The Storm That Hit the Commoner Sisters' Taste Buds

Kael returned to his quarters and slowly began contemplating dinner. What should I eat? Naturally, he had no intention of touching the coarse black bread he had brought from the cafeteria this time either.

Now that his shop window had reached Level 3, he could purchase items on the scale of a hypermarket. Among them were ready-to-eat foods from the deli section, so he considered ordering chicken after so long. He especially missed the crispiness of fried chicken.

Then he suddenly remembered that the Ling and Ming sisters would soon be visiting. Guess I should wait, then.

As he waited, the doorbell soon rang. Kael checked outside through the magic mirror and saw Ling and Ming standing cautiously before the door. He opened it for them.

"Come in."

When Kael opened the door, Ling and Ming entered the room with slightly nervous expressions. He naturally guided the sisters toward the sofa that faced the table.

"Have a seat first."

Kael settled onto the sofa in a relaxed posture and had the two sisters sit across from him. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Then he asked immediately.

"By the way, you two must have heard the rumor floating around the cafeteria, right? The one about me handing strawberry jam to the professors."

Ling nodded. "Yes, we heard about it."

Ming nodded as well. "I heard it too."

At their answers, Kael gave a small chuckle and asked, "What do you think of that rumor?"

Ling and Ming hesitated for a moment. Ling spoke first, carefully. "Honestly… we didn't think too deeply about it. We're commoners, so just being admitted to this academy was overwhelming enough. Thanks to you, Sir Kael, we've managed to get through each day safely, but we're worried about how we'll have to survive from now on…."

Ming lowered her head and added quietly, "That's right. We're just… so anxious about the future."

Kael nodded and spoke gently. "I understand. Even though I'm a noble myself… the way those nobles ostracize people truly makes my blood boil."

He let out a small sigh. "Unlike me, who has the backing of a ducal house, you commoners even suffer insults from scum like the Cad gang… so of course you'd be worried. Sigh~ They all pretend to be so refined, yet their hearts are pitch black."

Kael continued. "By the way, how did you two end up coming to this academy?"

At his question, Ling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thought for a moment before answering. "We originally lived in a remote mountain village. Our father was a herbalist and our mother was a seamstress. One day, we carried an elderly woman who was passing by the village back to our home. It turned out she was a mage with only a few years left to live."

Ming's eyes reddened slightly at the edges as she continued the story. "That grandmother taught us the basics of magic. We studied under her for about four years. We only learned after she passed that she was the great-aunt of Viscount Ricaid and a mage from a noble family."

Ling added softly, "Before she died, she wrote a recommendation letter in her will, which allowed us to enroll here. If we had stayed there… we might have ended up as concubines to some elderly noble. There happened to be a noble over sixty who had his eyes on us, so we came here to escape him."

Kael nodded at the sisters' tale. They had also revealed their ages—Ling was surprisingly twenty-four. Ming was exactly twenty, the same age as Kael. Ling's age was older than he had expected.

"Then what abilities did you obtain upon entering?"

Ling smiled faintly. "I received an ability called Undead Maker. It uses fewer materials and less mana when creating undead, and produces higher-quality results."

Ming followed up. "Mine is Undead Enhancement. It allows me to make undead even stronger."

Kael was slightly surprised. "Both of you have necromancer-type abilities? That's unexpected."

These pure-looking commoner beauties had surprisingly been born with talent for necromancy. In this world, black magic wasn't particularly avoided, but it still wasn't pleasing to the eye. Moreover, it mainly used monster corpses, and suitable bodies for undead were both valuable and unsightly, so few people pursued the field. Still, curse-type magic and the like originated from black magic. In many ways, it was an academically established discipline.

Ling and Ming's abilities would become even more powerful if the two worked together.

I need to bring these two onto my side.

Kael held no grudges against Ling and Ming. They were likely the only students against whom he felt even the slightest resentment. In any case, according to his plans, every student would eventually kneel before him. Making the sisters his allies first would benefit them greatly as well.

"Then I'll show you my ability too."

With those words, Kael opened his shop window and purchased two chicken club sandwiches.

A flash of light later, two sandwiches appeared on the table. The soft white bread revealed a mouthwatering harmony of chicken, tomato, lettuce, and mayonnaise.

Ling and Ming's eyes widened in shock as the food suddenly materialized.

"S-Sir Kael, this… is this your ability?" ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Ling asked in a trembling voice.

"What exactly is this? It looks like some kind of bread…?" Ming asked, swallowing hard.

Kael smiled and handed the sandwiches to the sisters.

"Both of you, try it. I summoned them with my ability. They'll be delicious."

Ling and Ming accepted the sandwiches with shaking hands. Ling took the first cautious bite. In that instant, her eyes flew wide open as shock rippled across her face. The soft bread melted gently in her mouth, blending with the savory saltiness of the chicken, the bright tang of tomato, the crisp freshness of lettuce, and the creamy richness of mayonnaise. It was a complex flavor beyond anything a medieval commoner's palate could imagine.

To Ling—a commoner with a medieval-level sense of taste—this modern dish, created with contemporary standards in mind, delivered a devastating impact. She devoured the entire sandwich in moments, then covered her mouth with her hand, struggling to contain her ecstasy.

"W-what is this? It's so delicious! It feels like I've arrived in heaven…."

The way the flavors melted across her tongue and harmonized was on an entirely different dimension from the coarse barley bread she had eaten her entire life. Of course, even that barley bread tasted far better than the coarse black bread here. To her, this sandwich felt like a heavenly banquet unfolding in her mouth, bestowing pure bliss upon the tip of her tongue.

Following her sister's reaction, Ming also took a bite. Her sharp brown eyes widened and sparkled. The nutty richness of the chicken, the smooth creaminess of the mayonnaise, and the fresh harmony of the vegetables completely captured her taste buds. Overwhelmed by flavors she had never even imagined, she stared blankly at the sandwich as if she had forgotten to breathe, then frantically devoured it. Only after finishing every last crumb did she regain her senses.

"S-Sir Kael… t-this is too delicious! I've never tasted anything like this before!"

Kael smiled with satisfaction at the sisters' reactions and purchased orange juice from the shop window.

"Try drinking this too."

Kael handed them the orange juice. Ling and Ming accepted the bottles and took careful sips. The sweet-and-sour flavor flooded their mouths, plunging the sisters into shock once again.

Ling's clear brown eyes grew dazed as they stared into empty space. Her pretty lips parted slightly while she savored the intense orange aroma and vibrant sweet-tangy juice exploding across her tongue. The most luxurious drink she had ever tasted was honey water she had once made after stumbling upon a beehive. Back then, honey had been the most delicious thing in her life. But this orange juice existed on an entirely different plane. The bright acidity stimulating her tongue, the gentle sweetness that followed—it was hard to believe this was truly juice squeezed from fruit.

Of course it is. Unlike Earth, the fruits here haven't undergone proper selective breeding yet.

Modern cultivated oranges possessed more than double the sugar content of their historical counterparts and boasted far more juice. Their flavor was on a completely different level from the sour, bitter oranges of the past. And now ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a commoner with a medieval palate—not even a noble—was tasting that juice.

The overwhelming shock delivered to Ling's simple taste buds momentarily stole her senses.

"Hup!"

Seeing her older sister's reaction, Ming's response after drinking the orange juice was no different. Her sharp brown eyes filled with pure ecstasy. The complex symphony of flavors unimaginable to a medieval commoner's tongue had completely seized her palate.

It did not take the two sisters long to drain the orange juice in a trance.

"Haaaa…."

Both of their faces were utterly filled with rapture.