Chapter 65: Strawberry Yogurt Mousse

Chapter 65:
Strawberry Yogurt Mousse

Running her finger across the smooth book’s beautifully written characters, Anna found herself unsure.

What should I order…?

She glanced at her peers sitting at the table. They were equally indecisive.

“Hrrrm… Too many options, too little time!”

“It never gets easy, does it? I know I want something chocolatey, but…”

They were all completely different from the head of their monastery, who only ever ordered pound cake and seasonal ice cream.

***

About twelve months had passed since Anna and her peers started visiting the Restaurant to Another World, which offered all sorts of delicious, otherworldly dishes.

A year ago, Celestine—the high priestess of the Lord of Light and Lord Leonard’s supposed successor, said to be skilled enough even for the position of pope—took three of her most talented disciples from the monastery to the Restaurant to Another World.

Carlotta, despite being of common birth, had years of experience. At the monastery, she was second only to Celestine. A few years prior, she had been summoned to the Great Shrine in the Kingdom’s capital to participate in the Lich Hunt. There, she’d defeated countless undead.

Julianne, a high-born resident of the Kingdom, knew what a life of true luxury on the Eastern Continent was like. She had many connections to the world outside the monastery.

And then there was Anna.

***

Celestine brought these three women to the Restaurant to Another World.

After racking her brains, Anna picked a confection that she’d never eaten, made from her favorite fruit.

Hmm… Maybe I’ll go with this. I’ve never tried it, after all.

The menu described the dish as pudding-like and made from “strawberries.” It was just the right season for them. Anna was confident in her choice. She was well aware that all the menu’s sweets were delicious, and also of the reason Celestine had brought her to the restaurant.

Although she wasn’t even twenty years old, Anna was ordained as a priestess and was fairly talented to boot. However, within her organization, she was only “fairly” talented.

While she certainly had strong magical powers, Anna lacked the talent or skill to use them properly. Her swordsmanship wasn’t anything to write home about, either. She wasn’t remotely comparable to Celestine or even Carlotta—women who wielded swords in the Lord of Light’s name and, as Holy Knights, struck down evil beings.

So, although Anna’s magical powers were top-class within the monastery, plenty of other priestesses were more talented. Furthermore, the young woman wasn’t particularly knowledgeable, nor did she have useful connections outside.

Anna didn’t know the names or faces of the parents who’d brought her into the world. She might have been some low-rank noble or even a commoner. Either way, her parents hadn’t welcomed her arrival.

Having decided that raising Anna would be too much hassle, they took their newborn to a church and handed her over.

Thus, by the time Anna was conscious of her surroundings, she’d spent her entire life in the church’s narrow confines. She knew of nothing else and lacked the wide breadth of knowledge Julianne had obtained living in the Eastern Continent’s capital until adulthood. Anna was ignorant of the colorful social life her peer knew.

So why exactly did Celestine choose Anna for the honorable job of recreating the Restaurant to Another World’s sweets? The reason was simple. Anna was a changeling.

Despite human parentage, Anna was a half-elf, so she might live far longer than the average human. Celestine expected Anna to pass down the knowledge she gained at the Restaurant to Another World.

***

Changelings had no place in the current world, which revolved around humanity.

Humans looked down upon half-elves with ire. They were said to be the reason for the collapse of the first human nation, the Ancient Kingdom. You didn’t belong within human society if you were a half-elf. You would be exiled.

Since half-elves could live for centuries, they appeared young for the duration of a human’s entire life. To humans, this was a disturbing reminder of their own mortality.

Still, half-elves’ long life spans were extremely useful when it came to recording knowledge for the future. If a half-elf remembered something, they could keep passing down that information for over a hundred years—far longer than the average human.

My job is to eat all sorts of things and remember them for a really long time. That way, I can teach the people of the future.

For that very reason, it wasn’t entirely uncommon for half-elves to become priests or join mage guilds, with the long-term goal of handing down knowledge and skills through records and the spoken word. Still, to prevent the Ancient Kingdom’s mistakes from unfolding once more, half-elves never received top-level positions. Nevertheless, for half-elves, that sort of life was far better than the alternatives.

***

After hearing her peers order, Anna spoke up, uttering the name of a confection available only in springtime.

“I’ll have this strawberry yogurt mousse stuff, please.”

As Anna chatted with her companions, and some folks visiting from around the world, their sweets arrived.

“Sorry about the wait! Here’s your pound cake and black tea set, chocolate cake and black tea set, baked cheesecake and coffee set, and strawberry yogurt mousse and black tea set!”

The waitress placed their orders on the table—Celestine’s beloved pound cake, incredible chocolate cake that even Julianne had never seen outside the other world, and cheesecake that smelled ever so slightly of the otherworldly alcohol called “brandy.”

And, of course, the strawberry yogurt mousse. It was red like the berries, but also white like milk, and the plate was decorated with fruit. For Anna, it was a completely new dessert.

I see… It really does look just like pudding.

While some other desserts also included quartered strawberries decorated with whipped cream, the appearance of the mousse in the center of the plate was more similar to pudding.

Let’s start with the berries.

Deciding to leave the mousse for later, Anna began by eating the decorative strawberries.

The mousse was garnished only with red strawberries, unlike the almond pudding often ordered by a half-elf mage who frequented the restaurant. Anna picked up a strawberry with her small fork and tossed it into her mouth.

Mmm… The other world’s berries are really quite sweet.

Whipped cream topped the red berries, which were a touch sour, but otherwise very sweet. Their juice was actually more sugary than that of any berry Anna had encountered, including those she’d bought from merchants.

The berries’ sweet and sour flavor, mixed with the whipped cream’s gentle sweetness, spread throughout her mouth. Frankly, until Anna had first visited the other world, she hadn’t been particularly well-versed in desserts. As far as her personal taste was concerned, the berries and cream were more than enough to make a delightful treat.

All right. Next.

After thoroughly enjoying the berries and cream, Anna turned her attention to the main attraction. She poked her fork into the strawberry yogurt mousse and brought a small piece to her lips.

The moment the mousse entered her mouth, Anna understood. She could tell that the dish was unlike the pudding she’d once ordered.

It’s different, but still tasty.

Tiny holes filled the firm mousse. Anna crushed it under her tongue, pushing the juices and air from within the holes out into her mouth.

On their own, strawberries had a dessert-like sweetness, but it was much weaker in the mousse. Instead, their tanginess was stronger. Nevertheless, the dish tasted great.

It’s less sugary than the strawberry garnish, but it’s really good.

The mousse was neither cloying nor bland. Anna guessed that combining it with the extremely sweet strawberries and whipped cream brought out the best in each ingredient.

The strawberries and cream harmonized with the mousse. By changing how much you ate in a single bite, you could adjust the dish’s sweetness and sourness.

I really do think the other world’s desserts are far more advanced than ours.

The sweets in this world were like delicate works of art. That applied to all the cakes the restaurant served.

I have to do more research, Anna mused.

However, this was just the excuse she gave herself to continue eating. Before long, the mousse had vanished into her stomach.

“Whew…!”

Anna let out a contented sigh as she drank her sugared black tea. Today’s order was once again delicious.

After I get home, I’ll have to document everything.

Enjoying the flavor of the tea in her mouth, Anna pondered how to record the day’s visit in her parchment.

Sweets, sweets, sweets.

Her research had only just begun in earnest and would likely continue far beyond her own extended life span. The path ahead of her was long, which was precisely why she felt it necessary to take things step by step.

***

Hundreds of years in the future, Anna’s hard work proved to be a massive stepping stone for those who sought to enter the world of sweets.