‘Yes. I said I was practicing making cake, but I couldn’t help it because you don’t have cake ingredients. I’m thinking of making cheese scones. Add very little powdered mustard and the dough… ’
Asha took a glance at her arm. She couldn’t knead it, but she lacked arm strength and thought Pavel would help her.
“If you don’t have chocolate, can I make something else?”
“What ingredients do you need?”
“A little bit of flour and salt… Cheese, bacon, mustard, butter, and milk.”
Asha, spitting out the ingredients that came to her mind one by one, hesitated at the last item.
‘Here, is there no baking powder yet? Even baking soda?’
“Mister, do you have anything to make the cookies rise?”
“Are you talking about yeast?”
“That’s for rising bread.”
“There’s no such thing as rising dough, which is why you can’t do baking. There’s no history, historian.”
Asha smiled and looked up at Pavel.
“…?”
“What did His Majesty say was delicious? Ah! Was it the cake that I made two days ago?”
“…”
“A history of confectionery?”
“…yes…yes, there is, deep, deep history…”
While Pavel was sullen, Asha smiled and pondered. The raw material of chocolate had come out now, and the baking powder was still there. Yet it felt similar to the diet of the 18th century around the world.
As the two bickered, Phoebe in her button rang a voice in her head.
<Well, the powder you’re thinking of is not here.>
‘Whew… can we make scones without baking powder?’
<Why make it without it?>
‘I’ll make it without it because it doesn’t exist!’
<You can make what you need and use it.>
‘…!’
Asha felt the thunder strike right in front of her eyes.
‘Yes, that’s true? If you don’t have it, just make it!’
“What? Why are you staring at me all of a sudden? Chestnut?”
“I wasn’t. I thought about it. Is there everything I need for cooking in this kitchen?”
“Of course.”
Asha’s eyes shone. Maybe, she could make baking powder, for real.
“What powdered medicine do you take when you have heartburn?”
“Why is a kid taking medicine already?”
“It’s not for me to eat. Do you have it?”
“…there should be. It’s the medicine that the court pharmacist obtained from Lake Bekel.”
Pavel, with a stiffened expression, brought something gently. It was not in the material warehouse but in his old little desk drawer, which lay in the corner.
The powdered medicine was contained in a large pouch-like an adult’s fist. Asha opened her eyes wide and looked back and forth between the medicine bag and Pavel. A man who looked ferocious without being rough had stomach medicine for heartburn in his pouch.
But what was urgent right now was not Pavel’s stomach condition but making baking powder. If she looked at the medicine obtained from the lake, it would be the baking soda that Asha was looking for. Baking soda, which neutralized acidity, was often used as a stomach medicine in the past.
Asha took a spoonful of Pavel’s powder, spread it in a bowl, and dipped it with her finger into her mouth. She didn’t think she would know if this was what she was looking for because she tasted it, but to her surprise, the moment her powder landed on her tongue, a clear perception came to her.
What kind of lake was this made in, what flavor, and how it worked?
“What?”
<Well, this is what you’re looking for.>
‘…Can I feel it in detail by signing a contract with you?’
<Do you think I can only do this? I can do more than that, but I’m so small and vulnerable that I can only do that right now. Can you see the greatness of this body?>
Asha listened only to what she wanted, pretended not to hear anything else, and asked questions.
‘…But if it’s a contract, shouldn’t something be exchanged? What are you getting from me?’
Come to think of it, it was weird.
Asha squinted her eyes. The original didn’t elaborate on the Spirit’s contract. However, it felt somewhat out of balance that such a powerful force was given without any price.
“You’re not going to rip my soul out, are you?’
It was time for Asha to feel uneasy inside.
<It’s not about giving and receiving.>
“Then?”
Phoebe’s voice was calm. He didn’t know why he had to talk about this.
<We all live together. What price do we exchange for talking to each other?>
‘…!’
<Well, now… although no one can communicate properly.>
It was a story that could not be thought of by a spirit that usually spoke only proud words. Asha was so surprised that Phoebe tilted her head as if she was only opening her mouth.
Asha was afraid that her consternation would be reinterpreted as amazement, so she hurriedly replied, “I see,” and quickly turned her attention away. It seemed that Phoebe’s momentum would be irreversible if she did something similar to that impression.
“What, a cold, Chestnut?”
Pavel cast his eyes at Asha’s wheezing. Asha shook her head.
