A Peaceful Life in the Forest

A few months later.

A peaceful life in the forest.

Draisine bicycles, propelled by kicking against the ground, had become a common sight in the city, but my life hadn't changed.

Shangri-La had mountains of videos and e-books, so I never ran out of ways to kill time.

On top of that, new releases kept being added one after another. What kind of system was this?

What I was doing hadn't changed at all from when I lived in the countryside of my original world and got by on online shopping.

If I couldn't communicate in the language here or Shangri-La didn't exist, I probably would have felt homesick for my original world and wanted to go back, but I didn't feel that way in the slightest.

I still occasionally opened my stall, but I hadn't visited the Marlowe Trading Company in some time.

Marlow-san seemed busy selling well pumps and bicycles, too.

My walks through the forest had also become more productive, thanks to the good items I bought from the old man at the tool shop.

It was a small statue with a master unit and a slave unit; I kept the master unit at home.

The slave unit had a ring-shaped body, and its finger spun horizontally to point precisely toward the master unit—a magic tool.

Apparently, it was a common item in this world, something like a direction finder in my original world.

The old man said it was essential for adventurers. It cost two silver coins (100,000 yen), which was fairly expensive, but its performance made it worth buying.

Now that I had it, I painted over the pink marks I'd left on the trees in the forest with black.

The vegetables from my garden were growing well, and the Forest Cat and the beastfolk had started bringing me game.

Then they'd hold a cat-food party at my place before heading home.

I could take the game they gave me to the Adventurers' Guild and get spending money and meat in return. That alone was enough to live on.

Still, if I'd known I was going to become this friendly with the beastfolk, I should have asked them to help build my house.

"Delicious!" "This is incredible!" "Nya!"

The beastfolk who had come to my house sat cross-legged on the hardwood floor, wolfing down cat food.

Apparently Myaree wasn't the only one who thought cat food was delicious; they found it irresistible.

They were eating it with pepper and salt sprinkled on top, and the blissful expressions on their faces left quite an impression.

They looked like they were experiencing the best days of their lives. Was it really that delicious?

"Everyone gets two, okay? You haven't told anyone in the city about me, have you?"

"Of course not! If we told people about something this delicious, there'd be less for us to eat."

"Exactly, brother!"

When I was drinking with them, the Forest Cat climbed into my lap. It was heavy—no, really, it was heavy...

It was like having a bag of cement resting on my knees. Still, it looked so content when I stroked its short black fur.

So I decided to buy a 【Premium Cat Brush】 from Shangri-La. Despite the name, it only cost 2,000 yen.

I wondered what kind of hair it was made from. I read the description, and apparently it was pig bristles.

Swish, swish—the brush glided over the Forest Cat's body. Its coat seemed to grow glossier with every stroke.

Brushing really might be quite effective.

When I finished, its fur felt like gleaming velvet. It was a shame for the Forest Cat, but I could understand why its pelt would be traded as an extremely high-end fur.

Myaree had been watching me brush the Forest Cat intently. Suddenly, she took off her clothes and shoved the Forest Cat off my lap.

She slipped into my lap in its place and claimed it for herself.

"Brush my back too, nya..."

"All right, all right."

When I brushed Myaree's back, she purred contentedly.

But when the brush touched the base of her tail, she twitched.

"N-no, not there, nya..."

"Oh, sorry, sorry. You don't like having your tail brushed?"

When I brushed her twitching, round rear and stroked down to her thighs, quite a bit of loose fur became tangled in the brush.

"You shed a lot."

"That's why I have to groom myself every day, nya."

Pets shed an incredible amount of fur, especially when the seasons change.

"Fnyaa..."

Myaree's eyes grew moist as she rolled onto her back and exposed her white-furred belly. Apparently, she wanted me to pet her stomach next.

Her belly was even fluffier, covered in finer fur.

The men watching Myaree and me suddenly took off their clothes and turned their backs to me. It was like a wall of meat.

Apparently, they wanted me to pet them too.

"Wait, wait. I'll get you each a brush, and you can do it yourselves."

"Come on, boss. You can't do us like that."

"Why would I want to pet a man's back?"

I bought three cat brushes from Shangri-La and gave them one each.

"If you want one, I'll sell it to you. One animal in exchange."

