Saint Amelia
Saint Amelia
Lunch service wrapped up, and Andrea headed out to train with the knights.
She'd originally intended to help with ingredient prep before the evening shift, but—
"Everybody worked hard this morning, so I don't need the extra hands."
—Lucas had said. Which shut that down.
Hearing there was nothing to do until dinner, Andrea nursed a quiet hope: maybe she could go hunting with him.
Boss, if we have time, would you mind teaching me how to hunt?
She was still chewing over how to phrase it casually when—
"Lady Andrea! If you're free today, would you be willing to oversee our afternoon training as well?"
Heimer, utterly, blissfully oblivious, asked before she could so much as open her mouth toward Lucas.
"......."
She was going to refuse on the spot. But Lucas beat her to it.
"Go on. It'll be a good opportunity. Andrea gets to hunt for the first time in a while, and right now's ideal for the knights to train."
The man was every bit as dense as Heimer.
"Boss, come with us."
She made one forceful attempt to drag him along. Lucas shook his head.
"Lady Camilla said she'd be stopping by today. It'd look bad if the owner cleared out."
Camilla was coming?
The woman who hadn't shown her face in days—why the hell was she picking the break hours to show up now?
"Boss, in that case, I'll stay as well—"
"Today, go with the knights."
"...Understood."
A prickly jealousy simmered in Andrea's chest.
Why did that woman get to waltz in during the break and keep the boss from going with her?
Fury surged up. The stress had her heart hammering.
A headache pulsed behind her eyes. Every little thing grated on her nerves.
The knights' faces looked obnoxious. She resented Lucas for not coming along.
That had to be why.
"You have to feel the forest's energy the way I taught you. So before we enter the woodland, we begin with camouflage."
"Camouflage...?"
"Correct. It's a discipline to better receive the forest's power."
As in, the practice—long since abandoned even among elves as useless—of smearing mud all over your face.
"From now on, we ascend the mountain in a duck walk."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Or forcing them through physically punishing drills for no reason whatsoever.
"Move faster!"
"Yes!"
Anyone who dawdled got a boot to the backside.
This was the knights' own fault. They'd asked her for instruction before she said anything.
"You love training so much? Then you're going to get all you can stomach!"
Howls of agony echoed across Conwell Mountain.
And after she'd run them ragged for a while—
Rustle.
Andrea's sensitive ears caught a human presence. Not an animal.
"A person...?"
She pushed through the undergrowth and found a woman with pink hair kneeling on the ground, filthy and ragged.
"What the—?"
"A-An elf?"
Eyes wide, the pink-haired woman stared and blinked.
"D-Did I walk all the way to the Elf Forest? Why would an elf be in a place like...."
"This isn't the Elf Forest."
"It isn't? Then why is an elf...."
"Elves who left the forest behind are hardly rare."
"I see. Then... could you tell me where this is?"
Andrea studied the stranger for a beat.
Her clothes and hair were crusted with dirt and dust, but it hadn't erased the woman's innate dignity—or the faint aura of lofty grace clinging to her.
This looks like someone of very high standing.
If this were Andrea-the-restaurant-worker, she'd have politely explained exactly where they were.
But this was Andrea running on a full tank of stress and fury.
"Why should I?"
"...Excuse me?"
"I don't even know what kind of person you are. Why should I extend that sort of kindness?"
"Ah, well... I... I am Sister Amelia, of the Order...."
She was in mid-desperation, trying to introduce herself, when the battered knights finally caught up.
"Lady Andrea, what in the world were you looking at that you— Huh?"
Heimer's eyes lit up at the sight of the pink-haired woman slumped on the ground.
"You know her?"
"That garment's been torn all over, but it's definitely the vestments worn by the Order's priestesses. And that pink hair...."
Heimer, eyes widening, looked back at the woman.
"I heard word recently that the Saintess had departed on a pilgrimage to the imperial provinces."
"Saintess?"
The pink-haired woman seized on Heimer's words in a rush.
"Yes! I am the messenger of the Mother Goddess. Amelia."
Heimer's eyes flew open even wider.
"Y-You don't mean the real Saintess herself?!"
The woman nodded.
And as she did, a luminous radiance shimmered into existence behind her.
The encounter with true believers had replenished Amelia's faith, which had been drained down to the dregs.
"That is correct."
The knights dropped to their knees in unison.
"We are honored to be in your presence, Saintess!"
The whole scene left Andrea disoriented.
She understood perfectly well what the Order meant to humans in the abstract—but knowing with your head and feeling it in your bones were two separate things.
"...What an uncanny power."
While Andrea marveled at the Saintess's force, Amelia turned to the knights.
"Then, sirs, you are...?"
"We are knights of Viscount Britten."
