Chapter 17.5

「You seem pretty out of it. What’s up?」

This was around the same time that Hiroshi and the others had gone to make some pudding. Unable to just watch Aearis, who didn’t seem to be into the training, Makoto questioned Aearis. Furthermore, Tatsuya was continuing his work, confined to the library. Rayna was, as per usual, standing watch a bit farther away, surveying the surroundings.

「I haven’t heard many good things that people are saying and I just feel a lot of concern…」

Aearis answered Makoto’s query with a bit of a sigh mixed in.

「I just feel really bad about inconveniencing everyone, all because of us…」

「You’re a kid. You don’t hafta care about things like that.」

Makoto couldn’t help but wryly smile at how dejected Aearis was acting.

「But it isn’t just Katrina and her followers. There are others as well who do not think very highly of all of you, are there not?」

「Pffft, it’d be weird if there weren’t. No matter how much the royal palace said they’d protect guests from the Unknown Continent, nobody knows where we’re from and all we really seem like is an unknown, suspicious group.」

Aearis had no choice but to experience the harshness of reality through Makoto’s unfiltered opinion. However indebted they might be to Hiroshi and company, there was no way that sentiment could extend throughout all of Farlane. Aearis wasn’t so clueless that she didn’t understand that.

「And besides, the top of the organization is a monolith. No matter how unreasonable the demands, their word is law. Wouldn’t you be scared of involving yourself with an organization whose members question nothing and never change their stances?」

「As long as there don’t be any entirely brainwashed folks within the organization, then I doubt that such a thing exists.」

「That’s why we don’t want to get involved with them.」

「I don’t blame you, lass.」

Douga interjected at what Makoto had said, holding some documents in his hands.

「So at the moment, I do think there was something wrong with that old man yesterday, but I would also feel strange about an organization that had no gripes with our existence whatsoever.」

「Well, I don’t think that ye need worry about them. They be all talk.」

「I get that feeling, but I’ll have you know that isn’t pleasant at all to hear that stuff either. And what about how they purposefully chose to complain about us at specific times?」

「Be that not because increasing their numbers leaves a bigger impression?」

Their opinions didn’t seem to quite match. Perhaps the premise itself was different to the both of them.

「Did ye not think it strange before?」

「…Well, sure I did, but…」

「It would be giving you youngsters a foregone conclusion, and I do not exactly have confirmation meself so I cannot say more, but I should warn ye that they are not as simplistic as they seem outwardly.」

Makoto seemed to get a better idea of what Douga was trying to say.

「Well, putting aside their reasoning, their real objective is probably to get ye youngsters out of here as soon as possible.」

「Why did you just get my hopes up only to crush them…」

Makoto grimaced at Douga’s sudden statement.

「However, I do believe that I must be leaving the royal palace as soon as possible.」

「I agree with Her Majesty.」

「Indeed. This sort of place is not the kind of area that regular people can stay in for too long.」

When Aearis said something surprising, Rayna and Douga agreed with earnest faces. Makoto had thought these three to be on the side that was in agreement about letting them enter the palace, so she was understandably perplexed.

「So you don’t have an issue with us leaving?」

「To be quite honest, it will be lonely and sad without all of you, but since I have already returned here, I am prepared to face the prospect of us not being able to meet as much anymore. The end result would be the same being here and being in the castle town workshop. Therefore, I would be most happy if all of you lived wherever is pleasing to you.」

「Okay, I see…」

「Also, there’s always the possibility that if you stay here a long time, you would begin to dislike me. I am very scared of that.」

When Aearis confessed that with a miserable expression and a sigh, Makoto found herself unable to really say anything.

「Is that because you won’t be able to eat any more delicious food if we dislike you?」

Unable to endure the awkward silence any longer, Makoto forced in a joke.

「Makoto-sama! Not even I am that much of a glutton!」

Aearis, who had been making a heartrending face up until that moment, become considerably cross as her face lit up with red. That being said, this implied that she was sort of aware.

