Surviving as a Child [1]

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a carpenter's shop to fix the door.

If I'd had more time, I might have found one, but it couldn't be helped.

By the time I reached the middle of the market, the second sun had slipped below the horizon. Startled, I immediately bolted out of the village and sprinted back toward the orphanage.

"Huff... haah... safe!"

Using every ounce of energy I had—down to the strength from my last skewer—I managed to make it back to the orphanage just before nightfall.

"Alright, first things first, let's put the fruit in the fridge... Oh, right. There's no fridge."

The fruit I'd bought from the nice lady was placed on the table, since there wasn't a refrigerator.

I briefly considered putting it in one of the kitchen cabinets, but I shook that idea off.

I mean, every one of those cabinets was covered in dust.

If I left the fruit in there, I felt like it'd spoil in just a day.

Of course, it wouldn't actually go bad that quickly, but it was as much about hygiene as it was about my peace of mind.

Eating fruit from a dusty cabinet just felt... wrong.

Leaving it in the basket on the table seemed much better.

"Oh, right, the money."

Next, I turned my attention to the leftover coins from my shopping trip.

After some thought about where to store them, I decided to stash them all in my secret drawer.

It was the same drawer I'd taken the coins from earlier.

Among the countless drawers in the orphanage, this one was the only one with a lock.

Granted, the lock was so old and weak that a grown adult could probably snap it with one good yank, but hey, it was better than nothing.

Leaving the coins on the floor would've been far worse.

"...Two silver coins and thirteen copper coins, huh."

As I sorted the coins while putting them away, I noticed something.

As I thought, there were three more copper coins than when I'd first set out.

The shopkeeper must've miscounted.

She was probably in such a rush to close up for the day that she made a mistake during the transaction.

I'll tell her about it and return the extra money tomorrow.

Sure, I could just keep it, but honestly, I didn't feel right about that.

It wasn't my money to begin with, and returning the wrongly given change was the right thing to do.

"This'll be set aside for tomorrow..."

I separated six copper coins from the pile and placed them in a corner of the drawer.

I was worried I might forget about it in the morning if I didn't prepare it now.

"Yawnnn..."

Once everything was finally settled, exhaustion began to hit me like a tidal wave.

I tried my best to stay awake, but my eyelids were so heavy they kept drooping no matter what.

"So... sleepy..."

I was utterly spent.

Completely, totally wiped out.

Considering I'd been running around all day in this little kid's body, it was no surprise.

Yawnnnn.

Another soft yawn escaped my lips.

Outside the window, the sky was pitch black.

Countless stars twinkled in the vast night sky.

On a normal day, I probably would've stood there admiring the stars, letting out little gasps of awe.

But right now, I was so sluggish I couldn't even take a single step.

In the end, I just plopped down.

Unable to fight the pull of sleep, I collapsed right onto the floor.

It's not like I had a blanket or a pillow, anyway.

At this point, wherever I lay down became my bed.

Sure, the hard wooden floor wasn't exactly comfortable, but I was so tired that sleep came easily... drifting... off...

"Zzzzzz..."

* * * *

And so, the next morning.

"Ah... Choo!"

I had caught a cold.

"So... cold..."

I'd woken up about five times during the night, so despite technically getting some sleep, my body was completely wrecked.

My eyelids still felt heavy, my throat was swollen, and every time I swallowed, a sharp pain shot through me.

It was clear—I was properly sick.

This is all that stupid broken door's fault.

The culprit, without a doubt, was the door that had fallen off yesterday.

No matter where I slept—be it the kitchen, the bedroom, the living room, or even the bathroom—cold wind kept whooshing through the giant hole all night. There was no escaping it.

If I'd at least had a proper blanket, it might've been bearable. But all I had was a thin, ragged cloth, so there wasn't much I could do.

In the end, I'd been exposed to the freezing wind the entire night, and now here I was, trembling and powerless.

"Ughhh..."

My body felt sluggish.

Every part of me ached, and my temperature was all over the place.

If I'd known this would happen, I would've searched harder for a carpenter's shop yesterday.

I found myself resenting my past self.

"So hot..."

I was cold, but I felt hot.

I was hot, but I felt cold.

My cheeks burned.

They were so warm that it felt like they might burst into flames.

Desperate to cool down, I pressed my face against the stone sink.

The icy chill of the stone touched my feverish cheeks.

