Chapter 77: Test of Courage
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 77: Test of Courage
The class president, Ayase Satsuki, hesitated before the Chinese-style rice bowl placed in front of her.
She normally couldn't handle spicy food.
But unable to ignore the expectant gazes from everyone around her, Ayase finally resolved to eat it.
Gulp.
The sauce itself was crimson, making it look spicy at a glance.
Before taking a large spoonful with rice, she first checked its aroma.
'The scent of scallions covers the smell of the pork. And a slightly spicy, smoky fragrance lingers.'
Contrary to the fiery red sauce, the dish itself didn't seem like it would be overwhelmingly spicy.
'If it's like this...'
Gaining a bit of courage, she put the spoon in her mouth.
Chomp!
Her first thought was, 'This is delicious.'
You might wonder what kind of reaction that is, but to be more precise, it was 'deliciously spicy.'
The spiciness was so perfectly controlled that even Ayase, who couldn't handle spicy food, felt that way.
The sauce, turned red from a generous amount of chili powder during cooking, had a surprisingly clean aftertaste despite its appearance.
It was slightly spicy, but the overall balance of salty and sweet was superb.
The crisp, crunchy texture of the vegetables was pleasant, and the taste of the pork, chewed along with the grains of rice, was also wonderful.
Pop! Pop!
The shrimp that occasionally popped in her mouth along with the vegetables made her unconsciously look forward to the next bite.
Without even realizing that large beads of sweat were forming on the bridge of her nose, she found herself shoveling spoonful after spoonful of the rice bowl into her mouth.
Kim Yoo-Sung, who had been watching her quietly, offered a small piece of advice.
"It's also good if you break the yolk of the fried egg on the side and mix it in."
'A fried egg?'
Ayase, who had been moving her spoon as if possessed, finally noticed the fried egg resting on the corner of the plate.
The sunny-side-up egg had been fried until its edges were a perfect golden brown.
Poke!
With a light touch of her spoon, the yolk, trapped beneath a thin membrane, oozed out like lava.
She mixed it with the red-sauce-stained rice and took a bite.
'Ngh!'
This was unfair.
It was unfairly delicious.
To think that a dish with such perfect balance could be created with limited ingredients in a limited space.
Perhaps out of consideration for those who couldn't handle spicy food, the Chinese-style rice bowl mixed with the savory egg yolk wasn't spicy at all, yet it perfectly preserved its original rich flavor.
The gentle, savory taste of the egg soothed her tongue, which had been tingling from the spicy sauce.
One bite, then two, and before she knew it, the bowl was completely empty.
After putting the very last spoonful into her mouth, the class president swept her sweat-dampened hair behind her ear and murmured in satisfaction.
"That was so~ good...♡"
The sight was, for some reason, excessively alluring.
*
And so, after the class president's fair judgment, the final winner of the cooking contest was the Chinese-style rice bowl.
Sasha and Rika, who had stepped up full of confidence only to suffer a crushing defeat, wiped away their tears. But since the whole thing had started as a half-joke anyway, we all gathered on the wooden terrace and began our dinner.
"There's plenty of rice, so I can give you refills if you need more," Yaguchi offered.
"Whoa! That's our Yaguchi! Always generous!"
We placed the dishes we had made in the center of the table and shared them.
Rika's omurice seemed a bit undercooked, so we heated it a little more, but other than that, it was quite edible. It was just plain chicken rice inside, after all.
Sasha's beef stroganoff, just as the class president had judged, felt a little bland to be eaten over rice, but an emergency remedy of more salt and pepper made it delicious.
Exotic food, just by its nature, adds to the atmosphere of a trip. If I had been the judge, I probably would have sided with the beef stroganoff.
Finally, for the Chinese-style rice bowl sauce I made, I distributed the fried eggs—one for each person—and then let everyone take as much sauce as they wanted.
I had made a large batch from the start, so we traded the leftovers for some curry from another group, and it was an absolute hit.
To be honest, curry is a common household dish, even outside of a forest school setting.
