Sword, Magic and Academic Society

Vol. 1 - Ch. 46.5 - Interlude: Ice Cream

The store that we headed to in the flashy open-top car of the Leverance family was 15 minutes away from the arms store by car.

I heard from the others that we were going to eat ice cream, so I imagined something like a gelatin store or a crepe store crowded with long lines of girls and take-away features like my previous life. Having our take out and eating them somewhere around the shop with friends, didn't that sound like the springtime of youth!?

I had hyped myself imagining that, but the store we arrived at was just another first-class restaurant with a sprinkle of Arabian-style atmosphere. What a bummer, so I thought, but it is what it is.

After the staff led us inside the store, I looked at the dreadful menu without any price tags and ordered the simplest 'ice cream'.

"To be honest, I didn't expect Allen-san to tag along with us. It's just hard to imagine you eating sweets."

Jeu, putting up her usual polite smile, said.

"No, of course not. Rather, I’m known as someone who’s quite picky about his sweets."

Well, in the previous world that is, and… self-proclaimed at that.

"Pfft. You don't need to cover for yourself, Allen. Everyone knows you have 'that kind' of palate. None of us are expecting any insight from you when it comes to taste, so it's fine."

Fey said as if she was looking at something funny.

Is she trying to say "As someone from a rural area oblivious to the refined palate, we know you are trying to appear knowledgeable"...? What the hell?! I didn't even know rumors about my palate, which had feasted on Japan's cuisine, was simply ridiculed as 'that kind'.

I mean, yeah, I ate Sora's breakfast in the morning without any complaint, then I only had emergency portable rations for lunch and visited the soba restaurant at night every day after enrolling into the Royal Academy… Alright, I know that's not a healthy eating habit per se... But I absolutely wasn't someone who didn't care about taste.

I was someone who managed to enter into a first-class food & beverage-making company's goods development department. I simply tagged along due to my gratitude for Stella’s help. So, I had planned not to show off my refined palate from my previous life, even if the item just happened to be so-so, so that everyone could have a good time... But it seemed like fate didn't want me to be quiet. Alright.

I raised my voice to the employee who took my order.

"Excuse me, I would like to change my order with this rollberry-flavored thing. Don't put sauce over it, just bring it on a different plate."

"Sauce... is it?"

"You can just ask us if you don't know about the ice cream, Allen."

Fey said with a grinning tone.

...From the appearance of the shop, I thought they might use homemade berry sauce for topping at least, but from the looks of it, it seemed like all the flavors were already mixed into the ice.

"Our Rovenne territory wasn't so far gone to not have ice cream. But very well, just bring me the usual 'ice cream'. I would like black tea in addition."

"...Do people eat ice cream by topping it with sauce in your territory?"

Coco inquired, which he seldomly did when in public. He has opened up quite a bit recently, but he still shied away in places like this. I guess he must have been genuinely curious about it.

Coco’s order was one of the prime choices, hot coffee with chocolate ice cream. Speaking of which, he looked lean now, but he was quite round when we first met. Being a sweet lover wasn't an easy thing, eh?

"No, I just did some research with our chef. The tongues of people easily get molded into monotonous tastes in the blink of an eye. This is the story for all cooking so unevenness in the flavor is the most important. In that case, I prefer to add some flavor to the ice cream later if possible. Bringing a variation through drinks, like Coco's choice, is one way to do it."

It was the same reason as to why rice and curry sauce shouldn't be mixed together. It was easier for the tongue to be numbed if there was no depth to the flavors. Let's say this was necessary even in dishes made as a whole to feel the changes in the taste and smell in the mouth. A close example would be like green spring onion on udon.

A dish missing such a factor was what you’d call bland cooking.

"Haha. It's hardly convincing when you only eat emergency portable rations every day for lunch even when we try to invite you. Wait, maybe it's the time for the heavenly chef, Salt Pinefork to take the limelight after legendary private tutor Schord Bainfause? Introduce us once, alright?" (Fey)

This girl... She has the nerve to make fun of my pal, emergency rations. But, hmm, I guess it was a bit out of timing to bring up the research with our chef here...?

