Chapter 219 - She Makes Coffee (1/2)

Soon, Christian and Keith had already recovered to an extent. However, after seeing that Robin was still tired, they had silently agreed via eye contact to wait until Robin had properly taken a break.

Christian, who would usually be the first to forge ahead, now felt that slowing down every now and then wasn't a bad thing. At the very least, now he could enjoy seeing a different side of Robin. The Robin whose head was nodding in weariness was adorable. It reminded Christian of a kid trying to stay up past their bedtime. Subconsciously, a warm smile crept up on his face.

Keith sighed off to the side. All of a sudden, he had begun to feel the weight and burden of knowing secrets. How much more of a burden had Robin have to bear? A glass in the hand adds weight with time. She had been holding onto this secret this whole time. How had it not crushed her?

”Uuugh...” Robin sat up and shook her head. Not good. She had almost fallen asleep just sitting there. She wasn't used to the loss of her sense of danger.

'What I need is a little pick-me-up to jumpstart my energy levels again. Do I have anything like that?' She pondered as she began to look through her storage bracer and magic bag. It was then that she rediscovered the sack of coffee beans she had purchased back in Ragnok. 'Perfect!' She smiled.

The coffee beans had already been roasted, as the ship owner described, they were 'at the height of their fragrance'. Robin snickered. Using coffee as a fragrance, how impressive. She grabbed the beans, a kettle, a jar, and 3 glass mugs.

”Hmm? Are you perhaps going to make some tea?” Keith asked.

”Tea? No. This'll be a drink that I think you'll like, uncle. It's called coffee.” Robin replied.

First, she prepared. Filling the kettle with water, and heating it up via magic. Robin tied some cloth squares to the top of the mugs, making sure that there was enough give for a depression to form in the middle.Then Robin poured the beans into the jar until it was 1/3rd full.

”Beans? You're going to make us a drink out of beans?” Christian asked, confused, yet mildly intrigued.

”Mhmm!” Robin replied. ”Watch this.”

The beans within the enclosed jar were ground into powder. She had managed to recreate Ponzu's kitchen magic using a strong mental image, with magic to supply for what was missing. Her use of kitchen magic was quite a bit rougher, but in this case, it got the job done. Robin then opened the jar, and poured the resulting powder on top the cloth, covered mugs.

”Hmm? Isn't that-!?” Christian was so surprised he nearly stood up from shock.

”Ah, this?” Robin looked down at the jar, then up at Christian. ”You know...just because Ponzu can only use this magic, doesn't mean it's an exclusive spell.” Robin pointed out. ”If you know the principles behind it, and have a bit of wind aptitude, then you can also pick it up.”

Robin poured Hot water onto the ground piles, which gained weight, causing the center of the cloth to sag downwards as a rudimentary coffee drip funnel was formed. Robin did so a bit at a time, keeping the water piping hot.

”But, you know, it's probably best that you took Ponzu in when you did.” She told Christian.

”Why's that?” Christian asked.

If someone threw a large scale version of Ponzu's kitchen magic into the battlefield, I'd feel sorry for the dead.” Robin replied. ”Anyone with advanced wind aptitude would be able to figure it out, I think.”

”Advanced wind aptitude-wait, isn't that Gerard?” Keith suddenly asked.

Robin nodded. ”Right. Didn't you know? Little Gerry's been helping Ponzu out in the kitchens lately.”

”So you knew all about this?” Keith said.