Sophia's Restaurant
Sophia's Restaurant was a well-known talk show. The famous host Sophia simply invited guests to a restaurant and talked with them. Ratings never even hit ten percent, yet entertainment diehards watched it faithfully.
Elena was appearing on it.
"Today we have Tia from Pobitz, the group currently setting the 6700th district on fire!"
Sophia greeted Elena with a bright face. Elena glanced around. Sophia's Restaurant had a slightly dim atmosphere—luxurious enough, and cozily intimate.
"Hmm. The atmosphere isn't bad."
"Aren't you going to greet me?"
A woman beside Elena grumbled. Sophia beamed and waved.
"Of course Sophia's Restaurant welcomes you too, Yuri. But don't you come a little too often?"
"You keep inviting me, so I show up."
Yeon Yuri—leader of the current top idol girl group Pink Love—had walked in with Elena. She sat down at the table as if it were the most natural thing in the world, claiming the seat that would show best on camera.
Smiles like a puppy, acts like a fox.
I had to admire Yeon Yuri's every move. That was a mainstream celebrity for you—experience in every gesture.
Elena did not sit right away. She wandered the restaurant, looking things over. The main PD looked flustered but said nothing; Elena's manner of appraising the place felt completely natural.
Dignity in every hand and foot. High nobility through and through…
Elena herself did not seem to be putting on a performance. What caught her eye was the wine fridge.
"Tia, interested in wine?"
"Wine is the spice of life. There are some rather good bottles here. May I take one out? Or is that not allowed on broadcast?"
"It's fine. You're the first guest who's ever gone looking for wine… Our show aims for naturalness. Just don't get too drunk—it is still a broadcast. I'll bring the glasses. You'll drink too, right, Yuri?"
"I don't know much about wine… but seeing Tia react like that makes me curious. I'll try some."
"There's white wine from the 202nd district. Refreshing enough that even first-timers usually like it."
Elena carried the white wine to the table. Sophia grew busy.
"Uh, just a second—the wine opener should be somewhere…"
"No need. An opener is unnecessary."
Elena flicked a finger toward the bottle. A magic circle appeared and wrapped around it. The moment she used magic, the set stirred.
Watching the recording beside the main PD, I quietly clicked my tongue.
I told her to use magic as little as possible…
It wasn't a bad thing. The mage angle would only make Elena stand out more.
If she'd used it somewhere bigger, she could have made even more noise.
Elena's face as she opened the wine with magic was more serious than ever. She poured white wine into the other women's glasses as well, then took a sip without hesitation.
"A decent wine."
Elena smiled, clearly pleased.
"It's delicious!"
"Whoa… To think wine like this was sitting here. If I'd known it was this good I would have tried it ages ago… PD! Why didn't you tell us we had wine like this?!"
Sophia barked at the main PD. He flailed and shook his head. The cameras caught every second.
"Yuri, what shall I cook for you? The kimchi fried rice from last time?"
"I do like kimchi fried rice… but today I want whatever Sophia unnie recommends."
"Then ramen?"
"……Really?"
"Hehe. Just kidding. Actually, since Tia was coming, I prepared something special."
"For Tia… I'm jealous."
"I already cooked for you last time, Yuri. Today you yield to Tia."
Tia, still tilting her wine glass, remained perfectly calm even after hearing the dish was for her—expression utterly free of expectation. Fair enough; while living in the dorm she had eaten Yuria's cooking nearly every meal. Ordinary food would never satisfy her tongue.
"What is it? I'll say this first—anything like ramen is completely out."
"Hehe. I could never feed ramen to a noble-born like Tia. What I prepared is coq au vin."
"Coq au vin. Chicken stewed in wine."
"Oh my. You knew."
"One of my favorites. I eat it often enough that ordinary coq au vin never satisfies me."
"Ah. Now I'm getting even more nervous for no reason."
Sophia began cooking, and the talk proper got underway.
Before the broadcast I had fretted that Yeon Yuri might steal the screen time. That worry proved baseless. The center of every conversation was Elena. Her presence filled the restaurant. She leisurely tilted her wine glass and dominated both the room and the program.
"I never dreamed Tia was a mage. When did you start learning magic?"
"From a very young age. My father was a mage. A perfectly ordinary mage family."
"I heard mages become nobles easily… was that true?"
"It used to be. These days being a mage alone is not enough. You must achieve feats or accumulate merit and prove your ability before you can become a noble."
"The 6700th district has no nobles or anything of the sort. You know that, right?"
"Well, for now."
"Yuri is from the Republic of Korea, isn't she? I heard that country has no nobles…"
"Ah, right. Korea has neither nobles nor kings. Similar to the 6700th district."
