Ignorance is Bliss

“This…! The ingredients must be spoiled, for sure…!!!” Derke pointed at the dried mint leaves, unable to hide her shock. She took a step back, assuming a fully guarded stance. She even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠covered her nose with her hand, wrinkling her face in disgust. It seemed she wasn’t used to it. Maybe her sense of smell was sensitive because she was young? Even though her taste buds were endlessly generous.

But thinking about it, it was a bit strange. ‘If it’s just the smell of mint, there shouldn’t be anything particularly wrong with it?’

It seemed her reaction was due to the sudden, intense aroma hitting her nose all at once.

“Derke? Is this your first time with mint?”

“Mi-mint……?”

Derke, still pinching her nose with her thumb and forefinger, asked in a nasal voice. Her eyes were still filled with disbelief.

“Mint, as in mint leaves. It looks like it’s your first time, huh?”

“Mint leaves…? Derke doesn’t know about things like that……!”

“It’s not spoiled or anything like you said. If you’re okay with it, want to take a little sniff of the mint tea smell?”

It wasn’t good to instill strong preconceptions from a young age. She needed to be able to tolerate mint tea at least, so she could be a bit more open-minded about personal preferences later.

—Rustle, rustle…!

I scooped the dried mint leaves into the tea kettle’s strainer.

—Pourrr…!

Then I poured hot water over it. Steam rose gently.

Steeping the tea for about 5 minutes was enough. If I steeped it too strongly, it would only increase her aversion.

‘Since it’s come to this, maybe I should take a little break?’

With the lounge mostly tidied up, I planned to have a cup of tea and enjoy some rest time. My mental state needed some time to recover, just like the lounge.

“Huhat? So this was tea leaves all along…?”

Derke asked, looking at the teapot where the mint tea was steeping. She was still covering her nose.

“Yeah. It should be better once it’s steeped.”

“Re-really……?”

“Trust me for once. You don’t need to cover your nose like that. The smell when steeped in water is better than you think, you know?”

“If Breeder Oppa says so…….”

—Sniff, sniff……?

At my words, Derke lowered her guard and her hand together, cautiously twitching her nose. Her actions were as cautious as if she were dealing with poison.

But that attitude didn’t last long.

“Hoaah…? I-it’s refreshing?”

“How is it? Doesn’t it seem okay now that you’ve smelled it again?”

“It’s definitely better than I thought-desu-yong-! It feels like I’ve smelled it somewhere before, but it was just unfamiliar…!”

Derke tilted her head in surprise. Her face was still full of doubt. She looked like she couldn’t understand why the scent was okay.

As I said, mint itself wasn’t bad. It was just that when combined with chocolate, the taste divided opinions sharply.

—Drip…!

I quickly poured the mint tea into a teacup, thinking it was ready. If I steeped it any longer, the flavor might become too strong.

“Here, try drinking it. It’s actually good for insomnia or calming the mind and body.”

“Calming the mind and body? I don’t know what that means…! But Derke will trust Oppa’s words-desu-yong-!”

Derke picked up the teacup with a still half-doubting expression. Then she carefully brought the cup to her nose.

“Waaah-? It really doesn’t seem like a bad smell when it’s mixed with water like this-!”

“Pfft, stop being on guard and just drink it to judge.”

“Ung-! Then here goes…….”

—Slurp…!

Derke drank the tea at the same time as me. The warm mint tea moistened her throat and seeped in. The refreshing aroma cleared her mind. At the same time, the intense scent cleared her nose completely.

‘Ha, it’s been a while since I had some. It’s worth drinking once in a while.’

The mint tea I tasted after a long time wasn’t bad. No, honestly, it was rather good. It felt like the tension built up during lunch was washing away…….

“Cough, keck! Kehek…?!”

“Huh? Derke, are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, it tastes weird after all…….”

—Thud!

Derke put down the cup in disgust, as if she had swallowed something inedible. Still, she didn’t gag or spit out the contents in her mouth.

—Gulp, gulp, gulp…!

Derke glanced at me once, then turned her head and discreetly drank some water. Then she gargled her mouth and swallowed the water.

It seemed her child’s palate wasn’t ready yet. The intense aroma seemed to be the problem. Well, even I used to feel aversion to the smell that reminded me of toothpaste when I was young. If I had to compare, it was like tasting cilantro for the first time in my life?

Suddenly, what was this? Just because I gave her mint tea, her favorability dropped? Her palate wasn’t even that picky. Really, I could never figure out dragons’ tastes.

“…….”

Derke was glaring at me with her lips pursed in a pout. Perhaps because of their contrasting attributes of light and death, Sofia and Derke’s preferences were also starkly different. Well, that was just my speculation, of course.

Anyway, I shouldn’t force weird things on her for no reason from now on. I didn’t want to stack up bad karma.

‘I should quickly put away the mint tea and pour her some milk instead.’

* We took a short break after that. And after a little time passed……

—Whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh…!

The whisk cut through the air, stirring the batter alone. This was using the power of Derke’s ability 「Wraith Legion」. An invisible wraith was whisking in my place. It was like having an automatic whisking machine all to myself.

