Sayuki waited for her order in the dining room, which was as warm as usual. This place is always hotter than a normal human’s house.
It was boiling, as far as she was concerned—but apparently it was just the right temperature for humans and monsters. Everyone in the restaurant either wore lightweight, casual garments, or had removed their jacket or coat.
Sayuki, on the other hand, didn’t take off the thick coat she was wearing. That was her way of trapping the cold air within. Snow women’s body temperatures were extremely low, so they could withstand heat to some extent by putting on layers.
Still, this restaurant was unbearably hot compared to the frigid cold of the whitelands. Sayuki sipped the slightly sour ice water the waitress had brought earlier. By her standards, the water was lukewarm; under the circumstances, though, it was still delicious.
I’m…sweating. Snow women seldom sweated, but oddly enough, it felt quite nice when they did. Sayuki’s low temperature froze the perspiration coming off her body, cooling her further.
None of the snow women she’d invited were particularly fond of Nekoya. It wasn’t the food, it was the temperature. Everyone said this restaurant was too hot, but…
Sayuki had heard about snow women who’d fallen into hot springs deep beneath the whitelands; they’d melted and died. She’d even heard tales of snow women who went south for the season and were unable to return in time, perishing in a foreign land. Since heat meant death to snow women, Sayuki was something of an outlier for finding the restaurant bearable.
A black-haired waitress arrived carrying her order. The waitress had the features of someone from the southern nation. “Sorry to keep you waiting. Your meal’s arrived.”
Her food arrived sizzling on a black metal plate resting on a wooden platter. “It’s very hot, so please be careful. If you touch the metal, you’ll burn yourself,” the waitress added. “Take your time and enjoy!”
Sayuki knew all that. She could tell on sight that the plate was scorching—far warmer than this room. On the metal plate rested colorful shripe and several vegetables she didn’t know the names of. The dish was incredibly vibrant; red, green, brown, and pink ingredients lay in the golden oil with green herbs.
Next to her main dish—ajillo—sat toasted golden bread; beside it was ice water. Sayuki was terribly fond of that combination. Now then, first…
Swallowing loudly, she picked up her silver spoon and dipped it into the golden-yellow oil with green seasonings. She lifted a spoonful of oil; a curly pink shripe rested in it. Since the spoonful was still hot, Sayuki blew on it gently. She had to be careful with this ajillo. If she didn’t blow hard enough, it would stay so hot it’d literally melt her tongue. However, if she blew too hard, it would freeze.
Hot enough to think she might burn herself, cool enough that the dish wouldn’t actually burn her—Sayuki was well aware of the balance that most enhanced the dish.
All right.
She closed her mouth over the spoonful of ajillo and was immediately in heaven. The fried shripe she bit into was tender. Its exterior was breaded and crispy; the breading tasted like the oil that the ajillo had been cooked in. The spicy rings of red chili pepel went well with the hot white garlik. Both vegetables gave the oil a unique flavor that poured out alongside the shripe’s savory taste.
Sayuki let out a sigh full of the garlik’s unique aroma. That first bite was perhaps the best part of ajillo.
She dipped her spoon back in. The next spoonful included a vegetable with a green stem and dark-green umbrella, not unlike a mashruum. It was an ingredient Sayuki had never once seen in her homeland.
As she ate it, the lightly cooked green vegetable came apart easily; at the same time, a flavor like the freshest plants spread through her mouth. The green vegetable didn’t have the intense saltiness or bitterness of the vegetables that, as far as Sayuki knew, humans generally ate.
Hmm. Vegetables really are delicious.
She spooned up a crimson vegetable. It was soaked in oil, making it shine in the light. When Sayuki bit in, it was a tiny bit sour. She crushed the red vegetable quickly between her teeth, releasing the taste of the ajillo oil as well as a sour flavor. It was different from the green vegetable but also delicious. If you’d ask Sayuki which she preferred, she wouldn’t have known how to answer.
Last but not least were the mashruums. Even in the whitelands, you could find those growing underground. They were brown, like the earth itself, but their flesh was savory. This one in particular had absorbed the flavorful oil, letting Sayuki enjoy its unique texture.
Phew… One at a time. When she first started eating ajillo, Sayuki always took a bite of each ingredient.
She reached for the bread. It had cooled after sitting for a while; still, to a snow woman’s touch, it felt quite warm.
Sayuki broke the brown crust of the bread in half, revealing its white interior. If she ate it as it was, it would’ve been a touch too sweet. Instead, she dipped it into the golden oil. The white bread immediately yellowed.
Sayuki took a bite. The taste of the sweet bread, soaked in the oil infused with the flavor of the shripe and vegetables, exploded in her mouth. Satisfied, Sayuki spooned some ajillo onto the bread.