Episode 13: The Hero’s Curry Plate
“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way~”
[Could I please ask you not to turn the Goddess’s space completely into a Christmas scene?]
“Oh, come on, Goddess-sama. It feels like you’d usually spend Christmas all by yourself.”
[Are you really in a position to talk about others?]
“Hey, a year before I died as a human, I was partying with my neighbors.”
[Inconceivable! Impossible! Are you suggesting that I am beneath you?!]
“Ah, but I guess I spent most of my Christmases alone during my isekai reincarnations.”
[Well, I don’t imagine anyone wants to party with an inanimate object or a non-human.]
“Does participating as a Hero’s ribcage or a Heroine’s ear count toward the guest list?”
[It does not count if the other participants are unaware of your existence.]
“When I was the clock hand with all my brothers, I was too busy launching magical attacks on ‘normies’ to care about Christmas anyway…”
[I occasionally get complaints from the gods of the worlds you’ve messed up, so please, keep it within moderation.]
“Is there really a god with a heart so small they’d get angry at the antics of an isekai reincarnator?”
[The top of that list would be the god who was defeated because of you—when you were the lock on a treasure chest.]
“That god was the creator of that world?”
[I usually win the argument by saying the god who got beaten is at fault, but if you keep causing trouble, it wouldn’t be surprising if a class-action lawsuit came my way. So, tone it down.]
“Well then, today, let’s have a fun Christmas party together, Goddess-sama!”
[Unfortunately, it is time for your isekai reincarnation.]
“No way! The full-course Christmas dinner I prepared with such effort…”
[Don’t worry, I shall eat it all over the next two days.]
“The present I prepared for the gift exchange…”
[Don’t worry, I shall accept it.]
“Is there nothing from you, Goddess-sama?”
[Fine then. I’ll let you choose one cheat option of your liking.]
“Yay! Then, straight from the suggestion box via Okuyama Chihiro-san: [The Hero’s Curry Plate].”
[Something related to a Hero, I see.]
“That’s right. As far as the basic settings go, a Hero’s love for curry is non-negotiable.”
[I suppose a Hero who hates curry wouldn’t get much screen time.]
“Now, should I be a conceptual entity or a physical object?”
[Do you mean whether you become every plate the Hero eats curry from, or if you become one specific, fixed plate?]
“Since we’re doing this, let’s go with a unique, one-of-a-kind item.”
[If the Hero is a serious curry lover, that might just work.]
“As for the Hero’s gender… I think a girl would be nice.”
[I won’t forbid it this time, but does gender really matter?]
“I can’t get “excited” watching some dude eating a meal with gusto.”
[Now I want to forbid it.]
“How cruel!”
[Describe the mental state of a female Hero upon learning that her favorite curry plate is feeling lust while watching her eat.]
“I’d say… ‘Being watched isn’t so bad’?”
[You and the Hero are both quite ‘advanced,’ aren’t you? Fine, if you’re including those kinds of kinks, I shall allow it.]
“I’d still like a little bit of a sense of shame, though…”
[Just hurry up and decide!]
“Alright, let’s go with that. Oh, by the way, the cake is in the fridge.”
READ THE ORIGINAL TRANSLATION AT gadgetizedpanda.net
[The Christmas present he prepared… it was actually a very tasteful necklace. Was a single cheat option a bit too stingy of me?]
“I’m back!”
[The case of the man I sent out on Christmas Eve returning on Christmas Day.]
“Wait, has only one day passed?”
[Precisely speaking, the date has just changed. It seems the space-time distortion with your destination was quite large.]
“A day-trip isekai reincarnation. That’s a new one.”
[Convenient, perhaps, but lacking in drama.]
“Well, for the report… I suppose I have to start by talking about the Hero.”
[Right. A Hero who loves curry, I presume.]
“The Hero’s name was Rian Meric, a female Hero.”
[A bit simplistic, but not a bad name.]
※From Turmeric, Coriander
“Rian was a sickly girl from birth.”
[A Hero with a ‘frail’ setting?]
“Whenever she kicked the crap out of a horde of monsters attacking her village, she’d always have an asthma attack.”
