"I made Sacher torte today!"
"Oooh!"
The delicious chocolate cake Lu brought in elicited excited gasps not just from
the kids, but from all of my wives as well. And honestly, the sight of the dessert,
which had its origins in Vienna and was known as the king of chocolate cakes,
also got me excited.
When we were on our honeymoon, Lu had picked up just about every
cookbook she found along the way, and she'd spent every single day making
something new from the recipes inside.
As far as desserts went, she regularly collaborated with Aer, owner of Parent,
and the two of them had managed to produce many cakes and treats
comparable to those you might find back on Earth. Though, some of the recipes
included ingredients you couldn't find in this world, so they didn't always come
out quite right.
I placed a forkful of Sacher torte into my mouth, only for the rich chocolatey
flavor to spread out across my tongue. It was so rich and creamy... I could
barely believe it! I wasn't a huge fan of desserts overall, though, so it only took
one slice for me to lose interest.
It was one of the richest cakes I'd ever eaten, in all honesty. It seemed the
king of chocolate cakes was just a touch too heavy for my blood.
"It's a little bitter, but it's so yummy!"
"Delicious! Mama Lu, more! More!"
Linne and Frei happily chowed down on the cake. I personally thought it
might've been a bit too rich for the kids, but they'd all taken to it.
Lu had made enough Sacher torte for the whole family, including Karen and
the other gods. She'd honestly made way too much, if you asked me.
Karen and the others were enjoying it too, though. They'd barely said a word
since they'd started eating. Vienna was known far and wide as a city of music,
and it was perhaps that thought that made Sousuke's music sound so much
sweeter in the moment.
Is this by Schubert? Schubert was from Vienna, I think...
Frei had already begun tucking into her second slice, eating as if her life
depended on it. I didn't see why she went so quickly, in all honesty. There was
plenty to go around, and there'd definitely be leftovers after everyone had their
fill. Then again, with Yae around, it was hard to say for sure...
Though funnily enough, Yae hadn't even touched a second slice yet. I
wondered if she was feeling unwell.
"Mother, is your stomach okay?"
Yakumo seemed to be wondering the same thing I was. Normally, Yae
would've eaten an entire cake herself, but for some reason, she'd set her cake
down just midway into her first slice. Anyone would think something was amiss.
Yae's expression seemed a little mixed, but eventually, she spoke up, saying,
"My stomach is fine, it is... However, I am concerned about my waistline, I am...
That is why I feel I should restrain myself here, I do..."
Yae's words caused a few of my wives to freeze, forks still in their hands.
That explains it.
Sacher torte was made with a lot of chocolate, cream, and butter. That made
it especially calorically dense. Thus, Yae was worried about her weight. She
probably felt that eating a full cake here and then having dinner later would be
far too many calories for a single day.
"I-I'll stop here too, I think."
"Yeah, same..."
Linze and Elze carefully placed their forks down on their plates. Sue and
Sakura also seemed hesitant to touch a second serving, and by the end, none of
my wives ate anything else.
The kids didn't seem to care, though. They kept on eating. Well, with the
exception of Yakumo and Quun. They were probably old enough to start feeling
self-conscious about their food intake. Frei didn't seem to care at all, though.
She just kept shoveling cake into her mouth.
"Are you guys full? Don't you like the cake?" Linne asked, tilting her head in
confusion at the sight of the frozen women.
Linze awkwardly spoke up in response, saying, "Um, well...if you eat too
much, you'll get fat, so...that's why we're not having any more of it today."
"But I eat lots and I don't get fat..."
"Er, well..." Linze was at a loss for words before her puzzled daughter.
I just looked to the side and quietly chomped on a little bit more cake.
I remembered the recent incident in which they all misunderstood me and
thought I was saying they were fat (which, dear reader, was something that
happened in the 2nd In Another World With My Smartphone Drama CD. Said CD
has not been licensed or translated at the time of writing)... I'd learned my
lesson that day. Men didn't have any reason to comment on women's bodies.
If the deer doesn't step on a branch, then the hunter's less likely to shoot it...
"I wish there was a cake you could eat that didn't make you fat..."
"It's just about impossible to make a nice cake without sugar and fattening
ingredients, though..."
I overheard Elze and Lu talking. It wasn't impossible, as far as I knew. Back on
Earth, there were sugar-free cakes, and there were even special cheesecakes
that were low in calories. The reason people tended to gain weight was because
they took in more calories than they expended, so that solved the problem.
I could hardly blame them for having such thoughts. People often had
another stomach for dessert...so it was hard to resist their draw.
"A cake that won't make you fat, eh...? Sugarshell might do the trick," Karina
suddenly said from across the table, casually plopping more cake into her
mouth right after.
Lu suddenly perked up, turning her head toward Karina. Arcia also looked
over with curious eyes.