「Is it really all that strange to be sad about possibly being disliked by everyone who I have grown fond of?」

「Not at all. More like spot-on.」

As Aearis spoke with enough anger to the point of almost crying, Makoto repented from the bottom of her heart for the admittedly poor joke. That being said…

「But it’s still bothersome, all things considered. I don’t think that good-natured man who hate Elle over small matters, but that gynophobia of his is quite impressive.」

She found herself once again giving in to her desire to poke fun whenever she could.

「Even without his gynophobia, I am at most like a little sister to Hiroshi-sama. It’s heartrending and painful, but I have firmly faced that reality. So even if he will never look at me that way, I want to at least put in the effort to become a woman who can support Hiroshi-sama.」

「…Ahh, but you really don’t have to reply to that with such a serious expression…」

「Was it not you who brought up such a conversation, Makoto-sama? And certainly, it would be a problem for someone of my position to bring up such a matter in public, but I do not really see it as a problem to bring up these topics in private, like right now. Speaking about romantic feelings or what kind of person I want to become for that sake does of course make me blush, but I do not consider it to be embarrassing.」

Seeing how Aearis was still flushing but firm in what she had said, Makoto realized how much of a landmine she had just stomped on with all her might. Now she knew all too well how deep Aearis’s feelings ran. The future for the natural airhead and tsundere girls from the Japanese female side of things gave her anxiety from the bottom of her heart.

「I have heard the story from His Highness. Please tell me if there are any ingredients you ever might need.」

When they greeted the master chef in the main kitchen, he greeted them back in a rough, but friendly voice.

「I notice that we seem to be well-received here, but do you really not mind some outsiders making a mess in your workplace?」

「Well aren’t you going to make some rare stuff? This might not befit me as a chef, but the meals we make are stuck in a rut.」

Somewhat understanding what the head chef was saying, for the time being they ordered eggs, fresh cream, sugar, and then many fruits. As they were desperately trying to stock up on those things, they heard a voice from the back that could either be interpreted as a scream or an angry voice.

「Tsk! There’s a whole barrel of laas that just got rotten!」

The three of them looked at each other when they heard that. Laas was a type of alcohol fermented from wheat in this world, but unlike beer, it didn’t have any foam. It was more reminiscent of non-distilled whiskey. It was quite odd to hear about this rotting.

「Sensei, does alcohol even go bad?」

「Depends on the product. Seems like sake has protein inside of it and does go bad on occasion.」

「But wouldn’t rotting just make it into vinegar?」

In this world, anything sour that was not of the fruit variety tended to be seen as poison, or otherwise as rotting. Especially in the Farlane region, there tended to be a lot of people who didn’t do well with sour tastes. This went without saying, but making vinegar via brewing alcohol would make the result far more sour than a ripened fruit. Therefore, the laas being rotten was…

「Hold yer horses. That ain’t rotten.」

「What? When it’s this sour, I’m pretty damn sure it’s rotten.」

The head chef immediately objected to what Hiroshi said. In actuality, this laas vinegar was sour to the point where just licking it made you feel faint.

「Ya can use that for seasoning. S’long as ya get the right amount in, it’s good for yer body.」

When the people in the kitchen all had doubtful expressions, Hiroshi brought up the example of using mayonnaise from the beginning and showed how to use ponzu in the proper way as evidence to back it up. He was also making black vinegar on a regular basis, but as this land wasn’t well-suited to brew it, he was using alchemy to produce the results and couldn’t make too much.

「What the heck is that?」

「This white thing is called mayonnaise, which I use to make seasoning. Put it on a cucumber or somethin’ ‘n try a bite.」

He said, putting some on a cucumber and biting into it. He could taste the usual superior sour taste.

