I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

A soft sun shone above a small village whose wooden huts were scattered between gaps in mature cherry trees. A light breeze rustled their leaves, sounding a subtle song of nature throughout the quiet, cosy area.

"Haah~"

In the midst of this peaceful encampment stood a teen, taking in a deep breath of the chilly, windy air. His chest puffed out as if hogging every bit of the pure atmosphere.

"What a beautiful day!"

His thoughts spilled out with his breath- a large smile remained plastered on the teen's face.

Chilly air, soft sun, and clear skies... it really is the perfect weather!

The teen made his way over to a small setup on the bend of a stream consisting of two fire pits, multiple wooden buckets, and various small tools. He snatched up a wooden bucket made from hollowing out a cherry tree log and knelt down on the stream's bank, dipping his cupped hands into the frigid water.

Gulp. Gulp. Gulp.

"Aahh~ so fresh!"

His eyes sparkled from the water's refreshing taste before he scooped up some water with the bucket and hauled it back over to the firepits, where it sat waiting for use as droplets gradually dripped through the cherry wood's pores. Sitting on a stump, the teen removed a wooden board covering the top of a second bucket and pulled out some cobs of corn that had been drying for a few weeks.

Scrape. Scrape.

Dozens of dried kernels fell off the cob and into a large, wooden bowl at his feet with each scrape of the dull stone tool he was using. It took ten cobs of corn to fill the large bowl that had been charred both internally and externally from extended use.

"There we go."

Splash!

Water from the first bucket was then poured into the large bowl, followed by multiple scoops of wooden ash, premade from the remnants of past dinners. This odd solution was stirred with a stick before the teen carried the bowl over to a campfire. With learned movements, he then tied a thin rope through holes in the top edges of the wooden bowl and attached it to a wooden stand in the shape of a triangle, which left the bowl dangling over the tops of future flames.

Fwoosh!

The fire came alive with the help of a torch tree branch, soon bringing the solution to a boil. Gradually, the teen added more warm water to the bowl to replace what was seeping out of the charred pores. He added it slowly, being careful not to overly disrupt the boil, and stirred everything while it cooked.

"That should be good enough for now," he muttered, as he uncovered a second bowl from under a board, "I better get started with today's meal before the chief starts yelling at me..."

Inside the second bowl was a mixture that seemed almost identical to the one that was currently boiling over a fire; the main differences between them was the corn peaking between gaps in the ash floating on the top of the water, which was much more of a vibrant yellow color than the newly prepared bowl.

"Yesterday's work seemed to go well."

He smiled at the bowl that had been resting overnight, as he skimmed out the undesolved wood ash and poured out the small amount of remaining water, careful not to let any of the corn escape in the flow. The teen then stretched back and snatched two small stone objects. One almost resembled a small, deep bowl, while the other was an almost cylindrical stone with a rounded end.

A soft smile appeared on the teen's face as he looked at the two stone objects now in his hands.

"Grandpa was a crazy guy for making this."

Every time he used the mortar and pestle, the same memory flashed through his mind: one of his child-self asking his grandpa how he made such weird objects out of stone. His answer at the time was simple: a lot of grinding and a lot of time.

I could say the same thing about how I use them.

The teen took a handful of the vibrant corn and plopped it into the bowl-like stone. One by one, he took the kernels between his fingers and removed their pericarps, which effortlessly flaked off thanks to the overnight soaking. Once done, he used the rounded stone to grind the kernels into a thick yellow paste.

Afterwards, the teen plopped the yellow paste onto a stone by his side to empty the mortar before grabbing another handful of kernels and repeating the process. Although he started in the early morning, the sun had already finished its ascent into the sky by the time he ground the last of the corn into the paste.

An older man, roughly in his forties, approached the encampment as if on queue, staring at the teen impatiently with two woven baskets in his hands.

"It is already noon, Cogun. How much longer will it be? You know we have a visitor."

"How could I forget? You reminded me twice last night and yelled outside my house this morning to wake me up earlier,” the teen, Cogun, rolled his eyes at the man, "I just finished grinding the corn, so the rest should be done soon. Who is this guy, anyway?"

"Someone important," the man answered flatly, placing the baskets at Cogun’s side, "And he is someone I have to entertain until you are done, so try not to keep us waiting too long!"

The teen peeked into the baskets before looking back up at the man.

"You just wanted my two usual meals, right?"

"Make the village specialty, too, since it only takes a few minutes. I know you have your own extra creations, but I do not want to keep him waiting any longer than necessary,” he answered.

"Okay~"

With his reply, Cogun turned his attention back to his food preparation as the man retreated back into the village. The result of his work so far sat in the form of a giant slab of dough on a flattened rock by his side.

"Now it is time for the fun part!"

