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From Dolce, With Love - Episode 4
⭠ last episode | Episode 4 | next episode ⭢
Figaro: Who knows? It is a western wizard after all. Their moods are ever-changing.
Someone who always craves their next five minutes of fame might also suddenly get tired of being in the limelight and end up hiding themselves from the rest of the world.
And don't forget that to a wizard, a hundred years really isn't that much time.
Faust: Well, yes. It's entirely possible that he's holed himself up in his workshop, researching and working on a creation beyond one’s imaginations, and it's taken up all of his time and energy…
Rustica: Something never before seen, you say?
Akira: Rustica.
I turned towards the source of the melodious voice, and there Rustica was, smiling.
Rustica: I heard a conversation that had my heart racing, so I couldn’t help but intrude.
A creation by Dr Dolce, wilder than anyone could imagine... I wonder if it's something that will succeed his Deathly Delights?
Faust: I can't say. He is, at his roots, a scientist, and while he co-opted various scientific principles to the creation of his sweets, the biologist in him still lives.
Apparently, he's fond of swapping the insides of things to make new species and substances.
Figaro: He started with plants, but then quickly ran out of subjects. So it was inevitable that he'd eventually move on to animals, and finally, the human body. Or that's how the story goes.
I can only hope we don't end up walking right into the mouth of a horrific creation born of his experimental mix of magic and sciences.
Rustica: We might be able to learn more about his methods ever since he retired from the spotlight. I think it would be a marvellously enriching experience.
To be frank, I was wondering if I could join the trip. Being able to meet Dr Dolce himself would be an opportunity indeed.
Rustica wore a small smile as he spoke. It was like a pale ray of sunlight in a wintry afternoon, cheerful and bright.
[ BGM dies down ]
Rustica: After all, he is someone who's poetic and sensitive, even in the way he addressed Owen in the invitation — 'Wizard, With Eyes of Bloody Red,' and all.
Don't you agree it's a lovely - and apt - way to describe the hue of Owen's eyes?
[ Western Country - Forest Path ]
A few days later, we arrived at the border of Western Country with the aid of Mithra's magic.
Akira: Chloe, the clothing you made is so fashionable and pretty! It almost feels like I'm a quirky patissier myself!
Chloe: I'm glad you like it~! I gave it my all, because it's not every day you get to make a trip to a sweets workshop.
You too, Owen — thank you for wearing the clothes I made!
Owen: I was under the impression that I'd bring only Kenja sama and Shino along......
What's with the rest of you? You're not even invited, and none of you have eyes that are remotely red.
Rustica: Chloe and I are Shylock's representatives. We are here on his behalf because he had plans to go liquor shopping with Murr.
Mithra: The rest of us probably have some reason like that too. As for me, I’m here to show that I’m better than Oz at selecting delicious sweets.
And I also plan on threatening this Dr Something into obeying me.
Nero: Wait, what?
Shino: I don't really know either, but Rutile, Mitile, and the Central Wizards were all talking about how they'd asked Mithra to bring back sweets for them as souvenirs.
Faust: And why would one ask, of all people, Mithra...
Figaro: It's because Tiletta was fond of desserts by Dr Dolce. Uncle Mithra here might be the one most suited to picking out things for Rutile and the others, if that's the case.
Mithra: I don't like you referring to me as Uncle.
Owen: ...... Hmph.
[ No BGM ]
Owen huffed, and tossed the clay container shaped like an envelope into the air. It was the invitation he'd received.
Owen: « cur memini »
The container gleamed with a faint light as Owen said aloud his spell-word. Then, it burst into countless tiny orbs of light, which sparkled as they fell down upon us.
Before us, the scenery changed into something fantastic and strange, as if it'd had a sheet of everything mundane peeled off of it.
[ Dr Dolce's Residence - Forest Path ]
[ Event theme song BGM ]
We were now surrounded by a dimly-lit forest, painted in a curious mix of garish colours.
Akira: Wow, these plants are peculiar, and there are so many strange contraptions, too...! I also smell the sweet fragrance of candy.
Faust: It's like a chaotic dreamscape. I suppose you could say we're now in the backyard of Dr Dolce's workshop...
Rustica: We've stepped out into a strange new world. How mysteriously charming it is. This is all rather thrilling.
Mithra: Oh, there's lots of things growing here and there. I think this might be edible.
Chloe: I think that cog might be a little hard to digest? Maybe consider the cupcakes growing nearby... Actually, I don't know if they're supposed to be cupcakes.
Nero: They’re glowing... faintly...
Figaro: I think anything that looks like sweets or desserts should be edible. Things like gearwheels and pipes might be for scientific experiments...
Figaro turned his gaze to the pipe attached to some apparatus. It was bubbling and frothing and dripping with some liquid.