Of course, the research was just a white lie of mine, and everything was just me utilizing my previous life knowledge (my cheat) to change the dishes to suit my preference, claiming it was 'necessary for the success of my exam' to stop the interference of the chef back at our home.

"Our chef's name is Sugar."

I didn't forget to emphasize 'It's a real person' as I gradually lost my ground.

I really did want to put forth something to floor them but the information on ice cream I had was something I couldn't exactly explain by omitting scientific details. The company in my previous life was a producer of many items, but ice cream wasn’t one of them. However, we occasionally had collaborations between ice cream makers and our in-house brandy. And I, who was a part of the development team, had studied ice manufacturing to an absurd extent.

However, the ice cream I was involved in developing was a commercial product, so the key points in the development included adjusting the stirring of the fat globules at a particle level using large-scale machinery in the factory, rapid cooling with a -40°C strong wind, and calibration of continuous freezers. Even I felt it would be a bit of a stretch to say I did those experiments with our chef.

Hmm, maybe I should bring in the story of a wandering magi-tech engineer? No, not a good idea I guess. Else Fey was bound to pull some strings behind my back to get to the bottom of it...

While my classmates watched me wrack my brain with warm expressions, our orders arrived. I was taken aback when I saw the generous amount served on the high-class porcelain plate.

I had no doubt eating that volume of one flavor of ice cream would numb my mind and taste buds in the end even if there was black tea to help out. It reminded me of the foreigner that I saw in my previous life who was digging into an absurdly large bucket-like ice cream cup, probably eight times the size of a regular mini cup, with a spoon that could be used for eating curry.

In this world, I realized people tended to start eating a lot more from around the age the mana organ manifested. So, I could certainly finish it, but it was also why I had thoroughly instructed our chef to add some other variations in the cooking so that I didn't end up getting fed up by eating that amount of food.

"Is it the same for coffee with milk, I mean the twist to bring a more varied taste?" (Coco)

I was thinking that when Coco asked me as he stopped the hand that was mixing the milk in his coffee with a spoon.

Oh, as expected of Coco. In fact, I quite respected his sharp insight and unbiased, straightforward perspective already.

"Of course. Do try it."

"...It's really delicious without mixing it in." (Coco)

I know, right?

"You're amazing, Coco. You managed to get advice from Allen which isn’t just 'Don't breathe in with your nose'."

Stella looked at Coco in admiration.

How rude… It was really vexing to see that their opinion of my palate was already rock bottom. Whatever. At least, Coco's review should have refreshed their opinion about my taste buds a bit, right? I also scooped some of my ice cream and tried it.

...Ugh, really disappointing. No, the ingredients used were all incredible for sure. But this was why I couldn't help but want to criticize the half-baked nature of its perfection.

I was sure any Japanese would reply with 'It's incredibly delicious, yes, but it's a bit icy and soggy' if they were to take a bite of it. But it would be impossible to explain why I knew that much in detail, and I doubt my proposed improvement plan would take flight in this world.

There were many things I wanted to say, but I kept them to myself. I was silently eating when I noticed everyone was glancing at my way as I raised my face.

"Ah, my bad. It's delicious."

I replied innocuously. Hearing my words, the man, who seemed to be a sommelier, who had been standing nearby looked visibly relieved. I guess serving Royal Academy students must have put him on pins and needles, huh…?

"Allen-san, you look like you have something to say, is there something you are curious about?"

However, Jeu's follow-up question once again put the pitiful employee back in a jittery state. I tried to defuse the nervousness.

"No, it's really delicious. It may be a basic technique to add cream to the ice cream base anglaise to achieve smoothness and richness, but this level of fat content is just less than 20% including the creme anglaise, I presume? I’m surprised by this level of complexity and richness. What kind of milk did they use?"

Seemingly getting into a good mood after hearing my words, the employee explained.

