Translator Corner
Minasan Oidemasu! This is Yukkuri demasu!
Sorry for being late…
Once again, my plan get heavily delayed due to a vicious RL componentcalled: work schedule.
I had secured an April leave for myself, so I will concentrate on it. Untilthen, prepare for infrequent chapter release…
*sigh*
Also thanks for the donation, KH-san, your donation will be used to secure 30 cups of coffee enough for 3 nights (I am a coffee addict), for the weekend translation marathon.
This time its Eira’s attack!
Prepare yourself Kazura!
DISCLAIMER: There is no guarantee that my translation is 100%correct. Please correct me if I was wrong.
Author:
すずの木くろ (Susunokikuro)
Translator:
Yukkuri Oniisan
Editor, Proofreader:
TheDefend
QA:
Chase
Chapter 76: Late Night Tea Party
Later that same day at midnight.
In a spacious room that had just been granted to her 3days ago, Eira lied down on the bed.
Eira’s room can be called as a 16 tatamis[1]wide room in the Japanese standard, for a room assigned to a servant, its wide wasabove the standard.
The first-class carpet that had been spread out on thefloor, the bed, the tables and every other prepared furniture was obviously of excellentelegant quality.
Inside the pitch dark room, Eira was closing her eyesand lied down motionlessly for a moment, but suddenly she get up in an abruptmanner.
「(I can’t sleep……)」
Eira made a deep sigh as she recalled the situationshe was appointed into and was worried to her wits end.
Three days ago, Zirconia had personally ordered her, 「Make Lieze and Kazura end up together」, it was an order that shereluctantly undertook, and even after 3 days had passed, Eira still couldn’t makeany move.
During these three days, Eira was accompanying Liezeand Kazura, as they visited the grain fields each day.
The times Eira ever meets with Kazura was when theydepart to and return from the grain fields, and then at every breakfast, lunchand dinner time.
When Eira met with Kazura, Lieze was always togetherwith him, so it was vanishingly improbable for Eira to be alone with Kazura.
Until now, Eira never joined their conversations, evenonce. She stood by in waiting behind both of them like a servant, silently, in perpetuity.
So basically, even to deepen her interaction withKazura, the opportunity for this was nonexistent.
In the current situation, where only business likewords were exchanged between them, naturally there wasn’t anything that shecould do to somehow hitch Lieze and Kazura together.
In the plan that Eira first formulated, though itmight take times, one way or another she would get friendly with Kazura by anymeans. Then, when it reached a state where she could chat naturally with him, shewould interweave stories in the conversation to promote Lieze.
However, the current situation was hopeless.
Eira couldn’t speak with Kazura when she was togetherwith Lieze, and when she wasn’t with Lieze, Eira needed to handle her own shareof work. Kazura also moved around busily every day, so there was simply no timeto have a nice slow chat.
How could she capture a target whom she didn’t even havea moment of contact? Eira was hurting her head thinking about this every day.
「(At least, it will be alright if I can switch position with Marie-chan……But this is impossible from the start, right? ……)」
The other servant that had been tasked to be Kazura’sservant together with her, Marie, had markedly more chances to make contactwith Kazura compared to Eira.
Perhaps if she could exchange position with Marie,then there might be a small chance to have a chat with Kazura when waking himin the morning, or escorting him before and after bathing, and then when confirmingthe content of every meal.
Perhaps because Marie had previous experience as amaid in Leveson House, she is really skillful in completing her daily works.
It was only at the first day when her work began thatshe didn’t comprehend the workplace environment, so she looked a bit confused,but after she had been explained about the sequence of jobs that need to be performed at the kitchen, the washroomand the other places, while she was seeking Eira and the other maid’s instruction,she performed her work almost perfectly.
If there was something that she didn’t understand or couldn;tmanage, then without trying to do it by herself, she would immediately seekinstruction and consult with Eira. In doing so, she avoided worsening theproblem.
Furthermore at the evening assembly performed everyevening, she would properly report to Eira about the summary of the work detailsperformed that day.
Even though she was still a young 13 year old, Eira feltthat Marie was quite an excellent maid.
However, whether or not someone could immediately workas Lieze’s servant just because they are excellent would be another matteraltogether.
Since Eira had always been beside Lieze since she wassmall, Eira was amongst a very small number of people whom Lieze permitted to seeher true nature.
Even amongst them, Eira is the only one who could attendto Lieze, in which Lieze could completely let her guard down without anyhesitation. And it was Eira alone whom Lieze strongly depended on. Eira wasaware of this fact too.
If perhaps Marie replaced her as Lieze’s personalservant, or even if it was a proposal to relieve Eira from attending personallyto anyone, perhaps Lieze would obstinately refuse it.