Then, Figaro glanced up at the tall trees that loomed over us.
Red sap dripped from the tree trunks. It was as red as blood.
The way it dripped reminded me of something I'd seen recently.
Akira: By any chance, are these... sanguine trees?
Owen: Clever girl.
Owen appeared by my side all of a sudden. He swiped a finger along the trail of tree sap.
His pretty lips were curved in a smile; he was in a good mood.
Figaro: Kenja sama, I see you have heard of this tree.
Akira: Owen told me all about it. It's a precious and rare type of tree sap that’s decadently sweet.
Owen: What good memory you have. Maybe I’ll bring a few trees back to the Magical Manor and have them planted there. I'd like to fill giant bottles with their sap and drink it all to the last drop.
Mithra: I'd like a tree too. It's very useful. It's handy for magical concoctions, and can even be used as a spell focus.
Faust: Yes, you have a point, but could it flourish? It's a rare specimen. In the first place, this many of them in one spot is already atypical.
Owen: It's because they've plenty to eat. Isn't this forest filled with corpses upon corpses?
Akira & Chloe: C-Corpses!?
Mithra: Oh, there's this story about these trees. They absorb the blood from corpses buried deep below, and something something, the sap might or might not turn red, and so on...
Well, we don't know if it's fact or fiction though.
Owen: A forest could’ve been used to clean up the aftermath of those weird experiments. So that might be why all these sanguine trees started growing here.
Akira: N-No way. I can't believe I ate candy made from this sap...
Figaro: Hey, don't go scaring young children like that.
Faust: Don't worry about it. What they just told you is a standard urban legend about these sanguine trees.
There's simply too many mysteries surrounding this particular tree. Some are even filled with magical power. That's why these myths started spreading.
Akira: Oh...... Really...... That's a relief......
Owen: Spoilsport. It would have been fun to see her trembling for a while longer.
Nero: Hey... Over there. Looks like something's approaching us from deep within the forest.
We looked in the direction Nero pointed, and saw something hopping and skipping our way.
Akira: A one-legged sign...?
It stopped before us and gave us a little springy bow. Then, some writing started to surface on its sign.
Figaro: What have we here... 'Welcome to my workshop!'
'I'll show you around my garden. There's plenty of tricks and traps along the way to the house, so please, have yourself a grand time!'
...... And that's all. It would seem that we're plenty welcome even though we weren't all invited.
Owen: What's with the arbitrary speedbumps? All I came here for is to help myself to lots of dolce.
Hey, hurry up and bring us to your home. Or would you prefer if I burned everything down to clear out a path?
Owen shot the one-legged sign an ice-cold stare. It fidgeted and started squirming backwards.
Then it looked at us one last time, signboard tilted just so, and then more words started to appear.
Faust: 'The sweets in this forest garden are all my creations.'
'Please help yourself to a little dream so sweet, you may never wake from it.'
... I see. That means we're free to sample everything in this forest.
Rustica: It's not just the dolce waiting in the house that he wants Owen to try. He might want Owen to try everything on offer in this very forest.
Nero: Well, it's something that's specially made for someone, right? Of course you'd want 'em to eat up. Showing someone the local sights is all part of hospitality too.
Shino: Then let's munch as we go. There's no need to hurry anyway.
Owen: .........
For the second time, Owen gave the sign a good, hard look. At that, the sign tapped its heel on the ground.
Suddenly, little chocolate bonbons popped up out of nowhere.
Chloe: It's the same sort of sweet that rolled out of the envelope! It's colourful, beautifully-decorated, and looks really tasty!
Mithra: (munching)... Owen, they're looking up at you. How about you pick one up?
Shino: Yeah, do that. Man, this is really good.
Owen: Hey, don't start eating without me.
Akira: (I thought the sign was afraid of Owen, but...)
Something about the way the sign peered at Owen's expression was adorable. It was like a pet listening to its master.
Owen: ...... Haha, you're just like a dog wagging its tail.
Then pamper me with the highest class of service you can offer so I don't get bored of this place.
Owen smiled thinly and picked up a chocolat.
The sign bounced about. It looked happy.
Rustica: Isn't that wonderful, little sign? I'm glad you weren't left cold and dry.
Faust: Hmm. This thing must be animated by Dr Dolce's magic. It seems very into Owen...
Figaro: What on earth did you do to the Doctor?
Owen: Who knows. Maybe you'll find out soon enough.
Owen walked deeper into the forest as he chewed on some chocolat.
The sign skipped ahead of him. It seemed to be taking its tour guide work rather seriously.
Rustica: Let us go as well, on an adventure through Dr Dolce's fantastic forest. Shall we?
Shino: Yeah. Let's enjoy everything it has to offer, from its tricks to its treats.
Chloe: C'mon, Kenja sama!
