Living as a Recluse Deep in the Forest - Episode 19: Princess Aurora and Company: Understanding the Threat of Curry

There was a profound silence that followed the filling of their stomachs.

The ones savoring that silence were Aurora and her entourage. The maids, the guards, and Aurora herself—not a single soul could muster the strength to stand up from their chairs. Some were slumped limply against their backrests. One had their cheek pressed against the table, eyes closed in a blissful daze. Another was tracing the rim of their empty plate with a finger, as if loath to let it go. Common to every face was an expression of intoxicated, heavenly bliss.

(...I’m so glad I'm alive.) 

(The life of someone who dies without knowing this, versus the life of someone who dies after knowing it... the difference is night and day.) (I’m not dying yet... but I understand why one would want to start talking about their final moments...)

One by one, the guards and maids reached a strange sort of enlightenment within their hearts. Taking a generous amount of time, their breathing and heart rates finally settled. The lingering trail of spices on their tongues still throbbed with a vivid presence. Amidst this, the first to regain her reason was the Princess herself.

"...Yuu."

Her voice was raspy. The tone in which she called his name was weak. And yet, it carried a strange, heavy pressure.

"Hm?"

Yuu turned around while tidying up the hot water boiled over the campfire. He wore the same satisfied expression as before. Aurora slowly pushed herself up from her chair.

"I have a question." 

"I figured you might."

In a moment— Bam. It felt as if the gazes of not only Aurora, but every guard and maid, snapped toward him in unison. They stood up almost soundlessly and stepped forward, looming. From Yuu's perspective, it looked as if a row of "people with dead-serious eyes" had lined up across the table.

(Whoa, the pressure is intense.)

Even Yuu couldn't help but offer a wry smile. The look in their eyes was fundamentally different from before they had eaten the curry. There was no trace of the people who had been moaning "I'm so tired" or "I can't walk another step" just a while ago; they were all burning with a strange fighting spirit. Aurora kept her hands on the back of her chair and looked Yuu straight in the eye.

"Regarding that dish just now—" 

"Yeah." 

"The ingredients, the method, the steps, the heat levels—everything from start to finish. Tell us. All of it."

She was incredibly direct. From the sides, the maids followed suit.

"Please!" 

"We beg of you!" 

"We implore you!!"

They looked ready to bow so low their heads would hit the ground. Yuu shrugged and laughed.

"Well, I knew you'd ask."

He held up a palm lightly.

"I'll give you the gist, like I usually do. The principles behind it, what the key points are. However—"

He cut them off firmly.

"I won't give you the detailed recipe." 

"STINGY!!"

Their voices were perfectly synchronized. They called him a cheapskate with enough force to echo through the entire forest. Yuu scratched his head, muttering, "That's harsh."

"Look, I’ve told you this before, right? I'm more than happy to have you guys try to recreate it through trial and error."

He continued in a calm voice.

"Beyond that point, it’s not my job anymore; it’s the effort of your kingdom. It’s not my style to skip all that and just hand over the 'answer' from one to ten."

One of the guards knit his brows.

"But, if we could bring that back to the country, the benefits would be—" 

"That’s exactly why."

Yuu’s voice took on a slightly more serious edge.

"Rather than distributing a 'finished product' as a Sage’s blessing, it’s infinitely better in the long run for your side to understand the principles and turn it into your own technology. That’s what progress is, isn't it?"

Aurora listened in silence. She had heard similar arguments many times before.

The air conditioners. The refrigerators. The cosmetics. The udon.

Yuu would talk about the mechanisms and the concepts. But he would never hand over the "perfect manufacturing process." The only exceptions were the barrier stones they used to travel between the forest and the capital, water for the journey, and small amounts of ingredients. Handing over the end result in its entirety wouldn't help the country. He said that, and he wouldn't budge.

"If you become dependent on a Sage’s 'rations,' your country's technology won't grow. The moment I’m gone, you’ll be stuck."

He was detached, but his words were stern.

"Besides—"

Yuu lightly tapped the empty pot.

