Chapter 82: Royal Feed
Chapter 82: Royal Feed
「Yossha! Al! Let’s do sword training!」
「Ehー, don’t wanna.」
After receiving the goblin sword, Torr proudly said that.
Even though I had intense sword training with Eleonora-neesan yesterday, why do I have to do another sword training the following day?
I’ve taken a long trip from the royal capital and finally came back to Koryatt village after all. So I think it should be fine for you to sympathize with me for a bit there.
Nevertheless, due to yesterday’s beating by Eleonora-neesan’s wooden sword, the feeling of coming back to the mansion is a bit frustrating.
「Isn’t it fine, just a little okay! Just a little bit of training! Okay? So I can also get stronger, okay?」
「I don’t want to. Rather than that, don’t point that sword at me it’s dangerous!」
I slowly *jirijiri* moved back from Torr , who pointed the goblin sword at me.
「What are the two of you being so noisy about?」
Asmo - who lives next door to Torr - called out to us.
Looking at his appearance of sweat streaming down his skin, with dirt on his shoes, he’s probably been working in the fields until just some time ago.
「I asked him to have a sword training with me, but Al don’t want to be opponent.」
Even though he was complaining, Torr is holding the goblin sword on his shoulder.
Maybe he’s quite happy to get a sword, Torr is bragging to Asmo.
「A sword? Ah, it’s not the usual wooden sword huh. A souvenir from the royal capital?」
「That’s right! Look at this, it’s a real sword you know!」
Torr shows the sword in a good mood, with a manner as if he’s glad Asmo is listening to him.
On the other hand, Asmo said,
「Hmmー, good for you. More importantly Al, what about my souvenir?」
「Oi! You should listen to me some more!」
「Aah, I have it with me. It’s a specialty of the royal capital, Dragon Muffin.」
He didn’t seem to be interested at all. And I don’t feel like keeping Torr’s company in sword training, so it’s fortunate that I got to pass on that.
「Hoorayー! Snacks from the royal capital!」
From a straight, uninterested look, Asmo’s expression made a complete change into a smile.
Although Toriela’s firm came to the village regularly, for the villagers sugar has quite the price.
Apart from Celia-san, who runs a restaurant, the other villagers would usually buy a small amount of sugar as seasoning.
Celia-san also can’t make sweets, so sweets are seen as something valuable by the villagers.
Incidentally, Asmo’s souvenir Dragon Muffin is something that was properly stored and packed in a box. And it doesn’t spoil inside the subspace, so it’s possible to eat freshly made food anytime.
I think that Space Magic is the best, since it allows me to take out freshly made foods anywhere. Just buy a lot of food from the stalls and store it, then I can always eat a warm meal anytime.
As for Wushi’s meat skewer, it’s so delicious that I’m storing almost thirty of them.
Sometimes, it makes me want to eat something that has junk-food-like flavors.
「Dragon Muffin is something that came out in Dragon Slayer’s story, isn’t that a popular snack!」
Hearing the word ‘Dragon Muffin’, Torr’s eyes are shining. It seems like the thing about sword training has vanished from his mind. It’s hunger rather than sword.
Even though this is Asmo’s souvenir, why are you the one so eager to eat it?
「Hey, the two of you can come to my house. I’ll take out my mother’s cherished tea leaves.」
Torr came running in front of us, and led us towards his house.
It looks like he’s going to bring us to his house to present his mother cherished tea leaves, in order to get his hand on the Dragon Muffin.
And he will be really satisfied if he can get even a half of it, but I don’t know what would happen to you later, okay?
「Why, isn’t this my souvenir?」
「Oi oi, Do you want to eat the Dragon Muffin with just water? That would be a desecration towards that snack isn’t it? A delicious food should be eaten along with a delicious drink. Asmo also knows about that right?」
「Guh……tea leaves……what kind of tea leaves is that?」
Asmo wavered, looking as if he was persuaded by Torr’s words.
If it’s a sweet flavor that you can’t usually eat, I think it’s natural that you would want to eat it together with a suitably delicious drink to go along with it to make it more delicious.
「……I forgot the name, but it seems like it’s the same with the one in Al’s mansion.」
「Royal Feed」
「Right, I’m sure that’s the one!」
Aah, come to think of it, Elna-kaasan once gave that to Torr’s mother while saying 「This my thanks to you for always looking after me」.
「If you go to Al’s mansion, it would feels like it was something that will be taken out as if it was a water, it’s that……!」
Well, that’s because we’re more or less a noble. And there’s the fact that Elna-kaasan likes to drink tea.
