I, Kousaka Kyousuke, the Knight of the Helping Table

Chapter 19 Kyosuke: Dark history is a good way to deepen your relationship with a girl [Two in one]

Seeing the cup in Miura's hand, Kyosuke was stunned for a moment, "Did Mash ask you to come?"

"That's about right. She said that it would be meaningless for someone like you to receive ordinary guests. It would be better to let others practice."

"Are any of the others starting to have guests now?"

Kyousuke is more concerned about this matter.

"They are starting to appear in twos and threes, but I just went around and found that the general performance is only acceptable in the sauna. Hmm? Why do you look so sad?"

After finding out that Kyosuke had no intention of inviting her in, Miura took the initiative to make her own decision. She sat down opposite Kyosuke without caring whether Kyosuke agreed or not, and then placed one of the cocktails in front of Kyosuke.

"Smile, look, I brought you a gift."

As he said this, Miura shook the cocktail in his hand, which was exactly the same as the one in front of Kyosuke, and motioned Kyosuke to taste it quickly.

"Thank you."

Kyosuke was a little unsure of what this girl was up to, but he didn't want to be too blunt, so he picked up the goblet of light red liquid and took a sip, but then his face frowned.

"It's so bitter... Who made this? They put too much bitter wine in it."

The bitter taste filled Kyosuke's taste buds, and he felt that the person who made this cocktail must have a grudge against him because the bitterness was too prominent.

After hearing Kyosuke's comments, Miura was a little angry. She rolled her eyes and said, "It's really a shame that the Barrarella I made is not tasty. After all, I don't have as much work experience as Kyosuke."

"..."

Well, I have run into trouble.

Kyosuke looked at the angry Miura and said helplessly, "I didn't say that. I just think you put too much Angostura bitters. I remember 4 drops are enough. The role of bitters is to double the bitterness of grapefruit juice, not the main body of bitterness. The cocktail you mixed has lost its flavor and is simply like Chinese medicine. If you want to drink, I can mix you a low-alcohol drink. This way of playing is not suitable for you."

"Humph, I'm just a little kid trying to act like an adult anyway."

"I didn't say that...Aren't you being too sensitive?"

Seeing that Miura was upset, Kyosuke could only patiently point out her mistakes. As a bartender, he certainly knew what the Angostura bitters in the Barbarina were. As the only alcoholic ingredient that he had asked Xiaojing for permission to purchase, its biggest function was to add some bitterness to the cocktail, which was used to give the drinker a psychological hint.

First of all, all the cocktail recipes Kyosuke gave that involved Angostura bitters were measured in drops, and for a whole cocktail, this amount of alcohol content was negligible. Even fermented kvass had a much higher alcohol content than these cocktails with bitters added. These cocktails were more like drinks with a wine flavor than wine.

The only purpose of Angostura bitters is to give the cocktail a "grown-up taste (bitterness)" to those high school students who have never drunk alcohol to show off. After all, alcohol is added. So it is completely fine for them to brag that "they have drunk alcohol".

In fact, Kyosuke himself really dislikes the taste of bitter wine, because it reminds him of the Chinese medicine he had been drinking in his previous life. He chose this kind of wine because he was instigated by those people in the class, because those people thought that if he didn't buy some wine after opening a bar, it would be a lie.

"It's like dating without the intention of getting married is just hooliganism."

What the hell, why would that idiot from the Ministry of Revenue quote Shakespeare's words translated by the man whose name you can't even say? There's something wrong with this style of painting, right?

When Kyosuke thought about how that idiot Tobe Sho had made this suggestion to him in a serious manner, he felt really annoyed. However, what was even more annoying was that most people in the class actually agreed.

"What are you thinking?"

When Miura saw Kyosuke looking conflicted, she reached out and pinched his nose to get him to focus on her.

Kyosuke sneezed because of the strange feeling in his nose. He quickly retracted his head to prevent Miura from doing anything more.

"Nothing, I just regret buying the bitters. I should have brought you some kvass."

Miura had a subtle expression on her face, and it was unclear whether it was the way Kyosuke rubbed her nose or what Kyosuke said that made her laugh. However, her innocent look really touched Kyosuke. He originally wanted to praise Miura but felt that it was too frivolous, so he could only continue to rub his nose to ease the embarrassment.

After laughing enough, Miura finally spoke: "That kind of thing is interesting, why don't you invite me to your store. I think you should give me a discount for the sake of being classmates, right?"

