Chapter 154 – Bear-san And The Cake Taste-Test, Part 2
Terumi-san and Shuri had just arrived, passing by Elena-san on her way out.
「Elena-san went back to the inn to ask for permission to work here.」
「Elena-chan will start working here?」
「She said she wanted to, but since her family runs an inn, I decided to make her get her parents’ approval.」
「I see. Well, leaving that aside for now, what was the thing you made me eat yesterday? It was really delicious...」
「A cake.」
「But, it’s different from pancakes, right?」
「Well, it’s like a distant relative.」
「A distant relative, you say... So, does this mean that I will have to stock up on the ingredients and decide on the selling price again?」
「Yep, I’m counting on you.」
I knew Terumi-san would figure it out by herself.
Well, I had asked her to do it for me numerous times, so it made sense...
「I can’t refuse when you make me eat something so delicious, after all.」
「Sis Yuna?」
Shuri said while tugging on my Bear Suit.
「What is it?」
「I want to eat it.」
「Okay, no problem. Please eat it too, Terumi-san. I have many different flavours, so please tell me which ones are your favourites.」
I cut two more portions and gave them to Terumi-san and Shuri.
「Oh right, Yuna-chan, why did Fina bring us only two portions? Gentz was really sad, you know?」
「...Gentz-san?」
Oh, I had forgotten about him.
When I thought about cake, I never considered men might like it too.
「Well, it’s really sweet, so I thought that Gentz might not like it...」
「Really? I gave him half of mine, and he seemed to enjoy it very much, you know.」
An old man eating cake...
No, it wasn’t good to judge people by their appearance.
Also, I had seen old men eating cake before...
I had trouble with being judged by my appearance as well, so old men were free to eat and wear whatever they wanted.
「I will prepare his share, so please take it to him. Also, could you ask him which one he liked the most?」
「I will make sure to ask him.」
Hmm, maybe I should make a cake with less sugar that would suit the tastes of men.
I would need more of them to taste it, then.
Cliff, the guild master of the Adventurer’s Guild, Gill, and Gold-san. Would those four do? Ah, right, I forgot Blitz again.
Meh, I would think more about this later.
「Yum, it’s as delicious as yesterday. I can’t stop eating it.」
「It’s yummy, Sis Yuna.」
Terumi-san and Shuri both liked the cake as well, it seemed; they ate it with smiles on their faces.
Still, the speed at which Terumi-san moved her fork was beyond quick.
「You will get fat if you eat too much of it, you know.」
The moment I said that... a crack appeared in the world. I could almost hear it.
I looked up and saw the women, their hands now still and their faces grimacing as if they had just seen hell.
On the other side, the children were still stuffing their faces with angelic smiles on their faces.
I had created a perfect rift.
「Yuna-chan... The cake can make us fat?」
Mylene-san asked carefully.
「Yep, your stomach will become all cute and chubby.」
「You’re joking, right?」
She asked now trying to smile.
「You think I’m joking?」
「...」
Mylene-san gulped.
「I’m not joking, but it’s fine as long as you don’t eat too much.」
「I knew it!」
Mylene-san said and reached for another bite.
「Still, I think that six slices are quite a lot, you know.」
「Yuna-chan!」
Mylene-san cried out.
Yep, six slices were just too much.
「Yuna-san, are three slices okay?」
「Well, three should be fine if you don’t eat it every day.」
Karin-san seemed relieved.
「Shuri, ahhh...」
Terumi-san was trying to make Shuri eat her share too now.
「But Terumi-san, you haven’t eaten yet, right? I still want to hear which one you like the most.」
「I don’t want to become fat.」
「You won’t get fat so easily, you know.」
「Yuna-chan. It’s fine when you’re young, but when you become older, you can’t be that careless.」
She said with a soft voice and a serious face.
「Still, could you please taste them properly?」
I replied with a smile; I would be troubled if she didn’t taste them, after all.
Terumi-san reluctantly started to eat again.
「Ugh... it’s even harder to stop eating it since it’s so delicious.」
She complained with her fork in her mouth.
「Mom, you aren’t fat, so there is no problem.」
A certain someone said to comfort her.
