chapter 31

Un, it was peaceful on the way back .

However, once the gatekeeper I was acquainted with noticed me as I got to the gate, he said .

「Hey, hey! You’re pretty loaded, right! Hurry up and take it all out!」

He suddenly said that while laughing so this is probably just an act . There are not a lot of people at the gate so I’m sure he has some free time . I was the type that could easily read and go with the mood back in my previous life so why don’t I try getting into it this time as well!

「H-hiiiiii! This is all that I have . It’s true, honest . Please forgive meー」

I took out the exact amount needed for the toll from my wallet and handed it over .

「Tsk! Fine . I’ll just let you off with this much for today」

While saying that, he tapped my shoulder and let me through the gate .

「Oi, wait」

「c.r.a.p! It’s my superior officer… (What’s he doing here……)」

「That guy you were playing around with as well」

「Thought soー」

「There’s a saying a hedge between keeps friendships green . That saying is even more appropriate right now since you’re still on duty right now . Do you understand?」

「Yes . I’m sorry」

I was also given a warning while he was examining my papers .

「So you’re called Caam . You’re at fault as well . You may have become close with this guy since you frequently pa.s.s by here because of your work as a laborer at the protective wall construction site but I hope you understand that you shouldn’t be joking around while he’s still in the middle of his duties」

「Yes . It is as you say」

「I’ll let you off with just a warning for now but next time I’m going to sentence you community service and you’ll get your salary cut」

「「……yes…」」

That sermon in the guardroom took around 10 minutes before we were let off .

「Sorry about that . Next time, I’ll pick a better time…」

「No, let’s just not do that at all…」

Even though I’m almost forty inside, I just went along with it like a young man in high school . To make up for that, I’ll treat him next time .

I returned to my room and put down my things so that I can go out to shop for ingredients for dinner . However, when I went out, Torene-san was there waiting for me .

「Uhm, can I help you or something?」

「I’ve been feeling lonely during these past two days you were away… I’ll pay you so make me some sweets!」

She had a desperate look while saying that . What’s this about?

「Umー what exactly do you mean?」

「What I’m saying is that I’ve been waiting for those sweets you make on a whim . That’s how it is so please, I’m begging you」

Even if you look at me with those imploring eyes…

「If you don’t make some, I’ll start crying in your room you know! You’ll die you know!」

What are you suddenly saying in such a cute voice? She looks like a little girl but if I remember correctly, the horse next door said that she’s a banshee . In my previous life, it’s said that when you hear somebody crying, it’s a sign that someone’s going to die though . Even if she cries inside a specific room in an apartment complex, wouldn’t the probability of it being me still be pretty low?

「Ahー yeah, sure . I understand . I was about to go out shopping anyway」

「I’m already sick of the sweets around this area so I wanted to eat something different」

「Haa…… Is that so?」

「Then, I’ll leave it to you」

So it has already been decided…… Ahーgeez what a pain . Fine, I’ll just make both at the same time . Since I’m doing as told, I wonder if they’ll start thinking that I’m a pushover .

*

I already bought the ingredients for dinner and those sweets . I guess I should start making those sweets first . While the BGM of a famous 3-minute cooking show1 was playing in my head, I started working .

*tere te te te te, tere te te te, tere tetete~*2

Right now, I’m receiving the stares of two people in front of me . So it increased by one…

「Why is Fraîche-san also here?」

「Hm? I came since I heard Torene-san’s voice . You’re making sweets right? If so then I wanted to have some too」

You’re usually so respectable so it’ll trouble me if you say that with such a smug face .

「Yeah, yeah . It’s fine . It doesn’t really matter if it’s just one person’s share or five . I’ve already given up」

I arranged the ingredients in front of me

「I’m paying him to make it so if you’re having it together with me, you should shoulder half of it」

「Fine fine . I’ll also pay so stop glaring at me . 」

It seems like I’m going to be paid for my efforts for making sweets .