Furthermore, if Eira made that proposal herself, itwas easy to imagine that Lieze would ended up terribly sad.
Ultimately, it was futile.
If Marie was a common citizen, then she would have 2days of break for every 10 days. During that time, Eira might be able to make contactwith Kazura.
However, unfortunately, Marie is a slave.
Slave don’t receive any holiday, so there wouldn’t bea single day where Marie was released from her duty as Kazura’s servant.
All doors were completely closed for her.[2]
Lieze seems to have taken a liking to Kazura andKazura didn’t seem to be that unhappy either. Even if she left both of themalone, she believed that both of them would end up together.
However, every afternoon when Eira was reportingLieze’s schedule for the next day to Zirconia, she always asked, 「What about those two?」. So, Eira couldn’t do nothingeither.
It would be alright if Eira’s heart was strong enoughto say 「Don’t ask for unreasonable things」 to Zirconia, butunfortunately, she was a timid person.
If she didn’t show any result one way or another,before long she might be reprimanded by Zirconia, which filled her withtrepidation.
「…… Let’s drink some tea.」
Muttered Eira while sighed. She crawled out from thebed and put on the trouser placed at the bedside, and since she was onlywearing a knee-length tunic, she also put on a stole.
✧✦✧✦
「Hmm, what to make today? Since recently I have been staying up late,perhaps I’ll drink some Echinacea[3].」
Under the illumination of the candle in his hand, insidethe kitchen where no one else present, Kazura was boiling a water in a smallpot on the stone stove.
On top of the table beside him was a wooden basketthat contained paper bags with herbs that had been minced and divided intosmall portions and a glass pot.
Kazura took out the paper bags containing Echinaceaand Licorice[4], and brokethe cellotape seal.
Echinacea has an immune boosting effect, so it is anherb that is useful when the body is tired.
The Licorice, which he also took out from the basket,was used for its sweetness this time.
「Ah!」
「Hm?」
Suddenly there was a voice from his back so Kazuraturned around and saw the sight of Eira in sleep-wear, standing on the kitchenentrance holding a candlestick.
Eira was not expecting anyone to be in the kitchen atthis hour; furthermore, for that person to be none other than Kazura. She wantto cry from the bottom of her heart for her carelessness to go outside the roomwith sleep-wear and her stupidity to spontaneously let her voice out to beheard.
Even though it was outside her working hours, toappear in front of her master in sleep-wear, it was an act that was unacceptablyimpolite.
「Good evening, Eira-san. Perhaps, you came for hot water?」
Without completely unnoticing what happened inside Eira’smind, Kazura smiled at her and began to address her.
「Ah, yes, I thought I want to drink some tea…… A-ano, I am terriblysorry to be in this appearance. I never thought there would be another person,that……」
「Ah no need, since it’s already outside working hours I don’t mind it at-…… E-eh,Eira-san?」
Kazura was instantly confused when he noticed thatEira had replied disorderly with an expression close to crying.
However, he quickly noticed that he was the cause ofthis and after thinking for a few second about what to do, he smiled once moretowards Eira.
「Umm, I also thought that I want to brew some tea right now. If you’d liketo, can I offer you one cup?」
「E…….eh!? M-me!?」
「Yes, since you are always helpful to me, let me thank you for once. Nowthen, please have a seat there.」
Without minding Eira who was frozen from theunexpected proposal, Kazura held the small pot with hot water and then walked towardsthe big dining room next to the kitchen.
Eira hurriedly pursued him with a half-run. Then, infront of the table, 「Have a seat」, Kazura pulled out a chair while smiling to her.
「Shall we put Elderflower[5]and Rose Hip[6] and……German Chamomile[7]? ……Eira-san?」
Kazura called out to Eira, who was standing in thedining room entrance with a bewildered expression.
Eira nervously approached Kazura and then sat at thechair while being prompted by him.
「This is tea from the herbs harvested in my country, it’s called herbaltea[8].I hope it will suit your taste.」
While he was saying so, he pinched the herbs and putit into the glass pot, before pouring hot water from the small pot into the pot.
The herbs inside the glass pot gently dispersed as hotwater was poured on them. The peculiar color of each herb slowly seeped out andbegan to dissolve in the hot water.
「(Blimey[9],what I am thinking by using the glass pot in front of Eira-san?)」
Kazura turned his face at Eira while thinking what todo if he was inquired by her, but Eira still had a nervous expression as she staredfixedly at the glass pot in silence.
Since it seem that she wasn’t going to ask anything, Kazuralet out a sigh of relief inside his mind.
Previously, he had been told that the people in theEstate had been ordered by Nelson, 「Do not inquire too much aboutKazura」, so he thought that it had been thoroughly enforced without exception.
