The Impossible Ingredient

7 days later

Michiko and Sabine continued their vigil at Mitsuha's general store. When she didn't return that first night, Michiko thought that maybe she was visiting the Palace again for more leadership matters, but when Sabine returned the next morning, that deepened the mystery, along with their worries. Sabine then revealed that Mitsuha had a radio link with her province mansion, which was a surprise to Michiko, but she set that aside for the moment. A quick call to Anton the butler however confirmed that Mitsuha had not made any appearances there either, which then unintentionally began to spread the quiet fears further. Chancellor Saar confirmed with Sabine that he hadn't sent any such message the previous day, confirming to both girls that the message was some kind of trap. Ordinarily, Mitsuha could easily escape any normal ambush, but the fact that she was still missing suggested that something had gone horribly wrong.

Over the next few days, Michiko and Sabine made quiet inquiries to Mitsuha's regular contacts. Their efforts were hampered by Michiko's language handicap, so Sabine had to do most of the talking. Unfortunately, neither the Bozes, the Ryners, nor the Pasteurs, had heard from her either, each one expressing rising concerns that the question was even being asked. However, they also recognized the need to keep it discreet to avoid a panic. For starters, all these people were close friends and were greatly troubled if something serious had happened to Mitsuha. But as Sabine reminded Michiko, Mitsuha, whether she meant to be or not, was an enormously stabilizing force for the Kingdom. If word got out that she was suddenly missing, that had the potential to cause chaos throughout the lands.

Through it all, Michiko reluctantly kept Mitsuha's store open; not that she particularly cared about lining Mitsuha's retirement fund but to help maintain the illusion that Mitsuha was still doing business along with keeping her mind from dwelling on the crisis on hand. Luckily, a few of the phrases she was taught included "welcome to the store" and "thank you for your business", and she recognized the currency well enough to make change. Anything much more complex than that though, and the confused customers were in for quite a bit of pantomiming and polite apologetic bowing. Luckily, most of the customers were regulars who were just grateful that they could get their regularly desired little luxuries and didn't ask too many questions. A small part of Michiko died a little inside as she watched these people paying so much money for what would be trivial things in Japan but as she resigned earlier, it's her store.

They were originally scheduled to have already left the capital city by now and headed towards Yamano county to start scouting grape farms for wine, and corn, barley and rye farms to test the feasibility of setting a distillery. That ship evidently had sailed. Besides, she had bigger issues to worry about than designing wineries in her head. For starters, Michiko was well aware that Mitsuha was her ticket home; if she wasn't found, she was stuck here. Let's not go there just yet... maybe she's just held up somewhere, and she'll be back in a couple more days, she told herself. Short term, she had to start thinking about basic survival. For the past few days, she had been staying in Mitsuha's shop and eating out of her kitchen, but she couldn't keep doing that much longer. She was sure Sabine would have been happy to loan her some money, but she didn't feel right about just taking other people's charity. I could take up Paradise Diner's open-ended offer. They had all but begged her to join their kitchen staff, once again assuring her that language wasn't an issue and besides, if she kept practicing, it would soon be a non-factor anyway. Under the circumstances, she was tempted to take them up on it. However, she was worried that, if Mitsuha did end up popping back in the next day or so, hale and none the worse for wear, she'd end up having to bail out on them, which would have really felt like being a disingenuous person.

What she would have preferred would have been a way to make some basic survival money, but in such a way that she could walk away from if needed. Unfortunately, her lack of language made her options extremely limited. She was sorely unqualified for any kind of physical labor and lacked the social contacts for merchant positions; not that she would qualify for the latter, being unable to speak in an educated manner in the local tongue.

Just then, the door opened again. "Welcome to the store!" Michiko said in the Zegleus language. It still felt awkward to speak instead of Japanese, but she knew she needed to build proficiency, especially if Mitsuha didn't return soon.

"Michiko-oneesan," Sabine chimed as she entered, her normally-cheery demeanor dampened by the current situation, "have you heard anything yet from Mitsuha-neesama?"

