Chapter 195: The Bear Makes Pudding with the Three Girls

Chapter 195:
The Bear Makes Pudding with the Three Girls

 

“PLEASE TAKE that box to the cold storage. We’ll use what’s in that box, so if you could put it over here...”

When I came back to the kitchen with the three girls in tow, Zelef was fast at work giving out directions on how to divide up the ingredients we’d brought. Botts was sitting in a slightly out-of-the-way chair watching Zelef. I was just about to ask Zelef for permission to use the kitchen when Botts spotted us.

“Aren’t you the bear from earlier? And Lady Misana?”

Zelef noticed us, too, now, and stopped for a moment. “Master Yuna? Is something the matter?”

“Zelef, we won’t get in your way, so would you let us use a corner of the kitchen?”

Botts and Zelef spoke at the same time—

“No.”

“Yes, Master Yuna.”

Zelef was the one I was asking, so why was Botts answering for him?

“You’ll get in Zelef’s way,” Botts reiterated, “so absolutely not.”

“Botts, I don’t personally mind. Are you making something, Master Yuna?”

“The girls seemed bored, so I was thinking we could make pudding together. Maybe we could even make some for tomorrow’s party. With your permission, of course.”

Simultaneously—

“Obviously you may not.”

“Oh yes, that seems like a wonderful idea.”

—they were saying the opposite things, yet again.

“Zelef, what do you think you’re saying! This is the party we’re talking about—it’s a serious affair. There’s no way you could serve dinner made by a bear.”

“Botts, it’s fine. We served Master Yuna’s cooking at His Majesty’s own birthday festival banquet.”

“You’re kidding, right? You mean this bear here cooked for His Majesty’s birthday banquet?”

“Not only that—her food was hailed as even better than my own cooking. It made quite the stir at the party.”

“Zelef…are you pulling my leg?”

“No, I wouldn’t tease about this. It’s true. His Majesty himself has approved the taste of her cooking.”

Botts seemed shocked, even hearing it directly from Zelef’s mouth. I hadn’t witnessed the party myself, so I personally still found it hard to believe.

“Master Yuna is an excellent adventurer, an excellent merchant, and an excellent cook as well.”

I wish he’d quit calling me excellent over and over again. I mean, there were impressionable kids right here, and now these three girls were looking at me with glittering eyes. I’m not that amazing, okay? I was just a normal girl you could find anywhere—I just so happened to have a bear onesie. Uh, not that there actually were any girls in bear onesies anywhere around here. Now that I thought about it, no wonder Botts found me kinda suspect.

To others, I just looked like a girl wearing a bear onesie. I didn’t look like a chef, let alone an adventurer or a merchant. It was like I had the words “Class: Bear” stamped on my forehead. (I vowed to never let anyone know that was literally what it said on my guild card.)

Still, it kind of seemed like it’d be a pain to whip up a batch of pudding with someone eyeing me suspiciously. Maybe it’d be best if I let him try some?

I pulled a pudding from my bear storage and set it down on the tabletop. “This is pudding. Want a bite?” I was well stocked. Actually, I had more than enough for the entire party. Still, this was a festive occasion. It’d make for a better gift if everyone chipped in to make it.

“This is pudding?” Botts came up to me and tried to reach out to me before realizing that he couldn’t. I forgot he was injured, too. One of the maids that’d been watching came up to us.

“Chef Botts, if I may?”

“Sorry. If you could.”

The maid took a spoon, scooped up some pudding, and brought it to Botts’s mouth. She seemed like she’d done this plenty of times before. I guess she was in charge of Botts’s meals?

“What...is this?”

“Isn’t it good? Both His and Her Majesty have taken a liking to it.” The maid gave him another spoonful.

“It’s good. Did you really make this, bear?” He wasn’t looking at me dubiously anymore. Now he was eyeing me like I was a curiosity, which…uh, wasn’t that big of a difference, now that I thought about it.

“Chef Botts, is it really that good?” one of the maids asked. I guess anyone would want a taste of something delicious, especially after hearing that from a chef. I felt bad having them eat Botts’s leftovers, so I brought out some more puddings for the maids who were helping us.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Make sure you help Zelef lots.”

“Why, of course,” said one of the maids, and the three of them dug in.

“It’s delectable.”

“Yes, I’ve never had something so delicious.”

I was glad that it was so popular with the maids.

“Yuna’s amazing! She can make tons of other really good stuff! Not just pudding,” Noa said proudly, sticking her chest out. Fina and Misa agreed with her. I wasn’t going to shrug off the praise, but they didn’t have to set the bar quite that high.

Botts reluctantly agreed to let us use the kitchen as he worked at his pudding. “If Zelef says it’s fine, then I won’t complain. But you better not get in his way.”

“I know. Okay, guys. Everyone’s okay with it, so let’s get to work.”

“Okay!” the three girls said energetically. We headed to the corner right away so we wouldn’t get in the way.

I pulled out about fifty eggs from my bear storage. It wasn’t like we’d have a problem if we made too much. If there were too many leftovers, I could keep them in my bear storage or give them away to the people working for Gran. I could even bring them to Misa’s birthday party.

