TN: Why can’t the Pablo in my country have this tart in their selection? And sorry for the picture I use later in the chapter. I can’t find an appropriate one in Google.
Sweet Potato Tart Once Again
As the air became thinner the higher he went, an adolescent priest named Gustavo flew while feeling breathless.
A wall so high that it seemed to continue on forever and the blue sky with white clouds.
Also, the mountain air which still held the remnant of winter was cold enough to freeze his lungs whenever he inhaled, so it mercilessly robbed away his strength.
(Chi, chichi-ue doesn"t seem to be affected…)
With blurry eyes, he looked at the figure flying in front of him.
Flying with bigger wings than his own, the man, Antonio, was his father and a senior high priest of Gold G.o.ddess.
As he disrobed his priest clothes in order to fly, he could see gold dust smattering his sculpted body.
While humans were "one of the weakest races that served the great G.o.ddesses", Antonio was a great priest who could fully turn into a dragon and fought with followers of Red G.o.ddess and Green G.o.ddess, as such, that gallant figure of a man was someone that he admired ever since his childhood.
—Are you finally able to fly? Then, I"ll take you to a good place.
Gustavo came to this place after receiving such words.
The highest elevated cliff that he could see from his house.
Gustavo doubted his ears when he was told to use his "dragon wings" that he was finally able to create after his winter training to ascent to the summit.
Certainly one was able to fly far when they used the dragon wings.
However in order to climb the rugged cliff, one had to do a lot of training.
(It"s, it"s impossible…)
Gustavo, who suffered a headache due to the thin air, relaxed his flapping and tried to put his feet down on a rock shelf of the cliff.
That time.
Gustavo"s trained arms were grasped by Antonio"s large hands.
[It"s just a little more to the summit… you have to devote yourself so that you can reach there by yourself.]
Together with such words, Antonio"s wings flapped more powerfully while he gripped Gustavo"s arms.
[Uwa, UWAAAA!]
Feeling as if his shoulders were about to be dislocated, Gustavo unexpectedly screamed.
[We"ve arrived.]
After a moment, after he thought he saw something black, the cliff wall that had been visible all this time disappeared and he could see the whole blue sky wrapping around their bodies.
(We, we"re here…?)
Immediately after he thought such, his arms were released and he landed on a little scaffold of the cliff.
[Indeed, this is amazing…]
Gustavo inhaled seeing the scenery.
Un.o.bstructed even by the clouds, the blue sky stretched endlessly.
For Gustavo who just received his wings, it was the first time he saw such scene in his life.
(I see. This is… good.)
He thought so and turned around to talk to Antonio.
[Nu. What are you doing, wear your clothes at once.]
However, for some reason Antonio told his son to withdraw his wings and wear his clothes.
[Clothes? Chichi-ue, that is… e?]
After Gustavo instinctively tried to understand his words, he noticed it.
Behind Antonio… there was an out-of-place black door on the surface of the sheer cliff wall.
[Chichi-ue, why the heck is there a door…?]
[Umu, I said it before. When you obtained your wings, I"ll take you to a good place to celebrate.]
Antonio nodded and answered his son.
He wondered about the door behind him.
[This is the good place… the door to otherworld dining hall.]
The truth was hard to believe.
"Chirinchirin", the father and son pa.s.sed through the door.
[This is another world…]
Seeing the unfamiliar decorations and customers, Gustavo looked around.
(There"s quite a lot of people… I think those are the followers of the White G.o.ddess.)
Customers who wore unfamiliar clothes came to the restaurant to eat unfamiliar food… most of them were humans.
Of course, when he looked closely, there"s a lamia that"s a priestess of the Red G.o.ddess, a female therianthrope that"s a priestess of the Green G.o.ddess, and a siren which was a tribe that worshipped the Gold G.o.ddess, but overall most of them were humans.
Except for a few, most humans worshipped the White G.o.ddess who was clearly known for giving strong blessing to humans.
The intelligent tribes that worshipped the G.o.ddesses were diverse, in general, those who lived closer to an area protected by a G.o.ddess were more likely to receive that blessing.
For example, the Gold G.o.ddess that Gustavo served ruled over the sky.
Therefore, the tribes that served her were those who were born with wings to fly like Sirens, Harpies, Birdmen and Tengu1.
Rather, the human race that needed to undergo severe training in order to obtain their wings was a minority among the Gold G.o.ddess" followers.
On the contrary, this restaurant had many human customers.
[Thank you for waiting. I brought your reserved order.]
[Umu, sorry for the trouble. I will ask for the warmed cow"s milk.]
Seeing the waitress who was cheerfully serving his father, he could see from her horns and the quality of her power that faintly circulated in her body that she was a demon, a common enemy of the six pillars.
[Chichi-ue, is it okay to leave her alone?]
[Yes, it would be troublesome to rampage here. This place is watched and protected by the G.o.ddesses.]
After the waitress had left, Gustavo instinctively asked Antonio in a low voice, but Antonio admonished him.
[Besides, I have asked for a special item for your celebration. Rather than a fight, let"s enjoy today.]
While saying that, he saw the special item that he had reserved 7 days ago served on a large plate.
In a bowl of soft pastry dough was golden k.u.mara and sweetly boiled Azar fruits that decorated it.
The brown vessel, golden k.u.mara and clear amber of Azar fruit.
[This is a very luxurious sweet. The golden one is k.u.mara.]
