Chapter 191: The Bear Sees the Palace's Head Chef

Chapter 191:
The Bear Sees the Palace’s Head Chef

 

SINCE I RECEIVED the king’s permission, we headed on to Zelef. For some reason, the king was the one accompanying me instead of Ellelaura. They had a short talk about it right before we left the room:

“Ellelaura, I will accompany her, so you can return to work.”

“Wai—what? I was going to accompany her.”

“You can’t. You need to do your job. It would be faster if I were the one to explain things to Zelef, wouldn’t it?”

“I am doing my job. I could explain things to him as well.”

“If I may, Lady Ellelaura…” said the man next to the king. “…what happened with the matter from the other day?”

“Oh, I still haven’t gotten to that matter yet, Zang,” Ellelaura answered, averting her eyes.

“Please see to it soon,” Zang said in a gentle tone.

“Ugh, all right. Yuna, I’ll see you again some other time. Make sure to bring something scrumptious next time.”

“Please come back right away, Father,” said Prince Ernat. “You always slip away at a moment’s notice whenever anything happens. You have just as much work as Lady Ellelaura.”

“I am aware. You say that as though I’m always shirking my work.”

“When the bear maiden comes, you do.” The prince looked over at me. Okay, but why me? I hadn’t ever asked the king to come by. He came on his own accord, and I was getting blamed for it? Sure, it was my fault this time, but not normally! Maybe he was just in the dark about some stuff.

I guess this was how one-sided grudges got formed. Little things piled up into a mountain and, before the other person knew it, they’d end up stabbed in the back. Even if none of this was my fault…

If they really wanted to make the king work, they should’ve tied him down to his chair. Doing that would force the king to do his job, keep the prince’s workload down, and even prevent the king from bugging me. There, three birds with one stone—or maybe one throne. Also, ropes.

The next time we happened to meet, I’d suggest it to the prince. Plus, he was Flora’s older brother. I had to make a good impression if I didn’t want him to get in the way of me seeing Lady Flora.

As Ellelaura reluctantly went back to her work, I went with the king to the kitchen. There were a ton of chefs hard at work there.

“That’s a lot of people,” I commented.

“That’s because they prepare food for the people who work in this castle. They don’t cook every meal for everyone, but it still results in quite a lot of food.”

Some people brought lunch, but most seemed to eat in the dining hall.

 

The king and I stuck out like sore thumbs in the entrance to the kitchen. The king was the most important person in the castle, and I happened to be wearing a bear onesie. Of course we were gonna attract attention.

“It’s the bear.”

“Why is the bear here?

“Is it that bear?”

“From the rumors?!”

“Wow, it really is a bear.”

“What? Is this your first time seeing her?”

“Is she younger than me?”

“She’s so small.”

“Why’s she dressed like that?”

“Hey, everyone can hear you.”

“The head chef will give you an earful if you make her upset.”

Excuse me, I can hear you. There might’ve been more people staring at me than the king. Wasn’t that weird? Shouldn’t the king showing up be a little rarer?

“Hey, someone go talk to the bear.”

“You go.”

“Oh, His Majesty is with her.”

They started pushing each other. Um, yeah, I’d say they should’ve been more worried about greeting the king. You know, the most important person in the country? You’re all weird. Since no one was coming to us, I made up my mind to talk to them first—right as a plump chef made his way over to us.

“Your Majesty and Master Yuna, what brings you here?”

It was Zelef. At least he knew how to greet people properly. He addressed the king first, then me. I guess that was why he was the head chef.

“Did you perhaps come with a new type of cuisine to share?!” he asked, his eyes sparkling like a kid’s.

“I came here to ask for something,” I told him.

“Of me?”

“Zelef, would you be kind enough to accompany Yuna to Sheelin?” the king asked.

Zelef was shocked. It must’ve seemed pretty out of the blue. “Did you say Sheelin? Why would you need me to go there?”

“The Fahrengrams are having a party, but their chef was injured and can’t cook. Yuna wanted to ask you to cook instead.”

