Chapter 23

Faint morning sunlight streamed through the window of the room, slowly tilting.

The sunlight, which had been creeping across the window, finally tickled my closed eyelids, and unable to withstand the light’s insistence, I slowly forced my eyes open.

“…Ah, damn.”

As soon as I got out of bed, agonizing pain greeted me from every inch of my body. My limbs trembled, and I was breathless despite doing nothing. The past two weeks must have been a rather brutal schedule for this delicate body of mine.

Knock knock.

Lying there listlessly, it wasn’t until well past midday that Alter and Lir knocked on my door.

“Come in.”

I spoke without rising from the bed.

I knew it was polite to get up and open the door, but one wrong move and I’d really break something, landing me in the infirmary for a while.

“…Ugh.”

Lir, looking haggard and sickly, let out a soft gasp of astonishment at the sight of me lying in bed.

Honestly, to make a sound like you’d just seen vomit splattered in the street, just from looking at my face…

That queen and this young elf, both equally lacking in tact…

“Uh… it would seem best to skip class today. You… you appear to be in very poor condition.”

Alter, too, paled at the sight of my face.

Was my condition really that bad?

“…Didn’t you eat breakfast?”

Lir asked with a worried tone, seeing the breakfast the young servant had brought, sitting untouched and cold on the table.

“I wasn’t particularly hungry… didn’t have much of an appetite either.”

I hadn’t mentioned it before, but ever since arriving at this castle, I’d been receiving nothing but nutritious meals packed with greens and dry chicken breast.

It seemed the servants, concerned about my withering physique, had been taking special care… but just like the health food I’d eaten before, the problem here was that the food tasted like absolute dirt.

“The salad’s all withered.”

Lir sighed, poking at the shriveled salad.

“Sometimes it’s good to relieve stress by eating something sweet. Even if it’s not good for the body. Beer and wine are also excellent for stress relief, but…”

Alter trailed off, scanning my covered body from head to toe.

In this world, seventeen was old enough to drink beer and wine. Unlike the real world, the regulations regarding alcohol weren’t so strict.

Even so, it wasn’t likely I’d ever put alcohol to my lips.

Because consuming alcohol in this frail body of mine would, in all seriousness, likely trigger a heart attack.

Seriously.

“Well, I think it’d be better to eat some sweet bread or dessert instead of alcohol. Brain activity requires a sugar boost, after all.”

“Do they deliver?”

I asked Alter that, because I truly didn’t want to move even a single step from the bed.

“…Would they?”

This immense castle, sprawling over 120 square kilometers, was a crucial military stronghold brimming with important figures. Even if delivery existed in this world, there was no way they’d allow delivery personnel inside, and the entry of uninspected outside food was strictly forbidden.

After all, who knew what kind of catastrophe might unfold if food carrying poison or disease found its way inside the castle?

“…”

I really don’t want to go outside the castle.

Moving to get something to eat would clearly expend more calories than just sitting here and starving.

I know it doesn’t make any nutritional sense, but that’s just how I feel right now.

Ugh, I don’t want to move.

Alter, seeing my face, quietly pinched the bridge of his nose. Apparently, all my feelings were written plain as day.

Lille cautiously tugged on Alter’s sleeve as he sighed. Alter quickly understood Lille’s intention and bent down, and then Lille whispered something in Alter’s ear.

Lille already had such a small voice, but speaking while covering her mouth with both hands, I couldn’t understand a single word.

“…Judging by your expression, I don’t think you’re planning to go. Well, try bringing it up. I don’t think it’ll matter.”

Lille, hearing Alter’s answer, took a deep breath.

Her face was flushed red before even uttering a word, and her palms seemed to be sweating. Just what monumental thing was she about to say that she was so nervous?

“I, um, know a pretty good bakery, and their chocolate pizza bread is quite delicious… if, uh, if it’s okay. I thought it might be nice to go and eat it together…”

Lierre tugged at the brim of her hat, and spoke so quietly it was nearly a whisper.

I had to admire my own exceptional hearing all over again.

We’d spent over two weeks sharing the same carriage and barracks. I must have grown accustomed to Lierre’s near-silent mumbling without even realizing it.

“…Chocolate pizza bread?”

The admiration was fleeting. Staring at Lierre’s hat with vacant eyes, I couldn’t believe my ears at the mention of a culinary combination I’d never heard of in my life.

‘Chocolate and pizza… existing together?’

Pizza, after all, was all about the unique harmony of pepperoni, a tangy-sweet ketchup sauce, and savory cheese. Chocolate, on the other hand, was a dessert whose strength lay in its powerful sweetness.

