“So this was all some lousy trick!”
I had a feeling Beelzebub had been growing increasingly sinister lately. She seemed more and more like a regular demon…
The girls, incidentally, had already received event guides from the demons at the reception counter.
“This is quite a big event. How fascinating.”
“It seems plant research has come pretty far~! Maybe we can see some funny apples~”
“Apples are vivisected simply because they grow delicious fruit. How terrible. You have to be careful about such things, or you’ll only suffer. Meanwhile, other plants add too much poison to their leaves to keep the insects away, only to be sought out for medicinal purposes. Balance is key.”
Sandra seemed to see things a little differently than the other two. However, all of them appeared to be taking an interest in the event.
“…Well, all right. Now that the elder god has been taken care of, go ahead and show the kids how impressive you are as the agricultural minister.”
“Aye. That’s the idea!”
I guess I’ll let Beelzebub take the reins today.
The ceiling of the exhibit hall was very high.
Inside, rows and rows of temporary booths had been constructed from wooden boards.
“This feels like an expo (from when I used to live in Japan)…”
These things were probably the same everywhere. The US, China—all the expos I’d seen on the news looked just like this, and I bet that was true no matter where you went on Earth.
“It’s not just like an expo, it is an expo,” explained Beelzebub. “Farmers and researchers have brought along all sorts of things related to apples. It may be large, but it’s only a single hall. I doubt any of us will get lost, so you are free to roam as you please.”
As Beelzebub spoke, there came a crunching noise from behind us.
Laika and Flatorte were testing out some of the sample apples.
“It is a bit sweeter than normal, which is nice. The aftertaste is very refreshing as well.”
“Mm, tashty.”
That was fast… The dragons always seemed in their element when it came to taste-testing…
“They have quite the appetites, don’t they?” Beelzebub sounded astonished. “There are a number of booths providing samples, so they are free to eat as much as they like.”
Falfa and Shalsha also reacted to the word samples.
“Miss Beelzebub, is there a place providing apple pie?”
“Shalsha wants some apple jam. Jam does not necessarily have to go on bread. It has all sorts of uses.”
“Aye, yes, there is such a place. You are both VIPs, so there is no need to worry. I shall ensure you are brought freshly baked apple pie!”
That sounded like an abuse of power to me.
There was a proud grin on Beelzebub’s face. I hoped she wouldn’t spoil the children too much.
That said, the chance to try a variety of apple-based cuisine wasn’t such a bad prospect. That was probably why Beelzebub had invited us.
“Last week, they held the cedar improvement exhibition. ’Twas not exciting at all…”
“That does sound boring.”
“Someone was developing a cedar tree that gives off fifty times more pollen than normal.”
“Were they making a weapon to kill humans with allergies?!”
The booth right in front of us had little sample cups lined up in rows, with an amber-colored liquid inside.
“Oh, apple juice samples! Don’t mind if I do!”
We hadn’t had anything to drink on the carriage ride over, and this was just the thing to quench my thirst. I gulped the whole sample down at once.
It was super sour.
“Whoa! It’s burning my throat! It’s like fire!”
“That is apple vinegar. You must drink it slowly, otherwise you will choke.”
The possibility it might be vinegar hadn’t even crossed my mind…
It was actually quite good if you didn’t knock it back in one swallow, and it was well-received by the rest of the family.
“Oh, this is lovely! I feel a little more sober than before. Apple vinegar, huh? I bet this would sell.”
Halkara’s reaction was fitting of the president of Halkara Pharmaceuticals, and she handed what looked like a business card to the person at the booth.
“I didn’t think she’d be doing business here… I guess anything can count as work when you lead a company…”
I bet creative careers like hers were less tiring and stressful than other jobs, and what I’d seen of Halkara’s daily routine seemed to back that up.
“Halkara seems busy, so let’s move on without her.”
Beelzebub was showing a clear preference for the girls over Halkara, but the latter’s business talks might take some time, so leaving her behind was probably for the best. And if we just stood there behind them, the person she was talking to was sure to start wondering what was going on.
That said, there was a chance that Halkara might cause trouble. In fact, she was much more likely to cause a huge problem than the girls.
“Hey, Rosalie? I hate to ask this of you, but could you check in on Halkara every once in a while and report back to me?”
“Sure! You go and have fun, Big Sis. I got nothing to eat, so I’ll keep watch!”
Rosalie saluted me and flew off toward Halkara.
This was an apple exhibition, after all, so there were bound to be more samples ahead of us. Rosalie, then, would be our best bet for watching Halkara.
I kept watch over my daughters from behind. Beelzebub took the lead, followed by Falfa, who in turn was followed by Shalsha, with Sandra at the very back.
I had to give Beelzebub credit. She was really in her element. I certainly had no explanations or commentary to offer in this situation.
“Wow, it really is all apples, Miss Beelzebub~! ”
“Indeed, indeed~! The demon lands are generally quite cool, so they are perfectly suited for apples. I, too, have done all I can to widen the crop’s possibilities.”
I decided to let Beelzebub show off today. She should have her moment in the sun.
Shalsha, who had been walking behind Falfa, patted her sister on the shoulder.
“Sis, there’s a very yellow apple over there. I have never seen a variety like that before.”
Just as she said, there was a booth with apples in a shade of bright yellow, which was not a very apple color. There were slices laid out for sampling, so it couldn’t have been because they were unripe.
“Ah yes, those apples were developed by a team researching new varieties at the ministry. They spent a long time on—”
Beelzebub was giving her spiel, but it seemed to me it would be faster to simply try them.
“Let’s see!” I took a sample slice and tossed it into my mouth.
My reaction was immediate.
“This tastes like oranges!”
The texture was still apple-ish, but it tasted one hundred percent like an orange… My mind was in chaos…
“My explanation was cut short due to one impatient individual, I see. ’Tis an apple modified to taste like an orange. It is not easy to produce oranges here in the demon lands, so this gives the consumer an option for casual enjoyment.”
“Is it really that easy to modify fruits…?”
“No. I believe the development team worked very hard on this. Though while it was produced in the ministry, ’tis the product of a very specialized team of researchers, so I had no direct involvement.”
Falfa and Shalsha looked puzzled as they sampled the fruits.
“Oh! But Falfa does detect the faint aftertaste of apple behind the orange flavor!”
“This fruit appears outwardly to be an apple yet tastes like an orange—that means the flavor is not what makes an apple an apple. Shalsha doubts it matters much, but when I let it linger in my mouth like this, the orange flavor bleeds into my conception of an apple, and it starts to taste weird…”
What a perplexing fruit.
“Hmph. This apple is another victim of terrible experiments, isn’t it?”
“Sandra, you’re making this all sound really scary. Do you think you could tone it down a little?”
The apples at the neighboring booth were a bright, brilliant red.
“Wow! They’re so pretty, like jewels!”
“How perceptive you are, Falfa~ Those were developed over many years in the remote farmland of the—”
I had a feeling Beelzebub’s explanation was going to drag on forever again, so I went ahead and popped a sample into my mouth.
It was red, so I figured it was probably a regular apple.
But I immediately choked.
“That’s hotttttttttt! Super spicy! My tongue has gone numb!”
“You are too impatient, Azusa! That variety was developed for demons who specifically like very spicy food!”
“I can’t imagine a situation where you’d put apples in a super spicy dish. How are you supposed to use these?!”
“What may seem useless at first glance often leads to innovation. You must never say such things are pointless.”
Now Beelzebub was lecturing me… She was the agricultural minister, after all…
These were the demon lands. They weren’t modifying foods just so that they would taste better. I had to be careful…
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