Chapter 14 (2/2)
“I, is that honey?”
“Hm?”
This was the first time Kunette stuttered. Her eyes were fixated on the pot of honey Isaac was holding.
‘Bears do like honey, don’t they?’
His thoughts drifted to Winnie the Pooh as he spoke.
“Do you want it?”
Kunette nodded with such enthusiasm that Isaac had never seen before. It was true that honey wasn’t especially rare, but it was no common food either.
Honey as a whole was a luxury and its main use was as an ingredient for desserts, so the market was too small to meet the demand of the Empire as a whole. This drove its price up, making it accessible to all but too expensive to eat to one’s heart’s content.
The only reason Isaac had some in hand was thanks to his business. There was a girl obsessed with honey. Her family ran a beekeeping business. Sadly, she could never get any while she stayed in the Campus, which drove her mad. Isaac was like a saving grace to her.
She couldn’t last a month with the amount of honey she was allowed to bring in with her. But if she brought the honey through Isaac and stored it, she could have it whenever she wanted. Since honey was quite popular amongst other students as well, Isaac received some of that honey as payment from her which he sold to other students.
“It seems like I didn’t even need to make cookies.”
Isaac quietly disposed of the cookies as he watched Kunette devour the pot of honey. He was relieved to find a way to appease and if need be, tempt Kunette for future reference.
The second guest came at night time as the holidays’ end drew near. She was from the Elven Reservation, which is at the southern part of the continent. Her family was called the Mist Family, which was held in high regard amongst many other renowned elven families. As expected of an elf, she was a beautiful maiden. Her figure was like that of a statue, with a slim figure and well-endowed b.r.e.a.s.t.s.
“h.e.l.lo, Sunbaenim! My name’s Reisha! Ah! Kunette!”
<blockquote>
TL Note: “Sunbaenim” is a formal way of referring to an individual, typically older. You might think of it as the Korean equivalent of the English word “uppercla.s.smen.” In this context, “sunbaenim” has a similar meaning to the j.a.panese “senpai.”
</blockquote>
“Hiss!”
It seemed the two of them were well acquainted with each other. Reisha approached Kunette, picked her up, and began to spin around with her while Kunette roared as she struggled with her stubby arms and legs.
“How did you get here?”
Isaac never saw a s.h.i.+p approaching. Other than the scheduled supply s.h.i.+p, there was no way to get to the Campus. That’s why he was confused to see her here.
“I’m hungry. What’s for dinner tonight?”
After playing with Kunette to her satisfaction, Reisha placed Kunette back on the ground, only to start running away from Kunette as she began to charge toward Reisha. She asked the question while she was on the run.
“I was thinking of having some bulgogi but…”
<blockquote>
TL Note: Bulgogi is Korean marinated beef, which can be eaten with various other foods.
</blockquote>
“Ah! Sounds delicious!”
“Are elves allowed to eat meat in this world?”
Common knowledge about elves was that they are vegetarian. But watching Reisha drool from the corner of her mouth with an expression like that seemed to tell Isaac the elves in this world were different. What does it matter? Even Kunette calmed down after hearing the word meat.
Isaac began to cook the meat as he ignored Reisha and Kunette’s constant nagging. Like baby birds, they constantly chirped at Isaac hurry with his cooking.
Since there was no way to get soy sauce in this world, he just made the marinade with salty water, a spice called Shapran, onions, carrots, and other vegetables. He finished it off with plenty of honey and placed the beef in the marinade.
Despite Isaac’s lack of experience, the beef that had been marinated since morning had absorbed much of the flavour, and the moment it was placed on the frying pan, an enticing aroma began to make its way through the kitchen.
“Wow! I’ve never smelled this before! Mmm! Smells delicious! Give it now!”
“… Me too.”
“Here, let’s eat!”
It was a good thing Isaac over-prepared to account for Kunette’s voracious appet.i.te, which was befitting of a bear. Throughout the entirety of their dinner, Isaac made as much conversation with Reisha as he could, hoping to learn more about her as a person.
She had originally arrived much earlier than Kunette, but only just arrived because she spent all her time playing around in the neighbouring regions. When Isaac asked how she got here without a s.h.i.+p, Reisha showed him her control over the water spirit.
Isaac was baffled at the fact she surfed all the way through the sea using a small plank of wood as a surfboard. Even Reisha admitted that she would never have attempted it if Gabelin wasn’t that close to the Campus, but still added that it was fun.
“Wait. But there wasn’t a single s.h.i.+p that stopped you?”
Isaac quickly noticed something was wrong and cut her off mid-sentence. The Campus is one of the most important facilities in the Empire. The Navy regularly patrolled its borders, preventing any s.h.i.+p that wasn’t a supply s.h.i.+p from entering it.
No matter how small and bizarre Reisha’s maneuvering was, it was bound to be scouted out by the Navy’s watch. Even if she’s a student of the College, entering the premises without permission was not acceptable behaviour.
That would mean there were two possible ways she managed to get to the Campus, and both had devastating consequences. One was that Reisha managed to find a hole in the Navy’s surveillance and infiltrated her way in, while the other was that the Navy was negligent with their duty. As a man who was experienced with the ways of the military, Isaac found the latter to be more convincing.
This was bound to happen when one repeats tasks in peaceful times. They would depart late, take some time off without arriving at the destination or find other ways to slack off. Whichever it was, it was more than enough for the Empire’s Navy to turn upside down.
<script>