Michiko caught about half the sentence, but Mitsuha's name made the question clear enough, and she sadly shook her head. Sabine became more depressed, then appeared anxious. "Maybe it's time we got help? Called the city guards? If more people are looking..." she trailed off when she realized Michiko was struggling to understand her language, and that she needed to simplify what she was saying. "More people...?"

Michiko nodded in understanding. She wants to open up the news of Mitsuha's disappearance... get more people out there to be searching for her... Michiko gave the idea some careful thought. There was some merit to it. This was a medieval society; mass media and surveillance didn't exist. In theory, the more eyes out there looking for her, the better the odds of someone seeing her, assuming she was even in this world. However, she had to consider other factors... this was Mitsuha we were talking about. There was a 50/50 chance she wasn't even on this world. If she had gone to Wolf Fang, for instance, because she was grievously injured, more eyes wouldn't mean a thing. Then there was the political instability she was warned about, not to mention whoever attacked her to consider. From what she was told, Mitsuha made a lot of enemies, but any faction or power that would attack Mitsuha likely wouldn't just stop there; it would likely be part of a bigger plan.

No, she realized, despite conventional wisdom, the smarter play seemed like to keep it quiet, at least for now. If she did make it to Wolf Fang, even injured, then that could be her best move. She told me she had a healing ability that would slowly, but eventually heal her over time. Wolf Fang would no doubt do their best to help her, if that's where she ended up, so all they could do in the meantime was to remain strong. That, plus one thing... she turned to Sabine and in her best Zegleus, "we'll find the bad men... protect... " she trailed off because she didn't know the words to 'Kingdom', but Sabine's face lit up nonetheless as she gathered where Michiko was going with her intentions and nodded. She took Michiko's hand, with renewed strength; it felt good to know that someone was with her in this time of need.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Inside the Zegleus palace, the King was holding a conference with several of his most trusted nobles to discuss the crisis that had been brought to his attention. In attendance were Chancellor Saar, Prince Lionel, Count Bozes and Marquis Eibinger. All these men were directly involved in the recent navel and military buildup, so the matter was of utmost important to them and the Kingdom as a whole, but now news that Mitsuha's disappearance had been brought to their attention.

"Then it is agreed..." the King concluded, "Personal feelings aside... this is a matter that needs to be addressed, but with the utmost discretion and expediency. If word were to spread of Lady Mitsuha's disappearance... or more correctly... the Lightning ArchPriestess' disappearance... it could have grave consequences on how the neighboring countries view our current situation."

Eibinger added, "More immediately, the plans she's provided; they're written in the language of her lands. She's the only one who can read them. Without her, any progress we have on constructing these new weapons and ship designs are at a standstill."

Bozes had the hardest time to be objective; he considered Mitsuha very much a daughter to his family, but for the sake of his country, he had to set those feelings aside. "We still have time; she did suggest that it could be years before we see any follow-up activity from the Vanel Empire, and I doubt we'd see another invasion from the Aldar Empire anytime soon since their recent defeat."

"Don't be so certain," Lionel countered, as heads turned his way. He continued. "Father... ministers... I'm hearing some very disturbing rumblings among the noble courts... quiet ones for now... but there's definitely an undercurrent of discontentment since the aftermath of the Aldar invasion. Many of the families that were noncommittal to the Kingdom are feeling left out now that prosperity has begun."

"That's their own doing!" Eibinger snarled.

"Yes," Lionel agreed. "And as long as the ArchPriestess was present and supported the Kingdom, there was little any of them could truly do but accept their status quo. But if word gets out that she's gone for good..." He trailed off; it wasn't necessary for him to continue as everyone in the room could arrive at the same conclusion.

