Extra Story: Lady Ellelaura and Zelef Stop By Part Two

Extra Story:
Lady Ellelaura and Zelef Stop By Part Two

 

WE WALKED AROUND TOWN with Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef. I was a little nervous, but Mom was even more nervous. I knew how she felt. I wished Milaine had been there too, but she was busy with Mileela.

I decided to talk to Lady Ellelaura in place of my mom. “Um, Lady Ellelaura.”

“What is it?”

“Is Lady Noa not with you?” I’d seen her at Lady Misa’s birthday party, but I’d barely got to talk to her then because of all the commotion. It was too bad.

“I left her at home. She’s already gone to Yuna’s shop plenty of times, hasn’t she?”

I’d seen Lady Noa at the shop a lot. Recently, she’d had some bear bread and really liked it.

“I’m going in undercover, so I left her,” Ellelaura continued. “If she was around, everyone would realize that I’m her mother. And this is business, after all.”

I understood why she was doing that, but I felt bad for Lady Noa. She’d finally had a chance to see her mom.

“Don’t look so down,” she said. “I still intend to make time for Noa. I cherish the time I’m with my own daughter.” Okay, that was good. “And please, continue to stick around Noa,” she said.

“I will!”

 

We caught sight of the Bear’s Lounge as I chatted with Lady Ellelaura.

“Is it that building, by any chance?”

“Yes.” You could tell that with a single glance. There was a bear statue out front, after all.

Lady Ellelaura started running to it, and we followed behind. Uncle Zelef was a little heavyset, so he took a little longer to catch up.

“Why, that’s a bear decoration! She must have made this then.” Lady Ellelaura touched the bear statue and grinned. Yuna had made it with magic, of course, so it wouldn’t break easily. She said it would be okay even if kids were rough with it.

Uncle Zelef caught up, a little out of breath, and gazed at the statue. “It’s…huff…holding…huuuff…bread.”

“Did Yuna do this too?”

“Yes, so it would be a bear shop.”

“Shall we place one at the restaurant in the capital…?” Ellelaura mused.

Uncle Zelef Nodded. “That sounds like a splendid idea! I’m sure Master Yuna will be very pleased.”

Umm, I wasn’t sure Yuna would truly like that. She didn’t even seem happy to make this bear statue—even if they were so cute and nice.

“Master Ellelaura, let us go into the shop. I am quite hungry,” said Uncle Zelef, putting his hands on his big stomach. He looked like he could eat a lot.

“You’re right. Let’s head in. I’ve been smelling the most delicious aroma.”

The smell of fresh bread was the strongest of the scents, but there were a whole lot of others too.

“My, my! More bears!” exclaimed Ellelaura. There were all kinds of them all over the inside of the shop, from the tabletops to the pillars, and even the walls. “The Bear’s Lounge is quite the appropriate name!”

Mm-hmm, they were all cute and heartwarming. They were so popular that some customers wanted to take them home.

“It seems they’re all unique,” said Ellelaura.

Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef walked around the shop, even going to the tables where customers sat without permission. Uncle Zelef wasn’t just looking at the bears. He also started looking at the food the customers were eating. If he kept doing that, he’d be a nuisance to the other guests.

“What should we do?” Mom looked worried.

I understood what Mom meant. Lady Ellelaura was a noble and Uncle Zelef said he was the most important chef at the castle. She couldn’t just tell them off.

“Intriguing. This bear is holding a fish in its mouth. And this one here is running…!”

“This bread looks scrumptious. That seems to be the cake, and there’s pudding as well…!”

Karin and the others working at the shop were starting to notice them.

“They’re my guests,” my mom told Karin, “so it’s all right.”

Karin went back to work, but she still kept an eye on the two of them.

No one noticed that Ellelaura was Lady Noa’s mom. Even Karin, who’d lived in the capital, didn’t seem to know. Still…if we didn’t stop Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef, it would be a catastrophe.

They wandered and wandered around the shop.

I was the only one who could stop them. “Lady Ellelaura, Uncle Zelef. We’re in the way of the other guests. Please don’t walk around too much.”

“I’m sorry. All of the bears were different, so I wanted to see them all.”

“I’m terribly sorry as well. I was so taken in by the dishes, I didn’t notice anything around me.”

They stopped their bothersome wandering.

I was relieved, but my mom looked surprised. “Mom?”

“I-It’s nothing! Thank you,” Mom said. “You saved us.”

I wanted to be useful to my mom, so I was happy.

“The employees are dressed so adorably as well.” Lady Ellelaura was looking at the kids who were fast at work. “I do believe those were the bear outfits Noa and the others wore when they were playing with Kumayuru and Kumakyu.”

During Lady Misa’s birthday party, there had been a really big mess. The townspeople had been scared of Kumayuru and Kumakyu because of that. So in order to show the townspeople that the bears weren’t scary, Lady Noa, Lady Misa, and I dressed up as bears and played with Kumayuru and Kumakyu.

“They really are adorable,” said Ellelaura. “Maybe we should do this at the capital’s restaurant too?”

I thought it wouldn’t be such a good idea. It seemed like something that would upset Yuna.

“That’s a good idea.” Uncle Zelef seemed interested too. I prayed that Yuna wouldn’t be too mad at them.

 

They’d be in the way if they stood in the middle of the shop, so we went to the counter to order. Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef looked at the rows of bread.

“They all look delicious,” said Lady Ellelaura.

“There are cakes over here. I don’t even recognize some of them.”

“Oh? Did Yuna come up with this cake too?”

“No,” I said. “That’s Nerin. She’s in charge of the cakes, and she comes up with all kinds of stuff.” She made so many different kinds of cakes, some of them with fruit, and she always had new ideas for a recipe. But the most popular cake was the strawberry one.

