The Day Before Summer Break

After several weeks, classes finally came to an end today, and summer break at Royal School would begin tomorrow.

Summer break is the vacation Royal School has in summer, and we get sixty days off, from the first week through the twelfth week of the Month of Summer.

Sixty days might sound like a long time, but I had a ton to do. There was so much I wanted to get done.

First, I wanted to go home. Then I wanted to visit the orphanage where Ronnie grew up and hire employees for the shop. I'd promised to make crepes at the orphanage, too. I also wanted to go into the forest to test teleportation magic and my Item Box, and research refrigeration equipment. I had plans to go fishing with Marie and visit Marcel-san. And I had tea parties planned with Martine and the others.

Just listing everything that came to mind made for quite a list. I was still a kid, so wasn't I working too hard?

Well, a lot of it was stuff I was choosing to do myself, so I'd do my best.

First, I was planning to go to the orphanage with Ronnie. We'd stay there for a while, then go to my parents' home together. After that, Ronnie would return to the orphanage, while I planned to stay at home for a while.

I was really looking forward to going home for the first time in ages. I'd said it was close enough to visit anytime, but I'd been so busy that I hadn't gone back at all... I had to apologize to Marie.

I couldn't wait to see Marie! And of course, Mom and Dad, too!

Right now, I was at Royal School. My last class before summer break had ended, and I was confirming tomorrow's plans with Ronnie.

"Ronnie, what time should we meet tomorrow? We're going to shop at the market near the central district before heading back to the orphanage, right?"

"Yeah! I think there's a shared carriage at twelve, so should we meet at the square around eleven?"

"Got it. I'll meet you then!"

We were planning to go to the orphanage on the very first day of summer break. We'd buy souvenirs and the crepe ingredients that were only available in the central district, then take a shared carriage to the orphanage.

The orphanage where Ronnie grew up wasn't exactly close to my parents' home, but it wasn't too far away, either. It seemed closer than my parents' home was to the central district, so traveling between them probably wouldn't be too difficult.

After talking with Ronnie, I skipped the research club and went straight home. Then I took the ducal family's carriage to Baron Daligard's estate.

I wouldn't be able to visit for a while, so there were a lot of things I needed to tell them.

When I arrived at the Baron Daligard estate, it seemed Stacy-sama had just returned as well, and we ran into each other in front of the mansion.

"Stacy-sama, have you just gotten home?"

"Yes. What brings you here, Leon?"

"Actually, I'm going back to my parents' home for a while starting tomorrow, so I wanted to tell Yoan."

"Is that so? I'll miss seeing you for a while, Leon."

Stacy-sama said that with a slightly sad expression. Seeing it made me feel a little guilty.

Martine and the others had looked much the same, but having people who would be sad when I was gone for a while made me feel incredibly fortunate.

"I say a while, but twelve weeks will go by quickly. I won't be able to offer advice during that time, though. I'm sorry."

"Please don't worry about that. I'll come up with dishes that'll surprise you when you come back, Leon!"

"I'll look forward to it."

After chatting with Stacy-sama, I headed to the kitchen where Yoan was.

"Yoan, how's your research going?"

"It's going very well! In fact, I made a huge discovery three days ago!"

As soon as I got to the kitchen, Yoan excitedly told me that. He was practically bursting with enthusiasm. Had he succeeded in developing something?

I leaned back to put some distance between myself and Yoan, who was leaning in close, then asked him,

"D-did you succeed in developing something?"

"Yes! Take a look at this!"

What Yoan showed me was something white and fluffy-looking. It was different from whipped cream.

That's it, that's it! I think that's what Mom used when she made cakes!

"Yoan! How did you make this!?"

"I made it by beating egg whites. My research had actually hit a wall for a while, and then I remembered you saying egg whites might be useful, Leon-sama. So I thought I'd beat them until they were no longer runny. I was planning to try mixing them with caramel and flour. I used body-enhancement magic to beat the egg whites, but while I was thinking about what to research next, I beat them for too long. When I noticed, this had formed!"

So it happened by chance. But what a wonderful accident! I think if you mix this with flour and a few other ingredients, then bake it in an oven, you can make sponge cake. Probably.

"Yoan, that's amazing! Have you tried making different things with it?"

"Yes. Just as you suggested, Leon-sama, I mixed it with flour and other ingredients and baked it in the oven, but the results were only so-so... I'm still experimenting with the proportions and such. However, I have a feeling this will lead to something delicious!"

"I can't wait. Make sure you write down the recipes for everything you think tastes good. Then we can taste them all and decide which one is best."

