This is bonus chapter for 50 accumulated power stones.
Ludwig stood in an open field just past the city border of Tempest. In front of him, a makeshift kitchen stood true. Tables lined up around him to mimic his kitchen, a big piece of long and thin metal layered on one of the tables, just like the countertop he had back in Checkpoint.
What was not currently present around him was probably the most essential gadget in a kitchen. The stove. Not because Tempest didn't have it. After all, how come a city led by a reincarnated Japanese into a slime body didn't have it.
The reason there was no stove or even a smoking barrel in this plain was because Ludwig wanted it to be like that. The scenery was just too fitting for a campfire-style cooking rather than a restaurant-style food.
"Ludwig-sama." Shuna's voice woke him up from his thoughts. "This is our Soy Sauce, Curry Cubes, Chili Paste, and Paprika Powder."
Ludwig's eyes landed on the glass container being put in front of him. The glass was not as clear as what the modern world had, but it worked. Reaching towards the bottle glass with dark liquid inside, Ludwig popped the cork open.
He willed his mana or magicules—he couldn't be sure anymore—and scoop an enough portion for tasting. When his nose took in the aroma of the Soy Sauce, it was malty, savory, and slightly earthy. Different from Soy Sauce he used in his restaurant.
When it entered his mouth, a layered taste enveloped his tastebuds. Umami, some sweetness and slightly acidic. Way more complex than the one-dimensional taste the store-brought Soy Sauce offered.
His satisfaction was palpable in his face. It was more than he expected. It seemed like the Great Sage lived up to its fame.
The other condiments also went beyond his expectation. Though, the curry cubes were Japanese-style, not the traditional kind with rich Indian heritage.
"Good." Ludwig put the last glass bottle down back to the table. "You guys need to ramp up the production fast. I'll be ordering soon."
Shuna chuckled, the hem of her clothes covering her mouth. "Glad you liked it. I will inform Rimuru sama about the production as soon as he wakes up."
Ludwig offered her a smile before focusing on what was currently important to him. A soft thud echoed softly as the chunks of meat fell into the table, fat glistening from the sun in the sky.
The cut was already satisfactory, Ludwig and the butcher had made sure about it. It was not ready to be seasoned.
"Alright." He muttered. "Let's start."
He dragged one of the largest chunks closer. The cross-section showed everything he wanted to see. Thick fat cap, dense, dark meat, faint mineral sheen where earth-aspect had once hardened the fibers. The surface, however, was still clean. Too clean.
He reached for the salt first.
Not dainty pinches. His hand moved in a steady rain, scattering coarse crystals from high above so they fell in an even layer over the top. The grains landed with soft taps, catching on every ridge of fat and muscle.
"Salt first?" Shuna asked, watching from his left. She had a small slate and charcoal in hand, as if half of her intention here was to turn today into a lesson for Tempest's future cooks. "Before anything else?"
"Always." Ludwig said without looking up. "Salt is what tells the meat it's time to become food. It pulls a little moisture out, starts dissolving, then drags itself back in. Everything else rides that wave."
He flipped the slab, repeated the motion on the other side, then let his hands slide along the edges, pushing any stray salt grains back onto the flesh.
Next came cracked black pepper, darker flecks over the pale fat, then a generous dusting of Tempest's paprika powder. Deep red with a smoky perfume that danced up into the open air the moment it left the jar.
Shuna uncorked the jar for him. "Why both pepper and paprika? Paprika already has some heat."
"Different kinds of heat." Ludwig answered, fingers moving in practiced arcs. "Pepper bites. Paprika smolders. This hog was an earth monster; its flavor is going to be heavy, grounded. I want a slow, smoky warmth sitting under everything, not just little stabs on the tongue."
Her eyes lingered on the way the red powder clung to the salted surface. "I see…"
He reached for the next bottle: Tempest's soy sauce. He didn't pour it directly. Instead, he tipped a modest amount into a shallow bowl, then added a spoonful of chili paste, stirring until it loosened into a glossy, brick-red liquid.
The aroma rose immediately—malty, savory, a clean chili bite threaded through.
"You're not marinating?" Shuna tilted her head. "I thought with soy sauce, you'd soak it first."
"Not today." Ludwig took a wide brush and began painting the mixture over the scored fat, working it into every shallow cut. "If we were in the restaurant, sure, I'd give it a night. Here, this is more like a surface cure and glaze at once. Enough to season deep into the first few layers and give the outside something to caramelize."
He paused to let the first coat sink, then went back over it, slower. The meat started to glisten, the lines of the score darkening as soy and chili pooled in them.
"And the chili paste?" She pressed gently. "You didn't ask for straight chilies."
"Because the Tempest paste was already done." He smiled faintly. "Fermented, right? That means depth. The hog's own flavor is going to be wild and a little rough. The paste will meet it halfway, add some funk so it doesn't taste like we just salted a boulder and threw it on the fire."
Shuna's shoulders relaxed at the quiet compliment to her work.