“Oh… no. Do you happen to have that, too? You know, the grains that sink to the floor after drinking old wine.”
“Oh, tartaric*?”
*TN: Otherwise known as cream of tartar
“Yes! That!”
It took Pavel a while to find it this time. Pavel threw a bundle of tartaric powder on the counter and cleaned his hands of dust.
“Is this enough?”
“Well… for now.”
Asha looked at the two powders and made a serious look. Proper mixing of tartaric acid with baking soda-stomach medicine can produce the effect of baking powder. The problem was that she didn’t know the exact proportion.
At that moment.
<The medicine is 1, and the tartaric powder is 2.>
Phoebe’s voice, which sounded in her mind and told her the proportion of baking powder, was even magnificent. It felt like a grand symphony was being heard in the background.
‘Oh, my God, isn’t this a recipe vending machine?’
She didn’t know that the Spirit of Sense would be this competent. But it wasn’t just the proportions she needed. If the two powders mixed and caused a chemical reaction immediately, it would ruin everything. She needed something to stop it in the middle.
‘Will starch be enough?’
<In that case, the ratio is 2 tartaric powder, 1 antacid, and 1 starch.>
As soon as Asha called for starch, Pavel put a bag of cornstarch on top. Put two cups of tartaric powder, one cup of antacid, and one cup of starch in an empty container, close the lid, and shake it to mix.
At last, the powders of different colors and sizes were completely, uniformly, all mixed.
“It’s done.”
“What’s this?”
“Magic powder…”
Asha’s voice trembled slightly after completing the world’s first baking powder. It was so easy and simple to make!
“Magic powder?”
“A leavening agent that inflates beautifully when making sweets. I should name it.”
<Phoebe powder! Phoebe powder!>
Phoebe peeped loudly in her head. Asha opened her eyes dimly.
‘When I named you Phoebe, you said something about it…’
But in time, Asha nodded. Without Phoebe, who suggested the ratio at once, she would have ruined several snacks.
“All right, let’s say this is Phoebe powder. Pavel also made a lot to use.”
“… You want me to put this with my antacids and liquor sediment to make cookies?”
Asha laughed.
“Are you making scones?”
It was Pavel’s conclusion after looking around at the cut butter and surrounding ingredients on a cold marble countertop. Asha nodded.
“How would it be for a meal with cheese and bacon?”
“What do you use mustard powder for?”
No matter how much Pavel sang about not baking snacks, he had baked thick scones to eat as a meal substitute, but he had never thought of using mustard powder when making scones.
“I’ll put in just one teaspoon. Scones will be greasy with cheese and bacon. Mustard powder catches it and deepens the flavor. What do you think?”
“…”
Pavel’s eyes narrowed. It was a small girl, ten years old, who was cutting butter excitedly and explaining the recipe to him.
“Pavel? You don’t think it’ll be good?”
Asha turned her head and looked at Pavel when he was silent. Pavel shook his head.
“No, it’s not. Then how about the bacon? Straight?”
“No, cut it and fry it once over the fire. I’ll tell you…”
She was going to cut it. So she was going to ask him to stir-fry it, but Pavel pulled three rows of bacon at once and held a kitchen knife in the other hand. Squinting his eyes and glancing her up and down.
It was a look that said, ‘You? A knife?’
“See…”
Eventually, Pavel was in charge of cutting and frying bacon. Pavel’s cutting was skillful and so smooth that the bacon quickly became a uniform piece on the cutting board. Asha hesitated for a moment and then asked him a question.
“…what spirit did you sign with?”
Pavel, who was putting the pan on the fire, glanced at her.
“Me? Mine is the Spirit of the Sword.”
“…I see.”
Soon, the sound and smell of bacon sizzling on the grill filled the kitchen. She mixed the flour and cold butter, and when the dough was soft, she added three types of cheese, milk, and sautéed bacon, rolled the dough with a rolling pin, and layered it over and over again.
Asha’s grip was insufficient, so she almost cried while kneading, but Pavel clicked his tongue and helped her. Cut it into bite-sized pieces, spread egg yolk on top, and push it into the oven.
“Is this your first time making scones?”
Asha stepped on her feet, looked at the thermometer in the oven, and nodded.
“I touched butter for the first time yesterday.”
“…but how do you know this recipe?”
“Well… I saw it in the book. I wanted to make it after seeing it in a book.”
“…”
Soon, the savory smell began to fill the kitchen after the scones were placed in the oven.
“Something like that…”
