Chapter 4: Britain Has No Food Culture at All
Noah spent some time figuring out this so-called Life Simulation System, and it wasn't until dusk fell and candles were lit in the room that he finally understood it thoroughly.
The system's function was quite simple.
Its core mechanics resembled a life simulation mini-game from his previous life.
You start by selecting a trait, then begin the simulation, which continues until death marks the end of one cycle.
The trait selection offers three options.
Simulations can be run three times per day.
Each simulation starts from Noah's current circumstances and progresses until his death.
Noah felt rather conflicted when he realized that just after fantasizing about having Solomon's Clairvoyance, he had obtained this roundabout cheat for glimpsing the future.
—If only he had known earlier, he would have fantasized about being omniscient and omnipotent!
However, this so-called life simulation differed from Clairvoyance.
After each simulation ended, Noah would receive some rewards.
Generally, the rewards came in three options.
He could either directly acquire the trait he selected at the start of the simulation, gain the attribute improvements he achieved during that life simulation, or obtain the experiences and skills he accumulated in that simulated life.
As for the exceptions...
Noah had no idea. The system's introduction didn't mention them, so he probably had to encounter them to find out.
Thinking this, Noah tidied his desk, then signaled for a servant to bring his dinner to the study. He planned to start the simulation while eating.
While waiting for his meal, Noah stretched lazily.
Having transmigrated over twenty years ago, this was the first time he recaptured the feeling from his previous life—eating while binge-watching anime.
Although...
At this thought, Noah glanced at the fruits, roasted meat, and... what could barely be called flatbread in front of him, and sighed helplessly.
Even after over twenty years here, he still struggled to adapt to the local cuisine.
But there was no helping it.
He recalled that decades ago, as barbarian tribes like the Saxons infiltrated the heart of Europe, the concept of "gourmet food" had vanished from Europe. Even in Britain, the prevailing logic was simply to eat enough to avoid hunger.
From what he estimated to be the 5th century AD now, it wouldn't be until the 7th century that some regions would be influenced by Arabian cuisine, and the concept of gourmet food wouldn't reemerge until the 10th century...
In his earlier years, he cooked for himself, but after becoming king, his meals reverted to this...
Thanks to Britain still being in the late Age of Gods, the fruits weren't even washed, the meat was merely roasted—sometimes unevenly, with parts hard and others undercooked—and seasoned only with salt. As for the... well, calling these dough lumps "flatbread" was an insult to bread!
Even calling them dough lumps was an insult to flour!
So, these were his options...
The meat... was passable.
The roasting technique was utterly lacking, resulting in unevenly cooked meat—some parts tough, others still pink.
But since Britain was still in the late Age of Gods, even the undercooked parts weren't gamey at all.
Fruit... Although Noah knew that fruits from the tail end of the Age of Gods in Britain truly didn't need washing—since there were no insects, they didn't even rot, and were exceptionally sweet—he still habitually washed them before eating.
This thing, tentatively called a dough lump, was the pinnacle of Britain's "just fill your stomach" food culture.
One piece of this, and even a knight would definitely feel full!
If you have a big appetite, just take a larger piece!
Sigh.
This was what the King ate.
How terrifying.
Seeing these things, Noah silently began making plans in his mind.
At first, it was a plan to promote culinary culture, but he quickly dismissed it because Britain was still in the late Age of Gods and wasn't short on food yet. However, once the Age of Gods began to fade, given how the British people lived now, famine was inevitable.
So rather than promoting culinary culture, it was more important to prioritize organizing all plans in this area first.
After these preparations were complete, then he could promote culinary culture!
—Hmm, this long-term plan must be executed with the seriousness of a future feat worthy of becoming part of a Heroic Spirit's legend!
While thinking about this, Noah didn't say anything and simply held his nose and started eating.
At least the fruit tasted good.
It was enough to fill his stomach.
As he ate, Noah directly began his first simulation.
[Please choose a trait (choose one of three)]
[(Common) Gourmet: Requirements for food increase]
[(Common) Migraine: Occasionally suffers from headaches]
[(Rare) Congenital Toothache: Born with tooth pain; because of this, pain tolerance is slightly improved]
[Note: Trait levels from low to high are: Common, Rare, Epic, Legendary, Mythical, Root—six types in total]
Seeing these three traits, Noah felt his eye twitch.
If possible, he didn't want to choose any of them!
The first one, Gourmet...
Just looking at these three royal dishes before him, he didn't dare choose Gourmet. And Migraine... wasn't that just a pure negative effect!
The last one was even scarier. It seemed to have a positive effect, but being born with toothache... who could endure that!
But since it was just a simulation, he could simply not choose this trait in the end.
Thinking this, after pondering for a moment, Noah directly chose the second option, [(Common) Migraine]. After all, since he didn't want any of them, he might as well pick the one that seemed to have the least impact and see what his future would normally be like.
Compared to Gourmet, which might affect his decisions about the future, and Congenital Toothache, which had some benefits but was a talent he wouldn't choose, the second one was more normal.
Anyway, he could simulate three times a day, so he'd keep the first one normal.
Simulation, begin!
[After dinner, thinking about Britain's internal and external troubles, you fell asleep very late]
[(Migraine, first trigger)]
[You feel a slight headache but ignore it and soon begin working]
[Your appointment was issued, and Artoria, disguised as a man, became your personal guard. Kay, the knight who knew Artoria was female, did not blame you for being unaware, but instead directly blamed Merlin—the relationship between the knight and Merlin grew even worse.]
[The situation in Britain did not exceed your expectations. In your first month in office, while you were still struggling with how to explain this to Morgan, the Picts' attack arrived.]
[Originally, one of the Twelve Lords stationed at the border, who should have been the first to resist the Picts, had already fallen and died before you arrived. Thus, upon reaching the scene, you had no choice but to lead the few remaining troops into a direct confrontation with the main force of the Picts; otherwise, their army would have marched straight into Camelot.]
[You never surrendered, and after 39 hours of arduous battle, you successfully repelled the Picts.]
[After driving back the Picts, you fell into a coma and did not wake until a day later.]
[(Migraine, second trigger)]
Reading this, Noah was taken aback.
"This migraine trigger is actually counted by occurrence... Seeing this gives me a very bad feeling."