Manuke FPS

I’ve already sent in Viscount Caymon to the terrace, so what’s left was just the maid who fearfully waited on me to allow her to enter.

“Follow me.”

I motioned to the maid to follow me to the gazebo. Meanwhile, Viscount Caymon had already sat at one of the vacant chairs and begun discussing the schedule. The gazebo, where it sat center of the terrace, had cylindrical pillars with a dome roof. It was kinda like a pavilion if you ask me. Other than that, 90cm fences had been built inbetween the pillars, except for the entrance.

I didn’t go inside the gazebo, and merely watched the maid serve the tea to the others. What the maid seemed to serve lemon tea. She extracted the lemons from the tea cart’s compartment, sliced them with a fruit knife. Took out tea leaves then started to place them in the teapot.  1 cup. 2 cups. 3 cups. 4 cups. 5 cups.

“Ain’t that too many?”

“Nn?”

The maid abruptly stopped moving upon hearing my unintentional comment. The hand holding the teaspoon trembled.

“Aren’t there only 3 people here? You should only put one teaspoon more instead of two. Is there a need to prepare extra?”

“I-Indeed.”

“Count me out. And first of all, the price of those tea leaves are probably 2g~3g apiece right? You do know that, don’t you?”

“Ye-Yes.”

“Then just put enough tea leaves in the pot for the people.”

Then I noticed one other thing. When I touched the teapot, the porcelian was cold to the touch.

“The teapot should be warm to produce delicious tea, do you know that?”

“N-No, I didn’t know that.”

“Then, you do know that hot water is required to brew the tea, right?”

“Pa-Pardon me.”

“No, it’s okay. Then, what’s the temperature of the water?”

“I-It should still be hot; its in the holding bag.”

“Take it out.”

“Ye-Yes—”

The slightly pale-faced maid extracted the pot from the tool bag from the tea pot’s lower compartment. she handed the pot to me, so I opened the lid to check the contents. A hot mist came up from the water. It seemed to be good enough.

I poured the water into the teapot and waited a bit. The maid only watched, fidgeting as she waited. Its as if she became my minion. Whatever. I transferred the hot water to the teapot with the leaves in already and handed the empty pot to the maid.

“Anyways, this is fine now. Please extract the tea leaves and put them in there.”

“Ye-yes.”

Scared, the maid scooped the leaves up from the pot with a teaspoon and dumped them inside the newly warmed teapot. Next was to pour the hot water into it.

“Wait, the capacity for each person should be 150ml. Are you okay there?”

The maid didn’t reply. She merely shook her head with teary eyes.

“Then let me.”

I received the hot water from the maid and poured it into the teapot.

By pouring the hot water with the jumping method, it caused the tea leaves to move around due to convection. The tea leaves were divided into those that still floated on the surface and those that had sunk. After waiting for a while, the floating ones finally sunk as well.

All the tea leaves finally sunk after about 3 minutes. While waiting for the tea taste to melt out, I explained to the maid that she could deliver the tea to try with the lemon cutlets to the gazebo shortly.

“I never thought that the black mask would be so thorough about tea.”

When I realized that the three people, who were supposed to be in the middle of a meeting, had stopped to watch the exchange between the maid and me… I have never been so grateful that I was wearing a mask at the moment. Because the face behind the mask was burning red and sweated profusely due to embarrassment.

“I never thought that Shaft would have that kind of hobby. Is there a certain way to put the lemon in?”

Lapitirica-sama listened silently, but with a smile on her face. I sensed no fear there. Its like the gallant figure of Lapitiricia-sama I saw back in the Emerald Demon Dungeon had returned.

“Yes, pour the tea inside the teacup, but only put the lemon in before drinking. Stir lightly, and extract the lemon immediately. Leaving the lemon inside the tea for too long will cause the bitterness of the lemon skin to come out and affect the taste.”

“Then let’s do that. Laila, would you please?”

“Ye-yes, Milady.”

So that is the maid’s name.

From within the gazebo, I could hear remarks such as “Delicious” or  “Tasty”. But I chose to ignore it. I stood guard outside the gazebo alongside Maid Laila.

Now that I thought about it, the tea I drank at Marida’s Company was quite delicious. But the same couldn’t be said with those served in the coffee shops and the restaurants in Barga. The taste differed vastly. It was probably the difference in the tea leaves’ quality, but this world hasn’t really developed the proper way of brewing tea.

I spent the rest of that day thinking about it.

During the escort mission, Ashley and I would need to stay awhile in the Bardiche Castle. Ashley got to sleep in a private room inside the waiting area since she’s a woman. Meanwhile, I would be staying in a separate room meant for guards a bit away from hers.

The room had 2 bunk beds that could actually be used for up to 4 people, but for this occasion, I got to monopolize the room for myself.

According to the schedule, we’d be leaving for the Royal Capital on the next day. Then, a few days later, head to the next city, Venere, in the east. It’s said that Venere is the largest entertainment city within Kurtmerga. I thought that I’d heard the name before. Sometime later, I remembered that Yagoche intended to sell Marida’s daughter and her maid to a high-end brothel there.

We’ll stay in Venere for a couple of days, return to the capital and then finally, Barga. Our journey shouldn’t be too dangerous. Although there are people like Yagoche out there, very few would dare to cross the Duke.

The problem is after we arrive in Venere. It was a large city where many nobles gathered to discuss various topics they’d otherwise wouldn’t mention in the capital. Be it politics, economy, or other topics.

Both the Duke and the knights had a similar conception that if someone wanted to harm Lapitiricia-sama, it’d be during her stay in Venere. However, even if everyone knows it’s dangerous, avoiding Venere during a noble’s social debut was regarded as a serious matter

I really didn’t understand the mysterious world of nobles. But seeing as Ashley herself is a noble, had she also debuted in Venere before as well? And just what kind of family is the Zephanel? I’ve meant to ask Ashley about it for a while. However, for some reason, I felt she was avoiding that topic.

As for today, Lapitirica-sama was scheduled for training from morning to afternoon. An instructor from the Barga Mage Guild had been invited for it. And it took place in the Knight’s training grounds just outside the castle.

Lapitiricia-sama was 17 years old already. With the great merit of conquering the Emerald Demon Dungeon under her belt, it could be said that she’d graduated from her training period. Still, as a member of a noble family famed for their magical abilities, she had further room for growth. No, she’ll be fighting on a different battlefield. for her, as a woman and mage, she’ll have to put forth more effort into her life.

I turned from Lapitiricia-sama as she was training, and patrolled the one-story house that was being used for her training. The knights training outside the training hall caught my attention.

These knights were mainly using melee weapons, so if I were to fight them in close range, which type of CQB weapon should I use? 1 against many? What if the enemy consisted of knights and mages? I mulled those questions in my mind as I patrolled.

“Mock battle?”

“That’s right. The Mage Guild’s instructor wants to see just how Shaft-san would fare against a team of Knights and Mages. So, he wants you to participate in a mock battle. He said that it’d also serve as a good reference for Lapitiricia-sama.”

That was what Ashley-san told me after Laptiricia-sama’s lessons were finished.