Excitedly, the teen began kneading this paste with his hands, while splashing it with bit of water until it no longer stuck to his hands. Once the dough reached the consistency he wanted, he split the giant blob in half, each to be used for a different meal.

His work for the first half was simple: all he had to do was roll pieces of it into small balls, which he then proceeded to smush flat between two stones to yield a thin, disc-like shape. Cogun set these aside while he reached into one of the gifted baskets and grabbed some supplies.

Unlike the first half of the dough, the second half needed a new ingredient before it could be ready to cook, which now sat firmly in his hand.

Crack!

A controlled crack sounded as the teen split an egg on the stone; its yolk was then poured into a small indent he made into the soft dough.

“Do not worry, little egg. You will not be alone.”

Crack!

Another yolk oozed out of the second cracked egg and dropped onto the dough.

Cogun’s friendly words and smile might have seemed innocent or even charming to any human onlookers. Had Mr. Flippers been watching, however, the poor penguin might have fainted from the horrifying display of egg cruelty.

Squish. Squish.

Cogun was oblivious to how his soft smile could have looked sadistic in the penguin’s eyes and simply proceeded to massage this eggy mess into the dough with his bare hands until it reached the consistency he was aiming for.

This should be fine!

The teen nodded in satisfaction and rinsed off his hands before preparing for the next step of this process. He first removed the boiling bowl and placed it under a board to use for tomorrow's food preparation. Cogun then grabbed two thin, flat stones, which he gently placed in front of each fire pit. Actually grinding these stones down was a process that took him a few days to accomplish, yet it was a process he had to perform more times than he could count. The thin stones themselves were fairly fragile and could frequently crack if placed down too hard or heated too fast. Their performance in evenly cooking the dough made the time and risk worth it, however.

After lighting the second fire, Cogun reached into the second basket that the village chief brought him and pulled out a chicken.

"He even plucked it for me! I guess he really must want this done fast..."

Deciding to hurry a bit, the teen quickly sliced the giant blob of dough into thin slabs and layed them on one of the stone plates, held above the fire by small mounds of dirt on its edges. He diced up the chicken as the stone slowly heated, butchering both its meat and its skin; the latter of which he tossed onto the second plate over the second fire.

Cooking just the skin of the chicken might seem like an odd choice. While it did get crispy, it wasn't the yummy snack itself that Cogun was aiming for, but rather he wanted the golden liquid that oozed out of the skin and gradually covered the flat stone.

Crunch!

“Yummy~”

Though that didn't stop him from eating the fried skin, anyway.

Cogun gathered the flat discs he had prepared earlier and tossed them onto the oil-covered stone one by one. A sizzling noise and a matching savory aroma filled the air as they fried in the oil, puffing up and browning over the fire.

Sizzzzzz.

These thin discs of ground and nixtamalized corn would have been easily recognized as tortillas by Jacob, had he been watching- a staple of the Central American diet that only tightened its grip on humanity's hunger up until the time when he was selected as a Seedling.

Cogun himself had no idea what kind of history the food he was frying had in this other world, however, and he continued to let the discs cook for about a minute on each side before tossing them into a basket near the fire’s warmth without

While these tortillas would have been yummy on their own, Cogun began dicing up the chicken meat once the stone was free. By the time he cooked and finished wrapping the chicken up inside the tortillas, the slices of dough were finished cooking on the other fire. The result of this effort was an odd flatbread, half crunchy where it had been laying on the stone with the upper half being soft and chewy.

Some mushrooms would have gone well with this, but I am running low on time.

With that thought, Cogun packed everything in baskets and made his way into the village center.

.

..

…

Cogun’s eyes spotted a man sitting across from the village chief as he approached the fire pit in the village’s center.

Is that the visitor? He does not really look all that special…

The man seemed slightly younger than the village chief- probably in his upper thirties; however, his presence and overall demeanor seemed fairly moderate for someone whom the village chief had been pestering him all day about.

Well, he is the only other person at the fire, so it must be him.

Convinced of his deduction, Cogun silently continued his approach until he stood next to the two men. With a small nod as a greeting, the teen layed out the two dishes he made on small wooden boards in front of them before starting to back away.

“Wait one minute. You are the one who prepared this food, correct?”

A voice from near the fire brought his retreat to a halt. Cogun turned around and looked back at the visitor, who had a distinct sparkle in his eyes.

“Y-yes, I am,” he answered, a bit flustered at the man’s sudden change in demeanor.

“Then come join us at the fire. There is a lot I would like to ask you.”

A sudden pressure from the village chief’s eyes made it clear he could not refuse the request, so Cogun returned while holding in a sigh.

“It seems the rumors were right about this village. In all of my travels so far, I have not seen any food that resembles this,” he began as Cogun sat down.

“… There are rumors about the food here?”

His question was met with a ready nod from the visitor, “It was those rumors that brought me here.”

