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“That mischievous…!”

Catherine was even angrier than she was embarrassed.

After all, Karem was already being punished.

How dare he get up recklessly when his punishment wasn’t over yet!

It wasn’t that she was angry because she was expecting a sweet dessert only to be confronted with a weird, spoiled bean dough focused on that strange yeast.

Absolutely not! It was NOT because of the dessert!

But Catherine couldn’t help but be taken aback.

As the dense smell that had filled the room was pierced by air from the hallway, an overwhelming aroma brushed against her nose.

It was the kind of weak, alcoholic smell she had never experienced before.

Following that was a sweet and salty scent that hit her, leaving her mouth watering just from the aroma.

Catherine lowered her raised arm, tilting her head.

The feeling of rage that had risen in her head dissipated, replaced with an overwhelming curiosity.

“What is this smell?”

“It smells pretty good, doesn’t it?”

“No, I thought that horrible odor would mean the result would be similar. I never expected a smell like that!”

“Huh? Horrible? Ah… ah.”

“Huh? What’s ‘ah’?”

“It smells like it’s coming from the failed meju. Just a moment.”

“No, we don’t need to open the window.”

As Karem stopped her, Catherine waved her hand and cast a light purification spell, creating an unseen barrier that swept through the entire room.

The dreadful smell that had filled the room vanished completely.

Then the aroma rising from the rich acorn barrel exploded like freed underground water, quickly filling the entire room.

“Wow, that smell was atrocious!”

Since the moment he entered, Karem’s nose had been completely numbed, and now he realized once more just how awful the smell in the room had been.

But of course, it was only natural that she would get angry after smelling something like that unexpectedly.

However, Catherine had no intention of getting angrier.

Or rather, to be more precise, she didn’t have the time to think about it.

As Catherine took a deep breath, her nose, which had been suffering from the irregular dreadful scent, regained its vitality.

A hint of strong distillate smell.

Then a brief waft of sea breeze.

Sweet and rich fruity aroma.

And through the enveloping smell that embraced her entire tongue, she sensed a subtle umami flavor.

The smell trailing in behind was similar.

There was a hint of sweetness, but compared to the umami-filled aroma she had sensed earlier, it was nowhere near.

However, the subtly nutty fragrance felt like fermented bread dough waiting to go into the oven; perhaps the scent of roasted malt barley for brewing beer.

That softly comforting nutty scent soothed Catherine’s nose, which had received an overload of information in such a short time.

“So, this nutty smell is what you’d call the successful product you refer to?”

“Yes. I feel like I’ve changed dozens. No, hundreds of times.”

The past several days of incredibly horrible experiences replayed in Karem’s mind.

Just thinking about it made his head spin.

Boiling peas, peeling them, mashing them evenly, mixing them with flour and yeast, shaping them into bricks, tying them with straw, rolling them up in straw, then putting them in the supernatural barrel, only to take them out again—hundreds of times of failure, discarding them, and returning to the previous steps, repeating the process even when he succeeded.

He had thought it all would be easier with the magic tool, but that was an illusion.

Secretly boiling peas by the sack in the early morning, peeling them, mashing, and rebinding them involved endless hard labor!

But the fruits of that labor were undeniably brilliant.

Look! Applaud! This precious, fragrant black liquid!

“Kid. Why do you look so enthralled by yourself?”

“No, I was just thinking about the hard work of the last few days.”

“Hmm. So, that liquid? A condiment? Alcohol? Anyway, what’s it called?”

“Oh…”

Caught up in the thought of soy sauce, Karem suddenly felt his mind blank out.

How should I localize soy sauce? If I say it’s soy sauce in the Korean way, they might not understand its meaning, and its pronunciation sounds awkward. Should I just go with something familiar? Yeah, that seems like the best plan.

Shaking his head, Karem got his thoughts back in order.

“First, it’s a condiment, and the name is… uh… Soy sauce.”

“What? Soy sauce?”

“Yes. Soy sauce.”

Catherine wrinkled her forehead absentmindedly.

Where in the world did that rootless name come from?

However, compared to Karem’s previously terrible naming sense (by EU standards), it wasn’t bad at all.

The name was straightforward, and it had a sound that made it seem somewhat substantial, even if its meaning was unclear.

“Is this what you developed first?”

“Uh, yes. Maybe? Have you ever heard of making a sauce from fermented bricks made with beans?”

“I’ve tasted low-quality gams made with cheap fish, and I’ve heard that they make pastes from the waste from beer brewing in Eisenwald, but beans? That’s a first.”

“Well, since we’re at it, why not take a taste?”

Karem said this while approaching Catherine with a small spoon he had prepared in advance for tasting, scooping up the soy sauce.

From a distance, the sauce merely appeared black, but as it neared, Catherine could see the dark liquid lightening at the edges of the metal spoon.

And the aroma.

A salty yet sweet smell.

She felt a twinge of guilt for having once thought it was some kind of gams, as the scent of the soy sauce was totally addictive.

“Please don’t tell me it only smells good and tastes like a disaster like gams?”

“Hah, you still doubt me?”

“Well, you tend to cause incidents when I least expect it, so it’s only natural. But is that all there is?”

“It’s just way too salty to eat directly.”

