After receiving the gift from Rosmiel-san, I could have transitioned right into small talk over tea, but there was one thing I wanted to check first. I decided to call Nebula.
Since Nebula was a spirit whose true essence resided in the World Tree in the garden, she seemed to share its senses. Even if her spiritual form was elsewhere, she would know I was calling her if I just beckoned toward the tree. Actually, since she showed up even when I beckoned toward it from inside the house, maybe she just noticed as long as I performed a specific action while facing that direction?
Regardless, the moment I signaled, Nebula came flying in from inside the house—which, as expected, caused Rosmiel-san to go rigid.
"Master, did you call for me?"
"Yeah. Sorry to pull you away... Nebula, you made this flower-shaped sugar, right?"
"Indeed! I did. How did you like it?"
"It was incredible. The way the petals seemed to unfurl was truly beautiful. How did you even manage that?"
I asked her about the sugar while she beamed at me.
"The principle is actually quite simple," she explained. "In addition to regular sugar, I used something called Magic Power Sugar from the Demon Realm. It's made through a specialized process."
"Is it that different from the normal stuff?"
"Hardly at all. The sweetness is a bit more refined, but it's more expensive, so it's considered a luxury item. However, there’s a slight difference in how quickly regular sugar and Magic Power Sugar dissolve in liquid. I simply took advantage of that variance."
"I see..."
"By making the center of the flower out of Magic Power Sugar, the core melts first, allowing the petals to separate. Then, by placing small amounts of Magic Power Sugar in the petals themselves, the center of gravity shifts outward as they dissolve, causing them to spread across the cup. It’s a very basic mechanism."
She said it so casually, but that meant she had calculated the center of mass and the dissolution rates for every single petal. It was an incredible feat, yet Nebula didn't seem the least bit boastful, as if she had truly just put it together as a little experiment.
"Right... Anyway, Nebula, do you still have more of this sugar? If possible, I’d like to give some to Rosmiel-san as a gift."
"Oh, certainly. I don't have enough to sell it commercially, but we have plenty to spare. Though, we do have 'other kinds' as well..."
"Wait, there are others?"
"Yes. The flower sugar was just my first attempt. Afterward, Illness-san and I brainstormed and created four other varieties. We have five different types in total now."
One was already mind-blowing, but they'd already moved on to a full product line? That was impressive. As I was processing this, Nebula produced a slip of paper with the numbers one through three written on it and turned it toward Rosmiel-san.
"Rosmiel-san, just like before... would an assortment of the sugars be acceptable?"
"..."
"Oh, please don't be shy. Illness-san and I got a bit carried away and made quite a lot, so I was worried it would take forever to use it all. Yes... Very well, I shall prepare an assortment for you to take home when you leave."
Even though no words were spoken, Nebula and Rosmiel-san seemed to be communicating perfectly. They must have done the same thing when Nebula first guided her here. I wondered how it worked.
"Nebula, what’s the deal with that paper?"
"This is what I use to communicate with her. If she means 'yes,' she looks at the number one. For 'no,' she looks at two. Three is for anything else. I confirm her intent by tracking her eye movements. Just now, her eyes were darting between one and two, so I gathered that she wanted it but felt too reserved to say so."
"I see. That’s a clever way to do it..."
Tracking eye movements with that much precision was a feat in itself, but I was just glad there was a way to talk to Rosmiel-san while she was in her frozen state.
"You’re really amazing for coming up with that on the fly, Nebula."
"Leave it to me! I am the Absolute One, after all!"
"Haha, right. Well, I’ll leave the gift preparation to you then."
"Yes! Leave everything to me."
She puffed out her tiny chest with pride. I gave her a fond pat on the head, which earned me a delighted smile before she waved and flew back inside.
"And there we have it," I said, turning back to my guest. "It looks like we can give you some sugar to take home."
"Th-Thank you... I'm sorry to be such a bother. But Nebula-chan... she really is an extra-extraordinary girl. She’s so good at reading people... she never gets close enough to make me feel frightened..."
"Yeah, she’s a very considerate and kind girl. At this rate, I bet you’ll be able to have a real conversation with her soon."
"Y-Yes, perhaps. If it’s with her... I think... in about two days, I might be able to..."
"Well, there's no need to rush. We can take it one step at a time."
So it would still take two days? Then again, for Rosmiel-san, two days was probably lightning speed.
Nebula and Illness were fast friends. Whenever they had a moment of peace, they would sit together, drinking tea and bustling about with various projects. This sugar had been one of their tea-time collaborations.
While they had come up with dozens of ideas, only four of them had met their exacting standards for perfection.
Between the two of them, the workload was staggering. Illness managed a workload ten times greater than any maid at Lilia's estate, handled nearly every domestic task at Kaito’s mansion, and served as a high-ranking executive for the Phantasm King. Nebula, meanwhile, meticulously cared for every single plant in Kaito’s massive garden, attended to guests, saw visitors off, and assisted with various other chores. Despite all this, both felt they had far too much free time on their hands and were often quite bored.
No other maid—not even the head maid or Lunamaria—could hope to keep up with Illness’s speed and technical skill; they would only get in her way. However, the Absolute One had no trouble keeping pace. In fact, she could actually outwork Illness. It was quite common to find Nebula helping Illness, the two of them handling the housework in perfect harmony.
To any normal observer, their movements were a blur, their work being done at a speed completely invisible to the naked eye.
"Next, shall we try designing and making our own original teacups?" they were currently discussing with bright, cheerful smiles.