My name is Dashihiko Katsubushi.
　I'm a grass field.

　No, it's not really a kusaya. It's a bonito-flavoured pork belly.
　Or, more precisely, it is not even a bonito-flavoured pork belly.

　My name is Katsugari Dehiko. I was once a bonito-flavoured pork belly, but now I'm a kusaya.
　This is a complicated situation, but I don't want to talk about it anymore because it's too much trouble. I don't want to talk about it anymore because it's too much trouble.　Wahahahahaha!

　.........

　Yes, we are on a peninsula in the southeast corner of the continent.

　We're on a peninsula in the southeastern part of the continent, on the Verneus peninsula. Verneus is a peninsula that stretches out in a way that reminds me of the Italian and Izu peninsulas, with a north-south volcanic belt. The peninsula was probably formed by volcanic activity. The peninsula is similar to the Izu Peninsula, and as a result, it is rich in hot springs.

　The students of Class 4 of the second year should have set out for Vernetus as their first destination, but by some strange chance they got caught up in what could be called a transference accident and were split up.
　It is distressing to see a class that had begun to come together fall apart. But it is precisely in these situations that humanity is reflected. Surprisingly, it is the class's cook, Aya Sugiura, who manages to keep the panicked classmates together.

　Sugiura cheered up or reprimanded the crestfallen Uozumi, the crying Hanazono, and the sleep-deprived Harao, and suggested that they establish a base on the peninsula. He didn't seem like the type of student to take on much leadership, but he was an unexpected talent. I was strangely happy to discover a new side to Sugiura. No, as a teacher, of course.

　So, I had a new base of operations.

　Sugiura proposed to run a hot spring inn in this base. The Uozumi siblings could easily gather seafood from the sea, and Hanazono could grow vegetables in her vegetable garden. Sugiura would prepare and serve them. The approach is more like a public restaurant with an onsen and a place to stay.
　The inn started out as a large, dilapidated stone house in the mountains that Harao had telekinetically cleaned up. Since it wasn't a busy place to begin with, it was an onsen inn where you didn't know if guests would come or not, but the students were still enjoying the preparations in their own way.

　Hmm, what did I do?

　I ask you the other way around, what do you think I could have done?　I was a kusaya.
　Sugiura hid me, and all I could do was watch over the students from the shadows.

　I was a helpless piece of shit. And there was a strange smell. Even Honno-san, who had moved in with me, was not talking to me anymore.

　The turning point came a few days later. The turning point came a few days later, on the day my first guest came to the hot spring resort.



'Is it okay?　Doctor, stay in here the whole time and don't come out today.
Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't have a limb...

　Sugiura pushed me into the back of the galley, pinching her nose.

　Ever since he became a kusaya, Sugiura has been cold to me. The bottom half of my body is now an octopus, but that guy used to be a flower girl. I'm sure she's sensitive to scent. I did my best to show that I didn't care at all with a mature smile on my face.



　But of course, with no facial muscles, there was no way I could smile, no matter how much I tried to, and instead, all I could do was smell a foul, strange odor in the air. Sugiura looked like he was going to throw up and left.

　It's not Sugiura's fault. It's my smell that's the problem.

　His attitude became cold, but it didn't mean that our relationship had deteriorated that much. As he explained to me earlier, he looked like he was going to vomit as he explained what was going on at the Kamishiro hot spring resort.
　The first guest is now at the inn. They are reasonably well-dressed, but dirty in places, as if they were, let's say, a nobleman or knightly person who got lost in the mountains.

　It is a hot spring inn full of monsters. The guests seem to be scared to death, but Sugiura has every intention of being hospitable. The guy seems to be rather lively when he is engaged in customer service because his family is a long-established restaurant. I could sense a glimpse of this in the way Sugiura pinches his nose and chokes down his nausea as he speaks.

　Well, you can't put me out in the open under those circumstances.
　There are probably no kusaya in this world. There would be no canning skills, and I'm sure there would be no surströmming. In such a world, if you try to leave me unattended, that's a fine form of bioterrorism. There was no hospitality at all. We're screwed. This isn't going very well.

　I was feeling the presence of Sugiura, sealed up in a small, dark place, running around sluggishly and cooking happily.