“Hmm, I do have a salty demeanor myself.”

Catherine shot Karem a skeptical glance and cautiously slurped the soy sauce from the little spoon.

Slurp.

“Ugh!?”

“Oh, did you just choke? Here’s a handkerchief—”

“Ugh, cough! No, just put that away.”

Catherine was merely startled by the overwhelming salty flavor striking her palate.

Settling Karem’s fuss, she coughed lightly while savoring it, rolling her tongue against the roof of her mouth.

And that little spoon only held about half the size of a typical dessert spoon.

To think just a few drops could be this salty!

Just as she was about to mutter about how much salt went into it, an overpowering umami flavor silenced her thoughts.

Did they make this from beans?

Though there was a faint nuttiness in the aroma, the flavor was entirely different.

As she became accustomed to the strong saltiness, complex fruit notes that were hard to describe filled her mouth.

Amidst the savory notes of gams blended with the light scent of balsamic vinegar dancing in her mouth, the umami began to demand her full focus.

Certainly, the saltiness that stimulated her tongue was present, and when combined with the rising umami, it was only natural for saliva to flood her mouth.

Naturally, she swallowed the remnants, but the flavor didn’t disappear.

In fact, as the salty taste faded with her saliva, the remaining scent merged with the lingering umami, ferociously igniting her appetite as she briefly forgot about the dessert.

Grrr.

An unexpected hunger.

Catherine felt an unpleasant emptiness.

“The umami of gams. The rich aroma of balsamic vinegar. It’s denser than gravy but more fragrant than gams, cleaner than balsamic vinegar, yet lighter than gravy. And it’s just beans?”

The only downside might be the lingering thickness on her tongue, but tasting the original sauce without pairing it with anything else or adding ingredients meant having just one flaw was quite impressive.

“Hah, to develop something so grand. Why?”

“Well, I made a sauce from tomatoes, so there’s no reason I couldn’t use beans. But more than that, it’s for Prince Godwin.”

“What? Prince Godwin?”

“Because oats don’t pair well with butter.”

Karem sealed the acorn barrel filled with soy sauce again.

“Prince Godwin has to lose weight, but he can’t use butter without restraint.”

And hence, it was soy sauce.

While butter would require a hefty chunk to achieve depth of flavor, just one spoonful of soy sauce would suffice.

If you roasted or sautéed with it, it would enhance flavor and aroma more than any condiment—naturally, it suited salads, soups, stews, main dishes, and sauces, unfolding countless possibilities.

Eating only raw vegetables and boiled meat to lose weight was the lowest of the low.

A true expert’s diet should allow for delicious meals while losing weight.

Of course, there was also the slightly foolish reason of wanting to compete with the tomato paste he had made himself, but who cared?

Karem chuckled, thinking of the harmony between butter and soy sauce.

“But it seems like you haven’t solved the biggest problem, have you?”

“Huh? What problem?”

“The oats. In the end, you’re feeding them to the prince, right?”

“Well… right? Why?”

“No, even if the principal party agrees, there’s still a major barrier ahead, right?”

“A barrier?”

“Yep. And not just one, but potentially two or even three.”

Karem blinked.

No, how could a mere heir of the Felwinter Family dare to challenge… someone…

Two, no, three people suddenly came to mind.

“The Duke and Duchess of Felwinter, and Elder Iona…?”

Catherine raised an eyebrow as if realizing it for the first time.

“When it comes to cooking, their eyes practically pop out. Who would dare serve livestock feed to the precious heir?”

“Um… you don’t think I’d get imprisoned for heresy, do you?”

“Well, who knows?”

Catherine shrugged her shoulders and shook her head.

Karem felt an uneasy stir within as he bit his lip.

How much time had passed since he boldly mentioned diet food? He couldn’t order another alternative at this point.

In fact, he couldn’t even think of another alternative.

“Well, so, kid. What are you going to do?”

“Given the situation, there’s really only one option, right?”

“Is that so? You don’t have any bright ideas?”

“There’s no choice but to seek the Duke and Duchess’s permission.”

“What, what!?”

“If they permit it—or rather, even if just one of them agrees, there’s potential. Especially since it would be the Duchess who suggested Prince Godwin lose weight.”

“…If you get punished, I promise I won’t let you rot in prison.”

Catherine shook her head, as if she couldn’t prevent him even if she wanted to.

Yet, this didn’t seem too bad.

Perhaps her recent success at such a young age had filled her with arrogance. If that were the case, experiencing failure here might lay a solid foundation for the future.

Catherine gazed warmly at Karem, who was tidying up the scene.

“Ah, by the way, I already secretly made some soybean paste. If I bring that out too, it’ll surely turn things upside down this time.”

The party in question, however, had totally different thoughts.

When Karem applied for an audience, thanks to Catherine’s consideration, the Felwinter Duke and Duchess were in the midst of a light-hearted chat, enjoying some quality time, so his request was promptly accepted.

“Oats? Are you really saying that’s going to help our Godwin lose weight? Hmm, if you’re that confident, then let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Oats, eh? I suppose it could be good for Godwin to give it a try.”

Wait, did they just approve this?

Catherine couldn’t hide her astonishment as she watched the Duke and Duchess accept Karem’s proposal, rather than getting angry.

 

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