章節 74: She Reveals The Mysterious Dessert
Due to the scale of the task, they decided to set up camp, as they were not finished processing the beast until almost nightfall. In the meantime, Jasmine had placed up a scent barrier to keep wild animals away.
Dinner was fresh wyvern meat. Robin followed the reccomendation of the knights and simply roasted the meat over the fire. Half a leg was enough to feed everyone with both second and third helpings.
Although Robin didn't let it show, she was also secretly excited that she would be eating something you only heard about in fantasies. The meat didn't even need any spices. The juice flowing out was good enough. It was salty and tasted kind of like the tasty brown residue that could be found after cooking roast beef. only, the flavour was spread throughout the meat, making it a pleasure to eat. Everyone was more than eager to have seconds and thirds.
After dinner, Gerard finally asked the question that had been plaguing him all day.
"So...are you going to show us what you had stewing in that pot, now? It's after dinner, now!" He reminded Robin.
Robin laughed.
"Oh? I can bring it out. But, do you think we here would be able to even eat another bite, in our current condition?" She asked, teasingly. Everyone was indeed pleasantly full, to the point where another bite would most definitely be over-eating.
Earlier, Robin had already retrieved the dish from the pot, and finished preparing it while everyone else was busy dismantling the wyvern. She could take it out at any time. It was now stored safely within her wristband storage.
Gerard pouted. "No fair! After all that work we did? We even gave you the majority of the wyvern meat!"
"Isn't it obvious that the person who killed it should get the majority?" Robin raised a mischievous eyebrow. "Besides, I do happen to recall a certain someone saying that he was fine with no part of the spoils so long as he could shamelessly tag along." Robin tapped her cheek in thought. "I wonder who that was?"
Gerard could only speechlessly stand there, with his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. Robin laughed at his expression.
"Very well, then. It's a good thing that this is a light desert, otherwise, I'm sure that we would all suffer horribly from indigestion."
Gerard's eyes lit up, and he crowded closer to be the first one to see, and possibly taste Robin's newest creation.
What Robin drew out was very familiar to everyone. In fact, they were all surprised to see something so ordinary show up in Robin's hands.
"Cake?" Gerard asked. "You must be joking! How on earth would you be able to make cake in a pot!? Ponzu even told us that you put water in there! There's no way you were able to make a cake!"
Robin raised a quizzical eyebrow. "My dear lad, since when did I ever say that this was a normal cake?"
"It's not?" Gerard asked. It looked just like ordinary cakes, with white frosting...come to think of it, this frosting was white like snow.
"This should be your first time trying this kind of cake." Robin chuckled. "After all, it is known as steamed cake, where I come from. It's very light, I assure you."
"Steam? So that's why you added water! Then the stones?" Ponzu felt an immense relief when the mystery was solved.
"The stones were to suspend the pan above the water so that only the steam would cook it." Robin explained.
"There's one last question that's bothering me." Ponzu said. "Where are the strawberries?"
Robin grinned. "I was hoping you'd ask that." She cut out a slice of cake. Now everyone could see that the cake had been divided horizontally in half, with thin slices of strawberries and whipped cream acting as filling in between.
"Such a lovely cake! What's the occassion?" Jasmine asked.
"Well..." Robin paused, a bit reluctantly out of embarrassment. "It's...nothing that special...um....It-today happens to be my birthday, is all." Robin finally said, sheepishly.
"WHAT!!" Jasmine exclaimed.
""""WHAAAT!!!????""" The rest of the company shouted in surprise. Robin buried her head in her hands, completely embarrassed.
"Why didn't you say anything, this morning! No, why didn't you say anything about it before this!?" Jasmine demanded.
"Well, you never asked." Robin replied honestly. "And, it's honestly not that big of a deal."
Jasmine frowned. "Robin, how old are you now?"
"Sixteen, why?"
"Not that big of a deal, my foot!!" Jasmine scolded, stamping her foot in frustration.
"Sixteen is the year of coming-of-age here!It is a VERY big deal! Especially when it is the hero's coming of age! BUT. YOU. SAID. IT'S. NOT. A. BIG. DEAL??!?"
Jasmine's face was red from frustration.
"If we had known earlier, not to mention a week, we'd have been willing to wait a whole month and have the whole kingdom join in the celebration! People would have come from miles away to bring gifts to the hero who was coming of age! If anyone knows that the hero spent his coming of age in an obscure piece of countryside..." Jasmine covered her face with her hand.
"Our country will become a laughingstock!" She moaned.
Robin ducked her head. "My apologies. I had no idea that my birthday would become something of such importance, milady. Please forgive this simple commoner."
"Hmmph! I'll forgive you if you add a second slice of cake. I'll need it to forget about the political headache you've caused me." Jasmine huffed, shamelessly.
Robin smiled and nodded in agreement.
"That is, only if you can finish the first slice." Robin added slyly.
Jasmine gave Robin the evil eye. "You know we women have a second stomach for sweets! If you don't believe me, we can test it out!"
Robin shook her head, and divided the cake into twelve equal portions. Two went to Jasmine, while everyone else had one each. Even the knights had a slice.
"Give us a speech!" Christian called out in jest before everyone forgot themselves in eating the cake. Robin looked at their expectant faces and smiled, awkwardly.
"I am not that good at making speeches..." Robin said slowly. "But, I will give it a try."
She stood up, and glances over the company around her. Some faces were more familiar than others. Then she gathered the thoughts that were present in her heart, and spoke in simplicity.
"For tonight, let there be no hero, no prince, no grand magician, no general, no knight of high office, no peasant, no royalty, and no commoner. For tonight, let all offices and noble titles be set aside, so that there is nothing to hinder our close companionship." Robin said. "For tonight, there are only comrades, celebrating the birthday of one of their own. I hope you can look back to today with fondness. Rather than glamorous pomp and splendor, by far, I prefer a quiet celebration among friends."
Finished, she finally removed her mask in front of the company, and sat down. There was no applause. Everyone was still ruminating upon her words, and the knights were examining her face, committing it to memory.
Finally, Christian opened his mouth. "Good words! And you said you were a poor spokesman! I daresay, the royal speechmaker could take a lesson or two from you!" And with that, the entire company applauded, in agreement.
"And now, let's eat cake!" Gerard exclaimed.
The company laughed at Gerard's eagerness, but they also quietly agreed as they began to eat. Jasmine was the first to comment.
"Oh my! It's so light, but so moist! Not dry at all! Is this the difference between steamed and baked?"
The others also commented positively. Robin made sure to let Ponzu know that, unless he had a storage item that could maintain the state of the food, it was best to serve the cake fresh.
That night, they all chuckled and joked, and Robin finally got to know the names of the other four knights under Sir Daniel.
The second-in-command was a man by the name of Earl Raymond. He wasn't actually an earl. 'Earl' Just so happened to be his first name. Everyone just called him Sir Raymond, though.
The other three, in order of height, were Sir Dylan, Sir Markham, and Sir Grey. Sir Grey was the only one who was an honorary Earl, which meant that he had a title, but no land, due to his meritorious conduct.
Rather than staying up late into the night, Robin preferred to go to bed soon after they had finished the cake. It had been a long day, after all.
While Jasmine had set up a barrier about the camp, the knights still set up night watch shifts. The first watch was Dylan and Markham. Those whose turn was later that, quickly retired to their tents to catch as much sleep as possible before their turn.
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