Just like Antonio, Gustavo also liked sweet things and looked at the interesting large pastry in front of him.
[Well, when I consulted with this place"s owner, I heard that "sweet potato and apple tart" is good. So I ordered it.]
Honestly, this was a first time for Antonio, but he did not have any concern as he knew the taste of "sweet potato tart" sold at this restaurant.
[Saa, let"s eat… just watching it would be cruel.]
And a small party of father and son began.
Antonio used a silver knife to cut through the large pastry.
(Umu, this big tart is also quite good.)
The clear amber coloured Azar fruit that was cut into wedge shape was arranged in full moon shape, underneath it was the golden sea of k.u.mara.
The silver knife slid like a sea ship and the golden sea was carved.
While his son"s mouth watered, he lifted a slightly bigger piece than other pieces and gently placed it on a small plate for Gustavo.
[Today is your celebration. You should eat first.]
[…Is it fine?]
To that, Gustavo was surprised though he received it obediently.
As the patriarch, his father would usually eat the best part of any dish.
Even though he cut the pastry himself, he gave the biggest part to his son.
[What, don"t mind it. Currently there is no family watching us. There are only you and I here.]
While saying so, Antonio smiled a little with his usual dignity.
Antonio was a powerful priest. Therefore, it was necessary for him to be strict and dignified in order to oppose his clan.
But there were few authorized people of the Gold religion here.
That"s why Antonio could give a little preferential treatment to his family here.
[You should eat it. This is the first time I ordered this, but it looks really delicious.]
[Yes.]
Prompted by the words of his father, Gustavo picked up the pastry from the plate.
(U~n, I"ve never seen such a vivid golden k.u.mara.)
The k.u.mara seen from the cut section was really golden, making him felt that it was a waste to eat it.
Even to Gustavo, it would be nice if his mother would search for just a bit better k.u.mara in the market.
[…This, is delicious.]
That was his first impression.
When he bit it, the first flavor he tasted was the sweet Azar fruit.
The lightly boiled Azar fruit, though soft, was still a bit crunchy with the sweetness of sugar it was boiled in and its natural acidity, followed by the sweet fragrance of brown spice that was sprinkled in after stewing for a while, it made him think that it was delicious enough just like that.
And the pastry vessel was crushed by his teeth leaving the lingering taste of milk and b.u.t.ter as a finish while leaving sweetness different from the fruit.
And above all, the k.u.mara located at the center was wonderful.
The baked k.u.mara, which was crushed thoroughly, did not have the texture of boiled k.u.mara, it smoothly spread in his mouth with sweetness unlike the boiled Azar fruit and the sweet pastry.
Also, the k.u.mara was mixed with square-cut Azar fruit.
Unlike the Azar fruit on top, this was not boiled in sugar.
As a result, it had weaker sweetness and stronger acidity.
It complimented the three different kind of sweetness.
[I"m surprised. To think there"s such a delicious confection in this world.]
[That"s true. I too was surprised when I first ate the confection here.]
While hearing his son"s honest impression, he also shared his secret and reached for a piece of tart.
(…Nu. This is surprising.)
And like his son, he was surprised by the taste.
The tartlets that he usually ate were delicious, but this was a very special confection.
He did not think that the deliciousness of carefully treated k.u.mara was compatible with the sweet and sour taste of Azar fruit.
Just one slice was not enough.
[…Nuu!?]
While having thought so, his son had already eaten three slices.
Apparently, he forgot to restrain himself due to his young appet.i.te.
(This is it!)
He was careless though he only ate a piece.
In a panic, Antonio instinctively reached for another slice.
After they finished the large tart, it was not enough so they ordered his usual tartlets, and they drank their warm milk satisfactorily after they finished that too.
The sweet warm milk swept away the sweetness lingering in their mouth.
[[Fuu…]]
They sighed unexpectedly and laughed a bit embarra.s.sedly.
[Owner, it was a feast.]
After such words, he took out his coin bag from his pocket and gave him more money than usual.
[Yes, thank you very much for your patronage.]
[Umu, I shall continue to visit for a while. I"m counting on you.]
While his father talked with the human owner, Gustavo stopped waiting and said.
[Can you give me more of the confection called tarts? I wish to take some home. I"ll pay the money properly.]
This was so delicious. If he gave it to a priestess who was currently anxious, surely she could ease her mind.
From such feelings, Gustavo wished to purchase souvenir using the money he earned as a priest.
[Yes, it"s fine.]
The waitress replied with a beautiful smile, there was no discomfort like other demons.
It was not uncommon for customers to takeaway cakes.
Although the cakes didn"t have long shelf life, they still had a day and there were a lot of customers who were able to eat it all even after they returned back.
[Well then, I would like souvenirs as many as the number of fingers of both hands.]
Then Gustavo made a request in order to give it to someone.
…Later, it wound up to be a chance to climb up the rugged cliff throughout the year without noticing it.
TN: It was rather hilarious when Gustavo initially thought that the view on top of the cliff was the good place.
Tengu(天狗, “heavenly dog”) are a type of legendary creature found in j.a.panese folk religion and are also considered a type of Shinto G.o.d (kami) or yōkai (supernatural beings). Although they take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou), the tengu were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey, and they are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. The earliest tengu were pictured with beaks, but this feature has often been humanized as an unnaturally long nose, which today is widely considered the tengu’s defining characteristic in the popular imagination.