[Sickly girls don’t usually kick the crap out of monster hordes.]
“She was a cheat-type Hero who received the God’s protection in a totally haphazard way.”
[So the frail constitution was added as a weakness?]
“Pretty much. My encounter with Rian was when she was still ten years old, as she was brutally slaughtering General Darkamo—the Demon King’s right hand—with her bare hands.”
※From Cardamom
[What a terrifying ten-year-old.]
“Nauseated by the choking smell of blood, Rian had no appetite and was confined to her bed from the exhaustion of battle. Her worried parents, wanting to cheer her up, made a dish from a foreign land that had recently been introduced.”
[And that was curry.]
“Exactly. Cah-ree.”
[Your pronunciation is unnecessarily good.]
“The aroma of the spices, which masked the smell of blood she’d been drenched in, brought back her appetite, and Rian ate curry for the first time.”
[She should have taken a bath. She was lying in bed in that state?!]
“And then, from the sheer deliciousness, Rian’s sickly body began to recover before our very eyes!”
[Does curry really have that much power?]
“That was the effect of the cheat option I took: [Item That Can Cure Incurable Diseases].”
[You made a surprisingly good choice for a change.]
“By the way, I was just a cheap wooden dish bought for a pittance from a local merchant.”
[A disappointing vessel. Still, how did you manage not to stand out until now?]
“Because my reincarnation destination was [The Hero’s Curry Plate], I became the plate she used when she first ate curry.”
[I see. So until then, you were just a normal plate.]
“Having overcome even the sole weakness given to her by God, Rian grew into a magnificent Hero within a few years.”
[She had already defeated the Demon King’s right hand at age ten, after all.]
“Rian loved to eat curry on days of great victory or anniversaries—using me.”
[The phrase ‘using me’ feels slightly uncomfortable.]
“She was a bit outside my ‘strike zone,’ but I managed to get excited somehow.”
[That makes me feel disgusted. Putting that aside, Rian continued to use the same plate, then?]
“Rian was a girl who got attached to things easily. She treasured items that had good memories or were lucky charms.”
[I see. She valued you as a memento of the day her health improved and she ate delicious curry.]
“No, I was treated as a lucky charm because I was used on the anniversary of General Darkamo’s defeat.”
[She prioritized her achievements over her own health?]
“Apparently, he was the first opponent to ever land a single hit on her.”
[That is not the mindset of a ten-year-old.]
“Rian also had various collection hobbies. General Darkamo’s weapon, General Darkamo’s battle flag, General Darkamo…”
[Did she turn the man himself into a stuffed specimen?]
“He’s preserved in formalin.”
[What a dangerous set of ideologies this Hero has.]
“Oh, I’ve got an email from Old Spacious.”
※An isekai companion of the protagonist who has reincarnated as a Fishman Demon King (sealed) → Fish Demon King (Sockeye Salmon) → Right hand of a Fish Demon King. Refer to chapters 7-9 for details.)
[Right in the middle of your report…]
“It seems he recently reincarnated as the right hand of a Demon King again, but he died instantly. Apparently, he was beaten to death by a girl in a village he attacked on a whim.”
[Well, that certainly supplements your report.]
“There really are people in similar situations, aren’t there?”
[You’re very slow on the uptake.]
“Ah, by the way, as for why she put him in formalin—she said it was because he looked like a little fishy and was ‘cute’.”
[Regarding the fish part… I suppose that makes sense.]
“And then, at age fifteen, Rian defeated the Demon King and saved the world.”
[You skipped everything! Are there no tales of adventure?!]
“The village next to the Demon King’s castle was actually Rian’s village.”
[What a tiny world.]
“Rian, who slaughtered the Demon King with her bare hands, was hailed as a Hero, but at the same time, she felt a sense of emptiness.”
[If you brutally slaughter your life’s greatest enemy with your bare hands at such a young age, I suppose emptiness is inevitable.]
“She wondered if there was any meaning in living the rest of her life as a Hero.”
[That part sounds quite serious.]
“A ‘Hero’ is one who performs courageous acts. Thus, Rian thought about a life truly worthy of a Hero.”
