Upstart Pastry Chef - Chapter 96

 Chapter 96: The Sky, Cacao, and the Tea Party

Thanks to Tina's tail pillow, my physical condition completely recovered.

I had only slept for about thirty minutes, but my body felt significantly lighter.

If it were just physical exhaustion, I could forcibly mend it with [Heal], but mysteriously, mental fatigue and head weariness wouldn't be cured by it.

A deep sleep wrapped in Tina's fluffy tail was the ultimate healing that worked wonders on the fatigue of the heart and mind.

I followed the servants who came to call for me.

The place I was guided to was the audience chamber.

Stepping inside, the taste was as impeccable as ever. While gathering top-grade furnishings, they were harmonized spectacularly. As expected of a place that prided itself on being the forefront of art and culture.

"It has been a while. Prospective Baronet of Arnoldt—no, should I call you Baron Arnoldt from here on out?"

With a touch of playfulness, Duchess Lenaril called out to me.

"It has been a long time. Please hold off on that title until I formally become a baron. Otherwise, the joy after officially becoming one will shrink."

"If you can say something so witty, I can rest easy. Knowing you, I wasn't worried to begin with."

Duchess Lenaril was being considerate toward me.

I had heard that many nobles often lost their emotional balance—either growing strangely arrogant or, conversely, becoming anxious.

Aside from that, it was likely just a reflection of her genuine character.

"The conferral of the barony is thanks to your efforts, Duchess Lenaril. Thank you very much. With this, Arnoldt's long-cherished wish can be fulfilled."

I bowed my head.

While I had various thoughts on the matter, this feeling was genuine.

"I merely rewarded your achievements. Besides, I couldn't completely stop that man's interference and ended up imposing an unreasonable schedule on you. I'd like to apologize for that."

That man? Hearing that, a certain man came to mind.

Is that guy pulling strings behind the scenes?

While I was pondering that, Duchess Lenaril brought up a different topic.

"The sweets at your shop are wonderful. Every time a new creation comes out, I have them go buy it by dragon carriage."

Even though it would be completely natural for Duchess Lenaril to use her authority to dispatch a messenger to Arnoldt's side and have sweets delivered, she bought them by having her staff mix with the general customers and stand in line.

That thoughtfulness made me happy.

"Thank you very much for your patronage. Earlier, I handed a special cake that cannot be served at the shop to your servants, so please be sure to enjoy that one as well."

"I have indeed received it. Actually, unable to contain myself, I opened the box and checked its appearance and aroma, and I had a hard time enduring not eating it right away. The fragrance was simply far too wonderful. It's a waste not to serve it at the shop."

"Since it uses cacao, the price would be limited to what only nobles could afford. Furthermore, whether cacao can be procured depends entirely on luck. In fact, just the other day when I tried to buy cacao, there was none in the market. Turning that into a commercial product would be difficult."

Procuring cacao was difficult.

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to give up on cacao for the sweets to be made in the royal capital.

I would search for procurement methods until the very last moment. Today, starting now, I intended to run all over this city's market.

The highly fragrant black jewel. As long as I was using that, chocolate was necessary to declare it the supreme sweet. I didn't want to compromise.

"I see. Actually, ever since eating your Imperial Torte, I couldn't forget that taste. Hearing about it from you, I made arrangements so that cacao could be procured stably."

Duchess Lenaril snapped her fingers.

Then, servants arrived pushing a wagon.

What lay atop it was unmistakably cacao.

What's more, it was fresh with the husks still on. The quality was also quite high.

"How on earth were you able to procure cacao?"

"If it has lined the market even once, the place of origin can be investigated. Once that's known, it's just a matter of going there by dragon carriage. The reason this is expensive is that it crosses the sea from a quite distant continent, is produced only inland, and the yield is low. However, if you go directly to the origin by dragon carriage, it can be procured cheaply and safely."

That was true.

The shipbuilding technology of this world was still immature and accidents were frequent. Setting aside short distances, a scale that crossed continents meant risking one's life. The price increased accordingly.

Furthermore, if it was cultivated inland, it would pass through numerous checkpoints before reaching port towns and be taxed.

The conditions for it to become expensive were far too aligned.

However, dragon carriages were different.

Even across continents, air travel could move at a tremendous speed.

Moreover, dragons were mythical beasts; they consumed the mana in the atmosphere without needing food, allowing them to arrive without resupply.

Passing over numerous checkpoints by going through the sky was nothing but advantages.

...Granted, the dragon itself was as expensive as a high noble's mansion.

"I'm envious. I want cacao so badly I could practically drool."

"In that case, shall I arrange for it to be delivered periodically? The price would be about this much."

