YM778.TV Vol. 3 - Chapter 114 - Katariona Looks Forward to the School Festival
"It\'s been a while since we\'ve made sweets together."
Chris said with a nostalgic look on her face as she looked at the steaming buns.
With Marie and Leon\'s help, Chris and I worked diligently to make the dough.
"Yes, that\'s right. In the academy\'s kitchen, everyone in the class is there with us."
Our classmates knew how to make Dango ( Japanese dumplings ) and red bean paste ( adzuki bean paste ), but Chris and I, who were more experienced in making sweets, were entrusted with making the Manju.
"Shouldn\'t the Manju be finished steaming by now?"
I had to stop Leon, who was about to take off the lid of the steamer basket and start eating one of the buns.
"Oi! Leon, stop trying to sneak a taste."
"O, of course not! I\'m just checking the buns."
Didn\'t you just open your mouth and try to put a bun in your mouth?
"Ahaha. Fluffy-kun\'s a glutton, isn\'t he?"
"Leon-sama, you may try this one."
Marie seemed to have invented some kind of prototype pastry.
She handed Leon a plate of something crispy and fried.
"Leon, make sure you let it cool before you eat it. You have a cat\'s tongue."
"Rio, I\'m not really a cat, I\'m just a cat in disguise. I don\'t mind hot food."
And then he starts exclaiming, "Hafu-! Hafu--! Hot!" as he ate.
"Umu! Marie, this is delicious!"
"Marie, what did you make?"
I was curious to see what Marie was frying.
"It\'s a rice cake version of donuts. It\'s something like a fried rice cake. Would Your Royal Highness and Milady like some?
Mochi is a food made from glutinous rice. In Hinoshima, it is customary to eat mochi when welcoming the New Year.
They are very delicious, but if you are not careful to chew them well, they can get stuck in your throat. Sure enough, Leon, who was eating in his usual fashion, choked on the rice cake. I gave him a pat on the back.
"I want to taste it!"
I took the hot fried rice cake from Marie and put it in my mouth.
The first bite was crispy and the filling was chewy and delicious.
"Marie, this is delicious."
"It\'s really good. I think we should add this to the take-out menu."
There was no need for my "storage magic" this time. Sophie\'s parents, the Avington Trading Company, had lent us a magic box with a decent capacity.
It\'s not as if the magic box has an infinite capacity like storage magic, but it has the same effect of keeping time from passing.
The Avington Trading Company sometimes buys magic boxes that dungeon drops at high prices from adventurers. They use them to import fresh food from other countries.
The company has also decided to mass produce Mochi.
"Rio. I heard you\'re looking for a job at the Magic Academy."
"Who told you that? Ahh, the Crown Prince, right?"
After my brother and Tria\'s engagement ceremony, the crown prince was rather depressed on the carriage ride back to the palace. Then I heard him muttering to himself, and I overheard him say, "I can\'t believe you prefer being a magician at the magic academy than being the crown princess......"
"It sounded harrowing. But it\'s great that you\'ve already decided on your future path."
After I entered the Magic Academy, I became more certain.
I did my own research regarding the work of the Environmental Department of the Magic Academy.
I was interested in investigating magical plants, the flora and fauna inhabiting uncharted lands, and even the dangerous ecology of unknown monsters.
"I\'m sure you\'ll do well. After all, you are a member of the Forest God\'s household."
"What about you, Chris?"
Chris smiled as if troubled.
"My mother told me to prepare myself for the possibility of my brother\'s being disinherited. I originally studied imperialism, and I also secretly studied national politics under the Prime Minister, so I think I can handle it."
"So there\'s a possibility that Chris will be enthroned as the queen?"
Chris nodded.
"But if your brother changes his ways and takes over the throne, I\'m going to be given the Dukedom of Lioness. I want to rebuild that barren land."
"Then I\'ll give my blessing to that land."
Chris\'s face broke into a smile at Leon\'s words.
"Thank you, Fluffy-kun."
That day, they prepared for the festival while chatting until late at night.
The day of the school festival arrived.
It was a little chilly, but the school festival commenced under clear skies.
Our class A students were all dressed in Hinoshima costumes.
Sophie had prepared kimonos for the boys in dark blue and gray, while the girls\' kimonos were red and pink with patterns on the fabric.
I chose one of the dark red kimonos with arrow patterns and kasuri patterns that Kikuno-sama often wore.
Kikuno-sama had taught me how to put it on beforehand, so I was able to manage.
