Where to Find Sugar

"We're home!"

First, we came to Nicola and Luke's house. Marie had been absolutely determined to see Uncle.

"Welcome home. Marie-chan and Leon came too?"

"Marie said she really wanted to see Uncle."

I answered with a wry smile.

"I want to see him! Is Uncle here?"

Marie was fidgeting as if she couldn't wait any longer.

"Just wait a moment. I'll call him now."

Auntie stood from her chair, opened the door, and called toward the back of the shop.

"Ben~! Marie-chan and Leon are here."

At Auntie's call, hurried footsteps came from the back of the shop, and a burly man appeared.

But although I called him Uncle, he was still young... Did people marry young in this world? Even parents with children were all in their twenties.

"Marie, you're here!? Oh! You're always so cute!"

Uncle said this as he lifted Marie into his arms. She giggled happily.

Marie seemed pleased that he could lift her so high with ease. Indeed, Dad wasn't tall or burly... Hang in there, Dad. I secretly cheered him on.

"Leon came too? All right, all right—you're growing big and strong."

Uncle came over to me while still holding Marie and vigorously tousled my hair.

"Uncle! You're going to mess up my hair!"

"Don't worry about that! You're a man, aren't you?"

Well, I had no idea what being a man had to do with not caring... Yet this boisterous side was probably part of what made people like him. He was smiling the whole time, his eyes very gentle as he looked at us.

I felt I understood why Marie liked Uncle. She had a good eye for people.

But that didn't mean I could relax. I had to be wary of any man who got close to Marie...!

As I renewed my resolve to protect Marie and steeled myself, Marie had already been set down and was trying to leave.

She's quick! Marie, don't leave Big Brother behind. Thinking that, I hurried after her.

"Uncle, Auntie, we'll come again. Nicola, Luke, see you next time."

"Yeah, see you."

"Marie, wait! Don't leave Big Brother behind."

She stopped in front of the house's door and looked at me sidelong with narrowed eyes.

"But you've been spacing out a lot lately, Big Brother. You often don't hear me when I talk to you, right?"

Marie stared hard at me. Uh-oh. Had she noticed me brooding over all sorts of things? But she hadn't realized I wasn't Leon... I was still in the clear, right...?

"That's not true! I am listening. I just space out a lot, that's all! I'll be more careful from now on."

As I hurriedly tried to explain, Marie stared at my face for a while, then said,

"Then that's okay... But make sure you listen when I talk to you."

"Yeah! I will. Sorry."

"Well, okay. Are you going inside?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Marie opened the door and went inside. I let out a sigh of relief and followed her in. I really needed to be more careful from now on.

"We're home!"

"Oh, you're back? Welcome home."

"How did it go? Did you manage to gather any fruit?"

Mom and Dad seemed to be in the kitchen, but they leaned out from behind the counter to greet us.

Marie climbed onto a chair at the dining counter, opened the hemp sack, and showed them what was inside.

"Mom, Dad, look! We gathered this much!"

"Oh, wild strawberries. That's a lot. Amazing, Marie."

"It's true. With this much, we'll have plenty to eat. Shall we all have some after dinner?"

"Yeah! I'm excited!"

Marie transferred the wild strawberries into the large wooden bowl Dad had brought out. She looked so happy. She must really love wild strawberries.

I wanted to eat them a little sweeter... If only we had sugar, I could turn them into jam...

Maybe I should ask Mom about sugar.

"Mom, do we have any sweet seasoning?"

"Sweet seasoning? Why?"

"Um... yes! I thought that if we had a sweet seasoning, the wild strawberries would be sweeter."

That doesn't sound unnatural, does it...? Please let there be sugar!

"Well, honey or sugar, I suppose."

"You have sugar!?"

"Leon, you know about sugar?"

"N-no, I just happened to hear about it. That sugar is a sweet seasoning."

"I see. But neither sugar nor honey is sold around here."

"What!? Why not?"

"Commoners aren't wealthy enough to spend money on sweets, so sugar and honey don't sell around here. They're more expensive than other seasonings, too."

So sugar did exist...! It wasn't that this world had none. Now I just had to figure out how to get it!

"Then where is it sold?"

