Securing Ingredients
“Breeder Oppa—? You stopped making it halfway through, so where are you going right now—?!”
—Thud, thud, thud…!
—Tap-tap, tap, tap-tap!
Derke followed right beside me like an eager puppy the moment I mentioned needing help. Every time I took a step, she bounced twice with her little hops to match my pace.
“I’m going to grab some ingredients while the dough rises.”
Just as Derke said, we were on the move. The academy grounds were bathed in the full warmth of spring. With everyone in afternoon classes, the campus felt pleasantly empty.
“Hee—? There’s a place in the academy that sells stuff like that—?”
“Follow me and you’ll see. It’s not exactly a regular ingredient shop, though.”
My steps led toward the rear of the main academy building. The grand structure looked like something straight out of a tourist palace—majestic and imposing.
“If that’s the case, you could’ve just sent this Derke on an errand instead—”
“Don’t say nonsense like that.”
“Heeet……?”
“A mere servant sending a young lady on errands? I’d be baked to a crisp in the oven for such insolence.”
“Huaaak…! Just hearing that sounds terrifying—!!”
She really was a hatchling. Getting scared over something so simple made me smile without meaning to.
“That’s why we’re going together. Just follow me for now. There’s something else I’ll need your help with later.”
“Derke can be helpful—?”
“Of course. Just having you by my side is already a huge help.”
“Then…! Derke will protect Breeder Oppa’s side—!”
“Pfft, you can just stand behind me. Ah, we’re here.”
The place I’d brought Derke to was none other than the student cafeteria. It sat right behind the main building and looked like a charming little villa. Even the exterior was as lavish as the main hall. Naturally, the inside carried the refined atmosphere of a high-end hotel—chandeliers studded with magic stones, gilded tables and chairs, and a red carpet stretching across the floor. Every young lady used this space daily, so no expense had been spared.
“Et—? It’s still a long way until dinner, so why are we here—?”
Derke looked up at me with sparkling eyes, as if silently asking, “Oppa, are you hungry—?”
“We’re not here to eat. Our destination is somewhere else.”
I took Derke’s hand and crossed the main hall, heading for the back door—a shabby side entrance the young ladies would never use.
—Creaaak…!
The moment we stepped through, the luxurious hotel vibe vanished. In its place was the plain atmosphere of an ordinary cafeteria kitchen. Passing through a single door had transported us to an entirely different space.
This was exactly where I needed to be.
“I didn’t know there was a place like this behind the cafeteria—! What kind of space is it—?”
“Staff cafeteria.”
That’s right—this was the exclusive dining hall for the academy staff. I ate every meal here. Meanwhile, the dragon professors and students dined in the opulent facility we’d just left behind.
The staff cafeteria I remembered from my old world had always seemed cleaner and better than the student one, but all such assumptions had shattered here. You could glimpse the dragons’ true perception of things just from how they treated the dining halls.
“Huh? Breeder? What brings you here at this hour?”
As we entered, a brown-furred bundle poked its head out from the kitchen and greeted us. The creature had protruding front teeth and a fluffy tail—clearly a squirrel. A rat in the cafeteria was unthinkable back home, but here the kitchen staff were beastkin from the security department, so it couldn’t be helped.
“Hey, Ramji, got a minute?”
The squirrel’s name was Ramji. He was one of the few staff members I could actually talk to. Every time I found one of his hairs in my food, I was tempted to recommend a good waxing service. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to scold him. Once you got to know him, he was genuinely pitiful.
Most of the security beastkin were predators, but Ramji was one of the rare herbivores. In their world, it was survival of the fittest in the truest sense. Because he was a herbivore, he’d been shoved into the grueling kitchen work—essentially stuck with the worst shifts. He got pushed around by stronger beastkin and constantly nagged by the young ladies’ complaints. A truly unfortunate fellow.
“Ah, it’s still fine for now. What’s up?”
“I need a few things. Think you could spare some ingredients?”
“What? Ingredients? No way! Don’t you know how much those young ladies eat?! We’re always short on stock—!”
Ramji shook his head furiously, his square front teeth chattering. As always, what he lacked most was proper speech.
“Just a little is fine. Still no?”
“Absolutely not! Taking ingredients outside is strictly forbidden—!”
He spoke with a peculiar cadence not unlike Derke’s and held his ground firmly. We weren’t particularly close, but we could talk comfortably enough. That didn’t mean he’d grant requests easily, though.