____________________________________________________________________________________

"Wha...!" Michiko's face was nearly as pale as the almost-completely white Reversi board that was staring her in the face. I've lost... A devastating defeat...! Are you kidding me...?! She's half my age...! I've been playing this game with Tsuyoshi-sempai and Mitsuha for years...! Mitsuha had warned her that if Sabine ever challenged her in Reversi to never bet anything she wasn't prepared to lose... well good thing I remembered that... I guess I owe her a batch of hand-made cupcakes instead of anything expensive like my smartwatch.

Sabine looked back at her with that same innocent smile. Yeah, right... you're not fooling me anymore with that... Michiko thought. They were at Mitsuha's shop, trying to find strength with one another as they continued to hold out hope for her return, and finding ways to pass the time. Unlike DVDs, Michiko was told that Reversi and Shogi had long ago been "imported" into the Kingdom by none other than Mitsuha*, and that they were products produced by her province that were big sellers throughout the Kingdom. Well, go figure... Michiko thought... another scheme to make money... I should have known...

*see Manga Chp56 /LN Chp25

Just then, the entry bell rang, indicating another customer. "Welcome to the store," Michiko said, practicing her Zegleus greeting, only to be met by the cold expression of a flinty-face man staring her in the face.

"Sell me more fish," he demanded.

Michiko stared back blankly. She had no idea what he was saying. Luckily, 'fish' was a commonly used dish in Japanese anime, so Sabine came to her rescue and switched to Japanese. "He wants fish."

Michiko went to the back of the shop and picked up a box of preserved fish. It was actually a product from Mitsuha's Yamano province; a crate of preserved, salted fish caught from the fishing villages. The man glanced at the box and glared. "Not that! The real product! My lord deserves the best!" At that, another man entered, notably better dressed than the first man.

Michiko remembered Mitsuha telling her about some obnoxious chef giving her grief a year or so ago over selling him fish before Count Bozes and Iris stepped in to put in him in his place*; was this the same guy , she wondered. Guess he figured if he brought his patron along, it would give his request more weight.

*see Manga Chp17 /LN Chp8 /Anime Epi6

"This is fish," Sabine tried to say.

The chef shook his head. "I want fresh fish!" he insisted. "Only by using the best product can a chef produce a quality dish!"

The entire sentence went over Michiko's head; even Sabine struggled trying to come up with a Japanese equivalent. The best either girl could figure out was that the guy wanted something fresher but that wasn't possible so long as Mitsuha had gone missing. Fresh seafood was an extremely perishable product, and the capital city was ten days by carriage rides away from the ocean, and most river fish were unsuitable for consumption due to the proximity of the city sewage. If they were in Yamano County or even Bozes County, they might be able to get fresh products, but here in the capital?

What's his deal? Michiko thought. OK, this product wouldn't be my first choice to use for 'en papillote'*, but I'd hardly consider this inedible.

* in paper; French cooking technique, wrapping in parchment paper, often used in baking chicken or fish, to keep it moist and tender

"Stupid girl...!" the chef shouted back at Michiko. "You expect me to be able to make a meal worthy of the Baron with...this!?"

Sabine flinched at the overt insult; she wasn't as close to Michiko as she was to Mitsuha but she had grown fond of her these past few days as the crisis had brought them closer together. And yes, Michiko was a commoner, not a noble, but that was no excuse for such rudeness.

OK, 'girl', I understood... Michiko thought. That other word I don't know, but his tone didn't sound very nice, and judging from Sabine's reaction, that's probably their word for 'idiot' or 'fool'. The rest of his diatribe was a complete loss to her, so she looked at Sabine.

"He said it's a..." Sabine struggling in Japanese, pulled from hours of memorized anime DVDs, then pointed at the boxed fish,"... an unbeatable maneuver," Sabine said.

Michiko smiled a little. Probably not an accurate translation of what he said...she probably got that phrase from a battle anime, but I think I got the gist of it. Chef-san think this ingredient can't be turned into a dish worthy of a high-class patron like his boss. The smart thing to do would be to just send him on his way and be done with it. It's not like every store is obligated to sell him fish... I mean, even if the Baron is here, what can he do about it anyway...? But how would Mitsuha handle this...? She then came to a decision and pointed to the kitchenette, asking for Sabine for a Zegleus translation. She then looked at the chef with her best steely-eyed challenge, "Your kitchen, thirty minutes."

