Chapter 54: Liela and Janna

It’s right to thank people immediately when you’re grateful. And there are only a few things I can do for the two.

So, what can I do that the two would like?

The two of them came to my house a while ago.

We talked a little about food at that time, and Liela said she likes sweet and salty, and Janna said she likes bitter and savory.

I thought again.

Can simply making food be called a gift?

Of course, it could be, but the two suffered too much while I was down.

You can tell just by looking at the two’s messed up faces.

“Hmm. Coffee or caffeinated drinks would be nice, too, right?”

The two who make medicine late and work on the merchant guild all night.

Janna seems to be drinking coffee regularly as her income has increased recently.

Liela originally drank it in the story too.

In the end, I chose dessert and coffee blending made to suit the two’s tastes.

“Let’s make Liela’s first.”

Sweet and salty, in a word, she likes sweet and salty. There are many sweet and salty desserts, but this is not Earth.

The only thing I can make is chocolate pretzels.

Pretzels are snacks that are mainly eaten in the West. It is native to Germany, and there are many twisted ‘8’ shapes.

It is widely known as a cookie in Korea, but in cafes and Western countries, it exists as a bread with a crispy outside and soft inside.

Still, I’ll make it in the form of a cookie.

Bread becomes soggy and tasteless when stored for a long time. Instead, you can put pretzels in a jar and eat them for a long time.

I prepared the ingredients as I remembered.

I made the dough and shaped it into a pretzel shape. After that, I brushed it with butter and baked it in the oven.

After a while.

With a ding sound, the golden brown pretzels were completed.

I ate one.

Crunch!

It was quite delicious with a crispy texture and a subtle butter scent.

Here, I dipped about half of it in the chocolate I melted in advance to suit Liela’s taste.

Brown chocolate painted on a light brown body. I sprinkled salt to add a salty taste before it dried.

Srrk.

“Sigh. It’s finally done.”

It was more difficult than I thought because I did this for about 60 pieces.

I ate the finished pretzel.

Crunch!

The crispy texture is the same, and the sweet chocolate taste and the salty taste of salt were added. The subtle buttery scent that came up afterwards was really the best.

“Good. Very good.”

It turned out exactly as I wanted.

Now all that’s left is to blend the coffee I’ll give to her.

“How should I blend it?”

Blending refers to blending coffee to suit your taste.

The taste of coffee beans varies depending on the origin and cultivation method. Some have a strong acidity, some have a strong bitter taste.

You can mix those coffees in a certain ratio to create the taste you want.

Baristas do this blending essentially, and I often did it too.

I didn’t feel the need to blend all the coffees I’ve encountered here separately, so I didn’t blend them.

In a way, the coffee that I blend for the first time here may be Liela’s coffee.

“But I can’t make the coffee itself sweet, so I have to make it less bitter and more flavorful.”

I mixed the coffee beans I bought before in various ways.

It’s not that difficult because you only need to adjust the ratio if you know the characteristics of each coffee bean.

So, coffee was made after several trials and errors. I mixed the two coffee beans and put them in a container.

I also put the pretzels that were hardening in the refrigerator inside a container.

“Let’s finish Janna’s quickly and rest. I’m very tired because I woke up not long ago.”

I drank a sip of coffee and opened the refrigerator again.

What Liela likes is savory and bitter. But the dessert itself cannot be made bitter.

In the first place, dessert itself is a dessert, so there is no way to eat something bitter as a dessert.

Even if there is, I don’t know the recipe.

So I’m going to focus on savory.

I can match the bitterness with coffee.

The name of the dessert to be made is oatmeal cookies.

Oatmeal here refers to oats, so you can say that it is a cookie with oat flour and nuts.

You can add raisins or other things to suit your taste, not necessarily nuts.

First, cream butter and sugar. After that, add eggs and vanilla and mix well.

Next, I added oatmeal and nuts, which are the core of this cookie.

Originally, you have to add oats, but there were no oats here. So I ground a grain that tastes similar.

The dough was quite stiff until here.

Now we’re almost done.

I picked it up with my hands, shaped it so that it was easy to eat in one bite, and baked it in the oven.

Sooooooo.

