148 She Explained Herself (1/2)
Jasmine looked closely at Robin's face.
”Truly?” She asked.
”Have I ever lied to you?” Robin asked.
”Well, no. But then again, you don't always tell the full truth.” Jasmine pointed out.
”But telling it all now would ruin the show.” Robin shrugged. ”Wait a bit, and you'll know everything.” She picked up a fork and dug into the last slice of Ayva's Apple pie.
”Whoah! This is seriously delicious!” Robin exclaimed in surprise. ”As I thought, real homemade food is the best~!”
”What other kind of food can there be?” Gerard asked. ”Fake food?”
”Well, how to explain...” Robin tapped her fork against her lip. ”It's more like food not made by human hands. Have you heard of robots? Mechas? Machines?” Robin asked.
”Mech-Ah! You mean the Mecha Knights!? Guardian Golems born of metal and lightning?”
”What, that sounds so cool...” Robin muttered in surprise, before getting back to the point.
”It's similar to that. But, instead, there's food which is made by creations born of metal and lightning with the sole purpose of cooking food. We call it 'processed food'.”
”But, doesn't that mean that food which is delicious will get even more delicious?” Gerard asked.
”If the machines had an intelligence of their own, and the objective to make things tastier, then perhaps.” Robin replied.
”But we found that food made this way can only preserve a recipe flavor. It actually has something missing that we never even realized was important to flavor.”
”What is it?” Ponzu asked, getting his notebook out.
Robin turned to look at Ponzu.
”Call it the personal touch.” She replied, with a grin. ”Food not made by human hands also can't truly touch the human heart.” She pointed a thumb at her own heart.
”There is no intent to please behind the slight differences in the preparation of the food, no care for the ingredients, no love added to the craft. Food that was made mechanically, would only taste of the mechanical. It didn't bear the warmth of the human heart within it.”
”That's why you make all the food you eat?” Ponzu asked.
”That's one of the reasons.” Robin nodded, taking another bite of pie.
Before they could ask Robin any more questions, there was a disturbance towards the tavern entrance. Several dwarf kitchen hands carried four still-unconscious dwarves in, lashed to wooden beams. The beams were propped up onto the performance stage on the right wall.
”Angus, How dirty is that dishwater?” Ayva asked.
”The dirtiest. I even dipped a ladle or two from the compost heap into it.” Angus replied, setting down the last of four almost black tubs that smelled terrible. The surrounding dwarves moved back a bit to escape the stench.
”All, right, you rascals, are you ready to hear a story?” Ayva called out.
”YEAH” The crowd cheered unanimously.
”To tell this story, I need the help of one other person involved. Robin, would ye be a dear and come up on stage?” Ayva asked.
Robin pointed to herself, as she couldn't speak with her mouth full of pie.
”Yes, you! Get over here!” Ayva laughed.
Robin swallowed her mouthful down, and regretfully left the half-eaten slice of pie on the table. She stepped up onto the stage, and Ayva grabbed her hand.
”The only reason why nothing bad happened to me today, is all because of this person, here!” Ayva began.
”This lad here was just outside, when he noticed these four dwarves suspiciously entering the alleyway. Feeling something wasn't right, he climbed up on the great big pile of crates, and started recording them.”
”What did they say?” Called a dwarf.
”They said they wanted me to become a meat shield fer them so that Throm dinnae cut off their heads.” Ayva replied. ”You know, Throm, the greatest dwarf warrior in all the land, and my husband.”
Robin was actually slightly surprised at that bit of news. She knew Ayva was special to Throm, but not that Ayva was Throm's wife. The crowd of dwarves booed at the four unconscious dwarves.