Published: July 25, 2025
"Alright, now for the meat. We should buy a lot soon and preserve it by salting or smoking it."
After finishing buying vegetables and fruits, my mother moved towards the deeper part of the market. The meat vendors seemed to be lined up near the outer walls.
"Why do we need to buy so much?"
"We have to prepare for winter, right? At this time of year, every farm keeps just enough livestock to survive the winter and slaughters the rest, so it's when the most meat is sold all year. The animals also put on fat in preparation for winter hibernation, so you can get delicious, fatty meat."
"...Um, does the market actually shut down in winter?"
"Of course! There are hardly any vegetables harvested in winter. The number of market days drops significantly."
Thinking about it, it makes sense, but I had never considered it before.
Even in Japan, before the popularity of greenhouse cultivation, vegetables were seasonal. Before the development of distribution networks, local production for local consumption was the norm. In times before refrigerators and freezers existed, preserving food fresh was impossible, so preservation was done at home.
"...I've never had to prepare for winter before."
"Did you say something?"
"No, nothing."
Making preserved food at home, huh? Where would we store it in that tiny house? The storage space isn't that big either, right?
I'm glad I'm a little girl who can't really help but also doesn't get scolded much.
"...Ugh, it smells."
"It's the smell of meat."
As we got closer to the butcher shops, the stench grew stronger. While I was covering my nose, my mother walked just ahead of me with a completely natural expression.
Did meat always smell this bad? Ugh, I have a bad feeling about this.
Even though I breathed through my mouth while holding my nose, the air entering my mouth was so foul it made my eyes water. Eventually, we reached the area lined with butchers.
Besides bacon and ham, the shops displayed thigh meat with the hooves still resembling the shape of the animal. In the back of the shops, animals being bled hung suspended, with rabbits and birds whose eyes had rolled back and tongues hung out lined up.
"Eekkk!"
"What's wrong, Myne!?"
Honestly, having only seen pre-cut, packaged meat before, the butchers in this world were too intense for me.
Goosebumps covered my body and tears welled up. I wanted to close my eyes to avoid seeing, but once opened wide, my eyes froze and I seemed to forget how to close them.
"Myne!? Myne!?"
My mother shook me gently.
At that moment, I caught sight of a pig being dismembered while screaming. Around it, a cheerful crowd gathered, eagerly waiting for the pig to be killed.
Why is everyone so happy about this?
Why are they grinning like that?
Stop, stop, stop! It's scary!
"Eep!?"
I let out a small cry and fainted on the spot before the pig received its final blow.
Something flowed into my mouth.
It was a fairly strong and harshly alcoholic liquid. Unlike something I consciously swallowed, this unexpected alcohol going down my windpipe made me cough uncontrollably.
Choking and blinking my eyes wildly, I jumped up.
"Cough! Gasp! Hack!"
Is that alcohol!? Who is the fool that gave strong liquor to a poor child like me!? What if I get acute alcohol poisoning!?
I opened my eyes wide and saw my mother holding a bottle of alcohol.
"Myne, you're awake? Thank goodness. The sobering-up worked."
"Cough! ...Mom?"
She hugged me with a relieved look, making it hard to say out loud, but can I say this in my heart?
Don't give such strong alcohol to a child! Especially one who is already sickly, just barely recovered from a high fever! Are you trying to kill me!? Are you stupid!? I'm going to die!?
"Now then, Myne. Since you're awake, let's go buy the meat."
"Ugh!?"
I shook my head vigorously. The earlier scene was completely burned into my mind. It would haunt my dreams for a while, and just remembering it gave me goosebumps. I didn't want to go somewhere like that.
Giving strong liquor to a sickly child as a sobering drink, then trying to take a fainted daughter back to the butcher shops... Is my mother some sort of demon?