The Death Mage that doesn't want a fourth time

70 The peculiar, sharp-tongued, flying beast (7 years old)

As a result of saving Ivan's life, having given up on not attracting attention, Vandalieu was warmly welcomed back at the village's only store, the jack-of-all-trades store.

"You saved my life, kid," said Ivan. "A little longer and I would've died a stupid death and not been able to show my second child my face. Now then, go ahead and eat, it's my treat!"

"Don't go acting so high and mighty like treating him a meal is a big deal!" said his wife.

"Not at all. I was just starting to feel hungry," Vandalieu told them as he ate. He was eating rice porridge.

It was something that had been made with long-grained rice similar to the Indica rice of Earth, edible plants, possibly for removing the peculiar smell of the rice, beans to increase the volume of the meal, and a little salt.

It really wasn't a big deal. The taste came from the ingredients... in fact, there was no taste other than the taste of the ingredients.

However, it was currently summer, the time of year just before rice would be harvested. That was probably why they could only offer this much. This Seventh Cultivation Village was blessed for even being able to make rice porridge.

If I add the dried meat and dried fish in my luggage to this porridge, it would probably increase the salty flavor and taste quite good, Vandalieu thought, but he continued eating the rice porridge without putting this idea into practice.

The concept of 'smoked food' apparently didn't exist in this world, so smoked dried meat and dried fish would become products of Talosheim in the future. Thus, he had to keep them secret.

Incidentally, the jack-of-all-trades store's bar space had no menu. The alcohol was unrefined sake that the shopkeeper had made himself (using millet as a base), while drinking snacks were roasted or cooked beans and, occasionally, vegetables.

And the only meals available were what the storekeeper's family was eating. This was only natural, as the family made their food in large quantities and served it to their patrons.

Vandalieu had wondered whether this really worked for business, but looking at it another way, the business wouldn't work in this village unless done this way.

Each household was capable of making its own sake, and their ability to cook wasn't any different from the couple who ran the jack-of-all-trades store. Thus, the only guests who would pay money to eat and drink here were the soldiers, merchants and their escorts who passed through here as they took the highway to the slave-run mine, as well as Kasim's party.

If they set up a system to be able to cook multiple different dishes, their costs would actually increase. As a result, Vandalieu was eating this rice porridge.

"It's not very tasty, is it?" said the shopkeeper in a serious tone, seemingly aware of this.

"... That's not true," said Vandalieu.

"Nah, it's fine. Since you saved Ivan's life, I'd like to give you something that tastes better to eat, but this is the best I can do with the rice we grow here."

"Oyaji-san, we agreed not to say that, didn't we? Still, it's true that the rice we grew in the Sauron Duchy tasted better. It didn't have the smell."

Apparently, they had grown a type of rice similar to Japonica rice* in the Sauron Duchy north of the Hartner Duchy, commonly known as Sauron rice.

TLN*: To my understanding, this is the typical rice eaten in Japan.

But climate and soil of the land of the Hartner Duchy that they had fled to wasn't suited to growing Sauron rice.