We left Flare and made our way toward Magnawell. Given his gargantuan size, he was impossible to miss even from a distance.
『Hm? Ah, Kuromueina and Miyama Kaito. Welcome.』
"Hello, Magnawell-san."
"Sorry for the sudden visit, Magnawell. I came to ask for your thoughts on the potential of baby castella."
『As restless as ever, I see...』
Magnawell muttered with a slightly exasperated expression. A magic circle flickered into existence before us, and from it emerged his human avatar—the form of a refined, elderly gentleman.
That’s right, thanks to this avatar, Magnawell was finally able to enjoy meals. He had even bought some baby castella during the Founding Anniversary Festival, so he was actually a fairly qualified person to consult.
"In the past, I would have told you I did not know, as my physical stature made it impossible to consume proper meals. But now that I can eat, I suppose I cannot use that as an excuse."
"Honestly though, that avatar is incredible. For something to be this high-performance, I feel like only someone like Shiro-san could have made it..."
"True. I wonder where Shaltier managed to get her hands on it..."
"Well, Shaltier has all sorts of connections we don't know about."
I had heard before that Magnawell’s human form was extraordinary. I didn’t quite grasp the technical side of it, but if Magnawell himself and Kuro were impressed, it was undoubtedly on a different level from a standard split body.
If it was high-spec enough to shock those two, I suspected it would take a creator-god level entity like Shiro-san or Eden-san to pull it off.
It wouldn't be out of character for Shiro-san to have made it. She had given me an amusement park and the materials for my house, after all; they seemed to interact in the most unexpected places.
"Regardless, you asked about baby castella... Hmmm. I have tasted many things since obtaining this form, but the ingredient I found most to my liking was the miso I received from Noin."
"Ah, miso is great. It pairs well with so many things."
"Indeed. I particularly enjoyed dishes where the paste is brushed on and grilled... what was the name again?"
"Brushed on and grilled... Maybe miso dengaku or saikyo-yaki?"
"Oh, I know saikyo-yaki! That's when you coat fish in miso and grill it, right?"
It looked like Magnawell was a fan of miso. It suited him, in a way. Even though he looked like a refined gentleman who might prefer black tea, his tastes were surprisingly traditional.
Being part of Noin-san's family, Kuro was naturally well-versed in miso and knew saikyo-yaki as a matter of course. However, she didn't seem to recognize the term 'dengaku.' Honestly, while I knew the name, I had never actually eaten it myself either.
"But I see your point. Brushing it on and grilling it is a good idea. I’ve made baby castella using miso as an ingredient before, but glazing the surface and grilling it would give it a whole different texture."
"True. If we adjust the sweetness of the batter, it might actually work..."
I felt like it might even pair well with the standard flavor, and since miso-based sweets were a thing, it had the potential to be delicious if handled correctly.
But doing it blindly would be a gamble. If we were going to use miso, it would probably be best to seek advice from someone like Alice, who was actually a skilled cook.
"That was very helpful. Thanks, Magnawell. Oh, by the way, you should have some of these. It'd be a waste not to eat them now that you have the chance. Here, have some~"
"Hm, well, I suppose I'll—Wait! That's too many! Far too many! My main body isn't the one eating these!"
Kuro handed over a literal mountain of baby castella as if it were perfectly normal. Whether she was being genuinely generous or just offloading stock she didn't know what to do with was anyone's guess.
Well, knowing Kuro, she was probably being sincere. That said, I wondered how she dealt with the occasional failed batches.
"Kuro, I've got a question."
"Hmm? What is it?"
"What do you do with the failed baby castellas? Surely you don't eat every single one yourself?"
"Oh, those? I just rewind time on them and turn them back into raw ingredients."
"...Ah, right. Of course."
That’s right. I’d forgotten she was also practically omnipotent. I’d accidentally judged her by my own human common sense, but she could literally reset a finished snack back into its base components. No waste, no food loss.
...I wonder if she could collect the failures in my magic box, too? No, wait, those have their uses. Mostly as punishment... although that one perverted bird seemed to love them.
Serious-senpai: "Ah, right. Since Kaito only remembers Machina in his dreams, he can't connect the dots between Alice and Machina..."
Machina: "I'm making sure he can't, after all. It's not like I'm hiding it that strictly, but if Shallow Vernal finds out I'm bringing my beloved child's spirit here, she'll definitely complain—even if it is technically a gray zone..."