#562 Elf Awakening

The day after the tea party, I was summoned by someone. It was Aileron, one of the elves working on our farm.

She told me to go to her workshop as soon as possible.

“You’ve still got plenty of room for improvement, saint.”

As soon as I got there, she immediately called me out. 

What does she mean?

“The tea party yesterday.”

“Ahh, the cake.”

“Not that! I know the green cake’s bitter taste was what made it special!”

True that.

Then what is she referring to?

She said I needed to improve, but yesterday, Aileron and the other elves wolfed down the matcha cake.  

So, if there’s anything she wants to address, it’s probably...

“The utensils!”

“Utensils!”

“In order to savor a good meal, we must pay attention to the utensils used! The best dining experience can be enjoyed not only with the tongue but also with the eyes! And yet, yesterday’s dishes were far from elegant! We couldn’t enjoy it aesthetically!” she says.

Aileron is part of our farm’s pottery group, making plates and bowls for daily use.

That’s probably why she’s so concerned.

“I can let the plate used for the cake slide... I’d still like to find out the best color combination for it, but what I’m more interested in are the cups you poured the tea in or whatever you call it!”

“I see.”

“It was beyond disappointing! You just used random on-hand cups of different shapes and sizes! I couldn’t feel any intention to harmonize with the mysterious color of the drink! The color of the juice and the cups were in disarray!”

“‘Juice’...?!”

I know she’s referring to yesterday’s black tea, but to call it juice is a little...!

“Um, Aileron? That’s actually called black tea-”

“I know. You get it by boiling dried leaves, right? The components in the leaves are transferred to the water, giving it flavor.”

Y-Yeah...!

That’s amazing, she figured out what tea is all about just from yesterday’s tea party?

“We elves have something similar, though nothing like what I had yesterday. We just shred leaves that we find and extract the flavor by slowly boiling them in a pot.”

Wow, rustic.

“By the way, this is the apparatus we use for that.”

Aileron took out a metal container resembling a stout pot with a beak-like spout and a handle-like protrusion, much like a...

“A kettle?!”

“So you know what it is.”

“Aileron, I’d appreciate it if you could make a ceramic kettle similar to that! Please!”

This is precisely what’s most suitable for brewing tea!

I want you to make two separate teapots for green tea and black tea accordingly!

The purpose may be the same, but it’s all about the ambiance! I want to use them in different settings, in Japanese and Western styles!

“Of course. That was my plan when I showed you this kettle. It’s a must-have for the tea you brew! Not an all-around item, but a special one, customized to every last detail!”

In other words, a ceramic teapot to extract the ingredients from the tea leaves and to the water!

“But that’s not enough to solve this problem. The containers in which the tea is poured—the cups!” 

Aileron is on fire.

She, a professional potter, wants to harmonize her works to match the food perfectly.

This must be an artisan’s saga!

“Teapots and teacups! Yes, we need them both!”

I’ve been so busy procuring tea that I haven’t paid much attention to other related aspects, but now that tea is finally ready, I have to take care of the other stuff too!

“Okay, Aileron. Can I count on you to produce a set of utensils for the tea?”

“Naturally! That’s why I called you here. Leave everything pottery-related to me! I will surely elevate your tea aesthetics to first-class!”

Since Aileron’s pottery skills and ambition have reached peak levels, we can rest assured that she’ll create something amazing.

I just hope she won’t go too far...

“There are many things I want you to make! First, a green tea set!”

“Green tea?”

“It’s different from the tea we drank yesterday! We need a teapot, teacups...and saucers!”

A teacup saucer is like a Japanese coaster that you place under the teacup.

“I’d like a tea caddy too, but they’re usually made of metal, aren’t they? I understand you only make ceramics, so...”

That’s about it for green tea, so let’s move on to the next step.

“Black tea!”

“That’s the one we drank yesterday, isn’t it? Leave it to me, I already have the image in my head!”

As expected of Aileron, her mind is always occupied with making ceramics.

All we need for black tea is an afternoon tea set, so that’s cups, saucers, and a teapot.

And if we had a container to hold the sweets, our farm would be perfectly English.

King Arthur! Robin Hood! 007!

“I didn’t know there were that many! I’m itching to work on a big project after so long...!”

Aileron lets out a laugh, her urge to create overflowing.

“Oh, before I forget, there’s one more thing I want you to make.”

“You still have more? There’s a limit to what I can do at a time, so if there’s too much, I won’t be able to get around to it.”

Well, just work on them as you go...

After green tea and black tea, the next thing I want to refine is matcha.

“A matcha tea set!”

The characteristic chawan!

A tea jar to store the matcha!

A chasen! A chashaku! A fukusa!

All of these things make up a complete set of tea utensils!

The environment for drinking matcha tea is, in essence, a tea ceremony, huh?

“What do you think, Aileron? Can you do it?”

The moment I asked her, Aileron’s eyes seemed to have gone blank and then exploded!

“The Big Bang?!”

The universe was born in Aileron’s eyes!

I see. She has long reached an artistic level in pottery and has been striving to create more beautiful and sublime works of art.

But the origin of those can be found in the tea ceremony!

A chawan with the price that could build an entire castle, become an important cultural asset, or maybe even be branded as a national treasure!

Aileron has already created many famous ceramics in this world. Her works are traded at high prices and have made her a fortune.

What would happen if she made tea utensils that have been considered priceless for generations?

Would they also become a national treasure?!

“Um... Aileron? On second thought, you don’t have to make all of them... A set of utensils for green tea and black tea should suffice...!”

I chickened out at the last minute.

Besides, it’s not like I know anything about tea ceremonies.

“No can do!”

Alas, Aileron is not backing down.

The Big Bang has already occurred inside her, and a new universe has been born!

“I don’t understand everything right now, but... I think I’ve found the most rewarding job of my life! I’ve made thousands of plates and bowls, and all the skills I’ve developed will be used to make teacups from now on! I just know it!”

I think I just awakened a side of her I shouldn’t have.

All I wanted was to have tea in this world. And yet, why do I find myself on the verge of changing it and creating a brand-new world?!

A mixed universe of tea, vessels, and etiquette created by Aileron!

“Let’s do it! Let’s make those utensils necessary to drink that matcha! I, Aileron, will see through this project with my pride as an artisan on the line!”

Will this cause an otherwordly revolution in tea ceremonies?