Chapter 244

Eleanora-san led me to the kitchen at the back of the restaurant . Inside, Zelef-san and a few other chefs were busying themselves with cooking .

「 . Zelef, we’re here」

. When Eleanora-san called out to him, everyone turned to look at us

「Eleanora-dono, we’ve been waiting for you . Oh, Yuna-dono is with you as well?」

「Yes, I just happened to run into her outside the restaurant . I would like Yuna-chan to help with the taste-testing; would that be okay?」

While it had indeed been by chance that we ran into each other at the front of the restaurant, it wasn’t really a coincidence that I was here . Well, I couldn’t really tell them that I rushed here because I heard about a Bear-themed shop in the capital from Sanya-san .

「Of course . If Yuna-dono, who invented the recipes, taste-test our dishes, it would be of great help to us . 」

「 . Well, I’m not really a taste-testing expert, but I will do my best」

I wasn’t like the expert taste-testers on the TV or manga who could judge food professionally . I was just an ordinary fifteen-year-old girl with a basic taste and food knowledge .

「Simply saying it’s good or bad will be more than enough . If something doesn’t taste right to you, please let us know, so we can fix it . 」

. If that was all I had to do, it should be fine

「Well then, let me introduce to you our chefs first . The three of them will be working at our restaurant and delivering your recipes to the people of the capital . 」

Zelef-san gestured his apprentices forward, and the three of them immediately lined up beside him . Taking a good first look at them, I noticed that there were two guys and a girl, which surprised me .

The guys looked like they were in their early twenties, but she appeared to be younger, most likely about eighteen years old .

Also, was it just me, or was the girl looking at me rather respectfully? Nah, it must be just my imagination . It would be arrogant of me to think that someone older than me would look up to me .

「These three have both high social status and good culinary skills, so I assure you they won’t leak your recipes to anyone and guarantee that they will not disgrace your store’s reputation in any way with bad behaviour or cooking . 」

?Was it okay to have such an excellent staff run a restaurant like this

It was just a Bear shop with cute Bears standing outside of the entrance . Were the three of them really fine working at such a place? I wanted to ask them that but held it in .

「 . Everyone, please introduce yourselves to Yuna-dono」

The two guys, as they introduced themselves, kept glancing at my outfit . Still, knowing that they had been chosen by Zelef-san to work here, their stares didn’t feel uncomfortable like they did with others; they were most likely just using it as a reference for the restaurant, especially since from what Zelef-san had told me just earlier, they would take up the roles of the Head Chef and Assistant Head chefs in this restaurant .

Once the solemn introductions of the two were complete, the girl rushed to me with sparkling eyes .

「My name is Shaila . I have the least skill of the three, but I am the most energetic . I really didn’t think I would get to meet with Bear-san today . I am deeply moved to be able to meet you!」

She happily introduced herself while grabbing onto my Bear Hand .

?’Wait, ‘Bear-san

「 . Umm, my name is Yuna . Nice to meet you, too」

. I emphasized my name to her

「!Bear-san, please take care of us」

?Was the ‘Bear-san’ on purpose? She was doing it on purpose, wasn’t she

I even made sure to articulate my name, but she completely ignored it . Looking at her innocent smile, it didn’t seem like she was doing it to spite me, but… She wasn’t trying to secretly ridicule me, was she?

「Come on, Shaila . Don’t be rude towards Yuna-dono . 」

Zelef-san said and lightly bonked Shaila in the head .

「 . I’m sorry, my dear uncle」

「?Uncle」

Did I hear that right? She called him my dear uncle, didn’t she? Was there some kind of forbidden relationship between them? Or, was I being simply too influenced by manga and novels?

「Shaila is my niece . She’s good at cooking, but her personality can be a bit… troublesome . 」

Zelef-san sighed as he explained .

Oh, it turned out that was just her personality and he was her actual uncle .

「My dear uncle, you’re being mean to me . 」

「I told you not to call me uncle here . How many times do I need to remind you of that?」

「 . I’m sorry, Head Chef」

Couldn’t he tell her not to call me 「Bear-san」too…

「Bear-san, I did my best to make this . Please try it . 」

「?Umm, can you please call me by my name instead of Bear-san」

. At this rate, she was bound to keep calling me Bear-san

I could excuse young children and elderly folk for calling me Bear-san and Young Bear Lady, but being called that by someone close to my age really felt like I was being ridiculed .

「I’m sorry . We’re used to calling you the「Cooking Bear」between us . 」

Shaila seemed to realize only now and immediately bowed to apologize to me .

