Chapter 204: The Bear Attends the Party

Chapter 204:
The Bear Attends the Party

 

ONCE THE PARTY STARTED, Zelef’s food was brought in.

That’s right, food from the head chef of the palace himself. He cooked us dinner last night, too, but this was my first time trying his food for parties. The delicious cuisine lined the table. Beautifully plated they were; the visual aesthetics and aroma of the colorful food stimulated my appetite.

Once they finished setting out the food, Misa stood up, seemingly embarrassed. She told us to enjoy ourselves, there was a toast, and we started the party.

I didn’t know anything about the etiquette. I could eat like normal, right?

When I looked next to me, Fina also seemed unsure about what to do. Then she looked to me, seeming worried. I didn’t know how to eat properly at a noble’s party, and that uncertain look from her wouldn’t change a thing. Like a kid copying test answers, all we could do was look to the person next to us and fake it. Noa was enjoying her food and eating with a fork and spoon diagonal from us.

“I think we’ll be all right if we just copy Noa?” I whispered.

Then again, I doubted anyone would complain as long as we weren’t doing something truly horrendous. If they warned us about anything, then we’d need to be careful. Plus, it’d be terrible if we were so worried about manners that we couldn’t enjoy Zelef’s food now that we finally had a chance to try it. I decided not to worry about it too much and got to munching.

I started with the delicious-looking soup. It wasn’t like the soups Anz made, but it was still good. I wanted to ask Zelef about how he made the party food sometime in the future. Maybe he’d be willing to teach Anz. If I could convince him to do that, I’d be able to have it anytime I wanted.

 

Delicious food aside, my thighs, arms, and neck were all just way too cold. It was so weird. My onesie regulated my temperature normally. As long as I didn’t mind how it looked, it served as amazing clothes. I yearned for the feel of its fluffy fabric.

Since I was borrowing the dress, I needed to be careful not to get it dirty. I didn’t intend to, but getting food on my dress would be a disaster. I had no idea how much the dress cost, but I was sure it was a ton.

Fina was so worried that she could only eat a small bite at a time, so she was going very slowly.

“So Misa is ten now, isn’t she?” I asked, trying to make conversation.

Misa’s mother looked at her daughter. “Yes, the same as Noa.”

“But in a few months, I’ll be eleven. Then I’ll practically be your older sister,” Noa declared, almost the moment Misa’s mother said the words “same age.” I guess? She was born earlier, after all.

“Mmhm! You’re still like an older sister to me, Noa.”

Come to think of it, Fina was ten too. What was her birthday, anyway?

Considering Fina’s circumstances until now, had she even celebrated it before? It might be a good idea to talk to Tiermina, maybe have a surprise party for her. Fina was the first person to help me after I got to this world, after all. I thought it was a pretty good plan, so I remembered to keep a note about it.

 

The maids who helped out with the party food started participating themselves. Zelef and Botts were eating as they critiqued the food. They talked about seasoning, whether it was strong or weak, whether it might be a good idea to use other ingredients…the works.

Botts could manage holding a fork now, but he still winced whenever he raised his arm. Knives, on the other hand, were out of the question. Food required careful work, so it seemed that it would take a while until he was able to make food like normal again.

Ellelaura, who finally had a chance to see Noa, was enjoying a conversation with Cliff. Cliff was incredibly busy lately too.

I could hear Ellelaura talking about Shia, who was still in the capital, and discussing that whole thing where I’d guarded the students. Noa, being Noa, talked about things I’d done in Crimonia. Why were they all talking about me?

Wouldn’t a family talk about themselves after finally managing to get together again?

Some time had passed, so Noa gave Misa her present. It turned out to be a ribbon—a cute present that worked well for someone her age. If the present had been jewels or a dress or something super expensive, it would’ve made things a bit weird. Then again, for all I knew that ribbon cost a small fortune.

I tried to gauge the timing of my present. Next to me, Fina was giving me another searching, pleading sort of look: “What do we do?”

