I Want to Go Back
Had he been trying to stir a little passion into the people trudging off to work and school like wilted greens?
One of the boys had lost all control of his flames, his mana raging out of him. The firestorm coiled around him kept swelling, and if it grew even a little more it looked ready to swallow the surrounding buildings whole.
Eilenna and I had already fled far back, and the fact that the blaze was still visible from that distance said everything. The flames were too fierce to approach—and yet I could hardly clock out when I hadn't even clocked in. We were far from the only ones stuck in that bind.
"Aigoo... what in the world is going on."
"Brutal, that. Cleaning up after this is going to be worse than the fire itself."
"Right? Work's a lost cause today."
I hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but their talk sent a hot jolt through my gut.
Don't tell me... he really ended up like that from drinking Milk Peach? From a peach drink? Just that?
I'd been cooking all over the place with the Mana Market, but this was a first. If I had to name the single person my food had affected the most, it would probably be Arthur of Silbaerin. Arthur was a knight, not a mage, and even he had never rampaged his way into a sword dance.
The morning had already gone sideways. I let out a small sigh, and Eilenna, beside me, heard it and leaned in to whisper.
"Jinwoo, this... it isn't the Milk Peach, is it?"
"Shh. Shhh. Lady Eilenna, please keep your voice down for now."
"Hah. Got it."
The exact cause still hadn't been pinned down. No sense picking at a scab. Fortunately, so far, there didn't seem to be any casualties, or any building visibly charred... and yet it also felt like only a matter of time.
The fire roared. Even under bright sunlight the flames announced themselves with a scorching heat, and with no hint of rain in that blue sky their force only felt greater. A sky so clear, in other words, that there wasn't a single cloud.
Tok.
And from that sky, a drop of water fell—as if the single drop had been nothing but an overture. Pit-pat, pit-pat-pat, and then the sky tore open.
All at once a torrential downpour broke over the street where everything had been burning. Eilenna and I scrambled for the eaves of a nearby building.
"Did you do this, Lady Eilenna? The timing on this rain is a work of art."
"Ehh? There's no way I could manage something like that. I couldn't hold a spell of that scale for even a second. Plants, maybe."
"Then who on earth... ah. Maybe."
A grand magic so vast that, for a moment, it felt as if someone were steering the weather itself. And if there was anyone in this empire who could sustain that magic until the flames died out, there was only one.
Hissss...
The blaze, once the size of a house, took the deluge and let out a feeble sound. White steam billowed up in thick clouds. As the vapor closed in, the flames steadily shrank, and the rain began to ease.
"As expected, it has to be Lady Ermia, doesn't it? Magic on this scale?"
"Probably... I think that human mage is the one. I can feel her presence over there."
Once the fire was nearly out, we crept toward its source.
Whoooosh—
And there, at the heart of what had been the firestorm, soot was scored so clearly across the ground that anyone could tell this was where the fire had started. Ermia Belfast floated serenely in the air, looking down at the student who had collapsed once the rampage stopped. Beside him lay another student bundled in a suspiciously thick layer of clothes, and another whose hair stuck out in a wild, proudly difficult style, both of them out cold as well. It seemed Ermia had stepped in and quelled every last one of their mana rampages.
When we drew close enough to make a sound, Ermia looked at me. Her gaze was a contradiction—detached, as if she had attained enlightenment, and at the same time thick with lingering attachment to something. The easiest comparison was the face of that young man who left behind the immortal line, I want to play basketball...
I steeled myself inwardly and waited for her mouth to open.
"J-Jinwoo."
"Yes. Go ahead."
"We should... stop selling it, shouldn't we?"
"Gyaaah!!!"
Milk Peach—Kang Jinwoo's hit since the relaunch, the drink that had seized every student at the academy. Its explosive reception on campus (no exaggeration) was left behind, and service termination was pronounced.
Slurp—
A boy took a sip of the luminous pink drink and tilted his head. Something felt different from usual. He kept tasting it, then turned to the friend who had ordered with him.
"Uh... doesn't this taste a little different?"
"Your tongue's the weird one. Just drink what they give you."
"N-no... you think so?"
Glug—
"Ah. Guess so. It's good."
"Hurry up. Next class starts soon."
The two of them vanished toward the academy at a brisk pace. I watched their backs and thought, It really is different.
