So, is there only this forgotten, old rolled barley in the cafeteria?
“Do you have any other rolled barley?” I asked Marissa.
“There is only a small amount for the upper-class aristocrats to eat,” Marissa replied.
I hold my head at that.
I can’t serve breakfast like this.
No, I can make the salty mud porridge, but come on.
As expected, it’s not something you can show to others.
“Are you sure you don’t have rolled barley at your home, Yurisha-onee-sama?” Melissa asked Yurisha.
Thank you, that’s what I wanted to hear.
“Townhouses are not warehouses,” Yurisha said, “you can get them by contacting a grain merchant we know of, but not at this time of day.”
That’s right, even though their territory is in the breadbasket, the duke’s family doesn’t stockpile grain in their royal capital residence.
“It’s no good, Makoto, let’s get some bread baked at Hiyoko-Do,” Corinna said.
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“It’s not like my family stockpiles grain, either,” I said.
In the end, it would be nice if the stored barley could be eaten properly.
I opened the vault door.
Sure enough, the amount is large, it seems there are three giant sacks in there.
“We-We have enough to make a month’s worth of porridge,” Marissa said.
“Goodness’ sake, what a shameless seller,” I said, taking a bowlful of rolled barley from the sacks.
By the way, changing the subject, I think the Light magic version of Heal is not regeneration, exactly. I have my doubts.
Compared to the Healing Water of Water magic and the Earth Mend of Earth magic, the power is too strong and the rate is too fast.
I wondered if Light magic’s Heal was actually a different type of spell than regeneration.
I cast Heal on the bowl of rolled barley.
“Heal.”
“””…?”””
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“Makoto, rotting in storage isn’t an injury, so it can’t be cured,” Corinna said.
“Though roughly speaking, rolled barley is a plant,” I said. “Recovery magic is applied to another living thing, human bodies.”
The remnants of the Heal spell glittered and disappeared.
Like I thought.
Light magic Heal is not a recovery or regeneration magic.
It’s space-time magic.
The bowl I was holding was full of rolled barley, which had turned back into the familiar cream color.
“Marissa-san,” I said, “please try making porridge with this, make it sweet if you can.”
“Huh, what, this, this is good rolled barley, not the rotten stuff we have,” Marissa said.
“I tried to treat the rot, and it seems to have worked,” I said.
“It-It’s a miracle,” Marissa said.
“It’s amazing, as expected of the future Great Saint,” Heather said.
“You can’t be serious? Even elves can’t heal plant matter,” Estelle said.
So Light magic Heal isn’t regenerating the damaged area, it’s reversing time for the living matter in the area of effect.
It’s like a time warp.
Therefore, it is fast and powerful.
Well, since it’s turning back time and making the injury disappear, its power is different from other healing magics.
Maybe it’s limited to living things.
Rolled barley and other grains are probably still living matter, even though they have been processed.
… But where does “living matter” begin, and where does “inert matter” begin?
Making porridge is easy after that.
Marrisa-san’s porridge (rather, rolled barley porridge) was completed with the same amount of time and effort as making instant ramen in my previous life.
There’s a soft and milky scent.
“Since you wanted sweet porridge, I tried making milk porridge,” Marissa said.
“Don’t you have honey?” Yurisha said.
“Nuts, please put nuts in,” Melissa said.
Both are trying to get toppings from Marissa-san.
At that time, I brought a small spoonful of milk porridge to my mouth.
“Sweet and delicious~~~~,” I whined.
The rolled barley melts in your mouth, and the soft sweetness spreads throughout.
As expected of a professional chef, Marissa is good at cooking.
“This is delicious, how wonderful,” Corinna said.
“I’m an intelligence aristocrat and a foodie myself, but this is worth 5 stars,” Heather said.
“This, this is, this the porridge I’ve been waiting for, can I have a second serving?” Melissa asked.
“It’s delicious,” Yurisha said.
“It is good,” Estelle agreed.
Marissa-san started crying while holding the ladle.
“Th-Then, as long as we have proper ingredients… Ilda-san’s porridge is even more delicious,” Marissa said.
“I want to eat Ilda-san’s porridge~,” Corinna whined.
“Right~?” Melissa said. “I think I can forgive her for trying to cheat us~, this is delicious…”
“Well, everyone is weak when it comes to delicious food,” Estelle said. “I don’t think Ilda-san can totally escape responsibility for this crime, but circumstances are circumstances, so we will also work to make the punishment lighter.”
“Ah, thank you very much, thank you so, so much,” Marissa said.
Hmmm, I think I’ll settle things down somehow.
“Also, the main culprit is the powerful nobleman, but do you know his name?” Estelle asked.
“N-No, but Ilda-san knows,” Marissa said.
“If it’s among the great nobles, there’s currently a lady who eats the high-ranking noble food in the cafeteria and is related to the former dormitory master,” Heather said. “So, that narrows things down. We could go the other direction through the suppliers, though.”
