KoushaRyouri ~C27

 

Chapter 27: Coffee beans

 

 

"That's enough, Mildy. You too, Luciel-kun."

 

Finally, Richil-san's small lightning strikes.

 

I hurriedly pull my hand back while Mildy-san sticks out her tongue.

 

"Ehehehe."

 

But Richil-san's mood doesn't improve.

 

She stared at Mildy-san with furrowed eyebrows.

 

"Mildy. Did you oversleep again?"

 

"Sorry, Richil. Because I'm weak in the morning. Wow. ......"

 

Mildy-san sighs heavily in front of me. Apparently, she is weak in the morning.

 

Seeing her partner in such a state, Richil-san put her hands on her hips.

 

"Geez!"

 

Then I hear a clattering sound.

 

When I turned around, white steam was gushing out of the pot.

 

"Then, why don't you both have a drink? It will refresh you."

 

"By the way, Luciel-kun. What are you going to make by boiling water?"

 

Well, you'll see.

 

I took out black beans from my tool bag.

 

"Baked ...... beans?"

 

She blinks and points to the beans in my hand.

 

I use wind magic to break them into powder and put them in a cloth bag, then pour a small amount of boiling water into the bag.

 

"Whoa!　Smells good!"

 

"It's just like a cup of tea."

 

Mildy-san's tail and ears stand up.

 

Richil-san also takes a deep breath. Her cheeks blush, and she is captivated by the aroma.

 

After about 20 seconds of steaming, I pour hot water over the beans one more time to extract the ingredients inside, and voila!

 

"This, this is..."

 

"It, it's like charcoal water."

 

Mildy-san looked obviously puzzled, while Richil-san also smiled bitterly.

 

I prepare two more cups in the same way and serve them.

 

First, please drink them as they are."

 

Mildy-san and Richil-san look at each other after seeing me smiling when I offer the drinks.

 

"Since you've made it..."

 

"I can't say no."

 

The two received their cups and quickly took a sip.

 

""Bitter!""

 

Their words and expressions are the same.

 

Aside from Richil-san, Mildy-san seems to have a cat tongue even though she is a yellow fox.

 

"Ho-ho-hot...."

 

She stuck out her tongue and panicked.

 

"Hot! It's also very bitter, but... It woke me up."

 

"When I smelled the aroma, it seemed delicious. But it still has that charcoal-like taste."

 

Their reaction was as expected. I couldn't help but smile.

 

"Ah. That face!　Luciel-kun, you expected it."

 

I'm sorry.

But that's the authentic taste.

Now let's try drinking it a little differently."

 

I take out sheep's milk and sugar from my bag.

 

"Luciel-kun, it seems that anything can come out of your bag."

 

Richil-san curiously peeked into my bag.

 

I will tell her the secret of this magic bag some other time. Now I want her to drink the coffee I made.

 

Coffee is the name of the drink I have just prepared.

 

I pour a little bit of sheep's milk and add one spoon of sugar.

 

"Try to drink these."

 

I offer the coffee to them again.

 

Mildy-san and Richil-san drink them, this time cautiously.

 

""Delicious!""

 

Their words were totally opposite of what they had said earlier.

 

"By adding sheep's milk and sugar, the bitterness is suppressed nicely.

Instead, the bitterness gives a nice accent, making it easy to drink."

 

"Now that you've added sheep's milk, the temperature has dropped. Thanks to the sugar, the taste is just right!"

 

The two of them drank their drinks at once.

 

""Phew.""

 

They both exhale in satisfaction.

 

I am glad. They seemed to like it.

 

"Luciel-kun's cooking has many flavors I've never tasted before, but they are delicious."

 

"This... What drink is this?　Did it exists 300 years ago?"

 

I shook my head.

 

"No, I've spent 300 years making it.

 

"I never thought we could make something this good by pouring hot water over baked beans."

 

"300 years... Of course, but that's hard to copy."

 

The two are impressed.

 

"I call it coffee. The name comes from the beans I use."

 

"Coffee? Beans?　Could it be that you mean coffee beans?"

 

Suddenly, Richil-san began to panic.

 

Mildy-san, beside her, looks blank.

 

I could not understand why she was in a panic.

 

"What is coffee?"

 

"Mildy, why don't you read books sometimes?　I especially recommend the Magic Herb Book."

 

"Reading a book thicker than a restaurant's menu list makes me sleepy."

 

Mildy-san curls her tail and closes her ears with her hands.

 

Richil-san puffed out her cheeks.

 

"Geez...."

 

"Coffee beans are a rare type of magic plant. Just one bean is said can increase one's magic power."

 

"Increase magic power!　That's amazing!"

 

Mildy's eyes shine.

 

"But it's a very expensive magic herb, isn't it?"

 

"But, Luciel-kun. You were crushing a lot of beans when you made this a while ago, right?"

 

"Not just that. The beans were baked, right?"

 

"Then, we drink them all just now."

 

Jiii....... (stares)

 

They both stare at me.

 

Eh?　Their faces are kind of scary.

 

"Did I do something wrong?"

 

"No, no, but did Luciel-kun know about this effect?"

 

"You mean that coffee beans are magic herbs, and their effect is to increase magic power?　Yes. I knew that. But the increase is very small. I... Maybe it's because I drink every day. My magic power doesn't increase at all."

 

"Every day!!"

 

"Magic power does not increase!!"

 

The two are utterly disappointed. Their faces turn blue like blue cheese.

 

Every day for 300 years, so how many cups?"

 

 

"He says it doesn't increase... Just how much magic power does this boy have?"

 

 

Mildy-san hung her head because she couldn't calculate by hand. Richil-san hung her head with a blue face because she imagined my magic power amount.

 

Now that I've let out a breath, what shall I do now?

 

For now, I need to clean the pot and cups.

 

Ah. That's right. I don't need these either.

 

I get up and throw the bean fragments in the cloth bag into the garden.

 

""GYAAAAAAAAAA!!""

 

Mildy-san and Richil-san screamed.

 

Ah. Oops. I scattered them on the ground like usual.

 

This was not under the camphor tree but in the garden of the Letivia family's house.

 

"I, I'm sorry. It was just my usual habit. I'll pick them up myself."

 

"It's fine to throw them away, but they are such rare beans... Don't throw away even a fragment."

 

Richil-san's eyes widened as she tried to pick up bean fragments on the ground.

 

Mildy-san also does the same thing.

 

"That's right. What a waste!　Ah!　Found it!"

 

When they find one fragment, Mildy-san and Richil-san are very happy.

 

I couldn't keep up with their enthusiasm at all.

 

"Eeto... Is it a waste?"

 

"That's right. We can still extract this! Because coffee beans are very rare."

 

"We have to drink them all until they are tasteless."

 

""Fuuhn""

 

The two snort.

 

"Don't worry about it. I still have lots of coffee beans."

 

I take out some coffee beans from my magic bag and show them.

 

Their eyes widened so much that I thought their eyeballs would come out of their sockets.

 

"What the hell!　Luciel-kun! How many coffee beans do you have?"

 

"Well... Maybe, I have enough for one month.　If I go back to the mountains, I can get them in the farm behind my house. I can bring you fresh beans right away."

 

It's a long way from the mountains to here, but not too far if I use my [levitation] skill.

 

"Even if I don't take care of the farm, they will keep growing. So it won't be a problem, right?"

 

Ng?

 

"........"

 

"........"

 

When I turned around, Mildy-san and Richil-san were still in the position of scraping the garden soil. They looked completely white as if they had just burnt out.