95 - Strange Alf
The puppy I named Kokumaro follows me everywhere I go lately. That said, I can't very well let him follow me all the way into the pantry, so I prepared a blocking board instead of a blocking bar. Since he's still a plush toy-sized puppy, I can stop him just by creating a bit of height.
...He is cute, though.
He hasn't been trained yet, so I couldn't give him too much freedom either.
The ginger I just had bought for me today isn't something I plan to use immediately. First I'll put it away in the pantry, and while I'm at it, I plan to look for other things I might be able to use.
When I followed Bart into the pantry as he carried preserved fruits, there was clearly more stuff than before. I'd heard it was winter storage, but it seemed too much to be just for Leonardo and me. I wondered if Bart and Tabitha's food was stored together too, but apparently their provisions are kept separately in the annex pantry. So that means this really is a whole winter's worth of food stored for Leonardo and me -- and it's a lot. I don't exactly keep track of how much meat and grain we normally eat, but I can tell this is way too much no matter how you look at it.
"Isn't the winter shtorage a bit too much?"
"It's just that a guest will be staying for a while, so it feels like more than usual."
He explained it wasn't particularly excessive, and I accepted that. Bart has served at the Fortress Lord's Residence since before Leonardo became lord, so it must be true.
When I showed interest in miso, I put the ginger in a corner of the imports from Napaji that had been ordered along with various other things. Besides miso, there's also soy sauce, mirin, and although it's not really cooking sake, there's also sake from Napaji, so if I can get some dashi, I should be able to make Japanese-style dishes.
...Well, I mean, I didn't really cook that much in my past life, so the flavor might be questionable, you know?
I did cook by looking at recipe books, but I don't have enough experience to recreate the same dishes I made back then relying only on intuition and memory. The only things I can attempt are really simple ones. When I get nostalgic for Japanese food, it'd be best to enjoy it as a snack.
...Soy sauce, ginger, mirin and sake, right? Huh? Don't you leave out the mirin? And then I want meat and potato starch for tatsuta-age.
Heating oil to frying temperature requires quite a bit of firewood. I feel bad using it up just for my snack, so I'll ask for it when there's some other occasion.
The next day after thinking about that, the day I could try frying things arrived sooner than expected.
When I went into the kitchen to watch Tabitha prepare dinner as usual, I was gently pushed by the back and chased out of the kitchen. That was a bit unusual.
"You must not come into the kitchen today."
"Why not?"
They won't let me touch knives, but normally I'm at least allowed to watch from the side. Being completely shut out of the kitchen like this is really unusual.
"We have a guest coming today, so it's a feast. Since we'll be frying things, Tina-sama, it's dangerous, so please don't come into the kitchen."
"Fried sthings! Please let me fry them with you!"
Delighted at the chance to use the ginger so soon, I stepped into the kitchen, and Tabitha slipped her hands under my arms. Before I could resist, I was lifted up and carried out of the kitchen.
"The oil splatters and it's dangerous, so Tina-sama must not come into the kitchen."
"...Then pleathe fry them for me, Tabitha-san."
I wasn't about to let this chance slip away, and when I pressed her, Tabitha quickly raised the white flag. She must have thought accepting my request would be faster than chasing me out over and over.
"Pleathe cut the meat for me."
I had Tabitha cut the chicken I'd liberated from the pantry. I couldn't remember whether ginger should be cut or grated, so I decided to use it grated. I completely forgot the proportions, so I'll make the soy sauce a bit heavier and everything else one-to-one. If it fails, I can improve it next time. I'll decide about the mirin after tasting it today too.
While the meat soaked in the prototype tatsuta-age marinade, I was bored, so I tried making pancake batter for the first time in a while. For this, I used less milk to make the batter a bit firmer. Then if I scoop it with a spoon and drop it into the oil, it should become something like a donut.
...It's the same batter I made at Aurelia-san's place, so I might need to adjust the sweetness with sugar, though.
At any rate, I'd prepared what I wanted fried. Now I just had to leave it to Tabitha and stay away from the kitchen obediently.
I was teaching Kokumaro 'paw' and 'sit' when a nice smell drifted from the kitchen. It was the distinctive savory aroma of soy sauce being heated. I found myself twitching my nose along with Kokumaro when Bart brought over freshly fried tatsuta-age and donut-like treats. He'd even thoughtfully included a small fork.
"Mmfuuh! It's delicious!"
