Chapitre 21: Greed Can Be Cute Too!
The only other noteworthy event during the past fews day was when we returned to the inn to find Micah talking with another young woman. She had long wavy black hair and wore a frilly white apron. They were both sampling from various dessert dishes in front of them.
Micah introduced her as Aer, who ran the little café called Parent in town (pronounced "Pah-rent", not "Pay-rent".) Huh, quite a lot of young ladies running their own business in this town. I strongly approved of this spirit of entrepreneurship!
"So, we've been trying to come up with some new dishes for her menu. Since you're from other countries, do you know any dishes that we don't have around this here parts?"
Aer bowed at us as she spoke, "Please, I'd be really grateful if you could think of anything…"
Elze and Linze stared at each other and shrugged. They admitted they didn't really know much about fine food, but would be happy to help.
"Huh. Is that the shop near the Adventurer's Guild? If so, I remember that one – we celebrated being officially licensed adventurers there. Good cake!"
"Thank you!" said the young chef.
"Well what kind of food were you thinking of putting on the menu?" I asked.
Aer considered it. "Let's see... preferably something simple, I guess. A dessert dish of some kind, something that would be a hit with young women..."
Huh, a lot of young women with disposable income in this town. I strongly approved of this mercantile economy!
Monika popped in to say "What's with that suspicious expression on your face?"
I turned around towards Linze. She shrank back a bit from the small smile on my face.
"Linze, how do people keep things cool around there? Is there a magic tool for that? Some sort of self-refilling ice box?"
"N-no? Maybe? That sounds too expensive, Mister Zah. Usually it's just using some simple Water magic to make ice."
I nodded. I guess with conveniently available magic like that, refrigeration was not exactly an urgent thing to develop. Well then, when it comes to something new and something young ladies would like, the answer was obvious. "So, have you any of you ever heard of ice cream before?"
"I… scream?" Aer looked faintly confused.
"No, ice cream. Creamed ice. You know, a cold creamy confection. Like shaved ice, but… better. It's soft and sweet, and melts in your mouth."
/"I am starting to see where you're headed with this, but shaved ice alone would probably been enough,"/ said Monika.
Micah frowned slightly. "What kind of food is that?"
"Would you happen to know how to make it?" Aer asked.
"Sure. We're going to need some ingredients though. Don't worry, they're common enough." Monika?
Monika nodded and pulled open a window showing how to make ice cream at home.
"Egg yolks, a cupful of fresh cream, half a cup of sugar, fresh milk that we can condense over low heat, a little butter… then flavorings, maybe some cookies we can crumble? Strawberry syrup? No, something simple for now – something like vanilla?"
Then I listed the tools, "a heavy bowl, a whisk, and wide pan with a cover, a box we can fill with water to freeze… could we get that?"
Aer nodded. "I can get that."
"No, I can get that!" Elze volunteered. "Just tell me where to go and who to ask!" She thumped her own chest and looked almost catlike in her self-satisfaction. "I'll get that picked up and back before you know it!"
So Aer decided to give instructions and proof of her being under orders so that Elze could directly ask for the ingredients from her shop. With her [Boost], Elze could run there and all the way back without even feeling slightly winded.
The rest of the ingredients we could get from Micah's own stores. The innkeeper didn't charge us any extra for that either. Maybe Aer would cover the costs later. Surely she should be making better business with raw ingredients than apparently just the three of us who were the only lodgers in this inn.
Linze mixed sugar in and began condensing the milk on a boiling vessel. Her superb control over her own Fire affinity helped there. The egg yolks and the sugar were mixed in half and half proportions. By the time Elze returned we were ready to just pour in the cream and the milk and rest of the ingredients and then whisk the shit out of them.
We had three bowls and three whisks, so that no one felt left out. It was enough to get a peaky consistency of the cream, then it was time to chill.
"[Supercharge please]," Linze requested, so that she could maintain a constant chilling effect. As soon as the mixture began to thicken, we scraped away the frozen edges into the center of the mixture. We covered the pan and allowed the whole thing to freeze solid.
Then we cracked it open after thirty minutes to add the flavorings and goodies. One had ribbons of strawberry syrum, another had cookies crumbled into it, and the third bowl just plain as the control setup.
We folded the flavorings, checking to make sure no large ice crystals formed, and sealed them whole thing to freeze again.
