Bab 5: Bell
The kid maintained eye contact with him as he sat down and he held it there for a few seconds before he turned his head back to his skillet and turned over the steaks in it. After a few moments of hesitation, the albino kid approached him warily with a nervous gait and leaned over into his line of vision.
"E-Excuse me sir?...may I share your fire with you? I'd like to sleep warm tonight." The kid said to him.
"I don't entertain strangers." He replied, which made the kid deflate a little. "What's your name?"
"Bell sir...Bell Cranel." The kid revealed his name. Not that our resident jujutsu sorcerer didn't already know that.
"You may join me then." He said before returning his attention to adding more fuel to the fire.
"But you just said you don't entertain strangers?" Bell tilted his head.
"Now that I know your name, you're not a complete stranger." The sorcerer said. "Therefore, you're tolerable for now."
"...Right." Bell nodded. "Thank you."
Bell then slid his pack off of his back before opening it and taking out a rolled up quilt and a camping futon. As he spread out his bedding, the sorcerer took the time to observe his charge. Bell was certainly small for his age, only about 5'4 in height. Though perhaps that was if you were imprinting the standards of Earth upon Genkai. If the Far West was the equivalent of Europe, then Bell was of average height.
The sorcerer had not really come across many people who were albinos themselves...once upon a time they were quite an odd sight to look at. But that was not the attitude he carried with himself now. After all, he had known another albino quite personally...for a very, very long time now.
Bell finally made his bedding before coming over to sit by the fire, rubbing his hands together as he tried to soak in the warmth. The nights were still a little cold even if it was spring, so the sorcerer could understand the primal instinct and desire to be as warm as possible, such that existed in all the mortal races...not that he would ever understand the feeling again. After all, death would only claim him if he were to be killed now, and the chances of that were very low in this world.
As Bell curled up into a foetal position and stared into the fire, or more particularly at the pieces of meat cooking in the skillet, he raised an eyebrow.
"Are you not concerned that the smell of the meat might attract monsters from the forest?" Bell asked.
"If they did come, it would make no difference. I'm rather capable when it comes to fighting monsters." The sorcerer said. "As I'm sure you are, Mister Cranel."
"What gives you that impression?" Bell asked confusedly.
"Nothing much...except that anybody travelling along this trail through monster infested woods would only brave doing so if they were capable fighters and experienced hunters. Otherwise, it would be an extremely stupid idea only befitting of the most addled half-wit to be sleeping here at night." The sorcerer said. "So tell me Bell Cranel...are you a fighter or a half-wit?"
"..."
"A half-wit it is then." The sorcerer sighed. "What's a kid that doesn't know how to fight doing all the way out here in monster-active areas?"
"Well I-"
"Don't answer that. It's already clear...you're off to Orario. Perhaps some dreamer seeking a superficial glory but not actually checking where he is and what he's doing." The sorcerer sighed. "Honestly, they should have an age requirement for these things if kids are risking getting themselves killed over small things like this."
"I'm 14 years old." Bell protested. "I'm officially an adult."
"Yes...I forgot about that particular custom." The sorcerer muttered. "Not even fully grown and already considered mature and responsible. Sometimes I just don't get people...or culture."
"How do you even know where I'm headed?" Bell asked.
"Where else would this path lead to?...the path inside Seolo Forest famous for riding right up to the gates of the Labyrinth city. Doesn't take a wiseman to figure it out."
"Are you looking to be an adventurer too, sir?" Bell asked.
"Yes...though I'm not too keen on the idea of a Familia. I'm not much of a team player. I like going solo and doing things my own way. That way, I can come up with some pretty good ideas. Like this meal right here..." The sorcerer gestured to the skillet. "...which I know is a sure reason that the monsters will stay away."
"The meat?" Bell asked puzzled. "How is the meat keeping them away? Wouldn't that just encourage them?"
The sorcerer simply tilted his head before picking up a plate and setting one of the steaks on it. He then held it out to Bell, who all of a sudden felt very surprised at this generous offer.
"Eat." The sorcerer said simply.
"That's...that's alright." Bell said as he pushed the plate away...or at least tried to but found to his confusion that as much as he pushed the stranger's arm and plate, the limb would just not budge.
"You're still growing." The sorcerer said. "And growing boys absolutely need meat. So take it."
"I appreciate the gesture but meat is really expensive and hard to come by." Bell protested again. "I've got my own food. I'll be fine with just that. Plenty of fresh fruit gathered as well as nuts and berries. I even have a bit of cheese on me as well, so thank you for the offer."
"You sat down at my fire and you refuse my food?" The sorcerer said with a bit of a warning tone. "It is rude to refuse a host's generous offer. Now eat."
The air around Bell suddenly felt very cold and murky, even though there was a roaring fire in front of him, and the red eyes inside of the hood he was staring at glowed brighter. Realizing that he may or may not just have offended his host, the boy took the plate with a grateful thanks and began cutting it up with a clearly well-used pair of knife and fork. Bell felt the eyes of his fire companion on him as he held up a piece on his fork.
Bell could not deny...the aroma from the steak he was holding was mouth-watering. After so long of not having any meat or a proper full meal to eat since he began his journey on the road, the smell of fresh cooked meat...he could not deny that the smell of this steak was something in the realm of the divine at this current moment. So without a moment more of disappointing the older boy, he bit into the piece of meat.
A wave of flavours hit his tongue, so suddenly and in such enormous quantity that he felt sparks shoot up the back of his head and into his brain, making him feel all fuzzy as his breath caught in his throat. And yet he followed his instinct, pressing his back teeth on top of the piece of meat and squeezing out all the juice from inside alongside whatever oil was used to cook this piece of meat. The salt and pepper was in perfect balance, and there was just a subtle hint of herb lingering in the background. It was quite hot since it had only just come out of the pan. But all the same, he'd never eaten meat like this before.
"Typically it should be left to rest for half the time it took to cook." The sorcerer said. "But given that you're a farmer boy, I don't expect you've eaten meat this way before. Far too...luxurious for your background."
Bell broke away from his flavoursome novelty and looked at him.
"How did you know I'm a farmer?"
"Your apparel." The sorcerer replied. "And that you stink of farm. As a former aspiring chef, I spent quite a bit of time around farms, studying ways to best source my ingredients and carefully pick the kind of animal I'd be serving on my customers' plates. As such, the smell is not indistinguishable to my nasal capacity."
"...It's so good though!" Bell said. "I've never been fine dining in my life. But I'm pretty sure that food which tastes this good is not something you normally just make over a campfire."
"Not typically no." His host replied. "It only tastes that good because I did not use any normal oil to cook that."
"...What did you use?" Bell asked.
"This." The sorcerer picked up a jar filled with what Bell at first thought to be milk...but then decided against since even through the glass at this time of night, the substance did not appear liquid like. "This is tallow...made from the very animal which I got that from." He pointed at the steak on Bell's plate.
"Where did you find a cow out here?" Bell asked.
"I didn't imagine you knew what beef tasted like."
"One of our cows stopped producing milk in my village. Her owner decided that it would be best to make other uses out of her. So I managed to have my first taste of beef." Bell said. "I can never forget the taste. But it was nowhere near as good as this. I just don't understand, where did you find a cow? Anybody on the journey to Orario, you wouldn't be able to keep meat good for this long before it goes bad. And as far as I know, there aren't any cows anywhere near here."
"Because you're not eating beef." The sorcerer smiled under his hood. "You just took a bite of Minotaur."
"...Minotaur?" Bell's yes widened. "I'm...I'm eating...a m-monster?"
"That you are." The sorcerer said. "The smell of a cooking Minotaur is sure to drive away any monsters with bright ideas. And it turns out, they're very tasty too."
Bell just stared at him perplexed and horrified as he came to know what exactly what he was eating. His hand began trembling a little in confusion and he gained half a mind to just drop the plate when suddenly a large tree nearby just fell over, startling him almost out of his skin. Bell watched as the great trunk hit the ground, splattering dirt everywhere. the leaves rustled and the branches snapped.
Silence reigned for a few minutes as Bell looked between his host and the tree. Eventually he lifted a finger and pointed at the felled timber.
"What just happened?"
"Don't know. The wind must have blown it over." The sorcerer said, pretending to pick dirt off his gloves.
"...The trunk has been cut in half. It wasn't just pushed over..." Bell paused as he looked around. "...and there isn't even any wind!"
"...Well I'll admit that strange things happen around me at times." The sorcerer. "And by the way, you'd better finish that food on your plate. I find it very aggravating when my meticulously prepared food is wasted by somebody."
"Th-thank you for the meal." Bell said as he felt a sudden urge to just obey and quickly picked up another piece of steak. "I-I'm surprised. I had no idea that monsters could taste this good...or any meat for that matter. Why is someone who likes to cook and is this good at it going on to become an adventurer?"
"Bit of a personal question considering we've known each other only a few minutes." The sorcerer said as he put a hand on his knee and leant on it while the red eyes under the hood narrowed. "Why is a farmer boy trying to become an adventurer? Answer that, and I'll tell you why."
"My grandfather." Bell answered. "He uh...passed away recently. It was his dream and my dream for a long time that I would become an adventurer. When he died, I had no family left. So I thought that since I was now an adult, I should go out into the world and fulfil my dream. To join a Familia in Orario...and become a powerful adventurer as well as...umm..." Bell trailed off as his face became a little red.
"As well as?" The sorcerer prompted.
"Well, this was really my grandfather's wish...but he wanted me to find a girlfriend too."
"A pretty standard expectation." The sorcerer commented. "Not enough to warrant such anxious and awkward behaviour. Are you certain there's not more to it?"
"...Well no...he actually...wanted me to...get a lot of them." Bell's voice became a murmur as he neared the end of that sentence.
"A lot of what? Speak louder."
"A lot of girlfriends. He wanted me to meet and date a lot of girls at once." Bell flushed as he said that. "Grandpa liked the idea of harems for some reason."
"I wonder why." The sorcerer muttered.
