Chapter 062: He"s Here A week has pa.s.sed since we"ve returned from that wild subjugation.
The subjugation was extremely tiring, so we decided to return to Feudal Lord-sama"s castle as soon as possible; but that wasn"t the only reason why.
Another reason was because the demons which had appeared were slimes.
The current group compositions were bad for this subjugation since physical attack didn"t really affect the slimes.
It was necessary for us to request additional mages from the Royal Palace, so that the subjugation would process more efficiently.
Of course, we needed to tell Feudal Lord-sama about the slime as well, so we went reported it as soon as we arrived at the castle.
Feudal Lord-sama looked really grim when Captain-san told him about the slimes and the situation in the forest.
Of course, the demons were troublesome but the forest being destroyed was a bigger problem.
Corinnsan, who was with us, also looked as grave as Feudal Lord-sama did.
I heard from Corinnsan that a valuable herb grew at the place where the slimes were and having this place destroyed by slimes would be problematic for Klaussner, since its major production was medicinal herbs.
I told them that I couldn"t find any of the herbs that I heard grew in the forest when we were talking about the subjugation and Corinnsan looked even graver.
Captain-san immediately sent off a letter requesting for aid after our conversation with Feudal Lord-sama and Corinnsan.
According to Captain-san, the request would most likely be accepted and the court mages should be arriving soon.
I thought we would be idle before they arrived, but it turned out that we wouldn"t be.
We will be going to another place with the knights to continue our subjugation.
Demons didn"t just appear in the forest where the slimes were after all.
I spent my days like that and the subjugation became to settle a little in the other places and so we had a bit of spare time.
Captain-san told me to take a break.
I was told to rest probably because I did nothing but subjugate demons.
Captain-san seriously wanted me to rest properly so he forbade me from going to the distillation room.
He even told Corinnsan about it, so I gave up on making potions or going to the herb fields.
Therefore, today is my day off and I didn"t have to subjugate demons.
I was extremely bored since I couldn"t go to the herb garden or the distillation room.
Thus, there was only one place to go.
I felt extremely sorry for the chefs, but I borrowed a corner of the kitchen and made some cookies.
Is cooking not work, you say?
Cooking is fine.
It"s a change of pace.
First, I had to measure the ingredients.
I saw rosemary on top of the counter and the chef, who was working nearby, was watching me with interest.
This person might not know it, but you can also use herbs for sweets too, you know.
It was also easy to add a good effect by putting in herbs if the person making it had a cooking skill.
The reason why I was fussing over the effects of the cookies was because I wanted to bring them with me on subjugations.
Yes.
Today"s cooking was not only to prepare snacks, but also to make a prototype of something that could be easily eaten on subjugations.
We didn"t have time to make food if battles became intense, so I thought about food we could pack.
Then, I remembered about the handy nutrition bars from j.a.pan.
I"m talking about the ones that look like shortbread.
I came up with rosemary and walnut cookies as a result of thinking about something convenient that we could carry.
"Are you making sweets today?"
"Yes. I thought about making something that would be filling instead of just being sweet."
"Really? So you"re using less sugar?"
"I wanted to make something that wasn"t so sweets, but it was also because sugar is simply too expensive."
"Ah, I see."
Head Chef-san spoke to me when I was sifting the flour.
He was curious about what I was making.
When I told Head Chef-san about why I was using less sugar, he laughed as if he understood.
Sweet things were expensive in this world.
It would be nice if I could use as much sugar as I wanted.
I didn"t stop cooking even though I was talking with Head Chef-san.
I kneaded the dough, shaped it, baked it in the oven and then it was finished.
After cooling the cookies which had been baked to a nice colour I picked one up.
Yup, it looks goods.
The rosemary gave it a nice aroma and the walnuts gave it a crunchy finish.
I did want to make it sweeter and I wondered if I could increase the sweetness even more since we were going to eat this while on the subjugation mission.
I wonder if I can add dried fruits to increase the sweetness.
