Side Story 4: Dacquoise

Side Story 4:
Dacquoise

 

It had all started when the old lady from the agency came to chat with me. I’d known her since I was just starting out as an adventurer.

“Little Sarah, I want to talk to you about something related to that housekeeping job you asked me to look into a while back. Do you mind?”

The woman had asked me to meet her at a pub I liked to eat at regularly. Rough folks usually stayed away from that place.

“Little Sarah, about that housekeeper you’re looking for…” As usual, the woman rubbed her hip as she spoke to me. “Do you care if they’re a demon?”

“A demon? Hmm. Could you give me the details?”

I was a little surprised by the old woman’s words but soon calmed myself down. It wasn’t particularly rare in the Empire to hire demons as housekeepers when one was gone. In the Kingdom, though, it was unheard of. That was why I figured that there had to be extenuating circumstances or something.

“Well, you see, I’ve been giving jobs to this young lady during the day lately. She’s a hard, serious worker, honest, polite, and strangely well kept.” As she apparently recalled the girl in question, the woman couldn’t help smiling. Her expression soon darkened, though. “At this rate, some dastardly bastard’s gonna catch her in his sights.”

“Look, I totally understand,” she added. “Hiring a demon as a housekeeper is crazy. But rotten folks wouldn’t dare go near your house, right?”

“I suppose.”

I was a little annoyed by how she’d worded it, but I got what she was implying. She wasn’t wrong. The Gold family was big business in the Kingdom. As such, we had connections to adventurers, nobles, knights, mages, and even priests.

Lowbrow punks on the street would never have wanted to get involved with us. As much as I hated to admit it, even I’d avoided trouble thanks to my family name.

“So, what do you think? Yes, she’s a demon, but she really is a good girl. I just can’t bear to see someone like her struggle.”

She gazed at me pleadingly, almost like a mother begging someone to watch over her daughter.

I recalled that I’d heard rumors that the old lady at the job agency was a demon. When she was a baby, her human mother had apparently cut off her tail and raised her as a human. But when she got older, married, and had a demon child, she was chased from her home. At the end of her long, tragic path, she’d eventually started a job agency.

“Fine. I’ll meet with her, at least. I can’t guarantee I’ll hire her, though. Is that all right?”

I couldn’t help being curious about the demon girl that the old woman recommended so fiercely.

“Thank you so much. I’ll give her a map and tell her to come by later.” The old lady’s face wore a bright smile.

As luck had it, Aletta—the Restaurant to Another World’s demon waitress—showed up at my front door.

 

***

 

My honest opinion was that hiring Aletta as my housekeeper had been an even better decision than I’d thought at the time.

She was excellent when it came to cleaning, and she was smart. Although she couldn’t read, she had a sharp memory and never forgot anything I asked of her. She also paid a great deal of attention to detail. Besides, the numerous goods and trinkets she received from the restaurant’s master were all so mysterious and wonderful, they piqued my curiosity.

Aletta was also tremendously talented at boiling cobbler’s tubers. The ones she made only had salt and butter on them, but they were surprisingly delicious. When I told her as much, she’d happily explained that the master himself taught her how to make them.

Just by hiring Aletta, I transformed my house from a place where I simply stored things into a rather cozy place to stay.

My little sister, Shia, used to only come by on occasion. Now she practically lived here.

 

***

 

“My dear sister is rather late,” Shia commented.

“You’re right,” Aletta agreed. “Ah—but she did say that she was going to copy down some old texts at a friend’s house, so I’m sure she’ll be home soon.”

“I’m home,” I said.

Shia turned her attention to me, acting as if she were the head of the household. “Oh, my. Welcome home, dear sister.”

An expensive tea set she’d brought from home sat atop the table. The scent of honey and tea made of ground mikun skin rose from the cup in front of her. She’d likely had Aletta pour her some.

“Are you all right, Shia? Mom and Dad aren’t exactly keen on you coming here, right?”

Seeing Shia so outwardly carefree worried me. Mom and Dad weren’t terribly happy that she came by my place so often. They were afraid that she might catch the “sickness” from me.

“Worry not, dear sister. I’m no longer a child who longs to be an adventurer,” Shia replied. “Plus, Mom and Dad aren’t as annoying about this as they used to be. At least, not since I told them that you have the only means by which to acquire the ‘gold treats.’”

I narrowed my eyes at Shia’s disquieting words and completely calm expression. “Oh, c’mon.”

Shia caught my hesitation. “It’s not a lie, is it? Aletta’s your housekeeper, and you’re the one who told her not to say where she gets them, correct?”

“I guess that’s true.” All I could do was nod my head.

If I admitted that those gold treats were from a restaurant in another world, who knew what would happen to the door Aletta used? Heck, that would cause Aletta all kinds of trouble. I was no fool. I knew how much that job meant to her.

“Look, it hasn’t been easy for me, either.”

Shia sighed as she explained the slight problem she’d encountered. Apparently, she’d been serving the baked goods that Aletta bought her not just to visitors but also to her friends during teatime.

They’d obviously gone over well with those crowds and had come to be referred to as “gold treats.”

“My friends say all manner of things about those gold treats. They think I’m trying to monopolize them, so they keep asking me where the baker lives,” Shia concluded. “Mom and Dad have realized that I have no intention of ever becoming an adventurer, if nothing else. Since Mom would be in a bit of trouble if she lost access to those gold treats, she’s become rather soft on the subject of me visiting you.”

Shia gazed at Aletta. “By the way, Aletta, didn’t you say that you had a brand-new confection today?”

“Ah, yes! That’s right!” Aletta nodded, pulling out something different from the usual baked goods.

