CH 49

I usually take a bath in the evening, but today I entered the cafeteria kitchen.

When I entered the locker room, Corinna-chan was doing paperwork.

“Did Ilda-san enter the Great Temple safely?” Corinna asked.

“She’s there now, there was a bit of an attack, but Linda-san charged in and blew them all away,” I said.

“So above all else, no problems,” Corinna said, smiling.

“What about the ledger?” I asked.

“Since we cut Hans and Kain, we are mostly in the black,” Corinna replied. “It seems that the supplier of the men’s dormitory will wholesale the same items here, as well. They sell cheap, but the quality is good and they sell huge portions.”

“Above all, this will make even lower-ranking nobles’ food delicious,” I said.

“It seems cheaper and tastier to bake bread in the cafeteria,” Corinna said. “I suppose you’ll stock up tonight and start making them Saturday?”

“That’s right, the bad-tasting black bread is still available only until today,” I said.

I cast Heal on the black bread that Hans brought, but since it’s originally cheap black bread, it didn’t taste that good anyway.

Well, it was much better than eating hard and sour food.

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I enter the kitchen with a three-point headscarf and apron.

“Hello, it’s me, Makoto, I’m ready to work.”

“Otsukaresama, Makoto-sama.”

The kitchen staff are busy preparing dinner.

The kitchen smells of butter, milk, spices, and herbs.

Well, I think I’ll wash the dirty plates during lunch and cafe business in the afternoon.

Jyubu, jyubu.

While I was washing the dishes, Corinna-chan also came into the kitchen wearing a three-point headscarf and apron, then started washing the dishes next to me.

“Do you have any plans for the weekend, Corinna-chan?” I said.

“Studying,” Corinna said.

Both Karol and Corinna have the wrong idea!

It’s the first weekend we’ve known each other, so let’s go hang out!

“I’m planning to go shopping with Carol, you should be with us, too, Corinna-chan,” I said.

“What are you going to buy?” Corinna said.

“Bras,” I said.

“I don’t have boobs or money, so I’m going to pass,” Corinna said.

“Don’t say that, let’s go, let’s go,” I said.

“Shut up, focus on your work,” Corinna said.

She’s not playing along.

“Ah, that’s right, let’s pay for the shopping with the wages from the cafeteria work,” I said.

“Fumu, come to think of it, we didn’t clearly decide on our contracts,” Corinna said.

“I wonder how much it will cost for the supervisor’s work and the kitchen chores,” I said.

“We divide Ilda-san’s salary from the ledger by the day, and the subordinates are paid 500 dolancs an hour,” Corinna said.

“Since it’s about 4 hours of work, it’s about 2,000 dolancs,” I said.

“Assuming that a supervisor is half that of Ilda-san’s salary, about 10,000 dolancs? Your daily salary would be 12,000 dolancs, Makoto,” Corinna said.

And at that, Edra-san turned to me as she stirred some soup. “It’s too cheap, we have to have a magic fee for reviving our ingredients, Makoto-san.”

“What are you saying? That comes with for free,” I said.

“What are you saying, who else could do such a miracle?” Edra said.

“We’ll give you about a quarter of the purchase price, or 52,000 dolancs.”

“I’m getting too much, half of it should go to Corinna-chan for her accounting,” I said.

“You don’t pay that much for accounting,” Corinna said.

Marissa-san also turned to me. “Don’t worry, you can take more, you two are really such a help.”

“The hourly wage for low-ranking workers is usually 500 dolancs, which is cheap because it’s not a downtown cafeteria,” Solene said as she also turned toward us.

“Goodness, you girls have no greed, just don’t ask for more like 100,000 dolancs a day,” Edra said.

“Eh, if we’re too greedy, we’ll be ragged on by the bulletin board newspapers again,” I said.

“It’s kind of heartbreaking to have more than Chichi’s monthly income for a week’s part-time job, so I’m troubled by it,” Corinna said.

“Let’s talk with Estelle-senpai later,” I said.

