Chapter 8: Meal From Long Ago
The time, the next day. The scene, four teenagers and a child laid strewn across the ground. Chrome spread eagle on his back, Suika turned over on her side, Kohaku in a fetal position, Senku lying there with a terror-stricken look on his face, and myself, lying on my stomach with my arms spread out.
For the rest of yesterday, the five of us pumped air into a clay furnace to try and heat up the iron. After we had burnt out our arms and passed out, we all decided to sleep on it. Now, it was the next day, and slowly, painfully, we busted open the furnace to find…
"No dice, Senku." I said tiredly. "It's still black sand."
"Our top priority is more manpower." said Senku, a tired and annoyed look on his face. "The Kingdom of Science needs more citizens."
"Yeah, but here's the kicker; what can we use to lure them in?" I asked. "I mean, its not like the entire village is going to want spears like the guard brothers."
"Good point, David." Senku replied. "We need intel on what the people want."
Suddenly, Suika piped up and said, "I'm really good at that kind of thing! Because I can turn into a watermelon, I'm an expert snoop!"
Suika did a little twirl, and then, right before our eyes, turned into a watermelon; she pulled herself into her helmet! At the sight of that, we all let out little laughs of amusement, in a kind way, of course.
Senku chuckled and said in an excited tone, "That is impressive! Alright, Great Detective Suika is on the case! We're counting on you to find what the people want!"
"Yeah, you got this, Great Detective Suika!" Chrome added.
With a thrill of delight at finally being useful, Suika rolled into the village with her watermelon disguise! Now all that was left for us to do, was to wait for her to get back…
For the rest of the day, Senku and I told Kohaku and Chrome stories from our time. While Senku filled them on the scientific portion, I filled them in on the spiritual portion, and we both told about the things that took place during our time. As I told about spiritual events, I picked off from the flood, and was going on about interesting events in the Bible times.
Fortunately, despite being a scientist and a realist, Senku showed respect for my beliefs, and he listened as well. To make things even better, Kohaku and Chrome were interested in the stories I told, and they were astonished and captivated by how all these things happened thousands and thousands of years ago. But then, Chrome asked a question that really made me think.
"Do you think that your God had something to do with turning everyone to stone, David?" Chrome asked his tone curious.
This caught me off guard, and I tried to think of a response to this. But before I could say anything, Senku spoke up.
"I don't think David's God has anything to do with the petrification." Senku replied. "It's too much of a freak accident."
"Yeah, and I know that God wouldn't just one day randomly snap his fingers and turn everyone into stone." I said. "I mean, there was a lady who was turned into a pillar of salt, but that was for a different reason."
"And what reason was that?" Kohaku asked.
"She disobeyed God's instructions." I replied. "There was man named Lot, and he was living in a city where the people were so bad, that there was no choice but for God to wipe it off the face of the earth. God instructed him and his family to run and not look back, so they did. Unfortunately, Lot's wife failed to heed God's warning, and she disobeyed. She looked back, and was turned into a pillar of salt."
"So this God just strikes down anybody who doesn't obey him?" Chrome asked, his tone confused.
"No, but everybody has a choice either to obey or disobey." I said. "When God gives clear instructions, its important to listen and obey his instructions. And if you don't, there's consequences. Most of the time, the consequences are not that extreme, but when it gets to a point where you're not listening anymore, sometimes a shove is needed, rather a nudge. I'm not trying to say that God instantly strikes down anybody who makes a mistake or two, but there are times when serious measures are needed. It's kind of like when you disobey your parents, then they give you a warning. But when you don't heed that warning, they discipline you. They're not doing it to be spiteful, they're doing it so that you don't make the same mistake again. It's the same with God; he loves us and doesn't want us to keep doing wrong, so sometimes he disciplines us in order to get us back on the right track. But, in this case, Lot's wife was strictly told not to do something, and she didn't bother to follow God's instructions, so she reaped her own consequences."
"But how do you know if God exists or not?" Chrome asked. "You sure its not just some story that was passed down?"
"I know its not just some random story, Chrome." I replied. "There has been scientific evidence supporting God's existence; Senku can tell you that. But there's also believing in things which we can't see, and that's call 'Faith'. It's like the wind; you can feel it and you can hear it, but you can't see it, yet it is there. And just because something can't be seen, doesn't mean it that it isn't there…"
Chrome, Kohaku, and even Senku had inquisitive looks on their faces, like they had been told this for the first time. They probably had, since Senku was mostly focused on science, and Chrome and Kohaku were part of this new timeframe. As we were all engrossed within our thoughts, I looked up and saw a watermelon rolling towards us.
