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Volume 1, Extra: The encounter of a young boy. Part 4

Rutobias finally asked about the ingredients for the cookies and the shortcake he had eaten yesterday, and Risa invited him to the kitchen, saying that it would be faster to actually see them.

Rutobias went behind the counter and followed Risa into the kitchen.

“Whoa!”

Rutobias exclaimed in pure innocence.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of chocolate and some sweets that were fresh out of the oven.

“Miss Risa, what’s wrong? That child is…”

“Zeke, sorry to bother you when you’re working. This boy is Rutobias, a chef-to-be…one day. Rutobias, this is Zeke. He’s one of the chefs here, and your senior.”

The man who had peeked out to look at Rutobias was in the kitchen. Following Risa’s introduction, Rutobias introduced himself to Zeke.

“I’m Rutobias Ashley Mathias. I’m an elementary first year at the general academy.”

“Zeke Brown.”

Rutobias was a little scared of Zeke, who answered with a blank expression. To the young ten year old, Zeke looked larger than life.

“Sorry Rutobias, Zeke might look scary but he really isn’t. He doesn’t really show anything on his face, but he loves sweets as much as you do.”

Seeing Rutobias flinch, Risa chuckled and teased Zeke.

“Miss Risa…despite my face, I do care what you say about me, you know?”

“Sorry, sorry. Well, you’re getting better than when you first started working here! But your coolness is your special quirk.”

Zeke seemed a little down at Risa’s teasing, but Risa laughed and replied lightly as always.

Although he felt a bit left out by how close the two were, Rutobias sensed a kindred spirit in Zeke.

“I’d like to let Rutobias see us at work, do you think you can keep going, Zeke?”

“I see, I’ll do so.”

“Then Rutobias, come with me.”

Rutobias bowed to Zeke, who returned to work, and followed Risa who waved at him.

“First, could you wash your hands here? Even if you’re watching, just in case for sanitary reasons.”

“Okay.”

He stood next to Risa at the sink and washed his hands according to her instruction, mimicking her smooth movements. He used soap and a brush to thoroughly wash even his nails.

“All right. First, let’s go with shortcake.”

Risa took out a large jar from the refrigerator.

“This is…milk?”

Rutobias tilted his head at the familiar ingredient.

“Yes, it’s milk.”

“How is this related to shortcake?”

“Hehe, everything! After all, the white part of the shortcake is made with, you guessed it, milk!”

“What!? That was milk!? But milk is a liquid! No matter how you look at it, the white part of the shortcake I ate wasn’t a liquid!”

Rutobias raised his voice in surprise to Risa’s words.

“You’re right! That’s why I thought to show you the actual process.”

Watching his disbelief with excitement, Risa began to take out the necessary tools.

Rutobias quietly watched her.

On the worktable was a silver, metal container and a metal cup with gradations on it. There was also a remarkable tool where a couple of oval shaped wires were stuck to a handle.

Rutobias was completely in the dark on what the tools would be used for.

“Seeing is believing, let’s start then!”

Risa said happily and poured the milk into the cup with the gradations. Once it met one of the gradations, she poured it into the big metal container.

“What are you doing?”

Rutobias, confused by why she needed to pour the milk twice, asked Risa.

“This is called measuring. I’m adding sugar later, but there is a set milk to sugar ratio. If it were different every time, the sweetness would also be different every time.”

“I see…”

The work that seemed twice the effort had actual reason for it.

While she explained to Rutobias, Risa finished measuring the milk and took the strange tool.

“Now we’ll be using this curious tool.”

Risa put the wire part of the tool into the container with milk inside.

Rutobias prepared himself for magic to happen and watched Risa’s movements.

Risa picked up the container to fit snugly between her body and her left hand and began to mix the contents with the tool in her right.

Rutobias stared.

“…Um, Miss Risa?”

He called out weakly to Risa. However he felt a pat on his shoulder and turned to see Zeke, who had been working on something else.

“Just watch.”

His face showed a shadow of a smile. Zeke had experienced the same thing as Rutobias, and couldn’t help but call out to him as he watched.