The fantastic fireworks that had embroidered the academy's peaceful sky. In other words, the student mana-rampage incident. It was only thanks to Ermia's swift response that it hadn't turned into massive losses, in lives or in property.
Yesterday, once that uproar had settled, Ermia finished the cleanup and came looking for me. I didn't need to hear why. It was obvious.
"Um, I think you'd better sell something else. Or just stop selling it. You feel it too, don't you?"
"Yes. I'm feeling it in my bones."
Honestly, part of me felt wronged. No—nearly all of me felt wronged. I hadn't stood there ladle in hand, threatening them to drink, and there was nothing in it that wrecked the body the way a drug would. If anything, the buff was temporary, but you could call it an elixir, the finest energy settling into the body a little at a time. Of course, Ermia understood exactly how I felt.
"It would be a stretch to call this your fault. If anything, you were handing out an elixir at a bargain price, and the students simply lacked the ability to digest it."
"That's what I'm saying. Still... the situation was serious enough that I don't feel like selling it anymore."
"Thanks for cooperating. I won't assign blame for this incident, and I'll compensate you to some extent for whatever you lose by stopping sales."
"Ah, the compensation is fine."
"Huh??"
I'd already bought ordinary market peaches the day before and made the puree in advance. I'd had a bad feeling, and it also seemed as if the stuff's influence was growing larger than it needed to be. Arthur's breakthrough hadn't been something I intended, either. From the start, I never meant to massively inflate anyone's power with my cooking. If I had, I would have founded a mercenary company or some armed outfit ages ago and force-fed them the way gangsters pour kibble into a dog.
Anyway, when I registered the puree made from ordinary peaches, no special warning window appeared. It simply registered the usual way, along with that feeling of vitality welling up. The taste itself... wasn't bad, in its own right. The old Milk Peach had simply been overwhelmingly delicious. The current recipe was still more than enough to make your eyes snap open. In short, stopping sales hadn't really cost me anything, and I didn't particularly feel like filing a claim for damages either.
"If you're fine with it, then that's that... ugh, hnn."
"W-wait, what's wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"No, it's not that... just give me a second."
Whoosh—
KRAAAAAANG, boom—!
Mid-conversation, Ermia shot into the sky in a blink and hurled a reverse meteor. I was not stupid enough to demand compensation with a straight face from a monster like that. I had only ever seen meteors and falling stars come down from above. Watching one go the other way was... quite a sight. After neatly erasing even the stray debris up in the air, just in case, Ermia returned looking refreshed.
"Yeah! I feel a bit better now."
"W-wait. What was that just now?"
"Hm? I just went and let off some mana. Turns out I had a bit too much, too."
"What."
I still remember failing to hide my shock at the face of an Ermia who had worked every last urge out of her system.
"Unni! Two Milk Peaches, one ham-and-cheese toast, and one tteokbokki, please!"
"Coming right up. Thank you, as always!"
Jingle—
While I was busy reminiscing over yesterday's dopamine, Eilenna took an order from a girl who came by often. Milk Peach was still selling well, and business was cruising along smoothly enough that regulars had begun to form. The stall had started for students who couldn't get cafeteria meals because the supply lines were cut. But the network had recovered, and thanks to unintended word of mouth about my shop, the whole commercial strip had come back to life even more. These days it wasn't only academy students—residents of the capital were using the academy market instead of the city market.
Sizzle. Hissss—!
"Ham-and-cheese toast, tteokbokki, and two Milk Peaches, ready. Careful carrying them."
"Yes. Thank you!"
I cooked the order quickly and handed it over.
The point was this. It was about time to fold the stall. And it happened to be a quiet stretch, the customers having tapered off. I turned to Eilenna, who was catching her breath.
"Lady Eilenna. Shall we wrap up after next week?"
"Hm? Wrap what up?"
"The stall. We've achieved what we came for, and then some."
"Isn't that a little earlier than what we talked about? Back then, didn't you say we'd go all the way into next month?"
She listened to my suggestion, thought it over, and recalled what I'd said before. As she remembered, the original plan was to do business through this month and a little way into the next, then ride back on the merchant caravan heading to Silbaerin to fetch the hardtack.
"That's true, but... we did have an accident this time, however unintentional."
"Ah... right. Yeah. B-but it wasn't your fault, Jinwoo! You know that?"
