Chapter 12

Chapter 12

She's Got Great Reactions

"You bought Kkang Shrimp here, right?"

"...Yeah."

Violetta asked while standing at the entrance of the store, and Seria answered. Yekaterina was beside them as well.

She hadn't been particularly eager to come, but Seria had insisted on bringing her, so she'd reluctantly tagged along.

'!'

The moment the door opened and the unfamiliar scene spread out before her, Violetta was left speechless just like every visitor before her.

Bright lighting. An interior layout and arrangement that somehow felt comforting.

Every product for sale was neatly organized, and there was an incredible variety.

Even the packaging was remarkably clean, however they'd managed it.

"Welcome!"

The handsome black-haired young man greeted the girls energetically. The shopkeeper was younger than Violetta had imagined.

When people thought of merchants, they tended to picture hairy middle-aged men or plump older women.

That was especially true of merchants from Violetta's home in the eastern region.

'He's handsome.'

By comparison, the shopkeeper was attractive and neat. She liked that quite a bit.

"Huh? Professor Delilah...!"

At that moment, Seria noticed a familiar face and called out.

This was the second time she'd run into her at the store.

"Hi, girls. Here to buy something?"

Compared to the stuffier professors, the alchemy professor was fairly approachable with students.

That was why Violetta liked her quite a bit.

'Even though I'm practically failing alchemy...'

Suddenly feeling guilty, she quickly greeted her and quietly edged aside.

Fortunately, Delilah soon got up.

"Mr. Dante, you've got customers, so I'll get going."

"So you do have some awareness after all."

So his name was Dante. Those two seemed pretty close.

"I'll have you know I'm the professor who teaches these girls. If you say things like that, you'll ruin my image."

"Come on. Friends can joke around with each other."

"Honestly, if only you weren't so good at talking. I'm really leaving now."

"Take care."

While Violetta watched the oddly close pair with curiosity, Seria suddenly called to her.

"Kkang Shrimp is over here in the snack section, Violetta."

"Oh."

But Kkang Shrimp, which she'd come intending to stock up on, wasn't the only thing that immediately caught her eye. The shelves were packed with other seafood snacks as well.

"Do all of these taste like the seafood pictured on the packages?"

"Uh... I haven't tried them either, so I'm not really sure..."

Seria was answering timidly when—

"They do. But they taste even better than regular seafood."

The shopkeeper had approached without her noticing.

"Looking for seafood-flavored snacks? Then I've got a few I'd recommend."

As he spoke, he picked up a pale-yellow bag.

"This one's shrimp-flavored too, like Kkang Shrimp, but you'll notice the difference once you try it."

"Oh, I'm curious. Can I try it right now?"

"Of course. As long as you pay for it. Fifteen silver."

For a noble young lady like Violetta, that much was pocket change.

She immediately paid with one gold and opened the snack.

Riiip!

A different aroma from the Kkang Shrimp immediately wafted out.

It definitely smelled like shrimp, but perhaps the flavor was somehow softer.

Its appearance was completely different too.

While Kkang Shrimp came as long sticks, the snack called Shrimp Ball Chips was flat and round like a coin.

Crunch!

The texture was excellent too. Despite their thickness, they crumbled much more softly than Kkang Shrimp.

"Wow, I like these even more than Kkang Shrimp!"

"They're good, right?"

The shopkeeper looked oddly moved and began recommending several other snacks as well.

Naturally, Violetta bought every one and tasted them on the spot.

"Wow, cute..."

Watching beside her, Seria marveled at a snack fried into the shape of a flower crab.

As for the taste, there was hardly anything to say. It carried plenty of that distinctive crab umami.

"Want to see something even cuter?"

Inside a box labeled Whale Pop were tiny whales along with snacks shaped like starfish, sharks, squid, and all sorts of other sea creatures.

"How did they make these so detailed? Magic? I don't think even a workshop could make something like this..."

Ahem.

The shopkeeper cleared his throat for no apparent reason and hurriedly moved on to the next snacks.

"Wow, these Squid Chips really are soft. They practically melt in your mouth!"

"Don't let your guard down. Keep eating them and you'll scrape up the roof of your mouth."

"It's already scraped, so I'm fine. Anyway, this one tastes like octopus too? Jagalchi? The name has nothing to do with it..."

Hmm.

The shopkeeper, who had been enthusiastically introducing snacks, suddenly looked uncertain.

"Honestly, I don't know if you'll like this one, but since you seem to like octopus..."

"Give it to me first!"

You couldn't judge anything until you tasted it.

Besides, none of the shopkeeper's recommendations had disappointed her so far, so Violetta trusted him completely.

The snack now in her hand was round and hard.

'Octopus Peanuts?'

After reading the name on the bag, she immediately bit into one.

Crunch.

The outer shell she'd expected to be hard broke apart gently, and the peanut inside cracked between her teeth.

"Mmm! This is delicious too!"

She'd never once considered eating octopus and peanuts together, but the combination of salty octopus flavor followed by the rich, nutty, oily taste of peanuts was excellent.

