City of Witches Chapter 284

The premier location in Ars Magna Town.

Following the uphill path lined densely with beech and cork oak trees on a gentle slope leads to the Gemarnai Mansion at its summit.

Among Witches, the Jemernai Count Family's mansion is also called the 'Gemernai Palace.'

This is because the entire estate grounds are comparable in area to a small village, and the mansion itself boasts facilities and a size so splendid that with just a bit of additional infrastructure, it could immediately be used as a hotel.

To the east, it borders the large lake that cuts through Ars Magna Town, and within the grounds, there are over four artificially created ponds alone, giving a rough idea of its scale.

Passing through the imposing main gate that seems to overwhelm visitors, one enters a garden where magically treated flowers bloom regardless of the season.

Treading on the seemingly endless green lawn of the garden and passing six fountains leads to the main building of the mansion, which itself is renowned for its beauty.

The hall visible immediately upon opening the main door exudes a dignified beauty with its two-tiered arched cathedral-like ceiling and the grandeur of its marble staircase.

Even the Long Gallery, connected from the main hall and used like a banquet hall, is over 6 meters wide and 70 meters long, lined with various beautiful paintings and sculptures like flower vases.

It was by no means the ostentatious display or vanity of a mere nouveau riche.

This mansion possesses a noble and elegant grace that, despite such extravagance and lavishness, feels not at all vulgar.

Furthermore, in every nook and cranny of the mansion, even a single ivory carving decorating the staircase is flawless, pushing the limits of luxury and opulence.

Conversely, this also meant it was a place permeated by a subtle tension where even breathing carelessly might draw disapproving glances.

However, this situation improved slightly upon exiting along the north-facing corridor towards the annex.

Originally used as the main building before expansions, it now serves as an annex and is managed somewhat more loosely.

Therefore, the rooms of the apprentice witch Twins, the lodgings for the roughly fifty employees, and most of the rooms where those employees worked were clustered here.

In a mansion of this size with this many employees, naturally, various tasks and the rooms needed to perform them abound.

The still room for preparing base ingredients that require constant heat day and night, like jam or soup stock.

The pantry for storing elegant plates and glassware.

The knife room for storing knives and cutlery with ivory handles.

The larder for processing meat and storing various ingredients like eggs, cheese, and butter.

The laundry room that uses heat from the boiler room to wash and iron clothes, and so on.

These are the rooms that busily support the peaceful daily life of the vast mansion.

However, the mansion's bustling daily routine, active from dawn until late evening, quiets down at night.

Especially places like the kitchen where meals are prepared rarely have lights on at this hour unless it's the eve of a festival or banquet.

But tonight, despite the time being well past 11 PM, a faint light seeped from the semi-basement window where the kitchen was located.

"Hmm..."

"What's wrong, Unni? Is there a problem?"

Occupying the spacious kitchen were Gemernai Odil and Odette.

The Twins, who were usually busy bickering, were tonight huddled together, sharing the same goal and the same worry.

It was scheduled that soon, the Assistant, having resolved matters in the Mortal Realm, would visit the mansion.

While that itself was undoubtedly exciting, they were planning and preparing to offer a specially prepared braised horned chicken as a gesture of heartfelt hospitality.

However, the Twins, raised as the Count Family's precious treasures who had never gotten their hands dirty, were struggling from the very start with their ambitious plan to create the world's best braised horned chicken.

"Odette, can you show me the recipe Lena gave us again?"

"I've already memorized the recipe."

"Still, give it to me. I just feel like something's not right."

First, the preparation of the base ingredients was perfect.

One large, prepped horned chicken.

They had wanted to handle everything from start to finish, but they couldn't bring themselves to pluck a live horned chicken and clean its innards, so they had asked Pecha to do it in advance.

"Thinly sliced black garlic, check. Carrots, sage, ginger, celery, check. Bay leaves and... rosemary, okay. All the various spices, check. Butter, check..."

"What's the matter? It's exactly as Lena told us, right?"

"Doesn't it seem like something's missing?"

Yes.

Lena, worried the Twins might hurt their hands, had washed all the vegetables and even peeled them.

She had also soaked the horned chicken in milk to remove blood and odor, and the oven was already preheated.

In fact, she had prepared the ingredients more like a simple cooking kit than something for a truly handmade dish.

For the Twins, who had clumsily but not too difficultly chopped the vegetables, the remaining tasks were simple.

Marinate by thoroughly coating the surface with olive oil, salt, rosemary, and melted butter.

Stuff the cavity of the chicken with the unevenly chopped vegetables and various spices, then sew it shut with thread and a needle.

Place leftover vegetables and herbs on the bottom so the chicken doesn't touch the oven floor directly, then just bake it in the preheated oven for about an hour.

It truly wasn't a very difficult dish, and with Lena and Pecha having handled the tedious prep work, the recipe was exceedingly simple.

However, the reason Odil's expression remained troubled was precisely because the process was 'too simple.'

"Listen, Odette."

"Yes, Unni."

"We're clearly trying to make the world's best braised horned chicken, right? And to serve it to the Assistant, at that."

"Right, right."

"But is this really enough? This is just a dish of stuffing vegetables into a horned chicken and roasting it."

"Huh?"

Odette, who had been pondering her sister's words, also seemed to realize something.

The braised horned chicken placed on the table was undoubtedly delicious.

A luxurious texture closer to game bird than ordinary chicken.

The thick skin, turned a golden brown, is crispy like the surface of a cookie.

The fat under the skin melts from the heat, moistening the inner meat, and when combined with the flavors of the stuffed vegetables and herbs, it immerses one in a blissful sensation as if the tongue is being caressed.To the twins who remembered that ecstatic flavor, the recipe with only eight lines seemed far too simple.