"You don't have to fuss like that. I'm not moping."
Eilenna thought I was drowning in guilt and tried hard to comfort me. But guilt? What guilt was there to feel. If I had to dig some up, the only crime to my name was introducing Kariel and Ishilla to the combination of tteokbokki plus Milk Peach. Sodium, refined carbohydrates, sugar, fructose, glucose, and fat—a grotesque six-hit combo. Those two were eating it almost every day, so I ought to at least say something before I left.
And what a coincidence was this? While I was turning over their twisted eating habits, Kariel and Ishilla came walking up together, all smiles.
"Master, hey! And hello to you too, Elf unni!"
"Yeah. But why the casual tone with me."
"I could hardly talk down to an elf unni when you can't even tell how old she is by looking."
Crrk—
Huh. I could have sworn I just heard something strange. The counter Eilenna had been bracing with her hand... it looked as if it had been gouged in the exact shape of her palm.
"Haha! Miss Ishilla. Teasing elves is a bad idea. Do be careful...?"
"Ah, yes. I'll keep that in mind. Um, two orders of tteokbokki and two Milk Peaches, please."
"There, there. Much nicer when you're polite."
My exchange with Ishilla had turned into something downright like an uncle and his niece. Well, better than things being awkward.
"Hello, Kang Jinwoo. I heard students went into a mana rampage around here yesterday. You weren't hurt?"
"Hello, Your Highness. I'm fine. Lady Ermia stopped it cleanly."
"Hmm, good. I had no idea what kind of disaster had dropped out of the sky. But why do you use formal speech with me every single time?"
Speak casually to an imperial princess, and I might vanish without a sound. Her tone was clearly teasing, but I couldn't commit one way or the other. When I froze, flustered, Kariel let a laugh slip.
"Hehe. Sorry. Seeing how friendly Ishilla is with you, I got jealous all of a sudden."
"Oh my, oh my."
"What's with that reaction? I knew it—masters always have something weird about them."
The weird one isn't me. It's you, melting a glacier hotter than midsummer. The words climbed all the way to my throat, but I swallowed them.
"Shall I prepare the usual?"
"Yeah, please. I seriously can't quit. My guard knight tried it a few days ago and went absolutely wild over how much he liked it."
"No, Kariel, I think that was because it was spicy..."
"Hehe. You think so?"
I listened to their trivial chatter while I prepared the food. Two orders of tteokbokki, extra fish cake, light on the green onion—the customization Ishilla and Kariel had settled on after demolishing the dish day after day. Packing tteokbokki was so familiar I could have done it with my eyes closed. I had the order ready in no time and handed it over, then added two things.
"This is the usual. But eating it too often isn't good for you. Honestly, there's nothing healthy in it."
"Is that something the person who made it should be saying? Kariel and I both sweat it out exercising together, so don't worry."
"Right. We may not look it, but I'm the empire's princess, and she's the daughter of the northern duke. Health gets managed for us whether we like it or not."
And they wriggle out of it again... "Ah, and one more thing. Starting next week, we won't be open. We're thinking of heading back."
Slip—!
The moment I said that last line and held out the packaged tteokbokki, Ishilla, who had been perfectly steady, suddenly let go of it. Fortunately I still had a hand on the bundle, so I caught it before it fell.
"Whoa, that was close. Ishilla, you okay?"
"Just now—just now, what did you say?"
"Hm? I asked if you were okay..."
"No. Wrong."
Thud—!
Ishilla stammered as if she had heard something she was never meant to hear. Just as I was about to kindly repeat myself, Kariel, who had been watching from the side, cut in. She stamped a thick heel down hard and shoved her face in close, and in the imperial family's signature crimson hair and jet-black eyes, my own expression was reflected back at me. A charisma that shot out as fiercely as a beast's. The me caught in those pitch-black pupils was sucking in an empty breath, wearing a frightened face.
"You're not opening starting next week? And who decided that on their own?"
"Well, I'm the owner, so... more to the point, your tone just got rather high-handed..."
"I'm the princess."
Hup.
I shut the mouth I had been running so freely. If she decided to press me with rank here, there would be nothing I could say.
"Did you truly believe you could simply run away as you pleased—from the empire's one and only princess, and a duke's daughter?"
It seemed the academy business was going to run a little longer.