"Your name was Violetta, right? You really love seafood. Or do you just like snacks?"

"Both. I've always loved seafood enough that I could eat it endlessly, but having it as a snack feels completely different."

"I'm glad you like them that much. But..."

The shopkeeper stared at the armful of snacks Violetta was holding. Since she'd only tasted a little from each, the bags were still practically full.

"You are going to finish all of those, right...?"

Violetta answered without even a moment's hesitation.

"Of course!"

*

'She's got great reactions.'

It was a different kind of fun compared to Seria, who often looked impressed but expressed herself rather mildly.

Meanwhile, Pinky was standing in front of the lunchbox display, looking at the triangle rice balls.

Apparently she remembered what I'd recommended last time.

"Lunchboxes? You eat meals here too?"

Violetta approached her while crunching on a snack.

"Ah, yeah. The dining hall food doesn't really suit my taste..."

I knew that was a lie, but kept quiet.

'Honestly, eating at the dining hall would be pretty hard on her finances.'

In other words, getting her meals at the convenience store was much cheaper than eating at the Academy cafeteria.

'Tsk. Cafeterias are supposed to be where you eat because they're cheap...'

I clicked my tongue inwardly at the state of the Academy.

"Pick whatever you want. I'll buy it for you."

"Huh? All of a sudden...?"

"I ate all your Kkang Shrimp. And you introduced me to such a great place. I should pay you back somehow."

I'd secretly worried Violetta might be some kind of weirdo, but she was much more cheerful than I'd expected.

Seria seemed overwhelmed by her at times, but the two appeared to get along well enough.

Watching them made me feel strangely pleased.

Not because she was bait that brought in customers.

It was more like...

She was the kind of kid who kept making me want to look after her. For one thing, she was cute─

'...And there was what the principal said.'

I couldn't exactly admit that those feelings were also why I'd given away merchandise under the excuse of using it for advertising.

She was my glorious first customer, after all. Of course I'd grown attached.

"There are so many kinds. Which one tastes best?"

While I was briefly lost in thought, Violetta asked.

"They're pretty much all good..."

When it comes to triangle rice balls, tuna mayo is the classic.

"Do I have to heat this one too?"

At Seria's next question, I stroked my chin before answering.

"You can heat it or eat it cold, but cold rice has a pretty bad texture, so personally, I recommend microwaving it."

Exactly fifteen seconds. No more, no less.

Any longer and the seaweed gets soggy. Any less and the outside turns lukewarm while the inside stays cold, which makes it awkward to eat.

"Wow! Delicious!"

Sure enough, Violetta let out an emotional cry after tasting the tuna mayo.

Well, tuna is seafood too.

The acidity of the mayonnaise cuts the tuna's distinctive fishiness while boosting its richness, so there was no way it could taste bad.

"But what's wrapped around the outside? It looks like some kind of seaweed."

She recognized it immediately.

"It's dried seaweed."

"Seaweed?"

Violetta's eyes widened.

Then again, even in my original world, there weren't many places outside Korea and Japan where people commonly ate dried seaweed.

In this world, which felt like a mixture of medieval and early-modern Europe, that went without saying.

Even Violetta, who must've seen seafood until she was sick of it, would naturally find it unfamiliar.

'Surprisingly, she hasn't said anything about the rice. Seria looked like it was her first time eating it.'

Still, considering dishes like paella existed, maybe a noble like her had encountered rice regularly.

For the record, Yekaterina, who hadn't said a word since entering the store, was sitting neatly at a table by herself, happily munching dumplings and steamed buns instead of triangle rice balls.

'Now I get it.'

The dumplings and steamed buns really had won over the daughter of the Grand Duke of the North.

And by now, I'd grown somewhat used to the cold radiating from her too.

Once I started thinking of it as having the air conditioner blasting, I adapted pretty quickly.

"Wow, how is every single thing delicious?"

That's the charm of mass-produced food.

I answered Violetta silently.

"There are so many kinds that I don't think I'll ever get bored. I'll have to come here often."

"Yeah. Come by often. There are plenty of delicious things besides what you tried today."

"Sigh. I wonder if I'll even manage to try them all before I graduate."

I could guarantee she wouldn't.

There were still plenty of products I hadn't even stocked yet.

'Hmm...'

Come to think of it, have I been ordering too many things based on my own tastes?

"Ah, it's already this late. I have class, so I'll get going!"

"Thank you for the food...!"

After sending them off, I searched to see if there were any new products I should bring in.

'What do kids that age like...?'

* * *

"Your Highness, was the meal to your liking?"

Antiope, the Second Imperial Princess, clicked her tongue at the question.

"Food is all more or less the same. Still, it wasn't bad enough to spit out. Bring me dessert now."

But the dessert brought by her trusted attendant fell far short of satisfying her desires.

"Sigh."

The princess sighed and thought,

'I want something sweet.'

Something so overwhelmingly sweet it would make her head spin.