MTLNOVEL Chapter 74
“Alright, time to go deliver this.”
Leaving the kitchen, I started walking toward the field where I assumed Roberto and the others would be.
“This school is way too big. It’s quite a walk, isn’t it?”
The academy is vast, with various facilities to accommodate students’ daily lives.
The kitchen I had just left was next to the dormitory, but the field was quite far from there. If I took my time, it could take over ten minutes to reach it.
“Guess I’ll run a bit…”
Since I had just made the tart, I wanted them to eat it while it was still fresh. With that in mind, I broke into a run toward the field.
“Oh, looks like they’re at it.”
The field was equipped with various sports gear—nets, goals, bases—everything used for the sports in this world.
In one section of the field, I spotted some familiar faces. It was Roberto and some of our classmates.
“Erik! Over here!”
Roberto noticed me and waved enthusiastically.
I smiled and quickly made my way over.
“Are you guys on a break?”
As I approached Roberto, I asked.
“Yeah, we just finished a game. We were going over what went wrong.”
The sport they were playing involved teams of six, so there were twelve male students here in total.
Among them were some faces I didn’t recognize, meaning about half were from other classes.
“What about you, Erik? What’ve you been up to today?”
Since I usually spent my free days visiting the castle with Angelica or going out with Thomas and the others, it seemed unusual to them that I had shown up here.
“I went to the market this morning to buy ingredients, and then I spent some time making sweets.”
“You really can do anything, huh?”
Roberto had seen my abilities firsthand many times, which led to the misconception that I had all sorts of strange skills.
“I wouldn’t go that far.”
Saying that, I retrieved a fruit tart from my storage space, disguised as an item box.
“OOOOHHH!!”
A chorus of excitement erupted from my classmates.
Even the students who had been playing games nearby—both boys and girls—turned toward us, surprised by the commotion.
“Erik, this looks like something straight out of a high-end shop!”
Roberto, seemingly speaking on behalf of everyone, voiced his excitement.
“Haha, I don’t think I could actually sell it… for a number of reasons.”
No one seemed to pay much attention to the way I trailed off, though…
“Wait, are we really allowed to eat this?”
Roberto’s gaze, much like the girls earlier, was locked onto the fruit tart.
“I’ll cut it up for everyone, so you guys from that team can have this half, and Roberto’s group can take the other half.”
“Eh? We can have some too?”
The question came from the boys in the other class.
“Of course. I made it so that more people could enjoy it.”
“Thanks! We’ll gladly accept!”
As I handed over a plate, they expressed their gratitude.
“This is amazing! Erik, be my personal chef!”
Roberto’s exaggerated reaction caught the attention of the nearby students, who instantly turned their eyes to the remaining tart.
I considered sharing with the others if there were any leftovers, but with a bunch of hungry boys, there was no chance of that happening.
Those who finished eating immediately reached for the remaining slices, and those who missed out could only watch with despair as their classmates happily devoured the tart.
“Hey, Roberto, can you tell me how it felt after eating it?”
“I already told you—it’s so good it could be sold in a store.”
“No, not that. I mean… did you feel like your energy was restored? Like your stamina came back, or your fatigue faded?”
Roberto pondered for a moment at my oddly specific question.
“…Now that you mention it, I was pretty tired earlier, but I feel like I can still keep going without any issues.”
“That’s great to hear. Alright, I’ll watch for a bit before heading back. Show me what you’ve got, Roberto!”
With that, I quickly moved away from the group.
As I left, I noticed some of the students who had paused their game sending me strange looks, but since no one said anything, I just ignored them.
“Master, you did something, didn’t you?”
As I watched my classmates and the other students play, Eve spoke up, sounding almost certain.
(Oh? You noticed?)
“Roberto and the others are moving completely differently now. The students from the other class still look tired, but Roberto’s group is as energetic as if they just started playing.”
Hearing her remark, I decided to reveal my little trick.
(Actually, I mixed something into the fruit tart they ate.)
“…Master, you didn’t—!”
(I sprinkled stamina powder and life powder onto the tart base before adding the fruit on top. The effects are exactly what you’re seeing.)
Now, there was a clear difference between Roberto’s group, who had eaten the enhanced tart, and the other students, who had just eaten a normal one. The difference in movement was undeniable.
“How do you even come up with ideas like this? Master, you’re not normal.”
I could sense a hint of fear from Eve.
(How rude. I just remembered how some video games used food as recovery items and thought I’d try it out.)
I was once really into an online game where tarts were used as healing items.
That’s when I thought, “If you’re going to recover anyway, wouldn’t it be better if the food actually tasted good?”
Thus, this little experiment was born.
“Still, isn’t that basically doping? The other class got completely outmatched.”
(Well, even regular tarts should provide a bit of stamina recovery. Let’s just call this a privilege of being my classmate.)
For comparison’s sake, I needed a control group, so it couldn’t be helped.
(Anyway, that was a pretty useful experiment. Now I’ll head back to my room and relax with a book.)
“That’s not resting at all! Master, you’re going to get punished someday!”
(If that happens, it happens. Maybe I should make some for Ares and Eclair next time, too.)
Ignoring Eve’s complaints, I hummed to myself as I walked back to my room, satisfied with the day’s work.
However, her prediction came true a few days later.
On Monday, when I stepped into the classroom, I was met with the piercing glares of Angelica and several other girls.
To make things worse, word had spread among the other classes and the students who had seen the fruit tart on the field. A large number of students stormed into the classroom, demanding answers.
By the end of it, some of them even resorted to begging on their knees.
In the end, I struck a deal: I would accept a reasonable payment and only do it once.
And so, the following weekend, I found myself making fruit tarts non-stop.
“I told you to just take a normal day off, Master.”
As I tirelessly worked in the kitchen, I vowed to take Eve’s advice more seriously next time.