With Olivia-san’s offer to have tea, we moved to Olivia-san’s room, which is referred to as the Founder’s space.
The interior of the room was mostly unchanged, but a small table that looked like it could hold something like a bottle of wine has been added next to the extravagant chair. A table completely for one person…… Unnn, I’m glad I bought those stuff from Alice.
[Olivia-san…… It’s not very comfortable for me to sit alone and drink tea……]
[Eh? H- However, there was only one chair…… Ahh.]
Olivia-san was puzzled by my words, but soon after, seemingly realizing something, her expression turned pale.In front of Olivia-san, I took out the table and chairs I purchased from Alice.
[For the time being, I’ll give you this chair and table, so we can use the…… Errr, Olivia-san? What are you doing?]
Before I could finish my words, Olivia-san smoothly dropped to both knees and bowed her head. A really smooth dogeza. She did it so quickly and without hesitation that my reaction got delayed.
[F- For my thoughtlessness, t- t- to have Miyama Kaito-sama spend money is———-!?]
[Yes, stand up.]
[U- Ummm? M- Miyama Kaito-sama!?]
At any rate, it’s starting to look like she’s gonna start letting out a long preach, so I grabbed Olivia-san by the shoulders and forced her to stand up.[Heading towards that downward slope would really eat up a lot of my time…… Is that alright? Besides, you aren’t being disrespectful, nor am I annoyed. I didn’t get offended, and of course, I’m not angry. So, no apology is necessary.]
[Ah, n- no, but…..]
[The chairs and table are a gift for organizing Mitsunaga-kun’s wedding today, so there’s nothing wrong with that. Am I making myself clear? Then, your answer?]
[U- Understood!]
[Well then, I’ll be looking forward to the tea.]
[Y- Yes!]
Hmmm…… As I thought, when it comes to Olivia-san, it really might be better to proceed with the conversation a little more forcefully. Well, this time, I knew that if I told her I would give her the table and chairs, this would definitely happen, so I was able to think of a way to handle the situation while we were walking here.
At any rate, Olivia-san moved to prepare tea in a confused but smooth manner, while I set up the table and chairs in a position that would have a good view of the interior of the room and sat down to wait.
[……Miyama Kaito-sama, we have several kinds for you to choose from……. Which one would you like?]
[Heehhh…… You have various kinds huh…… Unnn? roasted green tea, gyokuro…… matcha? You also prepared Japanese tea?]
[Yes. I learned some of the techniques from Mizuhara Kaori-san for when I would serve Miyama Kaito-sama tea someday, and after that, I ordered books about the other world’s tea and studied them. Sencha, gyokuro, matcha, tamaryokucha (coiled green tea), kukicha (twig tea), mecha (bud tea), genmaicha (brown rice tea), bancha (coarse tea)…… and many more. I memorized all the preparations and ordered them from various places, so I can be sure that I can prepare something to Miyama Kaito-sama’s liking.]
……H- How earnest…… For her to actually study so much about the other world, Japan’s tea in order to entertain me…… I mean, Olivia-san talks about it as if it were a matter of course, but she also talked about tea that I don’t know about, so I think she probably already knows more about Japanese tea than I do.
Also, by the matcha she said earlier, was she actually talking about those performed in tea ceremonies? ……I felt like she could really do that. As for the other teas she mentioned, I’m sure she wouldn’t cut corners in her preparations to entertain me, so I have a feeling she learned a lot about them as well.
[……Hojicha please.]
[Understood. Please wait a moment……]
I wasn’t sure about those twig tea or bud tea, so I’ll just go with the tea I’m familiar with. I mean, there is quite a variety of Japanese tea in this world huh…… I’ve had many opportunities to drink black tea, but I also miss drinking Japanese tea and would like to buy some.
I think if I ask someone like Neun-san about this, she might be able to tell me a good place to buy some. I’m sure she would be very particular about her Japanese tea too……
While I was thinking about this, Olivia-san came out from the back, pushing a cart for tea. She had a small teapot, a couple of teacups, and even teacup saucers…… Her setup was very authentic.
It’s just, unnn…… with her long silver hair, blue eyes, and gorgeous priestly attire…… Olivia-san, who looks like a saint, using a teapot to make tea…… It really feels out of place.
[Thank you for your patience. Please note that hojicha tea is made at 100°C, so it’s very hot.]
[Thank you very much. It smells great. Ahh, please take a seat over there, Olivia-san.]
[Understood. I will prepare teacakes first before I take my seat.]
Teacakes…… I wonder what she’d bring out? Is it rice crackers or Japanese confectioneries? Personally, I would like sweet Japanese confectioneries……
[Here you go.]
[…………………]
……And she brought out cookies. No, I guess there’s nothing wrong with it, but I was expecting Japanese confectioneries, so I’m a little disap———– Haahh!?
[……U- U- U- Ummm, d- d- did I make some sort of blunder……]
[You didn’t make any blunder at all! Well, I was actually craving for some cookies!!! I was just surprised to see teacakes I wanted!]
[I- I see…… Thank goodness.]
T- That was close…… People often tell me that I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeves, so I probably unconsciously made a face that looked like I was disappointed. Even now, Olivia-san looked like she was about to start crying.
However, thanks to the fact that I noticed it right away, I managed to follow it up. Well, it hasn’t been that long since the last time we met, and even if she had studied since then, she probably wouldn’t have studied far enough to learn about tea ceremonies.
Rather, for her to have learned so much about Japanese tea in such a short period of tea, down to matters like temperatures and the like, was quite amazing.
Ah, no, come to think of it, I have several Japanese confectioneries were in my magic box…… Maybe I can bring them out later.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [Incidentally, kukicha, as its name suggests, is a tea made from kuki(stems, stalks or twigs), and is characterized by its fresh aroma and sweet taste. It’s also called bocha in some regions. Mecha is tea from which the thin end of the bud, is basically the first or second bud of coarse tea, and has a lot of the flavor of high-end tea. It does have a considerably deep taste, so it’s a tea for those who have such tastes!]