If I invite these guys, they will only eat the foods and the snacks, so I don’t invite them over that much. I want to spend my time in the mansion leisurely after all.
「Uuhー, then I can let you eat one sixth of ――」
「One piece!」
Torr made an objection to Asmo’s one sixth remark.
Nothing is more dependable than a bite to eat in Koryatt village.
At any rate, at Celia’s restaurant,
『Can’t be helped, eh. Just a bite, a bite.』
『Hehehe, I know』
『Ahー! He already ate it all! This bastard!』
『What!? The one who said that they’re going to have a bite is you right!』
『This bastard! Return my money!』
That kind of thing occurs almost every day.
And to prevent that, if you were to cut it into small-sizes, then the bigger one will just be wolfed down by the other person.
There are also some fearless guys, who tried to take the food towards their mouth even with the other person’s trying to take it away from them.
There’s no knowing about what would happen.
And in the end, it will just become a fight, and it became a normal thing to eat another person’s fist.
But, Torr suddenly attacked at such a tricky place for a piece of the muffin.
Perhaps this guy also didn’t think that he would be able to get the whole piece, so he did it slowly by increasing his demand line first then lowering his demand to make it easier for the other party to agree to it, a technique that was used frequently by merchants.
This guy, despite still learning about calculation and writing, just when did he learn such technique………
「There’s no way you get one piece. One fourth一」
「It’s Royal Feed you know? It won’t be good if you don’t use this high-class tea leaves y’see. Half.」
「Mumumu……I guess, it can’t be helped if it’s Royal Feed. But you don’t only have one cup right?」
「Don’t say such miserly thing.」
「How much sugar can I use?」
Ignoring the two of them who were still discussing the amount of sugar, I went behind the stump and used Space magic to take out the box containing the Dragon Muffin.
The contents are for the siblings Asmo and Sheila, there are four of them - with their parent’s share included inside - so there won’t be a problem if they want to share them normally.
「――yosh, that’ll do. Three black teas with four spoonfuls of sugar then! Ladle can’t be counted as spoon okay?」
「……cheh」
「What are you ’cheh’-ing for……by the way Al, where’s the important Dragon Muffin?」
「Aah, it’s inside this white box.」
I raised the white box, pretending as if I left it beside the stump.
A slight breeze carried the fragrant smell of butter, Torr and Asmo made a swallowing sound.
Even I - who have already eaten a lot of it - feels like I’m about to drool.
「Let’s eat it quickly!」
「Hey, you guys get inside.」
Asmo pushes my back, while Torr is holding his sword with one hand and opens the door of his house.
Good grief, it’s only at times like this that these people move quickly.
Even so, Torr’s appearance as he entered with a sword in one hand can only be seen as a pervert entering the house. If he entered the house in the middle of the night like that, his family would be surprised.
Torr put his sword at the edge of the front door and entered.
I should have also prepared something like a sheath for the sword.
When we arrived at the living room and take a seat, Torr rummages the kitchen with a rustling sound *gasagasa*.
I wonder if he’s preparing the black tea.
Asmo seems to be familiar with the place, he took out knives, plates, and forks, then started to set them up on the table.
As expected from neighbor-san. Knowing where to get the plates and knives in the kitchen.
I guess, it would be something like that if you were to associate yourself with others for years.
Of course there’s no plate or fork in front of me.
Well, I’m just here to deliver the souvenirs and besides, I have already eaten a lot of it so it’s fine right?
’You’re not going to eat right?’ You don’t have to glare at me like that.
「Ehー? I’m sure that mom put it at the back of the three-layered frying pan, it should be here butー」
Torr stuck his head inside the shelf while muttering something like that.
Torr’s mother is also desperate for tea. Is there someone who would steal the tea since she hides it to that extent?
「Ah right! Ow, it hurts!」
Aah, he hit his head. I can hear it just by listening to the sound.
「It was found out by my neechan, and she said something like she will move it. If I’m not mistaken, she threw it in inside the pot…」
Then, Torr rummages through the tableware for a while, and brings out a cylindrical box.
The tea leaves are probably inside that box.
After passing that to Asmo, Torr began preparing the teapot and cups.
Asmo - who receives the tea leaves - passed it over to me after sniffing the smell of the leaves.
「Is this the real thing?」
What a distrustful fella.
