That Wonderful, Delicious Red One (6)

That’s right. A Frankfurt sausage. Basically, a big sausage.

Packed full of minced pork, it was the kind of thing everyone loved.

But this was also a common dish in this world. What was there to ask about at this point?

As I wondered that, the head maid continued with the same stiff expression.

“I can see that perfectly well. I am asking why you are grilling Frankfurt sausages right now.”

“Why, to serve them to the young master, of course.”

“Frankfurt sausages?”

“Frankfurt sausages.”

“At snack time?”

“At snack time.”

When I answered clearly, the head maid pressed a hand to her forehead and let out a sigh.

Perhaps she was simply overwhelmed by the brilliance of my idea.

Just as I was thinking that, the head of Team Four—Jacqueline—raised her voice.

“With all due respect, Head Maid! Serving meat as a snack is absurd! Team Five has no grasp of the fundamentals at all. Shouldn’t they be removed?”

My, what a direct attack.

Jacqueline had been hostile toward us from the start, but never quite this openly.

“What’s her problem? Why would she say something like that…?”

Beside me, Anne muttered angrily while diligently grilling the Frankfurt sausages.

Anne had already been quite uneasy about today’s snack, so this probably bothered her even more.

“Now, now. Meat can absolutely be served as a snack. Bread is served both with meals and as a snack, is it not? So what could possibly be wrong with serving meat at snack time?”

“Obviously there’s something wrong with it! Something that heavy has no place at snack time!”

I argued back while Jacqueline snapped at me.

Unable to keep watching, the head maid stepped between us.

“You two, what do you think you are doing in front of the young master? Maids bickering in front of their lord—how disgraceful. It seems the two of you will require retraining later.”

At the word retraining, Jacqueline and I both flinched and froze.

And then we both began sweating profusely.

No, not retraining… Anything but retraining, anything but retraining, anything but retraining.

The head maid was about to continue, but the young master interrupted her.

“I think it is fine.”

His gaze was fixed directly on the Frankfurt sausages sizzling over the charcoal and giving off a delicious aroma.

Of course, of course. There was no way a growing boy his age could look at sausages grilling at this hour and simply ignore them.

If the young master said it was fine, then it was fine.

Anne and I broke into smug smiles, Jacqueline fell silent with a frustrated look, and the head maid withdrew after merely telling us not to overdo it.

…However.

“Hmph. Just you wait…!”

Jacqueline muttered in a voice thick with resentment.

Was she still planning something?

I had absolutely no idea why she disliked me that much.

Even so, snack service finally began, starting with Team One.

Delicious-looking fruit confections and tarts were lined up one after another, and I couldn’t help staring.

Ahh… The cakes handmade by the senior maids looked wonderful. I wanted some too.

Then, at last, our turn came, and we arranged the skewered Frankfurt sausages in front of the young master, whose face was bright with anticipation.

I wondered whether they would be all right after so many sweets, but the young master did not seem bothered in the slightest.

He immediately reached for a skewer and was about to take a bite. But I placed a jar filled with that red stuff before him and spoke.

“Please wait, Young Master. If you would, I recommend eating it with this on top!”

“…What is this?”

The young master stared curiously at “it.”

That bright-red substance packed inside the jar. I proudly told him its name.

“This is ketchup!”

Yes, ketchup. That wonderfully sweet, bright-red stuff.

Everyone loved it, and this incredibly versatile condiment was the true star of today’s snack.

Toss it with spaghetti and you got Napolitan, cook it with chicken for ketchup stir-fry, fry it with rice for ketchup rice, then top that with egg and you had omurice.

Ketchup was a magnificent condiment that could be used in all sorts of other dishes too!

If this world did not have it yet, then I would simply spread it from now on.

Come on, everyone in this world—learn to love ketchup!

And the first step would begin with the young master.

Surely he would become completely captivated by this flavor.

Smiling brightly, I poured ketchup over the Frankfurt sausage.

But then… once again, a sharp voice rang out as though to interfere with me.

“Please wait, Young Master! You mustn’t eat that! That is… tomato!”