Chapter 14: Apologies and Fried Chicken
“Allow me to introduce myself, people of Papel Village. I am Larsa, one who has been granted the rank of Cardinal by the Temple.”
“Hah! Still trying too hard to look young as ever, aren’t ye, Larsa?”
“And you, Fuldretch-sama, appear just as lively as always.”
The person who emerged from the door that had suddenly materialized in the middle of the living room was a breathtakingly beautiful woman with flowing golden hair and clear sapphire-blue eyes.
For a moment, the entire room seemed to brighten around her presence alone.
“When they said ‘Cardinal,’ I was imagining some old man with a beard and wrinkles everywhere… but wow, she’s seriously gorgeous.”
“My, what a delightful thing to say.”
The instant Cardinal Larsa’s gaze turned directly toward me, my entire body jolted in surprise.
W-Wait… she heard that!?
There was a decent distance between us, and the villagers were making such a racket with all their drinking and laughing that I figured there was no way she could’ve picked up my muttering.
“Eight, Larsa has exceptionally sharp hearing. And you must not be deceived by appearances. She is one hundred years old this year.”
“Huh!? No matter how you look at her, she seems barely in her late teens!?”
“One of my ancestors was an elf, you see. Because of that bloodline, I simply do not age the way humans do.”
“And for the record, anyone who calls her an old hag tends to mysteriously disappear the next day, so be careful.”
“My goodness, Raphiel. Please don’t make it sound as though I secretly dispose of people in the shadows.”
Smiling sweetly, Cardinal Larsa pressed her knuckles against Raphiel’s temple and began grinding them mercilessly in circles.
Raphiel, meanwhile, remained completely expressionless through the assault.
“As entertaining as this little reunion is,” the village chief cut in with a sigh, “why don’t ye tell us the real reason ye came here?”
“…Naturally, I came to apologize. Holy Knight Grana informed me through the Miracle of Telepathy about the atrocities committed by the Inquisitor Knight Zereshia. On behalf of the Temple, I offer my sincerest apologies to everyone in Papel Village. I am truly sorry.”
“The only ones ye need to apologize to are two people. As for the rest of us, the worst damage we suffered was a brand-new sickle getting bent beyond repair.”
The village chief spoke with a weary exhale before glancing briefly toward me.
“One of them is Eight here. One of your Inquisitor Knights cut his arm clean off.”
“…I see. Then please allow me to apologize properly, Eight.”
“Huh? Ah—no, no, really!! You don’t have to apologize that seriously!!”
Honestly, being apologized to so earnestly only made me uncomfortable.
In the end, the village itself hadn’t suffered any real losses, and my arm had been completely restored anyway.
“…I understand. Then in order for my apology to be accepted, I should demonstrate my sincerity in a more tangible manner.”
“That’s not what I meant!?”
“However, judging from this house, I doubt anything we possess would be enough to satisfy you materially. Therefore, should you ever require anything at all, please inform me through Grana or Raphiel. I swear that I will lend you my strength.”
“R-Right… understood.”
Cardinal Larsa showed absolutely no intention of backing down, so in the end I quietly accepted her apology.
“And the other person I must apologize to?”
“The young man who served as vice-captain among the Inquisitor Knights that came to the village.”
Ah, right.
Earlier, a Holy Knight had been discovered near the village with a sword stabbed straight through his abdomen, barely clinging to life.
Apparently, he was the vice-captain serving under Zereshia’s Inquisitor Knight unit…
From what we’d heard, he had objected to the order to attack Papel Village.
So she stabbed him for it.
Fortunately, Raphiel’s treatment had arrived in time, and his life was no longer in danger. Still, he had lost so much blood that he was currently unconscious in another room.
Ronda—who had somehow slept through nearly the entire commotion—was now taking care of him after Grana ordered her to.
Normally, a wound like that should have been fatal.
But according to the village chief, Holy Knights underwent training intense enough to keep fighting even with a hole blown through their stomach.
Come to think of it, Zereshia herself had been absurdly hard to put down despite being battered half to death…
“Understood. I shall apologize to him properly later as well.”
“And tell the other Cardinals this too,” the village chief added, his voice dropping low. “If any of them lay a hand on Eight or this village again, they’ll answer to me personally.”
“…I will engrave those words into my heart.”
Faced with the village chief’s deadly serious expression and unwavering tone, Cardinal Larsa gave a solemn nod.
Then suddenly—
Clap!
The village chief smacked his hands together loudly.
“Right then!! Enough with the complicated talk!! You’re drinking too!!”
“Eh? N-No, I really shouldn’t—”
“Oi!! Eight!! Hurry up and make more snacks!! We already finished all the sake, so now we’re moving on to beer!! Make something that goes well with beer!!”
“I said put some clothes on already!!”
Only after confirming that the village chief had finally gotten dressed did I head toward the kitchen.
Now then… what should I make?
To begin with, I’d never actually drunk beer myself, so I wasn’t entirely sure what paired best with it…
“Well, guess I’ll just make the kind of stuff Grandpa used to eat while drinking.”
Though for tonight, I’d be going with the quick-and-easy version.
First, I took the chicken thighs I’d ordered through mail-order delivery and repeatedly stabbed them all over with a fork to open up tiny holes before cutting the meat into bite-sized chunks.
I transferred the chicken into a bowl, added soy sauce, cooking sake, grated garlic, and ginger, then thoroughly massaged the marinade into the meat before letting it rest for about ten minutes.
Meanwhile, I prepared oil in a deep pot and began heating it—
“Eight-niichan!! More cola!!”