"Understood!"

Yoan really was amazing. I was pretty sure this was the right way to do it. We were one step closer to cake!

What was this white, fluffy stuff called again...?

I was sure it had a name in Japan, but I couldn't remember it at all. I must have heard it at least once. Hmm, no, I can't think of anything but cotton candy.

I didn't need to remember what it was called in Japan. Maybe I should just come up with a new name. It was white and fluffy, like clouds or snow... Yuki, Snow, Cloud, White.

Hmm, none of those really felt right.

"Yoan, have you come up with a name for this white stuff?"

"No, I've just been calling it beaten egg whites."

"Then let's come up with a name. It'll be more convenient, right?"

"That's true. What should we call it?"

"That's the hard part. Do you have any good ideas?"

"Well... I've heard that when someone develops something new, it's sometimes named after the developer or a place."

That's true...! I hadn't thought of that. Sometimes things are named after people, too.

Then maybe Yoan or Daligard would work?

"How about Yoan?"

"No, absolutely not! Naming it after myself would be way too embarrassing!"

"That's true... Then how about Daligard?"

"That would be fine, but would it be appropriate to name it after a noble family?"

That's true. I had a feeling that might cause problems later. Maybe I could combine the two into a new word.

Yodari, Andari, Yoadah, Anger, Angard, Yoagard, Yogard... Yogard seemed to fit best.

"Then how about combining the two and calling it Yogard?"

"Yogard, Yogard... Yes, I think that's good!"

Yoan repeated Yogard to himself several times, then nodded firmly.

"Great, then it's settled. This white stuff made by beating egg whites is Yogard!"

"Understood. I'll research how to make better use of Yogard from now on!"

"I'm counting on you. I won't be able to come by for a while because of summer break, so I won't be able to help with anything during that time..."

"That's unavoidable. I'll make progress on my research before you return, Leon-sama."

Yoan nodded confidently as he said that. I was so glad I'd met him. He was a trustworthy cook, and his passion for sweets was incredible.

If Yoan hadn't been here, it would've taken much longer to develop anything. At worst, I might not have finished anything at all.

As I was thinking about that, Yoan suddenly grew serious, straightened his posture, and began to speak.

"Leon-sama, there's one thing I'd like to ask you. You said you were going to close the crepe stall during summer break, right? Would you let me run it in your place?"

After saying that, Yoan bowed deeply.

"Yoan, you don't have to be so formal. But why do you want to run the crepe stall? It'll cut into your research time..."

"Of course, I won't insist if you don't approve, Leon-sama, but I've never had a lot of customers try my cooking. At the café, I was only a kitchen hand, and I was allowed to cook only staff meals. Even after Pierre-sama hired me, only the people in the Baron Daligard family have tried my food..."

I see. In that case, it might be good for him to get the experience of cooking for customers.

The problem was the mayonnaise for the savory crepes. I wanted to avoid giving Yoan a magic tool, so the only option would be for the ducal family to provide him with sterilized eggs.

That meant we'd have to imbue a lot of magic stones with sterilization magic and have them kept at the ducal residence.

Hmm, I didn't want to cause them that much trouble...

Yoan specialized in sweets, so maybe I could have him sell only sweet crepes. Yeah, that might work.

Then there was the honey butter crepe, but what should the other one be? It was difficult because we couldn't use expensive ingredients in the crepes. And we couldn't use the ice maker, either.

Fruit would be difficult, and whipped cream probably wouldn't work, either. What could we make...? Maybe caramel? But I didn't think caramel alone would taste good.

Hmm, maybe just one variety would be enough. That stall wasn't about making a profit anyway. I'd just say that the special eggs that were safe to eat raw had become unavailable for a while.

"Then maybe I'll have you run the crepe stall, Yoan."

"Really!?"

"Yeah. But only until lunchtime is over. Once lunchtime ends, we'll close the stall, and you can take a break before working on your research in the afternoon. Is that okay?"

"Yes. Thank you very much!"

"But we can't get the special eggs for the pork salad crepes, so I won't be able to prepare the ingredients for the sauce. Is it okay if you only sell honey butter crepes?"

"That's no problem."

After that, Yoan and I discussed all sorts of things about the summer break. I left the Baron Daligard estate with dinner time drawing near and headed home.

I hadn't expected Yoan to run the stall, but I was grateful that we wouldn't have to close it. I'd been worried that if we took twelve weeks off, our customers might forget about us.

Now I could go home without any worries! Feeling a little restless at the thought of returning home after so long, I rode along in the carriage.