"8% off, at most."

Miura pouted and looked at Kyosuke, "Kyosuke is so stingy."

Are you imitating Mordred?

"I'm just running a small business."

Kyosuke realized that the way Miura was acting coquettishly with him was exactly the same as the way Mordred asked him for pocket money, so he decided to say something else to divert Miura's attention, otherwise if Miura asked him for something later, he felt that he would have no resistance to refuse.

"And about the cocktail you made... Barbarella is actually for children to show off, so you should use an adult-style brandy glass instead of a goblet."

"Go! Watch out or I'll beat you up!"

As expected, Kyosuke successfully diverted Miura's attention. Feeling a little embarrassed by Kyosuke's touch on his sore spot, Miura kicked Kyosuke under the table in revenge.

Kyosuke rubbed his injured calf and looked at Miura innocently, "You're already beating me."

"You deserve it~"

Seeing Kyosuke's painful expression, even though she knew he was probably pretending, Miura still felt a little proud. She raised her head proudly, took a sip of her cocktail, and almost spit it out. It was obvious that even she herself didn't like her own work.

Miura felt her mouth was filled with liquid that tasted inhumane. The bitter taste prompted her to spit out the cocktail in her mouth, but her sense of being a lady prevented her from doing such an indecent action. So in a very tangled mood, Miura could only twist her little face while swallowing the cocktail in her mouth that could be called medicine.

"Hmm... It's really bitter... You're right, I put too much bitter wine. I should have used a test tube earlier."

Miura fanned her tongue with her hand. She felt that the bitterness seemed to have taken root in the root of her tongue and could not be eliminated no matter what she did.

Seeing Miura sticking out his tongue like a puppy, Kyosuke couldn't help but burst out laughing: "Haha, you deserve it."

"You're still talking!" Miura pushed Kyosuke, "It's all your fault. My mouth is full of bitterness now."

Didn't you mix the wine yourself? How did it become my fault?

"If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have been curious enough to drink my own glass of wine. Anyway, it's all your fault."

Miura's spoiled temper came up again. She crossed her arms and looked at Kyosuke. The slight blush on her cheeks showed her inner displeasure.

Kyosuke, who has had in-depth and simple exchanges with various girls, also knows that he should not reason with girls who are in a bad mood, because there is no reason to reason with them. Since they think it is your own fault, you should just bear it honestly. Quibbling will only bring her more unhappiness.

"I'll go get you another drink."

Kyousuke picked up the goblet on the table and was about to leave.

"Wait a minute." Miura put his hand on her own glass to stop Kyosuke from taking her glass away. "Go and make another one. I want to finish this one myself."

So you are a masochist?

If Miura was a real customer, Kyosuke could understand it. After all, he had to finish the cannon he ordered with tears in his eyes. After all, the price of cocktails with bitters is not cheap, and waste is a shameful behavior. But as an internal employee, Miura's glass of wine can be counted as consumption (that is, it is free for internal employees), so Kyosuke doesn't understand why he drank it even though he knew it was a failure. Do you think you are Plato? No one forced you to drink this stuff.

"This is the first time I made it. No matter what it tastes like, I'm going to finish it."

Miura's eyes were very firm, but her next words made Kyosuke feel a little helpless, "But in order to ensure that I don't lose my sense of taste due to the bitterness, Kyosuke, please help me mix a cocktail with a higher sweetness."

It's a good thing to have a beautiful woman act coquettishly, but Kyousuke always feels like he has fallen into Miura's trap: "So are you playing a punishment game?"

Although he has met so many people and things, Kyosuke finds that he still can't understand some of the girls' thinking.

Seeing Kyosuke was a little hesitant, Miura's hand, which was originally pressing the goblet, directly touched Kyosuke's arm and pleaded in a coquettish voice: "Kyosuke~ help me~"

As he spoke, Miura deliberately scratched Kyosuke's arm with his fingernails, causing Kyosuke to shudder. "Who did you learn this from?"

"Mordred told me that Kyousuke can't stand this kind of trick. Now it seems that it is indeed very effective~"

Miura's smug look made Kyosuke hate Mordred a little. "I'm sure I'm afraid of you. I'll make you a cocktail. Don't do this again in the future."

Seeing Kyosuke running away, Miura burst out laughing. She picked up her goblet and drank it in one gulp, and then an obvious bitter taste spread throughout her mouth.