"Yes. We mainly use the cow milk of the Roubrand breed, raised in cold highlands."

Oh? So the main technique is their in-house ratio mixture? But asking about the recipe any further would be prying too much so I held myself back.

"Pfft. Here you are again with your incomprehensible words. It’s my first time hearing someone talking about the fat percentage being less than 20% while reviewing the food. Have you measured it before? Why and how did you do it?"

Crap… I forgot there wasn't a concept of ingredient composition in a food item in this world. It was usually clear with just a glance at the ingredients label in Japan, so I didn't know about the fat content to the exact value but this world did have densitometers, so it wasn't completely strange.

But if I continued like this, they would surely lump me in the same category as a mad scientist (like Sora) rather than a gourmet.

"I think there is also some milk of a goat monster… Ramie goat, to be precise, mixed in as well. The faint smell, reminiscent of stepping on summer grass, gives it away. Allen's analysis of the fat content is interesting. Ramie goats live in rocky areas and are beefy monsters with exceptional jumping ability. Their milk is light yet possesses a deep richness, like soup made with onions."

We all were surprised to hear Coco identifying the ingredients.

"Amazing, or should I say as expected of the students of the Royal Academy. Both your palate and knowledge are first-class. Ramie goat milk usually doesn't appear that much in the market, but... We have indeed incorporated it."

The employee showed his silent gesture of surrender facing the two of us. He was directing an admiration-filled gaze at Coco...... That admiration included me as well, right? I did point it out earlier, didn’t I?

"What does Allen think on how to improve it? Do you have any idea?"

I guess he seemed to have sensed there was more to my words from my expression as he passed the baton of the topic back to me. How keen... And Coco in his analysis mode seemed like he wouldn't stop until he got to the bottom of something.

I divulged a bit of my previous world's knowledge in a barely explainable range.

"Like I said earlier, the separable flavor should be combined just before consumption. The taste tends to blend if you add it beforehand, even if you don't mix it in. Leaving the skin and seeds finely chopped without straining them can also contribute to a desirable texture. Aside from that… The chef's skills leave no room to complain about but I think there is room for improvement in the magic tool used."

Fey's eyes immediately shined hearing me mention magic tools.

"How exactly?"

"Stirring the creme anglaise while cooling it results in ice cream. You must have learned about the phenomenon of lowering the freezing point of water by adding salt or sugar to it in physics class, right? I believe the icy texture of the ice cream can be further smoothened and it would be easier to melt in the mouth by effectively stirring the sauce at the lowest possible temperature, just right before the solidification process takes place."

"...That's quite an interesting theory. I’ll try it next time."

He seemed to be content with that much for now, so Coco stopped there. But I bet he would surely come to my dorm room one of these days to continue this topic.

"Hahaha! How do you even know that much? It can't be that your results in the mock exam were due to spending most of your time in such experiments with your elder sister and Schord, right? It would be funny if this was the main reason that led to the cheating allegation, hahaha."

Fey began taking more interest in my life than the ice cream itself. I could already smell trouble in the air.

"I am a sweets lover, so of course I have done such experiments."

I bailed myself out of the situation without affirming her guess.

"How did the topic shift to the freezing point or ingredient composition from a simple impression of ice cream…? Such things only happen around you, Allen. I also don't know much about taste, so I think it's fine not to force yourself to delve into such intricate matters!"

"I only know ice cream either tastes good or bad."

Al and Stella cheered me up while conveying a mysterious sense of camaraderie. No, please don't categorize me as an eccentric taste connoisseur!

However, explaining any more about the knowledge from my previous world to these smart classmates of mine would only come back to bite me later. But this gained me another unconventional impression as a cheeky guy who only knew how to bring up complicated cooking theories when reviewing food despite having 'that' kind of palate.

At least, Coco seemed to have understood my point, so that was fine, I guess…

It was a story of another time, but in around half a year, this store would come to be known as the No.1 ice cream store in the Royal Capital.