Sweet as Jelly -3
On the way back after driving off the royal guards, I ended up with more than twenty thousand coins. For the first time, I actually felt grateful the Witch was with me.
“Witch. I see you in a new light.”
“What?”
“You saved me back there.”
“Ugh, you pathetic loser. I only helped because you looked so damn pitiful.”
“Thank you…”
“And stop letting other guys beat you up.”
“Got it.”
“No one’s allowed to hit you except me. Only I get to hit you.”
“Ah… yeah… I’ll consider it an honor.”
The Witch puffed out her chest with a satisfied expression, then held out one hand toward me. Resting in her palm was a pudding. She hadn’t eaten the last one; she’d been saving it. It looked like she’d been planning to savor it later, yet here she was, offering it to me.
“Is this… for me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because I was going to give it to you from the start.”
“Really?”
“Yes. It’s the best flavor.”
“You deliberately saved the best one for me?!”
“Whatever. Just eat it already.”
The Witch would never do something like that. With a puzzled look, I accepted the pudding and practically inhaled it. Orange pudding. Tart yet sweet. So smooth it melted the moment it touched my tongue.
“It’s delicious…”
It tasted even better because the Witch had given it to me.
“I can’t believe you gave me the last pudding…”
“So you’d better be good to me, right?”
“I am being good to you…”
“Be better. Now that you’ve eaten, what’s next?”
“We have to find the jelly!”
“Right. No time to rest.”
The Witch hurried me along. So that’s why she gave it to me? A carrot to make me work harder…? I stopped by a shop we were passing and asked about fruit jelly.
“Fruit jelly? What’s that?”
Surprisingly, many people had never even heard of the dessert. Maybe it really was a high-class item.
“Oh, you mean the one made with konjac?”
“Yes, yes. Do you know where I can buy some?”
“You won’t be able to get it anymore.”
What kind of lightning-from-a-clear-sky news was that? Not able to buy it…?
“Why not?”
“They can’t import devil’s tongue anymore.”
“Devil’s tongue?”
“Yes. The main ingredient for making konjac. The lord banned its import a few months ago.”
“What? Why would he do that?”
“It was because of… Sylvia, was it? I heard it was over the woman the lord kept chasing.”
“Sylvia…? You mean the pudding shop owner?”
“Oh! Yes, that’s her!”
“What does chasing after her have to do with devil’s tongue?”
“Ah~ you must not be from around here. It was quite the scandal. After the lord got rejected, he threw a tantrum and banned devil’s tongue imports. Her shop used to sell jelly, but she switched to pudding not that long ago~!”
“Unbelievable…”
Lucas was involved again… What the hell kind of connection did we have in our past lives?
“So there’s no way to get jelly in this village?”
“Exactly. No ingredients. Someone needs to convince the lord to lift the ban on devil’s tongue.”
“Couldn’t they just grow it locally?”
“Devil’s tongue doesn’t grow in this climate, so it has to be imported… but he’s banned that, so…”
The merchant shook his head helplessly. It seemed there was no easy solution right now.
Should I go find Lucas and tell him to lift the import ban? Not like he’d listen just because I asked. And I didn’t particularly want to, either.
When I came out looking grim, the Witch asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Looks like getting fruit jelly is going to be harder than I thought.”
“Why why why!”
The Witch exploded, screeching at the top of her lungs. How was I supposed to explain this?
“Well… the ingredient needed to make konjac is banned from import, so we can’t get any.”
“Banned? What idiot put a ban on it? I should ban him from breathing.”
“Calm down, Witch. They said Lucas did it.”
“Lucas? Who the hell is that?”
“The lord. The guy whose ass I kicked the other day. Did you already forget?”
“Oh~ that guy?! Lead the way. I’ll wring his neck.”
“You can’t wring his neck. Sigh… There has to be a better way.”
“Better way my ass. If you can’t get it, you know what I’ll do, right? I’ll destroy this whole village.”
“N-no, you can’t. Just wait a little. There has to be a way.”
The Witch was furious, stomping her feet so hard the ground shook. Still not satisfied, she puffed out her cheeks and started hopping in place. Was there really no good solution…?
After thinking it over, I decided to visit Sylvia. If she could convince Lucas, there might be a chance.
"We're closed for the day~!"
“Hello.”
“Oh? It’s you from earlier!”
Sylvia greeted me warmly.
“What brings you here? All the pudding’s sold out…”
“Ah, well… I actually have a favor to ask.”
“Hoho. Are you here to ask me on a date? Sure, I was just getting hungry. Want to grab a meal?”
“Huh…?”
And that was how I somehow ended up on a date with Sylvia.
…Or not. The Witch came along, and the three of us went out to eat. The Witch clearly didn’t like seeing me with Sylvia; she grew unusually quiet.