I had been worried because the kitchen equipment hadn’t arrived yet, but it was unnecessary concern. Didn’t I have such an excellent substitute right here?

“That’s enough, stop. This is just right.”

“Ung! Stopping-desu-yong-!”

At my words, Derke gave the command to the wraith. I had been worried she might start disliking me because her favorability dropped earlier, but it seemed things were still okay, just like the system message said. Well, since we had reached the end of the friendly stage, it didn’t make sense for it to drop in an instant. The thought of Derke disliking me was unimaginable.

Derke didn’t seem to hold it in her heart much either, as if it was okay once or twice. As proof, she helped me without hesitation while making the cake batter.

That’s right. This time too, I had activated 「Dragon’s Touch」.

‘Good, if I add just a small amount of the chocolate melted in a double boiler to this batter and mix…….’

—Swish, swish…!

As the melted chocolate mixed with the batter, it gradually turned black. Since the amount of chocolate was limited, I couldn’t add much. I used it just to give color and aroma. If I had cocoa powder, I could have made a more plausible cake…….

This was a bit disappointing.

—Tap tap tap…!

After completing the batter, I put it in the mold and removed the air bubbles. And then……

—Rumble rumble…!

All that was left was to put it in the oven and bake it. I just had to be careful not to let it burn. Checking the state, 10-15 minutes should be enough. Thanks to practicing sponge cake yesterday, it wasn’t difficult up to this point.

“Already done-desu-yong…?!”

Derke, who had been providing perfect assistance from the side, asked. Even as she did, she was looking for more work, as if saying ‘If there’s anything else to do, Derke will take care of it all-yong-!’

“The baking part is done, but there’s still a long way to go until it’s completely finished. In a way, this is where it starts, and it’s the highlight.”

“Highlight……?”

“You’ll ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠know when you see it. If the smell is too strong, it’s okay to cover your nose.”

—Click!

Leaving the puzzled Derke behind, I turned on the stove. Now it was finally time to make the mint cream, the core of the core.

—Bubble bubble bubble bubble…!

First, I heated milk in a pot. Until the milk started to boil. If I boiled it completely, it would turn into a cream sauce.

—Rustle, rustle…….

As the temperature rose appropriately, steam began to rise. At that moment, I added the mint leaves. So they would steep well in the milk that would become cream. I boiled the milk over low heat for about 2-3 minutes like that.

—Bubble bubble…!

‘As expected, just this won’t bring out the color.’

I had steeped the mint leaves sufficiently in the milk, but there was almost no change in color. Only a slight bluish tint appeared, and the milk was still close to white. The blue-green color of mint chocolate was originally made with artificial coloring.

‘Then I should make it look plausible too, right?’

—Drip…!

I decided to use the blueberries that came in this time as a natural coloring agent. The juice from the blueberry skins was also squeezed by the wraiths instead. They were all-purpose. Even though they had no form, they could touch objects just fine.

—Rub, rub, rub…!

After adding the blueberry juice, a slight blue tint finally appeared. The white milk and the blue color of the blueberries met and neutralized. Then, a color close to blue-green gradually emerged. Yes, that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠color that made you salivate just by looking at it.

“Waaah…?! It’s such a pretty color-yong-!”

Even Derke, who had been watching quietly, acknowledged it. The color of mint looked really good visually. However, it didn’t suit food very well. It was a color that didn’t stimulate appetite much.

“Derke? Can I get some help from the wraiths again this time?”

“Whipping again-yong?”

“Yeah. I’m counting on you.”

“Leave it to Derke-desu-yong-!”

I added an appropriate amount of sugar and a small amount of cheese to the pot where the color had steeped satisfactorily, and placed the whisk on it. Then……

—Swish, swish, swish…!

The whisk moved on its own. And at quite a fast speed. It was perfect for whipping up foam quickly. If it weren’t for Derke, I might have dislocated my shoulder from whisking by hand.

How long had the whisk been moving with the wraith’s help?

—Squelch, squelch, squelch…!

What had been just milk now had quite a thick viscosity. It was really done now. When I lifted the whisk, if it formed a peak that held its shape, the mint cream was complete.

“Great, stop now. It’s done.”

“Got it-yong-!”

Now it was the real finishing stage. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Finally, all the ingredients were ready. I just had to wait a bit, take the cake out of the oven, spread the cream nicely on it. And then sprinkle finely crushed chocolate on top, and it would be done. The only flaw was that the cake still had a long way to go before it finished baking.

“Waaah-! Looking at it like this, Derke is a little curious…!”

“Huh? Derke?”

I was heading toward the oven to finish up when Derke showed interest in the mint cream.

—Poke!

Unable to contain her curiosity, Derke was dipping her index finger into the cream. Surely not? Was she trying to taste the mint flavor again? After suffering so much earlier? I didn’t want her favorability to drop again……

“Haah…!”

As they say, ‘what if’ catches people, Derke opened her mouth wide to taste the mint cream.

“Ah, no……!!!”

Before I could stop her, Derke was plunging herself into the depths of mint once more.