How to Make Fluffy Bread

"So you want to know how to make the fluffy bread? That means you want to know how to make Natural Yeast-chan, right?"

"Yeah, that's right."

I pursed my lips and thought hard.

Making fluffy bread had originally been a trump card designed to keep other shops from stealing a march on us... even if the chef we taught the recipe to was poached, we'd still hold the upper hand.

The only potential rivals I could think of were the Guild Master and Ilse, but they were already cooperating as joint investors, and recipes were being shared back and forth between Hugo's group and Ilse.

Honestly, in the current situation, I didn't think there was any particular need to bring fluffy bread to the shop.

"My adoptive father is probably looking forward to having something different to eat, so at the dinner gathering where the Lord and the Chief Priest will be present, I'll provide Natural Yeast-chan in advance. That way, Hugo and the others already know how to use it, so they can make fluffy bread, right? But the production method and everything else will remain a secret. Please continue running things without fluffy bread for a while."

"Huh!?"

The bread Ilse had eaten at the Guild Master's house and the bread I'd had at my father's house weren't fluffy bread. The Italian restaurant was attracting customers with its concept of "a restaurant that serves the kind of food nobility eats." For that purpose, fluffy bread wasn't necessary.

"But why not? Wasn't the whole point to sell the fluffy bread?"

Benno's eyes went wide, and both Mark and Lutz looked startled. Benno had seemed quite taken with it, so I suspected he personally wanted to know the recipe.

"The point was that no one else could imitate the Italian restaurant—that's what made it necessary. But now that we've brought the Guild Master on board, even if other people wanted to copy us, which merchant in this city would dare to take on a combination of the Guild Master and Benno head-on? We're basically unchallenged at this point."

"...Ugh, well, I suppose that's true."

There were other large shops with connections to the nobility, but no one would stand a chance going up against the Guild Master and Benno as a team. Plus, the Italian restaurant was a shop catering to the wealthy, so even if several similar shops opened, they'd just bring each other down.

Considering the trouble Benno had gone through—the effort and money required to source ingredients and assemble chefs and servers—any normal merchant would cut their losses and withdraw. Benno had started it out of rivalry with Ilse and the Guild Master, but nobody in their right mind would throw themselves into a new venture just because of some back-and-forth bluster.

"Besides, fluffy bread is actually something I need more than anyone."

"You? You already eat it on a daily basis, don't you?"

"Well... now that I've become the Lord's adopted daughter, I have to be the one setting trends, not following them."

It wasn't elegant for someone of lower status to trail behind the trends set by others. That wasn't just my mother's personal theory—it was apparently something necessary for high-ranking noblewomen. By taking up new things yourself and spreading them, you generated demand. That was also considered one of a noble's roles in stimulating the territory's economy.

In other words, as the Lord's adopted daughter, I now had to create trends that nobles would clamor to spend money on. So rather than using fluffy bread for profit, I wanted to use it as an item to build up my position.

"There are all these complicated noble circumstances involved, so I'm planning to spread fluffy bread starting from the Lord's castle and the high-ranking nobles. It'll probably spread on its own eventually, and once it's made the rounds through my mother's faction, I think it would be fine to let the Italian restaurant have the recipe. If we're cooperating with the Guild Master's shop, we don't really need a trump card like Natural Yeast-chan, do we?"

"Don't you think it's better to have as many trump cards as possible?"

Benno furrowed his brows at me with a frown, but he nodded in reluctant understanding, saying, "Well, I suppose there are various things to consider."

"Anything I want from now on will basically be produced and sold through the Gilberta Company, so please give up on the idea of bringing fluffy bread to the shop from the start."

"Understood. There is an order to these things, after all."

Flowing things from the top down was much smoother. Especially for luxury goods. It was easy to forget since I made them myself and they were always close at hand, but the hair ornaments, Plant Paper, picture books—none of them were cheap enough for just anyone to obtain. The customer base was limited to those who had money. And if following the lead of those below wasn't permitted, then all the more reason to push things downward from the top.

"For now, the key selling point of the Italian restaurant—'a dining establishment frequented by nobles'—that's something I'll personally ensure is upheld. So please let me off the hook on the rest."

"Ensure? What exactly are you planning to do?"

Benno's cheek twitched. It seemed my trustworthiness was... severely lacking. ...I knew that already, though.