Once the first slab was thoroughly coated, he bent, set his palms flat, and pressed. Slow, firm pressure, as if he were trying to convince the seasoning to fuse with the meat by intent alone. When he lifted his hands, his fingertips were stained red-brown.
"Next." He said.
The second piece came up—a long rack of ribs and spine. This time, before anything else, he reached for a bowl of crushed dried herbs: rosemary from Tempest's gardens, a local equivalent of thyme, and a woody, mint plant he'd haggled out of a lizardman vendor on his way back from the butcher.
Shuna leaned closer. "Why did you choose those herbs in particular, Ludwig-sama?"
"Earth beast, remember?" He sprinkled the herb mix over the meat, letting the fragments fall thickest where the bone showed through. "You pair it with flavors that grew out of soil, not ones that taste like the sky. These herbs taste like sun-warmed dirt and dry hillside. When the fat renders, it'll carry that through the whole cut."
"Sky… flavors?" She echoed, amused.
"Citrus, bright vinegars, sharp wines. We'll finish with a little of that later, maybe. But the core needs to match what the monster was." He gestured toward the distant treeline where they'd hunted it. "It was literally a moving rock. So: smoke, earth, deep salt, slow burn."
He repeated the same foundation. Salt, pepper, paprika. then brushed on a lighter layer of the soy–chili mix, focusing more along the bones than the thickest meat.
"Is that on purpose?" Shuna asked, pointing. "Less on the thickest parts?"
"The fire will do its own work there." He said. "Too much sugar and soy on the very thickest cuts and we'll burn the outside before the inside is ready. The ribs are thinner; they can afford more glaze. Think of it as… talking to the fire in different dialects."
She nodded slowly, as if filing the phrase away.
By the time they reached the third and last major piece, the belly and flank—Ludwig's motions settled into an easy rhythm. Salt, pepper, paprika. Herbs, not as heavy this time. Then, instead of reaching for the soy bowl immediately, he turned to the line of glass and clay.
The curry cubes sat in their box, neatly cut, smelling of toasted flour, fat, and a careful balance of spices that spoke of Japan more than of this world.
Shuna followed his gaze. "You're going to use the curry… on the hog?"
"Not like how I will used it with a stew." He answered. "But we're outdoors. Tempest's first big celebration with its own condiments on display, and Rimuru will sulk if I don't use the curry blocks I always bothered him about when will it be done."
He unwrapped two cubes, dropped them into a small metal bowl, and splashed in a little of the soy–chili mixture plus a trickle of hot water from a kettle resting over a small preliminary flame. With a spoon, he smashed and stirred until the cubes dissolved into a thick, aromatic paste.
Spice bloomed into the air—turmeric, cumin, a whisper of clove and something fruity under it all.
"This will go only on the outer side of the belly." He explained, more for Shuna and the listening goblins that had come towards them at some point than for himself. "Belly fat loves spice. We'll baste it more gently, let the curry toast on the surface as it turns. It'll give us pockets of flavor that stand out when people hit them."
"And it won't be… too much?" Shuna's eyes were on the growing collection of jars and bowls. "Soy sauce, paprika, chili, herbs, curry…"
"It would be too much on a normal pig." Ludwig agreed. "But this isn't a normal pig. It bent the earth. The worst thing we could do to it is season it timidly and let it taste like boiled pork with a sad story."
She laughed, soft but genuine.
He spread the curry paste across the outer belly in long, even strokes, careful not to over-saturate any one spot. The color deepened to a burnished amber-brown, darker than the soy glaze alone. When the sun hit it, the surface gleamed faintly.
When all three primals lay side by side, fully seasoned, they looked less like raw meat and more like something already halfway to myth: dark, glossy surfaces; red dust of paprika along the edges; herb flecks like moss over stone; the belly's curry-smeared face promising heat and comfort in equal measure.
Ludwig wiped his hands and finally stepped back, letting himself see the whole picture.
"Now we give the salt a little time to start working." He said. "Let it pull, push, and pull again. By the time the fire is ready, these will be awake."
Shuna glanced from the meat to the distant ring of stones where Orcs started to stack wood.
"And then?" She asked.
"Then…" He said, a slow smile tugging at his mouth, "We introduce Tempest to what an earth-bending hog tastes like when it's properly respected—and slightly bullied—by seasoning."
But rather than smiling in satisfaction because he just finished preparing the hog, Ludwig just frowned. More and more denizens of Tempest were flocking into the open field. Even though the hog was ginormous, at this rate not everyone would be able to eat.
Ludwig sighed. "Shuna, I think we will need more food. Can you get some ingredients and more helper for me?"
Shuna giggled and covered her mouth with the hem of her clothes. "Sure, I'll get it done. Do you want me to call Kushina-sama as well?"
"No." Ludwig answered quickly. "Let her roam around Tempest with Shion for now. She'll be here sooner or later, she got a nose for food."
"Understood." Shuna nodded before moving away to the crowd of Goblinas and talked with them.
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