"Britten? Isn't that the castle at the far southern edge?"
"It is."
"So I've been wandering in circles and ended up here. That explains why the pursuers gave up the chase...."
Amelia pressed a hand to her chest and exhaled in relief.
"And this elf, then...?"
"Ah, she is our instructor—and an employee of the Knight Restaurant."
"An... employee?"
Andrea's palm connected with Heimer's back.
"Quit babbling unnecessary details."
THWACK!
"URK—!"
Andrea's hand easily punched through the leather armor Heimer wore and dealt a meaningful amount of damage. While Heimer flailed trying to reach the spot on his back he couldn't touch, Andrea turned back.
"I'd rather hear how a Saintess of your stature ended up in this state, alone in the woods."
"Ah, well...."
Right then.
GRRRROOOOOOWL!!!!!
A cataclysmic rumble shook the heavens and the earth.
"......."
Every head turned toward the source.
Amelia's face flooded scarlet. She dropped her head low.
"Th-That is... I've been surviving on grass for days...."
Her voice dwindled to a mumble.
"Haa. Let's move. Food first. We'll hear the story on the way."
***
"So to be clear—I put this soup base into boiling water, let it cook, then boil the noodles together with it?"
Before Camilla had departed for the capital, I'd handed over the full supply of powdered soup base and solid ingredient soup base.
"Yes. The seasoning ratios are already pre-mixed, so you won't need anything else."
"Hmm...."
"If the seasoning ever feels off—if a dish turns out vague and bland—just add a little of the powdered base."
"That actually works?"
"Yes. Sprinkling the powder alone is enough to round out whatever's missing."
"...Fascinating. I'll test it later."
Having received the soup bases, she looked me over from head to toe.
"So, tell me. You're truly not planning to come to the capital?"
"It's not in my plans right now. I like living here. I'll probably stay put for a while."
"Is that so? Hmm...."
Something lingered on the tip of her tongue. She hesitated, squirmed for a moment, then lowered her head.
"Fine. I know how stubborn you are. But if this soup base causes a sensation in the capital, you might not have a choice."
"What do you mean?"
"Did you honestly think people would leave the creator of a revolutionary culinary technique just sitting out in the countryside?"
I hadn't thought that far.
My only goal had been to recreate the flavors of home.
Reading the fluster on my face, Camilla smiled.
"Still, don't worry. I can hold them off one way or another."
"......."
"In exchange—you'll owe me a favor later."
A familiar scene overlapped in my mind.
It mirrored Andrea teaching the knights how to sheathe their blades in a thin layer of mana in return for a favor she could call in down the line.
"...Understood."
"I'll look forward to it."
Camilla gathered up the soup bases and departed with her attendants.
She'd be fine.
The woman keeps her promises.
And if she couldn't hold them off?
I'd send Riman and Blackbeard.
A human alchemist and a dwarf's joint creation!
That alone would be spectacle enough to grab the public's attention.
After she left, I polished off the leftover ramyun and worked through the dishes. By the time I looked up, the sun was already drooping toward the horizon.
"About time to start evening service."
Ingredients were stocked. Alcohol was stocked.
"Having more hands really does speed up prep."
The knights still couldn't consistently channel mana into their swords, but even a little extra manpower helped more than I'd expected.
Peeling onions.
Dealing with all the trimmings and waste that pile up during cooking.
Dishes done in a fraction of the time.
That sort of thing.
Yeah, this is nice.
If they ever became properly proficient at ingredient prep, I might not even need to handle evening service myself.
Evening service was mostly about the alcohol anyway, which meant you could get away with dedicating less time to the food. As long as someone could handle a handful of specific dishes, that was enough.
If the knights handle the prep, and I recruit one or two people who can actually cook....
Then I wouldn't need to be here for the evening shift at all.
I wanted that day to come fast.
"Hoo. When are they going to level up?"
The thought flickered through my mind—maybe Andrea should learn to cook—but no.
I'm not about to pile kitchen duty on top of her daytime workload.
It was while I was waiting for Andrea to come back from the nearby mountain with the knights-in-training.
"Hm?"
Far off, the entrance started buzzing.
What's going on?
I craned my neck, staring.
"Boss! We brought a guest!"
Andrea was heading toward the restaurant with the knights.
"Lady Andrea! All the same, we ought to escort her to the viscount's castle first—"
"Shut it! She said she doesn't want to go. If the person you're fussing over doesn't want it, why do you keep forcing it? She's hungry—what are we supposed to do about that? Feed her first. Are you trying to leave a lady's stomach empty that long?"
Falling in alongside Andrea and the knights—
"...Huh?"
—was a familiar pink-haired girl.
"Why is the Saintess... here?"