I gazed at the man sitting in front of me as he ate from the feast.
The moment the banquet started, he impatiently reached his hand to the tasty grilled meat on the bone and bit into it like a brute. When he devoured all the flesh, he pa.s.sed to chew even the bone that was left. Swallowing the entire thing, he placed his hands this time on the fried meat coiled in the skin.
His looks were too repellent and gruesome to be described as engrossed― It was more like the charm of the feast had possessed him.
Everyone a.s.sembling in this banquet was intently enjoying the feast in front of them just like this man.
Except for me; I was different.
I violently thrust my nails as I resisted the evil temptation, to the point that I wounded my hand, causing blood to run out.
The man in front of me finished eating his fried meat and moved to sip on the entrails soup. His face was mostly shadowed, blocking me from peeking at his expression as he indulged himself in the feast.
I inadvertently opened my mouth to yell at him, but instantly closed it again due to the acidic feeling that filled my stomach.
I muttered the name of that girl in my mind while tightening my grip around the crumpled letter

I woke up and lifted my back from the bed. Unusually, I awakened quite early today. The dark of the night was still covering the scenery outside the window. I noticed that I was considerably sweating even though the weather wasn’t warm.
The reason I had a dream about that time was most likely because today is that day.
Using my sleeve, I wiped the sweat from my forehead and left my bed to get some water. My husband in the next room was still sleeping.
It’s about to end.
Today is surely the last day I had this dream.

“Clear Kay’s time of death is close.”

That was the subject of the letter I wrote and sent to the royal court at the beginning of this month. He, or rather my husband’s health started deteriorating around the fourth month of the last year. No matter how much he worked on recovering, he didn’t get any better. According to the doctor who examined him, my husband was affected by a liver disease in a fairly advanced stage. The time he had left to live by the ninth month of the last year was six months.
His condition worsened day by day until he became unable even to stand comfortably. I grew used to keeping our old acquaintances updated with his health condition every short period, but at this point, we decided to call them out.
The first knock on the door resounded inside the house a few moments after we finished our breakfast. Opening the door, I saw a person I hadn’t seen for several years, Saliman. He is the Royal chef who used to be a subordinate of my retired husband.

“It has been a long time, mam.”

Right when I peeked from behind the entrance door, I was greeted with a kind and courteous att.i.tude. It was the same att.i.tude I remember from him when I was living in the royal court. A young man standing behind him, probably his subordinate, greeted me with the same manner. I let both of them inside and guided them to my husband’s room while having a short conversation.

“my mother said that she would visit as soon as she could. How is the master’s health?”
“He is doing fine for now. He can eat without a problem, and his condition looks stable today. the doctor, however, said that he only got one month left.”

Saliman revealed a gloomy expression for a moment when he heard my words. I knocked on the door of my husband’s room, waited for his response and then opened it to find him sitting on his bed and reading something.

“… Master.”
“Oh, Saliman, it’s been a while.”

My husband showed a worn out smile when he saw the face of his apprentice. On the other hand, Saliman was speechlessly revealing a grieving expression.

“It looks like you lost some weight. I heard that you were promoted recently, are you doing okay? Well, it’s strange from someone like me to talk about your weight, though.”

My husband who retired from the royal kitchen five years ago as a robust and healthy old man looked noticeably thinner than everyone else in this room with his sleep-wear. His eye sockets behind the gla.s.ses he was wearing were caved in, and his arm that used to swing around the heaviest iron pots casually, looked more like a dry branch of a tree.
Saliman kept being quiet with the same downhearted expression while my husband laughed with a cheerful face. He reacted the same way even when the doctor told him about his remaining time. I’m sure that it wasn’t because he gave up, but because he stopped fearing death since the day everything happened.
The master and his apprentice rejoiced their reunion as they exchanged words. The sweets I put on the stove finished baking by the time Saliman began showing a few smiles too. I poured the Torj-made blossom tea in cups and handed them to everyone in the room when then, my husband calmly gazed at us and uttered.

“Well then, as it was written in the letter, shall we begin?”

Sliman, the young man who turned out to be the government official, my husband and I were inside the room. The young man was responsible for recording discussions in meetings and similar situations by writing.
I asked our second son and his wife, as well as their children who were present to leave us alone in the room. Only the four of us were allowed to be here.

“Yes.”
“Yes please, master.”

Confirming both of us agreed, my husband reached his hand to the frame of the window and picked the notebook he was reading earlier.
It was a diary that contained the events of his young days. The damaged leather cover and loosened string binding it described the dozens of years it went through. I’ve seen him reading that dairy many times in the several decades we lived together, but this is probably the last time I will see him doing that.

“This is the long talk of an old man who’s about to meet his last moments. Oh well, hear me out while picking on some sweets.”

My husband opened the notebook and dropped his sight on the strange characters composed within it.
j.a.panese― a language from another world which only he can read in this world.

“It all started in the fifth month of the year 485… it happened in the desert near this village. I still remember that day very well.”

My husband started recounting, and the young government official followed with his pen by recording his word in a paper.
Clear Kay’s recollection record, the record of an aged traveler of another world starts with the first time he came to our world.

