Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 202
Never Mind the Heir, I’ll Focus on Healing — Chapter 202
The idea that the Second Prince would abandon Jack was indeed nonsense.
Hadn’t Lion seen how they each cared for the other in their own way?
‘He never showed it, but the Second Prince, above anyone else…’
Wasn’t Jack the only person in this world he could truly rely on?
The one and only being who had been with him since he was a child.
And even at a glance, Jack must have gritted his teeth and guarded the Second Prince with everything he had.
Now that he held the position of guild leader, he was suddenly overprotective?
‘Those feelings didn’t just appear overnight.’
In any case, they had survived by protecting each other as best they could.
If they hadn’t, one of them would have lost their life long ago.
And yet…
‘Jack was so full of anxiety.’
Lion knew perfectly well what lay at the root of that anxiety.
Jack must have worried that the Second Prince, his whole world, would go somewhere far away.
‘Because Jack couldn’t lift the curse.’
Even after watching him suffer from that curse for so many long years, Jack had been unable to lift the Second Prince’s curse.
‘He must have tried.’
Freyania was the living proof of that.
Hadn’t she provided tremendous support for alchemy?
Even for someone in a key position circulating criminal underworld funds, pouring in a staggering amount of money while putting up with Freyania’s personality couldn’t have been an easy decision.
Not unless there was a deeper purpose behind it.
Looking back now, all of it seemed like the traces of someone who had done their very best to break the Second Prince’s curse.
There were probably many other attempts that Lion knew nothing about.
And all of it, in the end, had failed.
Right up to the moment when the Second Prince had no choice but to seize the disguised Lion.
So from Jack’s perspective, how futile and furious at himself he must have felt.
He had risen to become the leader of the criminal underworld to protect a single person, yet he must have believed he had ultimately been of no real help.
“Well…”
Lion understood.
To be honest, if he were in that situation, he couldn’t guarantee he wouldn’t be just as crushed and miserable.
He hated to admit it, but Jack and he shared quite a few similarities.
Specifically, with a slightly younger version of himself from the past.
The person he’d been back then was a little…
“…Ah. All strained out.”
Lion pushed down the memories he had no wish to revive and looked at the soy sauce, now cleanly strained free of impurities.
The color was a little different from the soy sauce everyone knew.
It had a faintly yellowish hue, as if the dregs of sesame oil had been mixed in half and half with soy sauce.
He dipped out a small amount and tasted it; a subtle sweetness and a spicy note spread across his tongue.
“Mmm!”
His instincts gave him a pretty good feeling.
Of course, there was still a lot of work ahead.
This wasn’t yet the soy sauce everyone was familiar with.
First, he needed to bring the strained soy sauce to a rolling boil and reduce it, then let it go through another aging process before it would develop the familiar color and aroma.
“Still, it’s nice that I can boil it down in one go.”
Lion turned his head and looked at the alchemy cauldron.
The alchemy cauldron was proudly displaying its magnificence as always…
“…Has it gotten a little worn?”
It felt a bit different from when he first saw it.
How should he put it?
Maybe he could say it had picked up the patina of use?
Of course, it was still a phenomenal alchemical tool without equal in the world, but it seemed like it was about time for maintenance.
Still, a little wear-and-tear aside, it wasn’t broken, so there was no problem using it to reduce the soy sauce.
“Just this one last time, and then I’ll do it.”
Lion poured the clear soy sauce liquid into the alchemy cauldron and began to simmer it slowly.
Boiling it over too high a heat could scorch the bottom or burn it outright, which would make it taste bitter.
After coming this far, he really didn’t want to lose his soy sauce to a mistake like that.
“Peep, peep.”
Nature, looking a little the worse for wear from childcare, left Pooch and fluttered over to perch on his shoulder.
It seemed to have come over to rest and get away from Pooch for a while.
“Are you going to watch the fire for me?”
“Ppee!”
As if finally making its escape, Nature chirped and poked around near the cauldron.
However fond it was of Pooch, keeping up with that much energy indefinitely could not have been easy.
Truth be told, it was thanks to Nature that Lion had been able to step away from the childcare—no, the cub-rearing—at all.
‘Now that I think of it…’
He had thought to make toys for Pooch, but he hadn’t set up a separate place for Nature to rest.
Usually, they could just rest together on the bed, but as long as Pooch was around, Nature would need its own personal space.
‘Come to think of it, I should build it a birdhouse before making the toys.’
With that thought, he returned to where the fermentation crocks sat.
Nature was keeping an eye on the soy sauce, so what remained was the Doenjang.
Without hesitation, Lion began mashing the Meju blocks he had fished out before the soy sauce.
The Doenjang required far more attention than the soy sauce, which only needed to be strained and boiled.
The pieces that remained hard in the shape of Meju had to be crushed as thoroughly as possible so they would be pleasant to eat later.
Lion applied steady pressure, breaking and mashing and kneading the Meju.
‘If it’s too dry, I’ll add a little soy sauce.’
It was a good thing he’d set some soy sauce aside just in case.
Whenever the Doenjang felt too stiff, Lion added a bit of soy sauce to keep it moist.
When it grew perfectly smooth with no gritty texture left, he pressed it down firmly into a fermentation crock he had sterilized over a fire beforehand.
Finally, he sprinkled salt over the top of the Doenjang, tidied up the surrounding area, covered it with a wrapping cloth, and shut the lid; that was the end.
“Whoo!”
At last, the finish line was nearly in sight.
Only then did Lion straighten his back, a grin spreading across his face.
Honestly, he hadn’t expected the project to grow this large, but making his own fermented soybean paste from scratch was deeply satisfying.
“Peep, peep!”