Zelef shifted his gaze from the king to me. “Master Yuna, you’re asking me to do this?”

“Is that okay? You’re the only person I know who can cook for a party.”

“With His Majesty’s permission, I would be happy to assist. May I?” Zelef looked to the king.

“I am indebted to both you and Yuna. Please hear Yuna out.”

“Yes, My Majesty. Master Yuna, if you’d humbly allow me to prepare my own cuisine…”

“Thank you, Zelef,” I said.

“Not at all! You always serve me delicious foods. You’ve even taught me recipes. I’ve wanted to repay you for some time now, so please do not worry.”

I’d gotten Zelef to agree without any issues. We’d distract the chefs if we kept talking in the kitchen, so we decided to move to another location to talk details.

Before Zelef left, he gave various instructions to someone who looked like the associate head chef. After that, we headed to an adjacent room.

 

“So, what kind of party will this be?” Zelef asked. “How many attendees will there be? What kind of guests are we expecting? When is the party taking place?”

I tried to explain things to the best of my abilities.

“Two days?” Zelef repeated. “Will we make it in time?”

“We’ll ride on my bear summons. We might not make it on horses, but my bears should be able to do it.” Maybe. Hopefully.

“You want me to ride on one of those bears?! Ah…well, I suppose. However, it will still be tight. It seems we won’t have enough time to buy ingredients at Sheelin.”

“We can’t be sure that Sheelin will have what you need. How about we buy things at the capital before leaving?”

With how the Salbard family was handling things, we might not even be able to buy anything at all. They might even interfere with us. No, it’d be better, probably, to stock up in the capital.

“That would use up time better spent elsewhere,” said Zelef. “Your Majesty, may I have permission to take ingredients from the palace?”

“As you like, but record how much you take.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“You can bill me for it,” I said. “I’ll charge Gran later.”

“You don’t have to worry about such trifles,” the king said.

“No, I have to make sure to settle up.” Everything comes at a cost—and sometimes that wasn’t monetary. Although Gran would be the one paying, not me.

“Then I’ll give you the bill later, Yuna.”

“Lastly, Your Majesty, may I have your permission to use an item bag? Since I will need to take quite a large amount of food, my item bag will not fit it all.”

“That’s all right. It can all go in mine,” I told him.

“Can it really?!”

“Yeah, it can manage that much stuff.”

“In that case, let’s go to the storehouse to select the ingredients.”

“Well then, I need to head out before I get a scolding,” said the king. “I’ll leave the rest to you, Zelef.”

“Yes, as you wish.”

“Thank you,” the king said. “And you should bring more of that delicious food of yours.”

The king left. We headed to the storehouse next to the kitchen, which was located close by for the sake of convenience. It was pretty chilly in there.

“I shall pack the ingredients into boxes. May I ask for your assistance?”

“Sure. Put as much stuff in the boxes as you want. I think too much is better than not having enough.”

Zelef stuffed ingredients into a box. Once he had the first box finished, I put it away in my bear storage. Then we repeated the process.

“Master Yuna, thank you very much for this.”

“Huh?” Shouldn’t I be the one thanking him?

“Since I became the palace’s head chef, I haven’t gone on a trip. I’m looking forward to this. Of course, it’s not that I dislike my current position. I quite enjoy it, and it is an honor to be trusted by His Majesty. I’m happy here. And I am grateful that I have been able to experience your food.”

“I’m just glad I’m not imposing on you.”

“No, you’re not imposing at all. I am also enjoying my role for the restaurant. I’ve been very busy, but it’s also been a treasured experience.”

“Oh, right. What happened with that restaurant?”

“Ah, yes. I don’t know all the details without asking Lady Ellelaura, but we are training the chefs to ensure they will never be an embarrassment, no matter where they end up. I believe she is still having trouble deciding the menu, however.”

“Really?”

“Yes, but creating a menu is an enjoyable process.”

I was glad he was having fun. I still felt bad intruding right when he seemed to be busy, but Zelef seemed genuinely thankful. I’d have to bring him some new dish in order to thank him next time.