It was a sunny afternoon, and since I had no particular plans and was a bit bored, I decided to play with Bell and Lynn and headed for the backyard, where I saw Nebula and Illness-san.
Well, the two are good friends and usually have tea in the backyard, but today, they were standing and discussing something with what seemed to be a book in their hands.
[What are you two doing?]
[Ahh, I was going to talk to Milord about it later, but we're thinking of buying a kiln.]
[A- A kiln?]
[Yeeeees. Nebula and I have been talkiiiiiiiing about making prototypes of teacups and suuuuuuch. That's whyyyyyyy we're thinking of buying a ceramic kiiiiiiiln. We're planning to find a magic tool one that doesn't exude fuuuuuuumes, but for the time beiiiiiiiiing, we thought of checking out their plaaaaaaaaaace.]
[...I- I see.]
...They're making their own teacups? Come to think of it, I think both of them had been making wooden tableware and such lately.... They're finally getting into pottery huh.
[We would try to place it in a position where it wouldn't be a hindrance to Bellfried and Lindwurm... so would it be alright to buy it?]
[Eh? U- Unnn. Well, I have no problem using the space with whatever you want. There's more than enough space even in just the backyard anyway, so if there's something else you want to put there, you're free to do so.]
As for Illness-san and Nebula, I don't have anything to worry about them. Whenever they do something, they would always come to me for permission before doing it, so I'm never surprised and they don't really do anything strange.
Even so, I've already thought of Nebula as a bit of a meticulous person, but I never thought she would make her own teacups...
[Thank you. Milord would be the first one we'll show our tea cups to when we finish them.]
[Unnn, I'm looking forward to it. Speaking of which, it looks like the tea plantation is growing quite well... No, I mean, weren't they growing too fast? How is that possible?]
[Ahh, we've magically accelerated their rate of growth, and we've actually already harvested some of the leaves to make tea.]
[Eh? Is that so?]
The tea plantation Nebula created in the backyard really grew up before I knew it, and according to her, it has already been harvested.
[The tea leaves are very nice, you knoooow? Nebula's ideas really amazes meeeee. It's no exaggeratioooooon to say that her tea leaaaaaaves will revolutionize the tea industryyyyy.]
[As expected, that's just an exaggeration. I was going to offer them to Milord when it was a little more perfected... but if you don't mind, would you like to try a sample?]
[Is it alright? I certainly am interested, and I would love to try it if I could.]
Hearing that top-notch maid Illness-san, who has drunk many kinds of tea, saying that those tea leaves would bring about a revolution certainly makes me curious, so I nodded at Nebula's suggestion and sat down at the table in the backyard where they often have tea.
Thereupon, Illness-san went back to the house once before coming back a few minutes later pushing a cart towards my table, skillfully brewed a pot of tea and served it to me.
[...Arehh? Isn't this Glorious Tea?]
[Yeeeees, that's riiiiiight. Buuuuuut, as a bleeeend, I have added a small amount of Nebula's tea leaaaaaaves.]
[The tea leaves I had made are not to be drunk by themselves, but to be blended with other teas.]
[Heehhh... I see... Well then, let's take a sip———-!? Eh? The heck, this is great... This is definitely Glorious Tea, but it's clearly tastier than the Glorious Teas I've had so far.]
It was very difficult to describe how I felt. The taste is definitely Glorious Tea. I don't feel any other flavors added to it.
But for some reason, it was clearly tastier than the Glorious Teas I had had several times before. It's hard to describe it, but it just first right into my taste...
[...What kind of tea leaves did Nebula make?]
[The tea leaves I make adds an "off-flavor" to the tea.]
[Ehh? Off-flavor? Wouldn't that make food less tasty?]
[On the contrary, that really isn't the case. This may sound a little strange, but what is the most delicious tea? Is it the one in which the taste and aroma had been enhanced to the utmost limits? No, in the pursuit of the ultimate taste, no one can arrive at an absolute right answer, as long as personal preference is added to the equation.]
Saying this, Nebula takes out the tea leaves that she probably made herself and placing them on the table, she continued.
[Then, the role of these tea leaves, so to speak... is to add a subtle off-flavor to the tea, which "gives the tea its unique taste". This range of flavors allows the tea to suit individual tastes, and raises the original taste from 100 points to 120 points. Of course, it's very difficult to adjust the amount of these tea leaves to be used in one's drink, because you can't use too little or too much of it, but by using these tea leaves, you can add a different taste to a tea that you are used to drinking.]
[Thanks to thaaaaat, it enhances the taste of the existing teeeeeeas, and although it's difficult to uuuuuuse, it's very interesting to try different bleeeeeends.]
[Of course, these tea leaves are only for those that are really skillful, as it requires a great deal of skill and sense of taste like Illness-san's to bring out 100% of the flavor of the tea leaves used as base.]
[I see... By daring to add a little bit of extra flavor, you're bringing out more of the tea's flavors...]
It may be a little different, but I suppose it's like sprinkling salt on a watermelon to enhance its sweetness. It certainly is an interesting idea, and in fact, this tea is tastier than the usual Glorious Tea... and it's to my liking.
...Well, if people on their level were saying that using these tea leaves are "difficult"... It's probably something that normal people can't use at all...