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Chapter 25: Special Fruit Tart
Although Japan was already approaching September, it was still unbearably hot and humid. And since I was currently in the middle of a major city, the heat was incomparable to that of Akane Village, hidden deep in the mountains of Gifu.
Normally, after stepping through the Moon Gate, I would be greeted by the scorching Japanese summer and the deafening chorus of cicadas. Today, however, I found myself in a quiet, somewhat barren room kept at a comfortable temperature.
There were still many unused rooms throughout my house in Japan, but by now I had learned the layout well enough that I no longer got lost wandering through it. Walking down the empty hallway, I stripped off my Asphial clothing, tossed it into a laundry basket, and headed for the dressing room.
Opening the sliding door to the wardrobe that had somehow appeared without my noticing, I found an entire wall lined with men's clothing.
Personally, I wasn't fond of designer brands, but while I had been away, my home's closets had somehow been filled with expensive brand-name outfits.
Ě ñ ům а.іd̀
I had no idea who arranged it all, but their taste wasn't bad.
That said, I possessed absolutely no sense of fashion myself, so I simply grabbed one of the complete outfits that had been thoughtfully prepared and changed into it.
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...Wow. Somehow they built a tower even bigger than Tokyo Tower.
After leaving the house, I used my smartphone to call a taxi and headed to where Akira worked.
These days, it seemed smartphones were used for everything—from hailing taxis to making payments. Even at the convenience store I stopped by along the way, all I had to do was hold my phone over the register to make a purchase. The world had become remarkably convenient.
Looking out the taxi window, I watched the scenery pass by.
Е n̊.ũ m̀ ӑ
Click.
As we drove along the Sumida River, I used my phone to photograph the view and save it.
“First time visiting Tokyo, sir?”
“Not exactly the first time... but it's been a very long time.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“Oh, really? Lately we've had that virus spreading around, you know. It was only around last month that foreign tourists like yourself started coming back.”
“Is that so?”
Ӗ nù m а́
I wasn't entirely sure what virus the driver was talking about, but from the way he spoke, it seemed he had mistaken me for a foreign tourist. Figuring it was easier to go along with it, I nodded.
Looking up at the tower called Tokyo Skytree, shining beneath the summer sun, I continued toward my destination in the business district.
When I got out of the taxi, a skyscraper towering into the sky stood before me. Across the front entrance, huge characters SAIOJI.
The building's glass reflected sunlight in every direction, and the heat stored in the surrounding asphalt made even the sidewalks feel like steam rooms.
Watching office workers hurry through the streets, I entered the building.
“Whew, it's nice and cool in here.”
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“Allen-sama, you didn't need to come all this way yourself. We could have visited you...”
Even the brief walk outside had left sweat running down my forehead. But the moment I stepped inside the Saioji Group building, refreshing cool air wrapped around my overheated body.
As I enjoyed the sensation of rapidly cooling down, I noticed Akira, dressed in the same black suit she had worn when we first met, waiting at the reception desk.
“No, it's fine. I wanted to do a little sightseeing around Tokyo anyway.”
“Oh? Is that so?”
The purposes of today's visit were to attend the regular meeting regarding the world of Asphial and consult with Akira about something.
Е̄ǹ um̃ӓ . ї_d̄
The meetings themselves had become routine. Researchers and employees who knew the truth gathered together while I explained various aspects of Asphial.
I would project the photos and videos I'd taken with my smartphone onto a screen and carefully explain each one, saying things like, “This is ○○” and “That is △△.” Whenever questions came up, I would answer them one by one. In terms of format, it was more like a classroom lesson than a meeting.
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Sometimes I would also hear reports regarding mysterious substances from Asphial, such as the Shocklight Stone I had previously brought over.
None of that was particularly difficult. Right now, however, there was something else on my mind.
“A gift for a noble...?”
“Yes. The person is about middle-school age, but he's of higher status than me, so I'm not sure what kind of gift I should bring...”
Е̇ ǹ û m à
After the meeting ended and everyone else had left the conference room, I stopped Akira while she was organizing documents.
The topic was the heir of House Castiano, whom I had met at the street market the previous day.
“I see. He didn't explicitly say so, but he gave you something like an invitation, and now you feel obligated to visit him?”
“Exactly... I've never dealt with this sort of thing before.”
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Suddenly asking someone for advice on gifts for nobility was probably troublesome.
Still, even if the recipient was only a young teenager, he outranked me socially. That made Akira, who seemed knowledgeable about etiquette and formal interactions, the best person to ask.
Ĕn̂ů m ā. і̀ ď
...It didn't help that none of my other acquaintances could be relied upon for this type of issue.
“Generally speaking, gifts for a superior would be things like assorted gift sets, fine pens, or drinking glasses. But if the recipient is around middle-school age...”
“That kind of falls outside normal Japanese social customs, doesn't it?”
If the recipient were a boss or senior coworker, I could simply research appropriate gifts online. But this time the recipient was a young noble.
There weren't exactly many examples of that available on the internet. And to make matters worse, he was a noble from a fantasy world.
“Asphial's values differ greatly from Japan's. If you accidentally choose something considered taboo over there, the consequences could be serious.”
Dilarang mengopy novel dari Enuma.id.
“...This is harder than I thought.”
Being executed on the spot was probably unlikely. Still, I definitely wanted to avoid angering a noble and causing trouble for everyone around me.
At the same time, bringing a completely generic gift didn't feel right either. I'd only met Rey once, but while he had clearly been impressed by the quality of the chocolate, I suspected his fascination stemmed primarily from curiosity toward unfamiliar things.
To be honest, I had very little experience with this sort of social interaction. My understanding of etiquette and relationships barely extended beyond ordinary common sense.
“I think it would be best to bring something related to what interested him in the first place,” Akira said. “Perhaps a fruit tart? It looks elegant, and it's quite impressive visually.”
“That actually sounds pretty good. Since I'm visiting directly, I don't have to worry as much about long-term preservation.”
Wè_b́nо̃ v̊е̄ l E n u.m̈.а
After discussing various possibilities together, we eventually arrived at a surprisingly simple conclusion. Choose something that would capture his curiosity.
I had been leaning toward chocolate-based sweets. Then Akira proposed an idea I hadn't considered at all.
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Fresh desserts. Because of storage concerns, cakes had never even crossed my mind.
While Asphial did have sweets similar to cakes, preservation issues meant cookies, sweet breads, and other long-lasting baked goods were far more common. The same reason had led me to focus on non-refrigerated products when preparing for the market festival.
A fruit tart, however, was colorful, visually stunning, and delicious. If I packed it with dry ice, it should survive transport reasonably well even without refrigeration.
In the end, I decided to go with Akira's suggestion.
Ẇ е̃ b̃ n̄ о̊v̊ еl̃ Ė n̆ŭm̃а̂
“If you'd like, I know an excellent shop. Shall I arrange it for you?”
“Yes, please.”
And if the recommendation came from Akira, I could trust it without hesitation.