「So, what are you going to make?」

「Just a simple cake」

「Cake you say!」「You can make cakes!?」

「It’s just a simple one, okay?」

「You can make your own meals, make cookies from leftovers and even dry your own fruits . It’s strange why you’re still working daily jobs」

「It’s better to separate your hobby from your job you know . Otherwise, you’re going to start hating your own hobby」

To be honest, there are only a few hobbies you can do here in this world so it couldn’t be helped that all that I could do was cook . There are no games here after all . Well, the hero apparently introduced Reversi and Chess in this world so there are those I guess…

「Hmmー that seems pretty reasonable . That makes sense . 」

Now then, the cakes I know how to make are pancakes, pound cakes, and chiffon cakes . Among these, the cheapest one to make is pancakes but that doesn’t really look like a cake so I guess I’ll just make a chiffon cake . I could turn it into a layered cake if I just bake a sponge cake right now but I won’t since it’s pretty tiring to manually make the frosting .

They don’t have those chiffon cake pans here in this world so I guess I’ll just put one of those iron cups that adventurers use in the middle of the baking pan . Still, it’s quite tough working with somebody watching you .

Well, I have no choice but to do it though . First I separate the egg yolks from the whites, place them in a bowl and mix in sugar and flour . In another bowl, I beat the egg whites and gradually add in sugar until stiff peaks . When that’s done, I add the meringue to the batter in three parts and fold it in .

After that, all I have to do is coat the pan with b.u.t.ter and put it in the oven . If you stick in a skewer and it comes out clean then the cake is done .

Because of the enticing smell, a landlady, a horse and another person I haven’t seen before were added to the number of partic.i.p.ants .

First impression: Reaaaally scary……

I didn’t notice them since was facing the oven to check if it’s done so when I turned back, he was already sitting in one of the chairs . I was so surprised that I almost leaped out but since he’s here, I thought that he’s probably one of the residents so I was able to resist letting out a scream . Thank you, that one game I like . Thanks to you I ended up not screaming . If I had met him at the corridor in the middle of the night then I might have screamed and wet my pants .

As for how scary he is, he’s about 2 meters tall, has red eyes and a greyish black, hairless, and moist body . Would it be easier to understand if I say that the opening of his mouth reached the base of his ears and has razor-sharp teeth?3

He’s wearing his leather armor and his sword is still attached to his waist . I wonder if he just got off from work . Please wipe the blood splatters off first at least .

「Ah, nice to meet you」

「Ah, so you’re Caam . The name’s Folly[フォリ] . Thanks for all those sweets . It was delicious」

Huuuh? He looks scary but is very polite . Is he actually a really nice person? Wait, what race is he even from? One of the aquatic ones? Well, I shouldn’t really worry about that .

「Ah, okay」

I could only reply like that because his response was completely different from what I had imagined .

「Hmmーーー It’s sweet . And also fluffy」

It’s cute how she’s flapping her feet .

「Hmmー, this is so……」

Please don’t vigorously chew on it with a serious face .

「Hmmー . It’s really tasty, isn’t itー」

The horse continued eating it with a smile on his face . I haven’t received any proper comments about it so I can’t really tell how it turned out .

「・・・・・・」

Don’t just quietly eat there . Please give me some kind of comment .

「Umu… the softness is similar to that of a chick’s feather . The sweetness is also just right and the taste of the egg even complements it . If it’s like this, it really is strange why you’re working day labor jobs」

Thank you very much for that kind comment . Wait, he can’t really hear it if I just say it in my head, can he?

Un, it’s okay . Compared to the freshly cooked western sweets I ate in my previous life, it’s neither good nor bad . It truly is just okay .

「「「「「Thank you for the meal」」」」」

「You’re welcome」

It was the same in my previous life but even in this world, the easiest way to get along with someone is through their stomach .

We started chatting after having that afternoon snack . They asked about how about how did I manage to catch a fly on the wall using a knife and where did I take that knife out from so I told them how I did my throwing practice in the village . I talked about how I practiced with stones first, then a knife and an axe as well as how I refined my knife magic .

「So you can also do something like that…」

Fraîche-san suddenly said something like that with a serious face .

「Could you teach me how to do that? Asking someone to teach their own personal magic is the same as asking them to hand out their personal treasures but could you somehow make an exception an teach me?」

She suddenly bowed her head as she said that .