No, that would cost extra……
I chewed the cookie as I thought about ways to improve it and I felt a few glances on my back.
I turned around and saw all the chefs as well as Head Chef-san staring at me.
"Do you want a taste?" I timidly asked and they all nodded their head at the same time.
I smiled wryly since they were nodding with such vigour.
The chefs were as equally enthusiastic as the people in the distillation room.
I didn"t make that much since this was a prototype, so I want them to forgive me for only giving each person a piece.
They gave me ideas on how to improve the sweetness when I told them I wanted to, so it might have been a good idea to let them sample it.
In Captain-san"s office.
I thought that the cookies should be sampled since I was going to bring them with me on the subjugation, so I brought them with me.
I entered the room and told him that I had a gift for him and he gave me a dazzling smile.
I feel like his smile has more impact than it did when we were at the Royal Palace; is this just my imagination?
I caught him just in time for his break, and he invited me to have tea with him like he did at the Royal Palace.
I wanted to hear his thoughts about the cookies, so I joined him.
"How is it?"
"It"s good. We could probably take this with us on subjugation missions."
"I"m glad."
I"m happy to hear that he likes it.
I made the cookies with a modest amount of sugar, but it was perfect for Captain-san since he didn"t really like sweet things.
In addition, I"m glad I got his approval when I told him that I wanted to bring this with us on subjugations.
"I"m sure I told you to rest for today……"
"Yes. I made this for a change of pace."
"I see."
I told Captain-san, who was holding the second cookie before his eyes, the reason I had prepared and he smiled wryly.
Director also often told me that I didn"t rest on my holidays, but I do think that I rest properly; since I don"t work at all.
My job is to study medicinal herbs and support in subjugations.
Cooking isn"t part of my job description, I"m sure of it.
Captain-san drank his tea and then we heard someone run.
I looked at Captain-san wondering what this was about, and then we heard an impatient knock at the door.
The servant replied when Captain-san asked the person to identify themselves.
The servant, who had entered the room, was out of breath because he had been running.
"What"s wrong?"
"A message has come from Feudal Lord-sama. He said that the court mages have arrived from the Royal Palace."
"From the Royal Palace?"
Of course Captain-san would look suspicious.
Even though he"d sent the request, it was still too early for them to arrive.
It should have taken them a week to arrive.
What the heck is going on?
According to the servant, Feudal Lord-sama also felt the same way and came here to enquire how to deal with them.
Anyway, nothing would be accomplished even if we think about it here.
We finished our tea and went to meet with the mages who had arrived.
We were guided by someone working at the castle to the place where we gathered for subjugations and there were knights and mages there.
"Airchan!?" I found someone I knew in the sea of unfamiliar faces, and raised my voice.
"Sei-san!"
Airchan was standing there wearing the court mage cloak.
"Huh? Why are you here?"
"Mm…… How should I say this……? A lot of things happened……"
I was so surprised that I asked her for the reason and she looked troubled as she gave me a half-smile.
From what I"ve heard before, Airchan joined the Court Mage Division after she graduated from the Royal Academy, so it wasn"t surprising to see her come here.
But, it was still too early for support to arrive and the mages here were quite strange.
I heard that Captain-san had requested that a large number of mages should be dispatched to Klaussner because of the slimes.
Nevertheless, the mages that had been sent here were on the same level as our current group.
I should confirm the "a lot of things" with Airchan.
I thought and tried to ask her about it in detail, but I noticed someone quickly approach.
Airchan"s smile became more questionable when a person with the court mage mantle had approached us; their face was covered by the mantle"s hood.
It was an unusual appearance, so Captain-san took a step forward to protect us.
However, the mage came towards us not caring that we were being vigilant and slowly took of their hood.
Both Captain-san and I were surprised at who it was and raised our voices in surprise.
"It"s been a while."
The unparalleled beauty with a dazzling smile on his face was Head Magician-sama, who should be at the Royal Palace.
I felt like I could hear a voice that said, "I came," when he tilted his head and smiled.
Translator: Blushy
Editor: Sam