「Un, it’s the same as the Royal Feed in the mansion.」
「There’s no problem then. Thank you.」
「Right? Didn’t I said so」
Looking at us, Torr pouts as he brings the sugar over.
「Al, light it up using magic.」
「Yeah, I’ll prepare the tea. But in exchange let me have a drink.」
For some reason, Eleonora-neesan keeps making me work hard.
And if I made her an unpalatable tea then I’ll be killed. So I asked for Mel to teach me how to brew a delicious tea as best as I can.
Though I said that, mine’s just delicious, still no match with the one Mel made. As expected from the capable person taken by Elna-kaasan from the royal capital.
Even though Mel has an easygoing personality, the tea she made has a delicate taste.
I pour water to the kettle with Water magic, and make it float with Psychic magic. Then I made a Fireball of the Fire magic below the kettle to raise the temperature.
「Even though I’ve already seen back when we had the snowball fight, but it still look handy as usual.」
「Using magic as if it was natural.」
Since Torr and Asmo got nothing to do anymore, they’re looking this way while supporting their chin with their hands.
「Well, setting complicated magic aside, I can use simple magic such as this simultaneously.」
I just have to keep an eye on both the fire and kettle.
I guess, most of the time you may have to concentrate at the start. And if you are inattentive, before you know it the temperature of the fire might increase to an absurd degree.
「Haーh, we can’t do somethin’ like that, I can only think that it’s amazing.」
「You’re not going to the Magic Academy?」
「I won’t go.」
Even if they told me that they will open up a school at Koryatt village, I still won’t go.
「If you can use magic like that, then you can earn quite a lot of money.」
「Regarding money, there’s Reversi and Shogi, so I guess I don’t particularly need to it.」
「What an indifferent fellow.」
「Nah, I do have something I want, you know. Like, I want to spend my life leisurely. 」
「Something you wanted, like what you really desire. Something different than that.」
When it comes to my desire right now, that would be to get my hands on a soy sauce.
As long as I have that, there will be more alternatives for my meal.
There seems to be a country where they grew rice, but it looks to be quite far from here. Or rather, I can just grow them myself.
When I was in the middle of considering that, the hot water inside the kettle boils and bubbles come out *bokoboko*.
「Oh, the hot water is ready. Torr, bring the teacups here.」
「Hm? Okay.」
I pour the hot water to the pot and the teacups Torr brought, to warm them up.
「But it still doesn’t have any tea leaves in it right?」
「That’s cause I’m just going to warm them up.」
「Maybe this is a measure to make the tea more delicious? Come to think of it, my mother also did this.」
Torr went back to the table while looking as if he understood the reason.
「Ahー! Asmo, youu, don’t waste the sugar!」
「It’s fine isn’t it? I’m hungry you know.」
I ignore the two of them who started talking loudly *gyagya*, and remove the hot water from inside the pot, then put two people’s worth of tea leaves into the teapot.
After that I pour the boiling hot water inside the kettle into the pot.
At this time, it seems that the trick is to pour everything vigorously. After that, immediately cover the pot and let it steam.
I turn the hourglass near me over, and measure the time.
Since we also have one like this at home, it probably used the same minute as a unit of time.
The Royal Feed should be steamed for 2 minutes and 40 seconds, so after all the sand in the hourglass falls to the bottom, I turn it over again.
I threw away the hot water in the cup and waited while counting the remaining 40 seconds.
And then, sensing that it’s 40 seconds already, I quickly poured the tea from the pot into the teacup.
While trying to keep the strong flavour the same, I pour until the last drop.
「Oーi, the tea is ready.」
「Finally. So time consuming.」
「I want to quickly taste itー」
The two of them put the muffin on their plate and hold a knife and fork in their hands.
Why are you putting on such air? You should just eat it by hand.
Oh well, since they have the atmosphere of someone who wanted to experience a high-class feel, I didn’t retort.
Asmo was asking for sugar, but since the muffin itself contained sugar, it looks like he didn’t use it as expected.
「Well then, let’s dig in! 」
Even before Torr said that, Asmo already took the Dragon Muffin into his mouth.
「Here you goー」
「Oh, as expected from something called Royal. It smells so good.」
I feel sorry for your mother who hides it so carefully, you have to remember the name of the tea at least.
Torr - who enjoyed the smell of the tea - tastes the tea sparingly.
「It has a better smell than the tea my mom brewed, it tastes good!」
Setting aside whether you understand the taste or not, I’m glad you’re satisfied with it.
