“It’s odd how it tastes even more fragrant than it smells...”
“Summer yuzu readily imparts its flavors to the spirits. If you don’t find it mellow enough, I could make some more with winter yuzu.”
“I think I’d like it better as is. With this, you know you’re drinking something alcoholic, and this aroma—it’s really something else.” Volf examined his glass, then took another sip with great satisfaction on his face; Dahlia vowed to herself to make five bottles next year.
She took a big ladle of the steaming hot pot into her bowl, then tucked in. Her chopsticks homed in on the giant boar meat. The color was a little pinker than pork, the texture quite springy but far from tough, the flavor was closer to beef, and it worked very well with the miso. It wasn’t heavy at all, despite it being a little fatty. The broth, having extracted the flavors of the vegetables, meat, and miso, was beyond words. Both Dahlia and Volf interspersed silent bouts of eating with sips of the yuzu liqueur. Less-sweet steamed bread soaked in the broth rounded off the meal. She had chosen it because it was also a little bit better for digestion; ever since Volf had gotten bashed in the pit of the stomach by a shield during training, his appetite had never quite recovered. Her original intent had been to have it with chicken stew, but it was just right with the boar hot pot as well.
The duo had worked up a sweat after dinner, and they extracted themselves from the heated low table. Dahlia refilled their glasses with yuzu liqueur on the rocks. “How did your expedition go?”
“The giant boar was a little more giant than we’d expected, and it charged at us and sent five of the guys flying. The priest quickly took a look at them, and they were as good as new.”
It was dangerous enough to hurt you guys was what she wanted to say, but she bit her tongue. She’d heard that being charged by a giant boar was like being flattened by a fully loaded wagon; slaying one unscathed was likely too tall an order even for the Order of Beast Hunters.
“We shot its legs out with the Galeforce Bow, but it had too much momentum and didn’t come to a stop until Randolph smacked it with his broad shield.”
“A shield? Whoa...” It seemed that shields could be used as weapons too. Dahlia had thought armor would work better enchanted with weight-reduction magic, but that wouldn’t help Randolph in cases like these.
“A broad shield is like a thick slab of steel that has been hardened as much as possible, so you can imagine how well it works against a wild boar. Randolph’s fists and elbows were twinging afterward—he was one of the five guys who needed healing by the priest.”
“Is that maybe because the impact goes to his hands?”
“Yeah. It doesn’t matter how much you roll with the punches, crashing against a monster that heavy is going to hurt.”
Perhaps what they’d named the impact absorption material would help with that kind of attack. “Um, I’ve made a much thicker version of that yellow slime shirt, and it might be good for cushioning. It still needs a bit more testing, but—” She proceeded to explain the effects of the impact absorption material, and they discussed whether it should be applied to the back of shields or the grip to lessen recoil. Dahlia and Volf decided to get the opinions of Jonas and the shieldmen.
“Oh, speaking of slimes, Master Jonas has a message for you. ‘The frozen blue slime liquid has not completely thawed, and it remains cold,’ end quote.”
“Huh?” A question mark popped up over the blue slime inside Dahlia’s head.
“He asked you if you could go over tomorrow to check it out, as the blue slime mixture that Guido froze has turned into some kind of gel.”
“Oh, okay...” Perhaps this would be the birth of yet another new material; half of her was excited, while the other half was hoping it wouldn’t be ruined and completely thawed by tomorrow. She decided she would get in contact with Idaea first thing in the morning. Dahlia was once again reminded that slimes had a lot of untapped potential. She explained how Guido had used his ice magic on the blue slime mixture, then told Volf all about the experiment that had taken place yesterday.
Afterward, Volf looked deep into her eyes. “Was it fun doing magical experiments with everyone, Dahlia?”
“It was lots of fun! I don’t really have many chances to do so, you see...” The truth was that once she’d calmed down and reflected on what happened, she had broken into a cold sweat. Fortunately, everyone had been very sympathetic to her endeavors, but perhaps the noblemen had felt she was disrespectful. She promised herself she would apologize to Ivano the next time she went into the office, even though he hadn’t said anything.
“I wish I coulda been there...” She was surprised at how melancholic he sounded, but just as she was about to speak, Volf shook his head, flinging the negativity away. “Actually, I’m glad I wasn’t there.”
“What do you mean?”
“I think I would’ve been so jealous seeing everyone using magic and enchanting...” His inferiority complex came out in his soft voice. Though he was the son of an earl, Volf could not use any of the five major schools, nor could he express his magic. And perhaps because of his lack of capability, he had long admired magic swords.
Dahlia knew all of that, so she raised her voice. “What are you saying, Volf? Isn’t it obvious that I would’ve asked you for your help with my work if you had been there? I could have used your help making all the liquid mixture, you know?”
“I would’ve been your assistant, then?”
“Mm-hmm. I definitely would’ve asked you to be my assistant.”
“Aw man, I wish I could’ve been there...” As she racked her brain thinking of how to respond to his utter disappointment, he rattled the ice in his glass. “To be honest, I kinda wished I had a blight like Master Jonas so I could use magic and fight with it and stuff.”
“Volf,” she said sternly. “It’s not easy living with it.” Jonas had gotten his blight from a fire dragon. Slaying one was no easy feat, and to be blighted was said to be a curse. She’d heard that if the monster’s magic was incompatible with that of the blighted, it could make them fall ill, affect their sense of taste and smell, and adversely affect them in other ways. Why must Volf go fight terrible monsters and embed their magical cores in his body anyway? It didn’t matter how much he yearned for Jonas’s power, his safety was more important.
“It’s okay. I know it’d be impossible for me anyway.”
“Well, slaying a powerful monster isn’t exactly beyond your ken, but...”
“I— Thanks, Dahlia, but that’s not what I mean.” His eyes emitted a golden light. “If I couldn’t taste the flavors of the Green Tower Diner anymore, the joy would go out of my life.”
She couldn’t help but laugh at how serious he was, but that was also a very low bar to set for happiness. He did have a point, though—appetite was a very important thing. The strongest desire when a person grew old was appetite. If Volf found her cooking so delicious, then maybe she could continue to share meals with him even when they grew old? The yuzu liqueur must’ve hit her quicker than she’d expected. Dahlia hurried to drive the thought out of her head. Save the future for the future; focus on the joy that could be had here today. “Let’s add to your joy, then—I’ll take some yuzu-flavored quick pickles out.”
“Thanks!” But Volf’s smile was already full of joy.