Just by showing her the frying pan I made, Kurumi looked like her soul had left her body.
"This doesn't look promising for the future. Can you put the sugar in here for me?"
I handed Kurumi a small wooden plate I took from my coat pocket.
"Wh… what are you going to do?"
"I told you earlier. We're making sweets with just water and sugar."
It was finally time to unleash that new job.
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Leopin
Job: Stonemason → Pastry Chef
Job Skills
Western Baked Goods
Creates baked sweets from the western countries
Eastern Baked Goods
Creates baked sweets from the eastern countries
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"All right, since I have the Eastern 'Baked Goods' skill, we should be fine."
While speaking, I poured water from the leather waterskin in my pocket into the frying pan.
For some reason, Kurumi looked apologetic and bowed her head.
"I-I'm sorry! Because I said there's no way you can make sweets with just sugar and water…
But but, it's true! With only sugar and water, you can't make sweets…"
"Why do you think that? I'm not angry or anything. Just give me the sugar."
"Y-yes…"
Trembling, Kurumi poured the sugar from the paper bag onto the wooden plate.
It almost looked like I was threatening her, which made me feel a bit bad.
In the meantime, I lit a fire using the "Hiroeda Fire Starter" and added firewood to the "Forest Stone Stove" in the cooking area.
Kurumi, watching this, once again forgot herself.
"Eh… ehh…? N-no way…? You lit the fire so easily…!?
Without even using matches, like… like magic…!?"
"If you keep getting surprised by every little thing, this is going to be tough. The sugar?"
"Y-yes!"
I took the plate of sugar she nervously offered and poured it into the frying pan filled with water.
I stirred it with a wooden spoon to make sugar water.
Kurumi watched the frying pan with a disappointed expression, as if thinking "It really is just sugar water."
Then an idea suddenly came to me.
"Right, since we're at it, we should probably have that too."
Once I get an idea, I can't stop, so I lowered the fire and stepped away from the stove.
"W-we're in the middle of cooking! Wh-what are you doing now?"
"It'll only take a moment."
The reason I stepped away from the stove was to keep wood shavings from getting into the frying pan.
And if we're talking about wood shavings, then of course the next job is "Woodworker."
While changing jobs, I took out a scrap of "Gisu Timber" from my pocket.
The moment I pulled out the "Large Boar Knife," Kurumi let out a small "Hii!" and stepped back.
But the instant she saw the woodworking taking shape in my hands, her cheeks flushed pink.
She had been backing away just moments ago, but now she inched closer.
It was exactly like a stray kitten that had been scared of a human suddenly approaching when food was offered.
"Th-that… could it be…!?"
"Yes, it's exactly what you think."
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Small Gisu Candy Mold
Quantity: 10
Quality Level: 33 (Material Level 12 + Dexterity Bonus 6 + Job Bonus 15)
Small candy molds made from Gisu wood.
Thanks to the various bonuses, shaped candies can be removed cleanly.
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The moment she picked up the heart- and star-shaped wooden frames, Kurumi once again had that dreamy expression.
"Waaah… so cute…!"
But she quickly snapped back to reality.
The next instant, she reacted as if I were some kind of monster and stepped back again.
"You can do stonework and woodworking too…
And what you made looks even higher quality than the ones sold at the school store…
How can someone as amazing as Leopin-san… be in the 'Special Training Class'…?"
"Who knows? Ask the principal and vice-principal about that. All right, I need the mold, so can you hand it over?"
"Y-yes… Um, um um, what exactly are you going to use the candy mold for…?"
"To pour the current mixture into it and shape it, of course."
"Eh? Are you going to shape the sugar water…?
Even if you do that, sugar water is still just sugar water…"
"Just watch."
The sugar water in the frying pan had boiled down to the perfect consistency.
I lifted the frying pan and poured it evenly into the candy molds.
"Now we just let it cool for about 5 minutes and it's done."
"Um, um um, even if you cool it… sugar water is still sugar water… Eh?"
When the hardened, translucent shapes popped out of the molds, Kurumi's mouth hung open in shock.
She caught the pieces in her hands and couldn't stop her astonishment.
"Eh, eh eh eh!? Eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh eh!?!?"
She cried out as if she were suffocating.
"Th-this… this this this… what on earth is this sweet!?"
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Gekkou Candy
Quantity: 8
Quality Level: 25 (Material Level 4 + Dexterity Bonus 6 + Job Bonus 15)
A simple candy made by boiling sugar and water.
Thanks to the various bonuses, it doesn't get sticky when touched.
It has a perfect sweetness that makes you feel happy when you eat it.
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"It's a candy from the eastern countries.
Among pastry chefs in the east, it's said to be 'the smallest yet greatest sweet.'
The basic ingredients are only two, but that means you can create infinite variations with other ingredients."
Kurumi stared at the pale yellow candy as if it were a jewel sparkling in moonlight.
"So beautiful…! To think you can make such a pretty sweet with only sugar and water…!"
"The taste is simple but not bad. Try it."
"Y-yes! Itadakimasu!"
Kurumi took a bite of the heart-shaped "Gekkou Candy."
"Oh… it's so goooooooooddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd!!!?!?"
The next instant, her entire body flushed red as if every part of her had turned into a heart.
Hearts seemed to be leaking out of her as they floated up from all over her body.
Still in that excited state, she suddenly stepped back from me again.
Her face looked like her entire head had turned into a mouth as she panicked.
"N-no way, no way no way! To think you can make such a delicious sweet with only sugar and water…!?
Le… Leopin-san, just what kind of person are you…!?
Stonework! Woodwork! Fire-starting and now sweets! You can do anything, and everything perfectly…!?
How can someone this amazing exist in this world…!?
And on top of that, why are you in the 'Special Training Class'!?!?"
She finally fell into a state of shock and collapsed with a "Batan!"