Chapter 23
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 23
Chapter Title: Chocolate Pizza Bread
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Faint morning sunlight slanted slowly through the room's window.
As time passed, the light creeping past the window finally tickled my closed eyes, and unable to resist the stimulus, I slowly opened them.
“…Haa, damn.”
The moment I sat up in bed, sharp pains greeted my entire body. My limbs trembled, and I was out of breath despite having done nothing. It seemed the two-week journey had been quite harsh on this frail body of mine.
*Knock, knock.*
As I lay there blankly, long after lunchtime, Alter and Rireu knocked on the door.
"Come in."
I said without getting out of bed.
I knew it was polite to get up and open the door, but I felt that if I moved my body wrong, something might actually break, landing me in a sickbed for a while.
"…Ugh."
Rireu let out a low exclamation upon seeing me lying in bed, looking as haggard as a patient.
To make a sound like she'd just seen vomit strewn on the street after looking at someone's face…
That queen and this young elf are both equally rude…
"Uh… it seems it would be best to skip classes today. You… you don't look well at all."
Alter, too, turned pale upon seeing my face.
Am I really in that bad of a shape?
"…You didn't eat breakfast?"
Rireu asked worriedly, noticing the breakfast a young servant had brought was sitting untouched and cold on the table.
"I'm not particularly hungry… and I don't have much of an appetite."
I hadn't mentioned it before, but ever since I started staying at this castle, I'd been served nothing but nutritious meals full of greens and dry chicken breast.
It seemed the servants were concerned about my withered body and were trying to take care of me… but just like the healthy food I'd eaten before, the food here was also terribly bland.
"The salad's all dried out."
Rireu sighed, poking at the withered salad.
"Sometimes, it's good to relieve stress by eating something sweet, even if it's not the best for your body. Beer or wine are also excellent for stress relief, but…"
Alter trailed off, his gaze sweeping over my body under the covers.
In this world, seventeen was old enough to drink beer or wine. Unlike in the real world, the regulations on alcohol weren't very strict.
Even so, I had no intention of touching alcohol.
If I drank with this feeble body, there was a serious chance I might have a heart attack.
Seriously.
"Well, it would probably be better to have some sweet bread or dessert rather than alcohol. A sugar boost is essential for brain function, after all."
"Do they deliver?"
I asked Alter, not wanting to move a single step from my bed.
"…Do you think they would?"
This massive, 120-square-kilometer castle was a major military stronghold where all sorts of important figures gathered. Even if delivery services existed in this world, delivery people would never be allowed entry, and bringing in uninspected outside food was strictly forbidden.
After all, who knew what kind of disaster would unfold if food carrying poison or plague were to find its way inside the castle.
"…"
I really don't want to go outside the castle.
It was obvious that moving to get something to eat would burn more calories than just sitting still and starving.
I know that doesn't make sense from a nutritional standpoint, but that's how I feel right now.
Ugh, I don't want to move.
Alter looked at my face and quietly put a hand to his forehead. It seemed my feelings were written all over my face.
Rireu gently tugged on the sleeve of the sighing Alter. He immediately understood her intention and leaned down, and Rireu whispered something in his ear.
Rireu already had a tiny voice, but now that she was speaking with her hands covering her mouth, I couldn't understand a single word she was saying.
"…Judging by his expression, I don't think he's going to go. Well, you might as well try asking. It probably won't matter."
Hearing Alter's response, Rireu took a deep breath.
Her face was flushed red before she even started speaking, and her palms seemed to be slick with cold sweat. What on earth was she so nervous about saying?
"I know a good bakery, and their chocolate pizza bread is quite tasty… Um, if it's okay, I thought it might be nice to go eat together…"
Rireu said in a voice that trailed off, tugging at the brim of her hat.
I found myself marveling anew at my excellent hearing.
We had spent over two weeks together in the same carriage and barracks. It seemed I had, without realizing it, grown somewhat accustomed to Rireu's incredibly quiet muttering.
"…Chocolate pizza bread?"
My admiration was short-lived. Staring blankly at Rireu's hat, I couldn't help but doubt my ears at the mention of a food combination I'd never heard of in my life.
*'Chocolate and pizza can coexist?'*
Pizza is a dish where the harmony of its characteristic pepperoni, tangy and sweet tomato sauce, and savory cheese is crucial. In contrast, chocolate is a dessert whose strength lies in its intense sweetness.
