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Outside the tent, it was as noisy as if I was in the middle of a market.

Animal cries, conversations both loud and soft, clattering of goods, and the metallic sounds of weapons clashing somewhere—Karem instinctively covered his ears.

“Ugh, it’s so loud.”

Unlike the spacious square of Coldon, the campsite was packed so tightly that it was deafening, making my head buzz.

Fortunately, his tent—which doubled as a simple kitchen—was right next to him.

Upon entering the tent, the noise abruptly stopped.

Though it didn’t completely block out the sound, the murmurs were still audible, buzzing in the air.

“At least this is something.”

Karem shook his head, lit the campfire in the center of the tent, and immediately grabbed a jar of Nutella.

“Wait…The punishment isn’t over yet.”

He knew that Mary was under punishment, but she was far too convenient when it came to kitchen duties.

However, the house fairy was currently on leave due to her punishment.

Thus, he had to make the doughnut dough himself.

Reluctantly, Karem set the jar down for a moment and poured milk into the pot, adding sugar before placing it over the campfire.

“I still can’t say I’m as good as someone.”

Someone being, of course, Mary.

Karem had indeed received lessons from both Mary and Zigmeser in his spare time.

Although he didn’t get many chances to apply what he’d learned.

That was due entirely to the handy and capable house fairy who applied every complaint a cook could have to herself.

“So, keep your wits about you.”

The sugared milk had warmed up enough. He quickly removed the pot from the fire before adding yeast and letting it sit for a while.

In a bowl, he mixed eggs, butter, salt, and flour, then poured in the yeast-infused milk to knead the dough.

“I wonder if this is coming together properly.”

“You’re definitely doing it right for doughnut dough.”

“Then it must be all good!?”

“Sadly, no.”

Just moments ago, there hadn’t been anyone in the tent. Karem barely managed to catch the bowl as he turned around.

Mary stood behind him, eyes closed.

“No, please give a signal before entering.”

“I gave a signal as I came in. Are you going to label me as a rude house fairy who barged in without a greeting?”

Mary opened her eyes and tilted her head back.

“Karem, you must not have heard. I clearly stated I intended to enter.”

“Then you could have…”

It was hard not to hear. The noise from outside the campsite still made the tent resonate.

“I distinctly pulled back the tent flap and spoke.”

“Try speaking a bit louder next time.”

“So, you acknowledge it?”

Karem ignored Mary’s question, focusing on the bowl.

The dough had come together perfectly, and he added a touch more flour.

After forming the dough into a ball, he covered it with a cloth.

To achieve that fluffy dough, it needed time to rise.

About 30 minutes to an hour.

Of course, he couldn’t afford to just sit and watch the campfire during that time.

He had to make the filling for the doughnuts.

This part was much easier than making the dough.

“Are you going to use the Nutella as it is for the filling?”

“Then I won’t make many. I’ll mix it with custard cream.”

“Then it will be Amadeus Custard Cream.”

“Since it’s made with Nutella, will that create Nutella Custard Cream Doughnuts?”

With more time on his hands than during dough making, Karem chatted with Mary while sifting flour and sugar into a bowl of beaten eggs and mixing thoroughly.

Next, he added butter and vanilla extract to the slightly boiled milk, strained it into the egg mixture, and poured it back into the pot over the campfire.

He slowly stirred the white liquid, allowing it to cook gently while gradually changing color to a bright yellow custard.

As soon as it transformed, he promptly removed it from the fire.

“Ahem. Right now, I have an overwhelming urge to spread this on some bread.”

Mary stealthily opened her eyes, glancing back and forth between the pot and Karem with a gaze full of anticipation and hunger.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d just ignore this.”

“What about it?”

“Just a little piece would suffice—”

The house fairy was quick. Before the sentence even finished, she had already sliced off a piece of bread from a corner of the kitchen.

Karem silently scooped up the hot, thick custard and plopped it on top.

As Mary took a bite of the custard-laden piece of bread, Karem grabbed the jar of Nutella once again.

This wasn’t just any Nutella.

This was the last of the last batch in the caravan.

Once, twice, three times.

Each scoop of Nutella dropped into the custard cream like it held on to its essence, causing the level in the pot to rise.

As if reluctant to mix, the three clumps swam in the custard cream for a moment.

Before long, long brown tails began to appear along the length of the spatula.

As time passed, the yellow custard began to swirl with the Nutella, forming a dark brown vortex.

The swirls of dark brown Nutella gradually grew thicker.

Before long, the three streams of dark brown Nutella merged into one, fully coloring the yellow custard to its hue.

Not chocolate custard.

Complete with Nutella custard filling.

Yet, the job was far from finished.

Karem began to stir slowly, carefully channeling divine power.

Ssssssssss—

Droplets formed on the outside of the pot as the Nutella custard began to cool rapidly.

Gloop gloop—

“You’ve made a mistake.”

“Yeah, it seems it froze a bit too much.”

Karem paused for a moment, stirring the custard cream with a spoon.

Slosh—slosh—

He felt the precarious texture wavering on the brink of becoming ice cream.

“Seems precarious but should be fine…?”

“More than that, the pace is torturously slow. If it were me, I would have made it quickly.”