　That guy is a good cook. In the past few months, his skills seem to have improved further. They say that like is better than like, and that's exactly what he was doing. Dealing with unknown ingredients and serving them to nearly 40 of his classmates, that's certainly one way to go.
　When he cooks, there's something about him that makes you feel like you're sparkling. I'm sure he still does, too. But the fact that my katsuo dashi isn't mixed in there right now is something that makes me feel uncomfortably lonely.

"d*mn it, what is this feeling...

　I swear to myself in the dark.

　As I'm rotting alone in the dark (only in the kusaya), I hear sludgy footsteps in the kitchen again, and Sugiura comes back in. She opens the cupboard where I'm tucked away. A light shines through the darkness.

Yo.

　Bang.

　I said hello, and the cupboard closed. That's a little awful, don't you think?

"...Sugiura.
I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

　From behind the closed door, Sugiura's trembling voice could be heard from behind the closed door.

''Only Sensei, treating me like this........''
Yeah, well, I know I stink. I know I stink.

　I'm a puff piece. It can't be this way. The truth is, I want to be in the sunshine with Sugiura and provide my classmates with a nice flavor. But if I insist on it, Sugiura will be in trouble. I am a teacher. I can't embarrass my students with my selfishness.

''.......How are the customers doing?''
'Yeah, he was quite pleased. It's just that we've come here to exterminate a monster that lives deep in the mountains, but the monster is unexpectedly strong and our troops are scattered around and that's how it feels.
Are you from the Kingdom?
Yeah. I hear they're the Royal Order of the Kingdom of Verneus. It seems to be of a much different nature than the western knight kingdom.

　Because I'm a kusaya, I can't talk to him where we see each other, but I know Sugiura is trying to treat me as much as possible as a normal person. That was a relief for me.
　However, Sugiura's attitude is still cold and stiff. It was unnatural. I had the feeling that the relationship between Sugiura and I was undergoing a fatal transformation. It's a completely different thing than what happened when I changed from a bonito fist to a kusaya.

''........Hey, Sensei,''

　While I was thinking about it, Sugiura muttered to himself.

"Don't you think it's strange that I've been cutting down on you, Sensei?
Funny?
Because I couldn't move, I didn't have any arms or legs, and my body was shaved off in such a state..." "No matter how much I was going to return to normal, I didn't think it would be possible to endure that. No matter how much they say it will return to normal, I don't think it's normal to be able to endure such a thing.... I felt like I was crazy. Me too, and you too.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Wait a minute.

　Sugiura's voice trembling behind the cupboard.

　Could it be that this is the reason why Sugiura has been acting strangely since a while ago?　How did I suddenly come to think about such things?
　Certainly, if you think about it from a common sense standpoint, it's madness to offer the soup stock by scraping your own body. I can only think it's crazy. But if you're talking about it, it's insanity to be reincarnated as a katsuobushi, and I've been so confident in my patience that since I was a kid, I've been written in my correspondence book as 'I'm a patient child'. The mission of katsuobushi is to provide dashi, and I never once had any strong doubts about that.

　Then a word suddenly flashed through my mind.

　Filter.

　It was one of the words spoken by Benii Asuka. A few days before the transfer took us apart, I had heard that story from that guy who was visiting the kitchen.
　It's one of the techniques that the bloodline has developed. When one transforms into a monster after transferring, a filter is applied to reduce the psychological impact and burden. The duration of the effect is about three months, depending on the individual. When the filter expired, the students' moral values and common sense, which had been suppressed by the filter, would return, and they might become afraid and question their previous actions.

　Sugiura might be experiencing a break in the filter.

　Of course, there were those who could act unaffected by the presence or absence of the filter. Among the students who had transferred to Vernetus, Harao Maki, for example, was one of them. It seems that a type with a solid ego and self-consciousness like that guy's can prioritize his inner values over ethics and common sense, so he won't have a fatal alteration of consciousness caused by a broken filter.
　Besides, Beni said that adults like me are also less susceptible to the effects of a broken filter.

　So, then, what is it?

　Could it be that Sugiura's change in attitude towards me was not because of the strange odor I emitted, but because of the expired filter?

Sugiura, if I were to become a bonito instead of a kusaya...
Yes.

　I asked, and Sugiura nodded behind the door.

'Are you still afraid to cut me down?'
.........

　The reply was not immediate. But after a few beats, she answered.

'....Yeah. I'm scared.
Okay.