"The obsession to recreate this taste with your own hands no matter what... in a way, that’s the strongest driving force there is, right?" 

"Guh..."

No one could argue. Recalling how they had just eaten as if they were going to lick the plates clean, his words pierced their chests with a strange persuasiveness.

(True...) 

(If we could recreate that in the capital, we’d seriously do anything...) (We'd put our lives on the line for it...)

They were playing right into Yuu's hands, but even knowing that, they couldn't stop themselves. After a short silence, Aurora spoke.

"...I understand that you aren't saying this out of spite."

She exhaled slowly.

"It’s for the development of the nation. So that we can reach it through our own strength... that’s it, isn't it?" 

"Well, something like that."

Yuu shrugged.

"Though, even I think today’s meal was a bit of a foul play."

Everyone’s shoulders flinched.

"So, I suppose I’ll offer a little bit of hope." 

"H-hope?"

The light immediately returned to Aurora’s eyes. The guards and maids looked up all at once.

"Curry, in and of itself—I think you’ll be able to make it once you return to your country."

Everyone froze at his casual remark.

"...Huh?" 

"W-what do you mean by that?" 

"That scent from earlier—there's no way we've smelled anything like it in these parts!?"

Yuu leaned his elbows on the table and looked at Aurora.

"If I recall, you said you import spices through trade with the Demon Kingdom to the west, right?"

Aurora nodded, albeit confused.

"Y-yes. Spices harvested from the desert regions. They're used for flavoring food, medicinal purposes, insect repellent... they have many uses. You could say it’s one of the pillars of our trade with the Demon Kingdom." 

"That’s the one."

Yuu snapped his fingers.

"The curry you just ate—it’s a combination of those spices."

Silence. It took a few seconds for the meaning of his words to sink in.

"...Eh?"

Aurora’s voice went up an octave.

"A combination?" 

"Yeah. What I served just now was a blend of spices gathered here plus the ones your country already uses."

One of the maids looked down at her plate as if seeing something unbelievable.

"Wait... that... it wasn't the effect of precious medicinal herbs or Master Yuu’s magic?" 

"Not in there, and I didn't do that. Well, I did use a bit of magic to dry them instantly."

Yuu averted his eyes slightly. He was aware that flash-drying spices was the ultimate cheat in cooking. However, that was something Aurora and the others wouldn't understand. Yuu continued.

"Of course, each spice has medicinal properties. Promoting digestion, detoxification, increasing appetite, sterilization, pain relief... I just didn't set it up as a medicine, but as a single type of food."

Yuu lightly tapped the empty pot with his finger.

"To be precise, it’s the parts of the spices that don't use the leaves, stems, or flowers."

One of the guards tilted his head.

"Doesn't use the leaves, stems, or flowers...?" 

"Yeah. Generally speaking, you can classify spices by which part of the plant you use."

Yuu continued his explanation while drawing a diagram on the ground with his finger.

"There are types where you dry and use the leaves, stems, or flowers, but the ones I used for today's curry were almost entirely seeds, fruits, bark, and roots." 

"So... those are 'spices'?" the maid asked timidly. 

"Right. You dry those parts and grind them into powder—"

He added lines to the circle he drew with his fingertip.

"This is spice powder. Once you get this far, the rest is easy."

He looked up.

"A combination of these spice powders in a 'nice ratio'—that is curry."

...Silence fell once more. A different kind of silence this time. Someone could be heard letting out a dry laugh. The first to scream was a maid.

"But if we don't know that 'nice ratio,' we can't make it at all!!"

a guard followed.

"The types might be available, but...!" 

"Our country handles spices—just counting at a glance, it's not just twenty or thirty!?" 

"Narrowing it down from there to specific parts, grinding them into powder, and then testing the ratios...?"

Aurora stared into space with a dazed expression. Unbelievable. She didn't want to believe it. A sense of tragic loss. One of the guards, pale-faced with his hands on his head, addressed the Princess.

