The assistant behind the counter raised an eyebrow at me, "Are you saying that all of that is just for yourself?"
I tilted my head at him, "Yes, is there something wrong?"
He frowned at me, "You do know that these have to be consumed today right?"
"That was my plan, yes. What about it?"
Also, that's not true if you have a fridge at home. Though I suppose normal families in this World might not have one since they require Mana Crystals infused with Cryo magic to function which makes them quite costly to maintain.
He must think I'm one of those who doesn't have one, but why should he care?
He looked back down at the counter, "You just ordered enough sweets to feed everyone here… Are you sure you're not just wasting our time right now?"
That is an odd thing to say…
"Are you thinking that I can't pay or something?" I asked.
The assistant shook his head, "Money is not the issue here, we would rather you not waste the food that were specially made for today and everyone else have been looking forward to trying."
I huffed, "What are you talking about? I'm not planning to waste any of it, I'm eating all of it!"
"Including the ones the child had ordered?"
"Huh? Those are for her only. I also want my own sweets, you know?"
"You're telling me that the two of you can eat as much as the share of everyone here?"
"I don't understand where you're coming from, this is the amount that we would usually eat on a daily basis. In fact, we eat even more than this."
He raised an eyebrow, "You eat… More than this… On a daily basis?"
"Yes? What's so surprising about that?"
"You've basically just ordered the same amount as what everyone before you had ordered combined… You're telling me that both of you can eat all of these by yourselves?"
"Yes? Seriously, what's it to you? I can afford it and I want them all. I don't get why you're making such a big fuss over this?"
He sighed, "This event at our shop happens only once every few years… The ingredients needed to make our sweets are transported directly from the forest of Elhiria Republic itself. Once this event is over, the next time this might happen is in another two or three years… Everyone around here is a regular and they know the worth of all the sweets here. If you are just buying all of that to taste a little before tossing them out, I would implore that you leave."
I huffed, "I already told you I am fully intent on eating everything I just ordered here and, as a sweets lover, I would very much appreciate it if you stop insulting me by suggesting that I would not even finish all the sweets I ordered."
He looked like he was about to say something again when the guy with his harem showed up beside me, "Now, now. There's no need for a fight, I have a solution for this. Why don't you just set aside what she has ordered and let her take them one by one. So whatever she is unable to finish doesn't go to waste? Would that be agreeable with the both of you?"
Oh~ That's actually not that bad of an idea, this guy has experience resolving conflicts I see. Maybe that came from managing his harem.
The shop assistant grumbled but started to set aside the sweets that I had ordered to be served.
I nodded, "I'm fine with that, but I sure hope you don't expect me to serve myself because that would break my immersion in the sweets."
The young man flashed me a grin, "Don't worry about that. If you would allow me, I would be happy to serve the sweets to you while you eat~"
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I tilted my head at him, "Why are you even doing this? We don't even know each other."
"Haha~ My girls really love sweets you see, so I thought you also like sweets too. And I would be a terrible man if I were to let someone like you miss out on these special sweets."
I narrowed my eyes at him and used my [Screened].
[Name: Fred
Title: Sweets Harem, Sweets Connoisseur
Race: Mahun
Gender: Male
Current Mood: Intrigued
Stats:
350 Strength
100 Dexterity
240 Endurance
150 Magic
Skills:
Noble Etiquette (Tier 1), Leadership (Tier 2), Tracking (Tier 1), Hunting (Tier 1), Martial Skill-(Sword Proficiency (Tier 2), Spear Proficiency (Tier 1), Unarmed Proficiency (Tier 2))]
Magic Skills:
Pyromancy (Tier 2)]
As I thought, he's quite capable though it seems I was wrong about him being a noble.
'Sweets connoisseur' huh? Guess he must also like sweets himself and saw me as a fellow sweets lover?
Unless he believes I'm some girl who likes sweets and he's trying to use this as a way to pick me up?
Too bad for him but I'm not interested, though that doesn't mean I won't accept his offer to help me with this though.
He turned back to address the people seated at the tables, "Is there anyone who would be willing to let them take a seat? Surely we would all want to see this for ourselves, right?"
A pair of girls seated at the side giggled before raising their hands and vacating their seats.
Oh wow, I thought for sure that everyone would just ignore him.
"Big sister is so cool~" Tiara whispered beside me.
No, no, I didn't do anything Princess… It's all on Fred here.
I took Tiara with me to take a seat at the table and Fred even got his harem to help bring the sweets to my table with him.
I was eyeing the girls with him warily but instead of being upset or jealous like I thought they would be, they seemed more amused by the situation than pissed. Maybe they already know that Fred would do something like this because it has happened before?
But whatever, that's not my concern now because… Sweets!!!
Ahhhh~ I knew it, these are so goooooood~
Even these cookies, the way they blend the fruits, the dough and the sugar… Mmmmnnnnn!! And there's also so many varieties too!
Ahhhh~ They just keep coming!!
And oooohhh~ The pudding and the fruit tarts are absolutely delicious!
The transition between the crunchy cookies and the soft pastries and puddings also made my mouth explode with happiness~
Everything is just melting together in a pool of sweetness~
Ahhhh~ This is bliss~
I licked my fingers clean before I let out a sigh of contentment.
At the same time, Tiara also slumped back in her chair and let out the same contented sigh.
Everything was cleared out and not even crumbs remained on our plates.
"How was it?" I asked.
"It's sooooo goood, big sister~ Ehehehe~"
I smiled at her before remembering where I was and looked around us, only to see everyone else staring back at us with shocked expressions on their faces.
"Umm… What is it this time? Am I not supposed to eat them like how I ate them? Was there an order I messed up or what?"
The shop assistant from before had crossed over the counter to do a ninety degree bow towards me, "Please accept my sincerest apologies!!"
Huh? Why is he… Oh, right. I actually completely forgot about our interaction from before after I started enjoying the sweets.
That's how good the sweets were!
I dabbed at my lips delicately with a napkin before waving my hand at him, "I don't care about that anymore. The sweets are indeed really nice and I can see why there's so many people who like them. How much do I owe you?"
The assistant remained in his bowing position, "D… Dear customer does not need to pay… The… The person from before already paid for you…"
Oh?
I quickly looked around but realised Fred was nowhere to be found.
The shop assistant must have realised that I was looking for him and spoke up, "He had already left after he paid for you… He told me to pass a message to you however…"
I nodded at him to go ahead.
He sucked in a breath, "He said that he really enjoyed watching you eat sweets and he hopes that he would be able to meet you again without your disguise one day."
Hmm… Well I doubt that's going to happen… In fact I don't think I'll even meet him again after this.
Well, the fact that we don't even need to pay for this was unexpected. I suppose he must be pretty loaded to be able to just arbitrarily pay for the meal of someone else they just met.
Well, this was a pretty interesting outing I would say. I was definitely not expecting our little expedition outside the palace to find sweets to end up like this.
I looked back at the assistant, "So… You said that your ingredients from this event comes directly from the Elhiria Republic right?"
He nodded, "Yes… Is… Is there a problem?"
"Oh, no, no. I'm just wondering why it takes a few years to even have those delivered here."
"Ah… Umm… That's because that's how long before the Elhiria Republic is willing to trade with outsiders. They aren't exactly that open to outside trading…"
Ah… I hope that won't be a problem when I decide to go visit them, I do want to go there and explore after all…
That also made me wonder if Mary just gathers her ingredients by herself?
I know for sure that she was using the same ingredients since my boon told me so.
Oh well, maybe I'll ask her when I get back~