　Then there's no way around it.

　There is no fundamental solution to a broken filter. Each of us has to find the answer within ourselves. For example, if Sugiura finds an answer here, 'I will never cut me down again,' that's one solution that should be respected.
　What is right and what is wrong? Individual values exist in a different vector than ethics and common sense. The answer we come up with is not necessarily the same as the one we've been able to maintain the same relationship with. It's like an adolescence, if you will. I can't force it on you.

'But, sir,'
Yeah.

　All I can do is listen to Sugiura's words.

'....Nope. It's nothing.
Okay.

　And if you stop speaking there, you can't go in and listen to it, either.

　This is Sugiura's problem. It's not something I can intervene in. As a teacher, all I can do is to provide the least amount of assistance. I can give you a push, and if I know where I'm landing, I can guide you. But it is Sugiura himself who can help you find that landing point.

'....Well then, Sensei, it's late, I'm going to bed.
Yeah, good night.

　That's all Sugiura and I could say to each other. The only sound in the kitchen was the sound of Sugiura's slimy footsteps as she walked away.




　That night, I was awakened by a roaring sound. A tremor shook the onsen inn "Kamishiro".

"What the hell!　What?!

　The sound was like something large crashing and scattering impacts. Furthermore, I could feel a sound that resembled the roar of a beast echoing in the distance. I wanted to check my surroundings as quickly as possible, but I was trapped in a closet so I couldn't look out, and I couldn't move because I was stuck in the shed to begin with.
　As I was getting impatient, I heard a flurry of footsteps from outside. I'm sure you'll be able to find out more about this as well.

''Sir!''
Sugiura, what's wrong with you?
The monster that attacked our guest has gone so far.
Holy shit!

　Somehow I had a hunch that this was going to happen, but I didn't expect it to happen yesterday, this morning.

''Sensei, hurry up!''
'I want to hurry, but I don't have a limb!
Shit!

　Sugiura removed his hand from holding my nose and snatched me from the back of the cupboard. He forcefully grabbed me by the tail and shoved me into the pot, along with all the other cooking utensils. He had a tremendous expression, perhaps to endure a strange smell, but there was no hesitation at all.

''Sugiura, you........''

　One of the octopus legs stretched out and pulled out Honno-san, who was tucked away on another shelf.

You're not the only one. It's been a long time.
Oh, it's been a while. Dr. Katsugata.

　Honno-san's response was a bit awkward, as if she was still enduring the stench, but surprisingly, it wasn't a bad reaction.

''Right now, the guests of the Order and Harao-kun are stranded. For now, let's run towards the sea!
What kind of a monster are you?
"A great, muscular, horned, cow-like.... Behemoth?　I said.

　If you're of my generation, that's a name that conjures up images of enemy monsters from famous computer games. But from what I've heard, it's not that far off from that image. If Harao is out, I think it's safe, but I can't feel safe yet.
　Hanazono, Uozumi and others have already been evacuated. Sugiura came back to save me and Honno-san. I was both happy and sorry at the same time. It was embarrassing for me as a teacher to make my students feel so anxious.

　According to Sugiura, the behemoths are very vindictive, and they smelled the scent of the attacking knights and pursued them here. It seems that it is only the knights that they are aiming at, so there is no danger if they move away from them.

　Running through the stone building that conveys the impact, Sugiura goes out the back door. As he was about to pass further through the vegetable garden in the flower garden, Sugiura suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Sugiura, what's wrong...?
"The flower garden....
What?

　When I looked in the direction Sugiura was pointing, I saw a shadow crawling around the tomato plants in the vegetable garden.

'Hanazono, what the hell are you doing!

　I yelled and then I knew I'd put it away. Sugiura glared at me, but I couldn't quite figure out if it was an accusation for my unintentional voice or if it was because I smelled bad.
　Hanazono, who had been wriggling around with her hips turned toward me, looked up and scurried around as if surprised.

''Eh, Se-Sensei...?
'The flower garden!　What the hell are you doing?　Let's go!
Oh, Aya. But Beck is in the middle of bearing fruit right now...

　Saying that, Hanazono pointed to a magnificent tomato that had a golden, shiny fruit that looked bad for his body. A mutant?　It sounds like it's as bad as it gets.

'But it's not safe here. The Behemoth or Heavy Star or whatever is still around, and...
I can't just abandon my tomatoes and run away.

