Chapter 643 – The Visit of the Spirit King

“…Well then, I think I’ll go get some more.”

“Other things might make me gain weight if I eat too much, but that miso soup seems safe enough. I think I’ll get seconds too.”

When Dominique stood up somewhat bashfully to ask for more miso soup, Justia rose from her seat with her, smiling.

Hmm. Well, rice is indeed a carbohydrate, so it does have the aspect of being easy to gain weight from if you eat too much. Those two sing at the theater, but they don’t do training or labyrinth exploration. I understand why they’d be concerned about that.

“In that case, me too.”

“Yes. It is a new dish we have the chance to try, after all.”

Perhaps having heard their conversation, Rovisa and Princess Elham also hesitantly went to get more miso soup. Well, I’m just glad they like it.

“I’ll work hard in training and exploration to make up for it.”

Meanwhile, Sheila seemed unconcerned about such things and was thoroughly enjoying her meal.

“This soy sauce has a different color – does that mean it’s a different type? The flavor seems different too,” Ophelia asked.

“Ah, that’s because it’s a fermented product. The darker one has been heat-treated to make it easier to preserve and last longer. I think the heating process causes some changes in components, which alters the color, flavor, and aroma somewhat.”

“How fascinating that the color changes too. It reminds me of herbal tea I drank when I was little,” Ophelia said with a smile at my response.

Herbal tea… meaning herb tea. Associating the color change with herb tea is very like Ophelia.

“That’s probably Mallow Blue Tea,” Rosemary said.

Ophelia seemed to recall something, answering with a bright smile. “Ah, I believe that’s the herb.”

“I have some with me. It might make for just the right after-dinner amusement. I can prepare it if you’d like…”

“Ah, that sounds interesting.”

“If you’re making tea, I’ll help.”

At mine and Grace’s words, Rosemary nodded and began searching through her Magic Bag.

Tea that changes color, huh? I’m not very knowledgeable about herb tea, so I don’t know the details, but it seems like it could be quite entertaining.

Tea aside… what was the reason soy sauce changes color when heated? It might be important for food credibility to recall this properly in case I’m asked to explain.

I have memories from Kagehisa’s knowledge about this, having been told various details about soy sauce production.

If I remember correctly… it was something about substances created by component changes due to heating being brown in color? And that these substances produce the color and aroma.

Well, leaving such details aside, I do think unpasteurized soy sauce is delicious. Being a fermented product, it certainly has aspects that make it difficult to handle, but if we can manage to provide it well, I think we might be able to make soy sauce and miso exclusive selling points for the Labyrinth Trading Company even if they become popular in the future.

Apparently it won’t deteriorate if it doesn’t come into contact with air, but if bacteria remain, it might not be suitable for sealed storage. That’s because if fermentation progresses, the container could expand or even burst.

So then… if we could remove just the bacteria from unpasteurized soy sauce and put it in containers that don’t contact outside air, long-term preservation might be possible?

If we can control bacterial activity with Magic, we might be able to manage that aspect too. Let’s make that a research topic for the future.

The servants were also enjoying the grilled dishes, miso soup, and grilled rice balls. Overall, miso and soy sauce seem to be well-received.

And so dinner settled down, and at the usual time for after-dinner tea and conversation, Rosemary and Grace prepared Mallow Blue herb tea for us. To make it easy to appreciate, the clear blue tea was poured into transparent glasses.

“This is… beautiful,” Ashley said with a smile.

“Such a vivid blue is quite rare,” I remarked.

“Even if the appearance is rare, the taste is rather plain,” Rosemary responded to my comment.

Since just looking at it wouldn’t do, we all tried drinking it.

“Indeed, there isn’t much taste. When I drank it before, they said it was tea made by combining several herbs.”

“They might have aimed to provide visual enjoyment along with the aroma. As I mentioned earlier, this tea changes color over time. It also has effects for soothing the throat and regulating the stomach and intestines.”

“That it’s good for the throat might be nice,” Dominique said happily.

Hmm. Rosemary’s knowledge about such herbs is truly impressive.