"Your Highness... just hypothetically. If we were to choose five types of spices... and divide their blending ratios into even just ten rough levels..." 

"Stop. Don't count." 

"No, I must say it. Even roughly speaking, it’s ten to the fifth power." 

"Ten to the... fifth power...?" 

"Ten multiplied five times, Your Highness... in other words, a hundred thousand patterns..." 

"............"

Aurora’s smile twitched.

"A hundred thousand ways...?"

Another maid continued in a trembling voice.

"And in reality, we'd need to change the ratios even more finely..." 

"There’s no guarantee five types of spices would be enough." 

"We'd also need people with the right palates to taste-test them..."

The guards' eyes began to lose focus.

"To ask our country's chefs..." 

"To do that...?"

Everyone’s gaze slowly gravitated toward Aurora. Aurora was staring into space again. She couldn't look anywhere else.

(When will I be able to eat this in the capital...?)

Wooden crates of spices obtained through trade. Small bags piled high in warehouses. Taking them one by one, powdering them, combining them, changing ratios, simmering, tasting—

(...How many decades...? How many centuries...?)

The moment she imagined it, an uncontrollable sense of loss welled up from deep within her.

"Your Highness?" The maid peered in anxiously. "Your Highness, are you alr—"

Drip. Almost soundlessly, a single tear rolled down Aurora’s cheek.

"Oh." The sound escaped Yuu naturally. The Princess cried. That fact made everyone’s mind go blank for a moment.

"N-no, it's not that, Yuu...!"

Aurora tried to wipe the corner of her eye in a panic, but another tear spilled over.

"It’s just... it's so... far away...!" 

"Uh, ah—" 

"I was just thinking... when will I... ever be able to eat this again... in the capital...!?"

Her voice trembled.

"Once I go back, even if I hurry, it’ll be a week before I can come again... and there are seasons when I can't come to the forest at all! Diplomacy, work...! There's so much...!"

The reason for her tears was desperate. Normally, a second princess shouldn't be traveling to the forest this frequently. There are things a royal must do. The only reason Aurora could visit Yuu’s house so often was that Yuu himself was a Sage vital to the nation. Even so, there was other work. The duties of the "State" crushed the "individual's appetite." In short:

"In other words, I...!" She clenched her fists and screamed. "I’ve learned the taste of something I can only eat when I come to the forest!!"

The guards and maids looked up at the sky simultaneously.

"Your Highness!!" 

"I understand your feelings painfully well, but your dignity as a princess—!" 

"I don't care!!"

Aurora finally slumped over the table.

"After feeding me something like this... saying 'do your best for the country's development' and then intending to just live a chill life with curry in the forest... you're awful, Yuu!!" 

"Hey, I'm not exactly 'chilling' here..." Yuu scratched his head, though he laughed a bit apologetically. "But well—"

Suddenly, his tone softened just a fraction.

"I do intend to increase the varieties of curry every time you guys come over."

Aurora and the others froze.

"V-varieties...?" 

"Yeah. Today’s was the basic form. Low spice, extra milk, extra onions—the 'Introductory Course'."

That was the introductory course. Everyone’s faces twisted for a second, but no one had the energy to retort.

"Eventually, I’m planning to try out ones that focus on aroma, or focus on heat, or have huge chunks of meat, or are bean-based... all sorts of things."

He casually dropped a bombshell.

"D-did you hear that?" 

"Yes... I heard it." 

"The motivation to come to the forest just increased significantly..."

The maids and guards weren't going to stop her anymore. If the Princess's stomach was bound to the forest, they were already prepared for their own stomachs to be bound right along with it. Aurora wiped her eyes and looked up sharply.

"...I understand, Yuu." 

"Yeah?" 

"It will likely take a staggering amount of time to recreate this in my country." 

"Well, probably." 

"Therefore—"

Aurora placed a hand on her chest and made a quiet declaration.

"Until then, I will take responsibility and continue to frequent this forest." 

"I wonder which mouth was just lamenting the busyness of diplomacy," Yuu retorted dryly, but she chose to ignore him.