　Hanazono complained in tears, but she moved her nose a little and frowned.

''Aya-chan, doesn't it smell like something?''
Well, yeah. Well, well, yeah...

　I'm sorry Sugiura. Just because I'm a kusaya........

　Hanazono, meanwhile, protects the golden tomato (individual name Beck) and refuses to leave.
　Sugiura is desperately trying to persuade Hanazono to stay, stifling a strange smell. But then I was becoming aware of another presence slowly approaching this vegetable garden. I wasn't sure if I should raise my voice to warn Sugiura or not.

　But that momentary hesitation, in hindsight, was fatal.



　The roar of the beast could be heard. Sugiura looked up with a gasp.

　The voice came from behind the hedge that surrounded the vegetable garden. After Sugiura, Hanazono also seemed to notice it and stiffened their movements. All of them naturally turned their gazes to the other side of the hedge. There was a slight mixture of ragged breathing in their snarls. Hanazono grabbed one of Sugiura's legs.
　Heavy footsteps, sluggishly walking across the hedge. Probably the behemoth Sugiura had mentioned. What happened to Harao and the others? Had they been killed? Or is there more than one behemoth itself?

　The sound of footsteps on the other side of the hedge stopped for a moment.

　The sounds of roaring and breathing also stopped, and for a moment, silence dominated the vegetable garden. Neither Sugiura nor Hanazono was able to move an inch from it.

''Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

　Immediately after.

　The monster broke through the greenery of the hedge and stuck out its face. The face was built with a strong nasal column, reminiscent of a lion or tiger. It's a law that doesn't make sense to adapt to an otherworldly monster, but the fact that the eyes are on the front is a sign that it's a predator. The magnificent mane and the twisted black horns. Its large jaws were so strong that it could easily bite down on the heads of Sugiura and Hanazono.

''Kyaaaaaah!

　Hanazono screams. The behemoth danced its massive body with great vigor, straight to this side.

　Its sturdy limbs scraped the soil as the hulking body closed in on us. The behemoth bares its fangs, and just when you think Sugiura is about to be devoured by the behemoth, that's when you see it. In front of the shrinking Sugiura, the behemoth's movements slowed down. The monster eventually stopped moving and took two or three steps backward.

''What, what...?''

　Sugiura looked up, as if he didn't know what had happened.
　The behemoth twitched its nose and then frowned widely. The monster looked at me in the distance and began to bare its fangs in a threatening manner.

''Ah, Aya!　Maybe that stinky dried fish!
What, is this...?

　Taking Hanazono's point, Sugiura pulls me out of the pot. Immediately after, the two girls looked like they were going to vomit and lean forward, but they managed to stave it off.
　Behemoth looked like he was going to vomit, as did I. Holding his nose with a paw that could easily twist off the head of an ox, the monster frowned as hard as he could. The behemoth flinched for a moment, then snapped its fangs and barked at me as Sugiura wagged his forefinger and thumb at my tail and swung it around.

'Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
Hee....

　Sugiura pinched me and shrank back, covering her ears. My body hit Hanazono's nose and she finally threw up.

　I thought that my smell alone could somehow shut them off, but it seems that if I don't, I might make them angry on the contrary. Moreover, I don't know how long Sugiura and Hanazono can withstand my smell. The only way to fight off the behemoths is to hit them with even more odor than I have now all at once and reduce their will to fight.......

　Just as I was thinking this, a flash of inspiration flashed through my mind.

"Sugiura..... Cut me down.........!
What...?
Sharpen me. I have the power of Infinite Regeneration. By being shaved off, I can in fact increase the area of my body and hunt that guy down with my smell...

　During this time, Hanazono seemed to be in a daze and didn't seem to question much about what I was talking about.

''But......... But I can't believe I'm going to cut down on the teacher...!

　Sugiura, who was in the middle of running out of filters, shook her head with a sad face.
　It was hard for me too. This is where I am forced to make a cruel decision for Sugiura. That goes against my educational philosophy.

　But at this rate, I don't know when the behemoths will go numb and attack me.

　The only thing that can stop it is my stench!

Sugiura...!

　I said emphatically. Behemoth held his nose, but looked for a chance to pounce on us. Honno-san didn't say anything. He might have fainted.

