Just as Shia-san had mentioned when she spoke of her recent furniture shopping, the interior of her home was tastefully arranged with a strong sense of cohesion.
It had an antique feel; it seemed she had a penchant for that sort of design. It might have just been my own impression, but the house had the atmosphere of a home belonging to a wizard living deep in a forest.
"Is coffee alright?" she asked.
"Ah, yes. Thank you."
"And as for a snack to go with it... Kaito, you don't do well with spicy food, do you?"
"That's right. I'm extremely bad with it!"
"I see. Then I shall bring something that might even be a little too sweet..."
This was a crucial moment. In truth, I didn't actually hate spicy food all that much, but if I said anything careless here, I would end up in a world of pain.
Shia-san loved spicy food as much as Megiddo-san did. Back in the Hydra Kingdom, she had once given me some sweets with a "hellish" level of spice. To make matters worse, from her perspective, those treats weren't even considered that hot.
Shia-san's idea of "deliciously spicy" was a level that could kill an ordinary person. To her, "a little spicy" was hellish, "normal" was extremely spicy, and "sweet" was actually Slightly Spicy... Given that massive discrepancy, I had to firmly assert my inability to handle spice.
By doing so, she would serve something she considered "too sweet," which would be a perfectly normal flavor for me. That way, I could eat in peace.
"...I have some cookies that were a gift," she said.
A moment later, she brought out the cookies along with the coffee. I took a bite; they were delicious, with just a hint of sweetness.
"These are great. But I'm a bit surprised you had sweet cookies on hand, Shia-san."
"Ah, I received them from the God of Harvest a while ago. I helped her with some work, and she gave them to me as a thank-you. Since I'm not fond of sweets, I wasn't sure what to do with them. I'm glad I found an opportunity to use them."
"I see... By the way, do you drink coffee often?"
"Yes, I drink alcohol as well, but I find myself reaching for coffee more frequently. As I mentioned, I don't care for sweet things, so I prefer drinks that lack sweetness entirely."
So she basically drank it black? Indeed, she hadn't added any sugar or milk to her cup. Wait... if that was the case, why had she placed a jar of sugar cubes in front of me? Did she use them occasionally herself, or were they just kept for guests? It was likely one of the two.
"Still, the Underworld King certainly has her hands in everything," Shia-san remarked. "She only just released those Portable Rations and bath additives, and now she has another new product... though I suppose the trading companies involved are different."
"You're very well-informed."
"Well, I do go down to the Human Realm to shop occasionally. I bought those 'instant' Portable Rations from the Underworld King's company and tried them; they were quite well-made. The bath additives were an interesting concept, too, with a wide range of potential applications. I was impressed. She truly earns her reputation as the head of several major trading companies."
Come to think of it, when I had met her previously during the business with Fia-sensei, she had mentioned she was out to buy new sweets. Shia-san seemed quite attuned to the latest trends, or perhaps she was just the type to keep an eye out for new products.
At the very least, since instant foods were still incredibly popular and often out of stock, the fact that she had already tried them meant she must have purchased them very early on.
"Just as you say, I feel like Kuro has been putting out a lot of new products lately," I said. "On the magic side, she was selling Video Magic Tools and Recording Magic Tools. She also mentioned she was looking to expand her business in the Human Realm."
"The entire Human Realm is entering a period of economic prosperity right now," Shia-san noted. "She is likely riding that wave so as not to miss out. Though, the primary cause of that prosperity is almost entirely you..."
"Eh? Me?"
"To be precise, it's the fact that because of your presence, the Six Kings, the Supreme Gods, and even the likes of Shallow Vernal-sama are visiting the Human Realm far more frequently. The economy has improved significantly as a result. Furthermore—though I can't help but feel it's somewhat intentional—the frequent discovery of new technologies and new types of ingredients lately is also a major factor."
"Ah... that's probably because of a change in the contract between Shiro-san and Eden-san. Apparently, the restrictions regarding items from our old world have been loosened."
"I see, so that's it..."
In fact, regarding the recently discovered technologies, there used to be a restriction enforced by the contract between Shiro-san and Eden-san. In this world, people were previously unable to even conceive the ideas for those specific technologies. Since those restrictions had been partially lifted, new inventions were appearing one after another.
As for the new ingredients, some were likely items Eden-san had prepared for those she called "My Children," while others might have been created by Shiro-san adding her own touch to existing things.
...Wait a second. If I looked at it that way... was it really my fault, just as Shia-san said? Well, I didn't think it was necessarily a bad thing, but still...
Serious-senpai: "Rather than most, I think 99% of it is Kaito's influence."
???: "Well, the fact that Eden-san went around asking other otherworlders for their requests in the first place was fundamentally because she took a liking to Kaito-san and settled down in Trinia. In that sense, almost everything is Kaito-san's influence."