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Volume 4 Chapter 3.1

Translator: Reflet
Editor: Weasalopes

「I’ve been waiting for your return.」

　Soon after returning to Wulls Azuma Workshop, Hiroshi was met by Aearis, waiting at the entrance.

「Elle？　Oh, right, Alfemina-sama must have mentioned it.」

「Yes. I am rather sorry, but I simply followed what Alfemina-sama told me to do and had things go a little my way.」

　Seeing as how Alfemina had intervened through Aearis, it would seem that even the gods saw this plan as being in their interest this time around.

「Well, that’ll lighten our load, so I don’t mind. Heck, I’m grateful. But how far along are y’all?」

「We barely started, so nothing crucial. At most, I discussed this with Father and Brother, in addition to sending the message to Queen Misheila and Nazaria-sama.」

「Nah, that’s plenty far. Wait, how’dja even send it……」

「I asked the octogals to send it.」

「Ah～」

　Hiroshi let out a voice of understanding at what Aearis said. The octogals loved these sorts of errands. Especially when someone as beloved as Aearis asked them, the octogals would happily run around as many times on as many unconventional errands as they pleased.

「But Alfemina’s priestess princess ain’t got any real power, right? Is it cool to do whatever？」

「Generally, I cannot command anything other than what is decided in Alfemina Temple. However, as Alfemina-sama’s priestess princess, I can ask the king, the prince, or the prime minister to do something. I can only ask them, while the ones who run the country with the actual power are the ones who determine if it goes through, but this time Alfemina and a number of things to say, along with all of your achievements, and I was able to proceed things ahead quicker than usual.」

「Kay then.」

　Come to think of it, this was reasonable, but even if she only had authority without the power to back it up, Aearis could easily use her connections with powerful figures and ask them favors. Whether they would listen differed from time to time, but whether Aearis had any power or not didn’t matter.

　Besides, a priestess was, by definition, a mouthpiece of the gods. If the words of a god were to be conveyed, regardless of who was in power, there came a time when orders had to be carried through without exception. In fact, most temples were distancing themselves from power for that reason.

「Well, I got most of that. Imma git a gift real quick, so sit tight mate.」

「Okay.」

　Asking Aearis to wait at the dining hall she had just obediently entered, Hiroshi frisked through the storehouse for things best suited for gifts. They would generally be going to Darl, so based on the current season, something cool seemed best, and so what Hiroshi chose was ice cream that Haruna and Mio had made with obsession. And for the Darl palace, he chose three cooled plain soups that were ready to eat by merely pouring cool goat milk in, each of which were economical size, with ten meals packed in each variety. Incidentally, there were also soups for other kinds of milk as well, like cow milk.

「For starters, how ‘bout this？」

「I understand the ice cream part, but what might that box over there be for？」

「Magic powder to make cooled milk and cooled soup, mate. Darl specializes in goat milk, so it’s a seasoning that goes well with it.」

「Cool milk, you say？」

　Aearis’ eyes glinted in curiosity at Hiroshi’s words. She had already seen examples of how boiling water could thaw powder into soup with instant varieties, but cold milk was on another level. After all, the powdered soup she had seen up till now hadn’t melted all that well with cold water.

「……We’re gonna test it out in the palace, so wait a bit, kay?」

「Okay. Understood.」

　Comforting Aearis, who seemed to be incredibly itching to see the food in action, Hiroshi went into the transportation circle to at last show up to Darl Workshop. With unbelievably dexterity, the moment the two of them emerged in Darl Workshop, a carriage appeared out of nowhere to pick them up and take them to the palace.

「Whoa, they’re super quick on the uptake……」

「Calculating our arrival this skillfully…I am impressed with my sister Magdarena and Her Highness.」

「Wait, is it really ok fer us to get this vip treatment……」

「Actually, I think they only do this for state guests.」

　The splendor of the carriage that came for them and the quality of the tea brought immediately before them. Clearly this was state guest reception. There was also the timing of the carriage, and Hiroshi was worried that he, of all people, was being treated so well. Needless to say, Hiroshi did not seem to realize how crucial he was to both Farlane and Darl.

「Thank you very much～」

　The capital of Forre, Stiren. As soon as they arrived, Haruna and the others got permission to set up shop and then steadily increased their sales. Tatsuya went off on his own, going around and gathering information on things like what was going on in town or events that were being held.

「How’s storage look？」

「I think we’re about done.」

「Plenty of shops competing, and we still manage to make a sale? Wow.」

「Yeah, crazy.」

　It wasn’t clear whether Makoto was impressed or grumbling, and Haruna just smiled in a rather difficult to describe way as she responded. There wasn’t a single clear difference between their shop and the others, unless you counted the taste. Still, she didn’t want to believe that was the reason.

「Miss, can I have one Kansai-style?」

「Coming ri～ght up.」

　Haruna took an order and skillfully made a hotdog before handing it out. It was simply fast food, so it never took much time other than heating the sausages, and said sausages were continually being put on the flame in order to keep up with the constant flow of customers. As a result, everything was ready-made in under thirty seconds after taking an order.

「That’ll be twenty domas.」

「You got it.」

　Either it was Forre’s regional character or their food was just high in general, but still, mere hotdogs should not fetch such a high price. Although there were always changes via exchange rates and food prices, but in the case of larger scale hot dog market prices, the western nations had pretty much the same prices as Japanese yen, which was basically two hundred.

「Thank you very much～」

　Haruna sent them off with her usual clear voice, and the customer walked off in a good mood as they bit into the hotdog. Pulled in by the same voice, new customers showed up one by one. Compared to the peak in Wulls or Darl, this pace was far more leisurely, but still with plenty of customers.

「Ah-」

「Almost done？」

「Yeah. Ten more sausages to go.」

「Ah.」

　Hearing Haruna’s report, Makoto stopped her work at the right amount of sausages, making slits in them. Today, Makoto had done very rudimentary work (such as cutting slits through bread or inserting ingredients that Haruna prepared to complete hotdogs, etc) that anyone without cooking skill (or low cooking skill) could accomplish without greatly affecting the taste. Haruna was the one doing things like seasoning it with cabbage or adjusting the cooking level of the sausages, so even if Makoto’s part were a little careless, Haruna easily made up for it with ingredients.

「But wow, you seem to be handling your feelings quite well recently, huh？」

　The hotdogs finished selling without any trouble, and then Makoto asked Haruna something she had been wondering as they cleaned up shop.

「I am？」

「Yes. But it’s not like you’ve calmed down any. In fact, you seem more fiery than ever. Kinda weird. Any idea as to why？」

「Idea, huh……」

　Haruna contemplated a bit. Unlike in Darl, Haruna knew this time around that she no longer had the urge to touch Hiroshi. There must have been something that prompted this…

「The moment I touched the holy water from the evil idol, I was quarantined underground for three days right？」

「Right.」

「And I sort of felt refreshed after I rampaged a bit. Since then, rather than touch him, I felt more like I want him to come to like me, no matter how long it takes. So I guess it sorta became a war of attrition.」

「……Ah, so you let it out when you play sports……」

「Well, I guess so？」

　Hearing the reason Haruna gave, Makoto just gave her an exasperated look. She hadn’t thought that Igreos’ claim, of all things, could be accurate.

「Well, that just about does it then. Also, good thing Tatsuya isn’t here right now. There’s a little something I wanna ask.」

　Having asked the first question, Makoto then went to another topic that was best discussed away from Tatsuya, serious in both expression and voice.