Chapter 713

I’m Heading Home with a Brand-New Creation
Before going to visit Otousama to report my new creation (tofu), I repeated test batches over and over, carefully determining the perfect ratio of soy milk to nigari.

Well… I was mostly relying on Suzaku-sama’s intuition, though.
Since she got to eat tofu the entire time, Suzaku-sama was incredibly cooperative.

But because it was all based on intuition, the margin of error wasn’t small enough to ignore, and putting it into numerical values was a real struggle.

According to Suzaku-sama, “Yesterday was sunny, so that amount was fine, but today it’s raining, so this much should do,” and the quantity would change ever so slightly.

It was kind of like those feature segments on TV in my previous life where artisans would adjust their work depending on the temperature and humidity.

I’m an amateur, so I don’t have that level of dedication to detail. It made things difficult.

It really made me think again how grateful I should be to Shin, who always wrote down the recipes for me, and to the head chef who supervised them.

“… All right. I’ve finished the classes I had to attend this week, and I’ve already submitted a leave request to Teacher Neil. Shall I head back to the estate?”

After finishing my required classes, instead of returning to the dorms, I headed toward the academy gates with Mariel-chan so we could go home. The ducal carriage that Miria had arranged was already waiting.

“Cristea-sama.”

When Miria spotted me, the coachman reacted at once and swiftly opened the door.

“Thank you. Could you stop by the Meyer Company on the way today?”

“Certainly.”

“P-please take care of us!”

Since the coachman was selected from the Ellisfeed family’s Knights Order and also served as our guard, if he happened to be a particularly burly man, Mariel-chan’s usual shyness would activate.

With Kurogane and Mashiro around, we didn’t particularly need an escort, but if the coachman were targeted and couldn’t respond quickly, and we got caught up in an accident, then even with the Sacred Beasts present, it would still be dangerous. Or so Otousama said.

Otousama, you haven’t forgotten that we can teleport, have you?

If anything, we could just teleport from inside the carriage and then have the carriage transported afterward, but Otousama shot that idea down with, “There’s no guarantee you two would obediently return straight home.”

Guh. I’m not trusted… No, actually, that’s precisely because he understands the kind of thing I would do. I can’t argue with that.

So because of that, if we plan to go to the market or want to make a detour, we’re supposed to report it in advance, and guards will be stationed at the location.

They’re probably secretly tailing us along this route too.

I can’t say I don’t think it’s a bit overprotective, but I am, technically, a duke’s daughter. I really should be on guard more than enough.

Mariel-chan may be a baron’s daughter, but as a Sacred Beast contractor, her value is immeasurable regardless of rank. It wouldn’t be strange for her to be targeted for various reasons.

Since the Meyer Company had come under the protection of the House of Ellisfeed, no one dared to meddle carelessly, but apparently, marriage proposals still trickled in.

Even if the family ranks didn’t match, the idea was that she could simply be adopted into some other house first. From the perspective of bringing a Sacred Beast contractor into one’s own family, there were only benefits. At one point, a flood of formal marriage inquiries had arrived.

However, some had even tried to pressure them into marriage by wielding their authority, and the overwhelmed Baron Meyer consulted Otousama. Otousama publicly declared, “The House of Ellisfeed shall act as guardian to Young Lady Mariel, who is my daughter’s friend. Pressuring Baron Meyer will not be tolerated.” Since then, it had apparently decreased somewhat.

Come to think of it, letters still arrived now and then from Hector-sama’s family without losing heart.

Even though they were a count’s house, Hector-sama was the third son and was scheduled to join the Royal Palace Knight Order, so they’d even said, “He’s perfectly fine becoming a groom who marries into the bride’s family!”

But Mariel-chan would say, “Umm… every time I see Hector-sama, he calls me an angel, and it’s just too much…” looking rather overwhelmed. So for now, it seemed things would remain as they were until either Mariel-chan gave in or Hector-sama accepted that he had no chance.

Mariel-chan really does have the same hopeless-with-romance constitution as me…

While I was thinking about all that, we arrived at the Baron Meyer residence.

“Thank you very much for the ride.”

After stepping down from the carriage, Mariel-chan gave a polite bow.

“Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

When I waved from the window, Mariel-chan smiled shyly and waved back. “Yes, see you tomorrow.” She watched as the carriage drove off.

As the carriage proceeded toward the royal palace at the far end of the noble district, the wall marking our estate grounds came into view. After passing along the long stretch of wall, the usual gatekeeper confirmed the knight disguised as the coachman and opened the gate.

A short while after passing through, I saw several mounted riders entering behind us.
They looked like they were off duty, but they were surely disguised guards.
Good grief. Thank you for the trouble.

As usual, I stepped down from the carriage at the entrance and headed toward the sitting room where Otousama and Okaasama were waiting.

“I have returned.”

“Ah, welcome back. I hear you have a new recipe to report. Will we be having it tonight?”

Otousama and Okaasama looked at me with anticipation in their eyes.

“Well, um, it is possible to serve it, but this time, it’s not exactly what you’d call a full recipe, or rather, it’s more of an ingredient that will allow for many new creations going forward…”

“Hmm? That’s a rather vague answer. So you mean there is no new recipe?”

“No, it is new, but while it is complete as a single food ingredient, it holds limitless possibilities. It is this.”

As I said that, I took the tofu out of my inventory, still resting in its bamboo strainer, and showed it to them.

“It’s white… not milk agar. What is this?”

“It is something made by mixing soy milk with a certain liquid and allowing it to set.”

“Soy milk… ah yes, that thing you called ‘milk from the fields,’ made from soybeans.”

In the House of Ellisfeed, soy milk was now drunk among the knights as a substitute for protein. Okara was used in cookies and salads, and Okaasama and the other ladies praised it as healthy.

Given all that, I believed my personal final goal, tofu, would be accepted fairly smoothly as well.

“For now, please have a taste.”

I scooped tofu with a small ladle onto little plates and set out rock salt and soy sauce.

“First, try it as is. After that, please add salt or soy sauce to your liking.”

At my words, Otousama and Okaasama eagerly scooped up the tofu with their spoons and brought it to their mouths.

The two of them made a puzzled expression, Huh?, then tried it again with soy sauce drizzled on top.

“… It tastes only of soybeans.”

“Yes. It’s quite a simple flavor, isn’t it?”

From their perspective, it seemed to be a disappointing taste.
Huh?

What do you think about this chapter?