“Oh, yours is all done too.”
At Nature’s call, he went over to the cauldron and found the soy sauce had reduced to just the right point.
The color had deepened, and the flavor had clearly concentrated.
“That looks great.”
The moment the satisfied words left Lion’s mouth, Nature took it upon itself to transfer the soy sauce into an empty crock.
The sight of the transparent dark-amber liquid flowing gracefully through the air was remarkably unique.
‘Her spirit arts really have gotten more refined—she’s using her power much more comfortably now.’
Of course, she’d always handled the elements freely, but back then, there had been a lot more constraints, so she would occasionally tap into Lion’s mana.
But now…
‘I don’t feel a thing.’
If anything, with Pooch to look after, Nature was working hard using wind and water and who knew what else, yet Lion’s mana expenditure was almost zero.
‘But it’s strange…’
Strangely enough, there had been no outward change in her at all.
As far as Lion knew, Nature’s true form was quite…
“Peep, ppeet!”
“Hm? Ah. You’ve transferred it all?”
“Peep, peep!”
Lion looked at the soy sauce, still hot and sending up steam.
Once the steam had completely cooled, he could put the lid on.
“Ppeehyu…!”
Unseen by Lion, Nature used its wing to wipe the sweat trickling down its round face.
“Well then, shall we start the aging?”
After tidying everything up neatly, Lion rolled up his sleeves and stood before the Doenjang crock.
He then laid his hands gently upon it.
Now, if he applied Fermentation Acceleration just right, the paste would age swiftly and deliciously.
Since Doenjang generally needed at least three months of aging…
“Hm. Looks like I’ll need to stay here three or four days.”
Although he’d have to apply Fermentation Acceleration for far longer than he’d initially thought, Lion was unruffled.
‘I already told Rickshel to come in if anything happens…’
So it should be fine, right?
He was someone who had lived here for a whole month before, wasn’t he?
Besides, thanks to all the odds and ends he’d brought in and tinkered with, this place had become quite livable.
It had everything he needed, and there was plenty to eat.
“Hahaha. Then let’s get started.”
And so began Lion’s soybean paste aging challenge.
* * *
While the paste was aging, Lion used Fermentation Acceleration without pause.
He spent hours living right next to the crocks, occasionally opening them to smooth over the surface of the Doenjang so no mold would form, and polished the crocks themselves until they gleamed, removing any foreign matter.
During that time, of course, Nature and even the tomboyish Pooch stayed by Lion’s side acting charming, and then they would wander off to roll around in the flower field by themselves, passing the time happily.
One thing that came as a bit of a surprise—
“Kee-ing!”
Perhaps resonating with Lion’s mana as he used Fermentation Acceleration, mana actually flowed out of Pooch’s body!
Of course, it was so faint and instantaneous that an ordinary mage wouldn’t have even noticed.
‘A demonic beast is a demonic beast after all.’
Not even a month old yet, and he was already trying to handle mana.
And without anyone teaching him, at that.
At any rate, watching Pooch’s flashes of genius while preparing materials for its toys made the time pass remarkably quickly.
“Now.”
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Lion carefully opened the lid.
And when he pulled back the wrapping cloth…!
[Doenjang Beyond Memory (★★★)]
-A fermented soybean paste with a richer flavor than any store-bought Doenjang from memory.
-A taste that even surpasses memory! It’s fantastic!
-A cooking ingredient of high quality. Dishes made with it will rise in refinement!
[Usage - Food]
[☞Click to view recipe.]
[Through extreme use of the Fermentation Acceleration skill, the skill has been further strengthened!]
[Cooking Proficiency has reached Skilled Lv.3.]
“A success.”
Lion murmured, holding back the emotions welling up inside him.
As happy as this alone made him, what really made him want to burst with joy was the food he’d make using this Doenjang.
‘With this, I can…!’
Gulp.
Lion swallowed again, then scooped out a generous tablespoon of Doenjang with his rice paddle.
The Doenjang was complete, so now he could cook.
“First, let’s get some water.”
After dividing the Doenjang into smaller containers, Lion headed straight for the campfire.
His movements after that flowed like water.
He dissolved the Doenjang into the rice-washing water, and while it came to a boil, he neatly chopped all sorts of vegetables and even some Labyrinth Baby Mushrooms and added them in.
There was one thing worth being careful about here.
Namely, putting in thicker vegetables like potatoes first to let them cook through—though, honestly, if you’re feeling lazy, you can just throw everything in at once.
After all, the more the vegetable flavors steep into the broth, the better Doenjang stew tastes, doesn’t it?
While the potatoes were cooking, he seared the thinly sliced beef brisket on the side.
There was also a method of putting it into the same pot first and stir-frying it, but that would release too much oil and could easily ruin the stew’s distinctive flavor.
Ssssss!
The thin slices of brisket cooked quickly, sizzling and releasing their savory juices.
He scooped them out at just the right moment and added them to the stew, then poked a potato with his chopsticks to check if it was done.
And then, from his inventory, he took out ‘that’.
That was, precisely.
‘Tofu…!’
He’d prepared it alongside the other supplies when he got ready to make the fermented pastes.
How could you have Doenjang stew without tofu!
It’s delicious popped into your mouth in one hot bite along with the thick, spicy broth, and it’s also magnificent crumbled together with rice and wolfed down.
“I made the rice this morning.”
Moderately cooled rice was the perfect match for piping-hot Doenjang stew.
Finally, he sliced a chili pepper into thin rings, let the stew bubble vigorously one more time…!
Whaaang!
[Ultimate Beef-Brisket Doenjang Stew (★★★★)]
And it was complete.
The Ultimate Beef-Brisket Doenjang Stew.