So, I’m going to die, huh.
That was the only thought I had in mind when I was lying my back against a large rock.
It was the third day since I found myself lost in a desert. Without any food, map or means of transport or contact, I walked alone in this desert in search of a populated place. Unluckily, I couldn’t even find an oasis where I can drink water. No matter how long I walked, my surroundings were nothing but sand, sand, and sand.
The intense sunlight was scorching, and the air was dry. The sand beneath my feet mercilessly s.n.a.t.c.hed away my endurance. The only three meals I had in these last three days were a single creature that looked like a hybrid of a mouse and a mole, and two lizards. I was at my limits.
My overused legs did no longer feel painful or heavy at this point and turned into mere sticks from overwalking. I could barely walk using a dried up root of a tree I found along the way as a subst.i.tute of a cane.
The last thing I did was finding a giant rock and hiding from the hot sunlight under its shades until the night. Sadly, not only did I not recover my strength by doing that but even standing up again became an impossible task. Eventually, I got a.s.saulted by an unbelievable weariness as my consciousness started to fade away.
I thought many times in these last three days that I was finally going to die, but this time for sure there was no doubt about it.

“How did this happen to me.”

I asked myself the same question that I wondered several times in my journey wandering this desert. It was a reasonable question since I had no clue on the way I ended up in here.
I, Kuria Kei, was endeavoring to open my own restaurant in Tokyo three days earlier.
Immediately after graduating from high school, I used the funds I saved from part-time jobs during my school days to travel abroad and sharpened my culinary skills by working in various restaurants of different places.
I pursued knowledge for ten years while visiting America, Europe, Asia and every place I knew, until I decided to come back to j.a.pan and start my own business last year. It was my dream to have my restaurant. And it was also the beginning of a brand new goal in my life.
Naturally, I was quite excited by the idea of having my own business and ended up lacking too much sleep due to overworking myself. As a result, I lost awareness in the middle of carrying my baggage and collapsed in the floor of the restaurant… or that is what I think happened before I woke up in the midst of the desert.
I doubted my eyes on the first day and almost believed that I was dreaming before realizing that the piercing light of the sun and the hot sand felt too real for me to be having a lucid dream.
I even tried pinching my cheeks and biting my tongue with no sign of waking up.
Each night, I would bury my body under the warm sand to endure the severe cold and gaze at the sky. I was hoping that I could at least make a vague deduction of my position on the globe by reading the stars, but to my surprise, I couldn’t recognize a single constellation no matter where I looked. It was by then that I started doubting if I’m on Earth.
The only thing in the sky that was shining precisely as I remembered was the moon.
Please be a dream. Please wake up already.
Until now, my wish did not come true. My vision started dimming as I could no longer feel my limbs. My hope for the situation to be a dream vanished along with my fear of death. Both of my mental and physical states were worn out from all that happened in the past three days.
I wonder if someone will find me in this place.
I felt sorry for all my family and acquaintances, my ex-employers who financed me as well as the staff who will find themselves unemployed all of a sudden. The thought that I didn’t fulfill my dream was vexing.
Even those thoughts disappeared from my mind, eventually leaving me with the one original and genuine desire that drove me to aim for becoming a chef.
I want to eat something delicious.
Letting out a m.u.f.fled scream, my awareness fell into darkness and death strode the final step before reaching me. If it weren’t because of the unbelievably vivid and stimulating flavor that leaped into my mouth at that moment, I would have been dead since a long time ago by now.
Delicious.
The rich, mellow flavor and fragrance pa.s.sed from my mouth and nose to my nerves, my brain and rushed inside my entire body. It was a flavor that awakens the soul. I could immediately affirm that nothing in this world tastes better than it.
I opened my eyes and saw the familiar desert and blue sky surrounding the place, in addition to a little girl sitting near me.
I was laid down on the sand and she gazed down at me from the side. Noticing that I woke up, the little girl widened her large eyes.

“A, Uh… who, are… ”
“―!”

Asking her with my voice which I didn’t use for three days, I got a response in a language I never heard and a vigorous hug that made me finally understand I was still alive.
The image of the moon and the evening sky remained firm in my memories until today.
This was the moment of my encounter with this world and most importantly, with her.

