Déjà vu.
"It is the consensus of our food departnt that we would like to enlist the help of the Wizard Yuri in improving the diet of elves...."
As I looked at the skeptical bureaucrat finishing his sentence, I rembered that I had been through sothing similar before.
"If you're having a hard ti, you don't have to accept the request...."
"Yes, I can."
I replied.
"...What?"
"You said you wanted to make sothing good for the elves to eat?"
"Well, yes. You see, I have elven blood in my veins, so if it's to my taste, I think they'll be happy with it."
"Bureaucrat."
"Yes, wizard."
"Do you happen to like at?"
"...?"
*
The purpose of the food departnt was not to provide the elves with a "delicious vegan al".
It was rely a ans to an end.
The 'end' of the request was to prevent the elves from dragging their own kind with them when they were mobilized to grow sugar cane.
In a nutshell, it was like this.
─We only need the children to grow the cane, so stop crawling out of the forest.
The food departnt wanted the elves to stay in the forest.
In order to do that, they needed food that would be a "bait item" that would keep the elves' attention in the forest.
One of the main reasons for the elves to venture into human society was their curiosity about at.
Having spent most of their lives as vegetarians, it was only natural for them to be curious about at.
So why not satisfy that curiosity?
"Beans," they say, "are the at of the field."
When prepared properly, soybeans can produce a at-like texture.
This is called 'soy at'.
Of course, inferior soy at can be so bad that it's hard to tell if it's at at all.
Typically, soybeans in school lunches are the assassins of the school lunch line, shocking people who mistakenly eat them thinking they're at and then bludgeoning them in the back of the head.
But soy is soy.
A really well-made soybean is indistinguishable from at, even to an expert.
In a famous anecdote, British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay once served a steak made with soy on a cooking show, and seven out of eight chefs who tasted it couldn't tell it was soy.
Even the one chef who did realize it was soy didn't realize it wasn't at, just that it had a strange texture.
When done right, soy is indistinguishable from real at.
Of course, I've never had soy at that fine before.
'Let's go with the vegan patty.'
The vegan patty aka the salty patty.
This is the soy at that goes into burgers, and while it's not premium soy, to my cheap palate, it tasted similar to at without even realizing it was a vegan patty.
The biggest surprise was a burger from a popular chain where the fries got smaller with each bite.
The fries were getting smaller and smaller, but I rember pulling out one patty like crazy.
In terms of food from my past life, it tasted like the pork cutlets I used to buy as a kid.
Of course, that was only in my mouth, and Aria's impression was different.
"What do you think this is?"
"It's beans."
Aria answered as if I was asking her sothing obvious. I feel it every ti, but the tip of my tongue is an innate sensation.
"I know it's beans, but I'm surprised. How do beans have this texture?"
Aria continued to express her surprise as she bit into the patty.
Her reaction suggests she knows what's inside.
'Okay, ingredients.'
But knowing the ingredients didn't an I could make a vegan patty right away.
To mimic alchemy, you had to have sothing that was even remotely similar.
So, I'm going to have to ask for help.
Once again, Laura's culinary skills would be called upon.
*
"You're amazing, Nya. How could you co up with sothing like this?"
She was so surprised.
After tasting the vegan patties, Laura let out an unintentional chuckle.
"Let's just say I have an overactive imagination."
"...You must be an unbelievable genius to co up with sothing like this out of your own imagination."
Contrary to Laura's delusions, I was not a genius.
I couldn't cook, and my imagination was nothing more than a carryover from the previous world.
'The real genius is Laura.'
Before I knew it, she was analyzing the patties and making them her own.
The process was strikingly similar to the process of making a modern patty.
Of course, this was from my point of view, and my fellow genius had a less-than-genius response.
"Well, it's not made with these ingredients. It doesn't have mushrooms in it."
"You can't create the texture of this patty without mushrooms!"
The two people involved in the creation of the vegan patty exchanged back-and-forth.
Aria would tell her what to include and the exact flavors, and Laura would make it her own.
