Normalizing the Donut
The night before a white baby bear appeared on the roof of the Arts and Culture Hall, Cunsai and Luta were running a final check of the booth's food and drink with Blow at the Nyx Inn.
"Cunsai. What do you think, now that the donuts have holes?"
"Just as you said, Young Master — they seem cooked all the way through, with nothing left underdone! However did you think of such a thing..."
"Come on. The shape's prettier, too, isn't it?"
"It is! Your ideas really are unlike anyone else's, Young Master...!"
Cunsai held a donut up to the light, eyes shining, and Blow answered him with a smile of private triumph. Now this was a donut done right. This was the donut, normalized...! He had only remade them after what he had seen in another world, on the principle that the worst he could do was break even — and yet, astonishingly, the flavor had changed a great deal as well.
The old donuts had always carried a faint pastiness. The center never cooked through the way the crisp outer surface did. Punch a hole through the middle, though, and that weak point vanished, the taste coming out far more even. Once again Blow understood that the truths distilled from his long years as Han Ji-hoo were obvious for a reason.
Just then Cunsai glanced at the green tea and the vin chaud — a hot spiced wine — set out beside them, and spoke up brightly.
"The green tea was a wonderful idea, too!"
"Coffee takes too long to brew, so it's a good thing Megan was raised in a proper house."
"You needn't worry. The green tea and the vin chaud are both ready!"
Megan held up a clenched fist for him to see.
The menu she had agreed to help with at Cunsai's booth was the donuts in their proper form, plus green tea and vin chaud to thaw the cold.
"Good. Hans, are the cups and the maple leaves all ready?"
"Yes. I borrowed every cup I could from anywhere that would lend them, and the maple leaves arrived yesterday — already washed and done."
"I should have seen Aubio yesterday."
"He left in a hurry, said he had business... As for the beer and wine, I set aside only what we'll need this time and moved the rest down into the cellar of the restaurant we're about to open."
"Good work. And I'm counting on you for the dishes?"
"Not at all! You've even arranged for hot water to run, Young Master!"
Blow had asked with an apology he couldn't quite hide, and Hans waved a hand as if to say it was nothing.
Just then Jane, having looked over the whole of the booth, turned to Blow with an eager light in her face.
"This is an all-out offensive, isn't it?"
"We're closing up to do it, so we'd better do it properly. Which means today is the last day we do business out of this inn!"
At his words a bittersweet feeling came fresh over all of them, and they looked around the inn. Melo especially had grown deeply attached to the place — the first spot she had come to love after arriving in Caipol — and her eyes even brimmed. Jane slipped an arm around her, gentle as anything.
"The innkeeper was awfully sorry to see us go."
"If fate brings us back around, we'll have reason to visit."
"Fate...?"
"It's a landmark, in its way. What if we bought it later and turned it into the Blow Deblique Memorial Hall?"
"If that happens, please put a statue of me in the kitchen!"
Melo rubbed at her eyes as she said it, and Blow was nodding when Cunsai turned to him with a bright, easy smile.
"I think I must be very lucky, Young Master."
"Why?"
"Because I was given an opportunity like this. I'm learning so much this time."
"You think so? Can you really call it luck? You standing out here for days on end — that wasn't just because your luck happened to be good, was it?"
Blow said it with a small smile. Remembering that time, Cunsai grew a little embarrassed and scratched at his cheek.
"Is that so."
"Yeah. Closer to something you chose than to luck."
While Cunsai looked sheepishly pleased, Megan let out a short, dry laugh and shook her head.
"It was a little creepy back then, though."
"I-I'm sorry! At the time, I..."
"That's already the eighth apology I've heard."
Megan answered him with a teasing air.
"It's probably past twenty."
"Yeah, well. That's not what matters. Everyone — let's enjoy this booth."
"Yes!"
And so the last meeting before the booth opened drew to a close.
The next morning, in front of their booth at Central Academy, Herbena — who had slept like the dead from the moment yesterday's exams ended straight through until this morning, and had only just managed to arrive on time — stood with her spirit already summoned, talking with Blow.
"Young Master?"