?Did that mean all the chefs here called me the Cooking Bear

I also called other people by nicknames sometimes, like blondie for blonde haired girls and muscle uncle for muscular guys, so I couldn’t really judge them . Not that I was particularly fine with being called Bear-san myself, though .

「Well, that makes sense . His Majesty ordered the guards to let ‘the Bear’ into the castle as it wasn’t dangerous . 」

「Yes, and when Head Chef also said not to be surprised if we meet a girl dressed as a bear, we just grew to call you that . 」

Eleanora-san and Shaila helped explain as to how the nickname came to be so commonly used .

So, not only was my nickname widely spread throughout at the castle, but Eleanora-san also finally explained why I was never stopped when I came to meet with Princess Flora . Normally, if a commoner (not to mention one wearing a Bear Suit) were to try and enter the castle, the guards would surely try to stop them and be suspicious of their motives . Instead, people simply bowed and stared at me when I came, letting me enter Princess Flora’s room without even asking me my reason of visit .

「His Majesty didn’t want to cause you trouble when you came, and this was the simplest way to explain it to people . 」

…Eleanora-san further explained . So that was why

Well, since that meant I could visit Princess Flora whenever I wanted, I couldn’t complain too much . It would have been a pain if I were stopped every time . Giving a rational response to things like「Stop, you suspicious person!」or 「Why are you wearing such a suspicious outfit?」 would be almost impossible .

「Well then, Yuna-san, where did you learn all these recipes? Did you create them yourself? How could you possibly come up with all of these dishes? Also, why do you wear a bear costume?」

With the Bear-san issue out of the way, Shaila immediately began to bombard me with questions . With each one, she also excitedly took a step towards me, so I had to keep backing away or I feared she would trample me .

「…Shaila」

Zelef-san warned and gave her head another bonk .

「 . Head Chef, that hurts」

「 . Then calm yourself and I won’t need to do it」

. Only then did Shaila realize what she was doing and backed off

「 . Yuna-dono, I apologize . She just can’t stay still, this one」

「You’re being mean, Head Chef . I’ve just been looking very forward to meeting Yuna-san . 」

「?Looking very forward」

「You’re always bringing food to the Head Chef, right? I’m jealous that only he gets to eat those dishes…」

She seemed to be implying that Zelef-san was being unfair .

Every time I visited Princess Flora, I would pass a dish to Anju-san to give to him as an apology for ruining his meal preparations . I also sometimes asked him to try my new dishes, such as pudding, cake, and pizza . Not to mention all the different types of bread that Morin-san (and I) thought of .

「 . You’ve been making those same dishes, though」

「Yes, but Head Chef, you always say that the ones I make should taste better . 」

「 . Well, obviously . You had me eat those while you were still practicing」

「Well, I’ve really wanted to talk to Yuna-san, anyway . We’re both girls, and since she can make such delicious food…」

. Shaila again shuffled closer to me with sparkling eyes

. This girl was so enthusiastic that it was almost scary

「Yes, but you must calm yourself or you will scare her away . 」

Zelef-san said and bonked her head for the third time .

「…Uuu, my head hurts」

「Yuna-dono, when you have time, please take some time off for Shaila . It shouldn’t be too hard for you to chat as you’re both girls . 」

For a shut-in like myself to deal with someone so energetic… it might be hard even though we were both girls .

I would much rather talk to someone a little bit more reserved, but I couldn’t really say something so selfish out loud, so I decided to just jump straight into the taste-testing, and ignore the request for now .

On the table, there were several freshly baked cakes and breads lined up neatly . They must have timed it with Eleanora-san’s arrival so that was why they had just been baked . Wasn’t this a bit too much? On the other side of the room, I saw another table also neatly lined with cakes and bread . Did I have to try all of these? I was just a young girl, so I couldn’t possibly eat all of it .

「!Yuna-san, please taste this」

Oblivious of my conflicted feelings, Shaila immediately served me a slice of cake .

It was a simple strawberry shortcake . Even though I didn’t know if I could finish them all, I humbly accepted it .

Eleanora-san and I taste-tested cake after cake, and slowly, my belly began to bulge . I usually liked eating cake, but I could only eat so much of it… Eating food was only enjoyable when done with moderation; cramming it all at once would bring all sorts of unpleasantries .

「So, Yuna-san, what do you think of this cake? I thought of it myself…」

I tried a slice of the cake she offered me .

「Mm, this mixture of sweet and sour is quite good . 」

「!T-thank you very much」

「Yuna-dono, please try this as well . 」

「!This too, please」

They all presented their dishes to me .

