At lunchtime, there was only Riveria the elf in the shop, which was a bit quiet.
Although Ritsuka's place is called a 'Dessert Shop', it actually sells staple foods, but only for one hour each morning, noon, and evening; once the time passes, they aren't sold anymore.
Essentially, it is still mainly desserts and snacks.
Because of her outstanding physical fitness, Riveria, who wasn't very hungry, ate the cake in small bites. Her every move was full of elegance; the air of elven royalty was almost ingrained in her bones.
Digging another spoonful of strawberry cake, Riveria felt a bit moved. "So delicious..."
It was no worse than what was made by the dessert shops inside the Tower of Babel. After tasting it, Riveria gave it a very high evaluation.
Given that the raw materials weren't outstanding, this was a matter of personal ability.
Moreover, in terms of price, the 'Emiya Family's Dessert Shop' won completely.
Clearly, in terms of cooking, Emiya Ritsuka had an outstanding talent, the specific reason for which was unknown to others.
"I'm glad you like it." Ritsuka nodded with a smile. Her mood was quite good after being recognized. "Right, this is for you, consider it a gift for a new customer."
The freshly baked snacks were scooped out by Ritsuka, and a small portion was separated and put into an oil-paper bag.
Subsequently, it was gently placed into Riveria's hands.
"Eh, what is this?"
The fragrance overflowed. Riveria, having finished her strawberry cake, sniffed it and revealed a curious expression.
"Red bean cream flavored fried potato balls. In a sense, it's a technique I'stole' from a master, so please don't tell anyone."
Previously, while wandering outside, Ritsuka had bought some fried potato balls at a roadside stall where the Goddess Hestia worked. After eating them and finding them good, she had'stolen' the technique.
Of course, she wouldn't sell them to others; she would at most make them for herself.
"Thank you, I will savor it properly."
Opening the oil-paper bag, Riveria used chopsticks to pick out a piece while it was still hot and, under Ritsuka's expectant gaze, popped it into her mouth.
A trace of mischief flashed in Ritsuka's eyes.
"Mmph..."
The freshly fried potato balls naturally had a high temperature. Caught off guard, Riveria's expression changed drastically.
"Pfft, hahahaha..."
Although Ritsuka hadn't received professional training, with her tenacious willpower, no matter what situation she encountered, she could naturally control herself not to laugh.
Unless she couldn't help it...
Riveria's cheeks flushed slightly, and she reached out to punch Ritsuka. The fist of the Lv6 Orario's No. 1 Mage had no effect.
While dodging, Ritsuka laughed even more happily.
"Stop, stop it, catch this."
Her fingers slid across the shelf, bypassing a bottle of original mapo water, and she picked up a bottle of fruit wine.
Riveria didn't stand on ceremony either; she decisively took it, opened the cap, and began to soothe the pain in her mouth. The small bottle of fruit wine was empty in the blink of an eye.
To tell the truth, if it weren't for maintaining her persona as a non-Adventurer and wanting to further observe the personality of the girl in front of her, Riveria would have definitely used magic just now to hammer this bad girl into the floor.
The disturbance subsided. Ritsuka, having had her bit of fun, was very happy and began to prepare her own lunch.
She took out some remaining mapo tofu, heated it up, added a handful of noodles, put in some soy sauce, and finally took out the No. 1 Modified mapo water and poured it in.
Carrying her reinforced soy sauce ramen, Ritsuka began to enjoy it.
The bowl was full of bright red noodle soup and tofu. Because of the addition of the right crispiness, the flavor was quite good. Ritsuka, eating the noodles quickly, did not notice Riveria's slight swallowing motion and her look of surprise and great shock.
Was that... hell?
That porcelain bowl was churning like a volcano. The fiery sensation was already entangling her even without touching it.
Blood red, blood red...
"Excuse me... is this..."
Riveria's voice was trembling slightly.
Ritsuka glanced at Riveria, her face filled with confusion and strange suspicion, as if she thought eating this bowl of noodles was no big deal.
"mapo tofu ramen."
"Where are the noodles?"
Clearly, Riveria had never seen noodles like mapo tofu ramen before.
Ritsuka immediately stirred with her chopsticks and lifted a clump of noodles from the bottom of the bowl. "There, aren't these noodles?"
[mapo tofu ramen, a total of six characters. Two-thirds of it relates to mapo tofu. It's very obvious which is more important; the noodles are just a garnish.]
The above content was said by Father Mapo, Kirei Kotomine.
Ritsuka herself still preferred eating noodles, so she put in a bit more when cooking them, but not much, just a little.
She wasn't exactly a big eater; she couldn't eat too much.
The slurping sounds echoed in the shop. The corners of Riveria's mouth twitched uncontrollably. She was actually starting to doubt her own judgment.
Not only is the girl before me mysterious, but her personal tastes are also really weird!
"Riveria..."
Caught off guard by being called, Riveria shuddered. "W-what is it?"
Ritsuka didn't speak, just silently watched her, her gaze shifting between the bowl in front of her and Riveria's eyes.
"You've been staring at this, are you interested in it...? I'll get you a bowl too."
"Eh eh!! That, no need, really no need..."
...
A few minutes later, Riveria, sitting in the corner, tremblingly picked up her chopsticks.
In front of her was the improved version of mapo ramen, with half the spiciness of the original, but with the numbing and fragrant qualities enhanced.
Having witnessed Kishua's disaster, Ritsuka had never made the original version for anyone else.
That old man named Kishua was very strong; he could give Ritsuka a sense of fatal danger, something Riveria couldn't even come close to. In terms of Ritsuka's own assessment, Kishua Zelretch Schweinorg was undoubtedly the strongest person she had ever met.
Even a person like that couldn't handle the original mapo tofu noodles.
Unless a god of this world wanted to challenge it, or she herself was craving it, the original version would probably be hard to see the light of day again.
Of course, the mapo water used was the original...
Cold sweat slid quietly down Riveria's cheek. The roiling red spiciness before her eyes stung, so she quietly cast a non-chanting magic on herself. It wasn't strong, but it should be enough to resist the spiciness.
'Fully' prepared, Riveria picked up a mouthful of noodles and put them into her mouth.
"So spicy!! Even spicier than I expected, it's a flash-before-my-eyes kind of spicy!!"
The pre-cast magic had an effect. Riveria's expression changed, but she didn't collapse immediately.
Under Ritsuka's 'wow' of surprise, her arm stiffened like a machine, and she picked up another mouthful of noodles, eating it along with a big scoop of tofu.
Riveria's fingers suddenly froze.
Her fingers slipped, the chopsticks dropped, and the bowl flew off. At the same time, the magic became meaningless. The Elven royalty collapsed onto the table in front of her, her forehead making a crisp sound as it collided with the wooden table.
The noodle bowl tumbled slightly in the air before landing upside down on Riveria's head...
"Riveria!?"
"...Mouth... my mouth and stomach feel like they're burning, a volcano is exploding in my stomach... I'm dying..."
After finishing her 'last words', Riveria went still.