On the other hand, Eira being Eira, even though shewas still confused at the situation where she was right now, she was captivatedby the herbs that were floating inside the glass pot placed in front of her.
Because she had heard about Kazura to some extent fromZirconia a few days ago, she ended up not being flustered even when looking atthe transparent glass pot placed before her.
However, the fact that the glass pot is an unknowntool was unchanged, and so she was engrossed at the beauty of the curiouslooking drifting herbs.
「Eira-san, what kind of tea do you usually drink? Is it something like what themaids brew for me at mealtime?」
Kazura addressed Eira who was engrossed at the pot, soEira removed her eyes from the pot and straightened herself before looking atKazura.
「Yes, it is mostly tea made from herbs that were bought from the city…… Ano,to pay consideration to someone like me, I am truly grateful. And yet, I am insuch appearance…… Please pardon my impoliteness……」
「No, not at all, please no need to be that formal. If you are that tense, Iwill also feel tired. Let’s be more at ease.」
「E-even if you say that to me……」
Kazura made a wry smile at Eira who was still bewilderedwith a nervous expression, while he picked up the glass pot.
「Then, it will soon be the proper time.」
He took out a teacup from the basket and placed it infront of Eira before he poured the tea that had been just decocted into it.
The mixture of the tender scent peculiar to GermanChamomile and the fruity scent of the Rose Hip was a truly indescribable scentwhich faintly spreading out.
「Have a taste. If the taste doesn’t suit you, please say so. Since I broughtvarious types of herbs, I can brew a different type.」
Kazura said this as he took his seat, took out anotherteacup from the basket and poured the herb tea into it.
Then, ignoring the bewildered Eira in front of theteacup, he brought the teacup to his mouth.
Seeing this, Eira too picked the teacup up and after givinga word of thanks to Kazura, she tasted the tea.
「…… Delicious.」
After she taste the herb tea, Eira finally smiled fromits taste and fragrance, and so Kazura smiled in relief.
「I’m glad to hear it. Also this is a snack called cookie, please have ataste of this too. It’s delicious.」
Then Kazura took out a paper bag with cookies from thebasket. He unwrapped it onto a nearby plate and offered it to Eira.
Eira gave her thanks to Kazura, picked up a cookie andtook a bite.
「(Cookies are something that is sold in the city, even I sometime make i-……ah, delicious!)」
Cookie were a food that exist in this world too. It isgenerally made by kneading bread wheat flour with salt or fruit mixed in and thenbaked.
Although it seemed that from how Kazura talked aboutit, it was as if he thought that Eira didn’t know what a cookie is. Eira then rememberedthe talk about how Kazura is Greysior.
If Kazura is really Greysior, then it wasunderstandable that he didn’t really know in detail about the food in thisworld.
Eira remembered how the food that Kazura usually ate wassomething custom made by Marie, so perhaps the food of this world didn’t suithis taste.
「It’s really delicious! This is the first time I ever ate sa delicious cookiethis sweet!」
「That’s good to hear…… Eh? So it seems that cookies are not a particularly unusualfood…… Forgive my rudeness.」
Eira answered with a wide smile on her face. Kazuramade a wry smile and scratched his head from his slip of tongue.
「……Ah.」
Eira noticed that her previous statement had madeKazura lose face[10] andimmediately her face became pale white, but Kazura didn’t seem to be botheredat all, he just went, 「Oh well」 and swept away the issue.
Furthermore, if the initiative to chat in thisfriendly manner came from Kazura’s side, now was the best opportunity to befriendly with him.
Eira had quite a resistance to suddenly converse in aneasygoing manner with a superior that she practically never talk to beforehand,but she might as well stifle this resistance and converse with him in a normalmanner.
「U-umm, I sometime make cookies too. It’s mostly by baking dough mixed withminced fruits, but even though this cookie doesn’t contain any fruits, it isdeliciously sweet. What is mixed in it for it to have a taste like this?」
「Hmm, this is something that I had bought, so I don’t really know it indetail, but certainly it is sugar, butter and salt…… I’m certain that theingredients are something like that……」
「Sugar……?」[11]
Kazura was thinking while holding his teacup. Eiratilted her head and ask him back.
「Yes, its appearance looks like salt and has a sweet taste. It’s differentfrom the sweetness from a fruit. It’s like a seasoning that simply only has sweettaste.」
「So it’s a sweet salt? So there was something like that…… Also, I have neverheard about butter before.」
Eira began to ask questions with a fascinating interestas if something inside her had burst out. Kazura also answered her questionwhile feeling relieved that her nervousness had finally been loosened.
「Butter is certainly something that is eventually be made by repeatedly shakinganimal milk inside a container…… Since I only have a faint memory of it, I willinvestigate it in details when I return to the country later. If it’s possibleto make it, then do you want to make it together next time?」
He tried to explain while relying at the faint memoryof butter making trial class when he went to play in the ranch with his parentsin his childhood, but that memory was too vague so he wasn’t confident enoughwhether or not this method could make butter.