We had two presents: the cake and the bear stuffed animals. Noa tied the ribbon on Misa and she was looking happy about it. I looked at the table. Since we were in the middle of the party, there wasn’t so much food left.

Maybe it was about time for the cake? “Misa, could I talk to you for a second?”

“Yes, what is it?”

“Fina and I also have a present for you.”

“A present?!” Misa seemed pretty happy about that.

“Fina and I made something sweet for you. Would you like to try it?” I pulled out a giant two-tier cake from my bear storage.

Misa looked way interested in the cake—she hadn’t seen it before, either. I lined up the strawberries on the cake and the center of the cake had “Happy Birthday” written on it in strawberry whipped cream, courtesy of one very anxious Fina.

“Did you and Fina make this, Yuna? I’m so happy.”

“Fina was so worried about your present that we talked about making this together.”

“It’s such a pretty cake,” said Misa’s mother.

“Yes, it seems like such a waste to eat. But…how do you eat it?”

It was a whole two-tier cake. They probably hadn’t assumed the whole thing was for one person. I told them generally how to slice it.

“We need to cut it?!”

“Well, yeah. You gotta slice it to eat it.”

“Hmm, but you even wrote on it. That’s such a waste.”

Fina looked embarrassed now. “I’d be happy if you just cherish your memory of the writing and how it tastes,” she said.

“All right,” said Misa with a nod, looking the cake over. “I’ll make sure to remember it.”

With Misa on board, I decided to start the slicing. When I inserted the knife into the cake, Misa very quietly and sadly let out an “Ohh.” There wasn’t much we could do about that, so I hoped that she’d be patient.

I placed the cake slices onto plates. We’d made tons, so we had enough for everyone. After that, everyone picked up their forks and started digging in.

“It’s delicious,” said Misa.

“It really is quite good,” said Gran.

“I’ve had this before. It’s delicious,” said Cliff.

“I wanted to make it together with you.”

Misa and Gran, who’d never tried the cake before, and Noa and Cliff, who had it in the past, all praised the cake.

“I had no idea you could make something so delicious, Miss. You could give up adventuring and put on a chef’s hat, if you wished,” said Gran. He really didn’t know much about me…

“Gran, old chap, she already has two shops. She sells much more than cake,” said Cliff.

“Does she, now?”

“And her shop is popular in Crimonia. My daughter visits all the time.”

“That’s just because Yuna’s food at her shop is so yummy,” Noa said.

“Noa, that’s so unfair,” Misa chimed in.

I didn’t really get why, but everyone at Misa’s birthday party seemed really into talking about me. Noa proudly talked about what foods she liked at my shop. Misa listened in, seemingly jealous.

I even heard her mutter to herself about how unfair it all was.

“But Fina,” said Noa suddenly, “what you got to do is the most unfair of all.”

“M-me?”

“Since you got to make a cake with Yuna. I wanted to make it with you too. Why didn’t you invite me?” Noa pouted and sulked.

“Well, Fina didn’t know what to get Misa as a present,” I said.

Fina groaned. “Then I should’ve talked to you too.”

“Then want to make one later?”

“Do you mean it?” asked Noa.

“I-I’d like to make it too,” Misa cut in, somewhat demurely.

“In that case,” I said, how about we all make one together when the party’s over?”

“Can we really?”

Misa and Noa were thrilled at that.

Next I looked toward Zelef and the others, catching bits of their conversation.

“It really is delicious,” said Botts. “The pudding as well. Did that girl make this?”

“She’s an adventurer as well as a chef. I hold her in high esteem,” Zelef answered. I wish he’d stop saying things about holding me in high esteem and such. If the palace’s head chef went around saying he respected me like that, I’d just have more complications. And it wasn’t like I was a cook.

“But how did you make this?” Botts scooped up some of the whipped cream with a spoon and ate it.

“I can make it because Yuna taught me, but I cannot teach you, Botts,” Zelef said, sounding just a little smug about it. Botts seemed pained by Zelef’s attitude.

They got along well.

It seemed like people generally liked the cake. Now all we had left was giving Misa the stuffed animals.