She Becomes The Hero In Another World 84 She Makes Tea

Robin disregarded the eggs, and took one hash brown, one turnover, and two cinnamon rolls. There was plenty for everyone to have five each, but Robin didn't want to grab more than she could eat. Keeping in mind her recovering stomach, Robin limited her food intake.

One thing she did differently, this time, was to add cream cheese on top of her hash brown, and bite into it, like toast. There's nothing quite like the taste of warm cream cheese. Its mild flavor was exceedingly comforting to the taste. Yet, despite the warmth, it was also mildly refres.h.i.+ng, to the point where it was slightly addictive.

As usual, everyone enjoyed the food, especially the new cream cheese, and the cinnamon rolls. Robin only grabbed one more, before they were all gone.

After breakfast, Robin began to feel a slight ache in her abdomen. Robin was surprised. She didn't think she had eaten enough to get a stomach ache like that.

She excused herself to visit the bathroom.

Believe it or not, the bathroom was also equipped with a magic toilet. It wasn't as modern looking as the one in the castle, but it functioned almost like a regular toilet. Runes were responsible for refilling the water tank, and there was a chain you yanked, instead of a lever that you had to push.

It was during her trip to the bathroom that Robin realized what her stomache ache really was. Robin smacked her forehead. It all made sense now: the cravings, the irritability, the nightmares...Robin's monthly pains had arrived.

She still had some toiletries, enough to last her for this month's episode. But, she needed to consult with Jasmine to see about finding, or making some more, just in case her journey home ended up taking more than a month's time.

As for relieving the symptoms, Robin had plenty of flowers stored away in her magic bag. After she left the bathroom, she sat down at a window to go through her collection. She had picked some more woodland flowers while trying to distract herself during the wyvern dismantling. The best portable remedy was probably a floral tea blend of her own making.

"Let's see...unbloomed dandelion buds would be sweeter, feverfew, violet, elderflower, honeysuckle, cornflower, a few rose petals, oh, lucky! I have some rose hips, too! Too bad hibiscus is in more tropical zones. It makes a lovely tea. Some mint blossoms will help stabilize the flavor, too."

Robin sighed, but she gathered the blossoms into a medium large tea bag. Since she couldn't use magic, she would have to rely upon Jasmine to help her brew the tea. Returning the now-filled tea bag to her magic bag, Robin returned to her company.

Everyone was still exchanging small pleasantries, but upon Robin's return, Christian finally drew their stay to a close.

"The sun is already too high as it is. It is time for us to leave, Mayor Henry." He said.

"You can't stay one more day?" Mayor Henry asked, mind still on the delightful breakfast they had eaten.

"We have already delayed our travels for thre whole days. We must be on our way." Prince Christian refused adamantly. Mayor Henry could only sigh.

"If that is so, then safe travels, Your Highness." Mayor Henry bid in farewell. "But, do feel free to stop here upon your return!"

Christian looked suspiciously at the Mayor, then glanced at the mayor's daughter, whose face was blus.h.i.+ng in earnest as she glanced at Robin. Right then and there, Christian decided definitely not to return using the same route.

"If we are in the area, we will certainly drop by." Christian replied, tactfully, as he entered the carriage. Keith, Robin, Jasmine, and Gerard followed in after him. Upon their ride through the streets, the townsfolk cheered, bidding them good luck and fair travels.

Once they were inside, Robin had Gerard bring some snacks Ponzu had made to eat with Keith and Christian. Robin also made sure that he knew not to come back for a bit. She had to speak to Jasmine about something important.

Gerard, of course, got the hint. Curious, though he was, he didn't want to dissappoint Robin. The biggest factor in his decision, though, was if he made the hero upset, then Robin might not share any more wonderful recipes with them!

Jasmine waited until Gerard had left before raising a sound barrier and asking her.

"Well? what is it?"

Robin felt a bit awkward, but she had to say it.

"Um, my monthly pains have arrived. I need you to help me brew some herbal tea to relieve the symptoms." Robin said, somewhat embara.s.sed.

Jasmine blinked, then laughed.

"So that's why! I thought it might have been something more serious."

"Well, there is that, but, for the meantime; tea." Robin smiled slightly, as she brought out the largish bag of flower tea.

Jasmine's eyes widened a bit.

"How much tea do you intend to make!?" She asked, surprised.

"Enough to outlast my condition." Robin a.s.serted. "But, it doesn't have to be all made at once. All I really need you to make is hot water." Jasmine chuckled, and waved her hand. The nearby teapot was soon filled with steaming hot water.

Robin brought out her portable loose tea ball that she brought everywhere with her. A cute little black cat was the anchor of the ball, designed to fit over the edge of the cup. The mesh metal ball was connected to the cat via a fine chain.

"How cute!" Jasmine could instantly make out the function of this fun little trinket. "It's too bad you aren't planning on staying too long. I'd love to have one of these for myself!"

Robin laughed.

"If I find a way to send you one from my world, you'll be the first person to get one." Robin promised.

"Don't you forget, now!" You promised, after all!" Jasmine said.

~~~~~~~~

While they were talking, Christian, in the carriage's other room, was starting to feel anxious.

"You're sure that Robin only wanted to talk?" He asked.

"Positively certain!" Gerard said, munching on the potato chips Robin had handed him. "He said, 'I've got something confidential I need to speak with Jasmine' he did. I already told you that five minutes ago."

Christian had foregone his share of the potato chips, since his stomach was still stuffed from breakfast. At first, he thought that Robin merely needed to consult with Jasmine about how much longer it would take for his mana source to heal. But they had already taken more than enough time for that. Now he was beginning to get a bad feeling.

"What do you suppose they're talking about?" Christian asked.

Keith shrugged. "Something personal, or something important. Either way, he doesn't want us to hear it for the time being, or else we'd have already been told."

Gerard piped in. "He said, 'confidential', so I guess it's confidential!"

Christian grimaced. There was that word again; confidential...meaning something one can only confide with trusted people. But why did Jasmine have to be that person? Was it so private that he, the Prince, was not worthy of trusting?

Of course, the answer was yes.

-------

"So? We've had the tea. Can you tell me what's bugging you?"

Robin frowned. "It's that Trader guy. How are we going to prevent him from taking over any of us, without our knowing? By now, he probably knows our faces quite well. Yet we are completely in the dark about his own facial features."

"Hmm.." Jasmine considered things. "If I were playing chess, I would have to say, the best defense against a p.a.w.n is another p.a.w.n. The best defense against a queen is another queen. The best defense against a knight, is another knight."

"So, you think that finding another spirit magic master would help us out in the long run?" Robin asked, doubtfully. "But, isn't that dangerous? What if he tries to take us over, too?"

"In that case, I'll be relying on you to make sure that doesn't happen." Jasmine laughed.

"Jasmine, I can't let you risk it. What if the spirit master is too strong, and I burn out my mana source again?"

"We are going to get it used to larger mana quant.i.ties as soon as you're healed, so that won't happen." Jasmine said. "Don't underestimate the hero's mana capacity! After conditioning, it can hold up with spells that even ten of me could not handle! You will be no different."

Robin sighed. "I sure hope you're right."