"What's Sugarshell, exactly?"
"A Sugarshell is a shelled creature found deep under the waves in certain
regions. The pearls found within their bodies are lumps of pure sugar, known as
sugarpearls, but it's said that they don't have any of the fattening qualities of
actual sugar."
"So you can cook food with it that won't make people fat?!"
A clattering sound rang out as all my wives clambered to their feet, some
knocking down their chairs. I already knew what was about to happen.
◇ ◇ ◇
"I knew it..."
We'd gone out in search of Sugarshells after I'd used my magic to track down
one of their habitats. We were on the coast of the inland sea between Sandora,
Ryle, and Lestia. Quite a large number of them lived near the small islands in
the area, it seemed.
"How will we defeat the Sugarshells living here, father?" Arcia asked as she
walked along the beach by my side.
"Well, we can use Sango and Kokuyou's powers to walk under the water
without any issue. It'll take some getting used to, though. Won't be as easy to
move about as it is on land."
"You needn't worry about that. We'll keep you safe."
"That'sss right, darling. We wouldn't ssstand to let you down."
Sango and Kokuyou both waddled off with cheerful expressions, confident in
their ability to let us walk on the seafloor without drowning.
From the moment they first heard about the Sugarshells, Arcia and Lucia were
determined to find them. They couldn't pass up on the chance to hunt down
such a unique ingredient. Yae, Yakumo, Elze, Elna, Sakura, and Yoshino also
decided to tag along for the hunt as well.
I was initially just going to do it on my own, but after running my [Search]
spell, I found that there were a ton of them. Plus, while some Sugarshells had
sugarpearls inside of them, not all of them were guaranteed to. That was why
they were so rare. Though according to Karina, they rarely came up to shore
too, so even finding one of the creatures was considered an abnormal event.
In other words, the more hands the better.
Sugarshells were simple creatures, but they could swim around at high
speeds. Though it wasn't technically swimming, but more like jetting. They drew
in seawater and expelled it from their bodies at high speeds to propel
themselves.
If I came across a group of them, I planned to use [Gate] to send them to the
shore, where they'd be helpless.
"Ssshall we?" Kokuyou said, then raised his voice, generating a membranelike barrier around our group. The barrier functioned much like my [Prison]
spell, letting oxygen flow inside but blocking the actual water.
Hmm... Wait. The details are a little different, but couldn't I have just done this
on my own using [Prison] or what? Wait, no...I'd have to cast one around
everyone...and it wouldn't be able to move with them, so I guess not...
I cast [Light Orb] and we began our trek to the seafloor.
"It's so strange walking at the bottom..."
"L-Look! Fish! They're so pretty!"
Elze and Elna looked overhead, only for a beautiful school of fish to swim over
us. They were moving in a tightly packed spherical formation, sparkling in the
scant traces of sunlight that reached down here. If I remembered right, fish
swarming in that way were known as bait balls. They packed themselves up to
make themselves collectively bigger and prevent themselves from being eaten. I
wondered if they were on the run from some bigger fish.
"They look delicious, they do..."
"I bet they'd be tasty when grilled..."
"I think they'd work well deep-fried with soy sauce."
Yae, Lu, and Arcia all had different, yet similar, thoughts on the sight of the
bait ball.
Perhaps the fish had sensed their intent, as they grouped up out of fear of my
wives and daughter. The bait ball quickly sped away, clearly not wanting to end
up on the menu.
The sight of them made me feel a little hungry for fish too, however. And so, I
made a mental note to catch some on the way back.
"How much longer, daddy?" Yoshino asked as she came over to peek at my
smartphone.
"Not much further now. There are a few clusters of them in this area...and the
closer one's right around...there."
My [Light Orb] shone in the dark depths, illuminating the sight of a group of
Sugarshells. When I'd heard they had pearls, I imagined the stereotypical look
of a pearl oyster, but instead, they looked more like large scallops. Insanely
large scallops, even. The ones I was looking at had to be over a meter long at
minimum. It was like something out of Botticelli's The Birth of Venus.
"They are bigger than I expected, they are. Should we be attacking them?"
"Hmm... Well, Karina said they have high magical resistance, so..."
Sugarshells were creatures known as Artificers, much like Slimes. Basically,
that meant they'd been created by human hands a long time ago, but after
thousands of years, they'd ended up evolving on their own.
"If magic's no good, we'll cut them up," Yakumo said, then unsheathed her
blade. Given that we were underwater, it was even harder to make out
Yakumo's crystal blade. I wondered if that counted as a tactical advantage.
"If magic doesn't work, won't Elna be at a disadvantage?"
"It's okay, mom. I have this. It'll do the trick," Elna replied, then smiled as she
waved her star wand casually. It could act as a flail and deal physical damage
from a distance, so she'd be fine.
