Jimte pointed at a tea jar beside the hearth, next to the makeshift storage rack-after learning that Arthur drank tea and read in the afternoons, Siblon, the chief of Jia'er Mountain Town, had "bought" all the tea in the town's general store.
Then he had delivered it.
There were five one-pound tea bricks and over two pounds of loose tea.
Arthur had put the tea bricks in the [Athos Box].
For the loose tea, he had found an enormous earthenware jar.
Tea was light. An ounce or two could often fill a small jar, so a container big enough for two pounds would not fit on the makeshift rack. It could only sit beside it.
Looking at what Jimte was pointing to, Arthur's eyes filled with confusion.
He was not quite sure whether Jimte really meant to compete over tea.
In this world, tea had developed considerably because Herke, the God of Alchemy and Potions, enjoyed drinking it.
Not only had distinct varieties emerged, but there were also corresponding tea utensils.
Of course, most people still preferred to boil their tea.
The tea Chief Siblon had bought, for instance, was dark tea well suited to steaming and boiling, the most common kind in this world. Some less common varieties were luxuries-the "Lion Tea" that the Old Lion of the Inner Bay had taken to drinking in recent years was said to cost "ten ounces of gold for one ounce of tea."
With those below following the example of those above, tea tasting and Tea-Tasting Contests had become fashionable at many salons in the Inner Bay in recent years.
But only in the Inner Bay.
The trend had yet to spread elsewhere.
That was why Arthur was puzzled.
"Tea! Let's compete over tea! My aunt loves drinking tea, and Mr. Charlie