「…So it’s really not rotten?」

「If it was really that rotten, then I guarantee that ya’d be in a quite the pinch with just one taste test.」

Groaning at Hiroshi’s words, he gave it a bit of thought and taste-tested the mayonnaise.

「Strange taste there.」

「But it ain’t bad, right?」

「…That’s, true.」

While still slightly in distrust, the master chef nodded his head. Happy at his reaction, Hiroshi next showed him his personal favorite way of using ponzu. Seeing Hiroshi attempting to change the chef’s viewpoint on vinegar, Haruna left that to him as she began focusing intently on making pudding.

「We just so happen to have some half-preserved wyvern tatsutaage, so try it by itself ‘n then try it with this poured on it.」

He said, grating a vegetable akin to a daikon radish and combining it with something else. Furthermore, this wyvern tatsutaage was not something that Haruna had prepared before, but a half-ass block of meat remnant that he had fried. He had kept it preserved in storage in all of its heat, so it hadn’t deteriorated in quality in the slightest.

「…Nothing wrong with eating it as is, but when I put this on, it’s more tasty and refreshing.」

It was to be expected that an executive chef would comprehend the flavor of grated ponzu.

「Right? Just between you ‘n me, Princess Aearis loves eatin’ meals with this kinda seasonin’.」

「…Is that true?」

「Sure is.」

As expected, whenever the princess liking food was brought up, no one could entirely ignore that. Furthermore, although he hadn’t presented this fact, not only did Aearis like ponzu or mayonnaise; she also loved ketchup, mustard, every kind of sauce, soy sauce, miso, and just about every kind of flavor. Heck, she even enjoyed eating regular pickled wakame and cucumber and loved the taste of sweet and oily things, and even on the other side of things, she never hesitated to put a suitable amount of wasabi in the zarusoba juice. She truly had a remarkable strike zone in terms of how broad her taste was for her age of ten years. With that being said, seeing as how she would reject flavoring that had too much thickness or extremeness, in actuality her palate might be comparable to that of a Japanese adult.

「Bein’ a head chef, I bet ya got some ideas as to how to use this sorta seasonin’, eh?」

「…Sure do. I just got a lot of inspiration. Sorry, but I’d appreciate it if you taught me how to make this so-called mayonnaise.」

「Gotcha. I can even teach ya how to pickle things.」

He said, proceeding to merrily lecture him on the proper use of vinegar, starting with mayonnaise. After they had more or less finished up, Haruna started steaming the first batch of pudding. Of course she could have baked them, but she was apparently doing it in order to teach them the art of steaming. Also, Haruna herself had mentioned that she just simply preferred steaming it anyway. Furthermore, in order to get the pudding more easily out of the containers later, Mio was tampering with the containers off-the-cuff. She was also quite feminine in that she didn’t mind working for the sake of sweets.

「Hiroshi-kun, good job over there.」

「Ah, sorry. I din’t git to help ya.」

「Mio-chan is here, so it worked out fine. When it comes to pudding, it doesn’t make a huge difference with how many people help.」

She said, putting the first batch (approximately 300) in cold storage.

「The heck was that earlier?」

「Come to think of it, you were cooking it in a strange way, weren’t you?」

Looking at a new, unknown recipe, the cooks all came gathering.

「That’s called “pudding”, and it’s eaten by many the average citizen. The method I used just now is called 'steaming”, and I apply heat to it via steam.」

She said, displaying the structure of the steamer and the rest of the tools.

「So we can’t just directly heat things or stew them or boil them like we’ve always done?」

「The flavor and sensation are quite different, after all. Perhaps we could also cook some steamed things together tomorrow.」

「Sure thing. Plus I did hear that because of you guys, Aearis’s palate has become richer and it’s been difficult to handle. I’d like you to take responsibility and help me figure out everything I can do in this situation.」

The three of them grimaced at what the head chef said. And that was how Hiroshi and Haruna ended up actually getting the highest chef as an ally attracted to their food in their plan right from the get-go.