Yoshino's magic aptitude was for Fire and Wind, rendering her fairly useless
underwater... Luckily, she still had [Reflection], [Absorb], and [Teleport], all of
which offered balanced utility.
Arcia, on the other hand, only had [Apport] and [Search].
"It's okay. I'm not as skilled as Yakumo, but I can still fight with blades," Arcia
said, unsheathing the twin swords at her waist. Much like Yakumo's, they
seemed to be made out of phrasium.
Lu took out her own twin blades. She'd also been trained by Moroha, though
not quite as intensely as Hilde and Yae. Either way, she was more than a match
for the average adventurer.
I didn't know how strong Arcia was, but given that Karina and Moroha had
apparently trained all of the kids to some extent in the future, I felt it wasn't
worth worrying about her.
"Let us fight them, let us. Elna, could you strike from afar and try to draw
some in, could you?"
"Y-Yeah, I can try."
Yae's order prompted Elna to wave her wand high.
Shooting bullets from my Brunhild wouldn't mean much under the sea, but
Elna's star was guided by magic, so it'd probably be fine. Not as effective as it
would be on land, though.
"Hiyah!"
The star detached from the end of Elna's wand, flying at full speed toward a
nearby Sugarshell. It smashed right into the creature...but unfortunately, the
blow wasn't nearly strong enough to break the shell.
Various Sugarshells in the area began to float upward in response to the
sudden commotion. I counted six in total. They suddenly began rapidly spinning
around, whooshing through the water toward us like throwing stars.
"Incoming!"
We all dashed to the sides in order to avoid the Sugarshells and their attacks.
Yoshino, Sakura, and Elna ducked further back, while Lu and Arcia stayed in the
rear to defend them.
Elze jumped forward to retaliate, screaming, "Crusher!"
Elze's crystal gauntlets shattered a nearby Sugarshell into tiny pieces. Karina
had warned me about how dense and hard to break they'd be, but apparently,
that meant nothing to the raw destructive force Elze could unleash.
"Let us go as well, Yakumo!"
"Right!"
Yae and her daughter charged forward with their blades at the ready,
destroying a few more of the creatures.
Yakumo flawlessly cleaved through one of them, bisecting it cleanly.
"Sis! Don't just cut them like that! You'll damage the pearls!"
"Huh?! R-Right!"
By a stroke of luck, the Sugarshell Yakumo had attacked didn't have any pearls
in it.
Yae also changed up her attack style after hearing that warning, switching to
broader horizontal slices. Sugarshells kept their precious pearls in the middle of
their bodies, so we wanted to avoid damaging that part in particular.
I stood on the sidelines, watching Elna as her star wand pulverized a nearby
Sugarshell. Not wanting to be outdone by my own kids, I switched Brunhild to
blade mode and set to work.
I was a little curious about where Sugarshells even came from, but I decided
to save that question for another day. Now was a time for hunting...and there
was prey all around.
◇ ◇ ◇
"It is over, it is," Yae said, then sheathed her blade, watching over the remains
of the fallen Sugarshells.
There were eight of them in total. Lu and Arcia began taking them apart,
mumbling to themselves and shaking their heads before moving on to the next.
Sadly, Sugarshell meat was apparently not very good. That was a shame, since
they looked like tasty scallops from where I was standing.
"Found one!" Lu cheered, hefting something upward and holding it above her
head. It was a white pearl about the size of a small watermelon, the sugarpearl
we'd come looking for. It lacked the kind of sheen I associated with normal
pearls, though.
"...Shouldn't that be dissolving, since we're underwater?"
I kind of pictured the pearls as solid lumps of sugar, so I was naturally
concerned.
"Oh, don't worry. The actual sugar substitute is inside the pearl. There's an
outer layer that protects it, so unless we crack it open, it'll be fine."
That made sense. It was like an egg, essentially. The membrane seemed to be
kind of thin, though, so I quickly fired up [Storage] and tossed it inside.
All right! Mission accomplished! That was surprisingly easy.
"Lucky us. Should we head back to the castle, then?"
"Hm? What are you saying? One isn't nearly enough. Come now, onward to
the next group of Sugarshells."
"Huh?"
Everyone except me started to casually walk along the seafloor. I was very
confused by the matter.
"We've got a lot of kids... One sugarpearl isn't nearly enough..."
"That's right! We've gotta get enough for tons of snacks!" Yoshino cheered in
response to Sakura's words, but I didn't really get it. We could just use regular
sugar with the treats for the kids, surely.
Sure, it might not be good for them, but it's not like they care as much about
the fattening stuff, right? Like...
"Touya-dono. We have already decided, we have."
"That's right, Touya, so come on. Let's get going."