Well, it seemed that everyone liked the cakes.
There was no other problem other than the fact that it could make us fat.
Well, it was okay as long as we didn’t overeat it. Honestly, anything could make you fat if you ate too much of it. Hmm, cake did that quicker, though... Was a low calorie cake necessary? I might have to consider making one with less sugar.
When all the plates were cleaned out, Morin-san stood up.
「Well then, I want to try making it, so do you mind showing me?」
Morin-san said vigorously; she wanted to try making the cake immediately.
I didn’t mind, so Morin-san and Karin-san ended up helping me, while Terumi-san and the children just watched.
As I had expected from Morin-san, who was and experienced baker, she followed my recipe and made a strawberry cake without a problem.
However...
「It won’t be possible to add it to the menu; we don’t have enough time as it is, after all.」
「Even if we get more helping hands?」
「Maybe, but it would be hard to teach and oversee them all...」
Karin-san seemed to be of the same opinion as her mother. Elena-san’s help was absolutely necessary, then.
We proceeded to eat the cake Morin-san and Karin-san made.
「Yep, it’s delicious.」
As expected from Morin-san, the taste was perfect.
「It’s all thanks to your instructions, Yuna-chan. As a fellow baker, I can tell that you are just incredible, being able to invent such a recipe.」
Sorry, but I hadn’t invented it. It was just food from another world.
「Anyway, we should put off adding it to the menu for now, right?」
「Yeah, it’s a pity, though.」
Morin-san agreed with me.
「You really won’t sell it!?」
Mylene-san cried out.
「We don’t have enough employees to make it, after all.」
「I will lend you some people from the Commerce Guild, then.」
「It’s not like I don’t trust you, Mylene-san, but having people I don’t know here is...」
I didn’t really care if any information got out, but I just wouldn’t feel comfortable having strangers work for me.
「Well, if we get Elena-san to help us, we might be able to leave it to her.」
「Yeah, but her parents run an inn, so...」
It probably wouldn’t happen. Their only daughter? She would most likely get married and succeed the inn.
「Well, I will check the prices of the ingredients, so we can add it to the menu anytime we want.」
Terumi-san interjected.
Not a moment later, Elena-san rushed back into the shop.
「Elena-san, what happened? Why are you so out of breath?」
She hadn’t had a fight with her parents, right?
「Yuna-san, they are just cruel!」
Elena-san said and hugged me.
I would prefer if you didn’t bury your face into my stomach, you know.
「Can you please explain what happened?」
I said and forcibly pulled Elena-san off me.
「So, why are they cruel?」
「They said that I’m a scatterbrain and often cause trouble...」
「So, that means it’s a no go?」
「No, I managed to persuade them, but they said that they will come here to make sure I’m not just causing you trouble, Yuna-san...」
So, it would be something like the Parents’ Day?
Hmm, it should be called business inspection in this case, right? They would come to see if their child was doing her job properly, after all.
Wait, did that mean I was the one who had the role of a mentor here?
On Parents’ Day, the parents would have a talk with the teacher, but in this case, they would just come to see if Elena-san was doing her job well, so it had nothing to do with me, right?
When they came, I could just leave it to Morin-san.
Yeah, if this were a school, I would have the role of the principal, and Morin-san would be the teacher.
「Morin-san, is it okay if I leave dealing with her parents to you when they come?」
I asked my shop manager.
「I don’t mind as long as they don’t become a hindrance.」
Morin-san accepted my proposal.
「Yuna-san, Morin-san, thank you very much.」
Elena-san thanked us and bowed.
Well, now we just had to show Elena-san’s parents that she wasn’t causing trouble here...
The next day, even though I thought that the inn should have been busy, Elena-san’s parents came to thank me.
「If she ever causes you any trouble, you can shoo her out whenever you want, okay?」
「If she ever skips work, I don’t mind if you kick her butt hard, okay?」
For her parents to say something like that, was Elena-san a bad worker?
When I had been staying at the inn, I had seen her taking breaks at the counter, but she had been properly working when it had been time to serve meals.
Elena-san’s parents left soon after, saying that they would come around to see how she was doing again later.