Volume 1, Chapter 9: I play with the spirit.
“Rice exists! Then what about soybeans? And then seasoning…first, is there tougarashi1? What about chocolate, oh I guess it would be cacao beans…oh, oh, also…”
Hyper over the revelation that rice exists in this world, I peppered Basil with more and more questions about other ingredients. Surprised by the sudden assault, Basil shrunk and backed away.
“M-master! Please calm down!”
O-oh, yes, let’s listen to Basil and calm down for a second.
“The names are different, so I can’t say that they are the exact same ingredients that Master would like. However, Most of the ingredients that are similar to the ones in your previous world do exist!”
“Really?”
“Yes! That’s what the Goddess said! Oh, I think I wasn’t supposed to say that…”
“The Goddess?”
“The Goddess is like a mother to us, and is the almighty creator of this world.”
“Wow!”
The Goddess who popped up in the last conversation I had with Basil. The person? God? Who was responsible for dropping me here without preamble. While I can’t say I don’t bear any ill feelings towards her, my opinion of her is slightly improved if a lot of the ingredients in my world also exist here, albeit in a similar manner. Food is very important. Hatred stemming from (the lack of) food is very terrifying, as is food stemming from hatred.
“I can assume that I can get most of the ingredients I want, then?”
“Yes!”
The future for food in this world seems a little brighter after seeing Basil’s confident reply.
“Master, do you have anything else you are troubled with?”
“Hmm, anything else…I’m troubled that the food tastes bad, but that can’t be helped for now…oh, this is more of a simple question, but what kind of spirit are you, Basil? Gil said that spirits all have a type, or rather a specialization…”
“I am an emerald spirit. I can heal plants and make them grow faster! Oh, I can use a bit of wind magic too!”
“Wow, that’s why you know so much about food.”
“Yes!”
Basil puffed up her chest with pride. She looked kind of silly, but I couldn’t deny that I was incredibly fortunate to meet someone (some spirit) knowledgeable of the flora and food ingredients in this world.
“Here’s another question.”
“Yes?”
“Do spirits eat food?”
“We can, but we don’t have to.”
“Oooh.”
“…To be honest, the food Master made looked really good and I really wanted to try it!”
Basil shyly clasped her hands, but her sparkling eyes betrayed her hope.
“Is that so? Then I’ll make some for you too next time.”
“Really!? Yay!”
Basil was so happy, she jumped and flew around me in joy.
While chuckling to myself thinking about all the ingredients I could get, I passed the time with Basil without a care in the world.
1. tougarashi: Usually translated as “chili pepper” but can refer to both shichimi (seven spices) and shishito pepper. It looks and tastes a bit like cayenne, but is slightly more orange.