Chapter 51
1941 Words
Chapter 51
. I’m pretty sure this is just a reference to how Kyoto used to be the capitol for a thousand years before changing to Tokyo. The Prison Guard is asking which one is better, the ancestral leader (Kyoto) or the current head of the family (Tokyo). It’s one of those arguments with no real answer like whether Gifs are pronounced with a hard g or a soft g.
Rachel was enjoying the taste of a fresh cup of tea while snuggled under her kotatsu.
“Hah.........”
Satisfied with the fragrant aroma of her tea, she then picked up a toothpick and took a bite of the thumb-sized abekawa mochi hanging off the end.¹
“Mm~, tea made from the first leaves of the season and an assortment of abekawa mochi. So good........the best. Campbell has really outdone himself this time.”
Rachel was in high spirits, and so she decided to share some of her extensive knowledge with Haley who was waiting for his own tea to cool down while underneath the kotatsu as well.
“Is it good Haley? The size of the mochi is really important. They say that the first abekawa mochi was made by a tanuki as a gift for the gods. It was powdered with golden flakes the Abe river had carried down from a nearby mine. Supposedly there wasn’t any type of flour added, just mochi with gold flakes sprinkled on top.”
“Ooki”
“In other areas along the Abe river they sell abekawa mochi as big as the palm of your hand, but that’s too big you know? That playfulness derived from its origins is important. Do you understand?”
“Ooki”
Hearing Haley’s lifeless answer, Rachel insisted on her point while playing with her toothpick inbetween her fingers. For the record, Haley had no interest in food that he wasn’t able to eat anyway.
“And surely mochi that finds its roots with the Abe river is best served with motoyama tea from the Abe river basin. That’s the one thing I refuse to compromise on. That’s a historic production area for motoyama tea, and it is said that it is the birthplace of Shizuoka tea after an esteemed monk brought the first seeds from his country to the region.”
Rachel’s extensive knowledge spread even to vague foreign countries. However, more importantly...........
“...........Haley?”
Haley wasn’t saying anything back. Having listened to Rachel’s long speech, he was now looking at the new bag of tea Rachel had just opened.
“What’s wrong Haley? Curious about something?”
Haley was transfixed by the brand name printed across the front of the bag.
Kakegawa Deep Steamed Green Tea
“.............”
“.............”
Haley shook the bag. The only noise in the room was of the leaves in the bag being jostled around.
“.............”
“.............Ooki?”
Haley turned his head demanding an answer, but Rachel continued to silently sip her tea.
“Ooki?”
“.............”
Haley inched himself closer and tried asking again, but Rachel quietly turned her head away.
“Ooki?”
“.............It’s only about fifty kilometers away from the basin.”
Haley walked over, forcing himself into Rachel’s line of sight and tilted his head again.
“Ooki?”
“.............okay so it’s fifty-five kilometers.”
Haley grinded the bag of tea into Rachel’s cheek.
“Ooki?”
“.............Nearly percent of Japanese tea is Yabukita tea! Even if the area it was produced is slightly off, it’s still coming from the same plant!”
Haley shrugged his shoulders and shook his head while his owner started angrily yelling at him after being backed into a corner.
“Ooki”
“Are you thinking, ‘My oh my, what a stubborn little kitten,’ right now? I don’t want to be condescendingly called a little kitten by a baby monkey!”
“Ookii”
“What kind of conversation are you trying to have with a monkey!?”
One person and one animal turned their heads after Prince Elliott made an astonished tsukkomi.
“Oh, if it isn’t the little puppy.”
“Ooki”
“You two, how are you able to act like everything’s fine after a conversation like that!?”
Rachel pulled up the covers on her kotatsu up to her shoulders and started grumbling her complaints to this prince who keeps showing up day after day with nothing to show for it.
“Here I was greatly enjoying my tea, and now I’ve got a chill after seeing your ugly mug. It’s so cold now.”
“B-Bastard........how dare you always take such an attitude with me!?”
Enraged, Elliott stuck his thumb towards his face.
“No matter how you look at me I’m the most handsome man in the capitol!”
“Your Highness, that’s not the problem. Did you really come here to get Sis to reflect?”
“Of course.”
Elliott answered honestly to George’s tsukkomi..........
“However this is exactly the type of attitude that needs to come to an end!”
“Hah.........”
Elliott did his best to act as menacing as possible to his prisoner.
“Tell me Rachel! What part of my face are you dissatisfied with!”
“Asking something like that to your ex”
“Don’t say it Sykes. This is really important to His Highness.”
“And you two be quiet!”
Still almost completely embedded in her kotatsu, the noble daughter took a sip from her tea looking as if the taste had been completely ruined.
“Haa..........do you really want to know?”
“If you have a good reason then say it! You’re talking about my greatest charm point! What fault could there be!?”