And so we leisurely enjoyed our tea while watching the color change.

Marlene, Seraphina, and Lasnote sat together, intently watching the color change with great interest. They seemed captivated as the vivid blue gradually changed to a purplish color.

“You can also do this,” Rosemary said, dripping plenty of juice from a sliced lemon into her own glass. Then it changed from purple to pink. At this sight, Marlene and the others smiled happily and applauded.

So by adding lemon juice, you change the pH value, huh. As I was admiring Rosemary’s skill, she herself placed a plate with sliced lemons on the table, then took out a feather fan and said, “Well… it might be fun to try changing the color according to preference. The shade changes subtly depending on the amount of lemon too.”

In other words, if you want to change the color, feel free, I’ll leave the rest to you. Rosemary is weak to straightforward goodwill.

Seeing Rosemary like this, Grace smiled gently.

Ashley, Marlene and the others, along with Sion and the younger group, immediately lined up their respective glasses, adjusting the amount of lemon juice and enjoying creating gradients. Claudia and Ophelia watched the younger group’s antics with amused expressions.

“Well then… Since we’ve had the chance to drink tea that’s good for the throat,” Dominique said, clearing her throat slightly as if checking her throat’s condition.

Seeing this, Justia and Irmhild seemed to sense something as they looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

“That’s good. Shall we provide some after-dinner entertainment too?”

“Yes. Then let’s do it together.”

When Justia took out her harp, Irmhild also picked up her Lute.

And so the three of them filled the courtyard with cheerful singing and musical sounds. When Irmhild and the others perform in settings like this, the atmosphere is different from their theater performances. They seem to select somewhat more rustic pieces from their repertoire.

As I relaxed listening to the three’s performance, my Monocle reacted. The Spirits were becoming lively. This is—

“Ah. It seems Marl-chan and Luskinea-chan and the others have come,” Floria said, having noticed something with a bright smile.

Water swirled and took human form, while above, what seemed like a whirlwind danced, and from within each appeared Water Spirit King Mahr and Wind Spirit King Luskinea.

Following that, flames rose up, and Fire Spirit King Rakerd appeared, while earth piled up and Earth Spirit King Profion also manifested.

“Good evening.”

“Sorry for the sudden visit.”

Luskinea greeted us energetically, while Mahr smiled quietly.

“No, no. Good evening.”

This place could be called both my home and Floria’s territory, and it’s an area with high spirit affinity. It seems to be a place where high-ranking Spirits can manifest without problem.

Well, well. The fact that the Spirit Kings have come to visit probably means they’ve gathered some information about Dominique’s homeland. They said they’d let me know when they collected any information.

“Is it about Dominique after all?”

“Yes. Though we don’t have definitive information yet.”

“We thought it would be better to inform you sooner rather than later.”

The search for Dominique’s homeland is currently in a state of waiting for information collection from the Spirits.

Even with a wide search range, time is needed for Spirits with information to return.

Even if we find Harpy settlements, if there’s no one there who can communicate with Spirits, we can’t even talk directly to the residents, making it even more difficult. So we’re thinking that when we find settlements, we’ll compare them with maps and terrain to create models, then have Dominique look at them to search for similarities with her homeland…

“I actually think it’s fine if you don’t push yourselves, since everyone is busy right now. Even during the decisive battle, I want to be helpful to everyone, so I want to stay here too,” Dominique said, temporarily pausing her performance.

Well, when she says things like that, it makes me want to help her all the more – that’s just human nature.

“I’ll respect Dominique’s will.”

“Yes. Absolutely on that.”

Dominique nodded with unwavering, determined eyes. Justia could have returned to her homeland of Grantios but chose not to. Dominique probably wants to respond to that friendship.

While this information might not necessarily identify Dominique’s homeland, depending on the location, we might be able to push the Sirius to its limits and go there and back in one go. Even though the decisive battle is approaching, we should have that much leeway.

If things go well, we might even be able to use the nearby Moon Temple as a teleportation base for easy coming and going. Well, first, let’s hear the information from the Spirit Kings.