The girl and a young man rescued me from the desert. It goes without saying that both of them were not j.a.panese. They were riding an animal I had never seen in my life. It looked like a hybrid of a cow and camel and was carrying a ma.s.sive amount of baggage.
The young man gave me water to drink from his leather bag then picked a piece of clothing that was covering the baggage and rolled it around my head and neck. The piece of clothing did the job of the sunshade that both of them were wearing. The sunlight that was almost burning my face got obstructed, making me feel more comfortable.
After recovering a little bit, they made me ride that strange animal, and we headed to the closest town.
The town where we arrived was an oasis town located in the middle of the desert. The gra.s.s was filling the place, and the city was built to surround the oasis. The town itself was considerably large, and the buildings seemed somewhat old. I immediately noticed the oddness by gazing at that scenery.
I could tell that none of the buildings were to be categorized as modern despite being a novice in architecture. All of them were built with mud or stone. The ground wasn’t paved, and not a single bike or car could be spotted around. There were only people riding the same animals like us and a few of them carrying wagons.
I’ve once heard of some towns that maintain their ancient extern looks for tourist attractions, but that goes only for the looks and doesn’t apply to the citizens. I never knew of a city where even its citizens refuse to live without gas and electricity in this era.
Where are we― I tried asking the young man using every language I knew, but none of them seemed to reach him.
As my relief of getting rescued was being consumed by the confusion of being in a place I never heard of, I was brought to a particular house.
I entered the house with the help of the young man lending me his shoulder and listened to him talking with someone inside who then started examining me. It was most likely a doctor.
After that, I was lead to another room in the house where I finally laid in a bed. The bed felt slightly hard, but that didn’t cause a problem for me to fall asleep from all the weariness and confusion I went through today.
I woke up a few hours later. It was already night outside the window. The little girl I met earlier was sitting next to me and brought me a meal as soon as I opened my eyes.
The meal was a rice porridge and a drink that seemed to be the milk of that animal, both served in pottery vessels. I dug in right as I was handed the tray and didn’t listen to what she said.
The milk was thick with fat and had a different taste from cow and goat milk. The rice porridge didn’t taste very good, but I had no complaints to say about my first meal in three days. I lost myself while eating.
Licking the plates clean, I turned to look at the little girl who was still sitting next to me. She has an outward appearance that would lightly attract attention. She was probably around her thirteens and the only person in this town to have long white hair and an ashy skin among the other citizens who had brown skins and black hair. Her bright blue eyes resembling the painting of an ocean scenery reflected my face.

“Aa… Um.”

I reflexively opened my mouth to express my grat.i.tude for her, but then I remembered that I don’t speak her language. The little girl who noticed that I was hesitating on what to say approached by one step then pointed at herself.

“Aisa.”
“Huh?”
“Aisa.”

She repeated the same word. Perhaps it’s her name.

“… Kei. Kuria Kei.”

I placed the tray next to my arm and imitated the little girl by pointing at myself and uttering my name.

“Kay…?”
“Kei.”
“Kay!!”

The little girl, Aisa grabbed my hand and called my name with a cheerful voice. I was familiarized by people calling me by my first name already. However this time oddly, Aisa’s voice sounded unbelievably kind in my mind after I was prepared to die alone in that desert only a few hours ago.
From that day on, I became under the care of Aisa’s household.
She lived with her parents and had an elder brother. Her father, Sazan, was the man who examined me, and her mother’s name was Karajan. Sazan was, as I thought, a doctor. Every day, many patients frequent him for treatment. The young man who rescued me with Aisa was her elder brother, Shizam. He lives in the neighborhood with a woman― his wife or lover, I a.s.sume― and visits his family on a daily basis to help Sazan with his work.
After receiving Sazan’s medical treatment and recovering, I became able to help out the family by doing manual labor and began connecting with the people of the land. It was such a hurdle to keep up with all the new words and knowledge I discovered every day, but luckily I had an excellent teacher, Aisa.
Whenever I was spending my spare time in the house, she would drag me outside. Sometimes she took me to help out in the neighborhood, and sometimes she introduced me to the neighbors or her friends of the same age. I never understood the conversations she had with other people, but every time I heard ‘Kay’ in her words, I felt somewhat glad.
Each time we go to the market for grocery, we use that strange animal to carry our luggage. According to Aisa, her family doesn’t own one, and they borrow it from the neighbors.
The second time the animal saw me, it licked my face with its smelly tongue. Aisa who watched me uncomfortably being licked, broke out in laughter before she spoke.

“Dendel.”

She said while pointing at the animal. It’s the animal’s name, apparently.
I didn’t find out that ‘Dendel’ referred to the animal kind and no the animal itself until later, but I repeated that name immediately to remember it.
Aisa revealed an unfavorable expression, shook her head and read the animal name once again. It appears that I got the p.r.o.nunciation wrong. I repeated after her again while this time, making sure to imitate the p.r.o.nouncing too. Repeating the same process two more times, Aisa nodded in satisfaction.
Spending the rest of the days just like today, I gradually enhanced my vocabulary by taking notes of every word I learned in a personal notebook. My initial intention of using the notebook was to write down characters in it and have people recognize them. Though, none of the alphabets, Chinese characters, Arabic and even numbers were recognized, driving me to change the use of the notebook.
I noted everything from the names of the neighbors and objects to the names of plants, animals, and stars. It wasn’t until later that I found out the t.i.tle of this town, ‘Asilia.’
The primary aspect that attracted my curiosity while I lived in Asilia was, as expected from a chef, their food culture. The market I frequented with Aisa was always br.i.m.m.i.n.g with ingredients I’ve never seen before.
Potatoes, for instance, did exist in the market, but, most of them were diverse compared to regular potatoes and sweet potatoes. They belonged to a red sphere-shaped type. I was also drawn by a fruit that looked like a stretched out apricot and some black leaves vegetables.
As for the meat, they had dendel, cow, pig, and other fowls. Sometimes, they were even selling living lizards and rate-like creatures that I ate in the desert.
The best part of sightseeing in a new country for me is to discover their market. I could feel myself getting overexcited every time I visit this market, especially, in a land I never heard of before.
On our way back home, when I decided to ask Aisa’s parents later to let me cook for them, a path extending from the main street got in my sight. A little farther in our way, there was an orchard spreading on both sides. It’s used to harvest the fruits sold in the market. I was fixing my eyes on the trees there for a while before a slightly elevated hill peeking from behind the orchard entered my vision field. A large dome was built in that hill. It looked undoubtedly different from any other building in the town and thus, inevitably pulled my intention. Giving off to my curiosity, I asked Aisa if we could see it from a closer place.