She lacked the vocabulary to go further, but her meaning was clear enough. The gauntlet was thrown; the chef looked back at her incredulously, then scoffed. You're a child, his face wordlessly said, what would you know about cooking? The baron, however, was intrigued, then nodded.

____________________________________________________________________________________

Michiko looked around Baron Turck's kitchen located in his capital city mansion and was quite surprised to see how well laid out it was for a medieval setting. And this guy can't produce a noble-worth dish with this layout? Marcel or Bernd would cook rings around you in a place like this... hell, I'll bet Anel would give you a run for your money and he's barely past an apprentice at this point.

She unrolled her knife set; a graduation gift from her father, who had given it to her during one of her darkest times in an attempt to cheer her up. It was a 7-piece Senken Damascus knife set. Marcel had bought a Senken Damascus Chef knife a year or so ago from Mitsuha for 2 gold and 5 silver coins*. He'll probably go nuts when he sees these; her set included a chef knife, a santoku knife, a paring knife, a chopper, and boning knife; pretty much all the tools any chef could reasonably need. If she was going to do battle, she was going to bring the tools of the trade.

*see Manga Chp12 /LN Chp8 /Anime Epi4

To the side of the room, Baron Turck, the chef and Sabine were watching, with different attitudes and expectations. Turck was curious; this girl shared a superficial resemblance to the famous Lightning ArchPriestess, was it possible she was from her home country? Perhaps she had similar training, he wondered. The chef had no such expectations; in his mind, this child would be lucky if she didn't cut her fingers off with those knives. Fancy tools don't make a chef, he snorted. Only Sabine had an inkling of what was to come; still remembering that lunch she had had only a week ago that Michiko literally whipped up in under fifteen minutes.

Michiko started the first pot with a mirepoix and tomatoes and let them stew to give them time to gel while she built a dough and got water boiling. As the sauce slowly came together, she added red wine, and adjusted for seasoning, adding spices and herbs, then finally the fish that the chef had been so agitated about. Yes, it's salty as hell, but it's also packed with umami if you know how to use it. Yes, I tasted it before I started; as my parents, cooking instructors, and television cooks always told me, taste, taste, taste every step of the way. That was particularly true here; she had found that, while most of the produce in this world was analogous to Earth, some had some subtle differences, so minor corrections were necessary. Nothing drastic; but an occasional extra pinch of salt or sugar was needed to steer it in the right direction.

Finally, the dough ball was rested and ready for rolling. They didn't have a pasta roller obviously, but they did have a rolling pin so given the time crunch I gave myself, tagliatelle it is. Luckily, fresh pasta takes literally seconds in boiling water, then transferred into a deep skillet, tossing it with the prepared sauce, then finishing it off with some of the local cheese that the Baron has in his well-stocked kitchen. Right at the deadline, Michiko placed three plates in front of the observers, folded her arms and tersely announced "召し上がれ *." She stuck with Japanese, partially because she didn't know the Zegleus equivalent and her patience with this chef's attitude had all but run out.

*Meshiagare / Enjoy

The three prospective eaters each surveyed the dishes with different attitudes. Knowing what to expect, Sabine went straight in, took one bite and was immediately hit with a gratifying explosion of flavor, combining saltiness, umami, sweetness and sourness, along with the satisfying chew of hand-cut pasta, all coated with the creamy local cheese. Turck soon followed, tentatively at first, but then enthusiastically soon after. This was no doubt the same kind of cooking he had experienced last year at the debutante ball; so, this girl does cook just like her fellow foreigner. The cook stared at the plate, almost refusing to try it, but the smells were too coaxing and couldn't be denied. He took one bite, then almost against his will, began taking more. How is this possible...? This child... takes that ingredient... and cooks like this...?

