Chapter 48: Making ‘Snacks’ And Catching ‘May’

“Chewy and delicious…!”

“It’s called Tteok-Mandu Guk , or rice cake and dumpling soup. When you eat this on New Year’s Day, you get a year older, you know?”

“Then if I eat two bowls, do I get two years older?”

“Unfortunately, that’s not how it works~.”

The Young Lady and I, who stayed up all night playing and then fell asleep, sluggishly got up around 11 AM, washed up, and had lunch.

“I want another bowl!”

“Yes~”

Our Young Lady eats heartily~

Well, other than that, there’s nothing particularly special about the New Year.

“Would you like to go to the village with me today?”

“The village?”

“Yes, to do some shopping and meet people.”

“Uuum… I don’t want to… I don’t want to go.”

“Maybe you’ll find some friends if you go?”

“I only need Mana!”

Oh dear…

Looking at the Young Lady’s pouting face, I don’t think it’s the right time yet.

“Then you can stay here and protect the house while I go to the village, right?”

“Of course! Ahem!”

…Cute.

“Are you going after you eat breakfast?”

“Yes, I was thinking of it. Is there any food you’d like to eat?”

“Um… anything Mana makes is good! Mana makes amazing dishes every day!”

“Then I should buy ingredients mainly. Should I make you Tteokbokki too?”

“Yes! I like Tteokbokki! Ah! And magic tools too! I need something to look at and practice with!”

“Yes yes~”

“That’s all I need!”

I stretch my body, pack two maid bags, and head towards the bishopric.

“Ah! Lots of snacks too!!”

“Yess~~!”

I should buy lots of snacks that the Young Lady would like.

“I’m home~”

“Welcome back!!”

As soon as I open the door and go inside, the Young Lady greets me at the door.

Ah… as a maid, at times like these, I feel so happy that I could cry.

It feels like one well-raised Young Lady is warming my heart.

“Was it really cold outside?”

“No, it wasn’t that cold.”

“Hehe, I’m glad then.”

Yes yes…

…I’m so touched that you’ve grown up so well.

The Young Lady takes one of the maid bags from my hand and helps me move to the kitchen.

“So what did you buy?”

“I bought mainly what the Young Lady asked for. Everyday magic items, and things to make simple snacks.”

“Yay!”

“And I bought a few picture books too.”

I checked the contents of each one, so there shouldn’t be anything dangerous.

“Then I’ll read them with Mana!”

“Yes yes~”

“I’ll go put this on the second floor!”

“Be careful~”

The Young Lady is carrying the books, excited and walking quickly.

If I had known she would be this happy, I should have bought some earlier.

After organizing a few items in the bag, the rest are all food ingredients.

Today, I’m thinking of making snacks that you can’t miss in winter.

“I should make Hotteok and Eomuk-Ggochi (fish cake skewers)~”

“Hotteok? Eomuk-Ggochi?”

“Ah, you’re here? Let’s make snacks together! Young Lady!”

“Yeah! I’ll help too~”

Unfortunately, they don’t sell Hotteok mix here, so I have to make it myself.

While putting yeast and sugar in warm water to let them rise slightly, I mix flour and glutinous rice flour.

“Me too! Me too!”

“You have to wait a little, so let’s make Eomuk-Ggochi together. Here, take this wooden stick and this friend called Eomuk like this…”

Still, this is medieval times, but surprisingly, they have everything you need in the game.

Fold a piece of Eomuk well and turn it around the skewer like this~

“You do it like this. How is it?”

“Like this… I did it?!”

“Yes! You did very well!”

A wonderful Eomuk-Ggochi is complete!

“You have to make, um… 15 of them!”

“Okay!”

In the meantime, I mix the yeast and milk that woke up from sleep well into the flour dough I made earlier…

I cover it as is and put it in a ripening box to ripen it quickly, then knead the dough once and put it back in the ripening box.

Then I mix sugar and cinnamon well, and add some pumpkin seeds (the ones the Young Lady grew) and some nuts to make the Hotteok filling.

“I made it all!”

“Where shall we see? Wow~ You did really well!”

“Ahem! Because I’m 9 years old!”

Indeed, a wonderful 9-year-old..!

“Now, quickly put radish and dried anchovies in and make a broth, then put the Eomuk-Ggochi in there…”

“Wow…”

And tear the glutinous rice dough appropriately, put the filling inside, spin it around, and bake it well in a pan with a little olive oil.

Hmm~ A golden brown, sweet scent!

I’m sure it will be very chewy after it’s all baked!

“Mana is really good at it…”

“Hey, I’m a maid, right?”

“No! Mana is an elite maid!”

“Puh-hup, thank you… I feel a little embarrassed to be called an elite maid by the Young Lady.”

“Elite Elite Maid!”

If you set the well-made Hotteok and Eomuk-Ggochi perfectly~!

“Tada~ Today’s snack is complete~”

“Waaaaaaa!!”

“Ah, you have to hold this snack in your hand and eat it.”

“With your hands?”

“…Cool!”