"Hey, Suika's back." I said, getting everyone's attention.
Everyone perked up from that, as Suika returned and cheerfully popped out of her watermelon helmet!
"I'm back!" Suika called out, her tone cheerful.
We had built a small fire, and were cooking some fish over it for dinner. As we sat and ate, we listened to Suika's report.
"What do you have for us, Great Detective Suika?" Senku asked.
"I went to listen in on people to see if there's anything they want." Suika replied. "First, the dazzling sisters: Garnet, Sapphire, and Ruby."
"Ah, the prettiest girls in the village." Kohaku added.
"Really?" I asked, my tone somewhat playful. "I thought that title went to you and your sister, Kohaku."
Upon receiving that compliment, Kohaku turned a small shade of red, and had an usually bashful look on her face. I couldn't help it; she was really pretty. And if she was good-looking, I could only imagine what Ruri looked like; that was probably one of the reasons Chrome was so in love with her.
"What those three really want…" Suika continued.
"I'd appreciate if it's something we can make with the technology of this age." Senku interrupted.
"…Is a boyfriend!" Suika finished.
Senku's expression went to one of mortal terror, and he yelled out, "That's something we have no chance of making with science!"
"I don't know, Senku; that sounds perfectly reasonable to me." I replied. "Maybe we could find some way to bring some stone guys to life, convince them to marry the sisters, and we would have six people on our side."
"They're perfectly faithful to their desires." Kohaku added. "If you ask me, you're quite an attractive man, Senku. But, I don't think you're the kind of 'handsome man' that Sapphire's asking for. It's the same for you, David; you're handsome as well, but I don't think Sapphire would be your type."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." I said, before silently saying to myself, "Besides, there's somebody else I already have my eye on."
"Look at them, saying whatever they want." Chrome spoke, his tone scornful. "This is the problem with women, and that's why I hate them."
As he took a bite of his fish, Kohaku came over with a playful smile on her face and said, "You're such a child, Chrome. Ruri-nee and I are both women, so do you hate us?"
"Kohaku, I don't think of you as a woman." Chrome replied. "You're a gorilla."
Next thing I knew, Kohaku was standing above Chrome, her weapons drawn and a look of fury on her face. Chrome, on the other hand, had taken off all his clothes, and was bowed at her feet, saying that he was sorry.
"That's what you get when you call a beautiful lioness an ugly gorilla." I said, my tone playful.
"I think I have a shot with the one who wants someone to feed her." Senku continued. "What does she want?"
"A feast, like fish and stuff." Suika replied. "Speaking of feasts, Ganen, the biggest glutton in town, said he's bored to death of eating grilled fish every day. He's looking for something new to try."
A determined smile came over Senku's face, and he said, "I knew you could do it, Great Detective Suika. I can already see the scientific bait we need to get them on our side."
"Are you actually going to cook with them?" asked Kohaku.
"What does that have to do with science?" Chrome asked.
"It has everything to do with science." Senku replied. "Food is science. Where do you think the umami of the fish you eat every day comes from? It's glutamic acid and inosinic acid."
Suika's giggling caught our attention, and we looked over to her. She was playing with a small, white dog that had followed her from the village. What caught Senku's attention though, was the small plant that she was using as a toy to play with the dog.
"Suika, what is that, anyway?" Senku asked.
"This is my friend Chalk's favorite toy." Suika replied cheerfully. "Dogtail millet!"
"You mean foxtail millet." said Senku. "That might work."
"I don't think they've seen a fox before, Senku." I spoke up. "And, what might work?"
Senku then stood up and replied, "We might be able to make the world's most delicious dish that everyone in my old world loves."
"What dish is that?" I asked.
"Ramen!"
Ramen? Now that brought back some memories! I remember eating ramen back when the world was normal; it was kind of like spaghetti, but different in taste and texture. But still, it was really good, and if the people of this world had never heard of it, they were going to be in for a treat!
The next day, Senku, Kohaku, Chrome, Suika, and I set out to make ramen. The first thing to do was collect foxtail millet, which we did with Kohaku harvesting a field of it with her knives. After having collected it, we began smacking it against some rocks to husk it.
"We aren't actually eating this foxtail millet, are we?" Kohaku asked. "I think I'll pass."
"We're whacking the heck out of it to husk it, so we can eat it." Senku replied.
"That's how they used to get grain, right?" I asked. "They would beat the wheat like we're doing?"
"That's correct, David." Senku replied. "Foxtail millet is genuinely, ten billion percent a grain; it's a primitive millet."
After we were done husking the foxtail millet, we gathered it into a large basket. Unfortunately, it didn't look very appetizing…
"It looks mighty nasty." said Kohaku, her tone somewhat disgusted.
"It's covered in furry stuff." Suika added.
The next thing we had to do was get some water from the river. Due to my strength, Senku ordered me to take a pot and fill with water, which I obeyed. After I was done, I brought it back, and we poured the millet into the water. Senku then began stirring it. After he was done stirring it, he filtered the refuse from the pot, we poured it out and into a bowl, and viola! We had grain!
"It's a cycle of inspiration and trial-and-error." said Senku, as we began grinding up the grain to make flour. "Food is perfect example of science. Now we have wheat flour, or rather, foxtail millet flour!"
"Victory!" I said excitedly, as we all did a five way high-five.
Now came the good part: the cooking! We put in some wild bird eggs, and some potassium carbonate that Senku had handy. He then turned the flour into dough, cut it, and put it in a bowl of boiling water. We then added some chicken, some fish, some other meats that I didn't recognize, some salt, some edible plants, and it started smelling really delicious!
"We had a name for this stupidly good food three thousand and seven hundred years ago." said Senku, as we finished making the dish. "We called it 'ramen'."
After we were done making it, Senku dished it out into five bowls. I gotta tell you, I was really hungry, having only eaten berries and fish most of the time, so I was going to enjoy this.
"But this is actually foxtail millet, isn't it?" Kohaku asked, looking at the food.
"I'll make sure its safe!" Chrome announced, taking some of the noodles in his chopsticks. "It's the duty of a sorcerer not to be afraid of anything new!"
"This we have to see." I said, my tone amused.
Senku chuckled at that, and we watched as Chrome put the noodles to his mouth and slurped them. All was quiet for about two seconds, and then he absolutely lost it!
"IT'S GOOD!" Chrome yelled. "Dude!"
Kohaku tried her ramen next; I definitely had to see this. Suika tried her ramen as well, and their reactions were equally priceless as well.
"It's so chewy and slippery!" Suika squealed with delight.
"I can't believe such a thing would exist in this world!" Kohaku added, her tone excited.
Senku chuckled at their reactions, and then said to me, "I guess we better dig in as well."
"Sure thing." I replied. "It's been a long while since I've had a proper meal."
"Approximately three thousand and seven hundred years ago." said Senku.
I said a thank you to God and then began eating, while Senku began eating as well. After taking one bite, we both realized something; it wasn't exactly like the ramen we ate back when the world was normal. It was crumbly, and it had a horrible aftertaste.
But hey, I could use the roughage, and it really wasn't all that bad. So, with only mild disgust, I enjoyed it. Not only that, but Chrome, Kohaku, and Suika enjoyed it, so I guess we could that a success.
"This will work." said Senku aloud, after recovering from first tasting the ramen.
"Right." I replied. "So, what's the plan?"
"We need to construct a ramen cart." said Senku. "And start dishing it out to the people of the village."
Chronicler Log #3
Kingdom of Science - Members
Senku - Leader, Professor
Chrome - Scientist, Resource Gatherer
Kohaku - Muscle, Protector
David (Me) - Muscle, Chronicler
Suika - Information Gatherer
Taiju - Muscle, Resource Gatherer
Yuzuriha - Tailor, Craftswoman
Kingdom of Science - Allies and Enemies
Village - Hopeful Allies
Tsukasa - Enemy
Kingdom of Science - Progress
First Project - Make an Antibiotic to help Ruri recover from sickness. - Put on hold for now.
Second Project - Get more manpower for the iron furnace. - Top Priority.
Notes
We've had to put our antibiotic project on hold for now, at least until we're able to get some more manpower to make iron. Pumping air into a furnace has proven to be a brutal task, so we need more people to do the job. Hopefully, this ramen will be able to attract some people to our cause. Now all we need to do is build a ramen cart, and start dishing it out.
Also, despite it being a great exercise, pumping air into a furnace is very painful!