While making a deliberate sigh at the Prince’s fit, Rachel looked directly into Elliott’s eyes.
“Whenever I am forced to act politely to Your Highness, I automatically associate you with Duchess Somerset because of my queen’s education.”
“..................I see...............Sorry.”
“P-Putting that aside Rachel!”
Elliott tried readjusting himself in order to restart his sermon.
.........but whatever he was going to say was suddenly cut off.
“Ooki! Ooki!”
The monkey suddenly started patting Rachel’s upper arm while pointing at something.
“Ah, that’s right! Thanks you Haley!”
“Hey!? Rachel, somebody is talking..........”
The Duke’s daughter rose up from her seat while the Prince was talking and hurried over to a pot that was resting on a fire. She moved the pot to an already prepared pot stand on top of the kotatsu before pulling off the lid.
There was a mixture of different ingredients in the pot..........and several skewers conspicuously sticking out as if they were swords lodged in stone.
“.........Oi, what is it this time?”
“What you ask? It’s Shizuoka oden no matter how you look at it.”
After Haley added on some toppings from a jar and they both said a prayer, Rachel started sorting through the ingredients and piling them on to the plate Haley was holding out. Truly a beautiful scene between pet and owner.
“Don’t start eating when the prince is in the middle of giving you a sermon!”
“Come now Your Highness, what are you talking about now? We aren’t eating yet.”
Brushing off Elliott’s angry warning, Rachel thanked Haley for bringing her over a small cup of sake. She gulped down the alcohol in a single swig, “Mm~” and let out a pleased moan.
“A piping hot pot of oden with a cup of sake during cold weather! Irresistible!”
“Ooki!”
The noble daughter and her monkey shared a nod while the seething prince was about to boil over.
“Don’t have a mid-meal drink when the prince is in the middle of giving you a sermon!?”
“But the oden was done cooking?”
“Do you think that reason justifies such disrespect!?”
Why was Elliott so angry? Haley thought it was strange at first, but realizing what the problem probably was, he pulled out one of the skewers from the pot.
“Ooki!”
Haley brought over the oden he had picked out over to Elliott.
“...........no, I’m not telling you to give me some of your oden.”
“Ooki”
Saying he understood, even though it was quite clear he didn’t understand at all, Haley pierced a round slice of daikon with the skewer and held it out.
“Ooki”
“You’re supposed to go, ‘Thanks, Ahn~’. Letting you have some of his food, Haley is so kind.”
“He’s not being kind though!? He’s not using his head!”
“Ooki?”
“No I don’t hate daikon r****h! Think about how hot that food is right now!”
“Ookiki!”
“Don’t just go, ‘okay, eggs then,’ when there’s the exact same problem, monkey!”
“Ooki?”
The monkey twisted his head completely mystified on what to do. He stared at the egg hanging off his skewer for a moment before thrusting it in a different direction.
“Ookkii!”
“For me!? Thank you Mister Monkey!”
The Baron’s daughter didn’t hesitate for a second, gobbling up the piping hot oden the monkey held out for her.
“Wait!? Margaret, you’ll burn yourself eating it like that.........”
“Mm, Mm, Mm! Yeah, this is pretty good...........Elliott, what’s wrong?”
“No..........as long as it’s safe.........”
A young girl raised in the slums, Margaret was confident in the strength of her tongue and digestive system.
Elliott peered into the pot of oden.
“By the way..........why is all the food skewered?”
Every ingredient in the pot had been pierced by a skewer. There was a ladle resting on the side as well to help pick anything up.
Looking back up after asking his question...........Elliott was greeted to the sight of Rachel, George, and Sykes all shrugging their shoulders and shaking their heads as if to say, “Hah, what an amateur.” Even the monkey was doing it.
“Wha- What’s with you guys!?”
The Prince winced as everyone, with the exception of the Baron’s daughter who was ravenously going at the oden she had been given, all joined together to ridicule him at once.
“Your Highness, isn’t it just common sense that everything is skewered?”
“You wouldn’t be able to call this Shizuoka oden if it wasn’t like this.”
“Hahaha, Your Highness is really ignorant.”
“Ooki”
“What!? What’s with this!? What’s with everyone!? Especially the monkey!”
Elliott was getting upset, so Rachel acted as the group’s representative and explained things to him.
“Originally this stuff was sold as an easy-to-eat snack at small candy stores and stationary shops. The skewers were really convenient because they could be eaten just as they were, and the leftover sticks could be counted up to find out how much the bill would be before they leave.”
“...........Rachel, what did you say just now?”
Rachel looked proud of her abundance of useless information, but Elliott had to stop her after hearing something a little strange.
“Huh? The skewers were convenient..........”
“Before that! Where were these being sold!?”
“That’s, small candy stores and stationary shops.”
“Why is a hot meal like this being sold in places like that!?”
Rachel, Sykes, and George all shared a look.
- Writer