To mix intensely sweet chocolate with pizza, which already combines three flavors—sour, salty, and savory.
"Um… I was a bit taken aback when I first heard of it too, but everyone who's tried it said it was better than they expected… really. Plus, maybe because people are scared of the chocolate and pizza combination, the café isn't very crowded… so the atmosphere is nice… and all that."
I looked at Rireu with a scowl, and she started rambling excuses as if she'd done something wrong.
…A combination of chocolate and pizza is supposedly better than expected?
How?
Is such a thing possible?
When creativity goes too far, it just becomes nonsense. And usually, such radical attempts end up as nothing more than 'pointless endeavors'.
But according to Rireu, this chocolate pizza bread… seemed to be a food that sold quite well.
For such over-the-top creativity to be accepted by people… meant that the result contained a depth of research and philosophy that ordinary people couldn't fathom.
I can't just let this information slide.
"Let's go."
I said, slowly pushing my heavy body upright.
*'Chocolate pizza bread that sells well.'*
…As someone who fancies himself a hipster, this was a food I could not ignore.
I wondered what kind of brain the chef must have to even think of combining those two foods. I felt I wouldn't be able to sleep tonight without personally confirming what this rumored bread tasted like.
"Really?!"
Rireu beamed, her voice unusually loud as her face lit up with delight.
I, in turn, looked startled by Rireu's uncharacteristically loud voice.
"Well… yes."
I suppose going to eat chocolate pizza bread alone would be quite a challenge in many ways. It seems this kid really wanted to go but was worried because she didn't have any friends to go with.
With that personality, making friends wouldn't be easy. She'd be lucky not to get bullied somewhere.
I forced my heavy arm up and rang the golden bell.
Before long, a young servant opened the door and entered my room.
"I'd like to go for a bit of a walk."
"I'll make the preparations."
The servant left for a moment, then quickly reappeared and bent his back as if telling me to get on.
"Hop on."
Naturally, I did not refuse this service.
…Power tastes so sweet.
"…"
Rireu looked up at me on the servant's back, her expression one of utter speechlessness.
So this is what it feels like to look down on people.
Power seems to get sweeter the more you taste it.
***
Alter said he had more to look into regarding the Blooming spell and told the two of us to go on our own.
I felt a little guilty that the oldest among us was working while the two of us were going out to have fun. So I asked him again if he wouldn't mind at least a cup of coffee.
"Well…"
Alter stroked his beard for a moment and glanced at Rireu.
Rireu said nothing, her eyes darting back and forth.
…What are these two doing in front of me?
Alter seemed to grasp Rireu's intent from her anxiously trembling gaze and small movements, and he nodded.
"No, it's fine. You two go on ahead. This old man ate too much for breakfast."
It seemed Alter had reached a level where he could roughly guess what Rireu was thinking just by looking at her eyes.
Well, I wasn't particularly envious. What good would developing the ability to read the mind of an introverted elf be for survival?
"We'll be back. Master, I'll, I'll bring you back a present…"
After climbing into the carriage, Rireu bowed her head to him through the window. The flush on her face showed no signs of fading.
We left the castle in a luxurious carriage and arrived on the outskirts of the capital. Not wanting to attract attention, we got off quite a distance from the café and walked the rest of the way.
My legs were screaming, but it was a sacrifice worth making for the unique delicacy that was chocolate pizza bread.
The café had a certain charm, with its well-maintained wooden floors and the warm candlelight that softly enveloped the entire space. And thanks to the owner's son playing a sweet melody on his guitar in the corner, I could, for a moment, completely forget about war and fighting and immerse myself in the atmosphere.
"Two chocolate pizza breads, one coffee, and a warm milk, please."
Rireu was the one who wanted to come to this café, yet she left the ordering to me.
Before long, the milk and coffee came out first.
The woman managing the hall apologized, explaining that the bread might take a while because they didn't pre-bake it, but rather put the dough in the oven as soon as an order came in.
A unique combination others wouldn't dare attempt, and a passion that was almost excessive…
This is hipster. The chef of this shop is an unbelievable hipster.
Feeling a strange sense of kinship, I passed the boring time by chatting with Rireu about trivial things while holding my milk.
"If an elf is twenty-one, are they considered a minor among other elves? Or are they more like a newborn baby…"
"…An adult. Elves' aging just slows down drastically after twenty; it's not like our growth rate is slower than other races'."
