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Autumn is often referred to as the season of harvest and appetite, but Karem couldn’t agree with that. For him, the season that evokes hunger was winter. It was the same in both his past and current lives.

Well, he did enjoy eating at any time, so perhaps this was just a matter of mood.

Yet in winter, he craved the crispy warmth of fish-shaped pastries and the softness of lukewarm sweet buns, not to mention the comforting embrace of hot broth.

With plenty of time before preparing Catherine’s lunch, he had enough opportunity to indulge in hunger-fueled daydreams.

Since he had nothing more pressing to do, Karem sat by the window, sipping Alraune’s Tear, a beverage reminiscent of coffee mix, while idly watching Mary and the others clearing the heavy snowfall in Winterhome and the inner castle.

“I want to eat fish-shaped pastries…”

Thus, it was only natural that such thoughts suddenly sprang to mind.

Slurp.

Making fish-shaped pastries didn’t require grand preparations.

Dough, sweet red bean paste, oil, and a pair of fish-shaped pastry molds.

Sweet red bean paste could simply be made by cooking peas with sugar and mashing them, and there was plenty of oil left over from last year. The fish-shaped pastry molds could easily be commissioned from the forge he had customized previously. But the dough…

Karem took another sip of Alraune’s Tear and pondered.

“How was fish-shaped pastry dough made again?”

In his past life, he never had to think about such things. After all, once autumn and winter rolled around, stores would automatically sell the perfect mix for making fish-shaped pastries, so why bother preparing it himself?

Perhaps he should have paid more attention to the details. He considered how to make the pastry dough, and surprisingly, he didn’t dwell on it for too long.

Pancake batter. That seemed about right, just made a bit thinner.

Upon reflection, the batter used by the fish-shaped pastry stall owners could probably be described that way too.

However, since he had to pour the batter, add the filling, then top it again with more batter to secure the mold tightly while flipping it to cook, it couldn’t be too watery either.

Adjusting the amount of sugar would yield a perfect fish-shaped pastry.

Thinking about fish-shaped pastries made all kinds of menu items pop up in his mind as if they were inviting him to eat them.

Aside from fish-shaped pastries, there were sweet, chewy hotteok, warm toasts loaded with cabbage and eggs, and bowls upon bowls of steaming banquet noodles.

Slurp—

“Ah, I’m all done. Huh?”

Karem looked out the window with a sense of regret. Beyond the falling snow, a figure was slowly approaching.

The figure heading towards the Wizard’s Tower seemed to miss seeing Mary, who was building the castle walls with snow.

It was no surprise that they couldn’t see her since she was inside the snow castle walls.

In fact, it didn’t matter if they didn’t spot Mary. The request for an audience could simply be made to the duty wizard in the lobby on the first floor.

There was no need to go through Mary.

Karem, being a cook, was even less required to do so.

Or was he still considered both a servant and a cook at this point?

Although he could lounge around by the window without needing to go down, he thought, “I’m a bit bored. Should I just go and listen to what’s happening?”

After a moment of consideration, he dusted off the last few drops of Alraune’s Tear from his empty glass and stood up.

“Why not check it out while having another cup?”

Contrary to the recent chaos from a major explosion, the Wizard’s Tower had been surprisingly quiet lately. There were no explosions or clattering sounds of things breaking.

“Maybe things will be quiet for a while because of the repair costs.”

Rebuilding the destroyed rooms and the costs to restore the security and trap magic.

The expense of various tools and ingredients lost during the explosion, among other things.

Although the culprits were reportedly scolded thoroughly by Catherine and Olivier, it was only natural they’d feel on edge since they had been reprimanded by superiors.

Moreover, Catherine and Olivier weren’t just any superiors.

With a unique blend of noble status, director, and professor, they were in a realm beyond description, and causing such a ruckus would naturally make anyone feel uneasy.

The tower’s recent calmness must have been due to that.

Once their cooldown period passed, things would return to the usual chaos.

“Still, it’s too quiet. I can’t get used to it.”

In this silence, the only source of noise came from Narque’s laboratory.

What on earth was going on inside there? Disturbing sounds of clattering or things falling echoed at all hours, gnawing at his nerves.

“I’m not curious enough to ask, though.”

If it were something major, Catherine would have dealt with it long ago, or Olivier would have taken some action.

Arriving at the first-floor lobby, Karem found Aman, the duty wizard, casually raising a hand from the reception desk. His luxurious black robe fluttered slightly above the shirt he wore.

“What brings you here? Are you looking for Mary?”

“No. I can see a guest approaching from the window.”

“A guest, you say?”

“Yes. They should be arriving soon.”

Thump— Thump— The sound of someone knocking on the door, then it opened. A stoutly dressed maid entered, bringing in the snow with her, before swiftly closing the door behind her.

Karem simply watched the maid approach the lobby without stepping forward.

