Chapter 58: Pork Soup, Once More

Chapter 58:
Pork Soup, Once More

After stuffing his face for the first time in two long days, Tida let out a long, satisfied sigh.

“Phew…”

He had stumbled upon this mysterious place after searching the island high and low for food in the middle of a raging storm.

Its entrance was a strange Eastern Continent-style door, sitting inconspicuously on the beach, unshaken by the wind and rain wreaking havoc all around it.

Tida passed through the door. That’s how he found himself in the otherworldly restaurant.

“Yo, pal. You’re soaking wet! Ah, I see. A typhoon, eh? That’s no good! Well, fortunately for you, this here’s a restaurant. You can just pay me back whenever you get the chance, so c’mon and grab a bite!”

An otherworldly restaurant… And as luck would have it, the master was a kindly older man.

When Tida first stepped through the door, he was an absolute mess: clothes disheveled and soaking wet, disoriented and stumbling around like he had no idea where he was. But when the master saw him and heard what had happened, he offered to feed Tida for free.

The master served him pan-fried rolled eggs with finely minced meat, oranie, and rice so white that only nobles of the Ocean Nation would ever be able to get their hands on it.

But that wasn’t all. Along with the other two dishes were a side of pickled vegetables (strongly salted to stay preserved) and a bowl of pork soup.

***

Pork soup.

According to the master, it was a special celebratory dish only served on “Meat Day.” It was packed with meat and vegetables, and further flavored with salted elf beans.

Tida ended up requesting multiple servings before his once-empty stomach was full.

I feel really bad about eating all this on my own…

Alongside his feelings of satisfaction came a sudden recollection.

All the other passengers on the ship—the captain to the rest of the crew—were probably still just as starving as he had been minutes ago.

And so Tida’s full stomach became the source of great guilt.

I know it’d be shameless to ask, but I wonder if he might let me take a little bit back.

Yet before Tida could say anything, the master approached.

“Here. Take this back with you.”

The older man placed a strange see-through bag on the table, containing some kind of package wrapped with a beautiful purple cloth.

“U-um, what exactly is…?”

“Ah, it’s no big thing. You said you were a sailor who got caught up in a typhoon, right?” The master smiled as he explained his logic to the puzzled Tida.

“I figured that must mean you got friends in the same situation. Normally we don’t do pork soup takeout here, but I’ll make an exception this time.”

“…Y-you’d do that?”

Tida was overwhelmed by the older man’s kindness. When he’d set foot into this restaurant, he didn’t have a coin on him.

In other words, he had no money to pay for this “takeout.”

“Hey, what kinda monster would I have to be to charge you—this is a matter of life and death! You don’t gotta pay me for any of this, so just take it. Be careful, it’s heavy.”

“Th-then…”

Tida timidly took the package with both hands. He could feel the warmth of the contents within.

Wafting from the package was the aroma that he’d lost himself in just a little while ago. Even though he was full, Tida couldn’t help but gulp loudly.

“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and my friends. Thank you so much.”

“Aye, ain’t nothing! We’ll be looking forward to your next visit!”

The master bowed deeply in response to Tida’s gentle nod.

The sailor exited the restaurant and once again ventured into the raging storm, warm package in hand.

***

Three days had passed since the ship got caught up in this bastard of a storm. They had been forced to lay anchor on this barren island—where there was nothing edible to speak of.

This is real bad.

Fen, captain of the trade ship, could feel the mutiny building in his sailors. He would have to make his decision, and soon.

After the great demon war came to a close, the demon race’s power was significantly diminished, and the citizens of this peaceful world finally began to look toward a happier future. Trade between the two continents began to truly prosper.

There was the Kingdom, the nation that had flourished the most out of all of the domains on the Eastern Continent. And then there was the Ocean Nation, a country that spanned seemingly endless small islands. Marine transport had always been a prosperous business there, but now ships passed through more frequently than ever. Trade was booming.

Fen and his crew were sailing one of the Ocean Nation’s many trade ships.

Damn it all. Just when we’d finally rid ourselves of the cursed master of the sea.

In retrospect, Fen probably had lowered his guard too far. Up until very recently, the kraken, also known as the master of the sea, had been the end of countless ships and their crews.

But a few years ago, the the great beast had washed ashore, its rotting carcass covered in countless arrow wounds and damage from magical attacks. Rumor had it that a battleship carrying a famous Duchy general had been ordered to take it down. On its way to the Ocean Nation, the ship encountered the beast and managed to defeat it once and for all. Unfortunately, the ship and its general were lost to the sea.

And so with the demise of the kraken, their troublesome master, the ocean monsters that once served as its prey kept their heads low. It was hard to believe, but the once perilous ocean had become a safe route of passage.

***

This was just one element that had mislead Fen on this journey. Five days earlier, although he could sense the incoming storm, he’d decided to forgo a detour to a nearby port and rush onward instead.

“I’m so hungry…”

“Well, Tida left saying he was gonna try and find some grub.”

“Like he’s even gonna find anything. This place is a desert island.”

“At least we got plenty of water, right? But in terms of food, we ain’t catching any fish or birds anytime soon.”

“Dammit all! Look, our only option is to get out of here! We could hit port in half a day if we get moving!”

“Impossible. If we sail out into this storm, it won’t be long before we’re a wreck at the bottom of the ocean. All we can do is wait.”