To mix chocolate, boasting such an intense sweetness, into a pizza already mingling sourness, saltiness, and savoriness…

“I… I was a little taken aback when I first heard about it too, but the reviews from people who’ve tried it say it’s tastier than you’d think… really. Plus, I guess people are too scared of the chocolate and pizza combo, because the café isn’t too crowded… and the atmosphere is quite ni— nice, I mean.”

I scowled at Lierre, and she began to ramble apologies like someone who had committed some terrible offense.

…A chocolate and pizza combination, that’s supposedly… tasty?

How?

Could such a thing even be possible?

Creativity, when taken too far, becomes madness. And most radical attempts usually end up as just ‘nonsense’.

But according to Lierre, this chocolate pizza bread… was apparently quite popular among the people.

Creativity, pushed beyond its limits, recognized by the masses… that meant the result contained a depth of research and philosophy incomprehensible to the average person.

I couldn’t just let news like that slip by.

“Let’s go.”

I slowly pulled my heavy frame to its feet.

‘Chocolate pizza bread that sells well.’

……This was a dish no self-respecting hipster could stomach.

What sort of brain architecture did the so-called chef possess to even conceive of such a pairing? So, I simply had to confirm the flavor of this infamous bread, or sleep would elude me this night.

“Really?!”

Lierre’s face lit up, radiating joy with an uncharacteristic volume.

Unlike my usual composure, Lierre’s sudden outburst startled me into a visible reaction.

“Well… yes.”

To be sure, venturing out alone for chocolate pizza bread was a challenging endeavor in many ways. This kid must have secretly wanted to go but lacked a companion for the journey.

With that personality, befriending anyone wouldn’t be easy. He’d be lucky to avoid becoming someone’s target.

I forced my heavy arm upwards, ringing the golden bell.

Before long, a young servant opened my chamber door and entered.

“I feel like taking a short stroll.”

“It shall be prepared.”

The servant excused himself briefly, only to promptly reappear, bowing low as if offering me a piggyback ride.

“Please, climb aboard.”

Naturally, I didn’t refuse the service.

……Power, oh, it possesses such a sweet, sweet flavor.

“…….”

Lierre stared up at me, perched upon the servant’s back, a look of utter bewilderment etched across his face.

So, this is what it feels like to look down on people.

The more you taste power, the more intensely sweet it seems to become.

Alter insisted he had more research to do on the Bloom incantation, and that the two of us should go alone.

Somehow, it didn’t sit quite right, the oldest of us working while we played hooky. I pressed him again, suggesting that at least a cup of coffee wouldn’t hurt.

“Well…”

Alter stroked his beard for a moment, glancing over at Lir.

Lir said nothing, her eyes darting back and forth.

…What exactly are these two up to in front of me?

Alter seemed to grasp her intent, noting Lir’s anxious, trembling gaze and slight movements, and gave a nod.

“No, no. You two go ahead. This old man ate too much for breakfast.”

Alter had apparently reached a point where he could understand Lir’s thoughts with a mere glance.

Not that I particularly envied it. What good was mastering the art of reading an introverted elf’s mind when it came to surviving?

“We’ll be back soon. I’ll, uh, buy you a gift, Master…”

Climbing into the carriage, Lir leaned out the window, giving him a small bow. The flush on her face showed no signs of subsiding.

So, in that lavish carriage, we left the castle and arrived on the outskirts of the capital. Not wanting to draw attention, we dismounted a good distance from the café and proceeded on foot.

My legs screamed in protest, but for the sake of the legendary Chocolate Pizza Bread, it was a sacrifice worth making.

The café, with its well-maintained wooden floors and the warm candlelight that gently enveloped the entire space, possessed a certain charm. And thanks to the café owner’s son, strumming a sweet melody on his guitar in the corner, I was able to momentarily forget the war and the fighting, losing myself in the atmosphere.

“Two Chocolate Pizza Breads, a coffee, and a warm milk, please.”

Lir, who had been so eager to visit this café, left the ordering to me.

Before long, the milk and coffee arrived.

The lady managing the front of house apologized that the bread might take a little longer. They didn’t bake them in advance, you see, but put the dough straight into the oven as soon as an order came in.

An eccentric combination that others wouldn’t even dream of, paired with an almost excessive level of passion…

This is hipster. The chef of this place is an utterly unbelievable hipster.

I felt a strange sense of kinship, as I held my milk and passed the dull time chatting inanely with Lyre.

“If an elf is twenty-one, are they treated like a minor among elves? Or perhaps just a newborn babe…”

“…Adult. Elves’ aging slows down rapidly after twenty, but their growth rate isn’t really slower than other races.”