“Despite the cold weather, welcome to the Wizard’s Tower. What is the purpose of your visit? Request for a commission? Item rental? Request for an audience?”

“Good day. Lady Felwinter wishes to spend some time with Sir Atanitas and inquired about his schedule.”

At that, Aman briefly paused.

“Hmm, the lady inquiring about the schedule?”

“Yes. Not a formal request or consultation, but simply to share conversation and refreshments.”

“Then we first need to check the schedule.”

Schedule? As far as Karem knew, Catherine had no urgent matters aside from her personal research since yesterday. The moment she recovered from her cold, she supposedly cleared all her backlog.

He believed only long-term commissions remained.

Aman nodded after checking Catherine’s official schedule parchment.

“There are no particular appointments. She is available at any time. The lady wishes to meet as soon as possible—”

“She wishes to meet as quickly as possible?”

“Hmm…”

Hearing the maid’s words, Karem could feel Aman’s gaze turn toward him. Thus, what he needed to say was simple.

“I’ll go ask her and be right back.”

“It’s a bit awkward to make a request right after coming down, though.”

“How long has it been? Just stay seated for a moment.”

Karem immediately went back up the stairs he had just descended.

Just a while ago, getting to the top office where Catherine was would have taken him a bit longer, but now, thanks to his lengthy limbs from various gods, people, and curses, he bounded up two or three steps at a time without losing his breath.

“This stairway is something to get used to.”

But, the stairs weren’t exactly great.

Karem detested stairs even in his past life.

To be precise, he loathed them.

In an era of less technological advancement, he could understand it; there was a force of livestock for movement, but you couldn’t construct an escalator with that.

Yet, with technology having advanced, and even if something wasn’t there, with both escalators and elevators installed, was there really a need to use the stairs?

Of course, if he wanted to create something similar in Europa, he’d need to utilize magic tools and it would cost a pretty penny.

Karem doubted Catherine would accept such a proposal. He would just think that if it could work, great, and if not, then it was unfortunate.

“You can at least try the things you can’t eat!”

Later!

Finally reaching the top, Karem took a breath and knocked on the office door.

“Sir Atanitas, may I come in?”

“Sure. Come on in.”

Karem opened the office door. Catherine was sitting on one side of the table, scrolling through a piece of parchment with a magic circle laid out before her, rolling a ring back and forth in her fingers.

“Lady Felwinter sent someone to say she’d like to have a bite while chatting.”

“What? The Duchess?”

“Yes. You’re not too busy, are you?”

“I cleared all urgent and pending work ages ago.”

Catherine set the parchment aside and flicked her finger lightly. The magic circle disappeared as she snagged the floating ring.

“By the way, what’s that ring?”

“It’s a protective ring for you, little one.”

“…Didn’t you give up on that?”

“Who do you think it’s for?!”

Catherine’s temper flared as she shot an icicle towards him. The blue projectile flew through the air and fell to the ground instead of hitting Karem, breaking upon impact—thanks to the holy relic’s effect.

“Now that I was assured by the holy relic, what? You’re gonna jeopardize the whole thing by using it! Who on earth would misuse such a precious artifact like that?”

“Uh, well, aside from a little side effect, it seems fine—”

“Is that what you call an explanation?!”

The magic icicles that followed fell to the floor without causing Karem any harm, but he found himself speechless.

Catherine’s anger was undeniably justified.

“So, is there any more room for excuses left? Let’s hear it.”

“No, I have no excuses. I’m sorry.”

“Alright.”

Satisfied, Catherine turned her head away and tossed back her disheveled blonde hair.

“So, when shall we schedule it?”

“The time I heard from the messenger is separate?”

“She said to set a meeting as soon as possible to chat over some snacks.”

“Is she just suggesting to hold a casual meeting?”

Since there was no crucial or urgent matter, there was no reason to decline. While rolling the ring in her hands, Catherine nodded.

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

“What time should we set it for?”

“You said she wished to meet as soon as possible, right?”

“The maid down there said just that.”

At that, Catherine placed the ring on the table and stood up.

“Then it’s best we meet quickly.”

“You’re not thinking of going right now, are you?”

“No, that would be a bit too soon.”

Was it rude to drop by without at least a little preparation time?

“After lunch would be appropriate.”

“Today for lunch?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’ll pass that along.”

Karem turned to leave the office.

“Oh, wait a minute. Since it has come to this, prepare some snacks along with lunch. And—”

Catherine snapped her fingers. Moments later, Mary, dressed warmly, appeared with a pop.

“Contractor, did you call for me?”

“Yes. I have an appointment after lunch.”

“Is that so?”

“While the little one prepares the snacks, you should organize my appearance and assist me.”

“Understood… wait.”

As usual, Mary’s attempt to follow Catherine’s orders stumbled awkwardly.

“You mean Karem will prepare snacks while I serve the contractor?”

“Err, that’s how it is.”

“No, wait—”

Karem cut her off and promptly closed the door.

 

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