Lunch is over, and the crowd has calmed down.

Tori and Letty can take a break first.

''Yes.''

My mother takes care of the reception desk for the sparse number of travelers coming in, so Letty and I take a break without hesitation.

From the first floor to the fourth floor, we go up the stairs to our family living space.

I prepare a cup of hot water, a cup of tea and a tea pod, and Lettie carefully takes out the tea leaves from deep inside the cabinet.

'That's great! Mom, you have hidden them that deep! I mean, how does Lettie know?

'I found Mom drinking it a while ago. She gave it to me to keep me quiet. Then she moved her stash to a new place, but I thought it might be here because of her personality.

Hmmm... As well as your mother who hid the tea leaves so well, Letty who easily found out where they were hidden is terrifying. Mom, you changed the hiding place after Letty found it. .......

Letty takes the tea leaves and sits down on the chair and puts the cup I prepared on the table.

Then I pressed a button on the lid of the grimoire, the stone lit up with a pale light blue light, and when I tilted it, hot water poured into the cup.

It's very convenient, no matter how many times I see it. Just one push of a button and hot water comes out immediately.

That's right. Thanks to this, I can drink hot water anytime I want.

This season is spring, but they will come in handy as the weather gets colder. It is wonderful to be able to drink hot water immediately without having to make a fire in the cold.

In the past when we had many convenient home appliances, but in this world where science is not so advanced, it is quite rare. I am sure that only a well-to-do family, a merchant's family, or an aristocrat's family would be able to afford it.

We should be grateful to Natalia for giving us such a thing.

I mean, brother, why are you pouring hot water when you haven't even put in the tea leaves?

'Oh, this is to make the tea taste better.

''What do you mean?

When I say this, Letty tilts her head curiously.

This morning I asked Michal for some tips on how to make a cup of tea taste better. He said it's better to warm the cup with hot water first.

'Why do you bother to heat up the cup?

If the cup is left cold, the temperature of the tea drops drastically. This will ruin the aroma and flavor of the tea.

'Oh, I see.

I have a vague idea of what it is, but I don't know all the details. Letty stared into her cup as she replied.

Well, it is hard to understand unless you are a tea drinker like Michal.

Of course I have had tea in my previous life, but only in coffee shops, drink bars, or instant tea.

I never drank tea by straining it from the leaves like this.

I vaguely knew that it was good to warm the cup, but I had no idea why until Michal taught me.

I filled the teapot with hot water in the same way and warmed it up for a while.

Leti, put the tea leaves in the teapot.

'Yes, sir.'

I asked her to do so, and Lettie put the tea leaves in my cup.

I asked her, "Just so I understand, did she tell you how much?

'My mom said it's the way I like it. I'm copying the way it was before.'

What's your preference? ...... Well, in the end, what you like is what's best for you. It doesn't look like it's too much.

After Lettie finishes making the tea leaves, I pour hot water into the teapot with my magic tool.

I tell her that it is good to pour the hot water with a lot of force. I heard that this makes the tea leaves bounce around and gives it more flavor and taste.

'Oh, great. The tea leaves are bouncing.

Smiling at Lettie's curious look, I quickly put the lid on the teapot.

The rest is done in two and a half to three minutes for fine tea leaves and three to four minutes for large leaves. Since the tea leaves seem to be fine, I turn over the three-minute hourglass on the table.

All you have to do is to wait until the sand is all gone. Letty and I stare at the teapot.

The tea leaves are moving again!

It's kind of cute, like a living thing.

Even after pouring hot water into the teapot, the tea leaves sometimes move up and down.

They look like cute creatures and are fun to watch.

After a little time, the floating tea leaves go down to the bottom of the teapot at once.

Wow, tea leaves are falling.

Lettie exclaims in amazement as she looks at the falling tea leaves.

The way the leaves are falling in the amber water is like watching a slow replay of falling leaves in autumn. Letty and I continue to watch in silence, gazing at this somewhat fantastic scene.

'Big brother, the sand is falling. Or rather, your eyes are in trouble.

'What? Oh, it's true. The sand is falling.

I stood there for a while observing, and before I knew it, three minutes had passed.

But when it's over, the cup of hot water used to heat the water is thrown away because it gets in the way. I feel a little wasted, perhaps because I have been struggling so hard to make hot water.

'Okay, I'll make tea.

'Yes, please!

I lift the teapot and quickly pour the tea into Letty's cup.

When I have brewed a certain amount of tea, I pour it into my cup.

Why don't you brew it all at once?

'Because if you brew it all at once on one side, the tea won't be evenly thick.

As expected, you don't need to ask Michal about this. If you keep pouring it into only one side, it will be uneven.

'Hmmm, big brother, you could open a tea store, couldn't you?

'As you can see, this much is impossible. There are many kinds of tea, and the way to brew each kind is different.

But it might not be a bad idea to master the art of tea brewing and open a small coffee shop. It would be more relaxing than working as an innkeeper. But it would require a lot of effort and knowledge, and it would take a lot of preparation.

'Well, the most important thing is the taste.

Lettie says this with a wry smile and pours out the last drop.

Just two cups of tea have been emptied and filled.

'Okay, that's it,' Lettie said with a wry smile. Shall we drink it then?

'Yes!

When the tea has been poured, they reach for each other's cups.

As we pulled our cups closer together to prevent them from spilling, a tantalizing smell tickled our nostrils. It was not strong enough to make me feel a rush in the back of my throat, but the aroma seemed to be stronger.

I enjoy the savory smell of the tea and slowly sip the cup.



The taste of warm black tea spreads in the mouth. The flavor spread to the back of my throat, and when I swallowed it, it went right down my throat.

'Oh, maybe it's better than the last one I had with my mother ......?

I wish you could have said it was delicious.

I would have been happy if he hadn't tilted his head at the end.

'Because I don't know, I haven't had tea that much. Do you understand, big brother?

'No, I'm not that good either. ......'

I have had a few of them, including in my previous life, but it is very difficult to say which one tastes better than which. Letty has a good point.

Maybe I should ask Michal to try some next time and see what she thinks.

I am sure Michal has had many kinds of teas, and she would be able to give me an accurate impression.

Even so, it has a strong aroma, but it is easy to drink.

'My mom said she bought it because she liked the aroma.'

Well, that's probably the reason why you choose them in the first place.

Now that Natalia has made it easier for us to enjoy tea, maybe we can pay a little more attention to it in the future.

''With all this good tea, I feel like eating something sweet, like cookies.

'Oh, my mom and I ate the cookies last time. ...... but I'll see if I can find some!

I muttered something casual, and Lettie said something to that effect and started to move.

Lettie went through the same shelves as the tea leaves and pulled out different shelves. Then, after a short pause for thought, she went to the bottom shelf and pulled out a small wooden box.

Letty opens the lid silently and smiles.

I knew it! I thought, since it's your mother's thing, you'd have it well restocked.'

You were tracing my mother's thoughts when you were pondering earlier. Letty, you're a terrible girl.

Let's have this one too!

'I'm all for that, but will it be okay if they find out?'

'What? What's the problem when something that doesn't exist is gone?''

'...... that's true too. I don't see anything wrong with that.

No one would make a fuss about the loss of something they don't know about. Because we never had cookies or tea leaves in the first place.

The smell of tea! Hey, hey, hey! Letty! Tori! You're drinking my tea!