‘He’s always stuffing himself with stolen ingredients, yet he’s so stingy…’
His name sounded like a top-class chef, but most beastkin were terrible at cooking. He wasn’t the only one handling meals, but the soup dishes he was in charge of drew complaints all the time. Ramji often vented to me in the lounge, sharing similar frustrations. That was how we’d started talking.
“Come on, do you at least have beans and glutinous rice? Butter or milk would be nice too.”
“No, nothing to give! I’ll just bring you extra dinner later. Good enough?”
“Really? Even after this?”
—Clink!
Anticipating this reaction, I flicked a gold coin I’d received as a tip today. I intended to pay a fair price.
“Th-that’s a gold coin…?!”
“Shh, the other staff might hear. And that’s not all.”
“……?”
“It’s not for me. This young lady needs them.”
“Heeet—? You mean me—?”
I turned to Derke, who had been standing blankly behind me, and gave her a wink.
“…Th-that’s right—! I need them—!”
The moment our eyes met, Derke immediately changed her tune. For a child her age, she caught on quickly. I hadn’t even given her a heads-up. She wasn’t just a good helper—she was practically a prodigy. Her personality and speech were a bit eccentric, but…
“Squeeeak—!? M-Miss, what brings you to such a humble place…!”
Just as expected. The moment Ramji saw Derke, he was horrified. This was exactly why I’d brought her along—to secure the drink ingredients to go with the hardtack.
“Hurry up and bring the ingredients—!”
“I-I don’t know what this means…! P-Please wait just a moment—!”
The gold coin had made him hesitate, but seeing a mere new student dragon flipped his attitude completely. In this academy, dragons were absolute beings.
—Whoosh!
Ramji darted into the kitchen, tail fluff flying, to fetch the requested ingredients.
“Derke? You did great.”
“Hehe, I’m glad I could help—!”
*
“Perfect. This should be more than enough.”
The ingredients we’d obtained from Ramji were simple: indica glutinous rice, beans, a bucket of milk, brown sugar, and a brick-sized block of butter. It wasn’t much for the gold coin I’d paid, but there wasn’t anywhere to spend money in the academy anyway. More importantly, it was plenty for what we needed right now.
—Rustle…!
“Haa, the dough size is still the same as before.”
I grumbled while rolling out the modest hardtack dough with a rolling pin. The sealing had been an issue, but without yeast the dough hadn’t risen properly either. Setting aside my disappointment, I flattened it to about one centimeter thick.
—Tap! Tap! Tap!
Then I used a knife to cut the dough into rectangles—the classic hardtack shape.
“Waaah…! That looks fun—!”
Derke’s eyes sparkled with interest. But I couldn’t hand a knife to a hatchling. I was worried she might get hurt. Besides, if I let her cut it, the shapes would probably end up crooked.
‘If I just leave her sucking her fingers, she might actually snatch the knife and threaten me to let her help.’
A dragon threatening someone with a knife? Just imagining it was horrifying. That couldn’t happen.
“Ah, Derke? Can you poke two holes in each of these?”
“That’s not hard at all—!”
I handed her a wooden chopstick instead of the knife and had her poke holes in the dough.
—Pop! Pop! Pop!
Those holes might seem insignificant, but they acted as air vents. They’d prevent the biscuits from deforming while baking. By the time Derke finished poking holes, I’d finished cutting. We were finally nearing the end.
—Swish, swish, swish…!
Brushing melted butter over the top with a pastry brush completed the preparation. The butter would give them a nice shine and subtle flavor once baked. I’d learned this little trick from the book Johnson gave me.
—Clunk!
—Creaaak…!
All that remained was baking.
“Waaah…! Is it finally done—?”
Derke, who had been quietly supporting me from the side, threw both hands up in celebration. At first I’d thought she was just a spoiled child, but the more I saw, the more capable she seemed.
“No, the hardtack is only just beginning.”
“Eeh—? There’s still more—?”
“Yeah. These alone don’t count as proper hardtack. We still have the ingredients we brought from the cafeteria.”
“Ah, right—! Those ingredients! When are we using them—?”
“We’ll actually use those later……. Derke? Do you like sweet things?”
“Hueet—? Sweet things……?!”
Right—the real heart of the hardtack had yet to begin.