Cozy Issekai Craftsman, ch 5

Caroline led Joe through the medium sized kitchen space.

Despite the primitive technology reminiscent of the mediAval era on Joe's home planet, he was pleasantly surprised to see an immense furnace chimney blazing with a crackling fire, its heat radiating through the room. A row of griddles attached to the fiery behemoth acted as a makeshift stove, with several mammoth pots perched atop it.

Caroline deftly tossed a couple of logs that were stacked nearby onto the fire, and using a hefty metal poking stick, stoked it to a roaring inferno.

Joe eagerly donned his apron, taking note of every detail in the kitchen: the precise location of each utensil, how every ingredient was prepped and labeled, and the rhythm of the kitchen staff's movements. Caroline quizzed Joe, "So, do you think you can handle it, Joe?"

Joe nodded, relishing the challenge. "This should be a cinch. How much time do we have before the kitchen opens?"

"An hour. You'll have plenty of time to get breakfast prepped. Our menu is simple, just two dishes per meal, aside from our soups. It's not a fancy restaurant with complicated fare, but we have a high turnover," Caroline responded with a wry smile.

Joe nodded, mentally steeling himself for the busy morning ahead. "Understood."

Caroline strode purposefully around the spacious kitchen, her eyes scanning every nook and cranny to ensure that everything was perfect before she left him to his devices.

Joe adjusted the flames in the fireplace and the chimney with practiced ease by adding more wood stoking the fire, creating a warm and inviting atmosphere that enveloped the room.

Joe sprang into action, his muscles tensing as he reached for the knives. He grabbed two gleaming blades from the knife blocks and placed them carefully on the counter, their sharp edges glinting in the light. He then picked up a peeler for vegetables, its sleek design fitting perfectly in his hand.

As he prepared for breakfast, Joe worked with the deft precision of a seasoned chef. He placed a large bucket of butter close to the fireplace, careful not to let it melt, and arranged the eggs in a neat row on the counter in front of the blazing furnace.

Joe cracked the eggs and expertly sliced the bacon, his eyes darting back and forth between the two tasks. He held both knives with a firm grip, summoning their properties windows with a flick of his wrist. He scowled as he noticed that neither knife had a sharpness quality, only a dullness property.

With a quick and decisive motion, Joe transferred the dullness from the larger knife to the smaller one, watching as its once-sharp edge became dull and lifeless. He tested it by running its edge along the back of his hand, feeling no sense of danger. However, he was pleased to see that the new property had appeared on the larger butcher knife: "Sharpness +1".

Joe grinned with satisfaction, feeling a rush of confidence surge through him. Though it was not flashy, his ability to manipulate the properties of the knives was incredibly useful and made his life in the kitchen a little bit easier. As he continued to work, Joe knew that a sharp knife was an indispensable tool in the kitchen.

He set to work with a flurry of activity, his deft hands quickly peeling, chopping, and dicing a variety of colorful vegetables for the soup. He tossed the vegetables into the bubbling cauldron, the sizzling water sending up a fragrant steam that filled the kitchen with a savory aroma. He stirred the soup with a long wooden spoon, the bubbles popping and fizzling beneath its surface.

He yearned to delve deeper into the properties of the soup, to manipulate it with his newfound powers, but the cauldron was too hot to touch. Undeterred, he hovered his hand above the simmering liquid, his chest swelling with anticipation.

To his dismay, no property window appeared. He knew that he had to make physical contact with the soup or its container to unlock its secrets. Perhaps with time and practice, he would be able to access the properties of items without having to touch them.

Despite this setback, he felt a sense of excitement and wonder at the possibilities that lay ahead. As he continued to cook the soup, he felt his powers grow stronger and more refined, eager to explore the limitless potential that lay within him.

Despite knowing that his ability may not be fully functional, Joe couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation as the morning rush began. He stood poised, his senses alert as the customers started to trickle in, their orders filling the air with a symphony of sounds.

The kitchen was a whirlwind of activity, with Joe deftly flipping eggs, bacon, and bread on plates that he passed on to Ava, who in turn delivered them to the eager customers outside. The heat from the stove and the sizzling of the food filled the kitchen with an electric energy, keeping Joe on his toes.

As the plates returned to the kitchen, Joe wasted no time in swiftly carrying them to the sink, his hands moving with a practiced ease as he washed them clean. He knew that he had to work quickly and efficiently to keep up with the pace of the morning rush, determined to avoid the pile-up of dishes that could easily overwhelm him later on.