　Sugiura was silent for a while. Her body was trembling slightly.

　Maybe I'm trying to make her do something cruel right now. The thought of that made my heart ache. My chest was open now, but it hurt anyway. No, it hurt.

'....Okay.

　Sugiura said with a pout.

I'm going to scrape you. I'm going to scrape!
"Sugiura!

　With that, Sugiura laid Hanazono and Honno-san on the ground and took out a knife and cutting board from the pot!
　As you can imagine, the shaving money wouldn't cut me down now, so it's a fair call!

　The behemoth is alert in front of the gleam of the blade that has been taken out. But Sugiura places the cutting board on the dirt, places me on it, and then holds the knife at the ready and begins furiously slicing me into small pieces!　My flesh, carved into pieces, gives off a fierce, strange smell!
　During this time, Sugiura was probably mindless. He remained silent and chopped up my body like a precision machine. I was not defeated either. In an instant, my body is regenerated, and an endless loop of Sugiura chopping it up occurs. In the blink of an eye, a pile of kusaya, emitting a horrendous odor, was being built!

"....!　Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

　Behemoth began to writhe in agony, holding his nose. Hanazono was jerking and twitching.

　For a behemoth that seemed to have an excellent sense of smell, this attack worked well. The fierce, strange odor emitted by the mountain of kusahya. In the face of it, this monster was helpless. But it's hard to see how it has the guts to sit still, and it made no pretense of retreating or fainting. That's when.

"!!!

　With a jolt, his body spasmed and the behemoth's movements stiffened. The strength drained from his entire body and he went limp as he threw off his limbs. He peeled back his white eyes, and his tongue stuck out of his mouth in a sloppy manner.

''Ya, did you...?''

　Sugiura fearfully uttered those words.
　And as if in response, the body of the behemoth rose softly into the air. Behind the huge body was Harao, who held up one hand without a scratch.

Are you okay? It's Sugiura.

　Harao said in the same pompous, character-driven tone as ever.

''Harao-kun!''
You missed one. This is the last one. Those who threaten my friends and colleagues, you will bear the wrath of Harao.

　When Harao clenched his open fist, Behemoth spat blood from his mouth and hung down in a gutted heap. It was a simple end.

'Harao!　The behemoth that ran over here is.............................UGH!
'There were no others!　I knew it was over here..........................UGH!

　From behind them, a group of knights sluggishly catch up with them, but the strange smell emitted by the voracious stack of kusaya towers causes them to fall down with eczema and tears streaming down their faces. It's a good idea to be able to have a good idea of what to expect.

It's a good thing that you're a good friend. Are you okay with this smell?
Hmm.

　Harao nodded while telekinetically tossing the behemoth's huge body out of the hedge.

''It's the difference in cultivation.''

　I wondered if the golden mask just served as a substitute for the gas mask.

　Ah, the massively chopped up pieces of my flesh were deliciously consumed by Sugiura afterwards.




　After this incident, there were two changes in the situation that made me happy.

　The first was the change in the way Sugiura treated me. Sugiura's attitude toward me was back to the way it was before. The awkwardness is gone and she's using me for cooking, just like before. It's a great story.
　And one more thing. I was able to return to my old katsuobushi, having exhausted my powers as a kusaya.

　I was able to serve my students delicious bonito soup stock as a katsuobushi chef, just as I had before. Mr. Honno-san also began to treat me as usual.

　The knights who had come as guests returned to the capital after they were all cured.
　Later, word of the Monster Inn spread through their word-of-mouth, and adventurers and others began to frequent the inn. Thanks to their word-of-mouth reports, the Kamishiro Inn has become a booming business.

　At the same time, more and more students are starting to run out of filters and can no longer continue their activities as before. But I am proud to say that it is at times like this that I am able to make a difference.
　Unlike in the past, the current students have very few people they can rely on. It's different from the days when Ryuzaki and Goubayashi were around. I've realized that this is no time to be ashamed of myself for having been reincarnated as a bonito-flavoured pork belly. My education policy of letting the taste of dashi and momentum take over may have its limits, but I still shout to Sugiura today, "Sugiura!

"Sugiura!　Cut me down!
Yes!
'Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!
'Yes, yes, yes, yes!

　So, for the time being, the screams of Sugiura and I will be echoing in the kitchen of the onsen inn "Kamishiro".