"Ah! It's really hard! Miura Yumiko, you bastard!"

Fortunately, Kyosuke, the experienced bartender, came back soon.

"So fast? Did you pour some juice into the water?"

Miura narrowed her eyes and looked at Kyosuke with a very dangerous look. If Kyosuke dared to nod, she swore that she would make him pay.

"How could that be? I didn't even use juice. I just used mineral water."

Kyosuke said as he took out his left hand which was hidden behind his back.

"Kousaka Kyosuke!"

Miura's little punch came down.

"Don't hit me, don't hit me. I was wrong."

Kyosuke didn't expect Miura's reaction to be so intense. He quickly begged for mercy again, "The mineral water is just for you to rinse your mouth. This is the cocktail I made for you."

Kyosuke took out the glass in his right hand. Transparent ice cubes were floating on the milky white liquid, and a slice of lemon with green skin made the whole cocktail look more colorful.

"Fresh ginger beer. I think this slightly sour taste will be more comfortable on your tongue compared to other cocktails that are too sweet."

"Hmph, that's pretty much it."

Miura then let go of Kyosuke. She carefully placed the cocktail on the table and looked at it carefully. Under the light from the cubicle, the cocktail with small bubbles looked very gorgeous. The unmelted ice cubes floating above the glass reflected the dark red light, attracting Miura's attention like diamonds.

"So beautiful." Miura stared at the cocktail in fascination and exclaimed, "It's obviously the same thing, why can Kyousuke make it so beautiful? Compared with yours, the cocktails we make are simply unbearable to look at."

Although Kyosuke was very proud of Miura's flattery, after all, it came from the admiration of a beautiful girl, but on the surface he still acted calm and said: "Well, practice makes perfect. If you keep doing this, Miura, you will definitely be better than me."

Miura unscrewed the bottle cap and drank the mineral water in small sips.

"Huh~ Much better." After drinking half a bottle, Miura let out a long sigh, "I don't think I'll ever be as good as you, Kyousuke. Look at the cocktail I made. It was such a failure."

Miura pointed to the goblet he had finished drinking from and said, "I haven't used the brandy glass yet, otherwise I really wouldn't be able to finish it."

It is true that the capacity of a brandy glass is larger than that of a goblet, but Kyosuke thinks that if he uses a brandy glass, the final effect may not be as unpalatable as it is now. However, Kyosuke is not stupid enough to say such words to reduce his favorability. He can see that Miura doesn't care much about his first failure now, but if he brings up the issue again, this girl will probably be really angry.

Kyosuke thought so and in order to make Miura feel better, he probably gave the blonde girl in front of him some commercial compliments, "You are exaggerating, aren't you? In fact, I think your work has no major problems except that you put too much bitters. My first cocktail was a disaster."

Hearing Kyosuke mention his dark history, Miura immediately became interested, "Hey? What happened? Tell me."

"Well... it was not long after I entered Camelot..."

"You added ketchup and hot sauce to the cocktail, and also added salt and black pepper to it just to get yourself killed. That can no longer be described as dark cuisine."

Lily stood at the door of the cubicle for some reason. Seeing Kyosuke and Miura almost standing next to each other, she revealed Kyosuke's dark history with an unhappy look on her face.

PS1: I finally managed to move the update time to before 0: today, which is cause for celebration.

PS2: The cocktails in this chapter, Barbarena, are made with Angostura bitters, strawberry syrup and grapefruit juice. I really think this is a weapon for minors to show off. Fresh ginger beer is made with fresh lemon juice, fresh ginger, sugar and soda water, and is finally decorated with ice cubes and lemon slices. If you are interested, you can try it at home.

PS3: There really is a cocktail that uses kitchen condiments such as ketchup, chili sauce, and black pepper in the mixing process. This is the famous Bloody Mary. Mijiang thinks that the person who invented this is definitely an expert in dark cuisine.

By the way, there is a version of Bloody Mary that uses crab legs, shrimp, green beans, and cherry tomatoes as garnishes. Is this a cocktail or a dish? _(:з」∠)_

Chapter 20 Lily: If you can't do it from below, try from above [Two in One]

No one spoke in the cubicle for a while, and the three people just stared at each other.

Miura instinctively felt that the silver-haired woman in front of her looked familiar, but she couldn't remember who she was for a moment.