Despite the frenzied pace, Joe found a certain satisfaction in his work, a sense of accomplishment in meeting the demands of the customers and keeping the kitchen running smoothly. And with his newfound ability, he felt confident that he could handle whatever challenges lay ahead.

As the morning rush gained momentum, Joe felt the pressure mounting as more and more dishes piled up in the sink. He knew that he needed to act fast before the situation spiraled out of control.

With a sense of urgency, Joe strode over to the sink and scanned the pile of dirty dishes, searching for a solution. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he seized one of the filthy plates in his hand, summoning a skill window with a flick of his wrist.

His eyes scanned the properties that appeared on the screen, skipping over the irrelevant ones until he found what he was looking for: "Clean -1." A smile of triumph crept across his face as he realized he had the answer to his problem.

Reaching into his pocket, Joe produced one of the pebbles he had collected earlier. Holding it tightly in one hand, he grasped the dirty dish in the other and concentrated, channeling his powers through his body and into the objects he held.

With a swift transfer of the negative cleaning property from the dish to the pebble, Joe felt a rush of exhilaration surge through him. He marveled at the power he possessed, reveling in the fact that he could manipulate the properties of objects with a mere thought.

Buoyed by his success, Joe attacked the pile of dirty dishes with renewed vigor, determined to keep up with the never-ending flow of customers and their demands.

Joe couldn't believe his luck as he stared at the newly cleaned dishes. The grime and grease that had been caked on the plates just moments before were now completely gone. He shuddered at the sight of the muck that had appeared on the pebble he held in his hand, quickly dropping it into the sink and turning on the water to wash it away. The sound of rushing water echoed through the kitchen as Joe repeated the process with each and every dish.

He felt a sense of triumph as he looked at the clean dishes neatly stacked on the counter. It was almost too good to be true. With a grin spreading across his face, he muttered to himself, "I think I found a cheat code." Joe felt like he had stumbled upon a secret that nobody else knew, a hidden advantage that could give him an edge over everyone else.

He carefully checked each dish, making sure that there was no trace of the negative cleaning property left on them. After a few minutes of diligent work, he was satisfied that they were all perfectly clean. Joe let out a contented sigh as he washed the dirty pebbles, feeling a sense of accomplishment. It was a small victory, but it was one that made his job a little easier.

Finally, he turned off the water and dashed back to the food that was still cooking. A pungent, acrid smell hit his nose as he neared the stovetop, and he muttered a curse under his breath. Despite his best efforts, he had burnt over a dozen eggs and two dozen slices of bacon in his distraction with the dishes.

He exclaimed, "Dang it!"

So far, he had prided himself on not overcooking any of the eggs or bacon, but right now he had burnt over a dozen eggs and two dozen slices of bacon from his little experiment with the dishes. Still, he grabbed a few clean plates and attempted to salvage the charred food by arranging them on the plates and leaving them on the counter for Ava to serve to customers. He knew it wasn't up to par, but he hoped it was better than nothing.

Ava walked in and her eyes widened as she surveyed the burnt food on the plates. She glared at him, her hands on her hips. "We can't serve this to customers. You have to start over," she said firmly, not mincing her words.

Joe felt a pang of guilt and shame wash over him as he apologized to her and turned back to the stove to begin cooking again. But then, he paused, hesitated for a moment, and swiveled back around to the plates holding the overcooked and burnt food.

He held a plate in each of his hands, and some of the property windows on them were the words "burnt" and "overcooked." Ava asked, "What in Quinn's name are you doing? You can't just stand there."

Joe held up a hand, pacifying her. He said, "I'm doing magic."

He pulled out several more stones from his pocket, placed them on the table, and held one in his hand with a plate. He transferred the [overcooked] and [burnt] properties from the plates holding the eggs and bacon to the pebble. He repeated this for the rest of the plates. It only took him about thirty seconds in total.

The whole time, Ava stared at him in wonder as the eggs that had been overcooked to the point of being inedible and the bacon that was burnt instantly transformed into luscious scrambled eggs or sunny-side-up alongside crisp, perfectly cooked slices of bacon. Her mouth hung open. She said, "How-" Her tongue flickered in a snake-like fashion, and her eyes, pupils dilated, flickered from reptilian to human back and forth.

Joe couldn't help but feel a sense of relief as Ava left the kitchen. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, feeling the sweat dripping down his face. The pressure was on, and he knew he couldn't afford to mess up again. He focused on the sizzling bacon and the eggs, flipping them with ease as he thought about his newfound ability. He couldn't wait to explore the possibilities.