"I'll make an appearance and give a greeting as a joint investor at a tasting event for the owners of the major shops. Having the seal of approval from the new High Priest—if I start things off that way, the prestige boost alone should be more than enough, right?"

"...Setting aside the substance, your titles include High Priest and you're the Lord's adopted daughter. Customers will be falling over themselves."

"I'm just making a brief appearance and saying hello—I won't be sitting down to eat with them. It would be a shame if I lost my sense of taste from eating too much."

Just popping my head out and cheerfully saying, "Please do give us your patronage"—that alone would be plenty effective.

And if the owners of the major shops started gravitating toward Benno in hopes of forging connections with the Lord and the nobility, it would also make it easier to secure their cooperation in expanding the printing business.

"In any case, shouldn't you leave as much of the Italian restaurant to the Guild Master as possible, Benno? You don't need to push yourself so hard."

"The joint investor isn't the Guild Master—it's his granddaughter, isn't it?"

Benno argued that since he was the only adult among the joint investors, he had to step up. But honestly, I felt like Frieda could handle everything.

"If Frieda's the joint investor, you should be in good hands. She seems like the type who'd turn a profit no matter what, and if she couldn't handle everything on her own, her family would pitch in wholeheartedly. You could take it a little easier, Benno."

Frieda was deeply valued by her family, no matter what she said. On top of that, her whole family was shrewd about money and just a little stingy, so they were certain to throw themselves into supporting the Italian restaurant with everything they had.

"If you start slacking off, they'll seize control, you know."

"Huh? But within a year, the printing business is going to be so busy that we won't have time to worry about the Italian restaurant—especially with someone we can trust running it. As long as my name remains on as a joint investor and I receive my share of the profits, that should be plenty."

I glanced around at Benno, Mark, and Lutz, all three of whom looked like they couldn't understand what I was saying, and then I shrugged.

"Benno, didn't you just say that we can't be sure whether the civil officials are really motivated? But honestly, their motivation doesn't matter at all right now."

"Even if their lack of motivation threatens to derail the whole plan?"

I nodded firmly at Benno's skeptical look.

"Because at my Baptism Ceremony just the other day, the Lord himself declared he'd roll it out across the territory in about twenty years. And the Chief Priest didn't look too happy about it, so any rude civil officials will be gone in the blink of an eye. If anything, you should be worried about the plan being accelerated or fast-tracked beyond what we expected."

One look at that Chief Priest's expression told you everything. It was definitely some kind of setup or trap.

If that trap was aimed at unmotivated civil officials, that would be fine. But if this was a test—"Can the Gilberta Company really deliver?"—then letting our guard down would be catastrophic.

"...Don't go saying irresponsible things like that."

"It's not irresponsible. It's a statement based on experience."

Behind Benno, who still wore a dubious expression, Mark swiftly crossed both hands in front of his chest.

"We greatly appreciate your valuable advice. We'll keep it in mind."

"Mark..."

"No matter how busy reality keeps us, we cannot afford to look away from what's coming. We must be prepared to respond to whatever unreasonable demands are made, just as you've warned."

At Mark's words, Benno, Lutz, and—oddly enough—even Gil and Damuel all tightened their expressions. It really was tough having a boss who made outrageous demands.

"Then shall we consider our discussion about the Italian restaurant concluded?"

"I suppose, but..."

"I want to hear about Gil and Lutz's trip."

I leaned forward slightly, looking at Gil and Lutz.

I had visited mansions in other towns and rural areas during winter before, but those trips were basically all mounted on riding beasts, and when we were in the carriage, the atmosphere had been tense with everyone on guard against nobles. Since I'd done nothing but pray, it didn't count as a normal journey.

I wanted to hear about a normal journey. Especially from Lutz, who had been yearning to visit another town.

"Hey, you two. What was it like visiting another town for the first time? How was it different from Ehrenfest? Didn't you get seasick from all the rocking in the carriage?"

"It shook like crazy! Even though the trip took less than half a day, Gil was totally green and wobbly both ways!"

"What the heck!? Lutz, you were all limp and useless on the way there too!"

Their eyes sparkled with excitement as the two of them started talking over each other, eagerly sharing stories about their first trip.