“You can’t go… there.”
“I can’t even go see it?”
“… Yes.”

Aisa shook her head horizontally as she revealed a somewhat guilty expression.
I wonder what it is about. Judging from her reaction, I guessed that it might be a religious establishment or something of that sort. Maybe outsiders like me shouldn’t approach those kinds of places.
Well, no need to pay it a mind for now. I thought to myself and immediately forgot about the dome.
The next day, I made my first attempt on cooking. Though all that I did was carrying the basket of vegetables and following Aisa and her mother, Karajan to the local public kitchen. Only the minority of families in this town have their household kitchen while most women bring their ingredients and a.s.semble in one place.
Every time we needed water, we had to go scoop it from the nearest well and adjusting the condition of the fire was only possible through regulating the amount of firewood. All the equipment were too primitive compared to the modern kitchen that I knew. Despite everything, I got excited by only watching women wielding their knives and cooking food in their pans.
Before long, I found myself pleading Aisa and her mother to let me cook something by repeating the word ‘Sãky’ that meant ‘cooking’ until they understood.
Since they never saw me cooking something until today, Karajan was hesitating to give permission until Aisa convinced her to trust me.
In the end, I made a saute of smoked dendel meat, root vegetables, and a sand rat― the creature I ate in the desert. I chopped off the head of the sand rat, took out its entrails, then smashed it with a thick rectangular knife.
I used spices, salt, alcohol to erase the sour smell from the meat and minced it until it became sufficiently sticky before molding it into the shape of a ping pong ball and throwing them to cook together with the vegetables.
The meat was unexpectedly soft, yet time-consuming to handle and gave off a delicious liquid in the soup that was far tastier than the other types of edible rats, squirrels, and rabbits.
I didn’t have the composure to savor it the first time I ate it in the desert since my mind was already full of worrying about viruses and parasites. So I was quite impressed to know that it tastes this good.
Aisa’s family were surprised by my cooking and enjoyed it. I felt glad to have slightly returned them their favor. It was the first day where I felt satisfied with what I did.
Since then, I became responsible for cooking in Aisa’s household in addition to physical labor. The fact of having a personal job motivated me to grow closer to my surroundings, and as a result, my language improved a lot faster.
I led a fulfilling daily life since the day I started cooking. There was a time where I even contemplated getting a real job as a chef in a local restaurant. The reason I put that plan on hold was that I still had two concerns regarding the food of this land.
The first was about the supreme flavor I tasted when I was on the verge of death. I would definitely be dead by now if I didn’t taste it. However, Aisa and Shizam didn’t seem to have any food with them at that time.

“Did you make me eat something when you saved me in the desert at that time? something that tasted really good.”

I asked Aisa about it, but her answer was negative. I had a single a.s.sumption left. That is my dying wish created a hallucination in the shape of that taste — something similar to a near-death experience, perhaps. I decided to believe in that a.s.sumption for the time being as I had no other means to explain that unrealistic flavor.
The second concern was regarding a particular custom related to food in this realm. Around the time when I became able to speak somewhat fluently, The news of the death of an aged person spread in the neighborhood. Aisa, along with all the family members headed to that person’s funeral while I stayed to take care of the house. The funeral was close to my place, and I could notice that they were setting fire there. I watched the smoke rising from inside the house and eventually came to realize a fact.
I don’t remember seeing a grave in this town.
Admittedly, there was a good chance that I never went to a graveyard or that the graves themselves have an unfamiliar appearance. I also remembered the dome in that hill and reasoned that it might be the cemetery of the town.
Anyway, realizing that it might sound indiscreet out of me, I decided to ask Aisa about it later.

“Where do you bury the dead in this area?”
“… Bury the dead? We don’t bury them.”

Asking her after she came back, I got a dubious answer in return.

“We eat them, of course.”

It was by then that I discovered the buffet funeral― ‘ganazar’― a custom funeral of this land where the corpse of the deceased is handled similarly to the meat of every other animal, cut, cooked, and presented to all the relatives in the funeral banquet.

“And, why do you eat them?”

Sensing a cold chill, I continued, posing another question. This time, Aisa replied immediately.

“because you see, from today on, a part of grandfather is going to be inside of me. Wouldn’t you feel relieved knowing that a close person became a part of you?”

Aisa explained while rubbing her belly. It looks like she ate that person at the funeral too.
Cannibalism. This serious act considered as a taboo in most countries of the world was conducted by this little girl who was revealing a warm smile and emotional eyes.
I was utterly horrified by discovering this custom habit for the first time. But then, I remembered the day I was forced by my parents to pa.s.s my hand on top of the face of my grandfather’s corpse, and convinced myself that eating the deceased here was a similar tradition. It was vaguely understandable if conceived from its spiritual regard.
What was absolutely unimaginable for me was eating or cooking the corpse of the deceased.