With cheeks that still bore a trace of tears, Aurora wore a bright smile.

(Fine. One day, I will surely recreate this in the capital. Until then—the Sage of the Forest's house is the holy site for my 'Curry Pilgrimage'.)

With that resolve in her heart, her stomach was already quietly planning for when she could come next. The maids and guards were much the same. Their eyes shone with expectation for the next curry. Even though their stomachs were full, their minds and mouths were strangely sharp. That was how shocking the previous curry had been.

Amidst this, one of the guards rested his chin on his crossed arms and looked into the distance.

"...Now that you mention it... that smell... I feel like I remember smelling it just a tiny bit somewhere before..."

At that single sentence, the reaction of the surrounding guards exploded.

"Remember it!" They grabbed his shoulders immediately. 

"Remember it if it's the last thing you do! The fate of the nation rests on your memory!" 

"Wait, wait, don't exaggerate—" 

"It’s not an exaggeration! We have to find that violent scent from inside a spice warehouse, you know? The more clues we have, the better!" 

"Exactly! Even just the words for a similar smell would be a hint for the chefs!" 

"I bet they'll mobilize every nose in the warehouse department..."

Before long, the conversation had swelled into a plan to mobilize the olfactory senses of the entire capital's warehouse staff. The guard who was actually being relied upon for his memory clutched his head.

"E-even if you say that...! When I try to remember if it was the smell of a tavern or a market in the Demon Kingdom, it all just gets jumbled together...!" "Just remember it already!" "Don't ask for the impossible from the human brain!"

Listening from the side, Aurora pressed her fingers to her temples.

(...At this rate, they might actually form a 'Special Olfactory Training Unit' or something.)

Aside from the guards' uproar, the maid corps was getting excited in a different direction.

"But... curry is truly a terrifying dish, isn't it?" One maid gently pressed her hand to her stomach. 

"I thought it looked heavy at first, but once I took a bite, I couldn't stop... as a result, I feel like I ate twice as much as usual." 

"Yes. I even went for seconds on the bread."

Another maid sighed as she looked down at her waistline.

"We are the Princess's personal maids. We’re supposed to care more than anyone about maintaining our figures... and yet..." 

"Exactly, exactly. Master Yuu is a sinful man. To not only make it taste that good, but to clothe it in such a scent... it's impossible to tell someone not to eat it." 

"I’ve never heard of a dish where your reason retreats two steps the moment you smell it..."

The surrounding maids all nodded in unison at the laugh-filled complaints. Yuu stopped his tidying and looked back.

"Ah, right—" He spoke as if it were nothing. "Curry has beauty benefits, so I recommend it for women too."

Time froze.

Every single maid stood perfectly still. Only their eyes moved toward Yuu with a creak. The density of their gaze was such that it felt like the air had physically become heavier. The man who could use wind magic to crush dragons—unable to withstand the pressure—stepped back half a pace.

"U-uh...?" Yuu’s eyes darted around.

"Master Yuu." The representative of the maids spoke quietly. Her honorifics were polite, but the temperature of her voice was just a hair above freezing. "Might we ask for the details of that statement?"

A cold sweat ran down Yuu’s spine.

(...Isn't this scarier than a dragon?)

Realizing there was no escape, he cleared his throat.

"U-um, well." He began his explanation timidly. "Among spices, there are those with strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. To put it simply, you can expect effects that suppress things that cause skin aging and blemishes."

He emphasized the word "expect" heavily. It was Yuu's own defense instinct.

"Also, many spices help improve blood flow, warm the body, and aid digestion. As a result, you might expect skin redness and inflammation to settle down, and your complexion to improve."

He was timid, but his words were excessively polite.

"The curry from earlier contains several spices with those kinds of components. Also, since it promotes digestion while stimulating the appetite... I think it’s good for beauty in the sense that you can eat properly and digest it well."

He paused and concluded.

"Healthy skin comes from your diet, after all."

The explanation ended. However, the maids' gazes, far from settling, only grew more intense.

