Although it hadn't been my original goal, I had ended up with a brand-new coffee maker. I figured I might as well pick up some coffee beans on my way home.
To be honest, I didn't know much about coffee. I wasn't exactly an expert on black tea either, for that matter. I decided it would be best to consult someone knowledgeable about which beans to choose.
With that in mind, I made my way to Elise's Shop. The sign on the door said "Open." Her shop was designed so that the sign automatically flipped to "Closed" whenever a customer entered, so seeing it open meant I was in the clear.
"Hello..." I ventured as I stepped inside.
"Ah, it's the Human-san," she said. "Truly, you always show up at the exact moment the flow of customers breaks, as if you’ve been lying in wait. My Human-san stalker suspicion has just gained another level of credibility."
"Please stop with those baseless accusations," I replied.
"Well, don't just stand there. Come and sit. I assume you didn't come for a fortune-telling, so what do you want?"
Her tone was a bit exasperated, but that was just her default setting. Since she was inviting me to sit and seemed ready to listen, I knew she wasn't actually trying to be cold. In fact, given her personality, if I were actually a nuisance, she would have just told me to go home.
"Actually, something came up and I ended up buying a coffee-brewing magic tool. Since you're the expert, Elise-san, I was hoping you could recommend some coffee beans for me."
"A magic tool for brewing coffee? Since you're looking for beans, I take it it's the type that grinds and brews them starting from the whole bean?"
"Yes. If you don't mind, I'll set it on the table... It's this one."
"Wait... how did you get your hands on this?" Elise wore a rare expression of surprise as she looked at the device. "No, wait. This is you we're talking about. I'm sure you have plenty of special routes to acquire things."
If she was reacting this way, was it really that hard to get?
"Is it a difficult magic tool to find?" I asked.
"Hard? This is the latest model. It only released five days ago. It’s a complete made-to-order item with a very limited production run. At this stage, you can't even touch it without serious connections. Usually, with these high-end custom magic tools, they don't relax the order restrictions for at least a few months."
"I see... Well, I happened to buy it directly from a Special Advisor of the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company."
"How many people in this world do you think can buy directly from a person like that? Honestly, your usual lack of common sense is almost comforting in its consistency."
While muttering with an exasperated look, Elise-san began inspecting the coffee maker with genuine interest.
"Actually," she admitted, "I was debating whether to buy one of these myself."
"What? You, Elise-san? An automatic coffee-brewing magic tool?"
She roasted her own beans and was incredibly particular about the entire process, so hearing her say she wanted an automatic machine was unexpected.
"Not for daily use, of course. I just wanted to try it once. The marketing for this model claims it produces a truly authentic brew, and the fact that the Seditch Magic Tool Trading Company made it a complete made-to-order item gave those claims some weight. I was curious to see if it lived up to the hype. But I couldn't justify the price tag for something I'd only use occasionally."
"That makes sense. Well, since it's right here, do you want to brew some and try it? I literally just bought it, so I don't have anything but the machine itself, though..."
"Would you? I'd love to. I'll provide the coffee beans and the filters."
Her curiosity as a coffee lover clearly won out. She agreed instantly and scurried off to fetch beans, filters, and coffee cups. Since she seemed so eager, I immediately set the beans she brought and started the machine up.
"I see. You can even adjust the grind setting, albeit in broad increments," she noted. "My expectations are rising. You actually did something useful for once, Human-san. As a thank-you, I’ll prepare some cake. You should have some."
"Thank you."
She really was a fanatic. In a rare display of high spirits, she brought over a slice of cake and set it down in front of me.
Before long, the coffee was ready. We poured it into the coffee cups and took our first sips. It had a wonderful aroma and tasted great to me, but since I wasn't an expert, I looked to Elise-san for her verdict. She took a sip and nodded, looking genuinely impressed.
"...This is quite impressive. Even for someone as particular as I am, I'd call this a respectable brew. Of course, a manual pour still tastes better because of the finer control, but for a fully automatic machine to achieve this is remarkable. It’s better than what you’d find at most cafes. I can truly feel the march of technological progress."
"It's supposed to be able to make espresso too," I added.
"Espresso as well? I suppose the extra-fine grind setting and magical pressure would allow for it... The versatility of this one device is staggering. I'm genuinely moved."
Watching her nod happily as she drank her coffee, I enjoyed the cake she had provided. It paired perfectly with the brew.
???: (By the way, Elise doesn't actually have a sweet tooth, so it's highly likely she had prepared that cake specifically for Kaito-san from the start.)