Was there any parallel of Bell's 'grandfather' in any universe that didn't have a harem of women, willing or forced or just simply raped into that troop? He wasn't so sure about the actions of the Zeus of this universe but you couldn't be Zeus without being a philanderer. It was pretty much a package deal with the name.
"Of course, I'm not exactly certain I'll be acting on that wish of his." Bell laughed nervously. "After all...I'm not really good with women."
"Can't imagine why." The sorcerer sighed. 'Honestly, humans and their carnal appetites. Even when it means their complete destruction, they'd still indulge.'
"Well, I told you my reason." Bell said. "What's yours?"
"...Most men fall in love with women and treat them with passion and investment." The sorcerer said. "Instead, I fell in love with my work. That is, the dream to become a chef renowned throughout the land for my culinary miracles. I devoted much time to studying and experimenting, trying out different palates and preparations from several different lands. Until one day, I came to a realisation. Even if I were to dive into this passion of mine, I'd only be making a variation of another's work, in order to appeal to the taste buds of other people." The sorcerer lifted a finger. "So I decided to cook something different."
"Monsters?" Bell guessed, assuming he was accurate.
He was.
"Indeed." The sorcerer said. "And you were my first guinea pi- I mean customer."
"Customer?"
The sorcerer nodded.
"That's right customer. I hope to open a restaurant in Orario where I cook monsters and use my culinary knowledge to my advantage. I'd be introducing a whole new array of possibilities and options into the food industry and the Chef's Rush. Nobody's ever opened a restaurant that serves monster dishes before. So it's just my kind of calling to be a founder and pioneer of a completely new cuisine."
"And what part of that ties into being an adventurer?" Bell raised an eyebrow.
"Where do you think I'd source the meat from?" The sorcerer said in a rhetorical tone.
"You want to get the meat yourself? But it takes ages to level up and a minotaur is a strong monster. It would be ages before you could serve it in your restaurant."
"And how do you think I got my hands on that?" The sorcerer said, as he pointed as the steak in Bell's hand.
"...it could not be from a monster at all..." Bell mumbled.
"You calling me a liar?!"
"NO! It's just...are you saying you killed a minotaur and you're now eating it? Did you have any help?"
"Against such a pitiful weakling?" The sorcerer huffed. "It wasn't worth using even a twentieth of a finger's worth of strength."
"...I'm sorry...I didn't understand that bit." Bell scrunched his brows. "A finger?"
"Just how I measure my attack power. Don't mind it." The sorcerer said before he gestured to the steak. "Now eat. You are not to waste a single piece of that, you hear?"
"Yes sir."
"And drop the 'sir'." The sorcerer added. "I'm not an old man. Not even out my teens yet."
"No?" Bell asked in surprise. "How old are you?"
"It is rude to ask anybody their age." The sorcerer folded his arms. "Honestly, do you not possess even a shred of common sense kid? Which reminds me, why are you walking alone on such a dangerous road so late at this hour, when you can't fight for yourself?"
"I uh...well it's...complicated." Bell rubbed his sideburn. "I was with a transport caravan and we were heading right this way. But some ways back, we came across another caravan that had been ruined, abandoned, clearly raided or something."
"Really." The sorcerer said in a more quiet voice.
"Yes. The guards had been hacked to death while the merchant's family had been beheaded, although they couldn't find the heads. And I didn't see it myself, but apparently the merchant had his insides ripped out. Bandits have not been known to do that, so it freaked quite few people out. When we got to the next checkpoint, the caravan refused to go on any further."
"I see." The sorcerer said. "And despite all that, you still chose to take such a risk?"
"Well...yes." Bell said. "I have a dream. I really want to be an adventurer...and if a few scared people are going to hold me back from fighting, how can I be called an adventurer at all?"
"...Are you sure an adventurer is all you're really trying to be?" The sorcerer said with clear inquisitiveness in his voice.
"...yes."
"Hmmm." The sorcerer put a very long finger to his chin. Bell took notice of this.
"Your fingers are quite long mister. They're longer than any other person's I've ever met."
"Yes, I have been told that many times in my life." The sorcerer said. "You'll find that it is quite the upside for me."
"Why?"
"It does well for my way of fighting."
"Are you an archer? Or a swordsman, mister?" Bell asked, looking more interested.
"Neither." The sorcerer responded before narrowing his eyes again. "And what did I say about the honorifics?"
"Well, I don't really know your name." Bell shrugged. "You never gave it to me."
"Oh right, I didn't." The sorcerer said, like he hadn't already known this and had kept this question off for enough time already. "I suppose it's about time you learnt it."
"Great." Bell smiled. "It's nice to meet you mister...?"
The sorcerer smiled under his hood before he pulled the bit of clothing away from his face. Bell's cheerful little smile dropped slowly as his eyes widened at what greeted him beneath the stranger's hood. The dark cloth fell away to reveal white hair, the same shade as his own and red eyes that were blood deep. The skin was pale, the chin sharp and the hair tucked away from his forehead to the side while bangs fell about the sides of his face and the back of his neck.
To Bell, he suddenly felt as if he'd looked into a mirror.
"My name is Ryo." The sorcerer said. "And I'm neither an archer nor a swordsman...I'm a sorcerer."
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