kscans

Chapter 174 - Episode 9: Part Two, The Experiment Succeeds

"That's a bit thick. Just one slice, then."

Maytyl said, looking at the chestnut yokan cut to twice its usual thickness.

"This is also part of the experiment."

"It's not some suspicious nut, is it?"

"I can eat some first if you want."

I tossed a piece into my mouth. Alfina and the others followed. Maytyl, with a guarded expression, cut the yokan into a small piece with her fork. She put it in her mouth, moved her cheeks slowly, and her small, pale throat made a swallowing sound.

"Oh, I like this. It has a sort of fluffy, warm taste."

Noel said while munching away. She immediately bit into a second thick slice. Now her cheeks looked like a squirrel's.

"Yes. I quite like it as well."

"Hmm. A sweetness like this is more to my liking."

It seemed the chestnut yokan was a hit with the girls and the old man. Now, for the main target.

"How is it?"

"The nut itself has a simple flavor that I like. It pairs well with the sweetness of the yokan. The way it crumbles in my mouth creates an interesting contrast with the softness of the jelly. Yes, it is certainly delicious."

Maytyl's cheeks relaxed into a smile. "Yes," I thought, pumping my fist internally. Meanwhile, Sherry, who had been completely on edge, let out an obvious sigh of relief.

Maytyl cut off small pieces of the yokan and brought them to her mouth. Through the double-sized portion of jelly, a large amount of sugar entered her system. All that was left was to wait for the results.

"So, what was this experiment about anyway? Don't think you can distract me just because it was tasty."

Maytyl, who had been moistening her lips with green tea in satisfaction, asked as if she had just remembered.

"The results will show up a little later. I'll call you then, so you can continue with your own experiment for now."

This test wouldn't work if she was conscious of the effect. After all, the measuring instrument this time was the subject's own senses.

"That's suspicious. But fine, I'll look forward to it. Now then, we don't have much time, let's begin. The amount of magic in a Castle-Eating Worm's Magic Crystal is one one-hundredth of a normal one. We'll need a lot of ingenuity to measure it."

Maytyl tilted her cup back as if to drain it and stood up. Noel, who had been in the middle of eating, hastily swallowed the yokan in her mouth and followed. As Maytyl walked up the stairs, her steps seemed to have a certain strength to them.

"We had Princess Maytyl eat the salad just as you planned, Ricardo-kun. But will this method really work?"

Alfina asked with a worried look.

"That depends on the outcome. If the results of the experiment are what I expect, we'll know why Princess Maytyl skips lunch. And we'll have a countermeasure at the same time."

"The way you call it an experiment... No. I understand."

"You made me go through all this terror. If this doesn't work..."

Sherry gave me a resentful glare.

"Weren't you all excited about the Caesar and honey mustard dressing recipes during the taste test?"

"They were delicious. They really brought out the flavor of the vegetables but..."

"If this works, I'll need you to pitch this dressing to the duchess too."

"Ahh... one job after another that I absolutely can't fail. I knew this would happen. But I can't refuse since it involves Rilka."

Sherry held her head in her hands. I suppose I can't be helped. If things go well, I'll give her the Caesar salad recipe too. I'm pretty sure they have bacon here. I should ask Dalgan-senpai about it.

◇◇

"This method isn't working. Even extending the exposure time yields no reaction."

"What if we extend the length of the slit instead of the width?"

"No, at the start we should prioritize the sensitivity of a specific area over the breadth of the measurement range."

I waited about two hours before heading upstairs. The three of them were in a heated discussion in front of a blank sheet of Magic-sensing Paper. There was more energy in Maytyl's voice than usual.

"Looks like you're struggling."

"That's true but. Why do you look so happy? You're not hiding some useful information, are you?"

Her complexion seemed a bit better too. A piece of yokan that size must have been close to three hundred calories. It was only temporary, but her sugar levels must have been replenished. Now, the issue wasn't just the amount of replenishment but one other factor. That seemed to be fine as well.

