Chapter 4-7 : Preparation Before Escorting Ⅱ

 

「Anyway, you can give me some of your hair later. The last things I need are beans, salt, and a couple of rusted nails.」(Sarasa)

「Rusted nails? That’s a weird thing to add.」(Lorea)

「Well, you need some unusual things to make unusual artifacts.」(Sarasa)

「You also need beans and salt. Are you going to cook something?」(Lorea)

「Alchemy is like cooking. Sometimes you use food ingredients.」(Sarasa)

「I see…」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan tilted her head as she replied. It was hard to tell if she was convinced or not.

Beans and salt are food ingredients she sees in the kitchen almost every day. She probably didn’t expect that they could be used to make an artifact.

Actually, there are many alchemy materials that can be eaten. They are mostly ingredients to make potions, but some can also be used as materials for making artifacts.

「Remember the honey from Rotten Fruit Bees?」(Sarasa)

「Geh…!」(Iris)

「That cursed honey, huh…?」(Kate)

Iris-san and Kate-san suddenly made disgusted faces as they muttered to themselves.

They probably recalled the moment they almost died of stomach ache after eating that honey.

「Ahh… You mean the honey that made Iris-san and Kate-san suffer a while ago…?」(Lorea)

「Yup. It’s food but it’s also an alchemy material. As you know, it’s poisonous but you can eat it after processing it properly.」(Sarasa)

Talking about honey from Rotten Fruit Bees, I still have some of it in my warehouse. I wonder if I should sell it or eat it… Of course, I have to process it first.

「Uhh… This conversation reminds me of that awful experience…」(Iris)

「I, I’m sorry… Honestly, I was just thinking of taking some of the honey I store in my warehouse for us to eat together. Of course, I will process it first, but…」(Sarasa)

Honey from Rotten Fruit Bees is special. It won’t rot no matter how long you store it.

I was planning to take some for us to eat and store the rest in case I will need them to make something in the future, but… Should I sell it instead…?

Honey from Rotten Fruit Bees is way more delicious than honey from regular bees, so it’s a shame to sell it, but if it traumatized Iris-san and Kate-san, perhaps I better sell it instead of putting it on our dining table.

「Hold on… If you process it, you can safely eat it, right? Its poison was horrible but the honey was delicious, so…」(Iris)

「Iris, are you sure? It indeed tasted really good but we tasted hell after that…」(Kate)

「Kate, Store Owner-dono will process it so we won’t have a stomach ache. Do you forget how delicious it was?」(Iris)

「I don’t, but… Uhhh… Now that you mentioned it… Remembering how it tasted makes me want to eat it one more time…」(Kate)

Eh…? I thought they were traumatized…

Remembering how the honey tasted, Iris-san and Kate-san drooled a little as if they had totally forgotten about their suffering.

If they’re fine with it, I guess I won’t sell it then.

「By the way, Sarasa-san, is that honey expensive?」(Lorea)

「Yeah. It’s a lot more expensive than regular honey. After all, it can also be used as an alchemy material.」(Sarasa)

Back then when I wasn’t an alchemist, I couldn’t even buy regular honey because it’s a luxury food. Honey from Rotten Fruit Bees is beyond that. Can you imagine how expensive it is?

「A lot more expensive than regular honey…? Then it must be suuuuper expensive…!」(Lorea)

「Yeah. However, rich people like Master usually have it on their dining table. I sometimes eat it when I visit her shop, so I know how delicious it is. I once ate a sweet called canelé Maria-san made with that honey. It was ridiculously delicious! The crispy surface and the soft inside matched perfectly with the sweetness of the honey!」(Sarasa)

「*Gulp*… Was it that delicious…?」(Lorea)

「Yeah. I’ll never forget the taste. Honey from Rotten Fruit Bees contains a little bit of alcohol, but if you heat it, the alcohol will vaporize and make the honey taste even better. That’s why people often use it as an ingredient to make bread, cakes, or sweets.」(Sarasa)

Even though Maria-san’s cooking skill is outstanding, I think her canelé tasted extremely good mostly because of the honey.

Honestly, that was my first time eating such delicious sweets.

Ahh~ I want to taste it one more time…

I was poor back then and couldn’t afford luxury foods, so I was very grateful to Maria-san and Master who gave me the chance to eat such sweets.

I wonder if I can make the same canelé if I follow Maria-san’s recipe… But before that, I’ll need a baking pan. I think I’ll ask Jizdo-san to make one for me.

「Umm, Store Owner-dono…」(Iris)

While I was thinking, Iris-san called out to me a little timidly for some reason.

「Yes?」(Sarasa)

「Ahem! …Almost dying from stomach pain was certainly a terrible experience. However, we have overcome it!」(Iris)

「That’s right! I think we should overwrite those horrible memories with good memories. For example, the memories of eating delicious canelé!」(Kate)

In other words, they want to eat canelé after listening to my story.

They’re easy to understand…

「Ah, but if you need money, I think you better sell the honey…」(Iris)

Iris-san looked a bit sad when she said that. Looks like she really wants to taste the honey one more time.

I haven’t gotten any money from Adelbert-san because he still hasn’t sold the crops from his territory. I told him to store them until the market price returns to normal, so I can’t complain.

But even so, I still have money from selling Salamander Materials a while ago.

Moreover, because I donated my money to help Diral-san build the new inn building, I got a portion of the money she made from the new building.

Therefore, I don’t think I need money right now.

「Well, having more money is great but honestly, I also want to eat canelé, so…」(Sarasa)

「S, So…?」(Iris)

Iris-san, Kate-san, and Lorea-chan were looking at me with eyes full of expectation.

「I will use some of the honey to make canelé instead of selling it.」(Sarasa)

「「Yaaayy~!」」

The three then raised their arms and yelled in joy at the same time.

「But not in the near future because I will be busy making a Homunculus, Resonance Stones, and Nord-san’s Floating Tent.」(Sarasa)

「Oh, right.」(Iris)

「Don’t worry, we understand.」(Kate)

「I can’t wait to eat it~」(Lorea)

Seeing their happy faces, I couldn’t help but smile.

I can’t wait to eat it either.

 

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