“Would you do it, Kay?”
“But your grandfather was already eaten by everyone in the funeral.”

There was no possible way I could eat the rest of a cooked corpse. Aisa who sensed a strong rejection in my answer made a mildly sad face.
For some reason, I felt a sort of implication in her question as well. Though, I didn’t find out about it until some time later.
Before that happened, there was another event which became a turning point in my life. The trigger for the event was brought by the messengers of this country hailing from the royal castle far in the East.
One day, a peculiar group of men visited me.
They were all wearing an imposing uniform never seen in Asilia and fringed hats. They asked if I was Clear Kay and declared their position as messengers of the king when I affirmed.

“The king was informed with news of the unknown man who appeared in Asilia and is demanding to meet him. We’re going to have you come with us to the royal court.”

I felt nervous for the first time coming to this country, but at the same time thought of it as a chance. Interacting with the heart of the country is the fastest way to get answers to my several questions about this place. I still have no clue on where I am or how I ended up here, after all.
Undeniably, I was also overwhelmed by anxiety and couldn’t consent until Aisa joined the conversation.

“It will be okay, Kay. I will go with you.”
“No, you can’t just go with me…”

There is no way they’d approve the accompaniment of a regular citizen to the royal court. Or is there?

“Aissama lives in the royal court.”

one of the messengers explained as if he read the uncertainty in my expression.

“She lives in the royal court?”
“That is right. Aissama came to Asilia for only a brief period. Our original mission is to come for her and take you with us if found.”
“Yep. So we’re going together, Kay.”

I couldn’t grasp the situation quite well. Maybe Aisa is actually a princess or something of the sort. But that doesn’t fit with the truth that she was born in this town. The att.i.tude of her acquaintances, as well, was rather familiar.
Unsure of the turn of event, I obeyed to the messengers’ order and started preparing for the trip. I didn’t have the rights to refuse them anyway, so all I had to convince myself with is to stay positive.
In that night, we held a small banquet where I made a feast for Aisa’s family and the neighbors. A dendel stew, fried herbs, stuffed baked chicken; I put more effort than usual into tonight’s banquet and had everyone enjoy themselves with the dendel k.u.mis I fermented. It was a fun and lively night.
The next day we crossed the desert and arrived at another town near a large river. Crossing the desert that almost took my life in the previous time was fairly comfortable when riding a dendel and having enough supplies.
The river was a vital transport course that traversed the entire country. We rode into a ship sailing from the town, spent two days there before we reached the land, and used a horse carriage to finally arrive at the capital, ‘Ishq Band.’
The capital was constructed 500 years ago, based on what I heard, when the monarchy established by a tribe of travelers overthrew an important country in the age of their fifth king and built their new royal court in the conquered land.
Surveying the scenery from an elevated ground ill.u.s.trated the white townscape founded along the curved coastline and the ships of various sizes anchoring in the harbor. One of the messengers talked to me, with pride, about how the capital is considered to be the ‘bridge of the world’ due to it being a strategic point for international commerce.
Within this white townscape, two large buildings were outstanding in red and blue.
The red one located on the hills near the harbor was the church, while the one built in the center of the capital in blue was the royal palace; our final destination.
High ramparts surrounded the palace. The only official way to enter it was through the giant lion gate. A gate which as its name suggests has a lion face carved on its external side. Pa.s.sing the entrance protected by armed soldiers, an area with the size of a small town was waiting for us inside where buildings of various sizes lined up.
I smelled a sweet scent on my way walking the path leading to the main palace.

“Do you want to know what is this odor, Kay?”
“Hm, Yeah… what is it?”

Although she was the one who proposed to tell me, Aisa kept quiet to my question while only revealing a meaningful grin.
The main palace was majestic. Lifting my head to look at it alone made me overwhelmed.
The clean blue walls emitted a half transparent impression, and the colorful gla.s.s was integrated with stunning paintings of flowers and animals. The interior of the palace was meticulously decorated with subtle and delicate ornaments, and even the floor was polished with an intricate pattern. The luxury of a castle or a palace is supposed to display the grandness and authority of a ruler to other people of the same position. It was over efficient against a regular subject like me. I got nervous and couldn’t calm down since the moment I stepped inside.

“I will go say h.e.l.lo to Iselsama and Hattie. See you later, Kay.”

Leaving those words behind, Aisa separated with us. I was then guided to a room that was similar to a business hotel and had to go through a health inspection and change to the formal dress of the imperial court which consisted of a white coat and black trousers.
Finishing with the changing, I was told by an official to cut my finger with a short knife and pour my blood inside a small bottle. I was also explained, when I asked for the reason, that it was a necessary convention to take in order for an outsider to meet the king. It signifies that the outsider vows never to lie or act rudely ahead of the king. In short, it was more like a seal of blood.
It took from me a while to muster up the courage of cutting my finger despite once being determined to die.
Next, I was taught the gestures of bowing and told to repeat them alone for 20 minutes before, at long last, getting led to the throne hall. The hall was surprisingly plain and straightforward unlike every other place in the palace.
It was s.p.a.cious. However, that was all. The walls, the pillars, almost everything inside was clean from any decorations. The only furniture was a small chair placed in the middle of the hall. On the other side, a man was sitting surrounded by royal soldiers and servants in his left and right.