Cogun straightened his posture and puffed out his chest. A mixture of shock and pride washed over him.

“Well, I guess it is only natural for people to know about this village. My great-grandpa was actually an Oracle candidate during the last invasion. The creator of the world even praised him for some of the farming techniques he used in the village.”

“Farming techniques?” The visitor tilted his head, to which Cogun nodded.

“Yes, my great-grandfather noticed that the corn grew faster in places where we dumped our chicken and food waste, so he made his own small farm where he purposely buried it.”

“How interesting. I gained some unexpected information.,.” the visitor’s eyes glimmered, to which the village chief flashed Cogun a thumbs-up, “But your great-grandfather was not even mentioned in the rumors. I have only heard about the food.”

"They are related, though," Cogun argued.

"Oh? They are?"

“Mhm," Cogun nodded," After my great-grandpa went off to fight, his son, my grandpa, was the one who figured out how to make paste out of the corn we grew on his farm, which he then used to make the wraps for our chicken.”

Cogun pointed at the chicken-filled tortilla on the board in front of them as he said this.

“Really? So there is chicken inside of this?” The man asked excitedly.

"Yep! I just cooked all of it myself!"

The man smiled, “Then, before we keep talking, I should try it before it gets cold!”

With bright eyes, the visitor brought the stuffed tortilla up to his mouth and took a bite.

Chomp.

“Amazing!" His initial bite was quickly met with additional chomps, "I *munch* have never tasted anything like this before! Is this *munch* really made from corn!?”

“Mhm. It takes a few steps to prepare, but that outer thing is really just corn!”

“Not only does it taste good, but it also kept the chicken inside it super hot despite how long we were talking for,” the visitor took a deep breath, “Speaking of which, do you have any water I could have?”

“Ah- I will grab some.”

“Cogun,” The village chief called out to him as he stood up, “We have a special visitor today. Grab those cups.”

The teen nodded at the chief’s statement, to which the visitor looked on curiously.

After grabbing the special cups from the village chief’s home and filling them with water, Cogun returned to the fire and handed one to the visitor.

“These cups…” a shocked expression followed by a smile appeared on his face, “I was not expecting to find cups made from clay here.”

“Yes… it is something my grandfather picked up from his time with the Oracle. We only have a small amount of good clay near the stream, though, so we can only make a few cups with it.”

“Well it is definitely a welcome surprise,” the visitor smirked, taking a sip of water, “But please continue with your story. If your grandfather made this dish, then did your father make this other one?”

The visitor pointed to the puffy flatbread on the board, but Cogun simply paused at his question.

“No, that one was made by me. My father… “ Cogun hesitated, “He fell during a conflict with a nearby village. But we were gifted the village’s specialty after that, so in a way, that food was his.”

“I am sorry to hear about your loss,” the visitor took a bite out of the flatbread following his condolences; his eyes once again lit up, “You made this yourself? This taste is wonderful!”

“Thank you.”

The two continued their idle chatter as the visitor continued eating. Eventually, the village chief cut in.

“Hey, Cogun,” the village chief spoke, “Since his meal is almost done, have you prepared the village special?”

“Ah- no, I wanted to wait to do it here,” Cogun shook off the somber memories, aided by the village chief’s call, "You know it tastes better fresh. Besides, I thought the visitor might be interested in watching the show.”

“Oh?”

The teen brought over a large wooden bowl at the chief’s request. Inside the bowl were two cobs of corn. Cogun grabbed one of them and stuck a pointed stick through the end of it.

“That corn looks a bit different than what I am used to seeing," the visitor commented.

“Yeah, it is smaller and darker than what we usually eat, too,” Cogun smiled as he stuck the corn over the fire, “It was gifted to us by a village to the north east of us. For some reason, they were having trouble with mushrooms growing on the corn they were storing, so they started only planting the corn with the thickest shell on its kernels. Somehow, they ended up getting this weird type. It does not taste as good as the kind we usually eat, but something cool happens when you put it over a fire.”

Before the visitor had a chance to ask what he meant, a loud noise sounded out from the fire.

Pop!

“What was-“

Pop! Pop!

A smug smirk appeared on Cogun’s face as pops sounded through the air. The visitor flinched as a fluffy piece of corn bounced off his forehead. Curiously, he picked it off his lap and plopped it in his mouth.

Crunch!

A new sparkle filled his eyes as Cogun tossed him the bowl.

“It is pretty good, right? How about you try to catch some?”

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

The man scrambled as popcorn exploded into the air.

.

..

…

“Phew. That was amazing!” The visitor laughed as he swallowed his last handful of popcorn, “It is truly worthy of being called your village’s specialty!”

“I know, right? By the way, you have a piece in your hair,” Cogun smiled.

“Oops-“

Crunch.

After munching on the last piece of popcorn, the visitor spoke again.

