Chapter 64: Scone
Chapter 64:
Scone
Scone
On a Saturday night, just after the Restaurant to Another World had finished business for the day, the master of the Flying Puppy cake shop upstairs dropped in.
“Yo!” he called. “Sorry for swinging by so late. Oh, awesome! Aletta’s here, too.”
Aletta had finished cleaning the restaurant and eaten her late dinner. She’d already seen off the other waitress, who’d left immediately after finishing her curry. In fact, Aletta was preparing to head home herself.
Then, with seemingly perfect timing, the Flying Puppy’s pâtissier had come by.
“Well, ain’t this rare. You hardly ever show up this late,” Nekoya’s master said to his childhood friend.
The Flying Puppy typically closed around 7:00 p.m. Even with cleanup and prep for the next day, it was rare for the pâtissier to be around by the time Nekoya closed its doors.
“Well, I was a wee bit busy after closing. You see, I’ve been considering a plan for the start of spring break.”
In response to the master’s confusion, the pâtissier showed his friend that his left hand held a basket covered with a beautiful cloth. He reached into the basket and pulled something out.
“Wow, how beautiful!”
The words slipped out of Aletta’s mouth naturally. The pâtissier held a transparent glass jar with a golden cover. Inside was a thick, translucent red substance.
The master immediately recognized what he was looking at. “Whoa! Strawberry jam, eh?”
The pâtissier nodded.
“Ding, ding! I’m holding a limited-time-only spring strawberry blowout. Instead of the usual cake loyalty card jazz, folks can grab these! I’m using strawberries I got for cheap from farmers I have contracts with. Still, I can guarantee their flavor! And this one right here…”
He handed the bottle to Aletta.
Aletta took it without thinking, but the pâtissier’s actions confused her. “Huh? Wha…?”
The pâtissier smiled as he explained.
“It’s a present for you, Aletta! I put a little extra sugar in that one, so it’ll last longer. But just in case, make sure to keep it someplace cool once you open it. Don’t save it for too long.”
“Wait…this is for me?! Are you sure?” Finally understanding what was going on, Aletta voiced her surprise.
The pâtissier in front of her was responsible for all the amazing confections that charmed the noblemen, noblewomen, princesses, priests, and priestesses who visited Nekoya. This same man was now offering her a jar of jam—fruit and sugar boiled together. Aletta didn’t think jam was pricier than the Flying Puppy’s cookies, but still, she knew it was fairly expensive.
The pâtissier nodded. “Of course! You’re one of my best customers, aren’t you? You buy our biggest box of cookies each week, after all.”
Aletta was able to purchase the cookies at a special employee rate. Nevertheless, she always bought the largest box, every seven days, without fail. There weren’t many customers who did that, so it was reason enough for the pâtissier to treat Aletta as one of his “best.”
“I was thinking about having you taste it first, so I made these.”
The pâtissier took the cloth off the basket. He pulled out several baked goods about the size of closed fists. They were significantly smaller than the jar he’d handed Aletta.
“Oooh, scones, eh? Been a while,” the master said to his friend.
“Right? I figured the best way to enjoy jam was with something simple. Like this, you know? So I baked some. How about you grab a pot of black tea, and we indulge in a little late-night snack together?” The pâtissier left the kitchen and sat at the closest table.
“Sounds good to me! Let me go brew some tea. Aletta, give me a hand.”
“Okay! I can’t wait!”
Both the master and Aletta accepted the pâtissier’s invitation. Together, they quickly brewed the tea and grabbed chairs.
“Now then, dig in! It’s on me,” the pâtissier said once they sat down.
The three began their late-night tea party.
Aletta took her first bite of scone without putting anything on it.
Huh? It’s not very sweet.
The scone was still hot from the oven and tasted of wheat and butter. But it wasn’t sweet in the least.
The master and pâtissier both opted to leave their scones plain as well.
“Mm. This is good stuff,” said the master. “You can really taste the wheat.”
“Right? Not that it holds a candle to the bread at Kimura’s place, but…” The pâtissier grabbed the jam jar. “All right. Now try the scone with this. That’s the whole point of this little gathering.”
He stuffed a spoon into the jam and handed the jar to Aletta.
“It’s full of strawberry bits. Plop some jam right on top of the scone, and make sure to spread it.”
“O-okay. Here I go.”
Following the pâtissier’s instructions, Aletta scooped jam out of the jar, dropping it onto the scone. The thick preserve contained plenty of berry pieces. Absorbing the light from the ceiling, it shone a beautiful red, like some kind of diamond.
It’d almost be a waste to eat it.
With that thought running through her mind, Aletta bit into the scone. The strawberries’ flavor exploded on her tongue, bringing out the heavily sugared jam’s sweetness.
As Aletta chewed, the jam’s flavor spread through her mouth. She tasted fruit juice oozing from the larger strawberry chunks.
And then there was the bread the pâtissier had called a “scone.”
I understand why the scone wasn’t sweet… It was for this!
By itself, the scone was just a piece of bread. With jam, however, it became a delightful confection.
“Mm! This is damn good,” the master said. “You could definitely sell this.”
“Right? I thought this year’s batch was especially delicious.”
Both the master and pâtissier seemed satisfied with the flavor and were convinced that the preserves would sell.
“But, you know…” The master seemed to realize something. “All right. Hold on real quick.”
He left for the kitchen, returning with a plate of something.
“What’s that?”
“Cream cheese,” the master replied. “I figured this jam of yours would go well with it.” He set the dish down on the table, placing a spoon next to it.
“That’s what I’m talking about!” the pâtissier said happily. “Jam and cream cheese do pair really well.” He loaded a scone with both and bit into it.
After scarfing the scone and downing a cup of tea, the pâtissier let out a satisfied sigh. “Yup. That’s the ticket. My stomach’s real happy.”
“You’ll put on the pounds if you keep eating like that, pal.” The master chuckled at his friend, piling cream cheese and jam onto his own scone.
After watching the pair go at the jam and cream cheese, Aletta followed suit, and found herself enjoying the flavor deeply.
He’s right! Jam and cream cheese go together amazingly well!
The similar-yet-distinct sour flavors of the strawberry jam and milky cheese combined on the wheaty scone and brought out the best in one another.
Now that I think about it, the cheesecake we sell to Hilda always has jam on it, too.
The demon mercenary—now a regular of Nekoya—loved cheesecake, which was always topped with berry sauce.
Aletta finally understood why.
“Whew…”
“That’s all of ’em, eh?”
“Yup. I’m thinking maybe we ate too much.”
The trio sipped from their teacups, their stomachs full.
After a moment, the pâtissier turned to Aletta.
“So, what did you think of the jam?”
Aletta smiled wide. She was once again reminded that the other world’s food was really something special.
“It was amazing. Mmm… Super amazing.”
“Awesome! In that case, take it with you. Heck, take two! Sorry about the first one being open already.”
With that, the pâtissier handed Aletta a basket containing a sealed jam jar, as well as the jar they’d opened just moments earlier.
“Thank you so much! I’ll make sure to eat it all.”
I’ll give Lady Shia the one that isn’t open yet.
After all, the jam was Aletta’s gift for always buying cookies. Since Shia was the one who paid, Aletta thought that she should give her boss’s little sister the better jar.
Hmm… Aletta thought quietly. But the jar that’s already open has to be eaten right away, so…
***
Later, Shia and the boss got into a light scuffle over the “candied berries.” Aletta solved the problem by handing over a second jar of the stuff. Little did she realize that she’d earned major brownie points with the pair by doing so.