"By the way. How's the drowsiness?" I asked.

"Oh, now that you mention it."

Maytyl blinked a few times, then shook her head with a puzzled look.

"That's strange. After eating that much, I should be unbearably sleepy. Was it that nut? Oh, could it be something that affects the magic within my body?"

"No, chestnuts aren't magic items. It was actually what came before..."

"Princess Maytyl. The adjustments are finished. I need you to adjust the circuit for the exposure."

Noel said, holding a new slit. Maytyl turned toward Noel with a flourish.

"Muu, too bad. I can't step away right now. I'll have you tell me about your, about Ricardo's experiment before I leave. Right, I wouldn't mind taking that yokan, you know."

"No, it's not the yokan..."

Maytyl returned to her work before I could explain.

Oh well. It wasn't a blood test so it wasn't definitive, but for now, the verification was a success.

◇◇

"Thanks to you, the experiment was a success, for now."

I said with a bright expression as I headed to the director's office where Alfina and Sherry were waiting.

"Tell me what meaning there was in making me walk on such thin ice. It's about vegetables, right? I'm curious about that."

"That's right. I was the one who asked for this in the first place, so I want to understand it properly. Otherwise..."

Sherry's eyes were fixed on me. Alfina seemed curious too.

"First, let's organize the problem. The problem is Princess Maytyl's lack of appetite."

"Not eating breakfast is a habit, so that can't be helped to an extent. The problem is that she also refrains from lunch to concentrate on her work in the lab. If we can improve just that, the situation will be better."

She does eat a minimal amount. So the point of improvement is to fix situations where she only has a single small roll for lunch. Of course, there are other long-term issues.

"To do that, we have to deal with her post-meal drowsiness."

Alfina nodded in agreement with my assessment.

"As for the cause of that drowsiness. I believe the sugar dissolved in her blood is the problem."

I said. Both of them looked puzzled.

"Sugar in the blood?"

"Here comes something I've never heard of again. Sugar, you mean the sugar in the yokan, right? But you don't need sugar. Most people go a year without eating it even once. Well, we've had more opportunities to eat it here, though."

Sherry said. Actually, part of the reason I thought of this was that I myself had been a little concerned about my sugar intake. Well, unless every single factor aligned like with Maytyl, it wasn't something to worry about in this world.

"No, wheat is also packed with sugar. Seeing is believing. I want you to chew on this until you can taste it."

I handed small pieces of a white roll to Alfina and Sherry. A surreal scene unfolded of two cute girls silently moving their mouths. Noticing my gaze, they both covered their mouths. A shame.

"Is it gradually getting sweeter?"

In response to my question, they both nodded repeatedly while still covering their mouths. Inside their mouths, the starch in the wheat was being broken down by saliva, making it taste sweet.

"Actually, wheat flour is a lump of sugar. In other words, when you eat a normal meal, sugar gets absorbed into your body. Most of the nutrients you get from a meal are effectively sugar. That is to say, sugar is the main nutrient that powers the human body."

The sugar in this case is glucose. The sucrose we call sugar is actually a composite of glucose and fructose, but let's set that aside for now. In any case, fifty percent of the energy for the body's cells comes from glucose, and glucose is supplied to the cells from the blood. It's no different from putting sugar in the culture medium for a Mucus. This is what's known as blood sugar level.

"You're trying to say she gets sleepy because she hasn't eaten enough, so her blood sugar level, or whatever, is low."

"But if that's the case. Wouldn't it be strange to get sleepy after eating?"

The two of them tilted their heads. Their understanding was correct. As far as I could surmise, the cause of Maytyl's post-meal drowsiness was, as Sherry said, a "drop" in her blood sugar. However, the cause of that drop was a temporary "spike" in her blood sugar.

"The truth is, blood sugar levels are controlled with extreme precision."

I picked up the piece of the roll I had given them earlier. It was about one-tenth the size of a small dinner roll. The total amount of sugar in my entire bloodstream was probably only about this much.