「The muffin is so good………」
The happily-eating-muffin Asmo loosened up his expression.
Not only is it sweet and fluffy, but the sourness of the fruit inside the muffin made it more delicious.
「Me too me too! ………this is really good. I feel like I understand the feeling of women who are so particular about snacks.」
「It goes well with the tea.」
Those two are smacking their lips at the muffin and tea. I could have taken out more muffins, but I thought that it would be more delicious to share the muffin with each other like this so I didn’t do that.
「That’s right Al! Tell us about the royal capital! You saw the play right?」
「Sure」
The three of use were having a pleasant chat spending our time elegantly.drinking the tea,
It was as if Torr and Asmo had also become noble.
◆
『Torr! How long are you going to skip doing your work? You said that you’re going to the field after you’re done chopping firewood didn’t you?』
We were talking excitedly about the royal capital after we finished eating the muffins, and that’s when there’s a voice coming from outside.
The moment we heard that, not only Torr, but Asmo’s body shook.
「Not good, it’s mom. I completely forgot about my task.」
『Good grief, even though Asmo is supposed to have called Torr to come. Just what is that kid doing?』
「Oi! Asmo you idiot! You’ve forgotten such a serious matter, huh!」
Torr grabbed Asmo’s collar, for forgetting to tell Torr about his tasks.
「Sorry, I forgot. Rather than that, Torr who doesn’t remember his own task is the one at fault.」
That’s absolutely right.
「Gunununu……」
After grinding his teeth while looking quite vexed, he looked at me with a surprised expression…
At most, I feel like he will just make an excuse that he had to entertain me since a noble like me came over.
「I said from the start that I want to go back after giving you your souvenir right?」
Asmo pushes my back and besides there’s also Torr, though I brewed my own tea. And I don’t think I was the side that was being entertained.
「Do something about it!」
Though I’m not Eleonora-neesan or Sylvio-niisan, but maybe if it’s the two of them that excuse will work.
As for me, I didn’t receive that kind of formal treatment.
『Torr! Asmoー! Are you here!』
The door opened with a bang *garari* as Torr’s mother entered.
「Not good, hide the tea leaves!」
「No, but, the smell of the tea and the tablewares are already out.」
『Wait a sec……this smell……Royal Feed!? Torr! You said that you’re not interested in something like tea! So you used it at your own convenience, huh!』
Along with Torr’s mother's angry voice, the sound of her noisy footsteps *dotadota* approaches us.
Torr is panicking, while Asmo is trying to re-wrapped the muffin box.
Asmo seems to be trying to quickly escape while carrying the muffin.
「Asmo! You’re going to run away!」
『Torr!』
At the same time as Torr shouted, Torr’s mother charged into the living room with a terrifying look.
And then maybe she saw me, she endured it then and there and said,
『Ara, Alfried-sama welcome.』
「Excuse me for the intrusion.」
Just like Ema-oneesama, she gave me a blooming smile.
Torr’s mother nodded and said 「Un」, looking satisfied, and she grabbed Asmo’s by the neck as he tried to get through from the side.
「I, I need to get back to work.」
『It looks like it’s over though? Your father has been looking for you and he said that he will give you a whack. But, I asked you to call to over Torr right』
「I’m sorry」
『It’s fine, but don’t forget about it next time alright?』
After she laughed with ‘Ufufu’, Asmo started running outside holding the box with the muffin as if carrying something precious.
Perhaps, he’s going to hand the muffin over to his father to appease his father’s anger.
Tousan also loves to eat that, so I guess he’ll manage somehow.
The problem now is Torr.
「Mother-in-law-sama, I will have to take my leave today.」
『I feel that your wording is a bit different from usual, but oh well, I guess it’s fine. You can come again anytime alright.』
「Yes. That reminds me, my mother said that she wanted to invite you to a get-together (tea party), she said that if she had the time you can also come with Asmo-kun’s mother, do come to our mansion, please. We have souvenirs from the royal capital, and we have also prepare snacks.」
『Oh dear, I will be looking forward to it. And please do allow me to visit soon.』
Here, I gave her a bow and pulled out of the living room.
And now with this, I won’t be blamed.
Since if she came to the mansion, she will be able to drink the delicious tea brewed by Mel.
And then right after, I looked back and said a few words to Torr.
「Torr! Thanks for letting me have the Royal Feed!」
「Youuuuuuu!」
『What ‘Youuu’! That’s not how you call people!』
I left Torr’s house as I listened to Torr get scolded at the back.