“You two aren’t lovers, are you?” Sylvia asked.
Of course not. I waved my hands frantically and denied any such relationship. Seeing that, the Witch crossed her arms and became even quieter.
We were on our way to eat chicken baeksuk when the Witch suddenly turned down a different street.
“Hmph. I’m going back to the old man’s house. You two eat without me.”
The Witch refusing to eat? What was going on?
“Oh? If you want. Go on ahead then.”
I waved goodbye. The Witch paused, staring at me intently from a distance. I had no idea why she was looking at me like that, but Sylvia urged me to come inside the restaurant, so I left the Witch behind and stepped in.
She’d find her own way back, I supposed.
Once inside, Sylvia and I each ordered chicken baeksuk. How long had it been since I last had a proper meal? Ever since meeting the Witch, I couldn’t remember the last decent dish I’d eaten.
“What should I call you?” Sylvia asked.
“Oh! I’m Allen.”
“Allen…? That name sounds familiar…”
Of course it would. But I didn’t want to reveal anything first.
“Does it…? Haha. I wonder where you might have heard it…”
“I can’t quite remember! Anyway, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too. Actually, I have a favor—”
“Chicken baeksuk is ready. Careful, it’s hot.”
I missed my chance to speak. Oh well. We could talk after eating.
The steaming chicken baeksuk looked incredibly tender at first glance. Rich white broth with finely chopped green onions on top. Nothing could beat this. I seasoned it with pepper and salt, then took a spoonful of broth.
Slurp.
Mm…? This was it. Exactly this. The rich, hot liquid sliding down my throat and warming me from the inside out. My whole body trembled as heat spread through my organs.
“Good, right?”
“Wow, yes. It’s really rich.”
“Once you fall for this flavor, you can never go back.”
Sylvia dug into her chicken baeksuk with gusto, yet somehow still looked graceful doing it.
“I’m surprised. I wouldn’t have thought you’d like this kind of food, Sylvia.”
“This kind of food?”
“Ah… sorry if that was rude. You just seem so cheerful and elegant that I assumed you’d prefer fancier places.”
“So you have those kinds of prejudices too, Allen?”
“No, no! It’s not prejudice… just unexpected, that’s all.”
“I hate people like that! The pretentious ones and the prejudiced ones! Since when does food have social status?!”
Sylvia puffed her cheeks in adorable anger. Looking at her face alone, you wouldn’t think she was mad at all.
“You’re right, you’re right. Still, I thought you’d prefer something like chateaubriand.”
“Not at all! I don’t dislike it, but that doesn’t mean people who eat at places like this are low-class, and people who eat chateaubriand are automatically refined, right?”
“Sorry. I spoke without thinking.”
“Not at all. I’m the one who got too worked up. Sorry about that.”
“Haha, it’s fine. It was actually impressive.”
“I’ve met too many people like that lately and it’s left a bad taste in my mouth!”
From the way she spoke, it was clearly about Lucas. I was curious what Sylvia really thought of him.
“It’s Lucas, isn’t it…?”
“Oh my! You can’t just call him Lucas like that! You’ll get in trouble!”
“It’s fine. I don’t judge people by status when it comes to names either!”
“Hoho, how bold! If that petty Lucas heard you, he’d have you beaten!”
“Come on, who’s going to report me?”
“That’s true! As long as the royal guards don’t overhear.”
“I heard he was pretty persistent with you… is that true?”
“Mm… yes. He was a truly terrible person. For a moment I thought he might actually be kind, and I almost fell for it.”
Listening to Sylvia, it felt impossible to ask her to persuade Lucas. Her tone made it clear she was completely fed up with him.
“You really dislike him that much?”
“Well… he does seem to have some good sides, but his pretentious way of speaking really grates on me. And he looks down on people…”
Just as I thought—this approach was hopeless. I’d have to find another way.
We finished our chicken baeksuk and left quickly. In both hands I carried portions packed for the Witch in bamboo containers.
“Aren’t those heavy?”
“I’m fine. I figured your friend might like chicken baeksuk too.”
“Ah, I see~ You two must be close.”
Were we close? I wasn’t sure how to answer that.
“Well… if I had to put it that way… I guess?”
I laughed awkwardly. We were heading toward Sylvia’s shop. My plan was to walk her there, then return to the old man’s place.
As we neared the shop, I spotted several men moving around busily. Wait… the royal guards?
Our eyes met. The moment they saw my face, they shouted.
“There he is! Allen’s right there!”
What the hell? Weren’t we done with this earlier? Don’t come near me, you bastards…
“Sylvia, run!”
“What? Why…”
“Just run! If they catch us now, we’re in big trouble.”
I tossed the chicken baeksuk aside and fled with Sylvia. They were probably out for revenge. My head was spinning…