"The texture doesn't have to be the sa!"
"I just want the result to be similar, the ingredients are secondary, Nya!"
I left the kitchen quietly, leaving the two of them to argue back and forth as if they were fighting.
It may have looked like a fight, but I was in the process of making patties, too.
*
It took a week for the two of them to make a sample of the vegan patty and bring it to .
They had done a lot of research, and it looked pretty close to the real thing.
"What do you think?"
"About sixty percent of a pork cutlet."
"What does that an?"
"It ans it's well made."
"Then..."
"Pass."
"Yay!"
"We got it, Nya!"
They were so happy with my answer that they high-fived each other and cheered.
They'd been cranky at first, but they'd grown closer in the past week.
Seeing their happiness made smile.
"You're so convincing."
With Aria's magic, the patties they brought back were amazing.
I'd say they were sixty percent pork patties, but the flavor was different and the texture was better.
If I didn't know that these were soybeans, I'd be nervous if I ate them.
Add Ciel's alchemy to the mix, and you've got a recipe for a real treat....
'I don't know.'
If an unknowing otherworlder ate a vegan patty, they'd think it was at.
That was the end of the 'bait'.
*
"There's no way these are soybeans...!"
Elder Heindel looked at the vegan patty in disbelief.
The vegan patties looked exactly like the at he had seen in human society.
Heindel picked up the vegan patty, not believing it could be soy.
He had a way to tell if it was at or not.
As a "at allergic" person, Heindel's body reacts imdiately to the slightest amount of at.
He carefully took a bite of the patty, tasted it, and his eyes widened.
"...Hoot!"
The chewy texture and crunchy feel was unmistakably the at he had tasted in human society.
"See, it's at after all!"
"Elder, it's not at, it's beans."
"No, this is at. If it's not at-"
As Heindel continued, he suddenly felt strange.
'Hmm? Why am I fine?'
He had eaten at and his body hadn't reacted in the slightest.
He should be running a fever and breaking out in hives by now.
That said,
"...Do you really an soy?"
"I told you, it's soy."
"How can soy be...?"
Heindel was looking at the vegan patty, puzzled.
"Elder."
"What is it?"
"The Empire people say the food has arrived."
"...You an they've prepared more food?"
Heindel is puzzled by a story he hasn't heard.
-Uh-oh.
Suddenly, the wooden door of the preceptor's hall creaked open.
A covered cart rolled in through the open door.
Pushing the cart was a clean-cut human youth who looked to be just shy of 20 years old.
As he pulled the cart up to Heindel's door, he bowed politely.
"I'm Yuri Grail, wizard of the White Tower."
"High Elf Judge Heindel."
At the polite young man's greeting, Heindel rose to introduce himself.
"How did you enjoy the food?"
"I enjoyed it well. I was surprised that it tasted like at. Are you sure this is a dish made of beans?"
"Yes, it's a decoy."
"Bait?"
"A product used to attract the attention of custors."
"...Certainly, it seed like the perfect dish to attract runaway children."
The entry of young elves into human society was a problem in elven circles.
With the younger elves leaving the forest for the outside world, the forest was naturally left with only the older elves.
But this bean at seed like a good way to bring the children back ho.
If you shouted that there was 'at' in the forest, they would be interested.
But....
"It's not enough."
Heindel shook his head.
He hadn't realized it at first because of the shock, but in hindsight he realized that the vegan patties were slightly different from real at.
"We could lure them back with the promise of at, but if it wasn't real at, they'd leave the forest again."
Heindel had high hopes when the Empire offered to help.
So when it didn't seem to work, Heindel was disappointed.
"That's what bait goods are for."
"?"
"You have to get their attention so you can show them sothing."
"That ans..."
"Now look at this one."
The young man who introduced himself as Yuri lifted the flap that covered the cart.
A wisp of steam billowed out.
When the vapor cleared to reveal the food, Heindel scratched his head.
"...What is this?"
"Soft tofu stew."
What erged from beneath the smoke was a boiling red soup with a generous portion of delicious tofu.
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