As he worked, the kitchen filled with the aroma of sizzling bacon and the sound of bubbling eggs. Joe's senses were alive, and he was in the zone. The clanking of dishes and the sound of the customers outside were like white noise, and he was completely focused on his task. He felt like he was in control, like he had a secret weapon in his pocket.

Joe took a deep breath and looked around the kitchen, feeling a sense of satisfaction wash over him. He had turned a potential disaster into a success, and he had done it with a little bit of magic. He grinned to himself. He knew that he would never forget this day

He went back to his work, focusing on cooking the new batch of eggs and bacon properly. He liked the fact that he could fix his mistakes with the food, but it was best not to make the mistakes in the first place. He had his pride as a worker, after all. Time was the most valuable metric resource in the kitchen, and he couldn't waste it fixing his mistakes.

As lunchtime approached, the savory smell of sizzling bacon and eggs wafted through the air, now accompanied by the comforting aroma of freshly toasted bread. Joe had expanded his menu, and the restaurant was beginning to fill up with hungry customers eager to taste his cooking.

Ava flitted in and out of the kitchen, ensuring that the flames were just right and offering her assistance with the dirty dishes. But to her amazement, she found that every single dish was sparkling clean, as if by magic.

Joe tried to explain his secret with a casual wave of his hand, and although they had only met a few hours ago, Ava found herself nodding in understanding, too preoccupied with her own tasks to delve deeper into his methods.

Joe adjusted the flame under the pot, making sure it was just hot enough to cook the stew but not so hot that it would burn. He stirred the pot carefully, watching the ingredients meld together into a savory broth. The aroma filled the kitchen, a mixture of earthy vegetables, tender meat, and fragrant spices that made his mouth water.

Joe dipped a spoon into the stew and tasted it, his eyes closing in satisfaction as he savored the rich flavors. He added a pinch of salt and a handful of herbs, their fresh scent mingling with the other aromas. He knew he was taking a risk by not using some of the unfamiliar spices, but he didn't want to ruin the dish with an ingredient he didn't understand.

As the stew simmered, Joe couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. He had adapted to this new world and found a way to create something delicious with the ingredients he had. He couldn't wait for the customers to taste it and see their reactions.

However, he couldn't resist the temptation to experiment with his magical powers.

He carefully placed an empty bowl on the counter, just for his own amusement, and proceeded to serve in one of the customer bowls, holding their bowl in one hand and the empty one in the other.

With a focused look, he channeled his power and transferred the properties from the original bowl to the customer's bowl. In an instant, a vibrant screen appeared on the surface of the soup, displaying a mouthwatering array of properties that weren't there before: [savoriness +3, sweetness +2two, and earthiness slightly -1]. The flavors of other spices also appeared on the screen, tantalizing his taste buds.

Joe also served the old soup in a mug, but before doing so, he tasted it to ensure it was up to standard. It was far from it. The broth was watery and tasteless. Nonetheless, he used his powers to transfer the properties to the customer's mug, and to his amazement, the screen appeared on the surface of the soup, displaying the delightful properties that had been previously missing.

The taste had been magically transferred to the customer's mug, leaving the original bowl devoid of any flavor.

Ava tapped her foot impatiently and asked, "Are we good?"

Joe nodded and said, "Let me know what that customer thinks about that soup if they say anything, but don't ask for their opinion."

Ava stared at him for a long moment and then said, "Okay, fine. You haven't poisoned anybody so far as far as I know."

Joe shrugged and gave her a wry smile. She took the soup and plate full of mutton outside of the kitchen.

He went back to work, but Ava came back only a minute later. She rushed in and said, "What in the Goddesses' name did you put in that soup?" Joe blinked and said, "The same thing as all the other soups, although I did my own magic with it.

She squeezed her eyes at him suspiciously and said, "You didn't put anything extra in it?"

He shook his head and said, "I just made that soup more...," he trailed off, trying to find the words and realized he couldn't find an elegant way to say it.

"I made it more soupy?" he said, not confident in his answer. He shrugged, "I really need to think of a better way to explain that power, especially with food.”

Well, he shouldn't blame himself too hard. It was his second day as a wizard, after all.

She asked, "Can you do that with the other soups?"

Joe nodded, but then stopped himself. "I could, but I would have to sacrifice an entire bowl of soup to make it happen." He stopped himself again and said, "Wait a minute." He was reminded of the size of the pebble that he transferred the dirty properties of the plates onto and how it was considerably smaller.