The dish was finished.
Yeon Yuri took one bite of the coq au vin and her eyes went round.
"It's delicious! First time trying it and it's amazing!"
Yeon Yuri marveled. Sophia's cooking skill was flawless. Word was that if she had never become a celebrity she would have become a chef.
Elena! Say it's delicious!
I prayed while watching her face. Elena happened to glance my way. Had she read my mind? Her eyes seemed to gleam.
"It's so-so."
"……"
The atmosphere iced over in an instant at Elena's verdict.
"You… didn't like it?"
Sophia was still smiling, but her lips trembled. Earlier she had said she spent three days and nights preparing the coq au vin.
"I never said it wasn't tasty. It's simply ordinary."
"Wait a minute! That means it's not tasty! How can food this delicious not be tasty?! Is this some noble concept thing? Stop forcing it!"
Yeon Yuri shot up from her seat and glared at Elena. The force of it was fierce. Elena only snorted as if the whole thing were ridiculous.
"Forcing it? I merely gave my honest impression."
"You ate it, so you know! Sophia unnie's cooking is not something to be dismissed! Who do you think you are, looking down on Sophia unnie's cooking?!"
Yeon Yuri jabbed a finger at Elena.
The reason she was overreacting this hard… was Sophia. In the 6700th district, influence alone put Sophia near the top of the list; Yeon Yuri wanted her on her side.
I called the main PD over.
"PD."
"Ah, Seong PD. It's fine. We can edit. Just watch. If it looks dangerous we'll step in. This much is nothing. Sophia will handle it soon enough."
"This is a dangerous situation right now."
"Yuri looks fierce, but she won't actually use her hands. Don't worry."
"No—what I said is dangerous is not Tia. It's Yuri."
"What?"
I had given the warning. I had no intention of intervening myself. From the look of things the main PD wanted Yeon Yuri and Elena to clash. For now I decided to watch.
Elena regarded the standing Yeon Yuri through narrowed eyes.
"I simply spoke as I felt. I never dismissed Sophia's cooking."
"You called unnie's cooking so-so!"
"Yes. So-so at the level of a top-class chef. Skill enough to serve as head chef of a great noble house."
"Is that… a compliment?"
"Depends on the person hearing it. But… how long do you intend to keep pointing that finger?"
"……!!"
Elena's presence flooded the restaurant. Her mana pressed down on the space—quietly, yet with crushing weight. Most of the ordinary people present froze solid under the pressure.
Elena took a sip of white wine and released the pressure. Yeon Yuri dropped back into her chair; Sophia barely stayed upright by gripping the table.
"My apologies. At present I am a noble, yet I am also an idol. For a moment I forgot that fact. Well—an apology alone will hardly satisfy you."
Elena flicked her finger. A magic circle formed in midair and a plate of food emerged from it.
"Coq au vin made by our family's chef, and coq au vin made by Yuria. Taste them."
"…Does Tia carry food around in subspace?"
"Subspace is convenient. Put food in and you can eat whenever you like. Especially useful when late-night cravings hit."
Sophia, who had gone rigid, relaxed at Elena's banter.
"Subspace… With that you wouldn't even need a fridge. I'm envious. Yuria is Tia's colleague, right? Shall we try Yuria's coq au vin first?"
"No. Try the family chef's first."
"Yes. Of course."
After one bite, surprise bloomed across Sophia's face.
"……The coq au vin I made really is just so-so. May I know the chef's name?"
"A secret."
"……Famous enough that it would be troublesome if the name got out, I take it."
"Something like that."
"Next is Yuria's… Gasp…!"
The moment Sophia tasted Yuria's coq au vin she let out an involuntary cry. She trembled and kept moving her hands.
"Impossible…! Cooking of this level…! This is already beyond human! Is this truly Yuria's cooking?!"
"I have no reason to lie to you."
"It's incredible! Compared to Yuria's coq au vin… mine is garbage."
"So-Sophia unnie?!"
"Yuri. You try it too. I can't keep something this good to myself."
"I-is it that good?"
"If you don't eat it you'll regret it for the rest of your life."
Yeon Yuri tasted Yuria's coq au vin. Her eyes went round, then she fell on the dish like a woman possessed.
I sighed at the sight.
Atmosphere's settled. Almost had a real disaster… good.
But we couldn't stop here.
"PD. Edit the earlier scene out."
"Edit? That was a perfect scene. It resolved cleanly."
"I said edit it."
I laced the words with killing intent. The main PD flinched and nodded.
"Y-yes. Understood."
The whole thing could pass as a simple happening. But as long as even a sliver of controversy remained possible, we could not let it slide.
Pobitz has no time to spare. No reason to choose a dangerous road on purpose.