Volume 2 - CH 129

That night. A grand meal was served in the guise of a welcoming party.

The place was still the workroom where Raiki used to work.

Since it was nighttime, several lanterns were placed to illuminate the entire building.

I was amazed at the fact that even though it was a simple structure with only a few small lights flickering inside, they were able to illuminate this room with only a few lanterns.

The light of the azure color leaking out from the lanterns was gentle and made me feel joyful just by being there.

I was a little envious to think that people in the past had this kind of pleasure on a daily basis.

And now, a large table was laid out in front of me.

There were many foods from the mountains and the sea, as well as other foods produced in this village, and a savory aroma wafting from the top of the table.

Meat and wild vegetables harvested from the mountains.

Although the meat is not seasoned with anything, the juices overflowing from the meat are glistening and you can see the natural deliciousness of the meat with your eyes.

It is hard to imagine meat that was simply grilled looking this good.

Next to the meat was a pinch of salt.

I guess they wanted us to eat it with it.

I think it is delicious enough without the salt, but there are other ways to enjoy it.

I could not help but use it.

Wild vegetables are prepared in tempura.

Although these ingredients do not resemble anything we have seen in Japan, we can eat them without worrying about anything because they are cooked in tempura.

Mushrooms that look like shiitake mushrooms.

A leaf that resembles a perilla.

Could this be lotus root?

But the holes are all square. Other varieties of tempura were clamoring on the plate.

Fresh fish from the river.

There is no ocean near here.

But there is a river.

The fish dishes on the table are sashimi.

The meat was so white and transparent that I wondered whether it was really sashimi or not.

I thought it might just be thin, but when I looked at it, I found it to be very thick.

It was probably as thick as that used for tuna sushi.

I don’t know what kind of fish it is, but I can tell that it is a very high quality fish.

Next to the plate is a small dish, which contains a black liquid and a green paste.

Me and Reizen know what this is.

If you are Japanese, you must have seen it at least once.

It is soy sauce and wasabi.

I was sure that there was soy sauce and wasabi in this village.

But I had almost given up eating them before, because I thought they would not taste good anyway. (as a snake)

But now I’m a human being.

I can taste and smell it.

It would be a waste if I did not eat it.

Crops grown in the village.

It is rice. That’s right. It is rice.

Right now, there is a bowl of rice in front of me, each grain glistening in the gentle light of the lantern.

And there is another bowl next to it.

Inside it was a bowl of warm soup with a rather muddy color.

This is another typical Japanese meal. Miso soup. I can tell just by the smell.

I have almost no memory of my previous life, but I wonder how many times I have smelled the same smell when I was alive.

I seem to recall miso soup with various ingredients on the dining table.

“Whoaaa …!”

Reizen is staring at the food now in front of him with a sparkle in his eye.

He is probably tempted to pick up his chopsticks and scramble them into his mouth right away, but he is not so foolish as to ignore the others and eat.

He waits, sitting on his seat, with his back straight.

“Wooow …!”

Of course I’m in the same situation as Reiazen.

This is the Japanese food that I have not been able to eat until now.

It is right in front of me now.

I want to pick up my chopsticks immediately.

Probably, I have a very loose expression on my face right now.

I don’t think it’s as loose as Reizen’s.

Raiki and Shimu seemed to be greatly pleased with our reactions.

They nodded to each other and Shimu took his seat.

The others had already taken their seats, and were all sitting with their posture straightened, waiting for Raiki to say something.

Alena, however, was not sitting as neatly as she should have, perhaps because it was her first time to sit on the floor.

She sometimes changes her position, but in the end, she seems to have settled on the sitting posture of a girl.

I guess that’s enough for her to get used to it.

After confirming that everyone had taken their seats, Raiki coughed once and then began to speak.

“Before Ouren-sama, I’m not sure if it’s a good idea for me to have a formal speech, but …… Ouren-sama doesn’t seem to want to do that. In that case, I’ll take it.”

Raiki picked up a cup from a corner of the table and held it up in front of him.

Seeing that the others did the same, me, Reizen and Alena raised the cup in front of us in the same way.

However, it seemed to be a little difficult for Alena to raise the cup with only one hand, so she raised it with both hands.

By the way, Alena is holding a cup, but it contains only water, so please be assured.

“Cheers”

After saying this, Raiki gulps down the sake in one gulp.

Everyone else downed their sake in the same manner.

I heard that Oni’s sake is strong, so I was a little worried, but I guess there is no choice but not to drink it here.

So I slowly drank the sake into my mouth.

It was a little spicy.

I’m not sure if “spicy” is the right word, but the moment I put the sake in my mouth, I felt a sharp stinging sensation.

The strong aroma that pierced the back of my nose surprised me, but it was only for a moment and quickly faded away.

After taking a little bit into my mouth, I swallowed it with a gulp.

The stimulation in the mouth does not reach the throat, but falls instantly to my stomach.

I gulp it down and breathe a sigh of relief, and then I notice another strong aroma drifting out of the mouth.

It has a very strong aroma. The taste is addictive, but very easy to drink.

“……This is delicious.”

These words spontaneously spilled out of my mouth as I looked at the empty cup.

I was a little surprised, too, because the words were uttered completely unconsciously, and my voice sounded so loud in this quiet space.

Immediately after that, Raiki started laughing louder than he had ever laughed before.

Tenda and Uchikage joined him.

And even Shimu and the Princess began to laugh.

Reizen and Alena seemed a little surprised to see this, but I had seen this scene once before, so I wasn’t too surprised.

In return, I started to laugh too.

“Fuahahaha　Mmmmh! I haven’t made a toast in a long time!”

“Fufufu. Raiki-sama, you have a certain dignity about you, sir.”

“Ueehh? What is it? Explain it so that me can understand it!”

“The explanation will come later. Let’s eat before the food gets cold!”

“Let’s do that!”

As if on cue, each person took a bowl of their choice and brought the food to their mouths.

Reizen seemed to be a little confused, but he couldn’t resist the urge to eat.

He immediately picked up the miso soup and slurp it.

I did the same and took a bowl of miso soup in my hand and put it in my mouth.

The nostalgic taste filled my mouth.

There seemed to be tofu and green onions in it, so I put them in my mouth and chewed them.

It was a little salty, perhaps because there was a little too much miso in it.

However, it had been a while since I had eaten a dish with miso.

The taste was strong, but very tasty.

The next thing I got my hands on was sashimi.

I put a little wasabi on top of the sashimi, put a little soy sauce on it, and brought it into my mouth with the rice.

The sashimi had the texture of salmon.

The mix of soy sauce and wasabi transforms it into a flavor that goes very well with the rice.

Sashimi and rice are not so tasty when eaten together.

It is only when the soy sauce and wasabi are mixed together that it becomes a taste that can be eaten with rice. (Fui : his personal opinion I think, I tried both way and I’m fine with it)

The rice was very soft, and I was even impressed by its taste.

I think I never had rice taste this good before.

From then on, I put the food in my mouth as if I was scooping it.

It might have been a little messy, but I couldn’t be bothered with that.

I wanted to enjoy the taste of my old homeland as much as I could.

“It’s delicious! It’s really delicious, Ouren-aniki!”

“Yea! Ha-ha-ha-ha! Indeed!”

This is a conversation that only me and Reizen can understand.

We are from the same place. We must be in the same boat.

Tonight, Reizen and I were very thankful to have the same meal as in our previous life.

I don’t know if there is a God in this world or not, but I still want to put my hands together for this gracious gift today.

Thank you, God. 

Then we enjoyed our meal, while chatting with each other.