Perhaps I made a mistake in taking part in this taste-testing… It was too late now to do anything about it, though, so I could only take my time putting each piece in my mouth, hoping I wouldn’t burst .

For each dish I stated 「This is my inexperienced opinion, but I think that…」and, without beating around the bush, presented them with my opinions, such as: this is delicious, the tastes don’t match well, this is pretty good, it’s too sweet, you skimped too much on the salt .

The three of them busily jotted down everything I said, as if I really was some sort of food expert .

「My, Yuna-chan, you’re so popular . 」

「Stop teasing me Eleanora-san, and help me eat . 」

「I’m eating…」

Eleanora-san’s plate was empty, so she wasn’t lying . It was very strange: both of us were always served at the same time, yet whether it was a cake or a piece of bread, she finished each one before me without any trouble . She must be the same as Mylene-san… . When they were eating something they liked, they could eat as much as they wanted, their stomachs were like bottomless wells .

On the other hand, I was doing my best just trying to persevere .

In conclusion, most of the dishes were delicious .

While they had indeed prepared each dish based on my recipes, they also carefully and expertly added their personal take to it . The whipped cream decoration on the cakes was very skillfully applied as well .

「We tried our best but couldn’t draw the Bear-san on it as well as we hoped we could . 」

「Yes, we apologize for that . If only we could see how your people in Crimonia do it…」

「It sounded like it was such a cute cake, so we had to try it, but the result…」

「?…」

I didn’t understand what the three of them were talking about .

Since when did the cakes from my shop have Bear-san decorations on top?

「!?Yuna-san, could you please show us how it’s done」

「?Umm, what exactly are you talking about」

「Eleanora-sama and Head Chef both told us how your store uses whipped cream to draw Bear-san on cakes . They also said those were very popular amongst the customers . 」

「?…」

「Yes, I saw some children ordering it, and they looked really happy when they ate it . 」

I really didn’t know anything about such a cake .

Was this Elena-san’s doing? Where had she learned of it, though? It was very much like those ketchup drawings on omurice that could be found at maid cafes in my world, but I didn’t recall ever telling her about it .

. Actually, I did remember drawing one before

While we had been making Misa’s birthday cake, I was fooling around and drew a Bear-san on the cake, which Fina then took home to give to Shuri . Shuri couldn’t have gone to Misa’s birthday party, so I drew it for her, hoping that it would make her happy .

Somehow, Elena-san must have heard about it and taught herself how to draw Bear-san on cakes? Well, it wasn’t like I had intended to keep it a secret, so I didn’t really have too much of a problem with it .

「We also thought we could make children happy if we could serve something like that to them, so we tried our best, but the result is nowhere near what we wanted…」

「 . I have no artistic talent myself, so I can’t really teach them that」

. Zelef-san answered, slightly embarrassed

. I looked over at Eleanora-san

「If I could draw, I wouldn’t have had to show the craftsman your picture book to have him make the sculptures . 」

This restaurant had already unexpectedly committed to the Bear-san theme, and now they even asked to draw the bears on cakes for them… It almost made me want to strangle myself .

On the other hand, Shaila was looking at me with such innocent, pleading eyes that it hurt my heart .

If I showed them how to do it, it would feel like I was digging my grave, but if I didn’t, I would be disappointing everyone who worked so hard for this shop…

「?Does it really have to be a bear」

「Yuna-chan, are you planning to keep it as a special service for the children of Crimonia?」

「…Not because of that, but」

Just what had I gotten myself into… Well, it was all my fault, but still…

「 . Yuna-san, please teach us」

. Shaila said while bowing deeply

She kept her head down, while I was trying to find a way out, but the other chefs didn’t offer me the chance and also bowed . Staying silent at this point was making me look like a huge bad guy .

「 . Please do it for the children」

「Alright…」

I sighed and began drawing a cute bear with whipped cream .

「Yuna-san, you’re really good at this . 」

「!I see, that’s how you do it . I must note this down」

Shaila quickly took notes while I was drawing while the other chefs just watched me intently .

It was just a drawing of a Bear, they didn’t have to be so focused on the lines I drew .

「 . Thank you very much . I will go practice right away」

Shaila said and started copying the bear I drew, prompting the other two to do the same .

?Did I end up making the wrong choice in the end

Author’s Notes:

Volume 3 pre-orders have already been opened at many different places .

For some reason, on Amazon’s site, the web version has the front cover, but the hard copy doesn’t . I’m not sure why…

Anyway, for this volume, I added four bonus short stories for the hard copy .

I’m still deciding which stories to give the bonus to, so this is more of a notice how it’s been going rather than a full release notice . Please do wait patiently for that one .