"What... exactly is this?" Aoko searched her mind for any knowledge related to the blue liquid in front of her, but came up empty. "Alice, do you have any clues?"
"I don't know everything." Alice glanced at it before speaking. "But I can sense that the liquid inside the bottle contains a great deal of magical energy."
"Is this some kind of drink the old man collected?" Aoko picked up the bottle, gave it a shake, and examined it carefully. "Still, I feel like I've seen something like this before, just not much."
"Forget it. Let's find somewhere to store it first. Maybe one day I'll wake up after sleeping on it and figure it out?" Aoko put the bottle back into its box and closed the lid. The sound of machinery operating rang out again, and the box locked itself once more.
Alice said nothing, merely enjoying her tea on her own. She suddenly found it rather interesting to watch Aoko work.
"All right!" Aoko stood up and rubbed her lower back. "I've finally finished taking inventory. Now I just need to put all this stuff away."
"Can I borrow the storage room in the basement?" Aoko asked Alice. "Some of this stuff won't be needed for the time being, and it's too bulky."
"Do whatever you want," Alice said. "Just don't touch the things inside, or I might not be able to find them later."
"Got it!" Aoko took the key. "Once I'm done with this, I'll make dinner. Alice, you can start thinking about what you'd like to eat."
"...Wouldn't ordering takeout be enough?" Alice muttered softly, seemingly worried that Aoko had overworked herself today.
"Ah, I'm against takeout," Aoko said as she sorted things out. "Restaurant delivery may have hygiene issues one way or another, or there could be foam residue from the containers. Besides, you shouldn't just go for the easy option because takeout is convenient or tasty, okay?"
"...Your cooking tastes better."
"Ah, sorry, Alice, what did you say?" The sound of Aoko tidying things up was too loud, and she hadn't heard Alice.
"...I said I want Italian food for dinner." Alice raised her voice slightly. "You made it before."
"No problem." Aoko agreed with a smile. "How about lasagna? I recently learned how to make it from a book. I guarantee it'll be delicious~"
"Mm." Alice nodded in approval, then secretly touched her stomach. She suddenly felt a little hungry.
The word lasagna itself referred to square pasta sheets, or by extension, a dish made by layering fillings between those sheets. Among Western cuisines, Aoko liked Italian and French food best.
She had gone to Italian restaurants in the shopping district with Touko many times. She was especially fond of the spicy sausage spaghetti there; with two slices of garlic bread and apple soda, it made for a happy, satisfying dinner.
After sorting every item and storing them in the bedroom and basement storage room, Aoko slung on her backpack and rode her little motorbike down the mountain to a large grocery store.
During the final hour before closing, she bought the most expensive pork belly and ribeye, along with fresh tomatoes, carrots, and parsley.
Naturally, premade tomato paste was necessary too. She was no purist who insisted on using only natural ingredients, and Aoko did not reject industrial products in moderation. However, she deliberately chose an old brand she had tasted while studying in the United States in her "previous life" memories, one with flavor quality she could trust.
Besides those, Aoko also bought flour specially made for pasta. If she bought ready-made sheets, she might not be able to control their size, and the texture could be less than ideal. Making them herself avoided those issues, and Aoko personally enjoyed the process of cooking.
Although lasagna in restaurants generally used Parmesan cheese, the feedback Aoko had gathered from Alice was that she preferred cheddar, so she ultimately bought a large block of the cheese Alice liked.
By the time she returned to the Kuonji Mansion, night had completely fallen. Aoko first took out a serving of cake she had made earlier from the refrigerator for Alice as a pre-dinner dessert. She had noticed Alice was surely hungry when she left home, and there was still some time before the meal would be finished.
Aoko changed clothes and carefully washed her hands. Then she pinned up her thick, satin-like long red hair, put on an apron and chef's hat, and began preparing the ingredients.
Washing the vegetables and removing the meat's gaminess naturally came first.
After washing the vegetables, Aoko soaked the large cuts of meat she had bought in ice water for a while, then briefly blanched them over the stove to remove the excess blood.
After working in the kitchen for a while, she heard approaching footsteps. She glanced back and found Alice walking over with a book in one hand and a half-eaten slice of cake in the other.
"Getting impatient?" Aoko said while handling the ingredients. "But there's nothing I can do. Even once it's done, you'll have to wait a little longer."
"...No, I'm just curious about how you cook, Aoko." Alice sat at the small kitchen table and watched Aoko's movements.
"Ah, I see," Aoko said. "Then please enjoy this humble servant's cooking, Miss Kuonji~"
Aoko took a basin-sized glass bowl from the cupboard, poured the prepared tipo 00 flour into it, then added a small amount of coarse durum wheat flour to make the texture chewier.
She took out several eggs, mixed the yolks and whites evenly, and poured them into the glass bowl. Putting on plastic gloves, she thoroughly mixed and kneaded the flour and egg mixture until it became a beautiful golden dough. (Pasta dough did not need water, as it would affect the texture and flavor.)
Of course, while kneading the dough, Aoko used a tiny bit of magical energy to strengthen her own force and let it seep into the dough, giving its texture more character than anything an ordinary chef could make. Among mages in this world, she might well have been the only one who did such a thing; there were simply far too few mages who would.
Setting the dough aside to rest for the moment, Aoko began making the white sauce, Besciamella, and red sauce, Bolognese. The white sauce was a basic sauce made by sautéing white flour in butter before adding milk. The red sauce, meanwhile, was a traditional meat sauce from Bologna, containing a soffritto of onion, carrot, parsley, fresh basil leaves, garlic, celery, tomato, bay leaf, sea salt, and black pepper, mixed with ground pork and beef. It had always been the soul of Italian cuisine in the hearts of its lovers.
Alice watched Aoko cook with curiosity. With highly practiced, precise movements, she rapidly handled every ingredient as though performing magic, bringing each one to its ideal state. Alice could not help wondering whether her housemate's true profession was mage or professional chef.
Once the sauces were ready, Aoko put the meat sauce into a pan with olive oil and sea salt, stir-frying it briefly. As soon as the ground meat was just beginning to cook, she immediately took it back out and stored it in a container.
By this point in the cooking process, the delicious aroma had already begun to fill the air. Smelling it beside her, Alice could not help swallowing, and she looked forward to tonight's dinner even more.