The refreshing coolness spread across my face, soothing me.

So nice.

It felt so good.

Wanting to prolong that pleasant coolness, I started rubbing my face against the sink.

But before long, the stone had lost its chill. Now, it just felt lukewarm and scratchy, with an unpleasant, gritty texture.

"…It's not cool anymore."

Tch.

Honestly, nothing was going my way.

Growllll...

"Ugh."

To make matters worse, my stomach was growling.

Despite having gone to bed with a full belly, my stomach was now completely deflated from all the moving around this morning.

The emptiness gnawed at me.

"…Guess I'll eat something."

Everyone knows you have to eat well to recover quickly when you're sick.

And unlike yesterday, when I had to go hungry, today I actually had food. Plenty of it, in fact.

Peeling my cheek off the sink, I shuffled over to the table and sat down.

On the table was the fruit basket I'd bought yesterday.

Each piece of fruit looked plump and delicious, practically calling out to me.

I thought about just grabbing one and biting into it, but then a bright idea popped into my head, courtesy of my clever brain.

Soup.

If I turned the fruit into soup, I could stretch it into a bigger meal.

Plus, it would be warm and soothing, which would definitely help with my cold.

I looked through the basket and picked out an apple, a beet, and some corn.

I was planning to make an ABC soup.

For the record, A stood for apple, B for beet, and C for corn.

"Are these the right ingredients? …They should be, right?"

I wasn't entirely sure, since it was my first time making it, but...

As long as it tasted good, that's all that mattered.

"Alright, next up…"

It was time to get the utensils ready.

I opened the kitchen cabinet, which was full of rusty old dishes, and carefully picked out the ones that were at least somewhat usable.

After grabbing a pot that looked relatively clean—probably because it had never been used—I filled it halfway with water.

Of course, given the era this world seemed to be in, there wasn't anything like running water in the kitchen.

So, where did I get the water, you ask…?

"Oh?"

Surprisingly, the problem was easily solved.

Right behind the orphanage, near the wood-chopping area, was a small well.

What a relief.

For a moment, I'd worried that I'd have to carry a bucket and walk back and forth to the village just to fetch water.

It seemed the world didn't want to kill me off just yet.

"Alright, with water taken care of…"

Finally, it was time to start cooking for real.

I tossed all the fruit I'd chosen earlier—apple, beet, and corn—into the pot, eagerly imagining a steaming, sweet soup.

I then picked up a few matchsticks I'd found scattered on the floor and lit the fire.

Lastly, I made sure to cover the pot with its lid.

Thanks to all the dust around, the fire caught quickly and soon settled into a steady flame.

At this rate, the dish would be ready in no time.

Sniff, sniff.

"Wow, it already smells delicious."

I couldn't help but feel excited.

When would the soup be ready? What would it taste like? Just imagining it brought a smile to my face.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

Tick-tock. Tick-tock.

"Tick tock... Ugh, when is it going to be done?!"

I was so bored.

Was time always this slow?

I spent the seemingly endless minutes bouncing around in front of the pot, peeking out the window at the scenery, and doing anything I could to pass the time.

Finally, after what felt like hours of patience and perseverance, I decided it was ready and removed the lid from the pot.

Ba-dump, ba-dump!

"Time to unveil the special soup...!"

"...Huh?"

Something was off.

"Is... is this really soup?"

I'd envisioned a thick, warm soup that would fill my stomach and my heart.

But what greeted me was something entirely different.

"…This is just... steamed fruit."

What I had wasn't soup at all—it looked more like a fruit steamed platter.

"Did I mess up the recipe?"

Wasn't it as simple as putting fruit in water and boiling it?

Did I need to add some other ingredient?

...How strange.

"Nom."

Still, food was food, so I gave it a taste.

Though my first attempt at cooking something besides instant noodles was an utter failure, the flavor wasn't half bad.

I guess you could call it a partial success?

"Wow, it's good!"

Plus, I made an unexpected discovery.

Steamed fruit was tastier than I'd thought.

It was warm, sweet, and tangy, and I could really taste the natural flavor of the fruit.

On top of that, steaming it had softened the texture, making it easy to swallow—even with my sore throat.

Sure, the crisp, crunchy texture was gone, but I'd still managed to achieve my original goal of a warm, soft dish.

It wasn't what I'd planned, but I'd call it a smashing success.

"This is totally a lucky win!"

Yata!