"Could it be that Lena is hiding a secret recipe and not telling us?"

"Come on, sister, no way. Lena's so close to us; she wouldn't lie like that."

"No, remember when she randomly brought home a turtle and got caught by us? If Lena puts her mind to it, she could lie to us."

"Oh... really?"

Odil, with a serious frown, earnestly explained her opinion to her naive younger sister.

Under the grand cause of treating the assistant to delicious homemade food, Odette, who was unusually in sync, didn't object.

In fact, she nodded with an expression that suggested it sounded plausible.

"Special sauces or recipes are originally like a witch's innate magic.

It's a very secret and precious thing passed down from grandmother to mother, and from that mother to her daughter. That's why there's even a saying, 'a sauce not even told to the daughter-in-law.'"

"Then... was it incredibly rude of us to ask Lena for the recipe?"

"Maybe. So we don't need to blame Lena for hiding the special recipe. The important thing is that to achieve our original goal, we need to add some arrangement to this."

Having concluded that 'Lena hid the secret recipe!' Odil and Odette's gazes simultaneously turned toward the horned chicken on the cutting board.

The horned chicken, nearly 50cm in size, lay there flaunting a seductive appearance as if coated with oil before tanning.

But, indeed, even upon second glance, it didn't seem like that beautiful flavor would come from just stuffing and roasting vegetables inside.

"Sister, should we start by stuffing the vegetables first? Anyway, the taste will likely depend on what ingredients we put inside."

"Right, but let's only fill it halfway! We'll think carefully and come up with a better recipe for the rest."

"Great!"

With a snort of enthusiasm, the highly motivated Odette briskly walked toward the pantry.

Odil, grabbing whatever was at hand, filled about half of the cool, damp belly of the horned chicken with various vegetables, whole peppercorns, and spices.

"Sister! How about this?"

Odette, who had disappeared briefly, returned with an oyster dug out from a box filled with sawdust and ice.

One of Odette's favorite foods was fresh raw oysters topped with lime, mustard, and vinegar, slurped down in one go.

She even once had the oyster seller from Taro Town, who rang a bell while selling oysters, bring his entire cart to the outpost base.

Moreover, the quality of oysters sold by the oyster vendor in Taro Town and those supplied to the Jemernai Count Family was worlds apart.

This was an expensive, wild-caught oyster, so large it was bigger than Odette's palm, retaining its unique fragrant and savory aroma, often compared to the flower of the sea.

Odette was not one to pass up such good ingredients.

"Odette! That's a really great idea after such a long time!"

Delicious oyster + delicious horned chicken = ?

An insanely delicious horned chicken.

It couldn't possibly taste bad.

Though not as much as Odette, Odil also loved oysters and couldn't hold back praise for such an innovative idea.

Odette's nose lifted with heightened confidence.

"Ahem! Sometimes a shift in perspective is important, sister. For now... let's just put in ten."

"Let's do it!"

Odette washed the sawdust off the shell with water, brought over a dedicated oyster-shucking knife, and with skilled hands, passed the prepared oysters to Odil.

But something still felt lacking.

It seemed like even better ingredients could still be added.

"Sister, if we're adding oysters, don't we need something to balance out the fishy taste?"

"I was just thinking about that. How about lemon or lime? They go well with oysters."

"That's good! Wait! I'll go find some!"

The cooking research session was gradually becoming more surreal.

If Lena had heard, she would have grabbed the twins by their skirts and stopped them, but unfortunately, tonight, there was no one to halt the twins' rampage.

One after another, all sorts of 'delicious ingredients' began mixing inside the horned chicken's belly.

"Remember when we went to the Mortal Realm? Sweet and savory balance is very important."

"Then should we add a little honey?"

"Hmm... I think sugar would suit it better than honey."

"Wouldn't it be better to bring out the sweetness using fruit rather than sugar?"

The pride of breaking away from the existing recipe to create an even greater dish.

Feeling like they had become great chefs, the twins, in their own minds, held a plausible discussion and began adding various ingredients.

"Then pears would be good. I'll slice them... What! Odette! This peel isn't coming off easily."

"Let's just put it in with the peel! We can take it out later anyway."

"Hmm, I guess we have no choice. Actually, I remember hearing that a lot of the delicious flavor in fruit is concentrated in the peel."

Thus, the whole sliced pear.

Added.

"Odette, don't you think it might lack a bit of flavor like this? We've only added pepper and rosemary for spices."

"Sister, you might be right. Wait, let me think... Cheese? How about cheese?"

"We're really on the same wavelength today! Cheese is delicious too."

Thus, a large block of cheddar cheese rolled over from the larder, grated and added.

Added.

"Cheese will add a rich flavor, but it still feels like it's lacking something. Alright, let's add a cinnamon stick to balance the taste."

"A cinnamon stick?"

"Right, cinnamon goes really well with pears, you know?"

"Sister, you look especially cool today."

"Aw, Odette, I'm blushing."

"Hehe."

While building warm camaraderie and adding this and that, the large horned chicken's belly had swelled up like a pregnant woman nearing full term.

They struggled quite a bit, handling the frog-like soft flesh and sewing up the gap between the legs with thread.

"Alright, this should be enough, right?"

Odil, pushing back an oyster trying to peek out from the sewn seam with her finger.

"It's going to be a perfect dish."

Odette, brushing butter over the surface with a brush so it would roast to a golden brown.

With hearts pounding and faces full of confidence, the two placed the large horned chicken into the oven.

Author's Note (Afterword)

Sitting at my desk for an average of 14 hours as usual, but strangely, the words just aren't flowing well.