“That’s right, if I could get 5,000 dolancs a day, I would be overjoyed,” Corinna said.

“Really, Holy Saint-sama and Corinna-sama are such good girls,” Edra said.

Don’t praise me so much.

And go cook, you guys.

Then, one of the dormitory guards showed up at the counter.

“Is Makoto Kimball-sama here?” she asked.

“Haiii, I’m here,” I said.

The dormitory guard saw me wearing my three-point headscarf and apron, and my hands covered with dish-washing soap foam.

“Makoto, Daughter of Baron Kimball?” the dormitory guard asked.

“I am the daughter of Baron Kimball, working part-time in the cafeteria,” I said.

Well, in this world, the young noble ladies are so lazy that they won’t even pick up a fallen book and put it upright.

A working young noble is probably rare.

“You have a guest to see in the meeting room,” the dormitory guard said.

“I didn’t make an appointment,” I said.

“He says they’re the owner of the bakery Meigetsu-Do.”

I wonder what the owner of Meigetsu-Do wants.

I wonder if he came to protest that we kicked out Hans.

“Understood, I’ll go see them.”

“I leave it to you,” the dormitory guard said as she left the dining room.

“What now, is the time alright?” I asked.

“Makoto-san’s main job is at the counter, so it’s okay for another hour, hurry up.”

“I’ll make it quick,” I said.

“What is Meigetsu-do doing here?”

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“I don’t know, I’ll go anyway,” I said.

“Take care.”

After being sent off by everyone, I took off my three-point headscarf and apron and left the locker room.

By the way, I got a locker for myself, and I can put my things in as much as I want.

Next to the dormitory guard’s station, there is a meeting room.

It’s a room for parents to meet with the girls’ dormitory students.

However, the school building also has a visiting room, so the facilities in the girls’ dormitory aren’t used much.

I knock on the door to enter.

“It’s me, Kimball…” I said.

Inside sat an elegant middle-aged man and Hans.

“Ah, Makoto-chan, it’s been a long time,” the middle-aged man said “I haven’t seen you since you were little, so you don’t remember me. It’s me, Harn.”

“Harn-oji-san?” I asked. “You were the owner of Meigetsu-Do?”

A long time ago, he was an old man who was kind to me at a banquet held at Zunft Bakery.

I got along better with his daughter, who is the same age as me, though.

“You didn’t know? Goodness, Thomas has done it again” Harn said.

Thomas is my Otou-chan’s first name, from the bakery.

I only knew Harn-oji-san as a student who trained at the same bakery as him.

“So, what brings you here today?” I asked.

“Ah, sorry, sorry, I got so nostalgic, I forgot the main topic,” Harn said.

Harn-oji-nan straightened himself out and bowed deeply.

“We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience caused by Meigetsu-Do’s affiliated stores.”

And at that, the idiotic Hans also bowed.

What, did you come to apologize?

“As a baker, this is a blunder that even I cannot make an excuse for,” Harn said. “We will apologize deeply and make every effort to prevent a recurrence.”

“Is that so?” I said.

Well, I know him, but I can’t say I forgive him lightly.

That’s not what bakers do.

“Hangetsu-Do will be shut down, and the owner and employees will start over as bread factory workers,” Harn said.

“We are very sorry……” Hans said.

He spoke as if he had been kept from saying it.

Hmm, he took the plunge to shut down the problem-filled Hangetsu-Do.

“I will refund all the money they defrauded,” Harn said. “And as an apology for giving you unsalable products until now, I will give you the necessary number of Meigetsu-Do bread for free for 1 year,” Harn said.

Oh, that was a fast apology.

As expected of a famous restaurant for the royal family, they are good at avoiding crises.

Meigetsu-Do’s bread, huh, it’s delicious, isn’t it?

It doesn’t hurt to accept the apology.

Rather, that’s what they want us to think.

Normally, Hangetsu-Do would go bankrupt, and the owner and employees would be banished.

