CH 252

Words : 1064 Updated : Sep 29th, 2025

I Gave Ms. Helena The New Herbs “Uhh, I’m going to go and see Ms. Helena now…” “To talk about the new herbs? Very well. Lyra, Gelda. I will leave the rest to you.” “Certainly.” “Thank you.” I felt bad that they had more work to do now…but I had promised Sebastian that I would call him when I went to talk to Ms. Helena, so it could not be helped. If we took too long to go and see her, she would then become busy preparing for dinner. And so I wanted to go as soon as possible. …Besides, there were probably dishes to be washed as well. “So, where are the new herbs?” “…Uh, here they are.” “Hmm…” “One is for restoration, and the others are more of a supplement.” “Restoration… What effect is that exactly?” “Hahaha. I will explain it to when we see Ms. Helena.” As Sebastian was very interested, I showed him the herbs with a brief explanation. He seemed like he had a lot of questions, but I didn’t want to have to explain about the herbs twice. It was better to talk to them both at the same time. “Excuse me. Is Helena here?” “Mr. Sebastian. You want to see Ms. Helena? Please wait one moment.” We entered the kitchen and addressed the nearest cook and had them call Ms. Helena. As they had finished making lunch, they were all relaxing now and seemed to have plenty of time. “Mr. Sebastian. Was there a problem with the food? I did make adjustments to the seasoning, just as you requested…” “No, that is not why I am here. I wanted to see what Mr. Takumi has made for the wine…” “Mr. Takumi?” “Yes. Uh, these are the herbs…” I took out the herbs and showed them to Ms. Helena. Apparently, the reason that Mr. Sebastian had come down earlier had to do with seasoning. As the food was as delicious as always, I hadn’t noticed. But I suppose Ms. Helena confided in Sebastian when it came to the menu. Or maybe it was because Mr. Ekenhart was here… He was the master, after all. “A restorative…? In what way?” “Uh… There are certain nutrients that are necessary for the human body. And sometimes, even when taking those nutrients, your body might not absorb them, depending on the state it is in.” “Nutrients… It is something I think about when cooking, yes.” “What isn’t absorbed comes out of the body as waste. But this will change it so that it is absorbed. It will also strengthen parts that are weakened, making it harder for you to get sick.” Sebastian and Ms. Helena looked impressed as they listened to my explanation. I didn’t actually know the details of how it all worked. It was just based on the little knowledge I remembered. And I was pretty sure that I wasn’t wrong… Well, basically, it worked to make your body stronger. There was no doubt about that. As I talked to them like this, the other cooks in the kitchen started to gather around us as well. They were also listening with interest. I suppose it was because they were cooks. It was nice to see how passionate they were. “By mixing this into the wine, it will help the drinker stay healthy. I think. …As for the taste, we’ll have to try it to find out.” “This is that medicinal wine you were talking about before?” “Yes.” “Hmm… And what does this herb taste like?” “Well, I only just made it a short while ago. I haven’t tasted it yet.” I had just wanted to talk to Ms. Helena about it first, and hadn’t been thinking about a taste test. “In that case…may I try it?” “Yes. It can be made very quickly. I will try it too then…” “So will I.” “Then I’ll split it…” I split up the yellow plant and gave some to Sebastian and Ms. Helena. As I had brought several of them, I shared it with the other cooks as well. They all seemed very curious about this new herb. Since this was just to test the taste and not the effect, it only needed to be a little. “Hmmm… This is…” “Mmm…I see…” “….Hmm!” “….Mmm!” The moment that I put it in my mouth a very distinct odor spread through my mouth… It was like kerosene? Aside from the horrible smell, there was a strong bitterness as well. When I bit into it, there was also a mild sweetness there. But it was quickly erased by the stench and bitterness. I would hardly consider this to be edible… Still, it would be a waste to spit it out, and so I clamped my mouth shut and swallowed it. When I looked at the others, they were doing the same. Only Ms. Helena seemed to chew slowly as if to taste it carefully. She was nodding to herself. …Did she not think it was horrible? “This…is rather too strong…” “Indeed… I’m sorry. Can I have some water…” “…Here.” “Thank you. Glug…glug…” I got some water from one of the cooks and rinsed the lingering stench out of my mouth with it. Aside from Ms. Helena, everyone else was also drinking water. …I would have to do something about the smell if I wanted to use it in the wine… “Hmm… This is a herb known as Artaba. This yellow fluid around the leaves… It is the cause of the smell and bitterness.” “Artaba… So it’s a common plant here?” “Yes. Well, it does not grow in the duke’s lands… But I’ve eaten it before as part of my training as a cook.” So the herb that looked like ashitaba was called Artaba in this world. As it had been enveloped in that yellow liquid when I made it with Weed Cultivation, I assumed it was important… If what Ms. Helena said was true, then it meant Weed Cultivation was an ability that created plants in their most effective state…but not the most edible state. In fact, all of the plants I had made up until now had tasted…rather bad. So it was no surprise.

CH 252

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