Risa chuckled and continued stirring, the bowl in her hands rattling with the sound of metal on metal.

After a while, the milk began to transform. It was originally liquid, but it began to thicken and seemed to increase in volume.

Risa stopped in the middle to measure in some sugar, causing it to thicken even more.

“And whipped cream is done! This is the white part of the shortcake.”

Risa lifted the tool she had mixed with, and the milk that had stayed on the tool stood up, making a stiff peak.

It seemed like magic, and Rutobias stared at the transformed milk in awe.

“…How did milk turn into this?”

“It’s not a surprise that you’re surprised. Actually, Zeke asked me the same thing. To be honest, this isn’t normal milk. It’s from milk fruit that was left alone longer than usual. Try a bite?”

Risa said, pouring a bit of milk into the measuring cup and handing Rutobias a spoon.

Rutobias scooped a spoonful of milk from the cup and put it in his mouth.

“It…seems richer than milk…I think?”

“Yup. Ripe milk has more fatty content, so it’s richer. Then you mix it with this tool, a whisk, to thicken and give it shape.”

This time, Risa took a spoonful of the solidified milk and handed it to Rutobias.

Rutobias put it into his mouth, and sure enough, it was the white part of the shortcake he had yesterday.

In spite of his astonishment, the process had happened before his eyes so he had no choice but to believe it.

He found it remarkable that such a delicious thing had never existed in this country until now, and discovered reverence for Risa who made it like it was nothing.

…There are always higher heights.

From when he was small, Rutobias was lauded as a genius. However, now he felt that the word should be used for this woman, not him.

Suddenly Rutobias felt incredibly dumb for dancing to other people’s tunes. Perhaps Risa did not show any of her struggles on her face, but there was definitely no sign that she had any from how nonchalantly she explained the recipe for the dessert.

“…What the heck.”

“…Hm?”

“…No, it’s nothing.”

Rutobias’s shoulders suddenly felt a lot lighter.

No matter how much knowledge and talent he had, none of it mattered. It was all about how he used it.

Perhaps he had no talent in cooking. However, he at least wanted to see the future of the person who moved his heart.

“Miss Risa, please teach me more.”

“…Usually I’d advertise the recipes sold at the Ashley Company right about now! Is what I’d like to say…but just for this boy overflowing with curiosity, I’ll make an exception.”

“Yes!”

After that, Rutobias watched Zeke make cookies and asked all the questions about the tools he had never seen before and much more. They also showed him how to make butter, the essential ingredient for cookies.

Despite first impressions, Zeke listened to Rutobias more than Risa and they became closer. After all, he was the same as Rutobias, where he fell in love with Risa’s food and chose to walk the path of a chef.

Zeke knew what Rutobias was experiencing.

“You don’t have to rush. There is much to learn, not just from your studies, but also from hanging out with your friends. I used to be a knight, but I don’t regret it, and my experience shows in my cooking. Go out and experience the world, look, hear, eat…your experiences will lead back to good food. Well…all of this is advice I received from Miss Risa, though.”

“Yup yup! Go out, experience things, be troubled, and fail as much as you can! Failure is the mother of success, and delicious miracles can be born from culinary failures! That’s why don’t rush, don’t give up, and have fun!”

“Yes!”

Risa and Zeke smiled at Rutobias’s energetic response.

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On the way home from Café Omusubi. The streets were dyed in sunset red.

His shadow stretching on the pavement, Rutobias went home with a bounce in his step.

His culinary studies weren’t set in stone yet. However, after talking to the store owner of Café Omusubi, Risa, and Zeke today, he felt like his goal was slowly becoming clearer.

He walked towards home. For some reason, even such a simple everyday thing seemed to shine today.

He stopped and looked up at the indigo sky to see the crescent moon peeking out from the clouds.

Rutobias reflected on the events today. He took a deep breath and stepped forward again.

Around two years later.

There would be a new cooking department established at the Feliformia National General Magic Academy, but at the time there was no way Rutobias would know of it.