"Please, give that to me Kina."
"If you behave well, I'll give it to you."
"!"
The First Princess's eyes wavered.
She realized that Iberkina was mimicking her previous actions.
The corners of the First Princess's mouth, which had awkwardly lifted, trembled.
"Hey, Kina, what does that mean..."
"...Sit down."
"!!"
When Iberkina pointed to the floor, the First Princess's body stiffened.
It was a request that couldn't be easily granted, but seeing the Milk Angel Lilith which had fallen next to Iberkina, the stiffened body slowly began to move.
The First Princess, who was sitting quietly on the floor like a cat, blushed and rolled her eyes.
"...Kina, just wait and see."
"...Eat."
Iberkina lifted the French fries.
"This, just this once."
The First Princess, hesitantly lifting her head, awkwardly took the French fries from Iberkina's hand and put them in her mouth.
"Ah, nom."
"...You did well."
Iberkina praised and patted the head of the First Princess.
The First Princess's body trembled slightly.
Pushing away the strange feeling with effort, the First Princess spoke.
"Are you giving this to me now?"
Iberkina picked up the sticker and handed it over instead of answering.
It was the Milk Angel Lilith.
When the delighted First Princess tried to pick it up, Iberkina pulled her hand back.
"Why?"
With that meaning in mind, Iberkina opened her mouth.
"... Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon. If you give it to me first, I'll give it to you too."
"Got it."
The First Princess, though secretly regretful, brought down the Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon sticker from the shelf.
However, when she finally got the Milk Angel Lilith, she was so happy that she forgot all about her composure and squealed.
"Finally!"
While the First Princess, who finally got to embrace the milk angel Lilith, was rejoicing, a faint smile appeared on the lips of Iberkina, who had obtained the Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon.
"...Only one more copy to go."
Only one copy remains until someone can obtain the 'Ultimate Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon.'
The next day, Iberkina converted all the stickers she held through the White Tower into cards.
Then, she quickly skimmed through them and gathered only the necessary cards, discarding the rest.
There wasn't even any particular concern.
"Iberkina, have you played the Beast Card game?"
"I haven't tried it."
"But is it really okay to decide on a card so easily?"
"...Yeah. No problem."
I tilted my head at Iberkina's nonchalant attitude.
Was it possible to make a decision just by glancing at it like that?
Even the fact that she said she had never played it made me wonder if Iberkina knew the rules of the game.
But a few days later.
─Again! Again! We won..!
─Who on earth is that girl!
─Ah, is Paradox absent again today?
"...."
A new loser has appeared in the arena.
*
While the world was buzzing about Beast Cards TCG, I was developing a new processed food.
Although processed foods were widely spread throughout the Empire, not everyone could enjoy them.
"Especially fried chicken."
Specialty shops that fry and sell chicken were concentrated in the 'city.'
Although the popularization of oil has been achieved, it is still scarce outside the cities.
In areas where oil was scarce, the prices of fried foods were inevitably high, and consequently, it was difficult to find chicken as well.
There was no way to store 'fried food' and eat it conveniently later.
For example, like 'frozen food'.
"It's close to winter, so why frozen food?"
At my mention of making frozen food, Aria tilted her head.
Winter is approaching soon, and it was puzzling to think about making frozen food when we would barely have enough warm meals.
"Because you can just heat it up."
"You're going to heat it?"
"Yeah. Melt it and eat it."
Frozen foods that are thawed and eaten existed in this world too.
However, it was a method used only in some cold regions, and it was hard to find in other areas.
For frozen foods to become mainstream, 'frozen distribution' needs to be possible, but it has only been limited to ice cream, and its efficiency was too low to share capacity with other products.
'We don't even have a microwave to heat things up.'
Due to these technical issues, I couldn't even try frozen foods.
I had to endure the hassle of having to 'go out' every day just to eat.
A frozen party was something you could only dream of.
But those days are now over.
"...Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon, attack."
"Ahhh!"
Because a dragon appeared and started beating the Third Prince with cards.
Ice Dragon Iberkina.
From her name which includes "ice," was a being capable of realizing "frozen food."
*
Dragons were said to possess immense power, enough to be called them 'agent of the gods.'
An unreasonable being with infinite lifespan and overflowing magical power.
The Ice Dragon was a magnificent being that could summon 'winter' just by its very existence.
"...Aaaaaah."