"Really? That's all right?"

"Yeah."

As soon as I answered, the beastfolk happily began brushing themselves all over. Naturally, fur started flying around the room.

Come on, couldn't you do that outside...? Once they left, I'd have to run the vacuum.

As I watched them, the Forest Cat and Myaree both rubbed against me. Now my clothes were covered in fur too.

My interactions with the beastfolk were generally like this. They were mostly honest and good-natured, so they were easy to get along with. They also seemed terrible at lying.

Since they couldn't do calculations, I had also started acting as a witness to their transactions in exchange for a small fee.

Now that my life had stabilized, I was trying to reduce how often I used Shangri-La by buying as many vegetables as possible at the market, apart from those grown in my garden.

Even if I bought vegetables in bulk at the market, I could keep them fresh until I needed them by putting them in my Item Box.

But compared with the vegetables from my original world, where selective breeding had progressed so far, the ones here were less flavorful. That made me reach for Shangri-La despite myself.

Besides, I wanted coffee, cola, and ice cream too.

It was possible to make ice cream and potato chips with ingredients from this world, but... if I got the chance, I wanted to try making all sorts of things.

For a while, the market had been abuzz with rumors about me, such a strange presence, but after I started opening my stall only occasionally, it seemed people stopped talking about me before I knew it.

People apparently came up with all sorts of guesses on their own—I'd gone bankrupt, fallen ill, died, moved away—but that was fine by me.

I still had regular customers, like the old man who copied manuscripts, so whenever I opened my stall, I sometimes heard voices from somewhere saying, "Hey, he's still alive."

Now that I had some breathing room, I had reduced my dealings with the Marlowe Trading Company as well, but apparently nobles were still placing orders with the company.

However, I turned down further deliveries by claiming that I'd sold off everything I had and run out of stock.

I didn't visit the Marlowe Trading Company often anymore, but in exchange, Primula-san had started visiting me here frequently.

"But are you sure this is all right? The Marlowe Trading Company's being granted a family name was thanks to the picture Kenichi-san drew for us..."

"Yes, that's perfectly fine. Like I said before, all I need is enough income to eat normally. In fact, I'd be in trouble if my name were mentioned. Ha-ha."

If the Marlowe Trading Company mentioned my name, nobles and other merchants would come rushing directly to me, so they probably wanted to avoid that too.

"But... I'm sorry I laughed when I first saw that draisine."

"No, no, I don't mind that either. Still, Marlow-san really is something. He laughed, but he had a prototype made right away."

"Yes. Once I took it for a test ride, I immediately realized what an amazing thing it was."

Because the invention of the bicycle had earned him a family name, it became known as Draisine—and Primula-san's full name became Primula ne Draisine.

"Well, well, what's done is done. Here, have some of this."

I offered Primula-san the potato chips on the table.

"What is this?"

"They're a snack made by slicing potatoes thin and frying them in oil."

I took milk from my Item Box and poured it into the cup on the table.

She picked one up gingerly and took a bite—the crisp sound of the chip breaking filled the room.

"This is delicious!"

Primula-san cried out in surprise.

"Nice and crunchy, isn't it?"

"Yes. Is frying them all you do?"

"They're better if you fry them twice. Otherwise, they end up limp... Oh, and you have to use vegetable oil. Kerosene won't do—I think."

The kerosene around here was sea-beast oil. In other words, it was probably something like lard, so maybe it would work after all. I couldn't say without trying.

"I hear that dishes made by frying meat in oil have become popular in the Empire."

"Oh? Sounds like karaage."

"Exactly! A traveling merchant told me about a dish called karaage."

"What?"

They sold karaage too...? That settled it. Still, I probably wasn't going to visit this so-called Empire.

"Hmm, then how about I make karaage for dinner?"

"You can make it too, Kenichi-san?"

"Yes."

I set out a table and arranged a full set of cooking utensils. I also took out two cassette stoves. Now, what should I use for oil...? I still had some sesame oil, so that would do.

I poured the oil into a pot and lit one cassette stove. I put the pot on one burner and set water to boil on the other.

I decided to make instant clam chowder for the soup.

I'd said karaage, but I didn't have any chicken. I had horned rabbit meat, so I decided to try making fried meat with that.

