Volume 5 Chapter 6.4

Editor: Weasalopes

「And there are actually five more varieties of this, by the way. I wanted to use up all the fruits that were scarce in number and ended up making a little too much.」

「……Haruna, how exactly did you plan to eat all this？」

「Yeah, about that. I wasn’t thinking about that in the slightest when I made it.」

Everyone in the room just stared at Haruna in exasperation when she made that casual confession. Still, with such a beautiful dessert in front of them, their gazes quickly lost their intensity.

「Well, anyhow, let’s call over Lime-chan and the others so we can eat up the place as much as we can.」

「What about Sensei and Tatsu’s portions？」

「Do you really think we can finish it all？」

Mio countered by questioning Haruna’s idea of having only the girls eat everything, and now the counterattack had gracefully begun. Judging by the remaining amount, it would be impossible to finish the tarts off without each person eating close to a whole tart. Even if Mio were to eat until she became satisfied, there would still definitely be a whole tart left.

Also, Geno, who was currently in the middle of harvesting, was not counted because neither he nor they were fully acquainted with one another and this made it difficult to remember him at times like these. While a bit pitiful, it’s nevertheless true that newbies occasionally receive this kind of treatment.

「Alright then, guess we’ll start with the first one.」

Haruna said, cutting the tart so that everyone got close to an equal portion of fruit. During that time, Makoto went to call over Mio and Lime, who had gone to prepare tea and small dishes for everyone. Once everyone, including Artiem who had just showed up was gathered, Haruna served the first tart to everyone proportionately.

「The sweetness and sourness of the fruit matches the texture and faint taste of the tart dough, making this very fantastic.」

「This custard cream isn’t sweet, which is why it brings out the flavor of the fruit.」

「Oh man, this tart is serious business. I’m definitely going to eat too much of this and have issues at dinner……」

After that whirlwind of praise had subsided, Haruna’s tarts made from leftover ingredients were established as hazardous materials.

「Oh yeah, Elle-chan, did we ever give you cola？」

That day, at dinnertime, Aearis had already come to exchange information and eat dinner before leaving, and Haruna remembered something as she mentioned it to her.

「Cola? What’s that？」

「Yeah, cola is a drink from our country. It’s not great for your health, but yeah.」

Aearis made a puzzled face as she ate the entrails while Haruna explained.

「I want cola！！」

「Tweet！！」

At the mention of the word cola, Lime and Hiyohiyo immediately reacted, but

「Just one glass after eating, kay?」

「You better eat your food first.」

Haruna and Layla quickly cut down their requests. Generally speaking, Lime and Hiyohiyo were well behaved, but being children, they still had a lack of self-control, and the current system set in place did not permit them to consume juice or sweets without the permission of Haruna or another adult.

「Well, I’d feel bad for Lime-chan so I’ll bring it out after dinner, okay?」

「Okay. I look forward to it.」

Aearis nodded happily at Haruna’s words. Hiroshi, who had been watching all this, said something rather unnecessary.

「Yknow, I actually got a buncha new drinks.」

「New drinks? What kind?」

「Well first we got fermented milk drinks. I tried replicating calpis n skal. Then we got sports drinks. I tried makin three different types from what I recalled. Then there are nutrition drinks and warm drinks of each kind for punishment games.」

「Mm, but I personally think you’re getting ahead of yourself without mentioning fanta first with punishment games.」

「It’s pretty easy makin’ that stuff, so I didn’t really git an impulse to do so.」

Haruna was very right to indicate what she did, but Hiroshi responded with yet another questionable statement. This tendency to prioritize projects requiring intricate or unusual technology without thinking about the demand was, you might say, a very Japanese thing to do.

「Well, at any rate, the new soft drink’s after work. Or wouldja rather have kalpis high or coke high？」

「If what you mean by that is alcohol chased down by some other drink, those of us in the kanto region generally refer to those as cola sour or kalpis sour…」

「Nah c’mon, either way they’re usin’ shochu, so chuhai kalpis or kalpis high works just fine don’t it? The contents are the same ‘n the name conforms to the actual state of the drinks」

「……Well, I guess it’s fine either way……」

The difference between Kanto and Kansai occasionally reared its head, and on this long-awaited occasion, the difference consisted of nomenclature for liquor brands, which was not at all something people cared about.

「Wait, weren’t you only in Kansai up to middle school? How do you even know about the name for the sour brand drinks？」

「C’mon mate, that’s just cuz pops and mama ordered ‘em whenever we went out to eat.」

「……I see.」

「My folks are lax in every sense of the word, but don’t expect ‘em to hold back when it’s time to drink.」

Neither of Hiroshi’s parents ever drank alcohol when driving out. Even at noon or night, other than rare instances they generally never drank. At memorial services or whenever relatives gathered together, his parents also firmly stopped anyone from trying to force minors, people who can’t drink, or people driving to drink. Hiroshi’s parents were oddly strict in that regard, so of course they would never have their child drink.

Then again, even if they were strict in regards to alcohol, Hiroshi’s parents only ever warned those people who kept drinking liquor despite liver disease or diabetes, not pressing much further. If someone didn’t heed their advice, it could turn into a conflict, which tended to make them look like the bad guys, so his parents would make the alibi of at least trying to stop these people but left the rest of the responsibility to them.

「Well, puttin’ my parents aside for a moment. Ya want a chuhai？」

「Nah nah nah. This really isn’t the best time to be bringing out booze. How about we leave that for when there aren’t kids around?」

「Aight. Then test it out later with some snacks to match.」

「Alright. I’m looking forward to it.」

And then, as they were about to end this conversation about new drinks…

「Uhh, if you’re using shochu for those other drinks you mentioned earlier, I should mention that we brewed a new type of shochu back at the village, so would you mind trying that alongside your other drinks?」

Artiem threw in another piece of unnecessary information. The expressions on Tatsuya and Makoto’s faces when they heard that were very accurate to that of your typical drunkards.

「Well if it’s a new brew, it’s proper etiquette to drink it raw for a taste test, right?」

「Agreed. Start with the rocks, then dilute it with hot water or carbonated water, and then try putting in various things like sour plums.」

「And if we’re drinking it raw, there’s no issue starting with that right away, yeah?」

「Indeed. There shouldn’t be any problem with having liquor at dinner, if you ask me.」

「Alright Artiem, you heard the lady.」

「One bottle, please.」

Skillfully shifting the flow of conversation to drinking liquor like true drunkards would, the elders of the group pestered Artiem for the new brew. While they were attempting to sound as moderate as possible, these adults were generally no good when liquor came up in conversation.