“Clear Kay.”
“Y-Yes.”

hearing my name called in a grave manner, I inadvertently straightened my back.

“Take a seat over there.”
“… Yes.”

With awkward steps, I walked to the round cushion chairs in front of me and sat down after bowing down correctly as I was taught.

“You can raise your head.”
“Yes?”
“Raise your head.”
“Y-Yes!”

The man I was facing was indeed the king of this country.

“I am the seventeenth king of this country, Shade.”

Shade, the king himself was dressed in a simple way. A dark-red coat resembling a yukata and white trousers. He didn’t wear any type of accessories.
He appeared to be old, but his st.u.r.dy arm peeking from his sleeve denied that reality. His characteristic red hair was long and stretching like the mane of a lion while his glaring eyes exhibited his fierce dignity and pride.

“Clear Kay.”
“… Yes.”
“No need to be nervous. Have some tea.”
“Yes.”

The only word that kept leaving my mouth in last this minute was ‘yes.’ The king couldn’t resist a grin from reaching his face by watching my thoroughly freaked out att.i.tude.
I picked a teacup placed before me and took a sip. The tea had a similar odor to Chinese tea. I couldn’t tell if it had a soothing effect, but I felt a little relaxed after drinking it. The king waited for me to place down the teacup before speaking again.

“It appears that you understand the words of this country.”
“I do. But Not to a sufficient extent.”
“I see…”

A moment of silence engulfed the hall before the king continued. He spoke in a slow pace while choosing his words for me to understand what he says.

“You are a cook from a country called j.a.pan. You found yourself in the desert of Asilia without previous notice and were rescued by Aisa. Is that true?”
“Certainly.”

Confirming I nodded to his words, the king exchanged looks with an old man standing next to the soldiers. The old man who got the sign carried something to the table near me.
It was a sphere that looked like the globe map.

“This is a world model. It is a map created after a sage from the west discovered that the world is an enormous globe. The map reflects the world’s structure, deducted by the thorough investigations and measures of scientists, in great details and credibility.”

It was evident that this globe map was of important quality, but what attracted my attention the most was the fact that it didn’t look anything like the one of Earth. There were no axis and most importantly, the shape of the land was unusual.

“Do you know of any land in that globe, Clear Kay?”
“… I don’t.”

The geographical structure seemed elaborated. In case this wasn’t nonsense, their measuring technology must be quite advanced for them to be able to generate such a work. Believing in this map would clear away many doubts and wonders that I’ve had until today. I would then end up with a single conclusion.

“So this suggests that you are not originating from this world.”

The king declared that conclusion as if he read it from my mind. I couldn’t help but agree with him. This is not the Earth I know. I’ve been in an entirely different world since the day I was brought to that desert.
To be frank, I was considering this possibility from the first days. I was putting it in the corner of my mind and avoiding to bring it up. Now that I am forced to face it, I came to realize my devastated chance of returning.

“Your majesty.”
“Speak.”
“Were you aware… of the fact that I came from another world?”

The king nodded. I guessed that much from his composed att.i.tude and the way he conducted the conversation.

“I knew about you from Aisa’s letters. A man wearing strange clothes and speaking a mysterious language appeared in Asilia and was mentioning the name of an unknown country.”

A letter from Aisa. I understand now. She must be the reason for the king calling me to his palace. There was one unconvincing point, though.
It is difficult for a person in their right mind to a.s.sume that I came from another world. Only me, the person who experienced the situation could affirm that point. The king who only read about my odd condition in Aisa’s letters should naturally conclude the case by judging that I was delusional. That’s the typical approach anyone would take. He doesn’t seem to be following my story out of doubt either.
There should be a proof driving the king to believe in what I said.

“Could it be that someone like me existed before?”
“… Oh, you are quite sharp, aren’t you?”

It looks like my reasoning of someone from Earth existing before me in this world was on the mark.
Impressed by my guess, the king laughed and drunk a mouthful of the wine poured by his servants before querying.

“Do you know that the origin of this country sprang from Asilia?”
“Yes.”
“Hm… there is this folklore regarding a certain man from that period.”

500 years ago, Shadin, the chief of the tribe that was wandering the desert encountered a strange man.
The man spoke words that n.o.body understood, and his looks and dressing were inappropriate for the climate of the desert. He was a wise person and grew able to speak the language of the tribe as soon as he began living with them. He told everyone that he didn’t know how he found himself in the desert and mentioned the name of an unknown country as well.
While he wished to return to his homeland, the man shared his wisdom and knowledge with the people who saved him as they lived together.
From military tactics, psychology and nonverbal communication to Organization and management of empires. He taught them everything a person needs to be a leader.
The members of the tribe who abided to his words grew stronger by the time and Shadin who wanted him to stay by his side and continue to support him suggested for him to marry his daughter and become his son.
Eventually, the tribe conquered the oasis of Asilia on top of which they established their country. That was the rise of the current monarchy inaugurated by the first king.