「Well, I guess it’s impossible . Just teaching your magic like that isー」「Ah, it’s okay」

「Huh!?」「So quick! You agreed to that really easily! And here I was racking my brains out on how to express how I feel but you just brushed that off with that phrase!」

「Ahー, sorry ’bout that but when I was still going to school back in my village, there was a time I taught everyone in cla.s.s a trick to using magic . This may be a different way of thinking compared to other mages but I taught everyone in the village so that it would make our lives even easier」

After saying that, I produced an obsidian knife on top of my palm . Lightly grabbed it and swing it around like a teacher’s pointer while taking out a lump of obsidian .

「To be honest, this black knife is made from this stone . This stone was formed from gla.s.s so it may look like gla.s.s but it’s actually a rock . That means this is originally naturally produced . I believe it comes from lava that has cooled down and solidified or something like that . When you break off a piece of this rock, that piece would have really sharp edges」

「Fumu」「Hmmー」「Really?」

「There are times when broken gla.s.s can cut stuff right? It’s the same as that . Please use the image of 『a hard broken gla.s.s that becomes a knife . 』」

「「「Ohhー」」」

It’s amazing how everyone said that at the same time . I’m sure that Fraîche-san and Folly-san understood that but I don’t think Torena-san does .

「That’s pretty easy to imagine, isn’t it?」

「Un un . And aren’t you underestimating me a little?」

「It certainly is easy to understand . Have you thought about actually trying to take up the teacher’s cane?」

「No, wellー, I really think it’s best that we just leave that to people who really like studying . Besides, I won’t be able to do it since I only have one way of teaching and I’m afraid of permanently changing the student’s lives . Ah, and about this thing’s weakness, once the magic power you use in making this runs out, it will disappear . The stronger the impact it receives, the quicker it would disappear as well . Because of that, if you use this as a sword, it could suddenly disappear and the worst thing that could happen is you’ll die . Since it’s still gla.s.s, it’s brittle so I strongly recommend you use it just for throwing」

「Understood」「’Kaーy」「I’ll make sure not to forget」

「Don’t ask me to tell you any tricks you can use to throw it since I just earnestly practiced and learned it by feel」

There’s also the compensation given by the skill though .

Like that, Torene-san immediately tried throwing a knife . However, instead of sticking to it, the part that hit the wall was the handle so it fell to the floor, broke in half and disappeared .

「Ahー」

She sounded pretty disappointed but I’d get pretty depressed if she actually managed to make it stick on the first try . I could understand it if it was somebody who has always been throwing knives though .

「Fumu……」 *Thunk*

「Like this?」 *Thok*

「Umu」「Yey」

The two of them did a high five and seemed to be pleased .

Folly-san, I won’t be able to see you as anything but someone who does that kind of thing all the time so please stop it . My imagination is going out of control, or should I say, your smile is really scary . That the face you see just before your neck gets bitten off .

It was already dinner time so we ended our conversation and I started cooking once again . I’ll just skimp out today and use some of the ingredients I used for the cake to make french toast .

「Eh? You put the bread into that egg and sugar mixture?」

「Are you going to bake that? Ah… what a nice smellー」

「Looks deliciousーー」

I was going to explain the step by step procedure to make it but decided to just make it quietly .

「Okay, it’s doneー」

I would probably have to explain why it’s called French toast so I’ll just tell them it’s a pseudo-pancake .

「Oohー, please let me try a bit~」

This girl who’s older than me but looks like a young girl cutely said that . If you just look at her appearance, I think that this person is cute . However, she gets overbearing once in a while, just like when we first met .

「Ahー, sure go ahead . I’ve already given up and I knew you were going to say that so that’s why you guys can just go ahead and take some」

I said that as I was making the second batch for me to eat .

「Let’s see…」

I’m not sure if he likes sweet things or he was just really interested but I was a bit surprised when Folly-san also took one .

「Hah…today wasn’t such a good day for me . Ever since I came back, I was scolded, made to make sweets and a part of my dinner was taken from me」

There was also Folly-san who was really scary . Well, whatever . I guess I should just go to bed so that I can wake up early tomorrow .

Because of the long walk back, I was able to sleep surprisingly quickly .