With Marie’s greeting, the brief introductions from the eight ladies concluded. They all seemed like pleasant people, but Cornelia and Marie were the two who had left the strongest impression on me.
Cornelia appeared to hold Nebula’s pottery in high regard; she clearly possessed an excellent eye for craftsmanship. It was even possible she was a regular at Nifty, so I was looking forward to discussing that with her.
As for Marie, just as she had admitted herself, she was a bit nervous since this was her first formal tea party... but that awkwardness actually made her feel the most relatable to me.
Cornelia was the tall one with the cool, slender beauty of a model, her dark gray hair fluffy and her eyes a pale green. Marie was the petite one with the cute atmosphere, her semi-short hair a reddish-purple pink-brown that complemented her light blue eyes. Since they had both been so memorable, I had a clear mental image of them now; I’d probably recognize them instantly even if we just passed each other in the street.
"Now then, as the introductions are finished, I shall have the tea served immediately," Elis said.
As if on cue, the maids moved with practiced efficiency to set out black tea and sweets on the large table.
The spread looked like a proper afternoon tea—very stylish—but it also included baby castella. Come to think of it, I had mentioned to Elis during a casual conversation that baby castella was the snack I ate most often. She must have included it specifically for me.
Kuro nodded with a look of pure satisfaction. The lineup of sweets seemed to meet her approval.
I hadn't fully grasped this when I first visited Lilia’s mansion, but while Kuro generally had no particular likes or dislikes—since eating was just a hobby for her—she had one very specific pet peeve: she detested tea sweets that looked difficult to eat.
Looking back on our visit to Lilia’s home, Kuro had projected a rare aura of clear dissatisfaction toward the snacks served there. At the time, I assumed she just disliked overly gaudy, ostentatious treats that prioritized form over flavor, but as I got to know her better, I realized her feelings were a bit more nuanced.
She didn't actually mind high-end or flashy sweets; she’d eat them happily if they tasted good. However, she couldn't stand it when a baker sacrificed ease of consumption for the sake of aesthetics. In fact, Kuro’s own food tour guide always gave low marks to any confection that was a chore to eat.
On the other hand, she’d heap praise on even the most magnificent-looking treats as long as they were designed with the person eating them in mind. For instance, she absolutely loved Nifty’s decoration baby castella. Even though it looked incredibly fancy, each piece came with its own skewer, and the plating was designed for easy snacking. For Kuro, that was the mark of a truly excellent sweet.
Basically, as long as it was treated as food meant to be enjoyed, she was fine with it, but she had no patience for anything that neglected the practical side of eating. Of course, since her ideal snack was baby castella, her score for anything else likely dropped the further it deviated from that gold standard, but the only thing that truly put her in a bad mood were those difficult-to-handle sweets.
Examining the selection for today's tea party, it was clear that while everything felt luxurious and stylish, the items were simple and mostly bite-sized.
"This is great! All the snacks look delicious," Kuro said. "And I'm so happy to see baby castella here. I guess it really is a staple for noble tea parties too, huh?"
"……E-Erm……"
Kuro, stop. Don't ask such a hellish question. Elis looked visibly distressed. I suspected that while baby castella might appear at noble gatherings on rare occasions, it was hardly a staple.
However, expecting Elis to tell that truth to the Baby Castella Devil was asking for the impossible. Seeing Elis agonizing over the choice between an awkward truth and a polite lie, I decided to toss her a lifeline.
"Actually, baby castella is usually pretty sweet, so it might be a bit heavy when paired with black tea. That's probably why you don't see it all that often at formal parties, right?"
"……Kaito, baby castella has infinite possibilities. It goes with any drink."
"Sure, but not everyone has researched those possibilities as much as you have, Kuro. It’s probably quite a struggle for most people to find a baby castella that perfectly complements a specific tea."
"Hah?! I-I see... Now that you mention it, you're right! I've been pursuing the infinite possibilities of baby castella every day, but I completely forgot that not everyone is as well-versed in the craft as we are, Kaito! I guess it really is necessary for me to start spreading the word about my findings more widely!!"
"……Y-Yeah, maybe so……"
I really wished she’d stop counting me as a fellow baby castella connoisseur. For now, I’d managed to steer her away from Elis, but the price was that Kuro had entered her full-blown baby castella mode. I’d have to calm her down before the tea was ready, or there was a very real danger this entire tea party would turn into a never-ending lecture on sponge cake.
Stomach Pain Warrior Biographies Part 1
Lilia Albert
Stomach Pain Power: 10/10 Suction Power: 10/10 Durability: 10/10 Piteousness: 10/10 Amount of Stomach Medicine: 10/10 Author's Malice: 20/10
The first and strongest stomach pain warrior. She is peerless in both her ability to generate stomach pain and her talent for attracting it. As Kaito’s primary victim, she has endured an uncounted number of stomach punches. The sheer volume of chaos she has survived and the sheer amount of stomach medicine she has consumed place her at the absolute apex of suffering, far beyond any other warrior.
Now that she is firmly established as a stomach pain character, she is a victim of the author’s own narrative habits; whenever powerful figures gather, the story defaults to "giving Lilia stomach pain," ensuring her suffering never ends.
In the beginning, her durability was low enough that she fainted during her first encounter with Shiro. However, after being tempered by endless incidents, she has been strengthened to the point where she can no longer even find the sweet escape of unconsciousness.
Even the world’s top-tier powers and the most eccentric gods have reached a point where they look upon her with genuine pity. In every sense of the word, she is the strongest stomach pain warrior. She has already experienced almost every type of stomach pain that other warriors are only just discovering, and with a mountain of stomach pain flags still waiting to be triggered, Lilia Albert’s position at the top remains secure.