[Oh, how noble. Usually, a Hero’s life after defeating the Demon King is either peaceful or ends in ruin.]
“And so, Rian decided to become a curry shop owner.”
[Choosing that path as a Hero is, in a way, quite courageous.]
“Through the curry that changed her life, she wanted to give the people of the world a chance to change theirs. She believed that if you just eat curry, you can even defeat a Demon King.”
[Eating curry won’t help you defeat a Demon King… though she did do exactly that.]
“The Hero opened a curry shop, [Hero-Brand Curry], in a nearby kingdom.”
[She’s certainly making use of her Hero status.]
“The location was a prime spot right in front of the castle.”
[Spoken like a true Hero.]
“At first, everyone visited the shop out of curiosity. However, she struggled to get repeat customers.”
[Was the taste not good?]
“Ninety percent of the citizens were ‘Hayashi Rice’ fans.”
[What an incredibly trivial reason.]
“Furthermore, a surviving Demon King opened a Hayashi Rice shop right across the street.”
[What a terrible world where a Demon King can just casually waltz into a kingdom.]
“Reminds me of a story from some other world.”
[True. Well, the ‘Demon King blending into daily life’ trope isn’t that rare.]
“The shop’s name was [Demon King Hayashi].”
[Is the Demon King a Japanese person?]
“No, the Demon King’s name was Cumin.”
※ From the spice Cumin
[There’s no cleverness left in these names. But it is a bit of a cute name.]
“She was a female Demon King. A bit of a ‘scary-type’ older sister.”
[And that scary-type older sister was slaughtered by the fifteen-year-old female Hero?]
“Demon King Cumin was excellent in combat, but she judged that in a world with such a ‘cheat’ Hero, ruling by force was impossible. She plotted to propagate the deliciousness of Hayashi Rice and rule the people through its taste instead.”
[None of the explanations regarding the Hayashi Rice make any sense.]
“But Demon King Cumin’s shop was actually a massive success. Many people began to worship her. Everyone’s body reached a point where they couldn’t live without Hayashi Rice.”
[Are you sure that was actually Hayashi Rice?]
“In her empty shop, Rian worried. At this rate, she’d go into the red.”
[A very realistic concern.]
“She wondered if it would be faster to just slaughter Demon King Cumin.”
[What a violent Hero.]
“She felt that doing it twice or thrice wouldn’t be enough.”
[I find myself wanting to cheer for the Demon King’s hard work.]
“While pouring leftover curry onto me, the Hero continued to worry.”
[You pop up again as if you just remembered you were there.]
“I said: [If you’re going to compete, compete as a shop!]”
[You spoke? As a plate?]
“Rian was surprised when I suddenly started talking from underneath the curry, but after finishing her meal, she thought about it calmly and accepted it, figuring ‘I guess things like this happen’.”
[To finish the curry even though the plate suddenly started talking… she really is a hardcore curry lover.]
“For the time being, I explained that I was an isekai reincarnator who became the Hero’s Curry Plate and that I was the one who cured her illness. She believed it all wholeheartedly.”
[She was quite trusting, wasn’t she?]
“Even I was surprised. So, I told her I was amazed she believed me so easily.”
[It’s rare for you to be the surprised one.]
“Apparently, it was because whenever she ate curry, the plate would somehow vibrate, and every time she used this plate, a miracle occurred where power would well up inside her.”
[Now that you mention it, you were feeling lust while she ate. And did you use a cheat option for the latter part?]
“Yes, I made it so that eating a meal from me would increase one’s Level by 1.”
[If a curry lover used a plate like that for five years, they’d reach quite a level.]
“Since Rian was already a ‘cheat’ in terms of strength, I think that was just a rounding error.”
[The biggest impact was probably using a cheat option on a cheat.]
“By the way, I also told her that I get excited by the face she makes when she’s enjoying her curry.”
[You actually told her?!]
“She said ‘Thank you’ and showed her gratitude.”
[Was the other party a pervert too?]
“No, she was grateful that her joy of eating delicious curry was being communicated to someone.”
[Oh… a sudden wave of guilt.]
“Even I felt guilty, naturally.”