“There are even bear-shaped breads here,” said Ellelaura.

“Master Yuna really can make anything. I’m sure the children are very much enjoying these. Master Yuna is quite something. She makes products that tickle the myriad fancies of the customers. I must learn from her example, as a fellow chef.”

Yuna really put in the elbow grease when it came to food. It was easy to see with the cakes, but she’d even gone to the ocean to get fish. She’d gone through the trouble to bring Anz all the way to this town.

“Ahh, this is such a dilemma...”

“Yes, it really is…”

The two of them looked at the breads and cakes, but they looked worried.

My mom looked just as worried too when they said that. “Is there some sort of problem?”

“Why, they all look wonderfully delicious!” said Uncle Zelef. “We have no idea what to eat!!!”

“Yes, we only have so many days to spend here,” said Lady Ellelaura, “and we can only eat so much. Now what shall we try?”

I guess they really could only eat a certain amount. I can’t eat a lot either.

“Oh, come to think of it,” said Lady Ellelaura, “do you have that—what was it again—pizza?”

“We do!” I raised my hand and pointed behind the girl standing at the counter. There were lots of drawings of pizza there.

“Marvelous,” said Lady Ellelaura. “You really do!”

“There are many types,” said Uncle Zelef, staring at the pizza drawings. He pointed to one of them. “Is this the pizza Master Yuna treated me to?”

“I’m so impressed that Yuna has created so many more varieties.”

“Let’s see…so this is a pizza made from seafood ingredients. And here we have taters, and several types of meat-based pizzas,” said Uncle Zelef. The ingredients were written under the drawings of pizza.

“I really have no idea what to do with so many varieties of pizza available!” Lady Ellelaura said.

“We have four-sliced pizzas for just those types of people.” They could pick out four types of pizzas from the drawings and try four different kinds of pizzas. Everybody loves having four different choices.

“Did Yuna think this up as well?”

“Yes. She said, ‘This’ll be a good idea. People can try lots of flavors.’” The two of them really thought it over, then they ordered bread, pizza, and cake. My mom and I also ordered too.

When mom tried to pay for everyone, Lady Ellelaura stopped her. “Allow me to pay.”

Mom looked worried for a second, but she decided to accept Lady Ellelaura’s kindness.

 

We took our food to a table.

“Everything really does look delicious,” said Ellelaura.

“That it does. I will learn much from this. Now, Master Tiermina, I apologize for being so sudden, but I must ask! Would you be kind enough to show me the kitchen?”

“The kitchen?”

“Indubitably! I would like to observe as the employees work in the kitchen.”

“Well...”

“As I said earlier, Master Yuna has already taught me the recipes. I am aware that these are original proprietary recipes, and we shall be most assuredly sure to ask Master Yuna for permission before selling anything similar in the capital,” Uncle Zelef said, bowing his head.

“Then I suppose...I’ll take you there after we finish eating.”

“Thank you.”

“My!” said Lady Ellelaura, looking around. “The children are such energetic and devoted workers.”

“I think that’s because Yuna cares so much for everyone who works at the shop. Every six days, they get one day off. When it’s time for the day off, they close up shop. And Yuna’s becoming more and more famous, so no one will try to mess with the shop while it’s closed.”

If anyone did try to do anything bad to the shop or to the kids, Yuna took care of it. There was a kid who’d caused trouble for the customers, and one of those customers complained…and even tried to hit the kid! But then adventurers eating at the shop helped.

More people found out that this was Yuna’s shop, so adventurers wouldn’t cause trouble. Even when people who weren’t adventurers and who didn’t know Yuna caused trouble, adventurers always protected the shop.

I also think that my dad helped a lot because he worked at the Adventurer Guild. The guild master told adventurers to never cause trouble at Yuna’s shop. I think that the Merchant Guild guild master had something to do with it too, since the employees there also protected the shop.

And the biggest thing was that Lord Cliff came to eat here. That’s why this shop was safe. The kids could work with smiles on their faces without anything bad happening to them.

“This is quite amazing,” Lady Ellelaura said.

Yeah, I really thought so too!

“I never would have guessed it,” added Lady Ellelaura, “especially from how that girl dresses.”

Yuna did dress like a very cute bear.

 

Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef finished eating, so we took them to the kitchen. Everyone in the kitchen was working hard, and Morin worked right in the middle of it.

“Excuse us, Morin,” said Mom.

“Tiermina? Who are these people?” Morin looked at the strangers, surprised.

“They’re friends of Yuna and myself,” said Mom.

“We asked for Tiermina to show us how you work,” Lady Ellelaura said. “We won’t cause you any trouble.”

“I am Zelef, and I also work as a chef. Master Yuna taught me the basics of how to make bread, pizza, and cake. You can rest assured that the secrets of the recipes are safe with me. I do hope that you will show me your workplace today.”

“If you’re acquaintances of Yuna and Tiermina, I suppose that’s fine…but don’t get in the way of our work.”

“Why, of course!”

That was all Morin said before going back to work.

Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef watched everyone working in the kitchen. Morin and the kids were racing to bake bread as it nearly sold out, along with piles of pizzas. Fries, chips, and even more treats came hot out of the ovens.

Yuna made something called a “ventilation fan” that blew all the air outside. The ventilation’s delicious smells would bring in more customers, so it was two birds with one stone.

When it was really hot, a magical device would turn on. It used an ice mana gem and a wind mana gem to blow in cold air, making the room very cool. Yuna said it would be very tiring to work in a hot room, and that it wasn’t good. She was so nice, always thinking about other people.

The two guests watched Morin bake bread and Nerin bake cakes while the kids helped out. Lady Ellelaura and Uncle Zelef looked very impressed.

Tomorrow we’d take them to the orphanage.