Right at that moment, Luka, Nor, and Rio came charging at me with enough momentum to tackle me to the floor.
Startled, I reflexively shouted.
“H-Hey! You three!! I told you not to jump on people while they’re cooking! There’s fire and knives around—it’s dangerous!!”
“Ah, crap.”
“I-I told them we shouldn’t do it, you know?”
“S-Sorry, Eight-niichan…”
Luka immediately tried to flee, Nor scrambled for excuses, and only Rio apologized honestly.
“Luka and Nor are banned from juice for a while. Rio is banned from juice just for today.”
“““Ehhhhhh!?”””
“Don’t ‘Ehhhhh’ me!! You can survive on barley tea and sports drinks for a while!! …Though, if you help me out, I might consider lifting the punishment.”
The instant I said that, the three children’s eyes lit up.
To kids, cola was practically a necessity of life itself, so their reaction was understandable.
“So what do we gotta do?” Luka asked eagerly.
“Luka, poke holes in the chicken with the fork. Nor, grate the garlic and ginger. Rio, mix everything together in the bowl with the soy sauce and sake.”
“Hey, why does Rio’s job sound the easiest?”
“Because Rio apologized properly.”
Normally I only cooked enough for a few people, but tonight the whole village was partying.
Honestly, having the kids help out was a pretty genius idea on my part.
“Eight, what should I do?”
“Huh? Umm… taste-testing?”
“Understood.”
I hadn’t expected even Raphiel to volunteer, so I answered without thinking.
Yet somehow, despite her usual blank expression, her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Putting that aside, I heated the oil to one hundred seventy degrees.
Once the cooking chopsticks dipped into the oil caused fine bubbles to quietly fizz around them, I knew it was ready.
“Now we carefully add the coated meat while making sure the oil temperature doesn’t drop!!”
The deep juwaaaah frying sound gradually shifted into lighter crackling pops.
That change in sound meant the moisture inside had evaporated and the chicken was cooked through.
I lifted the fried pieces onto a tray once.
“Ooooh, smells amazing!!”
“Eighty, this is that, right!?”
“I can’t wait!!”
“Do Luka and the others know what this dish is?” Raphiel asked, tilting her head curiously.
Beside her, I tossed the chicken into a second pot of oil heated to one hundred ninety degrees.
“Eight, why are you frying it again? Was it undercooked?”
“This is called double-frying. Doing this makes the outside crispy while keeping the inside juicy.”
“Ohoh.”
After another minute in the oil, I finally plated the chicken and added lemon wedges to the side.
With that, the karaage was complete.
“Then I shall perform the taste test.”
“Ah, wait!! It’s still piping ho—”
“Ahfuh! Haf! Hafuhafuh!”
“…Just like I warned.”
Raphiel had apparently forgotten yet again that she had a cat tongue and couldn’t handle hot food.
She’d stuffed a freshly fried piece straight into her mouth and was now desperately blowing air while chewing.
“Mgh… ngh… T-This is!!”
“How is it?”
“Exactly as you described!! Crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside!! The deliciousness is exploding throughout my mouth!! This would absolutely pair well with beer!!”
“Your food commentary is weirdly high-level as always… Ah, and if you squeeze lemon on it, it tastes even lighter and fresher.”
“I shall partake!!”
The moment she squeezed lemon over the karaage, Raphiel immediately shoved another piece into her mouth without hesitation.
“T-This is incredible!! The sourness of the lemon neutralizes the richness of the meat, creating such a refreshing flavor!! This is the taste of happiness and sin!!”
“It also goes well with mayonnaise or salt and pepper, so try whatever you like.”
As Raphiel happily devoured karaage while washing it down with beer, I continued frying batch after batch without pause.
The villagers’ appetites were monstrous.
By the time the next batch finished frying, the previous one had already vanished.
Especially the village chief and Cardinal Larsa.
Those two ate at a terrifying pace.
“This dish called ‘karaage’ is truly divine!! I could eat this every single day!!”
Even Cardinal Larsa looked thoroughly satisfied.
And so, for the next three straight hours, I continued making endless amounts of karaage until the night had grown deep and quiet.
Raphiel and the villagers—who had been drinking alcohol like it was water—as well as Grana and Cardinal Larsa, who had been more restrained, had all eventually fallen fast asleep.
The only one still awake was the village chief.
“How is it that the person who drank the most is somehow still conscious?”
“I’ve always had a strong tolerance for alcohol. Though even I overdid it tonight… Gimme some water.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I handed him water, and the two of us sat side by side on the wooden veranda.
The cool night breeze brushed gently across the skin.
Somewhere in the distance, insects chirped softly beneath the moonlight.
“…Village Chief, you really look out for me a lot, don’t you? Why is that?”
“Hm?”
It was something I’d wondered about for a long time.
Back when my house first appeared near Papel Village, and again now.
He’d even gone so far as to warn Cardinal Larsa personally not to lay a hand on me.
At first, I thought he was simply an eccentric old man.
But even someone as dense as me could tell this level of favoritism didn’t happen without a reason.
“…Eight. Ye remind me of my best friend.”
“Your best friend?”
“A Hero who came from another world. He died protectin’ me from a grand spell unleashed by one of the Demon King Army’s generals.”
The village chief’s best friend…
“Village Chief… what kind of person was the Hero?”
“……”
“Village Chief? …He fell asleep…”
A Hero, huh…
I wonder what he was like.
As I stared up at the moon hanging silently in the night sky, lost in thought—
“Eight.”
“Hm? Ah—Raphiel? You’re awake?”
“There is something… I wish to speak with you about.”
Something she wanted to talk about?