The freshly fried, piping hot tatsuta-age was absolutely delicious. It was tasty, but if asked whether this was real tatsuta-age, I felt it was a bit off.
...Was the mirin unnecessary, or should I reduce it a bit?
It was undeniably tasty, but it lacked that decisive touch. That's how it tasted.
...But it's good. The ginger aroma is nice.
Kokumaro was standing on his hind legs with his front paws on my feet, looking cute, but no matter how cute he is, I can't let him eat human food, so I had to endure it. I didn't use scallions, but I wasn't sure if it was okay to give it to him.
I tried the donut-like treats too, but as expected, they lacked sweetness. They were like soft castella, but I felt they needed more sweetness, like dusting them with sugar.
While enduring Kokumaro's 'gimme gimme' attack and checking the taste of my creations, I heard the front door knocker.
...Huh? Is Leonardo-san back?
Almost no one comes through the front entrance of the Fortress Lord's Residence. It's not that no one ever comes, but it's mainly Leonardo the lord, his friend Alf, me the resident, and a gatekeeper bringing messages from the fortress. As far as guests go, that's just Alf.
...Perfect timing. I'll have Leonardo-san taste it while it's still warm.
Feeling a bit improper about my manners, I opened the front door still holding the plate with donuts and tatsuta-age. I intended to greet Leonardo, but standing on the other side of the door was Alf.
"Ah? It wash you, Alf-san."
I'd failed. I'd assumed Leonardo was back and came to the front door with the plate in bad form, but standing at the entrance was Alf, my occasional guest. We're not on such formal terms that I need to put on airs now, but it was a bit awkward.
...Is something, strange?
I felt a slight sense of wrongness about Alf and stared at him closely. His hair was the usual sparkling blonde, and today he was wearing a red formal outfit.
...Is it the color of the clothes? His image feels different from usual.
Basically, the Black Knights wear black-based clothing. This applies to Alf too, who's more fashion-conscious than the other Black Knights -- he seems to enjoy being stylish with accent colors and accessories, but the base is still black. Wearing red is unusual for him.
"I heard a guesht wath coming today, sho it wath you, Alf-san?"
I said that and was convinced for a moment, but Alf coming over is so ordinary that I don't think Bart and Tabitha would bother calling him a 'guest.' Something didn't sit right, so I observed Alf more closely, and behind the door stood two other men in white uniforms.
...Ah, these are probably the real guests.
Even for a young girl, I knew it was bad to greet people while holding a plate. Alf would laugh it off as usual, but doing it in front of people I'm meeting for the first time was bad. The two behind him were definitely Leonardo's guests too.
"Umm..."
Now, how should I cover this up? My mind was racing, but no good ideas came.
...Ah, whatever. Can't be helped, I've already failed anyway!
I decided to brazen it out and act like a young girl to cover up. I stabbed the small fork into a piece of tatsuta-age. Then I held out the tatsuta-age, fork and all, to Alf.
"Alf-san, pleathe tashte it."
There, say ahh -- I looked up at Alf with a calculated full-beam smile befitting a young girl, but Alf just looked troubled and gave a wry smile. The one who reacted instead of Alf was one of the men behind him.
"Young lady, could I have one too?"
A young man with soft golden hair stepped forward and knelt before me. His polite gestures and fluid mannerisms made me think it might not be right to have a guest taste things at the front door, but I handed over the fork anyway, as if compelled.
...What is it about this young man? His mannerisms are completely different.
If I had to put an image to it, I'd say a knight from a storybook, or a prince. Every single movement was refined, and even though he was eating tatsuta-age impaled on a child's fork at the front door, it was strangely picturesque.
...The incongruity is amazing too, though.
The sound of chewing and strange silence continued. I felt uncomfortable and wanted to escape, but since I was the one who'd asked him to taste it, I couldn't. As I stared fixedly at his throat swallowing, the golden-haired man tilted his head slightly.
"...What's this aroma? I can tell it's soy sauce and mirin (nirimu), but..."
"It'sh ginger (aguoyasu)?"
"Ginger? There's ginger in it?"
"The meat wath marinated in ginger, soy shaushe, mirin, and shakhe, then coated with flour and fried."
When I finished explaining the recipe in the flow of conversation, the golden-haired man turned to Alf and reported, "It doesn't seem to be poisoned."
...How rude.
I pouted my lips, and Alf, still with that wry smile, bent down a little.
"Could I have one too?"