“I believe your claim that the creator of the world praised your great-grandfather. His lineage proves your words right.”

Cogun gave him a small smile, “Thank you.”

“Now-“ the visitor stood up, gesturing for Cogun and the chief to follow, “Although the village chief is aware, I will reintroduce myself for you. My name is Mergo. For a while now, I have been traveling around the world to discover the wonders it has to offer. Your village is one place out of many that I have traveled to with my men, and I am interested in giving you some goods in exchange for your knowledge in preparing this village’s dishes.”

"... You want to give me things in exchange for me teaching you how to cook?" Cogun asked as he joined Mergo in standing.

It was a proposal that was unlike anything he had heard before, yet Mergo simply nodded as if it was only natural.

"That is correct."

He really wants to give me stuff? I would have just taught him if he asked me to, though...

"I guess that is fine," Cogun eventually spoke, "But what kind of things did you want to give me?"

"Come with me, I will show you."

The trio of Mergo, Cogun, and the village chief made their way to the village outskirts, where they were greeted by a team of a dozen men surrounding large wooden objects unknown to the teen.

Cogun stopped for a moment just to take in the odd sight. The objects were fully wooden and almost rectangular, resting on what appeared to be horizontal slices of a mature cherry tree. On its flat surface were raised edges creating a small wall that appeared to stop the things on top of the contraption from falling off. Two long wooden boards stretched out from the front of it, which were currently resting on the ground and preventing the structure from sliding over the wooden circles it seemed to be resting on.

Although it was completely unfamiliar to most of the realm, Jacob would have easily been able to recognize it as being some sort of primitive, two-wheeled wagon.

"What are-"

"They are just some things I put together with the help of my team," Mergo interrupted and explained, as if expecting the question. "It would be a lot harder to move so many things without them."

That is so weird...

Despite the scene, Mergo waved Cogun over to the closest wagon before he could ask any more questions.

"This is what I am offering you for your services."

Curiously, Cogun peeked inside the wagon at Mergo's gesture.

"Hmm... this is... WHAT!?"

Cogun was so shocked that he stumbled backwards, tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. Without even acknowledging his own stumble, he whipped his head to look at the visitor.

"T-those are mountain chicken hides, are they not!? H-how did you even get those!? The northern tribes never give them out, but that thing is full of them!"

Mergo smiled at the teen's reaction, "Yes, I was originally surprised when I heard just how tight they were about letting others have the hide, yet they can be very generous when you offer them things they are interested in."

Cogun's mind was spinning.

"What could those hunters possibly want?" he couldn't help but ask.

Mergo looked off as if reminiscing, "When I was first beginning my travels before I crossed the river, I heard a rumor in the north that interested me. Do you know the legends about the weapon Oracle Rynn used to defeat the invaders of his time? It was made by his son out of some extremely sharp, black stone."

"Yes..." Cogun nodded, familiar with the old legends himself.

"Well, I found a village that had continued to make weapons out of that stone, and I must say that the stone really is just as sharp as the legends suggest," Mergo continued, "I figured they would be useful, so I offered some pots from Claymore for them. In the end, the northern tribes had a strong interest in them, too, so I exchanged those weapons for the mountain hide."

"Wow..."

It was absolutely mindblowing; his village was just one stop out of a series of exchanges that spanned the entire world. As insane of a journey as it was, the extent of the travels was dwarfed by another thought in his mind, however.

"It took you so much to get this hide, yet you think my food is worth all of this?" Cogun couldn't help but ask.

Mergo readily nodded at his question with a smile, "Indeed. I honestly believe that your cooking has the potential to revolutionize food in the world. Of course, I would like slightly more than just your teachings for this."

Cogun tilted his head, "What else can I give?"

"I would like you to come with me to the next village I am aiming for. I will have you teach me the cooking process on the way. Of course, I will bring you back afterwards, but I would like you to be there to exchange your knowledge for what they offer. After all, you would have much more practice than I will to demonstrate your techniques."

"You want me to go with you... that might be a bit-"

"He will do it!"

Cogun looked back shyly at the village chief, who feverously interrupted, but he was only met by his threatening stare, as if saying there was no way he would pass up the chance to get so much mountain chicken hide.

With not much choice, Cogun agreed with a wry smile.

"Y-yeah. I will go with you."

"Perfect!" Mergo clapped his hands together, looking at the chief, "Well then, we will rest here for tonight and restore our supplies before we head out in the morning. I assume that the hide should be more than enough compensation for the food?"

"Yes, we will fill your wooden square all the way up!" the village chief beamed.

"Great," Mergo turned back to Cogun with a smile, "Gather whatever you need to bring with you for cooking. I look forward to our travels together."

As the exchange came to a close and Mergo left to pack his things, one thought lingered in his mind.

Just what kind of beast did I just meet?