"So you live for 2000 years with the appearance of a twenty-year-old? What a broken race."
Questions I'd been curious about but hadn't found the right time to ask…
"I heard you've been living in the Mage Tower since you were four. Isn't that a bit too early to enter the tower?"
"I lost my parents early, so I didn't have a choice… The war is in full swing, you know."
"So, Rireu, you've just been studying and living in the Mage Tower since you were four?"
"Well, yes… I didn't really have any reason to go outside, and studying magic suited my aptitude."
"Now I understand why your social skills are the way they are."
"…Don't people usually keep thoughts like that to themselves?"
We spent the time with such unremarkable conversation, learning about her past.
"Thank you for waiting."
The freshly baked bread was placed on the table where we were deep in conversation. The pizza bread on the white plate looked nothing special from the outside.
Pepperoni, tomato sauce, cheese.
Is the chocolate hidden inside the bread?
Pretending to be ordinary pizza bread on the outside—how delightfully wicked. I like it.
I turned the bread this way and that, first savoring this delicacy with my eyes.
The thought that a demon called chocolate was lurking inside this unremarkable, ordinary pizza bread was dizzying.
After a sufficient visual inspection, I immediately took a bite of the bread.
"…"
…Well.
Right.
Hmm.
"It's… subtle."
Contrary to my expectations, the chocolate hidden inside the bread wasn't the sweet kind, but bitter dark chocolate.
The strong savory flavor of the pizza bread and the bitterness of the dark chocolate created a peculiar harmony in my mouth, providing a taste experience I'd never had before.
*'…Less interesting than I thought.'*
It was a novel combination, but it didn't live up to the expectations set by the catastrophic name 'chocolate pizza bread'.
On top of that, the overall quality of the taste wasn't good enough to be called 'amazing' either…
"It's subtle."
Rireu uttered the same words as me. Her faintly furrowed brow seemed to say she had no idea how to process this taste.
It seemed she was disappointed that it wasn't as amazing as the rumors suggested.
"The taste is… unique. I guess people who like this sort of thing might like it…"
"Didn't you say it was met with rave reviews?"
"W-well, maybe it's because the people who don't like it don't say anything? Rumors tend to form around those who talk the most…"
Realizing her recommended shop had been a failure, Rireu began making lame excuses.
"Hmm."
To be honest, I was somewhat prepared for this.
Exploring unique and unusual eateries can't always be a success.
Then again, it wasn't so bad that we couldn't eat it, so we stayed seated, slowly eating the bread on our plates and appreciating the owner's son's guitar skills.
The bread wasn't what I'd hoped for, but the café's atmosphere was quite nice… so it would be an overstatement to call today's expedition a failure.
"Still, it's not like chocolate pizza bread is the only thing they sell here, and it might be worth stopping by every once in a while when the craving hits…"
*Thud!*
As I was quietly enjoying the guitar performance and talking about our next visit, a dull thudding sound came from the wooden door.
"Ah! Welcome, Lady Gwynel!"
The woman who had been wiping cups at the coffee bar bowed her head deeply to the young noble lady who entered with a clamor.
"…"
The young noble lady said nothing and began to slowly approach the counter. Judging by her dress, which was adorned with an abundance of lace and decorations, she seemed to be the daughter of a rather powerful family.
"What brings you here today…"
From the woman's demeanor, it seemed the noble lady was a frequent visitor to this shop.
The bread's texture was decent, and the peculiar harmony created by the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the saltiness of the tomato sauce was novel… so it might not be that strange for it to have a cult following.
I wouldn't say chocolate pizza bread is an objectively delicious food, but this shop was likely the only place in the world where you could buy such a thing.
I turned my attention away from the noble lady, whose tastes differed from mine, and lifted my cup of still-warm milk…
*Slap!*
*Crash!*
"…?"
The sudden sound of a slap, followed by the sound of something shattering, echoed throughout the shop.
The guitar music stopped, and both my and Rireu's movements froze for a moment.
The woman was caressing her red, swollen cheek, her head bowed to the noble lady who was much younger than her.
A broken teacup and what looked like a glass saucer were scattered on the floor.
The woman's son, who had witnessed it all from right in front of them, was clenching his jaw, his hand gripping the neck of his guitar tightly.