“Y’know, I’ve gotten used to surprises,” Dad reflected as I cooked. “But frankly, I never imagined I’d get to meet Air face to face…or eat dinner with him!”
“Ahaha, I get it! I can’t believe it, either…” I said.
It still didn’t feel real. Air—this world’s one, true creator God—was intimidating these De Marl believers in the flesh with just a smile. Still, with Renge beside him, surely the worst won’t happen. And if Air accepted the mascot idea, then…
“Oh, right! Dad, could you carry this over to Air and Renge?” I asked, pointing to a plate on the counter. “It’ll take a while until the steak’s ready.”
“Huh…? What’s this black, jiggly stuff?” he asked.
“Haha! That, Dad, is chocolate pudding!”
“Chocolate pudding…? I know pudding. But chocolate always looks a little…you know…” he trailed off.
“What’s wrong with how chocolate looks?”
Dad—and most people in this world—had a hard time eating chocolate because of its appearance. OK, fine, so it does kinda look like mud at first sight. And sure, I couldn’t exactly expect people to just take my word for it that it doesn’t taste a thing like that!
Still, it took me three years of constant refinement to make it look so close to chocolate! I had to get ingredients from the Mythical continent, work on shortening the time required to make it with alchemy, and go through loads of trial and error before I could make it like the chocolate I knew from my past life.
It got to the point where Nakona asked me, “Why do you go out of your way to eat this stuff?” When I had her try some, she just said, “It’s tasty, but…it’s a little too sweet. Plus, it just looks…”
In the end, the only ones who’d actually eat my chocolate were me and Renge! Fine… I thought to myself. I just have to come up with chocolate that’s a little less sweet.
If looks were the problem, I could try making matcha chocolate, strawberry chocolate, or white chocolate. I’m always the type to keep trying if something doesn’t turn out perfect.
Yeah, it just means there’s room for improvement!
This chocolate pudding I was about to serve Dad, Air, and Renge was the product of my attempts to make chocolate that looked more appealing and was only moderately sweet. I’d decided to put some whipped cream and nuts on top.
“Looks nice, doesn’t it?” I beamed.
“Ummmm…” Dad hummed in displeasure.
“Aww, what?!” My face fell. “Doesn’t it look good?!”
“I-It’s not that!” Dad protested, waving his hands. “I’m just thinking…are you really going to feed this to Air?”
“It’s basically a sweet, tasty fondant chocolate cake you can eat even served cold! I know it tastes good! Come on, Dad…!”
“No, I…l-look, I mean, I’ll eat anything you make, Tina. Even if Air doesn’t want to eat it, I’ll eat it for you!” he vowed like he was taking one for the team.
“Grrrrrrrrrrr!” I growled as I checked on the steak again.
He’s acting sweet, but he’s just assuming Air won’t eat it! What’s his problem?! Is brownish-black food that unusual here?! Maybe I should just make more!
Maybe squid ink pasta? No… Deshmel’s so far inland that it’ll be difficult to get. Maybe black sesame? I could make some sesame dumplings? Coming up with desserts is hard… Maybe I should get started with working on chocolate sauce?
As I thought all this over, I instructed Dad to deliver the pudding while I cooked the steak. If Air was related to Renge, something sweet would surely please him.
Renge once told me that all Cerberi had sweet tooths, regardless of whether they were Mythical Beasts, demon hounds, or divine beasts. This was apparently a racial trait of theirs and their one weakness.
As I resumed frying the Hamburg steak, I glanced back at the tables, where I saw Renge looking back with shining, expectant eyes. He probably smells the pudding, I thought, smiling.
Air’s attention turned back to him and the plate being carried to the table, which made him finally stop intimidating the believers. But while the smell drew his attention, his expression was a bit dour.
Oh no, the way it looks is the problem…! Maybe I should’ve put whipped cream and berries on top…
I flipped the Hamburg steak and was taking my time frying the other side when I heard shouting from the other room. As they were finally freed from Air’s intimidation, the De Marl believers raised their voices in fright.
“W-We won’t give up!” one said. “We’ll even make you admit the Gods of De Marl are real, O Creator Deity Air!”
“Th-That’s right!” said another. “We’ll gather more followers! We’ll make the entire human continent believe in our gods! Then even you’ll have to acknowledge them!”
“Let’s go!” cried the third. “We must resume our missionary work!”
“Huh?! Hey, weren’t you idiots listening?! You’ll just make everything wo—” Dad tried to stop them. But they didn’t listen and hurried out of the dining hall.
I was stunned. We’d repeatedly tried to tell them as kindly as possible that worshipping anyone but Air and the Holy Woman created Kathra. They’d now literally just met Air, feeling the might of a true god on their own flesh.
So how in the world did they conclude that they need more believers? It makes no sense! What are they thinking?!
“Oh!” I smelled something delicious. “It’s almost ready.”
I put the prepared Hamburg steak on a plate and added some sauce. I checked the oven and saw the bread was ready too. I took it out and put it in its basket and then brought everything to the table.
“O-Oh, you brought us more,” said Renge. “Thank you.”
“No, thank you for waiting! I recommend dipping the bread in sauce… By the way, how was the chocolate pudding?” I asked.
“Hm? Oh, uh…”
Renge presented me his empty plate and said it was sweet and delicious. I smiled then looked at Air and his plate. The pudding was still untouched.
Urghhhh…
“He said it looked like a mud pie and he couldn’t bring himself to eat it…” Renge shifted his eyes away from me. “Sorry.”
“But—but it’s really sweet and tasty!” I protested, looking straight at Air, who didn’t say a word.
Him just turning my pudding down and talking about it like that is so frustrating! I made it as perfect and as tasty as I could with this world’s ingredients!!!
“That aside,” Dad said pointedly, “how can we get those De Marl believers to understand? They even said those things right to Air’s face… And just when we found a possible solution with the mascots, too.”
Dad sank back into his chair, looking truly disappointed. Even as an ex-worshipper of the Gods of De Marl, he’d been unable to get through to these believers.
“That’s what all faith is,” Renge said dispassionately. “Those gods were made by humans to make others’ lives easier, so they’ll naturally gravitate toward whatever does. Everything bad that happens to them is either the ‘inexplicable will of the gods’ or the fault of nonbelievers. They believe what suits them and discard everything else.”
“That’s awful…” I said.
“Humans are fundamentally weak,” said Air with an air of finality, “which is why they cling to faith and need to worship something. Sometimes it does enrich their hearts. But I’ve forbidden it in my world. Faith in anyone but me and the Holy Woman is evil. Such are the rules as I set them.”
In other words, I reflected, faith in and of itself is a necessary part of human existence and, on its own, doesn’t produce Kathra. But people are divinely limited in who they’re allowed to worship.
“By the way, Air,” Renge asked his divine uncle scathingly as he put aside his finished dessert and started eating his extra bread and Hamburg steak, “aren’t you going to eat your pudding? Tina made it especially for you.”
“Erghhh…” Air groaned, finally whispering—though I could still hear him—that it smelled nice and sweet, but the way it looked was a little much for him.
Does it really look that unappetizing?! I thought, crestfallen.
“If you don’t want it, I’ll eat it,” Renge said dryly.
“I-I never said I don’t want it. I just can’t work up the courage to eat it…” Air said, sounding a bit irate.
“Here, Renge, if you want more, you can have mine…” Dad offered, pushing his plate toward him.
“Daaaad?!” I exclaimed, betrayed.
I guess I really have to work on making the pudding look more appetizing…