Chapter 2

Kappa-shino

*Remmi*

"Hey, Yellow!"

Others might have a valid excuse, but I know for a fact that Zeiya knows my name. I'm sure that calling me by my hair color is just a nickname, on account of it being so incredibly rare that the native language doesn't even have a word for "blonde," but it's unquestionable she's doing it deliberately.

So when I hear the bartender shouting for me from across the guildhall the moment I come through the door, I throw my hand up in the air and give it right back to her. "Yo, Red!"

She grins, but Ayre just rolls eyes as we change course for the eatery off to the side of the hall. Yorin's reaction is only to smile and shadow us along.

"Something up?" I ask as soon as we're close enough not to have to yell at each other to be heard.

"Yeah, something's up," she confirms. "Sales of that new recipe you gave me! Don't know what it has to do with water demons, but even though it's more expensive, I can hardly keep the ingredients prepped!"

"Ah, excuse me," the priestess speaks up, and immediately, Zeiya's easy grin goes a bit stiff. She confided in me once that Yorin unnerves her, before she knew I was traveling with her. Apparently, the Platinum-rank adventurer knew her when she traveled with Xuhitana, the witchblade that went on to become empress of the majority of the continent. "What is this about water demons?"

Rather than answer verbally, Zeiya holds up a finger and grabs a cup. The ingredients are all separated out, but close at hand and prepared. The first thing she grabs is a small pitcher of absolutely black coffee, totally different from the dark amber brew she normally serves. With this, she fills the ceramic cup a third of the way.

Next, she takes a small, insulated pitcher of heated, lightly frothed milk and fills it a third of the way again. Finally, she takes out a second jar of milk and a whisk, and with inhuman speed, she beats the milk into a thick froth. This forms the final layer of the beverage she slides across to the elf.

Yorin accepts the proffered drink with a raised eyebrow, but only takes a single sip before the other eyebrow joins it in surprise. "Mmm! It is both stronger and yet somehow smoother than I expected."

"Right?" the bartender boasts. "Something from Yellow's homeland. She calls it a kappa-shino."

The word makes the priestess frown. "And it has nothing to do with them?"

The bartender shrugs. "Not that I can tell. The way her people make their coffee is a little more intense than I expected, and Yellow had to teach me how to froth the milk right, but that's all it is, just milk and coffee."

Now, Yorin's frown is just confusion. "How is it not the same, then, as simple milk coffee? The texture is completely different."

"Ah," I butt in, "that's the difference between steamed milk and regular milk. We have easier ways to make it back home, but the end result is that the fat in the milk breaks down into smaller pieces so it gets more evenly spread out into a foam layer so small that you can't even see it!"

All three - Zeiya, Yorin and Ayre - are staring at me like I'm saying gibberish. But I specifically used words that I knew would translate! I didn't even mention molecules!

"... Remmi," Yorin finally said slowly, "... fat does not work like that ..."

"What are you talking about," I insist. "It absolutely works like that! You're tasting it right now!"

"I am tasting something right now," Yorin countered, "but that does not mean it is something that cannot be seen. Your people are far too superstitious, blaming things on the unobservable."

I'm pouting, okay? I admit it. I'm pouting big time. "I'm getting called superstitious by a priestess ... And who said it's unobservable? I just said you can't see it! Y'know, with just your eyes!"

Yorin looks about to say something contrarian again, but then averts her gaze. "No, you are right, Remmi. That was uncalled for."

And then she turns back with that motherly smile that looks so out of place on her young face. "It is your recipe. I should not assume that you know so little about something that you are able to teach to another. Clearly, the treatment changed something about the milk. It was closed-minded of me to seek to lecture you when I, myself, do not understand that change."

She took another sip from the beverage and rotated the cup in her hands. "Instead, please let me ask you directly. How does this drink connect to kappas? Is it merely a figure of speech?"

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"Ah, no, you're just pronouncing it wrong," I insist with a wave of my hands. "It's actually a word in a different language from my own, and I'm pretty sure it's just a reference to the drink's color."

The three of them turn their gazes back to the drink as Yorin takes in my answer. "The color ... I see, so it has nothing to do with demons."

"Not a thing!"

"That is a relief," the priestess concludes with another sip.

Zeiya has picked up a stray glass and begun wiping it down. "Funny you haven't heard of it yet, priestess. It's been a hit all over town."

"I am more of a tea drinker, if I am being honest," Yorin admits. "Coffee is dark and bitter, making it usually less satisfying. Further, I prefer my tea soothing, so the higher caffeine is another point of objection."

Ayre nods heartily. "Exactly! Coffee is way too acidic to be enjoyable!"

"A lot of that is in how it's roasted," I counter. "I mean, it's never going to be as mild as tea, but the local roast," and I glance to the bartender, "no offense, Zeiya, is under-roasted. Or maybe unevenly roasted, I'd have to see the facility. That increases the acidity of the brew."