Yae and Elze broke me out of my daydream and ushered me forward. I
shrugged, as I had no interest in rocking the boat. Sometimes a man had to put
up with things to care for his family.
And so, I pulled up the next location on my phone.
◇ ◇ ◇
"That's about it, I think..."
We'd hunted and hunted and hunted. I'd stopped counting after the
hundredth kill, but if I had to hazard a guess, we'd probably killed five hundred
of the damn things.
If we kept going at this rate, we'd probably make the poor Sugarshells
endangered.
"We got about twenty-four pearls in total... That should be enough to last us a
while," Lu said, seeming happy with herself for the most part.
Twenty-four pearls after so many kills... Can't tell whether we got lucky or not.
Right when I was about to open up a [Gate] home, Sakura suddenly put her
finger to her lips and shushed me.
"...Strange noise nearby."
"Oh?"
I tried to listen, but couldn't hear much.
Sound was fairly easily transmitted in water, but even then, I couldn't make
out anything. Sakura, on the other hand, was blessed with enhanced hearing, so
she noticed something we couldn't.
I couldn't help but wonder what she'd heard.
"Something's coming...from below!"
I suddenly felt a tremor, then a fissure in the seafloor below us opened
up...only for an enormous Sugarshell to emerge in a cloud of sand.
The ones we'd killed were only about one meter long, but this thing was easily
four.
"Is this the mother Sugarshell, is it?!"
"No, I think it's more like a variant!"
I didn't know if it was some kind of evolved form, or just some freak of
nature, but it obviously wasn't a regular Sugarshell. We'd be able to beat it the
way we'd beaten all the others.
"But how can we—?! Agh!"
The giant creature swam circles around us, stirring the water and creating a
massive current. We were all thrown off-balance, making it hard to even stand.
Damn it! I can't fight like this! Ugh...! What do I do?!
The giant Sugarshell swooped around, lunging straight for us. Or, more
specifically, it lunged straight for Elze.
"Dad! Her shoes! [Gravity], quick!"
"Oh, right! Target lock... Elze's boots! Imbue [Gravity] now!"
"Registered."
Cesca's voice rang out from my phone as the weight magic was applied to Elze
from a distance. The sudden shift in weight in her shoes allowed Elze to regain
her balance on the seafloor. She stood firm, ready to face the charging
Sugarshell head-on.
A stream of light circled Elze's fist, coalescing until it intensified and pulsed
around her fingers.
"Combat Arts... Divine Corkscrew!" Elze roared, opening her fist and
unleashing the light. It then wrapped around her arm, taking the form of a
massive conal drill.
She swung her arm forward, crushing the massive Sugarshell as it charged
right into her. The crumbling creature broke into pieces, scattering out across
the seafloor.
...Just one hit? Really? M-My wife's getting too strong, I think... Maybe they all
are. I should watch my step.
"You did it! Amazing work, mom!"
"Elna! You're amazing! I never would've thought of putting that spell on my
boots! That's my girl!"
Elze jumped for joy and wrapped her arms tight around Elna. I felt a little left
out... It was my spell that saved her, after all...
"Ah!" Arcia let out a startled squeal before lifting a chunk of dead giant
Sugarshell and tossing it aside.
...Wait, was she always that strong...or is it because we're underwater?
Beneath the shell she'd tossed aside was a massive sugarpearl, one that
looked to be the size of one of those exercise balls.
"That's huge! What a find!"
Lu charged toward the huge thing. Both mother and daughter giggled as they
stood by it.
"We got the perfect pearl right at the end!"
"Mhm! Now we can make tons of treats!"
I caught a glimpse of Yoshino jumping for joy as well, but she wouldn't be so
happy when her metabolism caught up with her. Lu and Arcia probably needed
to calm down on the treat-making too...
◇ ◇ ◇
"Today, I made Sacher torte! But with sugarpearls this time!"
"Oooh!"
"...We only just had Sacher torte the other day, though."
I was once again faced with the familiar king of chocolate cakes, which left me
feeling a bit disappointed that it was more of the same.
My wives and daughters ignored my comment and began cutting themselves
slices.
"Mmm! This is delicious, it is! And we can eat as much as we like, we can!"
"Yummy! It tastes the same as the normal version!"
"Ahhh! So rich! So sweet! So decadent! This is bliss!"
Yae, Elze, and Linze were already on to their second helpings.
...You know, even if there's a sugar substitute in there, it won't instantly stop
you from gaining weight. There are still eggs, flour, and other stuff in there...
I knew that saying that out loud would be like invoking the wrath of the gods,
so I quietly looked down at my Sacher torte slice instead, electing to take a few
bites.
Mmm... It's definitely good, but it's too rich. One slice is more than enough for
me.
A few days later, my wives decided to go on a diet. They said they felt like
they'd been eating too much dessert. Just as I'd always thought. All good things
in moderation.