On the next return to Japan, he intend to investigatethe right process to make it either from searching on the internet or going to theGunmā Ranch.[12]
「Eh, but……」
Eira flinched at the unexpected proposal.
She thought that she should gently react and refuse inpolite way of speaking, but if his proposal was serious then this would be anunparalleled chance to deepen her friendship with Kazura.
She had noticed this from observing Kazura for thelast few days, that since Kazura behaved really kind and polite even to theservant, he would forgive a little impoliteness.
I should push through this chance, Eira cheeredherself.
「T-then, please do so, by all means. Since we can extract some milk from theMyagis that are kept inside the mansion grounds, I think I can procure some foruse.」
「(Whoa, she jump on board.)」
Although he thought that perhaps she would refuse, sincethere was nothing to lose, he tried to ask her. Unexpectedly, Eira acceptedKazura’s invitation.
However, Kazura thought that it would be convenient ifhe met with Eira every day, since he wanted to get along and deepen thefriendship if it was possible.
Kazura thought that because in the future he would be livingat Nelson’s Estate for a long period of time, he wanted to have steadycommunication with the people he often met with.
「I understand. Two days from now, I will temporarily return to my countryand I think I will come back to Isteria again in 7 or 8 days. Therefore, let’stry to make the butter at a day where Eira-san is free.」
「Thank you very much. Perhaps if we can make the butter, I could make more deliciouscookies than what I had made until now. I will also prepare the fruits too.」
Perhaps because she was still a bit nervous, there wasstill some stiffness remaining in Eira’s smile.
However, Kazura nodded in his heart that if he could repeatthis kind of interaction in the future, then sooner or later he could see herhonest smile.
「Also, I always come to the kitchen to boil water around this hour. If youfeel like it, then you will be always welcomed to join me. I will treat you toherb tea again. Of course, with cookies.」
「Fufu, then, I will also make some snacks to bring when Icome next time. I am quite versed in making snacks.」
「Oh, then I will be looking forward to it. I also need to think about a moredelicious herb blend.」
Thus, the late night tea party (indeterminate) justfor both of them and the opening of butter making class (schedule pending) hasbeen decided.
☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽
It looks like Kazura counterattack, the herb teaand the cookie are too effective! Eira getto da ze! Satou will be proud at him.
[1]26.44 m^2 (or 284.7 ft^2)
[2] Today’s idiom: 八方塞がり = blocked from eight direction; cornered; embattled on all side
[3]Echinacea:mostly refer to Echinacea purpurea, also known as eastern purpleconeflower, hedgehog coneflower, or purple coneflower. It belonged to Sunflowerfamily. It is purposed use is for increasing body immunity. But honestly as adoctor I will ask Kazura to get a proper sleep. Echinacea tea taste rather niceactually.
[4]Licoriceis the root of Glycyrrhiza glabra. Also known as sweet root. Licoricehad been used in many traditional Chinese medicine, perhaps because of itssweet taste and corticosteroid mimicking pharmacology.
[5]Elderfloweris the flower of elderberry or Sambucus nigra. Elderflower cordial (flowerand sugar water) has been popular in North Western Europe where it has a strongVictorian heritage. However, versions of an elderflower cordial recipe can betraced back to Roman times. Nowadays it can be found in almost all of theformer Roman Empire territory, predominantly in Central Europe, especially inEngland, Germany, Austria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, where people haveacquired a special taste for it and still make it in the traditional way.
[6] The rose hip, also known as rose haw or rose hep, is thefruit of the rose plant, that is typically red-to-orange, but ranges from darkpurple to black in some species.
[7]There aretwo Chamomile: German (Matricaria chamomilla) and Roman/English (Chamaemelumnobile)
[8]Herb teais in gairaigo (foreign loan word written with katakana). Kazura also say herbin gairaigo. In general, no Arcadian people say gairaigo words other than whatKazura introduced to them.
[9]Or drat,or turd, or crap, or darn, or shit, or damn, or顶 or 该死, or 糟糕. Why blimey? Since I think Kazura is kinda more British like with allhis tea drinking… (no offence real British people)
[10]Orembarrassed, I put lose face since its sound more ‘Eastern’, LoL. The originalword is 恥をかかして, which is to causedisgrace/humiliate someone.
[11]Kazurasaid 砂糖(satou) in Kanji which means sugar, while Eira said it as just thehiragana さとう (satou). This is how the author displayedEira’s unfamiliarity with “sugar”. By the way, the other very famous Satou iswritten as 佐藤 in Kanji.
[12]The Ranchwhere he buy the manure before.