[You have a weakness for earnest, pure-hearted kids, don’t you?]
“Well, she did start squirming a bit after that, so I think she had the potential.”
[I could have gone without hearing that part.]
“Going back to the story, I persuaded her that resorting to violence was bad, and the two of us brainstormed ways to revive the shop.”
[From an outsider’s perspective, that’s a psychotic scene of someone muttering to a curry plate.]
“First was the interior. We decided that having formalin-preserved monsters she’d defeated lined up was too intimidating.”
[That’s beyond intimidating; it’s a horror show.]
“Demon King Cumin, who had come to scout the competition, was crying, after all.”
[If your subordinates were all on display in formalin, any scary-type older sister Demon King would cry.]
“She ran away after Rian told her, ‘I’d love to display you too’.”
[She’s someone who would actually do it, so of course she ran.]
“Next, I told her to stop attacking Demon King Cumin every time she visited the shop. I said she should at least let it slide during business hours.”
[The Demon King doesn’t give up, does she?]
“Demon King Cumin loves curry too, you see.”
[Even so, I don’t think I’d go to a curry shop run by the Hero who slaughtered me.]
“By the way, just by improving those two things, the customer turnout got significantly better.”
[I bet.]
“Even Demon King Cumin started coming to eat curry every day.”
[This Demon King must be a massive curry fan.]
“She was always crying, though.”
[A deep-seated trauma.]
“She was occasionally taken to the back room, after all.”
[I wonder which one of them is the ‘bad guy’ here.]
“At that point, the market share was 3 to 7. Demon King Cumin’s Hayashi Rice remained popular.”
[In a country where ninety percent were fans of Hayashi Rice to begin with, she was putting up a good fight.]
“Rian came up with a plan. She thought if she turned Demon King Cumin into formalin, that shop would go under.”
[She’s the best regular customer; I wish she’d show a little mercy.]
“I scolded her by slamming my face—full of curry—into hers. I told her that doing such a thing would be admitting her curry lost to Hayashi Rice.”
[A Hero getting slammed with curry by a curry plate…]
“Rian licked off the curry and apologized in tears.”
[The curry-loving setting is ruining the seriousness.]
“She also seemed a little bit pleased.”
[She was a pervert who got excited by being watched, after all.]
“I said: ‘If you don’t know why you’re losing, just go and see. We’re going on a scouting mission!'”
[I see. If it’s a shop that holds the top market share in the country, it’s best to see it at least once.]
“Rian and I disguised ourselves and snuck into Demon King Cumin’s shop.”
[How exactly did a wooden curry plate disguise itself?]
“She put a ribbon on me.”
[Oh, how cute.]
“Rian wore the stuffed head of General Darkamo.”
[Wearing the head of an acquaintance as a disguise is pure horror.]
※There are indeed horror movies like that.)
“The interior was very clean. It was decorated with wonderful antiques, and while the atmosphere was good, it had a calming kindness perfect for dining.”
[A far cry from a shop lined with formalin jars.]
“However, the staff’s attitude was a bit poor.”
[Oh? In what way?]
“They kept looking over at our table, and they’d jump and tremble just from us calling out to them.”
[Well, it’s a Hero wearing a fish-monster’s head talking to a plate.]
“Even Demon King Cumin, who came to check on things, ended up crying and fleeing to the kitchen.”
[It was the head of her former right hand, after all.]
“But the Hayashi Rice was delicious.”
[Did the plate eat it?]
“There’s an option that lets me taste things when they’re served on me.”
[How do you even find such options?]
“I figured if we could share the same taste, it might count as an ‘indirect kiss’ of sorts.”
[You really are a despicable fellow.]
“But hey, it was useful for analyzing the flavor of Rian’s curry and such.”
[I suppose so. By the way, which was better: the Demon King’s Hayashi Rice or the Hero’s Curry?]
“Rian’s curry. Even as a Hayashi Rice fan, I told Rian her curry was better.”
[A sudden betrayal from her favorite curry plate!]
“In the end, it turned out we were winning in terms of taste, but losing because of the shop’s interior, the staff’s attitude, and the exterior.”
