Kuro returned before Kaori-san had even finished preparing the set meals, eating her lunch as if nothing had happened. It seemed her little spat with Shiro-san had blown over for the time being.
As for Olivia-san, since there was no point in asking for suggestions from someone who had never actually tasted the snack, Kuro dropped the subject. Instead, she handed over a few baby castellas, effectively proselytizing the gospel of her favorite treat.
The ever-polite Olivia-san thanked us as she accepted the gift, finished her meal, and took her leave after a formal farewell.
We could have headed out right after finishing our own food, but business seemed relatively slow today. Since Kaori-san had some time to spare, we stayed a while to chat.
"Oh, that reminds me, Kaito-kun. Speaking of ingredients, I was talking with Akane-san the other day. We were wondering if matsutake mushrooms exist in this world."
"Matsutake? Come to think of it, I don't believe I've ever seen any..."
"They exist," Kuro chimed in.
"They do?" we both asked in unison.
I had just been assuming they weren't around, so having the answer come from such an unexpected source caught me off guard. Then again, maybe it wasn't that surprising. Kuro’s hobby was traveling the world to eat, so she knew plenty about rare delicacies. Between her and me—or even Kaori-san—the sheer volume of her knowledge regarding this world was on a completely different level.
"To be precise, they aren't called 'matsutake' here. But that's what Noin called them, so I'm sure it's the same thing."
"Ah, so they just have a different name in this world?"
"Yeah. They're a type of mushroom that grows around trees called Needle Trees. Locally, they're known as Spear Mush. They only grow in a very specific part of the Demon Realm. They're rare and expensive, so you won't see them on the open market very often."
Needle Trees... those were likely red pines. So, there were groves of red pines somewhere in the Demon Realm where matsutake could be harvested.
"C-Could an ordinary person get their hands on them if they wanted to?" Kaori-san asked.
"Hmm. The forests where Needle Trees grow are the territory of spirits known as Spear-branch Trees. You’d need a connection to them to make it happen."
Kuro looked a bit thoughtful at Kaori-san's question. Based on her tone, it seemed like acquisition was possible, but only if you had the right "in."
Still... that name sounded familiar. Where had I heard it? If it was a matter of spirits, maybe I could ask Lilliwood-san for an introduction.
"Spear-branch Tree? I feel like I've heard that name before... I wonder if Lilliwood-san could help me out?"
"...I'm sure she could. I heard the leader of those Spear-branch spirits recently joined Lilliwood’s faction. I think she’s a subordinate of Camilia-chan now?"
"...Wait, that’s right! Lanza-san!!"
The woman with the rust-red short ponytail I’d met at Harmonic Symphony. She was Camilia-san’s subordinate—the one who was incredibly energetic and had a voice like a megaphone. Now that I thought about it, she did mention she was a newcomer in the World King's service.
"Wait, Kaito-kun, you actually know her?"
"Yeah. Camilia-san introduced us at Harmonic Symphony. She mentioned Lanza-san was a Count-class newcomer, so there’s no doubt about it."
"...This isn't right. Do Count-class figures usually just pop up this casually in a conversation? One second he's tossing around the name of one of the Seven Princesses, and the next he's talking about consulting the World King-sama like it's a perfectly normal thing to do... My junior is as out-of-this-world as ever."
As I sat there surprised by the unexpected connection, Kaori-san stared off into the distance with a hollow look in her eyes. But this was good news. I’d have to ask Camilia-san to set up a meeting with Lanza-san next time I saw her. I wanted some matsutake for myself, and if they had a surplus, I definitely wanted to buy some.
"...I wonder if... Matsutake Baby Castella would work?"
"Preferably not..."
I couldn't say for certain it would be a disaster, but it felt like a direct insult to the dignity of the mushroom. I really hoped she’d drop that idea.
Serious-senpai: "Wow, an actual connection in such a random place... The matsutake acquisition flag has been successfully raised."