Wasn’t that too fast!?
The next day, after attending the morning classes and returning to the special dormitory, I found that documents and books about the Country of Samonar had already arrived from Otousama.
Wait, isn't this too fast...?
It's strange for them to arrive the day after I mentioned it.
While I'm grateful that the materials arrived so quickly since there's not much time, it feels like he must have rushed to prepare them instead of waiting until the weekend when I would be back. I feel guilty about that.
"I was thinking of going to the library to look for useful references until the materials arrived, but with this many, it looks like it'd be better to start with these."
I stored the towering pile of documents in my inventory to get Mariel-chan and Sei to help, and headed to the lounge, where I spotted Byakko-sama in the lobby.
"Byakko-sama."
"Hm? Oh, hey, Ojou. I heard from Sei that you've gotten yourself involved in something troublesome?"
You're one to talk about trouble, Byakko-sama!
"Well, yes..."
Finding Byakko-sama's grin annoying, I moved to walk alongside him in the same direction, only for Mashiro and Kurogane to immediately take up positions on either side of me.
Seeing them, Byakko-sama chuckled and walked slightly ahead of us.
"I have to come up with recipes that will suit the tastes of the people from the Country of Samonar, but I'm quite lacking in knowledge about that country. I was planning to do some research in the lounge."
"Hmm, Samonar, huh. Where's that country again?"
"It's in the south. All I really know is that it's a country rich in spices."
"You sure have a handle on food-related information, as expected."
Please don't make it sound like I'm a glutton.
Checking the origin of ingredients before buying is normal.
In my previous life, I sometimes traveled to farmers' markets to stock up on vegetables, and I often bought tomatoes from Yamada-san or fresh herbs from Ogawa-san, buying directly from producers.
It was common for me to be conscious of local products even at supermarkets.
When I later talked about this with Mariel-chan, she said she'd never done anything like that, but it's normal, right?
When I entered the lounge, Mariel-chan, Ruby, and Sei were chatting.
Well, it was more like Ruby was talking at Sei.
Mariel-chan, looking distressed, was trying to stop Ruby, but when she saw me enter the lounge, she looked relieved and pulled Ruby onto her lap forcibly.
"Oh, Cristea. About the Country of Samonar, I've asked Ruby to relay a message to my father to look into it."
"If you're going to use me as a messenger, you'd better pay well."
Ruby said with a wink, laughing as Mariel-chan scolded him, then sat down next to her.
"Thank you, Mariel-san. My Otousama has already sent some materials, so I thought we should start by checking those. Could you help me?"
As I said this and began pulling out the documents from my inventory, Mariel was stunned, staring at the pile of documents on the table.
"I don't mind, but... What? This much!? Really...? This volume... did they pull an all-nighter?"
Mariel-chan looked horrified.
Yes, I think so too.
It's certainly not something you can prepare overnight.
"I think Otousama might have been preparing for the next opportunity since the last envoy's incident. His preparations are too thorough."
Even a quick skim through the documents revealed that they couldn't have been prepared in just one night.
Feeling grateful for my father's thoroughness, we began delving into the materials.
What do you think about this chapter?