And since the curry powder that makes up most of the flavor is usually a mass-produced product from a large company, there's rarely such a thing as a particularly delicious curry.
In that situation, the appearance of a Chinese-style rice bowl with a completely different flavor at the campsite was bound to drive people wild.
At some point, we started trading not only with other groups but also with kids from other classes who were drawn by the smell. As a result, we ended up eating a ton of curry as well.
It was a truly fulfilling dinner.
*
After dinner, I headed to a storage shed in a corner of the campsite.
I had been assigned the role of a ghost for the test of courage that evening and needed to prepare.
Clank!
"Ah."
"It's Kim Yoo-Sung."
"What do we do, what do we do."
Inside the shed, it seemed the students selected from each class were discussing how to dress up and scare the other kids.
About three months had passed since the new semester began, so most of the preconceptions and misunderstandings my classmates had about me had cleared up. However, the kids from other classes, with whom I had no reason to interact, still seemed clearly afraid of me.
But I couldn't just stand here without saying a word. I decided to muster my courage and speak.
"Hey. I'm here because I'm playing a ghost, too."
One of the kids, who had been trembling in fear, cautiously asked.
"You were chosen as the representative for Class 2-B?"
"Yeah, that's right. And you don't have to be so scared. I'm not as frightening as you all think."
The boy who had spoken to me on behalf of the group nodded with a reluctant expression.
"R-Right."
He didn't look convinced at all, but I guess this would have to do for now.
I asked the other seven people sitting around the shed.
"Did you guys hear how the test of courage is supposed to work?"
A girl next to me hesitated before answering.
"According to the handout Mr. Matsuda gave us, we're supposed to walk along a designated path, turn around at a halfway point marked with a handkerchief, and come back to the campsite. The total distance is about one kilometer round trip, so it's not that far."
She handed me a printout, and it was indeed a simple, straight route.
At least there was no risk of students getting lost and wandering off.
"So the eight of us here are taking turns playing the ghosts?"
"...Yeah. We don't need a lot of people anyway. We were thinking of doing two shifts with four people each."
I nodded at the explanation, then realized that the others were already in partial costume.
"Oh, what kind of costume should I wear?"
The boy who had first spoken to me thought for a moment, then pointed to something in the corner of the shed.
"How about that?"
A white hockey mask, overalls, and an orange chainsaw.
The costume of a killer from a famous horror movie.
'You should never, ever dress up as a ghost. Someone will probably faint.'
Satoru's words flashed through my mind, but my desire to do a proper job as a ghost was stronger.
'Sorry, Satoru.'
I muttered inwardly and, with the help of the other students, quickly put on the killer costume.
"How do I look?"
The others stared at me with serious expressions.
"......"
"......"
No one seemed willing to speak.
Just in case, I lifted the chainsaw slightly. The most timid-looking kid flinched and took a few steps back.
"This is too scary."
"...Is it that bad?"
"If someone runs into you in the middle of the forest at night looking like that, they're definitely going to have a heart attack."
Faced with such a blunt review, I meekly took off the hockey mask.
"Then what kind of costume should I wear?"
Another boy from a different class, rubbing his brow tiredly, spotted a red Oni mask in the corner of the shed and pointed at it.
"Let's just go with that instead."
And so, my ghost costume was decided: a plastic Oni mask.
*
The test of courage.
A staple event of any forest school, it's often done in male-female pairs.
That's why in rom-coms, when the relationship between a boy and a girl is ambiguous, the test of courage is often used as a device to show off the guy's cool side.
But that had nothing to do with me, as I was one of the ghosts.
"Woe is meee~"
Hiding in my designated spot, I tried out a classic ghost line.
It didn't really fit the situation, but my deep voice made it sound decent enough.
I took out my smartphone to check the time.
7:58 PM.
The sun had completely set, and the forest was submerged in pitch-black darkness.
Honestly, in this level of darkness, even someone with nerves of steel would get scared.
I was no exception, so I wished for the slowly passing time to speed up.
I figured scaring the students passing by would be less frightening than waiting alone.