Journey to Egypt

The generously portioned beef, completely free of any gamey taste, and the perfectly textured rice collided between their teeth.

The rice steamed with vegetable juice provided nutrition without compromising the sheer satisfaction of taking big bites of meat, while the perfectly balanced black pepper sauce added the finishing touch, like the soul of the rice ball.

Every ingredient in the rice ball blended together flawlessly, composing an intoxicating symphony of flavor.

"Mm! Mmm, mmm—"

After swallowing a huge mouthful of black pepper beef rice ball, Kelly excitedly patted her younger brother on the shoulder.

"You were right! Adam's cooking is absolutely amazing—will he really open a shop in Hogsmeade? When?"

"Kelly, stop patting my shoulder! The rice ball is going to fall apart! At least wait until after we graduate!"

"Ugh, why can't you graduate right away?"

Kelly let out a disappointed sigh.

Eugene and his grandmother both loved fish, and the sweet teriyaki eel rice balls, with no bones to pick out, suited their tastes perfectly.

"Oh my goodness, Adam, your cooking is even better than your parents'!"

It was also Old Reed's first time eating food made by his grandson.

"It's a shame underage wizards can't use magic at home. Otherwise, I could make even more delicious food."

Adam sighed. Unfortunately, his parents' home was not a wizarding residence registered with the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise, it would not have mattered even if he used magic at home.

"It's such a shame Uther isn't here."

Klon sighed regretfully.

"Come to think of it, once we get to Egypt, we'll be eating Egyptian specialties, right? I don't think they'll be as delicious as Adam's food."

"But they're Egyptian specialties, at least. I'm rather looking forward to them."

Time passed quickly amid everyone's chatter, and the flight, already delayed by two hours, finally arrived at Cairo International Airport after being delayed for three hours.

"Over here~"

Their flight information was no secret to Uther's family, so they had been waiting at the arrivals gate early.

The five dormmates had successfully reunited!

"Ah, so this is how you dress at home, Uther."

Klon looked at Uther and sighed.

"What's wrong?"

Uther glanced down at himself. He was wearing a perfectly ordinary Kalasiris.

"Don't you wear... um..."

Klon gestured around his head.

The corner of Uther's mouth twitched.

"How could I possibly wear something like that when I go out?!"

Speechless at Klon's fantasies, Uther shook his head.

"I'll take you to my house first. My parents are both at the Ministry of Magic, so they won't be back until tonight."

"Okay~"

When they arrived at Uther's home, Klon once again looked disappointed.

"I thought you'd live inside a pyramid..."

Who would have thought they simply lived in a villa in an oasis?

"Pyramids are pharaohs' tombs. How could anyone live in one...?"

Uther pressed a hand to his forehead again, utterly speechless.

"But pyramids are cool!"

"Would you sleep in a coffin just because it looked cool?"

"Then don't you have mummies in your house?"

"No! Who keeps corpses in their home?!"

"I heard mummies are stuffed with spices, so they probably don't stink..."

"Is that really the point?!"

After an exhausting round of questions and answers, everyone finally arrived at the dining table.

"Dinner will be quite lavish, so just have some fruit for now."

"This is... cactus fruit?"

Among the wide variety of fruits on the table, Adam picked out one he had seen before but was not familiar with.

"That's right. Just cut it open and eat the inside. It's similar to dragon fruit."

Uther cut one open with the small knife at hand, picked out an object with tiny thorns on it, and handed it to Adam.

"But there are these eight-pointed thorns at the top, so you have to remove them before eating it."

Adam took it and tried a bite, his eyes lighting up.

"Mm!!! It's so sweet! It tastes great!"

The texture did not seem as delicate as dragon fruit, and the seeds inside were harder, but it was unexpectedly sweet.

"Ugh! Why is mine sour?"

Klon put on a mask of suffering.

"Oh, you have to pick carefully too. Not every fruit can be sweet."

Uther looked entirely innocent. When he had arranged everyone's seats earlier, he had absolutely not deliberately placed Klon in the direction with more sour fruits.

"They're generally sweet and sour, and very delicious."

After tasting the cactus fruit, everyone gave it glowing reviews.

Considering there were several elderly people at the table, Uther had the servants juice some fruits that were difficult to chew, such as sugarcane, as well as fruits that were inconvenient to eat, such as pomegranates.

There were also dates, bananas, and all sorts of other fruits. Most of them were very sweet. Egypt's climate was indeed well suited for growing fruit.

Adam remembered that Nicolas Flamel's properties left to him included one in Egypt. Perhaps he could visit it later to see whether there was any land suitable for planting... though on second thought, there probably would not be. Even if there were, Adam would not have time to manage it.

As expected, it was faster to conjure fruit with Sweet Cards. There did not seem to be much point in conjuring fruit that was not sweet, either.

Though they were supposedly just having a little fruit, everyone ate quite a lot out of curiosity. Still, fruit digested quickly, so it did not delay dinner much.

Uther's parents did not return until after the sun had set.

"Sorry, some urgent documents suddenly needed handling at the Ministry today."

Uther's father looked apologetic.

"We kept everyone waiting for so long... You must all be hungry, right? You didn't need to wait for us to come back."

"It's all right. Everyone ate a lot of fruit this afternoon, so we aren't hungry."

Old Reed spoke. Uther's father nodded to him kindly.

"Dinner will begin shortly. Before that, I'd like to thank—"

"Cough, cough!"

Uther's mother was a beautiful woman wearing makeup with a distinctly Egyptian style. Hearing her husband habitually prepare to launch into the sort of speech he gave at the Ministry, she immediately coughed twice.

"Oh! Haha... You children are Uther's dormmates and good friends, so we're all family. No need to say so much. Let's eat, let's eat."

After speaking in official tones for so many years, he was not used to speaking casually. Just then, the dishes began to arrive, and Uther's father hurriedly urged everyone to eat.

"It may not be as delicious as what you make, but it's still very distinctive."

Uther sat beside Adam and leaned close to whisper in his ear.

"Then I'll have to taste it properly. Maybe I can let you experience flavors from your hometown at Hogwarts too."

After Adam said that with a smile, Uther's eyes lit up.

"If we need ingredients, I can have my father send them to the British Ministry of Magic through the Department of International Magical Cooperation, then have them delivered to Hogwarts!"

"...Whatever makes you happy."

Adam could only marvel at how having both money and power truly let someone do whatever they wanted.

It had to be said that Egypt's local specialties really did taste good. Though the style was somewhat rustic—for example, there was a grilled meat dish that looked a little like Miba Miba, made by grilling minced meat mixed with vegetables and spices. Its appearance was hard to praise, but it tasted unexpectedly good.

The grilled fish also deserved mention. It was prepared wonderfully, without even the slightest fishy taste from the innards. A squeeze of lemon juice made it absolutely delicious, and both Adam and Eugene ate happily.