“Heather-kun, I wonder if you would like to investigate this?” Estelle said.
“I wouldn’t know,” Heather said, “my family and our house both have a tradition of never working for free, you know?”
“What do you want? Backing from my family?” Estelle asked.
“I also hear Appleby is in the process of giving away its prized yoriko slots, you know,” Heather said, making a terrible expression and smiling.
However, it’s kind of cute because she’s wearing a triangular headscarf and an apron.
“Makoto-chan’s breakfast porridge, I wonder if I’ll just take it for the next five days and call it at that,” Heather said.
“Is that what you want?” Estelle said. “Then the decision will be quick.”
“I was shown something interesting this time too, so if I get any greedier, I won’t be able to make a good profit,” Heather said. “Moderation is the family motto, after all.”
“Then, I’m counting on you,” Estelle said.
Having an acquaintance with an intelligence-related aristocrat makes things all the more convenient.
Let’s continue to build a friendly relationship with Heather-senpai.
Now that that’s settled.
I cast Heal on a sack full of rolled barley for tomorrow’s breakfast.
I also cast Heal on the chicken that was going bad, too.
I thought the bird might come back to life, but it looks like it’s just getting closer and closer to freshly slaughtered as possible.
Since there are Resurrection spells, I guess the wall of life and death cannot be overcome with just Heal.
But well, it turned out to be very fresh chicken, so let’s just call it a day there.
“Then, starting tomorrow morning, I will enter the kitchen, what time will preparations start?” I asked Marissa.
“From 6 o’clock, but are you fine with it, Holy Saint-sama?” Marissa asked.
“It’s okay, I used to get up earlier when I was working as a baker’s daughter,” I said.
“B-But is it okay, even though you’re now a noble?” Marissa said.
“There is no problem, in exchange, please teach me various dishes, Marissa-san,” I said.
“Yes, from tomorrow, I leave it to you, Makoto-sama,” Marissa said.
“In terms of position, I will be a supervisor, but since I am the most junior person here, just Makoto is fine,” I said.
“Oh, I can’t possibly do that,” Marissa said.
“Don’t worry about it, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I said.
Alright, now I can enter the cafeteria kitchen as much as I want.
I’m going to get some yeast from my parent’s house and bake some bread.
I’m getting excited.
We split up with the dormitory master group heading to the penthouse, the upper aristocrats to the elevator, and the lower floor staircase for me, Corinna-chan, and Melissa-san.
“It helps to be able to eat delicious porridge in the morning,” Corinna said.
“I’ll do my best to make it, Corinna-chan,” I said.
“The dinner will be delicious too, won’t it, Makoto-sama?” Melissa asked.
“Leave it to me, Melissa-san,” I said.
At that, Melissa-san made a sad face and lowered her gaze.
“Honestly… you’re amazing, Makoto-sama,” Melissa said.
“I’m nothing like that,” I said.
“When you accepted me into the Saint’s Faction, I felt so happy that I could ascend to the heavens, and now, seeing you with fresh eyes, I now realize how little I knew, and how small I was,” Melissa continued.
“Is that so?” I asked.
“Yes, I can’t study, I don’t have courage, I’m a really useless child, and on the contrary, the people who are in the saint’s faction are so brilliant like stars, and I’m embarrassed to be among you,” Melissa said.
“Don’t worry, I’m in the same boat as you,” Corinna said.
“Corinna-sama is also amazing! This is the first time I’ve seen a lady like that who wants to study and become a civil servant and do what she can to get ahead in life,” Melissa said. “And you calculate so quickly and think so maturely and decisively… compared to me, I can’t do anything, and I’m just causing trouble…”
I stopped on the staircase landing and hugged Melissa.
“Ma-Makoto-sama?”
“You’re great too, Melissa-san,” I said. “Today there were a lot of scary things and a lot of sad things, but now you’re walking on your own two feet and you’ve already noticed so much.”
“Th-that’s, just…”
Melissa’s eyes are watery.
Her voice trembles too.
“Melissa-san, let’s grow up together with everyone in the faction,” I said. “Let’s study hard so that we can see what we can’t see. Let’s train our bodies so that we won’t get tired no matter how far we walk. Our school life has just begun, it’s fine to learn and grow from now on. It’s okay, Melissa-san, you can do it.”
“Yes……”
Melissa-san cried into my chest.
Yeah, today was scary, sad, and painful.
It’s okay to cry a lot.
“Because of this kind of thing, Makoto, even though you’re still a candidate, people are going to start calling you a saint already, for goodness sake,” Corinna said.
“Umu, Corinna-chan, thank you for spewing your usual venom,” I said.
“Fuhn,” Corinna huffed.
After a while, Melissa-san stopped crying, so we held hands together and went up to the second floor.
Yeah, it’s not a faction that grows by attacking another group, but a faction that grows together with everyone, that’s kind of positive and good.
The Saint Faction wants to aim for such a place.