“As a consequence, the citizens of Asilia believe that those who wander the desert bring a great fortune with them. It is the reason they treated you so courteously before coming here.”
“The man… what about the man? What happened to him?”
“I understand that you’re curious, but be patient.”

I only realized that I was leaning forward when the king reminded me by lifting his hand. He then gulped down his cup of wine while I drained my teacup and prepared for the continuation of the story.

“About the man; It is said that he disappeared.”
“He disappeared?”
“In the middle of celebrating the establishment of the country and the marriage of Shadin’s daughter, it is said that he abruptly evaporated with his newlywed and were never seen ever after.”
“… S-So, this means…”
“Nothing happened after that. The only information that is worth the mention is that the country recounted by the man didn’t exist in the map unveiled by scientists later on. There was nothing confirming that he was even a human. Some say that he might have been a prophet sent by G.o.d. Well, the fact that you are saying similar things now is the most important.”

The king wrapped up the story by pointing at me with his chin.

“Does this mean that the man came from another world too?”
“That is the proper conclusion to reach if what you are claiming is true.”

What’s left to confirm is whether the man came from Earth just like me or not. At least I know now that someone from another world came to Asilia before I did.
If that was the case, then many of my suspicions will start making sense. There is even hope for me to return if the folklore is true.

“Did the man return to his world?”
“It is said that he disappeared. Only G.o.d knows of what happened to him and his wife.”
“… G.o.d, hm.”

It’s most likely from my j.a.panese origins that I felt suspicious of the entire conversation once the word ‘G.o.d’ was brought up. If I take my personal experience of this supernatural phenomenon into account, I may as well reconsider the existence of a G.o.d behind it. In either case, I should be sent back to my world at some point in the future.

“I wonder why the man disappeared.”
“If G.o.d sent him, then he might have been sent back after fulfilling a duty given to him.”
“A duty…”
“He supported the first king with his wisdom and served as the cornerstone in establishing the monarchy. Once the country stabilized, he disappeared. Perhaps you have been sent here to accomplish something too―”

The king halted his words there and implied the rest of the implication with his gaze.
Perhaps you have been sent here to serve this country and save it.
However, I don’t think I have what it takes to save a country. Even though I used to live in an advanced world, I know nothing about politics, economics or technology to help the country develop.

“I don’t have the wisdom of the man in the folklore… I am just an ordinary cook.”
“That is fine― Aisa!”

As soon as the king called Aisa, she came out from the opposite entrance door of the hall.

“Ehehe, I was waiting. I missed you, Kay.”
“Ah, Yeah…”

It has been only an hour since we separated, but Aisa looked entirely different when we met again.
She was applying a thin makeup in her face and pinning her long, ashy hair with a silver barrette. Her large eyes and lipsticked mouth, accentuating her white skin, were standing out.

“How do I look dressed up?”

stretching her arms, she rolled around herself, making the hem of her dress sewed with golden threads softly revolve with her as well.

“… You look, beautiful…”
“T-Thank you.”

Aisa cast down her eyes as her white cheeks were dyed in slight red. She looked surprisingly cute with that behavior. Her appearance matched with her age of thirteen years. The dress suited her so well that she didn’t seem to be putting on a grown-up look.

“I am aware that you know each other already, but I will introduce her to you for the sake of the topic. This is Aisa, a sakla and the favorite friend of my daughter in this palace.”

Sakla. I heard that word from Aisa some time ago. It’s apparently a term referring to her position in the royal court. Perhaps, it’s her role as the best friend of the princess. I a.s.sumed the meaning of her t.i.tle in my head and continued the conversation.

“I heard from Aisa that you are a skilled cook. Our country deeply values the culture of food. I am sure you noticed a large building in white on your way to this hall. It is the royal kitchen of this palace that manages everything related to food.”

I finally understood the meaningful grin of Aisa when she didn’t reply to me on our way here. I bet she will be making the same face if I look at her now.

“I want you to share the knowledge of the food in your world with this country. If you accept, I shall guarantee your comfort until you return to your world. Heed that you are still welcome in my palace even if you refuse.”
“… I.”

If the story about the person who came before me was true, then the conclusion that I would return after fulfilling this duty of mine sounds too convenient. Even if that was the case, I can’t say that mine is to cook for the country.
Many questions still filled my head, but I had no choice other than accepting and clinging to the only hope I found. Besides, if there were actually a G.o.d who sent me here to share my cooking skills, that would make me excited.

“I understand. I shall do my best to fulfill my duty.”
“Yes!”

Aisa clapped her hands. I was stunned by the loud voice but didn’t feel mad at her at all.
Hence, I accepted the king’s request to become a chef in the royal court, and we celebrated it with a small banquet that night.
The only partic.i.p.ants were Aisa, the king, the princess, and I. Isela, the princess was in the same age as Aisa and had red hair like her father. She has three elder brothers who rarely visit the palace and spends most of her time together with Aisa.
She seemed grumpy when her father introduced her to me; however, it was true that she got along with Aisa. Sitting next to each other, Isela shared the steamed fish she found delicious with her. The menu of the banquet was indeed the most exquisite cuisine I tasted since I started living in Asilia.