[I’ve heard about the interior and the staff, but this is the first I’m hearing about the exterior.]
“It was the same. A line of Demon King Cumin’s subordinates preserved in formalin.”
[Why didn’t she fix that along with the interior?! Still, the Demon King’s love for curry is impressive, considering she still came as a regular. And that 30% of customers, too…]
“As soon as we removed those and gave the place a more relaxed feel, the number of customers became equal.”
[I’m sure it did.]
“Demon King Cumin even started coming with a smile.”
[This Demon King is remarkably good at forgetting past grudges.]
“One day, Demon King Cumin said: ‘I once secretly ate the curry from this shop and became captivated by it. Eating this curry, which is filled with Rian’s feelings for it, makes me feel happy’.”
[She must have been so captivated that she was willing to overcome her fear.]
“She also said that even though they were enemies who once tried to kill each other, she didn’t dislike Rian herself for treating her normally after everything.”
[I don’t think being lined up in formalin or being slaughtered every time you meet counts as ‘normal treatment’. And while she says they ‘tried to kill each other,’ it feels like it was entirely one-sided.]
“While blushing, she muttered, ‘And being punched feels good, too…'”
[This world is full of nothing but perverts.]
“That was her monologue.”
[Wait, it was a monologue? Why did you hear it?]
“At that time, the curry plate being served to Demon King Cumin was me.”
[You were being used for regular business too?!]
“Normally she wouldn’t use me, but the shop was unusually short on plates, and Rian picked me, saying ‘I guess I’ll use this one’.”
[Using her favorite plate for the Demon King… I suppose they had truly bonded to some extent.]
“And thus, Demon King Cumin leveled up.”
[Right, you had that effect.]
“Plus, it healed all the damage she’d accumulated from Rian until then.”
[That is the cheat option, after all.]
“In the end, neither shop gave an inch, and both prospered while competing for market share.”
[Well, that’s good to hear.]
“And then, the time for the sad parting between Rian and me arrived.”
[You two were getting along so well, too.]
“Rian, whose level had risen too high, found it difficult to control her strength. One day, while washing me, she sneezed—and snapped me clean in half.”
[Your past antics in a distant world came back to haunt you, didn’t they?]
“I thought, ‘Ah, so this is where I die,’ and said my goodbyes to Rian. She apologized through her tears.”
[I suppose killing your partner with a sneeze is something you can’t help but apologize for.]
“I told her: ‘This too is karma. All things with form will eventually be lost. Having seen you live a magnificent life as a Hero even after defeating the Demon King is enough for me’.”
[True. As long as you exist as an object, the time will come when you lose your shape.]
“I told her I loved the face she made when eating curry, and that I was able to feel “excited” for her.”
[That last bit ruined everything.]
“Rian replied, ‘Me too’.”
[She wasn’t talking about the last part, surely?]
“She was squirming a little, so probably both.”
[I shall choose to forget that part of the story.]
“So, I came back feeling a bit sentimental.”
[It sounds like you died quite satisfied.]
“Yes. It was a relationship different from romance, but I think it was a good ‘Plate Life.’ I’d say I’m as satisfied as I was during my time as Leapris.”
[‘Plate Life’… not a phrase you hear often. But you’re back.]
“In the end, Rian was working hard with her own strength. All I could do as a plate was treat her incurable illness, help her level up, and give advice on the shop.”
[I’d say that’s more than enough for a plate.]
“The fact that I’m back here must mean I’m not fully satisfied yet.”
[It seems satisfying you is going to be quite a chore. Honestly, you never have any normal reincarnations anyway.]
“So, as for the souvenir…”
[Let me say this first: I will not accept any formalin-preserved monsters.]
“In that case, I’ll save those as Christmas presents for other people.”
[So you did bring them!]
“I remember the recipe for the curry Rian made. Shall I make some now?”
[That sounds lovely. Curry on Christmas might be a bit out of place, but since I ate so much Christmas dinner yesterday…]
“You ate two people’s worth in one meal?”
[I saved the cake! Also, I have a Christmas present for you too.]
“What’s this?”
[A thick diary. Since you’re going to be coming back frequently anyway, I thought you could write down your memories.]
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