Chapter 29 – Chewing gums

After the tea, Princess Mere went in search of Nozomu, to see what he was up to. The entire court followed her along the corridors, in the direction of the kitchen. A servant quickly opened the doors for her, and the Princess entered, and the smell of chocolate being cooked reached her nose and made her smile. A cook’s assistant bowed to her, and answering her question about what was happening in there and what was that strange and delicious smell, he guided her along the large kitchen, in the direction of a line of stoves.

Taisetsuna was looking around, amazed by the size of that kitchen and the equipment available. In the middle of the kitchen, there was a long counter, with five assistants occupied in several tasks. One was choosing the best looking cocoa seeds, two were turning the seeds into powder, and the others were either filling bowls with cocoa powder or bringing more bags with cocoa seeds.

From a door on the left, a servant came with a pushcart full of logs to the stoves, and after a quick bow to the Princess, he went to the stoves that were along the right wall, where a team of almost ten cooks, all dressed in white clothes and white caps covering their heads, were gathered near the stoves, with Nozomu walking back and forth and talking with them, giving indications.

Taisetsuna looked up and saw chimneys going from each stove, and connecting to a bigger chimney that exited through the rooftop. Around the kitchen, enormous windows let the sunlight in, illuminating everything without the need for candles or Magic.

The Princess approached the stoves and looked over the shoulder of one of her cooks, and smiled. The cook noticed that someone was near him, and thinking it was Nozomu, he asked, “What do you think, Nozomu? To me, it looks like it’s ready to taste.”

The Princess’ voice made him jolt, “I also think the same, Master Cook. Can I try this pot? The smell is divine!”

The cook made a quick bow, and grabbed a wooden spoon and took a tiny portion from the pot and gave it to the Princess, his face all red from nervousness caused by his blunder. She took the spoon and after a few blows to lower the temperature, she tasted the chocolate. After licking the spoon completely, she smiled at the nervous cook and questioned, “This tastes different from the chocolate I ate in the Throne Room. Why is that?”

“Nozomu told us to put the same basic ingredients in every pot, and he then chose from the pantry one different ingredient for each pot. We are cooking ten different varieties as he called them. This one has Rambutan juice.”

“You mean, that white mushy fruit that I love so much? No wonder this tastes so amazing! And this one?”

The Princess went to the stove on her right, and the cook in front of it gave her a spoon as well. She tasted a bit from every pot and in the end, her eyes were glowing and she was smiling at Nozomu, who was standing near her, waiting for her opinion. “Nozomu, I like all of them! I don’t even know which one is my favourite! They need to cool down after covering the ‘crackers’, right?”

To answer her, Nozomu took a cup and filled it with the liquid chocolate that was on a counter and offered it to her, saying, “This one is supposed to be a hot beverage. It has more milk, that’s why it is so liquid. I call this ‘Hot Chocolate’. Take a sip, I am sure you will like it.”

The Princess looked at the steamy chocolate inside the cup and after smelling it, she blew it a couple of times and carefully, she took a sip. Her eyes opened wide and she took a few gulps, licking her lips in the end. “This tastes divine! Nozomu, this is my favourite drink now! I always liked tea, but this ‘Hot Chocolate’, is amazing!”

“I already told your cooks that depending on the ingredients mixed, this drink can also have different flavours. On that counter, we already have some ‘crackers’ enveloped in chocolate. One bowl filled with each batch on the stoves. But because it’s chocolate, you need to wash your teeth after eating or drinking so much. Or…”

A cook quickly went to one counter and brought a small bowl with something wrapped in dark green leaves of ‘Fool’s Death’, about thumb size. Nozomu took one and unwrapped the leaf, letting the Princess take a good look at the light green chewing gum inside. He pointed at it and explained, “A rubbery leaf carefully melted inside a copper pot, mixed with disinfectant and fruit juice. We made four varieties, to test different fruits and to see which ones tasted better. This is the most voted one.”

The Princess grabbed the tiny cube and frowned at it. “What do we do with this? We swallow it?”

“No, you just chew it, use different teeth to smash it, but you don’t swallow it. When it loses its flavour, you can either continue chewing it or throw it away because it has done its job. We also found out that the ‘Scaraar’ likes to eat chewing gum that has lost its flavour. We gave the ones that lost flavour to the ‘Scaraar’ outside, and they went nuts with it, so there is no need to throw the used chewing gums into the trash, considering they like it so much. And if you excuse me…”

Nozomu approached the Princess and gently blew his breath into her nose, making her smile and saying, “You smell like fruit, Nozomu! And you say this also cleans our teeth?”

Nozomu opened his mouth wide, and let the Princess check his teeth. Not even one bit of chocolate or a crumb was there, and she tapped her chin, thinking. “This is indeed very handy. Let me try this one.”

She took the unwrapped gum and munched it with her mouth open, and Nozomu slowly shook his head. “No, mouth closed, Princess, no one needs to see what you have in there. And with slow bites, you don’t need to tire your jaw by biting so hard. Slow bites, mouth closed, moving the gum in your mouth by using your tongue, but be careful not to bite your tongue. I know it is a little strange, but you get used to it in no time and it will become natural to you.”