They said that they would voluntarily destroy it, and protect their livelihoods by transferring them to the bread factory.

In exchange for that, he showed his sincerity of apology by providing Meigetsu-do’s bread for free, the products that were so good they were given to the royal family.

Hmm, what should I do?

The trick is to apologize quickly and without hesitation.

If we control the conversation and demand excessive guarantees, we can turn things around and attack.

Well done, well done, as expected, quite amazing, there are things that only famous restaurants do.

Well, maybe it’s time to bury the hatchet, right?

“Okay, I accept Meigetsu-Do’s apology on behalf of its owner,” I said.

“Thank you very much,” Harn said.

Harn-oji-san has a big smile on his face.

Hans seemed relieved too.

For the time being, I didn’t want to talk while standing, so we sat them back down on the chairs in the meeting room.

“Please,” I said.

“Thank you.”

“Ah, thank you very much……”

“Are you going to make this public?” I asked.

“Yes, I will report it to the Zunft Bakery, and Meigetsu-Do will be punished for the crime of the affiliated shops,” Harn said.

“And the large count’s family that is the mastermind behind this corruption, are you going to be okay?” I asked.

“Yes, first of all, I went to report to the royal family, the department in charge will take action,” Harn said.

Perfect for crisis management, isn’t it?

As expected of a famous restaurant.

No matter how much House Mahler is a shadow warfare family, there is no choice but to withdraw when the royal family comes out.

Doing business with aristocrats is a power game, and you shouldn’t be indebted to an unknown count’s family.

Around that time, Ilda-san was a bit naive.

“But, will Meigetsu-Do be able to bake all that bread for that year?” I asked.

Meigetsu-Do’s bread is made with carefully selected ingredients, so the price is absurdly high.

Since the money paid by the cafeteria will also be refunded, the burden on Meigetsu-Do must be quite large.

“The profit of about a year will be blown away, but it’s a small cost compared to the loss of our credibility,” Harn said.

“Hmm,” I went.

“Are you unsatisfied? Would you like to extend the period?” Harn asked.

“This cafeteria has a bread oven,” I said, “and I’ve already brought yeast with me to bake.”

Freshly baked bread or Meigetsu-Do’s deliveries? Hmm, even if it’s freshly baked, my bread will fall short a few notches.

“Makoto-san, you are a student at the school, aren’t you?” Harn said. “It’s not easy to bake bread for the cafeteria every day, even on a small scale.”

He’s right, it’s good to bake bread, but it’s a problem if you neglect your studies.

Baking a lot of bread every day is a lot of work.

Harn-oji-san clapped his hands with a “pan.”

“Okay, let’s do this, let’s send one baker from Meigetsu-Do to the cafeteria for the girls’ dormitory. That will reduce the burden on us and save you some trouble, Makoto-san,” Harn said.

Oh, that is good

I thought that a year’s worth of Meigetsu-Do’s bread would be too much of a burden for them to apologize for.

Besides, with this, the students can eat high-quality freshly baked bread.

“That sounds good, but are there any female bakers at Meigetsu-Do?” I asked.

“Indeed, Meigetsu-Do will let you have Clara free of charge for one year,” Harn said.

“Hou,” I said.

Clara is Harn-oji-san’s daughter.

She used to work as a baker, didn’t she?

I haven’t seen her in a while, but I wonder what kind of girl she’s become.

“Clara was also worried about you, Makoto-san,” Harn said.

“I’m looking forward to meeting Clara, too,” I said.

“It’s time for Clara to train outside the business, so it’s just the right time,” Harn said.

Compensation negotiations with Meigetsu-Do have been concluded.

I exchanged a firm handshake with Harn-oji-san.

I decided to exchange contract documents with my patent attorney later.

“Please come visit Meigetsu-Do again, Makoto-san.”

“Yes, I will, Harn-oji-san,” I said.

Harn-oji-san took Hans home.

Hmmm, you can understand a person’s capacity by the way he apologizes.

I learned a lot today.