The size of the item didn't matter.

Joe said, "Wait a minute. Give me a sec." He poured the smallest ladle of soup into an empty bowl; it was nearly only a few drops. He held it in his hand and summoned a window - all of the properties from the base soup were there.

He jumped up and said, "Heck, ya!" pumping a fist like a star tennis player scoring an ace against his opponent.

Ava jumped back, startled. She said, "Are you casting a spell?"

Joe waved his hand at her in a pacifying way. He said, "Sorry about that. No. Well, yes but no. To answer your question, I'm able to make all the soups better. Yeah, better is probably better than ‘soupy’."

She said, "Okay, good, because the farmer who had that soup said it was the best soup he's had since his wife died."

Joe gawked. It was a high order to live up to. Joe felt a pressure on him that he hadn't felt before. Hopefully, he'd be able to keep this up.

He carefully labeled each bowl of soup with the names of the corresponding customers, painstakingly transferring the qualities of the primary soup into each one. With every transfer, he felt a little thrill of excitement, eagerly anticipating the reactions of the customers. Of course, he knew that he would have to clean each primary bowl every single time, but it was worth it to see the satisfied smiles on their faces.

Meanwhile, Ava was constantly rushing back and forth between the kitchen and the customers, her feet pounding against the hard floor. She felt like she was running a marathon, and her breath came in ragged gasps. Finally, Joe heard her scream all the way from the back of the kitchen to the customers, her voice echoing through the air like thunder. "We get it, you like the cook's food today! He doesn't need anyone else to butter his bread. Okay?"

There were a couple of laughs, but no complaints either. Ava walked back into the kitchen, her hair disheveled and her face flushed with exhaustion and a little bit of irritation.

Joe said, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to cause a ruckus. I just thought I could make the day a little bit better."

Her expression was hard but softened a little bit at Joe's words. She studied him for a long moment, took a breath, and finally sighed. "I get it. You like cooking, and it makes you feel good to make other people feel good, right?"

Joe nodded. "Yeah, everybody eats. And if I can make their day just a little bit better, it makes me happy."

Ava shook her head. "You sound like a kid."

Joe shrugged. "Maybe, but it does feel nice, doesn't it?"

Ava stopped for a moment, and she said, "Yeah, I guess."

They shared a small moment of peace in the kitchen before another order came up from Caroline for more food. Joe attended to the dirty dishes, cleaned them out with magical speed with his super awesome wizardry cleaning abilities, while also increasing the potency of the soup.

"What I need to do next time," he said to himself, "is to transfer the qualities of the base soup back into itself over and over and over again. It's kind of like a cheat code, now that I think about it. But I wonder if I can go too far. I think it's definitely worth testing."

He was in the midst of carefully labeling a fresh bowl of soup when Caroline stormed into the room. Her face was twisted with a mix of anger and concern, a look that only a mother and employer could possess.

She had her hands on her hips, and she looked not so much pissed at Joe, but at somebody else who was walking towards her. The steps were sharp and jagged, and heavy, like crisp leather boots on the stone floor, or the wooden floor of a tavern.

A woman entered the room, her leather boots clacked sharply against the stone floor, announcing her presence like a military march. Her uniform was straight out of a medieval fantasy, complete with a short cape that swished behind her like a bird's tail. The powder blue color of her hair matched the twinkle in her eyes.

Joe couldn't help but stare at her, entranced by her beauty. She was shorter than Ava, with several insignias on her coat that hinted at her rank and status. As she turned to Caroline, her cape billowed out like wings, revealing the sharp lines of her uniform.

Without hesitation, she demanded, “Is this the one Rickart said came in last night?”

Her voice was firm and commanding, like a general rallying her troops. Joe couldn't help but feel a sense of awe and a touch of fear in her presence.

Caroline groaned, annoyed. She said, "Yes, but he's my cook for the day. And we still have dinner to take care of. We don't have a replacement cook."

The woman in the officer’s uniform tapped the toes of her long boots onto the wooden floor as if in a pensive state. Finally, she said, "It's not my problem."

She turned to face Joe and asked, "You're Joseph Johnson?"

He was holding the label in his hand but stopped stirring from the pot. He set down the ladle and the bowl on the table and walked over to her, offering a hand. "Yes, ma'am. Joseph Johnson. Wizard and temporary cook."

She looked at his hand but did not take it. That was never a good sign. Joe pulled it back slowly. It was best not to look threatening. She said, "Joseph Johnson, you are under arrest for practicing sorcery without a license or a permit."

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