The captain could hear the voices of his crew mingling with the sounds of heavy rain outside. Their frustration was palpable.

They were panicking.

The place they’d laid anchor was one of the Ocean Nation’s many small islands. Yet it had no real plant life to speak of, which meant no animal life, never mind any settlements.

Fortunately for them, there was plenty of water raining down from the skies. But that didn’t solve the food problem. After what they’d eaten last night, they’d pretty much polished off all the rations on the ship.

Catching fish or birds would be an impossible task in this storm. One of the fresh-faced sailors in training, Tida, had left in search of food. But it went without saying: nothing would come of his search.

In other words, they would either wait until the storm let up and starve, or risk danger and death by sailing out into its fury. Those were their only options.

Curses…

It was just as Fen was struggling with this no-win scenario that one of his most trusted sailors came rushing up to him.

“B-boss! Big news! You gotta come here!”

“What is it? What happened?”

“W-well, you see…”

The man took a deep breath, smiling widely at the captain. He was starving like the rest of them, but right now he bore an expression of pure joy.

“Tida found food!”

It was the best news Fen could have possibly received.

***

“What in the almighty…?”

The young sailor brought forth a large gold pot with black stone handles. Its contents were still steaming hot, drawing all of the sailors’ eyes.

“It’s food! And lemme tell you, it’s delicious!”

Tida grinned and took the lid off.

The moment it came off, the whole area filled with a delicious aroma.

It was a unique scent that none of the crew had ever experienced before, and it incited an incredible response from their stomachs: a massive, collective rumbling.

“This ain’t the end of it, either! Check this out!”

Tida opened up a strange transparent bag (What was it made of? the sailors wondered), removing several containers of white rice balls.

“I’ve already had my fill, so dig in, guys!”

The sailors crowded around the food.

“Delish!”

“This is the best! Holy crap!”

“We gotta thank God for this one.”

“You did damn well, Tida!”

“I’ve lived for many years and seen many things, but I’ve never had food this good before.”

The men exclaimed as they devoured the food with incredible fervor.

The young sailor in training had brought back an otherworldly feast.

It had been a lot of food for one person to carry. But the sailors made quick work of the meal.

The golden pot must have been expensive by itself—and it was filled with meat and vegetable soup. And then there were the balls of high-quality rice.

Bowls were scrounged up from around the ship as the men packed the food into their stomachs.

Whoa, whoa, whoa, c’mon now. Even if I wasn’t starving, this’d be damn tasty!

Since he was the captain, Fen got a little bit more soup than the others. He found himself stunned by the quality and flavor as he downed his portion.

***

The food that Tida found for them was extraordinary in every way: warm rice balls and the fresh, still-hot soup in its beautiful, expensive-looking pot.

After their ordeal, the captain would have been grateful for any kind of edible food at all. But this was far more delicious than any ordinary ship’s fare.

The rice is great, too… But man, this soup.

Fen took a sip of the soup from his metal bowl.

It tasted of salted hishio paste, with a hint of elf beans.

The flavoring is incredible, but so are all the individual ingredients.

The soup was filled with pork and all kinds of chopped vegetables. As far as Fen was concerned, the star of the soup was the pork that was cut into thin, fatty pieces.

The meat was delicious by itself—and the savory pork fat melted into the broth, making the strongly salty soup a bit gentler to the tongue.

The other ingredients were all spectacular as well.

The well-boiled oranie were sweet and delicious, while the thinly sliced karoots and radishes soaked in the broth of the soup. Each bite into these vegetables unleashed delicious juices.

Meanwhile, the soft, bright yellow vegetables fell apart in Fen’s mouth, leaving behind a warm aftertaste. Whatever the strange white square was, it was also extremely soft and easy to eat.

***

After taking another sip of soup, Fen reached for a slightly cooled rice ball. The salty soup fused with its mild, sweet flavor.

It was a flavor that left Fen feeling satisfied, but he couldn’t stop there. This was partially because his stomach was still relatively empty. But that wasn’t the only reason.

The food was just delicious.

Even if he was full, he could probably pack more of this down, no problem.

I’m gonna have to get Tida to give me all the details.

It should have been impossible to obtain such high-quality food on a deserted island. Fen needed to know how Tida had found it.

But for the time being, the captain’s priority was the food in front of him.

By the next day, the dreadful storm had finally passed, and the crew’s ship coasted along the water under blue skies.

“All right! We should be able to see the island soon!”

“Finally! I need to get my hands on some booze!”

“Damn straight! The food yesterday was delicious, but it sucked that we didn’t have any drink to go with it.”

“My word. Never thought I’d try something so good, at my age. I suppose it pays to live a long life.”

***

A full day had gone by since Tida brought back the feast.

The crew were hungry yet again, but they were in good spirits. After all, they’d be arriving at a populated town soon enough. Once they got ashore, they could enjoy all the food, booze, and women they wanted before they set sail again for the big city where they’d trade their wares.

Their journey ahead was filled with hope.

Once we sell the goods, we need to grab pepper and coral…

As he stood among his excited crew members, Fen was already beginning to plot their next journey. He thought about the things they’d need to buy, and put together a course.

Once every seven days, eh? Well, it’d be great if the timing lined up.

His finger was pointed at a little island inscribed on his map that, until the day before, held no meaning or purpose.

Nekoya Island.

As of yesterday, that was its brand-new name.