"It's refreshing. Kina. Please do this part too."
"...It's a hassle."
That great being was now being used as an ice pack for the First Princess.
The First Princess, having learned the fascinating fact that cool air comes out of Iberkina's mouth, asked Iberkina to blow her breath.
'Should I call that a dragon breath too?'
It wasn't wrong to say it was the same breath, even if it was.
"Good job, Kina. Here's a snack."
As a reward for breathing cold air, Iberkina was given a bread filled with Nuclear Fire Chicken Noodles made by the First Princess herself.
It was a bizarre dish with even pineapple on top of the noodles...
"Nom."
"You're eating well."
Iberkina ate everything well, regardless of what it was.
Even the bizarre eating habits of the First Princess wasn't a barrier for Iberkina.
Whether it's Mint Chocolate, Pineapple on Pizza, or Nuclear Fire Chicken Noodles, she has eaten everything the First Princess gave her.
The Gluttonous Princess and the Gluttonous Dragon.
It was surprisingly a good match.
"Would you like some too, Yuri?"
"I'm fine, I had a meal before coming. By the way, may I borrow Iberkina for a bit?"
"Are you trying to make the 'frozen food' we talked about last time?"
"Yes."
Even the First Princess now knew that Iberkina was no ordinary person.
Regarding this, Iberkina did not reveal her identity, but nothing changed.
If it's hard to say, you don't have to.
The First Princess doesn't care much about it.
The reason was quite bold.
─Iberkina is Iberkina, after all.
Whoever Iberkina is, Iberkina is Iberkina.
In response to the attitude of the First Princess, who believed in her, Iberkina didn't say anything, but it seemed she was quite moved.
As evidence, she was getting along well with the First Princess.
"Nom."
"Freeze."
────────────.
The space freezes with the resonance imbued with magic.
'That's amazing.'
I rolled my eyes.
At the words of Iberkina, the hundreds of 'waste magic stones' stored in the basement of the White Tower all absorbed the cold.
The mana stone that I could no longer use and had to discard is now filled with the power of cold.
It has become a 'Cryostone' that can only be used in relation to 'coldness'...
"That's enough."
The 'recycling' of magic stones.
This was the key to making frozen distribution possible.
The reason why 'frozen food' could not be realized was due to the high price of the magic stone.
If we can recycle magic stones, we would be able to significantly reduce costs from frozen distribution to the final product.
In other words, it meant that frozen foods could be commercialized.
Without any particular cost.
Grrr.
"...I'm hungry."
"Ah, yes. Let's go eat something delicious."
There was a minor condition that only needs to fulfilled in the process, which was that Iberkina had to be fed well.
The food expenses were quite high, but compared to frozen distribution, it was relatively cheap.
By the way.
"How is the Ultimate Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon coming along?"
I asked while going out to eat with Iberkina.
Indeed, Iberkina had been attending the arena in the capital every day recently.
To collect the three copies of the Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon to complete the Ultimate Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon.
And, Iberkina participating in the arena was writing a legend of consecutive victories without a single defeat.
The dragon's exceptional intelligence has made even the first-time game experience a piece of cake.
However, there was no news about Iberkina collecting the three copies of the Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon cards.
But.
"...Paradox, doesn't want to come out."
"Ah."
It seemed that the owner of the remaining Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon had gone into hiding.
He boldly provoked, but when he sensed defeat, he hid.
Well, considering a monster that keeps winning appeared, it was wise to go into hiding if you didn't want to lose your cards.
Even if it looks a bit ugly.
"You will be able to gather them soon."
"...Yeah."
Unfortunately, it was difficult for me to find the paradox.
It seemed unlikely that Iberkina would ever possess the Ultimate Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon like that...
"hand over the Blue-Eyed Ice Dragon."
"...."
As usual, while going out to eat with Iberkina, we were attacked by an assailant.
"Let's settle this with a duel."
It was the man 'Paradox' who had gone missing and had become elusive.
'…Was he a realist?'
Paradox has been competing fairly through real-life duels, not card games.
Thud, thud.
It seems like he had a better chance of winning.
Adult man vs. teenage girl.
It was petty but a very realistic decision...
"Please be quiet."
"...Yeah."
Unfortunately, he made the incorrect decision.
***
Support me in my translation journey!
Patreon(.)com/SiRoasa
— Currently you can read Forty (40) chapters ahead!