Akira: Yeah!
Episode 5 ⭢
Figaro: Who knows? It is a western wizard after all. Their moods are ever-changing.
Someone who always craves their next five minutes of fame might also suddenly get tired of being in the limelight and end up hiding themselves from the rest of the world.
And don't forget that to a wizard, a hundred years really isn't that much time.
Faust: Well, yes. It's entirely possible that he's holed himself up in his workshop, researching and working on a creation beyond one’s imaginations, and it's taken up all of his time and energy…
Rustica: Something never before seen, you say?
Akira: Rustica.
I turned towards the source of the melodious voice, and there Rustica was, smiling.
Rustica: I heard a conversation that had my heart racing, so I couldn’t help but intrude.
A creation by Dr Dolce, wilder than anyone could imagine... I wonder if it's something that will succeed his Deathly Delights?
Faust: I can't say. He is, at his roots, a scientist, and while he co-opted various scientific principles to the creation of his sweets, the biologist in him still lives.
Apparently, he's fond of swapping the insides of things to make new species and substances.
Figaro: He started with plants, but then quickly ran out of subjects. So it was inevitable that he'd eventually move on to animals, and finally, the human body. Or that's how the story goes.
I can only hope we don't end up walking right into the mouth of a horrific creation born of his experimental mix of magic and sciences.
Rustica: We might be able to learn more about his methods ever since he retired from the spotlight. I think it would be a marvellously enriching experience.
To be frank, I was wondering if I could join the trip. Being able to meet Dr Dolce himself would be an opportunity indeed.
Rustica wore a small smile as he spoke. It was like a pale ray of sunlight in a wintry afternoon, cheerful and bright.
[ BGM dies down ]
Rustica: After all, he is someone who's poetic and sensitive, even in the way he addressed Owen in the invitation — 'Wizard, With Eyes of Bloody Red,' and all.
Don't you agree it's a lovely - and apt - way to describe the hue of Owen's eyes?
[ Western Country - Forest Path ]
A few days later, we arrived at the border of Western Country with the aid of Mithra's magic.
Akira: Chloe, the clothing you made is so fashionable and pretty! It almost feels like I'm a quirky patissier myself!
Chloe: I'm glad you like it~! I gave it my all, because it's not every day you get to make a trip to a sweets workshop.
You too, Owen — thank you for wearing the clothes I made!
Owen: I was under the impression that I'd bring only Kenja sama and Shino along......
What's with the rest of you? You're not even invited, and none of you have eyes that are remotely red.
Rustica: Chloe and I are Shylock's representatives. We are here on his behalf because he had plans to go liquor shopping with Murr.
Mithra: The rest of us probably have some reason like that too. As for me, I’m here to show that I’m better than Oz at selecting delicious sweets.
And I also plan on threatening this Dr Something into obeying me.
Nero: Wait, what?
Shino: I don't really know either, but Rutile, Mitile, and the Central Wizards were all talking about how they'd asked Mithra to bring back sweets for them as souvenirs.
Faust: And why would one ask, of all people, Mithra...
Figaro: It's because Tiletta was fond of desserts by Dr Dolce. Uncle Mithra here might be the one most suited to picking out things for Rutile and the others, if that's the case.
Mithra: I don't like you referring to me as Uncle.
Owen: ...... Hmph.
[ No BGM ]
Owen huffed, and tossed the clay container shaped like an envelope into the air. It was the invitation he'd received.
Owen: « cur memini »
The container gleamed with a faint light as Owen said aloud his spell-word. Then, it burst into countless tiny orbs of light, which sparkled as they fell down upon us.
Before us, the scenery changed into something fantastic and strange, as if it'd had a sheet of everything mundane peeled off of it.
[ Dr Dolce's Residence - Forest Path ]
[ Event theme song BGM ]
We were now surrounded by a dimly-lit forest, painted in a curious mix of garish colours.
Akira: Wow, these plants are peculiar, and there are so many strange contraptions, too...! I also smell the sweet fragrance of candy.
Faust: It's like a chaotic dreamscape. I suppose you could say we're now in the backyard of Dr Dolce's workshop...
Rustica: We've stepped out into a strange new world. How mysteriously charming it is. This is all rather thrilling.
Mithra: Oh, there's lots of things growing here and there. I think this might be edible.
Chloe: I think that cog might be a little hard to digest? Maybe consider the cupcakes growing nearby... Actually, I don't know if they're supposed to be cupcakes.
Nero: They’re glowing... faintly...
Figaro: I think anything that looks like sweets or desserts should be edible. Things like gearwheels and pipes might be for scientific experiments...
Figaro turned his gaze to the pipe attached to some apparatus. It was bubbling and frothing and dripping with some liquid.
Then, Figaro glanced up at the tall trees that loomed over us.
