The two who were about to enter the school grounds were the Minister of Forestry and Agriculture Poncho Panacotta, and Serina, the head maid of Parnam Castle who was also the personal attendant of Princess Liscia.
The two who were greeting them at the threshold were Ginger Camille, the principal of Ginger’s Vocational School, and Sandria, who served him as his secretary and maid.
Poncho and Ginger smiled and shook hands.
“Greetings, and thank you for coming, Sir Poncho.”
“S-Sir Ginger, it does my heart good to see that you are in such good health, yes.”
“Um… There’s no need to be so formal, you know? You’re older than me, and a minister, too.”
Poncho stuttered, “I–It’s a habit of mine. I just can’t seem to shake it, yes.”
“He is a timid man, you see. Please, give up on him,” Serina chimed in as Poncho was awkwardly trying to explain himself. “Honestly… Considering that he’s saved so many of this country’s people with his knowledge, I wish he would have gained at least a little more self-confidence.”
“Um, and you are?” Ginger asked.
“Pardon the lateness of my introduction. I am Serina, the head maid at the royal castle.” She gave an elegant bow.
“Th-Thank you kindly for that. I am Ginger, the principal of this school.”
When Serina bowed her head to him, Ginger panicked.
Seeing his reaction, Serina chuckled. “Now, Lord Ginger, you needn’t be so formal when addressing a mere maid like myself.”
“Th-That’s not…”
“My master has a weakness for attractive older ladies, you see,” Sandria chimed in.
Ginger was bewildered by what she said. “San?! What are you saying so suddenly?!”
“Nothing that is not a fact, I assure you. When you are in the presence of Lady Hilde, you are always so tense… Oh, pardon me, I hadn’t introduced myself yet.” Sandria lifted up the hem of her apron dress and curtsied. “Greetings. I am Lord Ginger’s secretary, maid, and pet slave, Sandria.”
“Hey, you’re making me sound way too bad! I only tasked you with being my secretary; you started doing the maid work on your own! Also, what do you mean, pet slave?!” Ginger protested, but Sandria pretended not to hear him, bowing deeply to Poncho.
“You must be Lord Poncho. I hear about you from time to time. It’s thanks to you that my fellow slaves didn’t starve when things were at their worst. On behalf of everyone, I would like to thank you.”
“N-No! You don’t need to do that, yes!” Poncho panicked when Sandria bowed to him.
Serina watched him with a slightly chilly look in her eyes. “Sir Poncho, even if she is one of those ‘underage girls’ you so like, please, don’t lose your head over a little praise.”
“I–I wish you wouldn’t go putting any weird labels on me, yes!”
“Oh? Is it not the truth, though? I know these things, you realize?” Serina smiled, but her eyes were not smiling. “Earlier, there was that dish you developed with His Majesty, the ‘toasted sandwich.’ You only served the dish to Lady Tomoe, did you not? Without bothering to invite me.”
“Is that why you’ve seemed so upset lately?!”
If one were to ask who was the biggest glutton in all of Parnam Castle, that would be Aisha, of course; but Serina would have to be the runner-up. But there was a slight difference in the nature of their gluttony.
Unlike Aisha, who would eat anything (especially sweets), the more of it the better… Serina didn’t demand quantity, but she had developed a taste for the junk food and B-grade cuisine that Souma and Poncho created.
Souma and Poncho had put together a lot of different dishes. To be precise, they were recreating dishes that had existed in Souma’s former world. Of those dishes, it was things like spaghetti and yakisoba buns, the sort of things you wouldn’t see in a fancy restaurant, that had captured Serina’s heart.
The thing was, Serina came from a distinguished family that had turned out many maids and butlers who went on to serve the royal family. Because of that, they had worked to instill cultured tastes in her from a young age, to ensure she would be presentable and wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of royalty. They’d paid close attention to her diet, and she had always been expected to eat good food, and to use the proper etiquette. Of course, that meant she’d never been allowed to just go out and buy food from a cart and eat it there. For Serina, having grown up in a house like that, Souma and Poncho’s dishes had made quite an impact on her.
There’s a staple food on top of another staple food!
When Serina had first came into contact with a spaghetti bun, that first bite had destroyed all established notions she had about food. How could such a vulgar dish be so delicious?
Ever since, Serina had made a habit of following Poncho around. That was because if she was at his side, she was treated to delicious samples. The dishes Poncho made were the one thing other than cute girls that caught Serina’s interest. Which was why, when she was unable to try them, she held a grudge.
Sensing her displeasure, Poncho hurriedly tried to explain himself. “I–It was still just an experimental dish, so there weren’t enough of them…”
“Knowing you are unused to going out in front of people, under the orders of His Majesty and the princess, I have worked with diligence and sincerity to assist you,” Serina said coldly. “Yet, you did not allow me to sample the dish. Could it be because I am already a grown woman?”
“When we get back! When we get back, I promise I’ll make one for you, yes!” Poncho hurriedly said.
The somewhat sad expression disappeared from Serina’s face.
“That’s a promise,” she said, looking perfectly fine.
It had apparently all been an act to get him to agree to it. Poncho’s shoulders slumped.
Ginger wasn’t sure how to react as he watched this exchange, but Sandria was nodding along.
“I can see your relationship has a lot in common with ours.”
“Oh? But my master is Princess Liscia,” Serina said.
“I didn’t mean it in that way…”
When Serina tilted her head to the side quizzically, Sandria just smiled, not sure what to say. That exchange left question marks floating over the two men’s heads.
With the formalities out of the way, Ginger took Sandria, Poncho, and Serina to a place outside of Ginger’s Vocational School. There was a building for studying farming techniques at Ginger’s Vocational School, and they mostly focused on the study of crops, compost, and selective breeding. However, there were no fields on the school grounds to demonstrate their results. The former slums were near the city walls, so the fields had been planted on the opposite side. The research building and fields were separated by the city wall, but in terms of distance they were close, and it was easy to get from one to the other.
Once they passed through the gate, Ginger led Poncho and company to the fields owned by his vocational school. When they finished greeting the guards who watched the fields, the four arrived in front of two particular fields. Neither field had anything planted in it, but one looked like ordinary black soil, while the other was dry and cracked.
With these fields in front of him, Ginger asked, “You’ve come here today in regards to that line of research, right, Sir Poncho?”
“Yes,” Poncho nodded. “Both His Majesty and I have great hopes for that line of research, after all.”
Ginger shook his head apologetically. “…Let me say this up front. We were unable to achieve the sort of results you’re hoping for.”
The field of research Souma and Poncho had great hopes for was research on one of the “failed experiments” of the overscientist, Genia Maxwell.