“Kay’s cooking is really delicious too. why don’t you try it sometime, Isela?”

Aisa recommended my cooking to the princess and gave me the look of ‘right, kay?’
I hesitated on how to respond for a few seconds before getting interrupted right when I was about to speak.

“No… I’m fine.”
“Gee…”

Isela glared at me for a second and immediately averted her eyes again. I felt spa.r.s.e hostility in that glare.
My culinary training in the palace started the next day.
The knowledge and skills I cultivated on Earth were naturally based on the ingredients, the equipment, and tools there. That is why I couldn’t make use of them until I got familiarized to the food culture of this world.
As expected from the center of commerce of the monarchy, the variety of ingredients in the capital was incomparable with that of Asilia. Every type of food was brought from different regions of the country or even imported from the outside and set on the market. There was also an abundant amount of seafood that wasn’t in Asilia.
I frequented the restaurants of the market and learned about the food and cuisines preferred outside and inside the palace, using my eyes, nose, ears, and tongue.
The old man with a white beard who was standing next to the king when I first met him, Hagan, became my instructor in cuisine art.
He looked older than the king, but his back was straight and his gestures while cooking were sharp and polished. If I could compare the people of this world with those on Earth, I’d boldly say that not many chefs back on Earth are as proficient as him.
I practiced the cooking techniques he taught me every day, and once I had some free time, I headed to the kitchen and observed the work of the other chefs. I spent the three following months repeating this routine until I was finally admitted as an official chef in the royal court.
It was at that time where the second event that changed my life in this world occurred.
The king, Hagan, Aisa, Isela, and I partic.i.p.ated in a small banquet held in celebration of my admission. The buffet was all prepared by my hands.
Dendel stew, stuffed baked chicken, Sashimi, Steamed chicken marinated with seaweed, wine-steamed seafood, and finally a dessert dulcified with rice, mola.s.ses, and milk. I exhibited the result of my training on the table of the banquet by including the most famous cuisines in the capital. The party was more like a graduation test for me.
Both the king and Hagan, my instructor and examiner nodded in satisfaction when they tasted the stew. Aisa cut the Asilifamous stuffed baked chicken in half and carried it to her mouth before recommending it to Isela.
I watched over Isela unwillingly approaching the second half of the stuffed chicken to her mouth while hoping she wouldn’t find it bad.
I have been ignored every time I encountered and greeted her inside the court in the past three months. It didn’t take me a long time to realize that she hated me for some reason.
Luckily, my worries turned out to be irrelevant. Isela ate the second half of the stuffed chicken and reached her hand to the other plates, captivated by the taste.
I let out a sigh of relief and joined everyone in the banquet. My worries about the future dimmed away as I enjoyed the food myself. However, that didn’t last for too long after I was shocked by a terrifying truth.

“Do you remember the time my brother and I found you on the desert?”

Aisa asked all of a sudden.

“Of course I remember. It’s because of you that I’m alive now, after all.”

I replied in a casual manner, but then quickly realized that her question was only the start of the actual topic when she continued.

“You asked me once if I fed you something when you were about to die, right?”
“… Yeah, I remember that too.”
“I told you that I didn’t give you anything, but I was lying because it was something I wasn’t permitted to do.”

I opened my eyes wider in astonishment. The supreme taste that restored life in my soul, the flavor I a.s.sumed was an illusion by my mind and would never exist in this world turned out to be real.
I looked at everyone surrounding the table. Hagan was making his usual stiff expression; the king was unveiling a broad smile while Isela looked exceptionally displeased.
My chest ached. I carefully asked while holding back my curiosity and the terrible premonition that shook my entire body.

“… So, what was that you fed me?”
“It was blood. My blood.”

I couldn’t make sense of her response for an instant. She then showed me her wrist on which I noticed a minor scar.
I worked up my brain to conclude Aisa cutting her wrist, feeding me her blood and bringing me back to life.
It was unbelievable that such an ultimate flavor could be her blood. A human’s blood.

“There is a custom in Asilia where they taste the blood of their newborn and check if they are a sakla, which is a child seldom born with blood of an exceedingly delicious taste told to revive even the dead. Aisa is one of those children. She is a sakla.”

The king Shade cleared away my confusion with his explanation. It was hard to believe in what he said, but as I’ve tasted it personally, I couldn’t deny it either.

“I never tasted my blood, but I was really happy when you told me that it was delicious, Kay.”

I still remember that flavor vividly until today.

“A sakla is believed to be a gift from G.o.d and is brought up in the palace until it ripens.”
“I-It ripens… ?”

What happens after it ripens then?
I imagined a plausible but terrifying answer and couldn’t bring myself to state it. The king guessed what was on my mind and didn’t speak a word as if he was affirming my a.s.sumption.
I recalled my conversation with Aisa back when I discovered the culture of their buffet funeral, ganazar. Could it be that the sad expression she revealed to my rejecting att.i.tude wasn’t only due to my denial of their custom, but to something more, personal―.

“Hey, Kay.”

Aisa called my name. I turned to the side to find her looking straight in my eyes with a bright and cheerful smile.

“I want you, to make a delicacy of me.”