About how the shaking was terrible compared to riding through the city. About how the noble's civil official was such an infuriating person they wanted to punch him. About how surprised they were by how small and sparsely populated the other town was. About how the orphanage's wretched conditions reminded them of things from about a year ago. About how they'd both made a resolution to give the ragged, lifeless-eyed orphans there a slightly better life.

"You both worked really hard. Thank you. Gil, since they say you shouldn't pet me out there, I'll praise you here."

I shuffled over to Gil, who had approached and knelt down, and ruffled his head. His face broke into a delighted grin.

"...I thought you wouldn't praise me anymore even if I did well."

"Petting you like this to say 'good job' is probably the only chance I'll get. Being a noble is even more troublesome than you'd imagine."

After petting Gil, I tried to pet Lutz too, but he dodged me with a "Nah, I'm good." That stung a little, so I grabbed him in a tight hug instead.

But hearing their completely unvarnished opinions about the trip, it really did sound like the printing business at the orphanage would be quite difficult.

"Benno, Mark. What do you think would work best for establishing a printing business at that orphanage?"

"There really aren't many people there, and not many of them are particularly capable. So rather than having them do the printing, wouldn't it be better to focus on papermaking? I doubt they could handle operating the printing press Ingo builds."

Benno stroked his chin and narrowed his eyes slightly. Mark gave a wry smile as well.

"This is a town where the Lord resides, so it makes sense that it's this big. The surrounding area isn't as large as some other towns, you know."

"Then maybe we should separate the papermaking and printing into different operations. Have paper produced locally as much as possible, and make the temple workshop a dedicated printing shop... Or finish the mimeograph press as quickly as possible, so even those without much strength can do the printing..."

As I rattled off ideas that came to mind, counting them off on my fingers, Benno scratched his head vigorously and let out a heavy sigh.

"Rozemyne, do you really have the bandwidth for all that development?"

"Not at all right now. So rather than going through a long back-and-forth with the local power brokers trying to find a compromise, I thought it would be much simpler to just flex the authority I already have and build a new orphanage that doubles as a workshop."

And if I tacked on a small chapel under the guise of spreading the teachings of the gods, it would give me a convenient excuse to go check on the place.

"Hold on! Are you just going to run roughshod with power!? Didn't you say you hate conflict?"

"I do hate conflict, but this wouldn't actually be a conflict, would it? Given the difference in social standing, my demands would absolutely go through. So I figured it would be easier to use the means I have to remove obstacles to making books rather than wasting time..."

In all honesty, I had too many titles, and with them came too many responsibilities, too much work, and too many new things to learn—my brain was about to burst. I didn't have the luxury of slowly sizing up some local bigwig in a small rural town and negotiating for common ground. If power could settle it, why not just use it and be done?

"Who gave someone like her that kind of power!?"

"My adoptive father, the Lord."

"...Dammit, can't even argue with that."

Benno held his head in his hands, but there was an order to priorities.

First: make books and increase their numbers. That was the most important and highest priority. For that, using both power and money was ideal.

Fulfilling my responsibilities as the High Priest and the Lord's adopted daughter was something I could work hard at, since it served that goal. But spending precious time on obstacles that I could clearly remove with the authority I already had? That was a waste.

"Though I have to say, even if I talk about wielding power, it probably wouldn't actually go my way under normal circumstances—I've only just finished my Baptism Ceremony. But my adoptive father is even more impatient than I am."

"Ahhh..."

Benno let out a despairing groan as something clicked. Mark quietly pressed his fingers to his forehead. It seemed Sylvester's excesses really had been causing the Gilberta Company no end of trouble.

As I watched the two of them start explaining with stiff expressions about what outrageous demands Sylvester might make at the Italian restaurant's dinner event, Lutz produced a folded sheet of Plant Paper from his pocket.

"Should probably give this to you before we leave. ...The letter."

For a moment, Lutz's eyes darted around the room, and he handed it over with an awkward mumble.

This Plant Paper had been purchased with the money I'd earned as Mine, and Lutz had given it to me so my family could write letters freely. After "Mine's" death had been established, I'd consulted with the Chief Priest and sent a letter to Benno with instructions, before I went to the Noble District.

According to the Chief Priest, I was officially set up as having been killed by a noble, and a portion of the money seized from Count Bindewald had been sent to my family as sympathy money. But apparently, my family had refused to accept it, saying it felt like they'd sold their daughter for money. I could just imagine their faces.