The Princess kept on munching, while Nozomu and the cooks were pouring samples of ‘Hot Chocolate’ for the Nobles to taste, and a cook’s assistant walked among them, letting them take one chewing gum for them to clean their teeth in the end.

They all became impressed not only with the ‘Hot Chocolate’, but also with the chocolates that were ready and they could taste. The chewing gum was also a success, with several Nobles asking Nozomu for the recipe for everything they tasted. He raised his right hand, asking for them to calm down, and explained, “The Royal Cooks know how to do this, but they are bound by the contract I signed with the Princess after lunch, to keep these methods a secret. I am deeply sorry, but I am also bound by that contract, so I can’t tell any of you how to do this. If you want to buy chocolates or chewing gum, very soon it will be available in other Cities besides Ourelona, and the Princess will definitely have them at her disposal, every day. Since you are members of her court, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to taste all this. I bet that very soon more people will try to make this, but I advise everyone to be careful. Making this without knowing how can lead to some disgusting products.”

The Nobles weren’t very pleased about not having their wishes granted, considering they were used to getting everything they wanted, but they couldn’t go against a Royal Contract, at least if they wanted to keep their heads over their shoulders.

Taisetsuna was munching chewing gum when suddenly she blinked a few times, and she quickly spat the gum into her hand, frowning. The Princess noticed her puzzled look, and asked, “What is the matter, Taisetsuna? You didn’t like it?”

“I like, but… Nozo, I think this works differently for Beast-kind! I was starting to feel a warm fuzzy on my body, and I was sure I would be able to beat the crap of every Royal Guard in this Castle! It’s like… I don’t know how to explain this!”

From behind her, a tall Noble, a Dog-kind, snorted, “As if you could conquer the entire World and you lost all your fear, right?”

Everyone looked at the Noble, and he was flexing his arms while chewing, showing off his muscles and smiling. He looked around and grinned, “So, who is the first that wishes to challenge me? Come on, don’t be shy, I can take you all at the same time, no need to come at me one at a time! Ahahahah!”

Nozomu approached the grinning man and asked, “You were very quiet in the Throne Room, and you didn’t speak a word until now. Are you, like, feeling courageous and able to defeat anyone?”

“That is correct, young one! I feel like the most powerful man in the World and no one can defeat me!”

Nozomu opened his right palm and spoke, “May I ask you to spit your chewing gum? If you are going to fight, it’s better if you are not chewing, or you could choke by accident.”



“Yes, that is a very good point! Here!”

The Noble gave the gum to Nozomu and swallowed the last bit of flavour in his mouth, still smiling widely. Nozomu smiled back and said, “Thank you, but now I am curious, do you feel anything different? And by the way, you do look terrifying, anyone would be a fool to challenge you!”

“Yes, young one, they sure would! Ahahah...Ahah…”

The Dog-kind Noble stopped laughing and looked around, suddenly realizing how he was acting and he stuttered, “I… I am s-sorry Princess, I just…”

Nozomu made a slight bow and apologized, “I am deeply sorry for this, I had no idea chewing gum would have any kind of effect on Beast-kind.”

He then faced Princess Mere, sudden realization in his eyes, “Princess, chewing gums will be amazing for Beast-kind Adventurers or soldiers! It seems they serve as a courage boost! If even a calm and polite Dog-kind Noble turned into a warrior, imagine the effect on…”

Princess Mere grabbed one still wrapped chewing gum from the pot on the counter near her, and spoke while looking at it, “This can be very useful indeed! My soldiers would become fearless! A Party of Adventurers going on a dangerous Quest, not worrying about anything, except defeating the Monsters they are up against! Nozomu, we need to make a contract for this and I don’t want you teaching anyone how to make chewing gums! I will gather a team of cooks to make them so that my soldiers can have them for free, and I will send bags with chewing gum to every Adventurer’s Guild in the country, to be given to Adventurers when they need a boost.”

“I suppose I can do that, it’s all a matter of coins like Takanari said.”

The Princess put her hands over Nozomu’s shoulders and she almost shouted while she was shaking him, “Stop grinning, you fool, I am not kidding! This is far too important to be released to the general public! Do you have any idea what this could cause if other countries put their hands on it? The Empire would move their troops the next day, with their Beast-kind soldiers fuelled by chewing gum! Soldiers and Mages who would feel unbeatable if they had to go up against ten of my soldiers and Mages! Do you have any idea how dangerous such a soldier is?”

That was enough to make everyone in the kitchen freeze. Nozomu slowly nodded, feeling the fingernails of the Princess piercing his flesh, even over his clothes, a clear indication of how nervous she was. “I think I understand what you are saying, Princess. I am sorry, I didn’t think about such possibilities. I just thought chewing gum would be good to clean the teeth. I never… It was not my intention to upset you...”

The Princess took a slow deep breath and let him go while explaining, “As long as you understand now, it’s alright. Maybe you can make something similar but without this side-effect, because it is indeed an easy way to clean our teeth. Perhaps there is an ingredient that causes this boost in courage, or it’s a combination of everything. For the time being, let’s go to my office. We need to put this in writing as quickly as possible. Everyone, please spit out the chewing gums and put on the counter the ones that are still wrapped. Master Cook, collect the gums and ask a Royal Guard to put them in a safe room.”