “I am.” She responded.

The man smiled broadly, and gave her an extraordinarily deep bow. “I am Anyim, mistress Lakshmi, and tales of your interests in the jungle have reached my ears! I wish to offer my services to you as a humble guide, to the deeper jungle! And the city, while you remain here, of course!”

Lakshmi turned to Soriya and then me, raising her eyebrow. I gave her a sheepish shrug, while Soriya threw her head back and laughed, then nodded vigorously.

I spotted the slightest flicker of a frown on Anyim’s face before it vanished, replaced by his broad white smile.

I really wasn’t sure if Soriya’s approval meant she was confident he was a jungle cult plant, or wasn’t. But either way… a guide could be useful.

Lakshmi turned back to Anyim and nodded. “Very well. What are your rates?”

His smile grew even wider. “A mere-“ He hesitated a fraction of a second, then continued “-70 zeni a day!”

Eshaan spoke up. “That’s a lot for a guide!” he protested.

“Ah, but think how much you will be saving with my services?! Plus, it is not just a guide to a single city, but the whole of the Nanwe jungle you are engaging!” Anyim’s enthusiasm was clearly unfeigned.

Lakshmi looked back at Eshaan with a quelling gaze, then returned to Anyim. “We will be glad to engage your services.” She dug into her longcoat and then counted out 10 zeni coins. The gleam in Anyim’s eyes was definitely unfeigned, though whether it was in anticipation of putting us onto a sacrificial altar, or fleecing rich tourists, I wasn’t sure.

“Your first task-“ Lakshmi continued, once the money was in Anyim’s hands “Is to find us a reputable inn. One that’s not too expensive, and not too cheap and possibly where our cook can prepare a meal.” She gestured back at me.

I jerked, and grabbed at Eshaan’s elbow as he opened his mouth to defend me. He looked at me in startled confusion as Anyim continued. I shook my head in another quelling gesture.

“You travel with a personal chef!” Anyim said with slight surprise. “Of course, of course, I should have known!” He said. “Anyim will guide you well, fear not! I have lived in this city all my life, yes, I know her like the back of my hand!”

He lead us through the twisting maze of the streets, the shouts and sounds of city life never far from our ears. Anyim didn’t lead us anywhere suspicious, at least not that I knew of, but the jungle was an ever present green shadow around us, and I could almost hear jungle drums. What I could hear was the sounds of a busy city, and seaport, and the smell and heat of a jungle city. I was exceedingly glad when Anyim finally lead us to a low looking tavern, with the brightly colored geometric patterns advertising what looked like… air conditioning?

“Is that an ice crystal?” Soriya asked curiously.

“Oh yes! A great relief, especially to those from the northern climates!” Anyim chuckled. “To us as well, though we are more used to it! Come, come, let us enjoy the chill together!” He entered the inn, and we trailed behind.

Sure enough, there was a giant ice crystal prominently placed in the center of the room, with magical runes sending gusts of chilled air in all directions. It was magnificent, and I immediately had to quash the urge to lay down on top of it, spread eagled, to let my body cool.

Anyim chuckled indulgently as we all approached the crystal. All except Daniyel I noticed, who kept a wary eye around.

Perhaps desert heat was similar to jungle heat? I thought idly, before spotting a giant bead of perspiration dripping down the side of his face. No, he’s just not as eager to throw away our defenses. I realized.

After soaking in the chill from the air conditioner ice crystal, we all headed to the desk, to check in. Anyim took his leave, promising to meet us bright and early tomorrow. Meanwhile, I got permission to use their kitchen. Which was marvelous. The equipment compared to what I had to work with on the Sparrowhawk or even back at home was glorious!

I immediately set about making an enormous meal, using all the ingredients that I’d managed to pick up at the market. Giant spider legs, it turns out, cook up a lot like crab, and if you sauté them in the right spices, you can also produce an anti-venom effect.

I was tempted… just a little… to hold off what I’d cooked. But that just seemed unnecessarily mean. The look on their faces when they stared at the ‘crab’ hotpot and rice was worth it though.