"Do you know what your problem is?" Michiko announced in Japanese. She knew only Sabine had a chance to understand even a small portion of what she was saying, but she had to get it off her chest. "Any mediocre cook can make decent food if all you use is top quality ingredients. But if you call yourself a true chef, then you should be able to take even a challenging ingredient and turn it into something special. That's the mark of a real chef... and you sir... are no chef."

The chef looked at Michiko then looked back down. He didn't understand her words, but her meaning was clear enough. T-t-total defeat...!

____________________________________________________________________________________

"So, are you going to work for Baron Turck?" Sabine asked, as the two of them headed back towards Mitsuha's general store.

Michiko caught maybe every other word, so she had to make a guess what Sabine was asking based on context and nodded. "Yes... but just until Mitsuha returns. It's just... " She wasn't quite sure how to explain in the Zegleus language that she needed some basic money for the short term, and she didn't want to be a burden, so she fell back on their original thinking. "When Mitsuha comes back... it'll be all right."

Sabine thought about it as the sun began to set and nodded. "That's right... Mitsuha-neesama has to come back!" As they eventually made their way back to the shop, Sabine chimed in, "And you still owe me some hand-made cupcakes!"

But you just finished an entire adult portion of tagliatelle alla puttanesca...! Michiko thought incredulously. You still have room for... her thoughts trailed off as she saw Sabine's cheery face. Of course she does... She sighed. "As you wish, Hime-sama..."

____________________________________________________________________________________

"What do you mean, you're not sure!?" Jerome Lafette snarled at the masked man, as Baron August Von Tomsen and his brother Burkhalt Von Tomsen looked on. The two sons of the Tomsen family, the former Barony of the province that was now Yamano County looked on with concern. They were only here because of the good fortune of the political connections of Lafette's conspiracy of other rebellious nobles; previously, they had been arrested by Mitsuha for impersonating nobility*. This insult had infuriated them to no end; for that, they had vowed to do whatever it took to bring her down, and when approached by Jerome from their cells, they jumped at the chance.

*see Manga Chp45 /LN Chp18

"You promised us the Viscountess' head!" Burkhalt said with agitation. He knew full well what would happen if this plot failed; arrest would be a mild punishment compared to what awaited them if she survived the assassination attempt.

"Calm yourself," August said. He was the older of the two. "If she had survived and reported the attempt, we wouldn't be here."

Jerome sighed and nodded. What August Von Tomsen said did make sense. From what his men at the Proving ground said, the ArchPriestess had apparently vanished in the middle of the scuffle. He turned to the assassin. "And you're positive you scored a strike on the Viscountess' body? Not just her clothing or armor?"

"Yes, mi' lord," he confirmed. "There was blood all over both me and my partner. But before we could finish her off, she vanished. Never saw anything else like it."

So, the rumors about this "Transfer" magic were true. Jerome had heard some nobles talking about how the ArchPriestess had some kind of Transfer magic that would allow her to move herself and others at great distance in the blink of an eye, but at the cost of her lifeforce; a fact that had been quietly revealed among some of the nobles in the aftermath of the Aldar invasion*. It would explain a great many things about how she had accomplished so much; now he worried what other powers did she possess? Could she shrug off wounds that would kill a normal person? If so, was there a chance they would end up having to face her in the immediate future, despite his men's attack?

*see Manga Chp35 /LN Chp15

No... What's done is done... we can't do anything about it now, he resolved. He had made a personal vow all those months ago. If she's dead, so much the better. If she had survived, we'd all be facing the gallows already. Best guess, even if she did survive, she's out of the picture, and that would have to be good enough. He turned to the Torsen brothers. "The plan continues. Gather your resources. The time for change in this Kingdom has begun. What was once yours... will be yours again," he vowed. As the two former Barons nodded with glee, Jerome concealed his own thoughts... and once fools like you do what I need to be done... I'll have my place among the Aldar Empire once again. I will have my revenge on this Kingdom... once and for all...!