So I'd taken charge of both the sympathy money and the inheritance myself, using it as I saw fit. "At the very least, I'd like some letters"—if I sent paper and ink under my name, my family would have no choice but to write back whether they wanted to or not. That way, my loneliness would ease just a little. Heh. I'm clever.

"This is a letter addressed to the dead Mine, not to Lady Rozemyne, so it's okay for you to read it."

Nervous about receiving my first letter from my family, I unfolded the paper with a rustle and saw Turi's clumsy handwriting dancing across the page. On top of not being used to writing yet, the ink was new to them, so there were splotches in places. Some characters were written at odd angles, others were so smudged they blurred together—I could only make out "Mine, I'm doing fine."

"Um, what does this part say?"

"Oh, that should be her saying she started learning sewing at Corina's place. This part here looks like Dad. Something about Kamil settling in nicely. Around here is probably Mom. She was really worried about whether you'd collapsed or something."

Dad wrote regularly for work, and I used to read his letters, so even though he had a few quirks, I could read his fine. Mom had only just learned, so her writing was harder to read than even Turi's. And all three of them wrote however they felt like, so even though I'd finally gotten a letter, it was practically indecipherable.

"...Lutz, from now on, please tell them to each use their own sheet. The writing overlaps and I can't read it."

"I did tell them, actually."

They said it felt like a waste to use so much of the expensive paper. I could just picture them saying it. I'd bought the Plant Paper and ink from my inheritance because I thought the paper was too expensive and my family wouldn't send letters. I wanted them to use as much as they needed so I could read them.

"Tell them I can't read it when they cram everything together, so I want them to use one sheet each."

"Thanks, Lutz. Could you bring my reply to them later? I'll write it right away."

"Sure."

I looked around the room—which had nothing in it but a table and chairs for meetings—and realized I'd need to bring writing utensils in here too. As I was thinking this, Mark smoothly pulled a complete set of writing supplies from his own belongings and arranged them on the table.

"I'll lend you these. It would be better to write it here."

"As expected of you, Mark. Always hitting the exact right spot—that's truly wonderful."

Using Mark's writing set, I quickly wrote my reply. I was busy, but I was doing fine.

With the discussion that could only happen in the hidden room now over, we left the room and went to have lunch. Brigitte had already finished her meeting, so Brigitte would be on guard duty, and Damuel would join us for the meal.

"Brigitte, how was lunch? Did it suit your palate?"

While waiting for the meal to be prepared, I asked Brigitte. She was a proper noble, and with the Italian restaurant's opening fast approaching, I wanted to gather as many nobles' opinions as possible.

"Oh yes, it was absolutely delicious. Rozemyne, your chef is quite skilled. I'm looking forward to the guard duty even more now."

Her sharp expression had barely changed, but the amethyst of her eyes had softened slightly—that had to mean she was quite pleased.

As I let out a sigh of relief, a trio of braids in a reddish-orange hue caught the corner of my vision.

"Lady Rozemyne, I made about half of this myself!"

Nicola came over with a plate, beaming with pride. Before I'd gone to the Noble District, she'd said she wasn't confident enough to serve me food, but it seemed her cooking had improved considerably in my absence.

"My, I can hardly wait to try it."

"Lady Rozemyne, are there any new recipes? I'd love to try making all sorts of things."

I gave a small laugh at Nicola's enthusiasm. She absolutely loved delicious food, and when she'd become my Attendant, she'd declared that the best part of the job was the meals, and she'd work hard for every delicious bite.

"I have some."

"Huh?"

"I'll give you the recipes tonight. Practice a lot with Ella."

First, I'd have Ella and Nicola learn to make Natural Yeast-chan, keeping it as a closely guarded secret. Then I wanted them to master recipes for sweets that would likely become fashionable among high-ranking noblewomen. They'd mentioned having a Magical Tool ice cellar, and in this hot weather, cold sweets might be just the thing.

...Once the printing business had spread enough, maybe I'd put together a "Rozemyne's Recommended Recipe Collection."

We decided to start spreading Natural Yeast-chan from the Lord's castle. Ella and Nicola would have it ready before the dinner event.

Next time: The Star Binding Ceremony, Commoners' Edition.