I give the Young Lady a Hotteok roughly wrapped in a layer of oiled paper.

“Hoo… Hoo…!”

“The Hotteok will fly away, Young Lady.”

“Hoo!!!”

Really~

“Haaaaam…!”

The Young Lady takes a big bite of the Hotteok and starts chewing quickly!

“Masisseo (delicious)..! It’s totally sweet..! It’s chewy! It’s like a donut! But it’s tastier than a donut! It’s chewy-chewy!”

Her eyes are wide and sparkling?

“Totally Masisseo!!”

“There’s a lot, you know? Eat slowly?”

“Yeah!!”

Seeing the Young Lady tearing the Hotteok like meat and having a frantic mukbang makes me laugh for no reason.

Hiya… she’s so cute.

“Mana, eat it quickly too! It’s delicious when it’s warm!”

“Pu-haha! Yes~ I’ll eat it too. Young Lady~”

Where where,

Warm and soft Hotteok, I take a bite.

Chewy Hotteok, with a sweet and chewy filling inside, umm..!

It’s definitely delicious…

“I want to eat Eomuk too!”

“Oh my, did you already finish it?”

“Yeah!”

“Well, when you eat Eomuk-Ggochi, you have to be careful not to prick your mouth with the wood. Got it?”

“Yeah!”

“This is also Masisseo!”

“Slowly~ Eat slowly~”

“Yeah!”

How cute…

“Ah, May wrote a letter saying she’s coming soon.”

“May? Mana’s maid friend?”

“Yes, she said she’s coming because she got winter vacation.”

“Yeah! I like her!”

“Heeh… You like May?”

“Yeah! I like her next to Mana!”

Hmm… I’ll forgive her because you said that!

“Should we go play together when May comes?”

“Yeah! Let’s go see the lake together!”

“Um… I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

“Why??”

…First of all, I don’t even know if May is a virgin.

“It’s better for maids to know as little as possible. If you know valuable information, you might say it carelessly. May is especially bad about that.”

“Hmm! Then let’s work at the cafe together!”

“Oh, that sounds good?”

Okay, May.

When you come to visit… I have to open the cafe that day.

Yes yes… think of it as having a good friend?

“I want to eat more Hotteok!”

“Yes~”

After having a delicious snack time with the Young Lady, we spend time lightly exercising, studying, and playing.

“I wish spring would come soon!”

“Yes? Don’t you play more in winter?”

“But but spring is good too! I like winter too!”

“Hmm~ Then shall we play one more time before winter goes? We can go sledding too.”

“Yeah! Let’s do that!”

So, I go up the hill with the Young Lady and go snow sledding with flour sacks.

I make a new snowman next to the snowman family.

I have a snowball fight.

Also, I go to the winter lake and ride the unicorn I saw last time.

I meet fairies and play with them for the first time in a while.

I spent time mindlessly.

After about a few days…

Knock knock knock

“Yes, who is it?”

“It’s me, long time no see, Mana!”

“Hmm… I don’t want to open it.”

“What?! Open it quickly! I’m cold!”

I was making spicy noodles to eat for lunch with the Young Lady when Mana came to visit the mansion.

“Hello. Young Lady Cieli.”

“Yeah, welcome!”

“Oh… you’ve grown a lot taller?”

“Of course!”

“Ah, here! A souvenir for your visit! There’s also one for Young Lady Cieli?”

“What is it?”

I receive the envelope that May gives me.

“This is super popular in the Empire these days!”

“From the Empire?”

“Yeah, they said they’re selling this near the academy. So I bought it when I went to visit the Empire!”

Inside the envelope that May gives proudly..

“Puh-hup…”

“Huh? Why are you laughing?”

“Young Lady, look at this.”

“Huh? Oh? Mana, this…”

“May, have you tried this?”

“Of course~ It would have cooled down a bit on the way here…”

What should I do with this wonderful but clumsy maid?

The envelope that May brought contained Hotteok.

“Young Lady, would you like to try one?”

“Yeah!”

Where should I try one too…

Mumble mumble…

“It’s delicious! But the one Mana made is more delicious!”

“Hmm~ I see. This one isn’t aged enough.”

“Wait, wait a minute, what did Young Lady Cieli just say? The one Mana made is more delicious?”

“Yeah! Mana made Hotteok for me!”

“…H-How? This is what’s popular in the Empire this winter? Has the news already spread to this remote area?!”

“Ah, May. The maid in front of you is an ‘elite’ maid? Of course, she knew about this a long time ago.”

Actually, it was made popular by the protagonists who are active in the academy…

This side is a reincarnator who has read the work.

“No way..! I want to eat the Hotteok Mana made too!”

A fish that came up on its own before I even cast the fishing rod.

“I can do it.. I can do it, but..”

“But..?”

“Instead, May, you have to help me with some work.”

“…Work?”

“Yeah.”

“…I’m on vacation?”

“Hotteok. Don’t you want to eat it?”

“The one Mana made is five times more delicious!”

“…T-That..! Okay… I’ll do it!”

Yes.