Red sap dripped from the tree trunks. It was as red as blood.
The way it dripped reminded me of something I'd seen recently.
Akira: By any chance, are these... sanguine trees?
Owen: Clever girl.
Owen appeared by my side all of a sudden. He swiped a finger along the trail of tree sap.
His pretty lips were curved in a smile; he was in a good mood.
Figaro: Kenja sama, I see you have heard of this tree.
Akira: Owen told me all about it. It's a precious and rare type of tree sap that’s decadently sweet.
Owen: What good memory you have. Maybe I’ll bring a few trees back to the Magical Manor and have them planted there. I'd like to fill giant bottles with their sap and drink it all to the last drop.
Mithra: I'd like a tree too. It's very useful. It's handy for magical concoctions, and can even be used as a spell focus.
Faust: Yes, you have a point, but could it flourish? It's a rare specimen. In the first place, this many of them in one spot is already atypical.
Owen: It's because they've plenty to eat. Isn't this forest filled with corpses upon corpses?
Akira & Chloe: C-Corpses!?
Mithra: Oh, there's this story about these trees. They absorb the blood from corpses buried deep below, and something something, the sap might or might not turn red, and so on...
Well, we don't know if it's fact or fiction though.
Owen: A forest could’ve been used to clean up the aftermath of those weird experiments. So that might be why all these sanguine trees started growing here.
Akira: N-No way. I can't believe I ate candy made from this sap...
Figaro: Hey, don't go scaring young children like that.
Faust: Don't worry about it. What they just told you is a standard urban legend about these sanguine trees.
There's simply too many mysteries surrounding this particular tree. Some are even filled with magical power. That's why these myths started spreading.
Akira: Oh...... Really...... That's a relief......
Owen: Spoilsport. It would have been fun to see her trembling for a while longer.
Nero: Hey... Over there. Looks like something's approaching us from deep within the forest.
We looked in the direction Nero pointed, and saw something hopping and skipping our way.
Akira: A one-legged sign...?
It stopped before us and gave us a little springy bow. Then, some writing started to surface on its sign.
Figaro: What have we here... 'Welcome to my workshop!'
'I'll show you around my garden. There's plenty of tricks and traps along the way to the house, so please, have yourself a grand time!'
...... And that's all. It would seem that we're plenty welcome even though we weren't all invited.
Owen: What's with the arbitrary speedbumps? All I came here for is to help myself to lots of dolce.
Hey, hurry up and bring us to your home. Or would you prefer if I burned everything down to clear out a path?
Owen shot the one-legged sign an ice-cold stare. It fidgeted and started squirming backwards.
Then it looked at us one last time, signboard tilted just so, and then more words started to appear.
Faust: 'The sweets in this forest garden are all my creations.'
'Please help yourself to a little dream so sweet, you may never wake from it.'
... I see. That means we're free to sample everything in this forest.
Rustica: It's not just the dolce waiting in the house that he wants Owen to try. He might want Owen to try everything on offer in this very forest.
Nero: Well, it's something that's specially made for someone, right? Of course you'd want 'em to eat up. Showing someone the local sights is all part of hospitality too.
Shino: Then let's munch as we go. There's no need to hurry anyway.
Owen: .........
For the second time, Owen gave the sign a good, hard look. At that, the sign tapped its heel on the ground.
Suddenly, little chocolate bonbons popped up out of nowhere.
Chloe: It's the same sort of sweet that rolled out of the envelope! It's colourful, beautifully-decorated, and looks really tasty!
Mithra: (munching)... Owen, they're looking up at you. How about you pick one up?
Shino: Yeah, do that. Man, this is really good.
Owen: Hey, don't start eating without me.
Akira: (I thought the sign was afraid of Owen, but...)
Something about the way the sign peered at Owen's expression was adorable. It was like a pet listening to its master.
Owen: ...... Haha, you're just like a dog wagging its tail.
Then pamper me with the highest class of service you can offer so I don't get bored of this place.
Owen smiled thinly and picked up a chocolat.
The sign bounced about. It looked happy.
Rustica: Isn't that wonderful, little sign? I'm glad you weren't left cold and dry.
Faust: Hmm. This thing must be animated by Dr Dolce's magic. It seems very into Owen...
Figaro: What on earth did you do to the Doctor?
Owen: Who knows. Maybe you'll find out soon enough.
Owen walked deeper into the forest as he chewed on some chocolat.
The sign skipped ahead of him. It seemed to be taking its tour guide work rather seriously.
Rustica: Let us go as well, on an adventure through Dr Dolce's fantastic forest. Shall we?
Shino: Yeah. Let's enjoy everything it has to offer, from its tricks to its treats.
Chloe: C'mon, Kenja sama!
Akira: Yeah!
Episode 5 ⭢