Chapter 723

A Friend of My Heart!
Even though it had only been an internal conversation, I made sure to firmly remind Mariel-chan not to casually talk about my recipes in public from now on.

“Alicia-sama, Adry-sama, anyone can find out that those recipes are registered under my name if they look into it, but I haven’t publicly announced it. So…”

“Yes, I shall refrain from spreading it around.”

“Same here. I mean, it’s not exactly something worth going around talking about. Even if I told my friends, they’d probably just go, ‘Huh, really?’ and that’d be the end of it.”

Yeah, from Adry-sama, anyway!
Even if he went around telling the students and upperclassmen in the Knight Course, that’d probably be their reaction.

“However, it appeared that several young ladies from houses aligned with factions hostile to House Ellisfeed were present in the café earlier. As for what may happen going forward…”

Alicia-sama lowered her voice and spoke with concern.

Ahh, figured as much.
I’d suspected they were there.

A few of the groups applauding had looked pretty uncomfortable, after all.
They were probably the same people who had been calling me the “Repulsive-food Eating Young Lady.”

After insulting me like that and then happily eating my recipes, of course they must have felt awkward.

“Oh, they were definitely there. Afterward, they all hurried off in a rush, didn’t they? Ahh, what a refreshing sight!”

“Eh?”

Mariel-chan?
That was an awfully cheerful thing to say.
What’s gotten into you?

“Come on! Those girls talked behind your back as much as they wanted, and yet they acted like total regulars there! ‘Oh my, at this rate I may conquer the entire menu!’ Give me a break!”

Mariel-chan snorted indignantly.

“Mariel-san…”

“My, so that’s why you raised your voice at that moment? It’s true, the ladies at the nearby table seemed to lose their appetites immediately afterward…”

Alicia-sama looked exasperated.

“Though they still finished every last bite before leaving.”

Mariel-chan, so that’s why you exposed me back there!?

Ohhh… Mariel-chan, you are truly a friend of my heart…!

When our eyes met, I flashed her a tiny peace sign where Alicia-sama and Adry-sama couldn’t see. Hehe.

“Indeed, Mariel. It is commendable that you worked to restore My Lord’s honor.”

“Mariel, you actually did a good job for once.”

“… Hm? Ahhh! So that’s what happened! Miss Mariel, nicely done!”

“Fueh? Ehehehe, tank you very muuugh!?”

After receiving praise from everyone, Mariel-chan became visibly flustered… and bit her tongue.

“We’ll be returning to the academy now. What about the two of you?”

Apparently Alicia-sama and Adry-sama were heading back via the shared carriage to the academy.

That surprised me, but it seemed that summoning their family carriage involved too much paperwork, so if they only had business in the royal capital, they would usually make a day trip using the shared carriage instead of returning home.

Eh? Do I go home too often...?

Well, I do have a hotline (a magical telephone) in my room.

As long as I asked Miria, she’d make sure everything was ready at the scheduled time, so I’d never really thought about it.

No, no. In Mariel-chan’s and my case, we’re contractors of Sacred Beasts. And even if they can take human form, they’re still Sacred Beasts.

If we want to travel inconspicuously for security reasons, a private carriage is best. Right? Yeah.

“We’re planning to return tomorrow evening.”

“Yes. I have matters to report to my father today, and tomorrow I’ll be accompanying Cristea-sama.”

A report? …Ah, right. The wooden mold for cotton tofu.

… Not the café incident, right?

“Got it. Then see you after the weekend!”

“Yes, take care, both of you.”

“Indeed. We’ll meet again next week.”

We parted ways with Alicia-sama and Adry-sama at the shared carriage station, then boarded the carriage we had waiting for us.

Before heading to the Mayor Company, however, we decided to stop by the Bastea Company first.

“Hello~”

The moment I stepped inside, the atmosphere changed completely from the European-style exterior.

The oriental interior somehow put me at ease.

I wonder why. I’d grown used to life in this world, but this place still gave me that feeling of home. Like visiting your grandmother’s house in the countryside.

Mariel-chan seemed to feel something similar, as she relaxed immediately.

For her, this was technically a rival company. Enemy territory, in other words. But was that really okay?

Well, the employees of the Bastea Company had already let down their guard around her because she was Sei’s friend and because of her obsession with Yahatul products.

“Hm? Miss Cristea and Miss Mariel? What brings you here? If there was something you wanted, I could’ve brought it back for you.”

Sei peeked out from the back, dressed in a kimono.

Apparently he tried to help out at the shop whenever he went out on weekends. Really admirable.

According to him: “I’m a troublesome existence, and they’ve taken care of me in many ways. Helping is only natural.”

Perhaps because their master was like that, Byakko-sama and Suzaku-sama also helped around the store.

“Yo, girls. What’s up?”

“My, my, Cristea-sama, Mariel-sama. Please enjoy some chilled tea while you’re here. As for the filthy mutt and bear, they can stand outside and keep watch.”

Suzaku-sama, that was savage!

“Does this establishment not even know how to serve tea properly to its guests?”

“Their education is lacking.”

Kurogane and Mashiro protested, causing Sei to sigh before gently admonishing Suzaku-sama.

“Suzaku, you shouldn’t say things like that. Everyone, it’s hot outside, isn’t it? We have some cold tea prepared, so feel free to have some.”

Suzaku-sama reluctantly disappeared into the back and returned carrying cold tea for everyone.

“Thank you… Wow, this green tea is sweeter and more delicious than usual!”

“You’re right. This isn’t just ordinary green tea served cold, is it?”

“Ah. It’s called ice-brewed tea. The leaves are slowly extracted using water from melting ice. It uses nearly twice the usual amount of tea leaves, so it’s quite a luxurious brewing method.”

Ahh, ice-brewing!
Since it doesn’t bring out as much bitterness as regular brewing, you can really taste the sweetness and umami.

The downside is that it takes two to four hours to brew.

“At this time of year, suggesting ways like this to enjoy green tea helps sales considerably.”

True.
It had gotten hotter at the special dormitory too, so we’d been drinking more barley tea than green tea or roasted tea lately.

“So? What did you come here to buy today?”

“Ah, rather than buying something, I actually have a request…”

I explained that there was now a clear prospect of producing wooden molds for cotton tofu, that mass production might become possible in the future, and that the nigari I currently had on hand wouldn’t be enough.

I also told him that I wanted to arrange regular purchases going forward.

“I see... Well, I’d appreciate being able to eat tofu regularly too. I’ll make arrangements to pass the word along when the next ship arrives.”

“Thank you! That’s a huge help!”

Having secured a source for nigari, I also bought some additional dried soybeans while I was there.

Then we left the Bastea Company behind.

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