The oven is running. A savory smell began to vibrate.

It takes quite a while to finish baking, so I blended until then.

“It’s easy to make it bitter, but it’s hard to make it bitter deliciously.”

If it’s too bitter, the acidity and flavor can all be buried in that taste. So I blended moderately bitter coffee beans.

“Hmm. It’s a little bitter, but it will suit Janna’s taste.”

The oven stopped just in time. I carefully took out the cookies.

The oatmeal cookies I know were completed.

I ate one.

Crunch.

There is a slightly crumbly texture and crispness together. In addition, the savory taste of nuts is felt from beginning to end.

It was quite delicious.

“Will it taste bad if I soak it?”

I remembered that Janna likes to dip things.

I don’t know why she likes to dip things, but she must like it because it’s delicious.

Desserts are often dipped in coffee or milk, so I scooped it up with a spoon and dipped it in coffee.

Munch munch.

“It’s too good?”

The savory taste of the cookie catches the bitterness, and it greatly enhances the flavor of the existing coffee.

I poured coffee to get the last bit of strength.

“Sigh. I’m a little alive now.”

I put oatmeal and coffee beans in separate containers. Now all that’s left is to give it to the two.

But I couldn’t go directly.

Alchemists are very busy these days, so there is a high probability that Liela will not be there even if I go to the alchemy workshop.

Janna is not affiliated with Muelia in the first place.

So I decided to use a butler to send it to the two people’s houses.

“Please take good care of it.”

“Yes. Trust me! I will deliver it safely and quickly!”

Liela had another tiring day.

The reason she’s busy is because of the large number of elders who have left.

Due to Emily’s massive purge, the power of the elders was ruined to the point of disappearing.

Therefore, the members tied to the power could not do their job.

Alchemy is the same.

Since I couldn’t make the medicine to be delivered on time, I had to borrow the hands of other alchemists.

Since Liela became Emily’s force due to this incident, the workload was weak, but other people are being ground to the point of making a groan.

Liela sighed and lay down on the sofa.

Then someone knocked on the door.

“Who is it? There’s no one to come.”

It’s late at night. Liela looked out the peephole.

“Who are you?”

“I am a butler who received a request from Baronet Rachel. I’ll put it down in front, so please take it.”

He greeted briefly and stepped back.

“What is it?”

Liela opened the door and brought in the package after confirming that he was out of sight.

Rustle.

I opened the wrapping paper and checked the contents.

“This is a cookie, and this is… coffee beans?”

Each glass jar containing coffee beans and cookies. A small piece of paper was attached to one side.

====

To Liela.

You worked hard to make the antidote. Thank you for your help, and thank you for your hard work.

I made it according to your taste, but I don’t know if it will suit your taste.

Arcane Rachel

=====

“Rachel made it for me?”

It’s a day that was hard because of overtime and overwork. Just receiving Rachel’s gift made me feel better.

I picked up a pretzel and ate it.

It was delicious.

In addition, I feel my heart warm.

“It looks like there are more than 50, so if I eat one a day, I can eat it for about two months.”

Liela put the letter on the bedside.

Knock knock.

“Guild Master. A guest has arrived.”

“Hmm? A guest? At this hour?”

“Yes.”

“Tell them to come in.”

Janna packed her things and prepared to leave. Current time is 12 o’clock. No one would come to say something important at this hour.

A man in a black suit entered through the door.

“Who are you?”

“Baronet Arcane Rachel sent me.”

“Rachel?”

“Yes. I’m leaving now.”

The butler left with those words.

Liela, who had finished preparing to leave, opened the paper box. Inside were cookies, coffee beans, and a letter made by Rachel.

====

To Janna.

You worked hard to find the antidote recipe. Thank you for your help.

I made it with reference to your taste when we talked last time. It’s delicious when eaten with coffee, so please refer to it.

====

“Oh my. Rachel gave it to me?”

She looked at the clock and the glass bottle alternately, and then put it in her bag and headed home. Because I want to go back quickly and eat the oatmeal cookies and coffee that Rachel made.

“I’m going home! Be sure to lock the door!”

“Where are you going so urgently?!”

“Home!”