"I've brewed a lot of coffee," the redhead agrees as she gives a thoughtful rub of her chin. "The flavor of the beans you bring in is definitely much higher than the standard, but I chalked that up to the whole Essence thing. I never guessed you might be roasting them differently."

"Different breeds of coffee bean can have different acidity, too," I confirm. "It's entirely possible a large part of it is because essence crops are just automatically higher quality, or maybe the local species hasn't undergone as much selective breeding, or it really is the roasting."

"Or some of all of that," Ayre points out. The archer helped me make the first batch of coffee, and has helped with several deliveries since then, so is getting very familiar with the process.

I nod in agreement. "Exactly. Again, I'd have to see the facility." I cross my arms and tilt my head as I consider it. "Actually, Zeiya, I don't suppose you know where it is? Maybe when we head out, we can fit in a swing through there. I'm actually really curious now."

"Well, like with you," she provides, "the roaster is local. You'd think all dried out like that, the roasted beans would last longer, but, apparently, that's not the case. They buy them green, and then I get them roasted in small batches a couple times a week. You could check that out easily enough, just a waystation or two over, I think."

Yeah, that probably qualifies as "local" this far out from any other signs of civilization.

"I'll have to make a point of that," I agree. "See how different it is. I've already got to teach whoever takes over the crops how to use my roasting assembly, but it's more time-consuming than difficult."

"If I was running this place, myself," the bartender put in, "I'd ask you to teach me, too, and cut out the middle-man. Since I'm just managing it for the guild, though, policy contracts that all out. Minimizes conflict with local businesses. Instead, if you can improve the brew around here, I'll make your daily coffee free. Sound like a quest worthy of a Hero?"

That gets a frown from Yorin, predictably. "Zeiya, was it? The purpose of a Hero is to combat manifestations of evil, not to run errands for people."

I laugh at that and pat Yorin reassuringly on the shoulder. "Hey, helping people in need is never the wrong thing to do, right? If somebody asks me for help, what am I supposed to do, say, no, I'm too good for that?"

Yorin gives me a skeptical look. "And you are certain you are not agreeing just for the free coffee?"

I know she's teasing me now, so I just laugh again. "Come on, how many more times am I even going to benefit from such a thing? I just want to help because I can!" I bend down to elbow the white-haired elf gently. "If it makes enough of a difference, maybe we'll even make a coffee drinker out of you!"

She sips the cappuccino even as she gives me a flat stare. "This beverage is fine as an occasional indulgence, perhaps, but I greatly doubt that it is within even your power to change my preference for tea."

Another thought strikes me at that, and I lean away to consider it. "Actually, there's an idea. I wonder why I haven't thought to grow some tea, too ... Well, aside from cascara, obviously."

This time, only Yorin and Zeiya look confused, as I hadn't thought to make as big a deal about that. "Cask Hora?" the bartender attempts to repeat. Of course, I already knew it didn't translate.

Ayre is quick to jump in and explain this one, chipper at the idea of knowing enough to do so. "Oh, it's an herbal tea made from the dried cherries we pull the coffee beans from! It's got a fruity, floral taste to it."

"They're edible?" Zeiya asks in surprise, and the elven archer nods.

"They taste a bit like apricots."

"Mix in some ginger and cinnamon," I mention, "and you have an even older drink called qishir."

But at that, the bartender gives a long, low whistle. "Now you're getting into high-bar territory, Yellow. I don't think anyone but nobles would be able to afford it if you made it like that."

"Are cinnamon and ginger that expensive?"

She shakes her head. "Ginger isn't too bad. Pricey, but more like moderately fine dining pricey. Cinnamon, though, only comes from a couple particular regions of the empire. It takes years for a crop to be ready to harvest, too, so there's a lot of planning about rotation. Even getting a crop started is a long-term investment, since it takes the better part of a decade and a lot of land to start getting regular harvests."

Immediately, Yorin turns and raises a finger toward me scoldingly. "No, Remmi."

I blink innocently. "I haven't even said anything yet!"

"I shall not forbid you from raising Essence Cinnamon for your own use," she concedes, "but if you start mass-producing it, you will unravel the entire nation's spice economy and draw far too many eyes to your affairs."

By comparison, Zeiya's positive mood springs back into place. "Oh, hey, you do something like that, Yellow, you let me know!" She takes one look at the increasing frown from Yorin and quickly clarifies. "Growing your own, I mean! Assuming you have enough for friends. I wouldn't mind trying that Squishier drink."

The mispronunciation makes me smirk and shake my head. "I'll definitely consider it. Essence crops grow fast, but I don't know what the turn-around on a whole tree is. Heck, might even still be a year or more."

"Then it is something for the future," Yorin advises, her expression smoothing greatly. "Hero Remmi Lee has more immediate concerns in the present, does she not? You two did not come here to discuss beverages with Miss Zeiya, after all."

Zeiya looks confused, probably in no small part for being called Miss like she's some sort of kid. But I grin across at Ayre, who shares a similar, albeit more demure, expression.

"Yeah. Time to rank up!"