"I think they sell it in the central district of the royal capital."

"The central district of the royal capital?"

"That's right. This is the western outskirts of the royal capital. The central district is where the king lives and the nobles live. There are lots of high-end shops there, so they should sell it."

So there really was a king and nobles...! Could it be that you had to be a noble to eat sweets...?

"Then could I buy some if I went there?"

"Probably not. Apparently, many shops in the central district only let nobles and people connected to them inside. And even if we could get in, it would be so expensive we couldn't afford it."

"I see..."

"Besides, the central district is far away. It takes more than two hours by shared carriage."

"I see... Then... I'll give up."

"That's probably for the best. Leon, you're eight now, so I'll teach you this: If a noble takes notice of you, you're in trouble. They don't come around here, so I think you'll be fine, but don't do anything disrespectful. There are good nobles, but there are also unreasonable ones."

Nobles are scary... I want to stay away from them as much as possible. But the nobles were where the sugar was...!

It seemed best to find somewhere else that sold it.

"Thanks, Mom! I'll give up on sweet seasonings! Wild strawberries are delicious as they are."

I said that with a smile to reassure Mom. She'd had a worried look on her face for a while.

At that, Mom's expression softened, and she said,

"Then let's have the wild strawberries after dinner!"

"Yeah!"

But eating those wild strawberries was going to be hard... Was there some way to make them taste good without sugar...?

What would work...? Maybe I could put them on French toast? Or mix them into pancakes!

Mixing them into pancakes might work! Once I thought of it, I immediately asked Mom if I could use the kitchen.

"Mom! I thought of a dish using wild strawberries. Can I use the kitchen?"

"Leon, really? You've never cooked before..."

Was it odd to come up with a recipe despite never having cooked before...? But I absolutely wanted to try making it. Those berries were far too sour.

"I've watched you and Dad cooking."

Saying that, I gazed at Mom with innocent eyes, and she gave a small smile and patted me on the head.

"Then I suppose I'll let you make it."

"Leon is going to cook? Dad's looking forward to it."

Dad was smiling too, clearly looking forward to it. I had to do my best!

"Then I'll clear a space in the kitchen for you, so put your things away first and wash your hands."

"Okay!"

"Marie, go put your things away with Leon."

"Got it! Big Brother's going to cook? I'm looking forward to it!"

Marie was looking forward to it so innocently. This was starting to feel like a lot of pressure... I hoped it would turn out delicious.

Marie and I went to the storage room upstairs and put our things away. When I set down the basket, I realized I'd forgotten about the firewood. Since it would be better to take it to the kitchen, I'd have to carry it downstairs again.

"Marie, we forgot about the firewood. Shall we take it downstairs?"

"Yeah! We need to get our allowance!"

Marie's attention seemed to have shifted from the wild strawberries to her allowance. She was already wondering what to buy with it.

"Then let's go downstairs."

When Marie and I carried the basket of firewood downstairs, Mom had just come out of the kitchen.

"Mom, we gathered firewood too."

"Oh, did you? Thank you. Could you put it in the firewood storage area in the kitchen?"

"Sure!"

We went into the kitchen and stacked the branches in the wood storage area at the edge of the room.

"You gathered firewood too? Thanks."

"Yeah! I gathered lots!"

"Marie's such a good girl."

Dad gently patted Marie's head as she proudly looked on.

"Then let's leave the basket here and go wash our hands."

"Me too!"

We went back upstairs to leave the basket, then entered the living room to go to the courtyard, where Mom was waiting for us.

"Here's your allowance for bringing back the firewood."

"Yay~! Thanks!"

"Thanks, Mom."

"It's fine. Buy something at a street stall."

"Yeah!"

Marie and I put the money into our respective wooden boxes.

There were four small wooden boxes in the living room. Each person used one to store their precious belongings.

After putting away the money, Marie and I went to the courtyard, drew water from the well, and washed our hands.

Marie was going to rest in the living room for a while afterward. I had to make the pancakes! Time to do my best!

"Then I'm going to the kitchen."

"Yeah! Make us a delicious meal, Big Brother!"

"Got it. I'll do my best."

Saying that, I headed for the kitchen.