Shortly after we took our seats, Canalis-san arrived at our table, likely thanks to the message I had sent her earlier.
"Thank you for waiting! Your Waiter God has arrived. You can order whatever sweets you’d like in a moment, but as Kaito-sama requested, here is the tea. Go on, take a sip and see what you think."
With practiced ease, Canalis-san poured the tea and placed it before Cornelia-san and me. Cornelia-san inspected the color and aroma with elegant movements, her expression turning slightly puzzled.
"Is this... the MK Blend?"
"Eh? You can tell just from the color and scent?"
"Ah, no, it's not that I can identify every tea, but I’ve grown quite fond of the MK Blend’s flavor and drink it quite often, so..."
Cornelia-san had mentioned she shopped at Nifty frequently, but it seemed she did more than just shop; she was a regular drinker of my original MK Blend.
It was a little embarrassing, but I was honestly happy to hear that she appreciated something I had created.
"Exactly right! I took Kaito-sama's MK Blend and added a little touch of my own God Power... Let's see. If I had to name it, I’d call it the MK Blend Healing Special. Tahaa~ My apologies for the simplistic naming!"
"Healing Special... If you'll excuse me, then... This is... Th-This is... My stomach pain... It’s gone?"
Cornelia-san’s face was a mask of shock as she tasted the MK Blend HS <Healing Special>. Seeing her reaction, I took a sip as well, but I didn't notice any difference from the standard blend. Well, it wasn't as if I was an expert on subtle flavor profiles anyway.
"Yes, this MK Blend HS was adjusted specifically to heal Cornelia-san’s exhaustion, just as Kaito-sama requested. From what I could see, Cornelia-san’s primary issue was stomach pain brought on by mental fatigue, so I made it effective only against pain with a psychological cause."
"Is it like a type of Healing Magic?"
"No, it’s more of a conceptual-type thing. I used my God Power to bestow the concept of 'Healing only stomach pain caused by mental stress' onto the tea. However, the effect isn't remarkably strong. To put it in perspective, if stomach pain were measured on a scale of one to ten, this MK Blend HS heals about five levels. Pain at level five or below is cured completely, while anything higher is simply mitigated. Tahaa~ I’d prefer to heal it entirely, but since the cause is mental stress, anything stronger would start interfering with the mind itself."
"I see... so it only works on stomach pain caused by mental fatigue."
"Precisely. It has no effect on stomach pain from illnesses or other ailments. Any more power than this and I’d risk violating my contract with Shallow Vernal. Tahaa~ I’m sorry, I feel like the 'HS' name is a bit of an overstatement!"
Personally, I didn't think it was an overstatement at all. It meant that a moderate amount of stress-induced pain would vanish the moment someone drank it, and even severe pain could be brought down to a manageable level.
It didn't actually remove the underlying mental stress, so the pain would likely return after some time, but if it allowed someone to forget the ache while they rested, it was the perfect companion for an exhausted break.
As I was thinking that, Cornelia-san, who had been listening intently, clasped her hands together as if in prayer and bowed deeply toward Canalis-san.
"...P-Please. Sell this to me."
"You look like someone who’s seen hell in a very short span of time. It seems you’ve really been through the wringer. Well, Kaito-sama is the Owner, so if he has no objections..."
"Um, is it actually okay to put something like that on the market?"
"To anyone who isn't suffering from stress-induced stomach pain, it's just regular MK Blend. Since I'm bestowing the effect with my own God Power, no one else can make it, but it's no trouble for me at all. I just have to grab a tin of MK Blend and go 'Ei!' and it’s done."
"In that case, well, please sell it to her. Also, if possible, I’d like a tin for myself as well."
In this day alone, Cornelia-san had encountered Flare-san, Eingana-san, Megiddo-san, Magnawell-san, Tre-san, Zex-san, Nove-san, Tetra-san, Cento-san, and Cien-san. When you totaled it up—two of the Six Kings, one Duke-class, six Count-class, and one other high-ranking individual—the sheer weight of the mental fatigue she was carrying must have been staggering.
Even if the encounters were coincidental, the fact that she was with me played a large role in it, so if this tea could help her, I wanted her to have it.
I also planned to take a tin and give it to Lilia-san as a present. I was the one who caused Lilia-san the most stomach pain on a daily basis, so it felt a bit like being an arsonist who provides the fire extinguisher, but if I could alleviate her suffering even a little, I definitely wanted to.
Besides, even without my involvement, Lilia-san seemed to attract Stomach Pain Incidents to a degree that left even Kuro and Alice exasperated... I truly hoped it would be of some help to her.
Serious-senpai: "Shouldn't this be distributed to all the other Stomach Pain Warriors too?"
???: "I suspect Kaito-san simply doesn't categorize the others as people suffering from stomach pain. He worries about Kaori-san, but since he doesn't associate her with drinking black tea, he likely excluded her subconsciously. As for Cornelia-san, she reached her limit and lost her noble facade, much unlike Elis-san. That's when Kaito started worrying about her mental state. After meeting Megiddo-san and Magnawell-san, she officially entered the 'category' of someone he needs to protect and follow up on..."
Serious-senpai: "I knew it. Suffering in silence like Elis is a mistake. Showing your agony is clearly the key to extracting concessions from the Stomach Pain Devil."