Food from the Shinto Cities (Before)

Translated by AmaLynne
Edited by AmaLynne

The ‘Production Building’ is an annex building on the grounds of the Yuritania Palace.

Today, Yuri was in that building, which is practically occupied by <Rindou>.

Next to her were Sofia and Estoa, Yuri’s concubine, as well as Rosamia.

The former two were companions that Yuri had invited to accompany her, but the latter, Rosamia, had just followed Yuri on her own.

Since she was summoned, she has been staying by Yuri’s side as if she were her bodyguard, as if she had nothing special to do.

The four of us exchanged idle chatter as we visited the ‘cooking area’ in the production building. Euro, the owner of this section, immediately noticed that Yuri and the others had arrived and rushed over to us.

“Sister Yuri, I’m sorry you had to come all the way here.”

“If you call me, of course, I’ll come. I’ve brought Sofia and Estoa with me, just like you told me to.”

In response to Yuri’s words, Sofia and Estoa bowed their heads.

“That’s great. What I want to ask today is ‘tasting’. I’d like to ask the people of the Holy Land of Nimun and the Duchy of Selsia to taste the food as well.”

“Ah, I see―――so that’s why we’re here.”

“I’m sorry. You’re a busy girl, especially Miss Sofia.”

“Euro-chan has always been a great help to me, so please don’t worry about it. Besides, those who are in the top position are usually free to take time off.”

Sofia has established friendships with all the girls in the Yuri Empire.

It seems that he has already established a good enough relationship with Euro to call her ‘-chan’.

“You don’t mind that I brought an extra one with me, do you?”

“What do you mean, extra?”

Rosamia purposely puckered her lips in response to Yuri’s words.

“Of course, the more people we have a tasting, the better.”

“So, what dishes are you going to let us sample today?”

Euro, whose class is <Gourmand>, is a specialist in cooking.

Yuri is often asked to do ‘tastings’ for her. I’ve never been unimpressed by a dish she’s served me, not even once in the past.

The fact that she has a good track record and trust in me makes my expectations of her even higher.

“Ah, I’m sorry, Sister Yuri―――I don’t want to cook for today, I want you to taste the ingredients themselves.”

“The ingredients?”

“To be more precise, the ingredients from the city.”

After saying that, Euro took a basket out of nowhere.

The basket was piled high with fruit. I’m sure it’s been stored in her <Inventory> until now.

“My, there’s a lot of stuff in there. There are tangerines, strawberries, and peaches.”

“It didn’t fit in the basket, but here’s another one.”

Before I knew it, Euro was holding a large watermelon in her left hand.

“I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve had watermelon… I like it a lot.”

“Ah―――… Sister Yuri, you might want to eat it with low expectations.”

“Eh?”

Since she had taken the trouble to call her up to taste it, Yuri was expecting it to be quite tasty.

The fact that Euro said so―――perhaps there was something wrong with the taste?

As you would expect from a level 200 <Gourmand>. Despite the large size of the watermelon, Euro dexterously used the knife she took out of her <Inventory> to cut it into an edible size in less than 10 seconds.

Yuri held the cut slice of watermelon in his hand and looked at it with scrutiny and correction.

The watermelon was bright red and looked fresh and delicious. It didn’t look like there was anything wrong with it at all.

“……” 

When she tried to bite into the watermelon. Yuri couldn’t help but have a puzzled look on her face.

“How do you like it, sister Yuri?”

“It’s… a little… lacking in flavor, isn’t it?”

It’s not that it doesn’t taste good. It has enough juice, and it’s not bad at all―――

But to be honest, it’s not very tasty either.

The taste is vague and ambiguous.

“It’s not sweet enough.”

Rosamia, who was sitting next to Yuri, said simply.

“I think it was… Miss Rosamia, right? You have good taste.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere.”

When Rosamia said that, Euro was unintentionally impressed.

The word ‘not sweet enough’. I see… now that you mention it―――there’s something that makes sense to Yuri.

It’s not that there is no sweetness at all. But this watermelon is not sweet enough to satisfy the expectations of the eater.

For fruits, ‘sweetness’ is an important element in impressing the taste buds.

It’s just lacking there. It seems as if the overall taste of the fruit is vague and unclear.