"What?"
"There's something I'm really curious about."
"Why a baby bear?"
"Yes. If you're going to do it, wouldn't a dragon be better? It's winter — give it an ice-dragon feel. Something with presence."
She said it with her fist clenched tight. Blow waved the idea off.
"That'd cause an uproar. It needs to look cute, at least, or people will be startled."
"You think so...?"
"Let's just see it once. So make it feel really soft and harmless."
"I'll do my best."
Herbena stretched out her hand at once, and a violet magic circle unfurled before her. The spirit fluttering at her side drew toward it, as if pulled.
⟨ Illusive ⟩
In an instant the spirit's body swelled to the size of a great jar, and round little ears sprouted from its head. A bear's form completed in a flash — cute enough to drop the jaw of Megan, who almost never showed an emotion except when swearing loyalty to Blow.
"So cute!!"
"Look at that nose. It's seriously adorable!!"
Linne and Melo, who had stopped by for a quick look that morning, reached for the bear before they even knew they were doing it. Their hands passed straight through, meeting nothing at all.
"It's an illusion, Melo."
"Aww..."
Melo poked at it again and again, reluctant to give up. The baby bear, for its part, had spread its arms wide, eyes sparkling.
Then Linne, who had been watching the spell, turned to Herbena in a voice edged with excitement.
"Th-this! This is Archmage Duchamp's magic, isn't it?"
"Yeah. You'll learn it in fourth-year spirit class."
"W-well, originally Duchamp made it as a romantic spell for his wife, but I-I heard it was used even more as a deception tactic in war."
"That's right."
"S-Senior! I-I want to make a cat!"
"Go ahead."
"I-is this the end??"
"Hardly."
The magic circle flashed again. The baby bear, which a moment ago had been no bigger than Melo, swelled until it reached the second story of the building.
"W-whoa!"
"It's a giiiant baby bearrr!"
Melo and Linne shouted in delight at the enormous cub. As if its head were too heavy to hold up, the bear flopped over onto its side, thoroughly undignified. Blow clapped.
"Perfect."
"Young Master? Shall I put it up on the roof?"
"Yeah. We've got permission, so... shouldn't be a problem."
The moment Herbena heard him, she lifted her hand. The baby bear rose lightly into the empty air and settled onto the roof.
"Herbena, how long does the spell last?"
"It should hold through lunch. I'll fly over then, cast it once more, and be on my way."
"Thanks, Herbena. For helping so hard."
Blow stroked her hair. In that instant Herbena's shoulders hunched, and the tips of her ears flushed red.
"Wh-what in the world is that!"
A man's voice carried from a distance, and every gaze turned toward it. A monocle, a notebook tucked under one arm, the neat lanky look of a man dressed with care — anyone could see he was a school official.
Cunsai, who until that moment had been staring at the bear in a daze, spoke up in a rush.
"Y-Young Master... you really did get permission, didn't you?"
"I did. Must not have been passed along properly. I'll go and be back. See you all in a bit."
"Yes!"
With that, Blow walked over to the official. Herbena, her spirits suddenly excellent, touched her own hair for no particular reason and hurried off toward her school.
"So cuuute!!"
The power of the giant baby bear was, quite frankly, tremendous. Not only the people inside the school, but those outside it as well, found they could not look away from the roof of the Arts and Culture Hall. However Herbena had worked the spell, the cub stretched of its own accord, rolled about, and even mimed eating honey the way it had earlier.
Just then the bear had casually flopped over toward the rear gate, and so the back of the hall — which ought to have been quiet — was packed with visitors wound in scarves.
"One pork, one mussel!"
"Yeess!"
No sooner had the words reached her than Melo ladled out a bowl of Skadi Mussel Stew and held it out. The customer who took it didn't eat at once. For a moment they simply clutched the bowl tight.
"It's incredibly warm!"
"The broth's really good, too. Try it!"
To the right of those customers a flame leapt up, and for an instant orange light seemed to wash across their faces.
"Whoa!"
Amid the shower of admiration, Blow was grilling pork on a broad iron griddle slicked with oil. With every flare, gazes that had been locked on the bear alone turned toward him, if only for a moment.
