The King went back.
The trash outside disappeared too, and the calm of the room returned.
However, there was a strange atmosphere...
ãHmm...Whatâs the matter?ã
It felt like their gazes towards me changed...
ãExcuse me, Yuna-san, who are you really? Are you possibly a noble?ã
Morin-san timidly asked.
Was it possible that she got scared, thinking I was a noble?
ãYou are wrong. I am a normal adventurer.ã
ãBut, you seemed really close to the king...ã
ãIt was just misfortune that led me to meeting him.ã
ãBut for the King to come meet you in person...ã
ãThatâs just because he wanted to eat pudding, right?ã
ãBut...ã
The two of them were really hard to convince, and even Fina began seeing me as a noble...
The king brought unnecessary trouble.
He suddenly appeared in front of people who had a difference in status that was like heaven and earth compared to him, and said that he knew one of the people there. It was normal for others to think that the person was someone abnormal too.
It was the same in both worlds.
Politicians knew many politicians.
Doctors knew many doctor.
Professors knew many professor acquaintances.
A performer knew many performers.
Authors, of course, knew many authors.
A Hikikomori knew many hikikomori (of course, they met each other through games).
Iâm sure that in all occupations, people in a certain field know many people interested in the same thing.
ãArgh! I am not a noble, nor someone with links to the royal family, so treat me normally!!ã
I forcefully stopped this story for now, and decided to talk about making pudding.
ãSo, itâs earlier than I planned, but the two of you will help me make pudding starting tomorrow, okay?ã
ãAre you saying you will make us prepare a dish that will be served at the Kingâs banquet?ã
ãThatâs right.ã
ãItâs impossible!ã
ãWhy?ã
ãThe King himself will eat it, right?ã
ãWell, he will certainly eat it...ã
ãI canât do something so dreadful!!!!ã
ãItâs really not like weâre putting poison in it, you know...ã
ãIf he ate it and had a stomache ache.... I canât even think about it!ã
ãYou wonât do it, no matter what?ã
ãPlease forgive me!ã
It was like...I was bullying her...
A typical commoner would have thought it was impossible to make a dish for the king, huh...
Well, if you asked me to make something for the Prime Minister or representatives for other countries, I would have refused as well.
It wasnât good to pressure them too much, so Fina and I would make them.
ãThen, Fina, the two of us will have to make them.ã
ãI canât do it either!ã
Fina shook her head vigorously.
Fina, you too?!
The next day, I made pudding all alone.
I couldnât make the three of them do anything besides shaking their heads...
They were on the side, watching me make pudding.
I would have liked them to at least break the eggs, but they wouldnât even do that...
My feelings didnât reach them.
With no other choice, I broke 100 eggs alone...
Well, I already had experience doing things alone...
However, I really was sad that, even though there was people around, they wouldnât help me...
In silence, I broke the eggs. In silence, I stirred the eggs.
I did it alone until the end.
I lined up around 100 cups of pudding in the big fridge.
I used all of the eggs I had taken time to replenish. Although I thought it would be sad for breakfast, it was decided that Morin-san would be baking bread for me before she went to Crimonia.
After I ate the freshly baked bread, I wanted to go out, but Ranzeru-san came to the Bear House.
I hadnât seen him since he brought me the bonus reward for subduing the bandits.
The countryâs soldiers had some trouble subduing the Zamon bandit groupâs camp and freeing the hostages there. The treasures that the band had assembled were there, and a major part of it became mine. He told me there were a lot of adventurers, so I abandoned my share, and asked him to distribute it to the adventurers who had suffered.
I decided to keep the item bags, the only things that could have been of some use to me.
ãWhat happened?ã
ãI had some things to discuss about Jorz, who was captured the other day.ã
ãAh, that Toad, huh.ã
ãHe committed the crime of using the Kingâs name, but we also found a lot of other crimes. One of them was regarding the people of the bakery you saved, Yuna-san.ã
ãThose two? I will call them.ã
ãThank you.ã
The content of the proceeding talk was:
The debt was erased and the bakery would go back to Morin-san.
ãIs this true?ã
ãYes, Jorzâs possessions were seized, and with what we found, he will be sentenced to death.ã
ãDeath penalty...ã
ãThe fact is that he used the Kingâs name, and staining the Kingâs name is a terrible crime. Furthermore, the King saw the scene himself. He wonât be able to escape from this.ã
Well, it was true.
He threatened someone, saying he was the Kingâs acquaintance.
I was sure it wasnât just Morin-san.
It wouldnât be strange if he said that to lots of people, and now lots of commoners might think that the king is a companion of criminals.
ãI will bring the official documents later, so I will excuse myself now.ã
Ranzeru-san bowed and departed.
A silence installed itself between those who remained.
ãItâs great the shop your husband created has been protected!ã
ãYuna-san...ã
ãWell, I really wanted you to come to Crimonia.ã
ã...Yuna-san, I...ã
ãDonât worry about it! I am sure you prefer continuing to protect your husbandâs shop.ã
ãI am so sorry! Even though you were so good to us!ã
ãIsnât this a time to be happy about it?ã
ãYes, thank you very much!ã
The next day, Ranzeru-san came back and brought the official papers for the shop.
The bakery officially became Morin-sanâs.
However, for some reason, she presented the papers to me.
ã...?ã
ãTake it, please. And take us to Crimonia.ã
ãWhy?ã
ãYesterday night, I talked with my daughter. Yuna-san, you have acknowledged my...my husbandâs bread.ã
ãWe are not the only ones, right? The long line of customers who went to your bakery is proof, right? Itâs just that the bread you make is delicious.ã
ãYes, everyone said it was delicious. But when we were attacked by Jorz, Yuna-san was the only one who saved us. You tried to give us a new place to work, taught us how to make pudding that even the King himself came to ask for. After all this, even if my husbandâs shop is returned, I wonât go back until my debt of gratitude is repaid.ã
ãDonât even stress yourself about it...ã
ãIf I donât, I would be like Jorz. Yesterday was sudden, so I was delighted, but then I realized I was really rude to you. Also itâs not like Iâm giving my husbandâs shop to a stranger, Iâm giving it to you. I am sure Yuna-san will use it for something great. I donât particularly want it to be a bakery anyways, so please, use it as you wish.ã
ãIs it really okay? I really am happy, though.ã
ãYes. Please take care of my daughter and me from now on.ã
Both of them bowed.
They will be formally working at my place from now on, so they went to thank those who took care of them.
Their departure had been decided to be the day after the Kingâs birthday party.
When the party finished, people would return to the places they came from.
Crimonia was not an exception.
Because there would be lots of people moving together, they could travel without being attacked by monsters or bandits.
They would both be going with the group that departed to Crimonia.
Me?
Of course, I would be using the Bear Transfer Gate.