“Fina, you break the eggs. Noa and Misa can whip them.”

They did just that: Fina skillfully cracked the eggs, while Noa and Misa carefully mixed them.

“Hey, Zelef, look how many eggs she’s got,” said Botts.

“Why, of course she does. According to what I’ve heard, Master Yuna raises kokekko for their eggs. She can get several hundred in a single day.”

“Several hundred eggs?!”

Yep. After all, you needed eggs for pudding, cake, pancakes, and other stuff. A shop used hundreds of eggs in a single day. I was always getting more kokekko too.

Botts seemed bewildered as he watched Fina crack the eggs. “And you’re letting a child handle the eggs, too?”

To Botts, they probably seemed like luxury food items. But I told Tiermina that she could bring home eggs for her family if she wanted. Plus, the orphanage was eating them now, so they were becoming familiar with using them.

I kind of missed the early days when Fina was nervous about cracking the eggs. Her hands would shake while she did it, if I remembered right. She kept making mistakes and apologizing. I couldn’t help but crack a smile at the memory.

Now she’d just go tap, crack. Tap, crack. She had a pretty good rhythm going. Fina sure had grown up.

“Yuna, what is it? Why are you smiling?” Fina asked.

“I’m smiling??”

“Yeah. Like, the kind of smile I see on mom and dad sometimes.”

Was this how Tiermina and Gentz felt? It was like I was watching my own daughter grow up.

“Yuna, I want to try cracking the eggs!”

“M-me too.”

The other girls too? “Sure. Fina, teach them, would you? It’s okay if you mess up, but make sure you don’t get any shells in.”

“Okay.”

Noa and Misa excitedly started to crack the eggs.

We had fifty eggs. Once they got the hang of it, they’d be able to get those done right away.

“Zelef, if you need eggs, just let us know. I have them stockpiled.”

“That would be of great help. We have some in the capital, but I could not bring them with me, of course.”

“Gotcha. I’ll just leave them in the cold storage, so feel free to use them.” I stuffed the packs of eggs in the giant cold storage. Hopefully they’d be enough…

“Wait, are you serious? That’s a ton!” Botts exclaimed. I ignored him. “Zelef, who is this bear girl?”

“Botts. If you let every single little thing about Master Yuna surprise you, you’ll never get any cooking done again. If you reject the unknown, you’ll never evolve as a chef.”

“But who is she?” Botts insisted.

“His Majesty has forbidden questioning Master Yuna. If you would like to ask her questions, you do so at the risk of your own life. You won’t get any help from me.”

“What does that mean?”

“If Master Yuna reports anything bad about you back to His Majesty, your head will go flying.” Zelef laughed as he tapped his neck. C’mon, I wasn’t going to let someone get beheaded…though I’d punch him if he made me feel bad.

“You’re joking, right?”

“I am. But His Majesty really won’t hold back when it comes to Master Yuna.”

Botts gave me a surprised look.

Zelef laughed. “Is my presence here not proof enough? Do you think just anyone could get an audience with His Majesty? Just anyone could borrow the head chef of the palace, immediately receive a decision, and have me dispatched? Any regular person get permission to take the castle’s ingredients? I’m here right now because Master Yuna asked for me to be here. Most people wouldn’t even be able to see His Majesty at all.”

Botts gulped at that.

Huh? Was I really that highly regarded?! The king did owe me a couple favors, I suppose. There was the stuff with the ten thousand monsters, the food, the picture book...but they were all little favors. He was just returning favors—that’s all.

“So heed my warning: I suggest that you do nothing to upset Master Yuna.”

“Okay... I won’t ask her anything. I don’t want to die quite yet, after all.”

He made good on his words. Even though he looked like he had questions, he kept them to himself. I didn’t know whether to be thankful to Zelef or to the king, but I was glad that Botts wasn’t going to be another pain in the rear.

 

Now silent, Botts watched Zelef’s preparations. Occasionally, he looked at us. He didn’t really say anything to us, though, and the pudding-making went without a hitch.

“After we chill them in the refrigerator, we’ll be done,” I said.

The only problem was that we couldn’t find an open fridge. With no other option, I pulled out the bear-shaped fridge I had in reserve and started putting away the puddings.

Hm? Why make the fridge bear-shaped? Because the fridge at my bear house was also bear-shaped. Obviously.

“I’m really looking forward to this. I want to eat them soon.”

“Remember, these are for the party.”

“I know that.”

“We’ll eat them together during then. Right, Fina?”

“Yeah!”

“Yuna, are you really not going?”

“I’m not. I only came here to attend your party, Misa.”

“What about you, Fina?” Noa asked. Fina shook her head.

The same applied for Misa’s party, but Fina wouldn’t like being surrounded by rich aristocrats. The kid might give herself an ulcer. Plus, if Fina went, I’d probably have to go, too—I couldn’t exactly let her attend alone. Noa and Misa seemed disappointed, but they’d have to bear with it.

That night, as all were asleep, a certain bear secretly scaled the building to the roof. (That bear was me, to be honest, and I was just heading up to dismantle the bear transporter gate.)