"So, the curry we just ate," one maid asked as if to confirm, "contains those effects?" "Y-yes. With that recipe, quite a bit..."

Before he could finish, another maid stood up.

"...Everyone." Her eyes were no longer those of a maid, but of a commander. 

"The recreation of this dish is absolute." 

"I agree." A second stood up immediately. 

"In my family, there is a retired chef. He is elderly, but his skills are certain. I will ask for his cooperation." 

"There is a brilliant gardener in my family as well," the third continued. 

"His knowledge of plants is second to no scholar. I shall have him research the source plants of these spices and investigate cultivation methods." 

"In that case, my family—" Another maid raised her hand, looking a bit embarrassed. 

"My brother is a diplomat. He is involved in trade with the Demon Kingdom, so he should be able to scrutinize detailed information on the origin and processing methods of the spices."

"...In short." The first maid to stand clenched her fist. 

"We move the chefs." 

"We move the gardeners." 

"We move the diplomats."

The maids' voices came together naturally. "A dish that is both delicious and superior for beauty—we will surely reach 'Curry'."

A sense of mission flared up like a fire. They were, after all, the personal maids of a princess. Their families were also prominent houses with significant influence. They had just resolved to mobilize all those deep connections.

(...Uh oh. I feel like a terrifying project just launched.)

The guards were breaking into a cold sweat as they watched.

"H-hey..." 

"The maid corps is serious." 

"The name 'Curry Beauty Alliance' just flashed through my mind." 

"Should we launch a 'Curry Military Application Concept' on our end?" 

"Stop it, I can see a future where the soldiers in the mess hall are crying and bowing their heads."

The guard unit restrained themselves while imagining military utilization plans. Meanwhile, Yuu—pushed by the pressure from the maids—voiced an idea that had just occurred to him.

"Um..." He raised a hand modestly. "Actually, there’s something called 'Curry Udon'..."

The atmosphere shifted again at that single phrase.

"Curry... Udon?" Aurora asked reflexively. Yuu nodded. "Yeah. You take the curry you just ate, thin it out a bit with dashi, and adjust the thickness. It's a dish where you pour that over udon or submerge the udon in it."

He looked deadly serious. "The savoriness and spice of the curry meet the chewiness and wheat sweetness of the udon, making it quite delicious... and I found myself wanting to ask if you’d like to try some this evening..."

Yuu lowered his head, looking strangely apologetic. "The soup base is already there, and I have udon ready... if I’m just thinning it out, it won't be much trouble. If you’d like, that is..."

Before he could even finish: "Absolutely."

The maids' voices were perfectly synchronized. Two words of pure, unhesitating clarity.

"Got it." Yuu laughed, looking as if he had given up. 

"Then I'll finish the cleanup and preparations by evening. I have fresh noodles. If I go all out, it'll be a bit of a dangerous thing." 

"Dangerous?" 

"In terms of deliciousness."

At that, the maid and guard units shivered simultaneously. The maids, who had been saying "I'm scared I'll eat too much" just a moment ago, were now pressing their hands to their stomachs and whispering quietly.

"We must make adjustments toward dinner starting now..." 

"Indeed. We must move more than ever during our forest exploration until dusk." 

"Warm up your stomachs in preparation for tonight..."

The pride of the maids who cared about maintaining their figures and the desires of their stomachs in front of curry udon twisted together, sublimating into a strange resolve. Aurora looked up at the sky.

(...Another reason to come to the forest has been added.)

For diplomacy. For the country. For the relationship with the Sage of the Forest. To those, a new reason was joined. —For curry. She wondered if that was appropriate for a princess, but...

(It's fine. This... can't be helped.)

She justified it quietly in her heart. Beside her, Yuu let out a small sigh.

(...I can't believe one hit of curry expanded the conversation this far.)

But—he looked somewhat amused. In the garden of the log house in the forest, laughter, a touch of madness, and anticipation for the next meal spread like a simmering pot.

On this day, at the house of the Sage of the Forest. The world's very first "Curry" let out its first quiet cry.

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