While waiting I explained that we could probably do without the whole chill and stir portion, just place a heavily whisked mixture into containers and allow it to freeze. The result would be a little more chunky, but perhaps that's also to someone's tastes.
After a while we retrieved the containers. I took a large spoon and arranged several scoops into dome-like shape on three plates. I drizzled colorful candy sprinkles on top. We all took a spoon and tasted the results.
"How is it?"
"Seems to have set properly," I replied.
"This… this is delicious!" Aer exclaimed. "What is this thing? It's cold, but… it's kind of amazing?!"
"This is really good!" Micah added excitedly. "Let me have a taste of that too!"
And then after a while she began to moan "Ow! Ow! Ow! My head hurts!"
"Ice cream headache. That's what happens if you try to eat cold things too fast. If you've ever tried to bite into a snowball before…?"
Micah massaged her temples. "I know that! Uhh… I didn't expect this to happen in the middle of summer."
"It doesn't really get very cold here in the south… so this… I'm sure of it! This will be a hit!" Aer declared, raising her spoon in triumph. "Thank you so much!"
"But… is there anyone in your store that can use ice magic?" Linze had to ask.
"My little sister has a water affinity, it will be no problem. I'll add the… ice cream to the menu right away!" She stood up and prepared to leave, apparently excited to try making it herself.
"Ah-ahahaha. Are you sure you should really do that?"
Aer paused and stared at me. "… what's wrong? Does it need anything else?"
"License fees. I just gave you a valuable recipe that will increase your shop income. We're happy to help, but I never said we would be doing it for free."
Aer narrowed her eyes and sat back down. 'But you already told me everything?' This she didn't say, she was one smart young lady.
If she just tried to make it herself not caring about compensating the source, while we might not have as much legal recourse there was absolutely nothing preventing us from setting up a competing business to remove all the novelty of it from her menu.
I could just as easily offer it to someone else. If by doing so she annoyed her own friend Micah, then Silver Moon Inn would be the one pioneering this market instead. After all, it was I who knew further secrets of how to serve and market it best. There was too much to lose from acting in bad faith.
"Name your terms," she said calmly.
"Ten percent," I said. "For every copper you sell in ice cream, I want an iron coin. In exchange, I promise not to tell someone else the recipe before letting you know about it. You will have a monopoly on this for at least three months. After that I'm reducing royalties to five percent for the next three months, and then after that you'll have to deal with competition yourself."
Aer blinked. "That's… very generous of you. I agree!"
"Verbal contracts duly witnessed by a third party" here I glanced towards Micah "are valid, right? Good. Well bargained and done!"
Aer smiled at me, and her eyes twinkled with far more gratitude and respect than before. She left the inn, leaving us to finish off the rest of the ice cream and clean up.
"… Playa, that was kind of rude," Elze remarked after a while.
"Yes, why even ask for money? She was Miss Micah's friend, why couldn't she just be ours too? Friends help each other."
"People respect more that which is earned, not which is just given," I replied. "That goes for most things, even friendships. This will help her more in the long run."
It relied a lot on her own good faith to keep an honest count of her sales - and if she passed the test, there could be further business down the line.
/"There's nothing wrong with being friends with benefits, eyy?"/ Monika made finger guns at my direction.
Monika, you can't criticize me for my Freudian slips when you're half the reason they happen in the first place.
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The next day Aer returned to give me three coppers. She reported that she had begun to introduce ice cream to her clientele, and it went well with fruits and sweets.
I suggested that she try putting ice cream onto a cup and pouring hot coffee on top of it. It would cool the coffee to drinkable temperatures and sweeten it, while itself being a visual treat. There were many different ways to present ice cream, it was now up to her to figure them out.
Aer smiled widely, her eyes crinkling in playful acknowledgment, and said she would certainly do so.
I asked Micah to prepare a little clay pot to use as a piggy bank for an ice cream fund.
After several more days we opened it to find twenty-three copper.
"… and this is what you earn for doing nothing," Elze murmured. "Merchants sure have it great, huh? No wonder they say to kids, if you had any smarts you wouldn't be an adventurer in the first place. No wonder YOU say earning money is a secondary concern!"
Linze clutched at her head. "Uuuh! What can I invent too?!"
I laughed. That was still adorable.
"You've taught little Linze how to get greedy. You monster."
Eheh. I strongly approved of seeing the self-determination to acquire financial independence in young women. It was cute.
I fell silent and stared outside. At least that way I know my relationships won't be from them just being after my money.
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État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone