Chapter 7

――――――――The next day.

With my blonde hair tied up in a ponytail and wearing an apron dress borrowed from a maid, I stood in front of the kitchen counter. It was past noon. The lunch cleanup was over, and the preparations for dinner had not yet begun in earnest, so it was a relatively quiet time in the kitchen.

In front of me, the ingredients and tools I would use were neatly arranged. Eggs, cream, sugar, and honey in a bottle. A metal bowl, cups, a large pot with two handles, a baking sheet, and a wooden spatula. And a pile of iron filings that I had asked a servant to gather.

………The iron filings looked out of place, but there was a good reason for them.

I separated a handful of iron filings in front of me, closed my eyes, and focused my mind inward.

My hands, my feet, my chest, my abdomen, my head. I grasped the flow of magic throughout my body and concentrated on refining it.

The magic I would use was of the earth element. To avoid any mistakes, I did not shorten the incantation and finished reciting the spell.

"It's done………"

On the kitchen counter, where the magic was directed, the iron filings had disappeared, and a silver, shiny whisk was there.

One type of earth magic, "Refinement," is a spell that can freely change the shape of earth or minerals.

At first glance, it seems like a very convenient spell, but it is a minor one in the current magic community. There are several reasons for this, but the first is the large amount of magic power required. Even to deform a handful of iron filings, a considerable amount of magic power, equivalent to a mid-level spell, is needed.

The second and fatal problem is the strength of the created object. After about an hour, the strength drops significantly and it breaks, making it unusable.

………However, I thought it would be fine to use it as a temporary kitchen tool. If it broke, I could just remake it.

When I picked up the whisk, it felt cold and heavy.

"Hmm, it's a bit heavy, and the whisk part is a bit small, isn't it?"

The model for the created object was a stainless steel whisk I used to love in Japan. Thanks to years of use, I think I did a good job for my first attempt……… But because it was a beloved item, even small differences bothered me.

"I'll redo it."

A heavy whisk would tire my hands, so I decided to remake it from scratch. It's difficult to cast magic on iron filings that have already been used with "Refinement," so I used a new pile of iron filings.

After redoing it about four times, I was able to create a whisk that was almost perfect.

"Alright, then."

I gripped the handle of the whisk. The familiar weight made my lips relax. With a replica of my beloved whisk, the upcoming work would surely be much more comfortable.

What I was going to make now was ice cream. When I thought about what I wanted to eat, this was the first thing that came to mind. I had wanted to eat homemade ice cream in my previous life, but I had reincarnated before I could.

If I could, I would have wanted strawberry ice cream……… But it seemed that strawberries were not available in this country. Fortunately, there were a few types of berries related to strawberries, so I decided to search for them patiently.

I washed the whisk and dried it, then started cooking in earnest.

First, I measured the various ingredients and divided them into metal cups and bowls. I separated all the eggs into whites and yolks, putting them into different containers. I put the egg whites into a bowl, added sugar, and mixed, mixed, mixed……

………It was tiring, even with the whisk. If I had used a wooden spatula, I would have run out of energy.

When I lived in Japan, I used to try various time-saving techniques, like cooling the egg whites in advance, but today I decided to stick to the basics to avoid any mistakes.

After mixing for a while, I stopped when the mixture started to form peaks. Next, I added sugar to the bowls of cream and egg yolks and mixed them thoroughly.

I combined these three bowls, added honey, and mixed them with a wooden spatula. Once I confirmed that they were evenly mixed, I poured the contents into three small baking sheets.

Here, it was time for my magic to come into play again. I used water magic to fill a large, flat-bottomed pot with ice. I placed the baking sheets into the large pot and sprinkled salt over the ice carefully.

This was a cold pack, something I used to do in science experiments. It should maintain a much lower temperature than ice alone.

However, I didn't remember the exact ratio, and even if I cooled it, I couldn't completely seal it. There was a makeshift cooling box, but it couldn't provide the same level of sealing as a refrigerator.

So, I divided the ingredients into three large pots, sprinkled different amounts of salt on each, and put them into the cooling box. I occasionally added more ice and salt and checked my remaining magic power.

"Sure enough, I still have plenty of energy left………"

My specialty is fire magic, and I'm not particularly good at water magic. Yet today, I had made ice multiple times and still had plenty of magic power left, even after failing to make the whisk several times before making the ice cream.

As I had felt yesterday, my magic flow had improved significantly. Even though the total amount of magic in my body hadn't changed, it seemed to be used more efficiently with less loss, and the improvement was remarkable.

………This was probably due to the recovery of my memories from my previous life. On Earth, there was no such thing as magic. From the perspective of my previous life, the magic in my body was a foreign substance, which made me more sensitive to its presence.

In this world, people are born with varying amounts of magic. Because they have magic from birth, they struggle to perceive it and must train to do so. The amount of magic a person has generally doesn't change throughout their life. Therefore, most of the training for magic involves learning how to perceive and use the magic within their body effectively.

………By recovering my memories from my previous life, I had jumped over this high hurdle. Previously, I could only use about 20% of my magic, but now I could use nearly 80%.

Considering that even top-tier magicians can only use about 30% of their magic, this was undoubtedly exceptional. In effect, it was as if my magic power had multiplied several times. Thanks to the ducal family's bloodline, I already had one of the highest magic powers in the country, making me almost a cheat. Even the saintly Simea, who was highly regarded, would almost certainly be completely outmatched if we were to have a one-on-one magic duel.

………However, I didn't feel like using attack magic recklessly. Using attack magic means there is an opponent, and I didn't want to get involved in dangerous situations. It was enough to use it for something as simple as cooking. If I used magic too flamboyantly, there was a risk of being suspected of something, so it was something to consider.

After thinking about these things for a while, about two hours had passed.

"Completed………!"

The smooth, chilled ice cream was shining in the two baking sheets. The pot with the least salt didn't cool enough and turned out mushy, but the other two seemed to have succeeded. The one with the most salt had clearly become too hard halfway through, so I had stirred it a few times with a spoon. Thanks to that, it seemed to have incorporated air well and had a fluffy texture. I hadn't stirred the other two to avoid the temperature rising and causing failure, but it seemed that stirring was the right approach in this case.

As I stood there admiring the completed ice cream, the kitchen staff had gathered around, curious about what I had made.

"Everyone, you came at just the right time. Would you like to try it with me?"

"Huh? Are we really allowed to share? Is this some kind of ice treat? Isn't it a luxury that only nobles can afford?"

"It's fine. The ingredients themselves aren't that expensive, and I originally intended to share it with the kitchen staff."

"With us?"

"Cold treats taste better in a warm place."

While I enjoyed ice cream a lot from spring to summer, it was still early spring in this country, and the temperature was still chilly.

However, the kitchen was different. The time for preparing dinner was approaching, and fires were being lit in several stoves, gradually raising the room temperature and making it steamy. It was the perfect situation for eating ice cream.