This house fairy, when she really focused, was truly annoying—but the frustrating thing was that she wasn’t wrong.

Karem frowned and turned to look at Mary, who was chewing the custard-laden bread with a sour expression.

“Oh, someone rejected due to punishment has a lot to say.”

“No, Karem. I’m innocent.”

Karem paused for a moment, tilting his head. He was curious to hear her funny excuse.

“If this weren’t a caravan, I would have been able to prepare a proper meal for the wizards living in the tower, but right now, I can barely make one-fourth of that amount, right?”

“So you feel that justifies an early termination of your punishment?”

“Exactly.”

Snap! Mary snapped her fingers as if she’d struck gold, pointing her finger at Karem.

“I was wondering what excuse you’d come up with, but you actually have a surprisingly plausible argument.”

“And so?”

“However, you seem to have missed a crucial point.”

“Hmm?”

Mary tilted her head, feigning confusion.

“But that’s not my decision to make, you know?”

“Oh.”

“That’s Catherine’s decision.”

Mary froze for a moment before turning back to chew her piece of bread.

“Anyway, is it done?”

“And what about the cream? Yes, it’s time to fry the doughnuts.”

Karem moved the pot aside briefly to check the dough bowl.

Fortunately, this batch of dough was a success.

A sigh of relief escaped him.

He recalled a moment when he had inexplicably created a soupy mess due to a failure in measuring the water, earning a scolding from Zigmeser.

But anyway, this time it was a success.

Calming himself, Karem sprinkled flour onto the desk to prevent sticking, flipped the dough onto it, and shaped it into fist-sized balls.

On the other hand, Mary couldn’t find joy in this.

If he had failed the dough, she could have poked at him again one more time.

It was truly unfortunate that he had to succeed right now.

Bubbling—splash, splash, splash—

“Even if you look at me like that, my punishment is not yet over.”

Karem dropped a bit of dough to check the temperature.

As soon as he saw it sizzling in the oil, he began to drop the doughnut balls one after another.

But he hadn’t dropped them all in at once.

The pot was smaller than those he used in the tower.

The dough always harbored air inside it.

The countless small holes in the bread were its essence.

If he dropped all that dough into the boiling oil, the first dropped pieces could bounce back out of the pot.

Karem certainly didn’t want to find out.

Bubbling—bubbling—!

The white dough frying in the oil began to puff up while the area turning golden-brown widened.

Karem flipped them right away, frying the other side.

Once all the doughnuts were fried, he used a slotted spoon to lift them out, shake off the oil, and repeated the process.

Having drained every last one, Karem promptly filled a piping bag with the filling, snipping off the end.

With his other hand, he took a doughnut.

Using a bit of divine power, it wasn’t hot at all.

His target was the white edge of the doughnut.

Pooof—

The tip of the piping bag precisely pierced the target.

Karem had always found himself struggling to connect with baking, other than crêpes or pancakes.

Yet, this kind of task was incredibly enjoyable right now.

Spreading cream generously on a cake sheet, filling a tart, or injecting jelly or cream into a doughnut—all works that clearly displayed the processes and results right at his fingertips in the world of baking.

Of course, the end of the piping bag burrowed into the doughnut, making its insides completely hidden.

But that didn’t mean there was no change.

As Karem squeezed the piping bag, the top and bottom of the doughnut bulged a little.

The weight in his left hand also increased.

While repeating the custard filling motion, Karem glanced casually toward the intruder. He noticed Mary’s eyes twitching.

Looks delicious.

I want to eat just one.

Is it fine if I just take a bite?

Her gaze, filled with the tangled desires of greed and appetite, was focused on the freshly fried doughnut rising a bit with the Amadeus custard cream.

Karem lifted the piping bag.

The unclaimed rich brown cream peeked out.

“Would you like to try one as a taste?”

“Yes.”

“Then just wait a moment.”

Anticipation, thrill, disappointment, confusion.

All of those emotions fluttering in an instant was seriously funny.

But Karem wasn’t joking.

There was one crucial process left.

Tap, tap, tap.

Karem lined up the doughnuts on a tray. Then he dusted them with powdered sugar, covering them in a white snowy blanket.

He flipped them over to dust the other side and lined them up again.

Dusting them with powdered sugar and flipping them again, he repeated the process.

Continuing until the tray was completely filled with doughnuts covered in white powdered sugar.

“Can I ask a question before tasting?”

“What is it?”

“About the powdered sugar on the doughnuts.”

There seemed to be a question in Mary’s gaze as she looked greedily at the tray filled with doughnuts, like a honey-glazed salmon.

“Isn’t it more convenient to mix the powdered sugar before injecting the cream?”

“Eat this and don’t talk.”

Karem handed a doughnut to the house fairy without any words, feeling the meaning of how necessary this handy fairy was.

Mary cocked her head as she crunched the delectable, chewy, and soft texture inside her mouth, filled with the flavor of the impending Amadeus custard cream.

Of course, once she finished, her mouth opened naturally, but Karem inserted another doughnut before she could speak, making her shut up again.

All in all, the doughnuts were delicious, and Mary repressed her complaints for a moment.

 

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