"Wh-what is that?"
"Ah, I'm a mage."
"A mage!! Then did you summon that baby bear too, handsome boss?"
"No. That spell has its own caster."
Among the people crowding in front of him, a boy who looked like a Central Academy freshman called out brightly.
"Whoa! I've never seen magic this close before."
"Pork's ready!"
At last, the Westriver pork grill. Drawn in by the rich, tender aroma of the pork, everyone lined up as if under a spell.
Then one of the customers tilted their head, puzzled.
"...Isn't that hot? Your hair's going to catch fire, isn't it?"
"The boss is a mage, remember!"
"What does that even mean? If you're a mage, you can't feel heat?"
Blow offered no particular answer. The fire he had called up was the very lowest grade of flame magic — nowhere near hot enough to singe a hair, little more than a warm hand-warmer. The flames, in other words, were pure performance. The one actually grilling the meat was Melo beside him, pretending to handle the first sear.
Melo, who knew this perfectly well, kept her lips twitching as she fought down a laugh however she could.
"Must be the open flame — that charred flavor is no joke!"
"Really!!!"
At that, Melo couldn't hold it. A laugh broke out of her. Blow shot her a look and quietly slid the grilled pork her way.
Just to the right of the two of them, hard at work sending their flames into the air, donuts crackled in the oil to mouthwatering perfection, and the sweet fragrance of vin chaud stirred the senses of everyone standing before the stall.
"Two vin chaud!"
"Green tea for me!"
Megan poured them with the precision of a machine and held out the cups.
"Here you are. When you're finished, please leave the cups to the side."
Unlike Megan, who never stopped moving, the donuts Cunsai and Luta had fried were piling up on the counter. The reason, most likely, was the price attached to them.
"Five pennies each, three for one silver?"
"Whoa... that's expensive..."
Whenever he heard words like that, Cunsai felt his heart drop straight down. Then he remembered the look on Blow's face — perfectly serious.
"This is still cheap. We've got to turn a profit somehow, don't we?"
Recalling it, he steadied himself once more.
"In exchange! The flavor will be on another level entirely!"
A little later, customers who had finished off their mussel stew and pork grill stood eyeing the donuts, still on the fence. Then one brave girl held a silver out to Cunsai with a crisp little motion.
"Three, please!"
"Yes! Right away!"
Cunsai quickly tucked the freshly fried donuts into a maple leaf. Steam still rose from them, their color deliciously tempting. She gazed at them with a face full of expectation, then took a great eager bite.
Beside her, Megan — who had just poured a green tea — and Blow, still working his flame magic, both watched that way with tense faces.
The girl's shoulders shuddered as she chewed.
"Whoa, this is sooo sweet!"
She let out a cheer and devoured every last donut in a flash. Eyes around her widened all at once, and the crowd began to stir.
"Sweet?"
"They said it's sweet!!"
"That sparkly stuff must be sugar!"
The moment one customer shouted it, everyone who had been hanging back lined up in one long rush, none of them waiting to see who would go first.
"Three!"
"W-we'll take six!"
"You don't sell them in fives?"
Dazed by a response as fierce as wildfire, Cunsai looked toward Blow — who already seemed wholly absorbed in his flames.
One customer approached him and asked, carefully.
"Boss?"
"Yes?"
"Do you happen to know what that booth up front is?"
The customer was pointing at the booth that would open once Herbena and Skadi arrived.
"Ah, that's our booth as well. It opens this afternoon."
"What is it...?"
Not only her, but the other customers as well, waited on his answer with expectant eyes.
"We're planning to sell a few things from our restaurant's menu. Cold drinks — lemonade, and the like."
"Lemonade? In this weather?"
The moment the words landed, every face said they didn't understand. Blow, who had been waiting for exactly that, set a portion of meat on a plate and held it out to her, adding in a voice that was quiet, but clear.
Against the backdrop of every startled gaze turned that way, Jane cast a spell upon the tub.
A little later, when they saw steam rising from the wooden tub, every one of them settled on where they would be spending the afternoon.