Chapter 22

Before the conversation, Tien, who had not felt full in years, fell asleep. After laying her down on a row of chairs and covering her with a blanket, the children also fell asleep, and the dining hall became quiet. The teacher and Nina finally settled down to drink tea.

"…The tea is also wonderful. Is this really the tea leaves we had at home?"

"Thank you."

"No, no, I should be the one to thank you."

Of course, it was Nina who had brewed the tea. Knowing the right way to brew tea leaves based on their type and condition, the tea Nina made was naturally delicious. The nuns were cleaning up—though Nina had offered to do it herself, they insisted that she shouldn’t have to—and now only Emilie and Astrid were left. They had helped Nina in the kitchen and were now enjoying a late meal with the wine they had bought.

"I was surprised by the sudden request to use the kitchen…"

"Tien is quite famous in this town. Despite being a little girl, she works in the mines just like the men."

"Yes. It's a characteristic of the Moon Wolf race. She was much stronger than me even when she was here, and she helped me a lot."

"I thought it would be less suspicious if we served the meal here at the convent…"

"Yes, that's it. Why was Tien able to eat the food? She always said the food here was 'terrible.'"

"Yes, I heard that too. Tien said all the food in this town was terrible… so I visited several restaurants."

Nina listed the names of the restaurants. They were all famous in town, and the teacher was puzzled, wondering if the maid, who looked like a little girl, might be a wealthy person.

"…This Izumi mine is quite far from the main cities, isn't it?"

"Eh? Yes, that's right."

The teacher blinked, surprised by the sudden change in topic.

"However, the restaurants here serve food that is not much different from other cities."

"Yes. All the food is brought in from outside the town, but the Duke values Izumi mine highly and ensures that the town is well-supplied with food."

"Are you aware that special measures are taken to prevent the food from spoiling during transportation?"

"Special measures? …Now that you mention it, yes. It takes several days to transport the food, yet the vegetables are fresh, and the meat is tender. The fish is mostly dried, though."

"They use refrigerated magic carts. Keeping the food at a low temperature allows it to be stored for a long time. Also… there is a plant called Purple Bellflower. It's like a weed, and where it grows, it can be harvested in abundance. Sprinkling the pollen of this flower on food further extends its shelf life."

"Really?"

"The pollen doesn't change the taste and has almost no smell. Therefore, using both the refrigerated magic carts and the Purple Bellflower pollen allows for ultra-long-term storage."

"Could it be… Tien was detecting the smell? I've been to other cities, and I didn't notice any difference in the smell. I even thought the food here might be tastier."

Nina nodded.

"Wild wolves don't approach areas where Purple Bellflower grows. They dislike the smell. In mountain villages, some people plant Purple Bellflower to keep wolves away. I thought about bringing some, but I was afraid Tien might dislike it."

"……"

The teacher was speechless. She had never noticed the smell before.

"As I mentioned earlier, I checked several restaurants and detected the smell of Purple Bellflower in almost all the food. However, there was one place where I didn't detect the smell. The chef there told me they use ingredients produced as close to the mine as possible and transport them without using refrigerated magic carts or Purple Bellflower pollen."

"…I had no idea. That's why Tien could eat the fruits from the backyard here."

Then, Emilie and Astrid, who were at the next table, chimed in.

"I couldn't tell the difference even when I was told to eat it."

"Right. Unless you're a connoisseur, you wouldn't notice. Nina, you did a great job noticing it."

They added these comments.

"So, teacher, I'll tell you about that place. When Tien wakes up, please introduce her to it. I think she won't go hungry then."

"No, that's really kind of you, but… could you tell her directly now?"

"Now?"

"Tien is awake, right?"