"It'sh not poishoned, but I won't give any to Alf-shan anymore."
When I stuck out my tongue, the black-haired man standing behind widened his eyes in surprise. I think it's fine for a young girl to be this innocent, but why was he surprised? Feeling curious, I stabbed a donut with the free fork and called out to the man behind.
"Would you like to tashte it too, mischter?"
"...I'm on duty."
The golden-haired man gave a soft impression, but this one seemed like a sullen man. There's no knight in Grenore who would refuse a young girl's invitation because he's 'on duty.' Pathetically. I pulled the fork back with a "Too bad," and when the golden-haired man asked about the donut, I answered, "It'sh fried pancake." The donut-like treat is just a 'like' after all, so I can't introduce it to people as a donut. Since he'd offered to taste it, I held out the donut to the golden-haired man, and he gave it high marks. He said he liked the restrained sweetness.
"...By the way, little miss, are you a child of this residence? This should be Leonardo's residence."
The golden-haired man tilted his head, adding that I didn't look like a servant's child. I was wearing a hand-me-down apron since I'd been in the kitchen, but underneath I had on a good quality dress. Anyone with an eye for it should be able to tell I'm not a servant's child.
"That'sh right. I'm shorry, let me shtart over."
There was nothing to be done about the plate in my hands, though. Since I'd been asked who I was by who seemed to be a guest, I thought I should greet him properly as the one watching the residence. I straightened my posture, tucked in my chin, turned to the golden-haired man, and gave a proper young girl's greeting.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Tina. I'm shupposed to be Leonyardo-shan's little shishter."
...Yeah, I tried my best, but I stumbled anyway. Not a great finish.
The golden-haired man introduced himself as Timon, and the other man told me his name was Aaron. I'd assumed they were the guests, but apparently not. They said they'd come to the city of Grenore as escorts for Leonardo's actual guest.
"...For now, could you let us into the residence, Tina?"
"Of courshe. Alf-san and Timon-san and everyone, pleathe come in."
I took Alf's hand with my right hand that wasn't holding the plate and led them to the living room. I could have them rest in the living room for now, and leave the escorting of the two bodyguards to Bart. After guiding the three to the living room, I called out to Bart, and he went back to the kitchen saying he'd prepare tea first. As for me, since they were technically guests, I wasn't sure if I should just leave them and returned to the living room. Inside, the three of them had Aaron standing in front of the door like a guard, and Alf and Timon were glaring at each other.
"The tatsuta-age is gone!?"
I'd left the plate behind when I went to call Bart since carrying it around was awkward, but somehow all the tatsuta-age had disappeared.
"Who was it!? Who ate it all!?"
Leonardo hadn't even tasted it yet and it was all gone. I glared at the two of them with anger, and Timon looked apologetic while Alf stared at Timon with an accusing gaze.
"Alf-san, that's mean!"
"Wha -- no, Timon is..."
"Don't you daresth shtink of ginger and try to blame other people!"
When I pointed out that blaming others wasn't very manly of him, Alf looked puzzled. Did he really think he wouldn't get caught? When I pressed him about lying so easily, Alf dropped his gaze to the puppy at my feet, trying to change the subject.
"What a cute puppy. What's his name again?"
"It'sh Kokumaro. Rich in flavor, with a mellow taste...?"
The real origin is 'Koku' (black) 'maro' from his black fur and white maro eyebrows, but since 'maro eyebrows' wouldn't make sense to anyone, I explain it as 'rich in flavor (koku), with a mellow (maroyaka) taste.' When I told this story before, Alf said 'The origin is so mysterious there's absolutely no way I'll forget it,' but here he was asking again.
...Alf-san is quite forgetful too, huh.
Kokumaro was hiding behind my legs. He's supposed to become a guard dog in the future, but with him hiding behind his master (me), I can't say I have high hopes.
...Why is Kokumaro hiding?
Kokumaro, the future guard dog, recognizes me and Leonardo as his masters, and seems to consider Tabitha and Bart as family too, so he doesn't bark at them. He's still in the process of learning the gatekeeper's face, but he clearly remembered Alf's face since Alf visits so often. Kokumaro loves Alf so much that he wags his short tail and follows him around as soon as he sees him.
And yet, Kokumaro was hiding behind my legs, not coming out.
...Huh?
I couldn't get as far as I planned...
I'll fix typos and errors another day.
I've corrected the typos and errors I found.