TN: It’s another story with rather sad background though the mousse is sweet enough.
Strawberry Yogurt Mousse
She was lost.
Anna felt lost while tracing the elegant characters written on the slippery surface of the book.
(Which one should I choose…)
[U~n, I don't know what to choose…]
[Every time, I'm torn… it's definitely a chocolate type.]
People on the same table also suffered the same way when they looked at the book.
Around this point, it was a large difference from their leader who always stubbornly asked for pound cake.
It had been around a year since the first time Anna went to this otherworld restaurant.
A year ago, Celestine, who served the G.o.ddess of light, received an evaluation of a high priest that could aim as a pope. She then led influential convents in this land that were supposed to be her disciples.
That number was three people.
With the exception of Celestine, Carlotta was the number one genius in the temple that subdued a considerable number of undeads convening in the center several years ago.
Julianne who had blood ties with the n.o.bles of the Kingdom knew not only the best "luxuries" that existed in the Eastern Continent but also the sense of common people.
And then, Anna.
These three people.
(Un… let's choose this this time. I have never eaten this before.)
After agonizing for a while, Anna chose an unknown confection made using a fruit that she liked.
A dessert with a similar description to pudding using a spring fruit named "strawberries".
She chose it because Anna was aware that all confections of this restaurant were delicious… but she was aware why she chose it.
Anna was a superb priestess that had not reached twenty years of age yet.
On the other hand, her talent in the religion was only "decent".
Although her magical power was certainly strong, her skill and mastery of it was not much and her sword skill had never been praised.
Her faith skill and swordsmans.h.i.+p that she gained was a far cry from Carlotta's skill as a crusader that punished evil spirits, even more so compared to Celestine.
Her ability as a priestess was on the upper level in the convent, but there were other priestesses that were above her.
Also, her knowledge was not much.
Anna did not even know the names or faces of her parents.
She did not know whether they were lower aristocrats or n.o.bles, but she was not blessed with parents.
Anna's parents who decided that it was difficult to raise Anna gave her away to the convent not long after she was born.
Because of such life, Anna only knew the narrow world of the convent and religion.
She did not have the wide knowledge and connections like Julianne who was born and raised in the Kingdom until adulthood and was gorgeous at social occasions and the society.
So why was Anna chosen by Celestine for the honorable work to reproduce the otherworld's confectionaries?
The reason was that she was a "replacement child".
Yes, even if her parents were humans, as a half-elf, she could life longer than anyone else.
She was expected to live for a long time and able to accurately convey the knowledge about otherworld.
In the present world where human beings were the center of the world, replacement children born from human parents had no place.
Humans were cold to half-elves that caused the collapse of the old Kingdom, which was the first human country. As such, they were repelled from society.
Their youth that was comparable to a human's lifespan could only be a heresy in human society.
(Eat various things, remember a lot of things all the time and tell it to people who were far away. That is my role.)
However, the length of their lifespan worked effectively in leaving knowledge for future generations.
At the convent, she was the only half-elf.
Anna recognized so and she was probably correct.
Therefore, when asked for their order, Anna ordered it.
[This… I want strawberry yogurt mousse please.]
It was a limited spring season otherworld dessert.
While waiting for their orders, she asked to talk with other customers that came from all over the world.
[Thank you for waiting! Here are your pound cake and black tea set, chocolate cake and black tea set, baked cheesecake and coffee set, and strawberry yogurt mousse and black tea set!]
Placed before them were their favourite cakes.
Celestine's usual beloved pound cake.
Julianne's was a cake made using chocolate that was only found in the otherworld.
A cake using cheese with the faint smell of otherworld alcohol named brandy.
And piled on top of the bowl was the strawberry yogurt mousse made by mixing red berry fruits the white milk.
It was an unknown confection to Anna.
(…Indeed, it looks like a pudding.)
Although it was decorated with soft cream and strawberries that were cut into four, it did look like a pudding as described in the menu.
(…First, the berry.)
For the time being, she would postpone eating the mousse and ate the surrounding decorations.
Unlike Pudding a la mode that was eaten by the half-elf magician, the only fruit was bright red berries.
Anna speared the first berry with a fork and ate it.
(…Un. The otherworld berries are sweet after all.)
The red berry used for decoration tasted sweet and sour.
Its sweetness was strong, sweeter than any berry Anna knew.
Then, its sweet and sour taste mixed with the soft and sweet cream and spread in her mouth.
To be honest, when Anna first came to otherworld dining hall, her world of sweetness was still narrow. Hence, even berries and cream felt adequate for a delicious dessert.
(…Un. Next is this.)
After enjoying the sweet berries and cream, she finally proceeded to the mousse.
She scooped the soft mousse with a fork and brought it to her mouth.
(It's different from pudding but… it's delicious.)
The moment she brought it to her mouth, she knew.
It had a different flavor than the soft pudding she once ordered.
The mousse seemed to be moist and had many small holes.
The bubbles containing the juice were crushed by her tongue.
It flowed, the sweet and sour taste of strawberry fruit.
Although the taste was sweet enough, it was less sweet and had a stronger acidity compared to the fruit itself.
(…The sweetness is weaker than before, but this is okay.)
However, it tasted delicious.
To Anna, the mousse with reduced sweetness complimented the sweet berries and cream.
By not being too sweet, it was in complete harmony with its decorations.
And the sweetness and sourness could be adjusted by changing the rate she ate, so she did not get tired of it.
(…Again, I think the otherworld confectionaries are better than our world's.)
The various delicate ingenuity of this world's sweets.
That ingenuity was subjected to the desserts served in this restaurant and was helpful as reference.
(…I have to study more.)
While eating with such excuses in mind, she finished her mousse.
[Fuu…]
Finally, while drinking the sugared black tea, she exhaled.
Today's sweet was also delicious.
(When we return, I have to record this.)
While rolling the tea in her mouth, Anna thought to write today's story on a bunch of parchments in her room.
It may be only a confection, but it was a confection.
The research had just begun and may last longer than Anna's lifespan, which would last a few hundred years, but that was why Anna thought that she must go down this past.
Anna's steady efforts would become a great guide and milestone to those who would advance the otherworld's backwards confectionaries, but that was a story of the next century.