“So you’ll live for 2000 years with the appearance of a twenty-year-old? What a scam species.”

Questions I was curious about, but couldn’t quite find the right moment to ask…

“I heard you’ve lived in the magic tower since you were four; wasn’t that too early to enter?”

“I lost my parents early, so there weren’t many choices… There’s a war going on, after all.”

“So Lyre has just studied in the magic tower since she was four?”

“Well, yes… I didn’t really have any reason to go outside, and studying magic suited me pretty well.”

“I finally understand why your social skills are the way they are.”

“…Isn’t that the kind of thing you usually just keep to yourself?”

We passed the time with trivial stories, like learning about each other’s pasts.

“Sorry for the wait.”

The freshly baked bread was placed on the table where we were deep in conversation. The pizza bread, presented on a pristine white plate, appeared unremarkable at first glance.

Pepperoni, tomato sauce, cheese.

Is there chocolate hiding inside the bread?

Pretending to be an ordinary pizza bread on the surface… that’s usually the sign of a true villain. I like it a lot.

I turned the bread this way and that, first savoring this culinary delight with my eyes.

To think that inside this otherwise unremarkable pizza bread lurks the demon of chocolate… It makes one shudder just considering it.

Having completed my initial reconnaissance, I took a bite straight away.

“……”

…Well.

Indeed.

Hm.

“Subtle, isn’t it.”

Contrary to my expectations, the chocolate hidden within wasn’t of the sweet variety, but rather a dark chocolate, possessing a bitter edge.

The inherent salty flavor of the pizza bread mingled in my mouth with the bittersweet dark chocolate, offering a taste sensation I hadn’t encountered before, a strange harmony.

‘…More bland than I imagined.’

While the combination was certainly novel, it failed to satisfy the anticipation I felt upon hearing the devastating moniker, ‘Chocolate Pizza Bread.’

Moreover, the overall flavor profile didn’t quite merit a verdict of… ‘astonishing.’

“It’s subtle,” I heard Lirr say the same thing. Her faintly furrowed brow suggested she wasn’t quite sure how to process the flavor.

It seemed she, too, was disappointed that the taste wasn’t as remarkable as the rumors suggested.

“The taste is… unique. I guess some people might like it…”

“Didn’t you say it was receiving rave reviews?”

“W-Well, maybe the people who didn’t like it just kept quiet? Rumors tend to be built by the ones doing the talking, you know…”

Lirr, realizing the shop she recommended was a flop, began to offer up flimsy excuses.

“Hmm.”

Truthfully, I’d braced myself for it, to some extent.

A culinary expedition into the unique and peculiar couldn’t always end in triumph, after all.

Still, it wasn’t inedible, not by a long shot, so we remained seated, slowly nibbling at the bread on our plates while enjoying the proprietor’s son’s guitar playing.

The bread itself may not have lived up to expectations, but the cafe possessed a certain charm… labeling today’s outing a failure felt unfair.

“Even so, it’s not like they only serve chocolate pizza bread here, and if I ever get a random craving, it might be worth stopping by…”

*Thump!*

Just as we were quietly enjoying the guitar music and discussing a possible future visit, a heavy knocking echoed from the wooden door.

“Ah! You’ve arrived, Mademoiselle Guinère!”

The woman wiping cups behind the coffee bar straightened abruptly and bowed deeply to the young lady who’d burst through the door with such fanfare.

“…”

The young lady, without uttering a word, began to slowly approach the counter. Judging by her attire, laden with lace and ornamentation, she seemed to hail from a rather influential household.

“What brings you here today…”

Judging by the woman’s demeanor, the young lady must frequent this establishment.

The texture of the bread was acceptable, and the odd harmony of the dark chocolate’s bitterness with the ketchup’s saltiness was undeniably novel… it wasn’t entirely implausible that it had cultivated a following.

I couldn’t declare chocolate pizza bread an objectively delicious food, but the simple fact remained: this cafe was likely the only place on earth where one could procure such a thing.

I diverted my attention from the young lady, whose palate differed from mine, and lifted my cup containing the still-warm milk…

*Smack!*

*Crash!*

“…?”

A sudden slap, followed by the shattering of glass, reverberated through the cafe.

The guitar’s sound had ceased, our movements, Lirr’s and mine, frozen in that instant.

The woman cradled her cheek, flushed crimson and swollen, bowing her head before the young lady, so much younger than herself.

Scattered on the floor lay shattered teacups, shards of a glass coaster glinting amongst them.

Her son, who witnessed everything firsthand, gripped the guitar’s neck tight, his jaw clenched.