I'd grilled horned rabbit before, and it was quite tasty without any strong flavor, so it should work fine for karaage too.

When I was in my original world, I often made karaage with thinly sliced pork, and it had been perfectly delicious.

I cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and dipped them in beaten egg. Then it was time for the karaage flour I'd bought from Shangri-La.

I decided to try the 【Soy Sauce Garlic Flavor】, but would the smell be too strong? For now, I'd fry two or three pieces and let Primula-san judge.

If she didn't like the flavor, a more basic karaage mix might be better.

I put one finished piece of karaage on a plate and offered it to Primula-san.

"Primula-san, how's the flavor? If you don't like the smell, I'll use a different mix."

"No, it smells wonderfully savory and makes me hungry."

Huh? It seemed to be fine. In that case, I'd fry everything with this mix. I fried about twenty pieces in all. If there were leftovers, I could put them in my Item Box.

Then I could eat them whenever I wanted.

The water had boiled too, so I took out the instant packet and made the clam chowder. Primula-san had grown used to the strange products I brought out by now.

I tore up lettuce from my garden and arranged it on plates, then piled on the karaage. All that was left was the bread.

I'd shown her pasta before, but it hadn't gone over well. She said it was disgusting. The beastfolk had said the same thing, so noodles didn't seem to suit this world.

I took asparagus from my garden out of my Item Box, cut it on the diagonal, and stir-fried it in oil. I seasoned it simply with salt and pepper.

After planting the asparagus roots I'd bought from Shangri-La in my garden, they had sprouted successfully, so I'd put the freshly harvested stalks straight into my Item Box.

That meant I could eat delicious asparagus whenever I wanted.

Now that the food was ready, I decided to eat with Primula-san.

"Delicious! It's so crisp, and the juices inside—"

"Rabbit karaage is delicious too. The beastfolk give me meat, so this might become a regular dish."

"This unusual vegetable is sweet and delicious too."

She was eating the stir-fried asparagus. Freshly picked asparagus really was delicious.

The downside was that it made your urine smell. I'd heard that whether you could detect that smell was determined by genetics, but I didn't know if it was true.

Apparently, you couldn't detect the smell unless you had a particular gene.

"But be careful with horned rabbits, Kenichi-san. They look easy to catch, but many people get injured."

Apparently, they head-butted you with their horns when you approached. They also sometimes played dead, so they looked cute, but they seemed to be surprisingly dangerous animals.

"Kenichi-san, how do you make this white soup?"

"Well... This one has shellfish in it, but basically, you simmer whatever ingredients you like in milk and flour."

I vaguely remembered it also used heavy cream or something, but there was no heavy cream here.

Shangri-La sold cookbooks too, so if she really wanted to know the exact recipe, I might as well buy a book and look it up.

Still, some ingredients didn't exist in this world, so I'd have to improvise in places.

"I've heard of a soup like that among aristocratic cuisine, so this may be it."

"Nobles really do eat good food, huh?"

"I don't think your cooking is inferior to it, Kenichi-san."

We finished dinner, but Primula-san apparently intended to stay the night again—was that really all right...?

Maybe the fact that I was old enough to be her father made her feel safe.

We got into an animated discussion about business, but I was having trouble keeping the conversation going.

I could talk endlessly about my original world, but there was no point telling her about an otherworld she couldn't even imagine.

Still, would she listen if I presented it as a fairy tale?

Hmm, that's it. If a fairy tale was fine, how about a movie? It was advanced technology, but Primula-san should be able to handle it.

I began searching for DVDs. If I just wanted to watch a movie myself, I could do it through Shangri-La, but then she wouldn't be able to watch it.

There was no point showing her a science-fiction or modern movie, though. What movie had a setting close enough to this world that it wouldn't feel too out of place...?

Cleopatra—the old one.

Or perhaps—

○nother Shakespeare.

Hmm, what about 【The Name ○ the Rose】? It felt like the world in that movie might be similar to this one.

Of course, I'd use the dubbed version. She couldn't read Japanese subtitles.

"What on earth are you...?"

I stopped Primula-san's confused questions with a hand and began setting everything up.

First, the DVD player—the playback-only kind sold for around 3,000 yen. Monitors were expensive, so I'd use a projector. A cheap one cost 10,000 yen.