The price presented was ridiculously cheap.

It was less than a twentieth of the price I had paid to purchase cacao last time.

Considering the wholesale cost, it was likely a fair price, but if put on the market, it could be sold for far higher.

"It makes me happy, but I can't help but think there's a catch."

"Of course there is. This is a negotiation, so that's only natural."

I knew it. But since she called it a negotiation, the conditions brought up should be kept within a line that I could judge as beneficial to myself as well.

"Actually, after obtaining this cacao, I had my chefs try to make the thing called chocolate that you made, but it didn't go well at all. The noble aroma, the bittersweet sweetness—everything was completely different."

That was only natural.

Making chocolate required a fair amount of knowledge.

Revolutionary extraction methods for cocoa butter took quite a long time to be discovered even back on Earth.

And even if one knew the recipe, they could only make it; making it deliciously required master craftsman skills.

Conching, which smoothed out the chocolate particles, was an intense process taking thirty consecutive hours if done normally without borrowing magic, and a delicate task where being sloppy would ruin everything. Tempering, which stabilized the chocolate crystals, required long years of experience and intuition.

At minimum, making first-rate chocolate required several years of training.

"Is the condition the manufacturing method of the chocolate?"

"I won't say anything that unreasonable. I simply want to eat delicious chocolate sweets. Let's see... once a month, when delivering new cacao, perhaps I'll have you serve a new chocolate sweet."

In truth, I wouldn't have minded teaching the manufacturing method. Even if I taught it, they could only make second-rate goods, so my advantage wouldn't be lost.

However, there was no need to force a recipe onto her either.

"If those are the terms, gladly."

If cacao this good could be obtained at this price, making a new creation once a month wouldn't even be a chore.

"Then the deal is struck. You wanted cacao, right? For the time being, I'll have the cacao right there stored in the kitchen, so feel free to use it."

Inwardly, I did a fist pump.

If I could use this cacao, I could make trial batches of the sweets for the royal capital.

A aging process was involved when making chocolate. Starting to work on it now would barely make it in time. It was a true lifesaver.

"Tonight, I'm holding a party. First, I will introduce you more and more to the nobles of my faction there. Please be prepared for that."

"Yes, I'm looking forward to it."

I had already heard about that plan from Border Baron Fernande, and though it was a crash course, I had been learning etiquette and appropriate conversation at Border Baron Fernande's estate.

"With that, business talk is over. There's time until the party. Keep me company for a tea party. It's private time, so bear that in mind."

I couldn't take her words entirely literally, but it would be fine to relax just a tiny bit.

"Understood. This cake is also a work of confidence, so please do enjoy it."

"Fufu, I'm looking forward to hearing your various stories."

Thus, invited into the garden, I served the new red wine and chocolate cake, Rotweinkuchen, right on the spot.

Border Baron Fernande and Farne were also present, and everyone praised it, which was a relief.

After enjoying the aroma, I put a piece into my mouth as well.

The robustness of the red wine and the bittersweetness of the chocolate blended exquisitely.

Red wine and chocolate were one of the supreme combinations.

The dough using yeast was fluffy—a texture I hadn't tasted in a long time in this world, and likely a pleasure being experienced for the first time in their lives for everyone other than me.

"This cake is amazing. Wouldn't this be fine for the cake in the royal capital?"

"This cake is delicious. It's a cake I love very much as well. However..."

I paused my words there.

Rotweinkuchen was my personal favorite, and I used to make it often for myself, which was precisely why I had repeatedly refined it.

This cake had a drawback.

"It lacks the dignity required to be presented to the King. I went through a lot of trouble to improve its appearance to present it to Duchess Lenaril, but even so, it lacks the beauty of the Imperial Torte or the impact that can intoxicate onlookers."

There was nothing to be done about this.

Perhaps because its origin was a popular German sweet, even when fully decorated, it was still not enough.

"I see, it certainly is extremely delicious, but... it didn't have the same emotional impact as the Imperial Torte. ...Does the cake you're making in the royal capital have that?"

"Naturally. Please do savor it when the time comes. However, since the request from royalty is for something no one has ever eaten before, serving it to Duchess Lenaril will have to wait until after the royal family has eaten it."

"That's very disappointing. But I look forward to it."

Duchess Lenaril laughed.

The tea party passed peacefully.

From here on out, it would become a storm of busyness. It was good that I could take time like this before that.

Many of the nobles introduced to me would likely mock me for being a country noble, or feel jealous of my overly rapid advancement. People trying to cozy up would also appear.

I felt weak when dealing with those kinds of things.

I felt like running away, but for the sake of the people supporting me like this, I wanted to see it through to the end. That was what I thought.