Volume 3 Sequel 1.5
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Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes
「Mm～、guess that’s that？」
Haruna had returned from Darl Palace. Ensuring that no scent remained in the kitchen by properly ventilating it, she continued fixing the chocolates. Mio was readying the bath in order to wash away the smell.
「Tatsuya-san, can I have a moment？」
「Mm？」
Tatsuya went down to the dining hall when Haruna called him. He saw her standing by her product with confidence.
「Is it alright if I have your opinion？」
「Sure. Is that what I think it is？」
「Mhm. I came up with the best way to keep the taste the same but lessen the smell.」
「Oho？」
Tatsuya listened to her as he took one in his hand, closely examining it. True, if he put his nose close to it there was hardly any trace of it.
「Barely smells like chocolate.」
「I know, right？」
「Still, I do think that smell is an important component of eating. What about that？」
「Guess we’ll know after we try it？」
「Got it.」
He complied and carried the square mouthful to his mouth. After lightly biting into it, the scent and flavor of chocolate spread throughout his mouth.
「Oho, I see now.」
「Now we just need to get rid of the smell from the breath and the first step will be complete, I think. What do you think？」
「Yeah. That’s it.」
The first step in the chocolate problem. The objective of making chocolate that Hiroshi wouldn’t recognize as chocolate seemed to have been practically solved on the first day.
「So what about the taste？」
「It’s a bit thick, but there are a bunch of even weirder ones overseas. Well, I think it’s passable.」
「Ah, I thought everyone might find that part concerning.」
「Everyone? So you asked others for their opinions as well？」
「Mm. They began by saying it wasn’t a huuuge deal but then sort of just gave their honest thoughts.」
Tatsuya smiled uncomfortably at Haruna as he put another bite to his mouth. It truly was tough on the consumer. Although the flavor was thick, he also felt like he could get used to it for some reason. It was probably due to the nature of the dairy product used, but if it weren’t for Haruna the chocolate likely wouldn’t have been edible. The only ones who could complain about this were maybe those accustomed a bit to the refined taste of the palace food, thought Tatsuya shrewdly.
He was in fact spot on with his predictions. This is just between us, but anyone who was used to sampling their food from open market stalls were in high approval of this, and there was a scramble for it like never before.
「For now it depends on Hiroshi-kun’s reaction, but I’m thinking of making this a base for the chocolates we eat from now on.」
「Sure, why not? And so you wanna make a bunch of stuff using this as the base？」
「Yeah, I can make finger chocolates. And then chocolate pudding and all that.」
「In that regard, you really are a normal girl, eh? In the end, you put all your energy into sweet things.」
「Why not? I can use the skill as a weapon in negotiations and whatnot.」
Even though the premise was that she wanted to eat chocolate herself, Haruna seemed to be diverging from her original intentions in a severe manner.
「Haru, bath’s ready.」
「Mm, I’m coming right now.」
Once they had come to a satisfactory conclusion, Haruna went off to where Mio was in order to wash the smell off. Tatsuya, who went to the kitchen to check it out, found himself in awe at how skillfully she had erased the smell from the area.
「Wow, a maiden in love is not to be trifled with……」
「Yeah, although I think it’s a shame in many ways that she chose Hiroshi.」
Tatsuya muttered in both exasperation and disbelief as he munched on a mint to clear up his breath when Makoto came from behind with a comment of her own. Apparently no one had been there when she got back, and she had gone in the kitchen to check if anyone was there.
「So you’re back. Is your little errand over？」
「In no time flat. Although I still feel there were plenty more things to say to that boy.」
Feeling a tinge of unease at Makoto’s last sentence, Tatsuya asked her about the other person who was supposed to be there.
「What about Hiro？」
「He’s finishing up over there. He should be back anytime now.」
「Okay. We have some things to take care of by the time he gets back.」
「Things to take care of? You mean the chocolate on the table?」
「Yep. I mean, we just left them there. We’d better hurry back.」
Things would not go well at all if Hiroshi were to return and accidentally lay sight on them. Tatsuya and Makoto thought of that as they returned in a hurry. Of course this kind of trouble wouldn’t be occurring every time like this, and after they returned and Makoto taste tested the chocolate, Hiroshi had returned.
「I’m back. Hey, what’s that？」
「You can’t smell it？」
「I got a hunch based on the plans ye had today, but I don’t smell nothin’.」
「Just in case, come a bit closer.」
Hiroshi could easily guess what was going on, but he came closer to the plate of chocolate just as Tatsuya had told him to.
「Think you can handle it？」
「Yup. Even if ya sneak up behind me with summa this, I ain’t gonna be shook or nothin’.」
「Okay. Then all that’s left to fix is the breath.」
「What is my breathing like？」
「Ya don’t smell all that much despite eatin’ a chocolate.」
Hiroshi answered the question after sniffing and still appeared to be the same. He probably wasn’t entirely fine, but neither was he particularly out-of-sorts. It went without saying that this was the fruit of all his extra labor after being strengthened in this world.
「So if it’s at this level, do you think we could eat it frequently and you’d still be fine？」
「I think so. I might even get used to it.」
「That’s good. Tell that to Haruna and I bet she’ll be overjoyed.」
「Gotcha. Seems like I made her work a heck of a lot.」
「Well, it’s mainly because Haruna wanted to eat some, so it makes sense to work this much.」
Makoto felt a bit sullen at Tatsuya’s slightly arrogant comment. Still, Makoto saying anything in this situation wouldn’t be right at all, as she simply received the fruits of everyone’s labor while not putting in any work herself. After all, Tatsuya could still live without chocolate, but the girls could not stand being without it. They just weren’t made that way.
「Hopefully you’ll be able to eat it soon.」
「Yup. Once I’m able to, no one’s gotta worry ‘bout what we eat.」
Hiroshi calmly remarked. Both men truly felt humbled by Haruna’s perseverance and passion. It would have been great if it had ended here, but
「Obviously the mushroom variety is the best！」
「Bamboo shoots are supreme! How do you not understand this！」
「Hey, what are we going to do now……」
「Ahahahaha……」
Haruna had let Hiroshi’s gratitude go to her head, making a bunch more chocolates and causing a war to break out in Darl palace between mushrooms and bamboo shoots. They would receive a grim reminder of the consequences of their actions in places like Forre and Lorren later on.
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