ASDP Chapter 36

I had some minced meat left over from yesterday in the refrigerator, so I made spaghetti with that and some dried noodles, topped it off with soup and some fruit compote I had prepared, and my instant lunch was complete.
It was very difficult to make because people were staring at me the whole time I was cooking, but I think I was able to make it pretty quickly.

“Well, my grandfather is a doctor, so I swear I’ll never do anything like poison you. So you don’t have to be so careful, okay? Oh. Of course, I’ll make sure to taste for poison properly.”
This is food for a young lady and a saint. There must be no mistakes, so I understand that the attendants are watching closely, and I also understand that Alice herself is wary. But their gazes are annoying, and it’s very difficult to handle.
“No, that’s not it. I thought you were very skillful. Not a single plate was broken.”
“If it always breaks, I couldn’t live here.”
I think whether or not the plate breaks is a bigger issue than whether you are good at it or not. Even though I was told that she was impressed, I honestly wasn’t too happy about it.

“How can you do it in such a short time? And the equipment is so clean.”
“That’s because we have some magical tools like the refrigerator and we have some prepared in advance.”
I wouldn’t say I love cooking, but cooking is akin to experimenting, so I don’t dislike it. Also, if I live with my father, one of us has to do the cooking, so if it’s a decent home-cooked meal, we can make it without any problems. When I’m busy, I tend to order from the meal set restaurant.
“I mean, if you’re not clean, if you leave it in unsanitary conditions, you’ll get sick to your stomach, right?”
I’m worried that she’s letting Alfie eat rotten food. The cooking utensils in my house get a fair amount of use, so I get scared when they’re not clean.

“It’s not unsanitary. It’s just that cooking with it inevitably turns it black.”
No.
It’s not normal.
It is said that it was not cooked, but burnt.
“And the food sticks to the bottom.”
“…Can we talk about stir-frying? Um, are you talking about adding oil?”
Maybe there’s something wrong with it, like putting it in before it’s heated up properly…
“oil?”
I don’t want you to scratch your head about oil.
I also want to scratch my head at the stories I don’t understand. What kind of drama has she created? If possible, I just pray that Alfie doesn’t end up with a dish that looks like solidified lava.

“…Who taught you how to cook?”
“I wasn’t taught that. I mean, there’s no one to teach me.”
I freeze at this ridiculously powerful word.
What if you haven’t been taught?
It was certainly unusual for her to cook as a saint and the daughter of an aristocrat. Parents and other important people at the temple could get burned, so if possible, they wouldn’t want to do it.
“Eh? But that would involve using a knife, which would be dangerous, right?”
“Isn’t it okay? The chef taught me how to hold a knife, how to handle fire in a furnace, and not to eat raw meat. That’s why I make sure to cook it properly, but it just keeps sticking.”
That doesn’t mean it’s okay.
I became worried that this girl was being left without the necessary education at the temple. In my village, if a parent were to make their child cook without teaching them how to cook, the other adults would get angry at them. Everyone should think that it can’t be helped if the result of not teaching people is that they end up with tasteless garbage. Rather, it’s something that parents should be responsible for eating.

“Why don’t you ask the cook?”
“If I talk to them, the chef will get scolded by the priest.They have their own lives, so it’s natural that I can’t be unreasonable, right? It’s just how to hold a knife and how to start a fire in a furnace. The priest gave him permission to teach me because it would be dangerous if I didn’t know about it.”
“……that’s it”
I’ve heard from my father that temples are special environments, but I get scared when I hear that a saint who actually lives in a temple can’t talk to anyone other than the priests.
I know they’re protecting the Saint without harming her, but I’m scared of the way they’re restricting it. Come to think of it, he said that Iris, who was at a party with him, was fun to talk to. At first I thought she didn’t like to talk because she was a kid who didn’t talk at all, but after a while she started talking a lot. Although she didn’t talk much about what was inside the temple…

As I set the food on the table, I was confused by how much I felt sorry for the saints.
“But, I actually know that the priests don’t tell me anything because they don’t want me to cook. But since I throw a tantrum, they have no choice but to let me cook, which a saint is not supposed to do. It gives me the freedom to do what I want. They think if I don’t do it well, I’ll get bored eventually.”
“…I think that’s a normal right you should have. I think it’s okay to throw a tantrum.”
Isn’t it only in the temple that cooking is selfish? Even if you’re a noble, I think you can get an instructor if you want to do it.
“You’re a really nice person. That’s right. I wasn’t able to properly introduce myself. My name is Alice Scarlet. I’m the second daughter of the Marquis Scarlet family, and I’m a saint. From the color of my hair… I am also called the Saint of the Dawn. I am twelve years old.
“I’m Amelia Clarke. I’m a qualified magician. I’m sixteen years old, and I graduated this year.”
“Oh. So you were in the same year as Miss Iris.”
I wondered how much of my story she knew, but it seemed like the younger girl didn’t care all that much about the commotion at the graduation ceremony. Or maybe it wouldn’t have caused any fuss even if I didn’t attend. After all, I’m just a magician.

“I’m sorry for earlier. My precious Alfie suddenly disappeared and I became worried.”
“What kind of relationship do you have with Mr. Alfie?”
Alfie is an orphaned priest, and she is a saint. I feel like they wouldn’t normally have any contact.
“Alfie was the only person who would eat the food I cooked with a smile on his face. He thanked me for the food I made.”
No. Hmm.
I feel like one of the reasons why they hate her cooking is because it’s a dangerous dish, but it’s the priest’s fault for not teaching her how to cook properly in the first place. But if you think that their reason for not telling her is because they won’t let her cook for them, then they are definitely denying her act of cooking for them.

“Me and Alfie are very similar. I am also like an orphan. Everyone says that I am very valuable because I am not an adopted daughter but the biological child of a marquis and a saint, but my parents only visit me several times a year. I don’t get to see them because my brother, sister, and younger brother are more important to them. I don’t have that much power as a saint, so I’ve been abandoned as a saint in the temple.”
It is said that becoming a saint is an honor, as they will never go hungry and any word they have to say will be listened to.
But Alice doesn’t look happy at all, and even says she feels like an orphan.
It’s distorted.

“That’s not true. You’re a saint, and Alfie is an orphan. I sympathize with your situation, but it’s arrogant to think you’re equal to Alfie. His position is much lower than yours.”
As I was talking to Alice and thinking about how to comfort her, my father, who had come to eat, spoke sharply to her.
“It looks delicious. Thank you, Amelia.”
“Oh. Yeah. You’re welcome.”
“Then, let’s talk about what you specifically want to do and how we’re going to go about it while we eat.”
My father smiled, but to me his tone sounded colder than usual.

Am I the only one that feels like Amelia is somehow going to end up teaching Alice how to cook?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter and thank you for reading!