"The obi (sash)is a little uncomfortable, but it\'s much better than a corset," is what every woman in this country would agree.
Corsets are essential for wearing dresses, but they are just too painful. They are so tight that some women even fall down. I lost count of the number of times I longed to wear men\'s formal wear.
I put on the apron I borrowed from Marie over the kimono.
The girls who had finished dressing themselves were talking about the servants\' tailoring.
"The uniforms of our family are very simple. Afterall, the cuter the uniform the better, don\'t you think?"
Most servants wear black or navy blue to keep dirt from showing.
"Rio\'s family has a very elegant design, but it\'s also designed to be cute."
Alice commented, making me feel a little proud.
"Our uniforms were redesigned three years ago."
In fact, three years ago, my family completely changed the way the servants were dressed.
The idea came from a desire for the servants to be able to work comfortably, but once the clothes were changed, their work efficiency actually improved.
The fabric is soft to the touch, light, and easy to move in. Of course, it was Sandorion who designed it for me.
Thanks to them, when my family recruited servants, we were flooded with people.
But being a marquis household, we cannot hire a person without proof of identity or a letter of introduction.
"Hey guys, the guests should be arriving soon. Are you ready to go?"
Tojurou-san popped his head in.
"Yes! Tojurou-sensei. We\'re ready."
Alice, the class president, replied on behalf of the class.
The classroom we usually occupy has been transformed into a stylish café for today.
For the school festival, we can use any place we want. Sadly, priority was given to upperclassmen for the usage of the dining hall, where the kitchen was located. So our class wanted to use our own classroom.
Nevertheless, this is a magic academy where people who are skilled in magic gather. We could handle the cooking method any way we wanted.
The problem was the cooking utensils, but Chris contacted the magic academy and got us various useful magic tools.
We got an oven and some small stoves that we could easily insert magic stones into. There was also an automatic whisk, etc. .......
However, we have already prepared the food in the magic box that Sophie lent us, so we won\'t have to cook for a while.
I thought so, but...
"It was so sweet."
Perhaps it was because of the popularity of the festival, but we had a steady stream of customers right from the start, and we were about to run out of tempura manju and deep-fried mochi available for take-out.
"Those who can take a break, please do so in order! If you have an engagement, please give priority to that!"
Some of my classmates had promised to go around the school festival with their lovers or fiancées.
"Rio. Chris. You haven\'t rested at all, have you? You can go take a break if you want."
"Alice, you\'ve been busy since this morning. Let me take care of this and you can go ahead."
Alice, who had been giving orders and working hard all morning, looked pale.
"I\'ve brought a helper!"
The helpers that Tojurou-san had brought were Kikuno-sama and Ayano-san.
"It\'s been a tough day, everyone. Now, please go take a break in turns."
"I\'ve brought some more Manju and mochi. I\'ll fry them up for you."
Kikuno-sama and Ayano-sama had prepared extra Manju (steamed buns) and mochi (rice cakes) in anticipation of such a situation. Thank goodness for that.
"Rio, I\'ll help you."
Even Leon had come to help out.
"Leon, are you sure your class will be okay?"
"It\'s a horseback training session. There are plenty of people who can teach them to ride without me."
I see. Leon\'s class is a riding class, huh. No wonder my brother has been riding so much lately.
"Hey, Rio. Who is he? He\'s so handsome!"
"I heard his name is Leon. By the way, what happened to your cat, Leon?"
My classmates kept bombarding me with questions.
"He\'s a relative of mine. Leon the cat ....... Maybe he\'ll show up soon."
I wanted to go around the school festival with Leon.
I guess I won\'t be able to go see the S-class performance now."
"I know right. I was looking forward to it."
The S class is doing a play with Angel as a knight and Tria as a princess.
"My cousin can do Projection Magic, shall I ask him to record the S-class\'s performance?"
Ryan Marcus Wright was the one who made the offer. Yes. Ryan Marcus Wright is the younger brother of Joseph Marcus Wright, the Prime Minister\'s aide.
"Could you please, Ryan?"
"Understood! Let\'s have a special viewing party to celebrate the end of the school festival."
Everyone agreed with Ryan\'s suggestion. The venue for the launch was Tojurou-san\'s laboratory.
"Hey, Leon. I\'d like to go somewhere during the break."
I secretly whispered to Leon.
"Good. I have something to tell you."
What does he have to tell me? What could it be?
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