She placed the otherworldly desserts on the table. “The baker who’s friends with the master said that this is a new item he plans to sell soon. He wants me to try it and give him my thoughts.”

Shia observed the treats atop the table curiously. “What a bizarre shape. They look far thicker than cookies. Wouldn’t these be hard to eat?”

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I wonder what they are.”

I was rather befuddled by the mysterious food in front of us. I’d never seen anyone eat anything like those before, even at the Restaurant to Another World.

I was typically pretty full after eating a mincemeat cutlet, so I rarely got dessert. That said, all kinds of visitors came by the restaurant specifically for its sweets.

I’d seen those who looked to be high-ranking priests and priestesses, judging by their appearances. I’d seen nobility, and I’d seen truly exalted people that even I—who lived as a noblewoman—would never have come into contact with.

I’d seen such guests eat all kinds of sweets that looked nothing like cookies. Nonetheless, I’d never seen any confection like what Aletta had brought home.

They were oblong desserts, and there was a light brown one and a dark brown one. As Shia said, they were several times thicker than any cookie. They kind of resembled stones, if anything.

“Um, I believe the baker referred to these as ‘dacquoises,’” Aletta explained. “I had a bite of the light brown one, and it was quite delicious. The difference in color between the two is because they’re made using different ingredients, so they taste different, too.”

“Huh,” I murmured.

Aletta’s explanation was enough to get me curious. It was quite rare for me to find myself faced with a dessert I’d never seen or tasted. My love of rare things was as strong as any treasure hunter’s.

“Would it be all right if we indulged in this dessert, then?” I asked.

“Of course! Your family hired me, so I wanted you both to get to try it!” Aletta replied with a smile.

Those were undoubtedly her true feelings. It was actually hard for me to believe that such a kind girl had made it this far in one piece, especially given how people treated demons.

Oddly impressed with the young lady, I grabbed the dark dessert from the plate. Despite its appearance, it was quite light.

“Then I’ll start with this one.” Shia picked up the light brown dacquoise.

“Please enjoy!” Aletta said half-jokingly, as if she were at the restaurant. She headed back to the kitchen, where she was boiling some water for our mikun tea.

Aletta made me think of the master. I peered down at the dessert in my hand. At first glance, it looked like a stone, but it was actually rather light. As I thought about what could possibly be inside it, I took a bite from the edge.

Ah! Only the surface is hard. The insides are really soft.

As my teeth touched the surface, it broke, spreading a sweet flavor through my mouth. The sugary taste had a dash of bitterness.

The outer shell crumbled away on my tongue and vanished. Underneath it was something as soft as the blankets at my old home. That also dissolved in my mouth quickly.

“This is delicious,” Shia whispered.

I couldn’t help quietly agreeing with Shia’s opinion. The dessert was nothing like a cookie, but it was still delightful. I took another bite and was surprised by a brand-new flavor spreading through my mouth.

“Is this…whipped cream?”

The thick cream was sandwiched inside the dacquoise. I must’ve missed it because my first bite was from the edge. The unique sweetness with a dash of bitterness was definitely chocolate; I couldn’t help almost closing my eyes at the flavor.

It was so wonderful that, as the cream melted in my mouth and vanished, I found myself saddened by how fleeting it was.

“This is great.” Shia finished her light brown dacquoise at the same speed I finished mine. “It’s nothing like the cookies we usually eat, but it’s nice and soft. I like it!”

“Agreed,” I replied. “May I have a bite of yours?” Shia’s is a bit lighter in color.

I took a piece of her dacquoise, which undoubtedly tasted different from the chocolate one I’d eaten moments before. Its texture felt about the same, but it lacked the chocolate dacquoise’s bitterness. Instead, it was quite sweet.

After Shia’s dacquoise melted in my mouth, its aftertaste lasted much longer, allowing me to enjoy the sweet sensation further. I like the chocolate one better. Still, this is rather delightful.

Judging by Shia’s expression, she must’ve preferred the light brown dacquoise.

Yeah, this really is good. With that thought, I reached for my cup of mikun tea and remembered something important.

“Aletta, come eat with us!” I invited Aletta to sit down. She was standing up, preparing our tea.

“Yes, come!” agreed Shia. “This is all quite delicious, but I bet it’d taste better if we all enjoyed it together.”

“Huh? But—um—I’m just the housekeeper. Don’t worry, I have my own serving set aside. And, well, I’m a demon.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Even as Aletta tried to refuse, Shia encouraged her to come sit. “This is my sister’s house, and she’s just an adventurer. You’re her hired help, no? I see nothing wrong with eating together, then.”

“Excuse me, isn’t that my line? Not that it matters,” I added. “C’mon, Aletta. Sit down. Let’s eat.”

Perhaps moved by my words, Aletta slowly sat and reached for the dark dacquoise.

At the end of the day, food tasted better when you got to enjoy it with friends.

Treasure hunters sometimes cooperated toward a common goal, but generally speaking, they rarely became friendly. I’d heard plenty of old stories about treasure hunters who, laying their eyes on fortunes, went at each other’s throats and murdered one another. Maybe that was why.

Does that mean Aletta’s my first friend?

I left my most important treasures with her every time I went out on an adventure, which meant I trusted her.

Sure, on the one hand, I could just have visited the restaurant to track her down if that ever became necessary. At the end of the day, however, I truly believed that Aletta was a good-hearted young woman worthy of my trust.

There was also one more reason. As I watched her enjoy her dacquoise carefully and slowly, I couldn’t help thinking about how amazingly cute she was. Who cared if she was a demon?

Yeah, this is all right. I’d never say it aloud, because it was embarrassing, but Aletta was my friend.

Satisfied with my own answer, I took a nice big sip of mikun tea.