Then there was the screen, another 3,000 yen.

A used DVD of The Name ○ the Rose was selling for 500 yen—cheap. Was everything Blu-ray now?

I spread cushions on the floor and pressed the 【Purchase】 button. The equipment tumbled down, but it was easy to set up.

I put the projector on the table and hung the screen from the wall. I took a mobile battery out of my Item Box for power.

Everything was ready.

I turned on the projector and pressed the DVD's play button, then turned down the gasoline lantern.

I adjusted the distance between the projector and screen, and the story began.

"Huh?"

There was no sound! In a panic, I bought a 2,000-yen amplifier from Shangri-La. I hesitated over the speakers, but decided to go with F○STEX.

I nearly bought J○L on impulse, but managed to restrain myself. I also bought speaker cable and busied myself stripping the insulation.

Meanwhile, she watched my actions with a puzzled expression.

At last, I finished connecting everything. All right, let's start over from the beginning—

When the story began, she let out a startled cry.

"There are people inside that window!"

"We're using magic to look in on events taking place in another world."

"Magic..."

She watched the images, absorbed, saying very little. Since the cultures and customs were different, I provided commentary.

The movie was about a monk who came to a certain monastery and investigated a series of mysterious deaths.

She seemed able to hear the audio coming from the speakers too. In that case, this world really did use a Japanese-compatible language.

I'd wondered if the words were merely being converted inside our minds, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Well, seeing her read the Roman-letter-like script made that self-evident.

The movie ended, but she was still excited and asked all sorts of questions, so I answered them.

I wasn't very knowledgeable about history and the like, though. I was in trouble if she dug too deeply.

"Talking with you, Kenichi-san, is like talking with a sage."

"Ha-ha, we'd be in trouble if there were a sage like me."

"That's not true..."

It was already pitch-black outside. In this world, it was time for bed.

"Well, it's getting late. Shall we go to sleep soon?"

"Um..."

"Oh, right. I'll get your nightclothes. Just wait a moment."

"Um... if possible... the sheer one you showed me before..."

Still sitting down, Primula-san fidgeted as she said something outrageous.

"What? If you buy something like that, your father will scold you."

"It's all right. I'm not a child anymore, either."

"Is there someone special you're hoping to win over with that?"

"Right now... you, though."

"Huh?"

"..."

"Primula-san, sit down over there for a moment."

"I'm already sitting."

The old-man lecture began.

"Young people need to take better care of themselves. Don't take an interest in some old geezer like me! Surely there's some young man out there who can promise you a brighter future."

"That's not true. You're a wonderful person, Kenichi-san."

"Oh, how lamentable. A woman like you must have suitors lining up among the nobility, right?"

"I have received offers like that, certainly, but a merchant's daughter could never become a legitimate wife. They only see me as a concubine. Do you really call that a woman's happiness?"

To the nobility, a merchant's daughter was a source of money; to merchants, the nobility were a gateway to vested interests. There was no happiness for a woman in that.

Conversely, daughters of nobles who had become hopelessly mired in debt apparently sometimes married merchants.

"Then what about the knight who often visits my stall?"

Primula-san thought for a moment, so she must have had someone in mind.

"...Ah, Sir Northpole, you mean. He's a good man, but..."

"What will Marlow-san say about all this?"

"My father isn't opposed to it."

Father, oppose it! But I suppose he wasn't exactly in favor of it, either. From a father's perspective, having his daughter taken by a man his own age had to be complicated.

"I'm sorry, but please put that matter on hold. The responsibility is far too great for me to make an immediate decision."

"Th-then, could we at least sleep together...?"

Primula-san's face was bright red, but she really wasn't backing down.

"Hmm... Just sleeping. We're only sleeping, all right?"

I emphasized the point, just in case.

"Yes!"

I gave Primula-san a pink nightgown, and somehow we ended up sleeping in the same bed.

Why on earth had she singled out an old geezer like me? It made absolutely no sense.

But she was the daughter of a business partner. Sleeping with her was entirely different from sleeping with Azalea at the inn for a little extra spending money.

There we were, the two of us in a single bed in the dark.

When Primula-san hugged me, I felt the warmth of her body and caught a scent drifting through the air.

Was it soap? Or something like perfume?

But was this really all right?