HTACS 81

Chapter 81

After that day, I fell into a trance of boxed lunch making.

It’s hard to describe, but there’s a certain enjoyment in making them.

“Hmm. Let’s do chicken salad for the vegetables. Since they’re kids, they can eat as much as they want and still be fine.”

Making sweets with Magical Patissier was fun too, but boxed lunches offered a different kind of enjoyment.

To be honest… Magical Patissier was mostly mass production, except for a few times—but boxed lunches were the opposite.

Yes. They’re like building blocks.

From the planning stage—how to make it.

Then how to pack it.

How to set it up more neatly.

I found enjoyment in each of those things.

**【Cooking skill has grown to Lv.2!】**

**【You have honed your Agility over a long period. Agility increased by 1!】**

“Oh.”

Agility went up. That’s actually a huge deal.

But it’s also something I can’t be purely happy about.

I opened my stat window. Strength 4, Agility pure 9, with equipment 12. Stamina 2, Mana 3, Willpower 5.

The problem is that if Agility goes up by 1 more, it becomes pure 10.

The reason is that one of the beginner sets—Gloves of Balance—loses its effect the moment a stat reaches 10.

In other words, it drops from 12 to 10.

So right now is when the Agility boost is at its maximum.

Not that I’m going to regret it.

I’ve milked plenty of benefits, so it’s fine.

Besides, there are ways to get better gloves.

Right now, cooking is more important than that.

Making dishes with tons of additional options using added skills…!

Occasionally, my fiancée—whose thought process I can’t quite understand—also shows up, along with my family-register mate who always makes me raise my middle finger, juniors who mostly bring annoying business matters asking if it’s profitable, an assassin companion who, no matter how you look at it, seems like she’s the one who can talk well but sticks to her concept to the end, and chicks I honestly want to say “your stats are better than mine!”—but none of them are here right now.

This is a time to cherish my own small, precious moments!

I moved with only that feeling.

No other thoughts were necessary.

—

Over the past three days, the first-year Common Department students learned through experience.

Maybe it would be better to push through that hellish crowd and head to a nearby restaurant!

The reason was simple.

The truth was—boxed lunches were a matter of class!

Zefflin publicly claims not to distinguish between nobles and commoners. Because of that, countless problems have arisen.

Normally, frontier nobles stick with frontier nobles, and central nobles with central nobles.

But there’s no way that works—honestly, starting with the imperial family, the central Lohengrin nobles, the royalty of surrounding kingdoms, the lower nobles of the capital, the central nobles of surrounding kingdoms, and so on—all form factions and band together.

And beneath them, they place capable commoners as their faction’s talent pool, engaging in covert struggles with each other.

Scouting and headhunting are cute levels.

It’s about mobbing, biting, scheming, spying, bribing, threatening, and blackmailing.

Even though there’s the absolute justice faction of Eve von Lohengrin, there are factions that say, “This is a matter between our factions” and go their own way.

Of course, Eve von Lohengrin is basically insanely busy, so it’s more accurate to say she’s too busy to deal with it—but if you cross the line, she’ll snap your neck.

Anyway, the outbreak of this boxed-lunch struggle started with the sandwich set brought by the three most attention-grabbing students right now.

The commoners were just envious. “So that’s what celebrities eat—I want some too.”

But what about the other first-years who also considered themselves celebrities, or the rising first-years of major factions?

‘Why can’t I do something like that?’

‘Are those girls… showing off their new faction? Is this the imperial family faction unique to Zefflin?’

‘It’s reasonable. And truly frightening! In Zefflin, food is most of the entertainment. With this, they’ve completely subdued all surrounding factions!’

‘But where on earth are they getting such meals for lunch…?’

It was truly a battlefield of jealousy and contempt!

Following sandwiches came croquettes. Then, somehow—ice cream, a treat only upper central nobles could taste. And incomprehensible desserts.

Today, even mini steak! And on top of that…

“Ahaha. I wrapped the sandwich in sliced ham. Ham wrapping bread? Isn’t it usually the opposite? It’s definitely fun!”

“Yeah… Senior Wolfram is amazing. Honestly, it’s a brilliant idea. …Amazing. Really…”

“U-ugh. Why is he so good at this?”

“I’ve never felt this excited about cooking before! It’s so fun! My heart’s racing!”

“……Yeah. Agreed.”

“U-uh? D-do you guys also…”

“Hmm? Aha! It’s fine, Mille-feuille. It’s not like that for us! He’s just a fun person, that’s all?”

“Yeah. We’re rooting for you, Mille-feuille. So don’t worry.”

“…Ah, haha. I don’t know what you’re talking about…”

Watching them chat and laugh like that, other students also stepped up their boxed-lunch quality.

“…Zefflin doesn’t allow personal chefs.”

“Ugh, if only we had our family’s pride—our chef!”

“Where is that food coming from… Ugh. The imperial family. It’s the imperial family again!”

But it was despair, and more despair.

No one can bring attendants into Zefflin. Even the imperial family members—Eve and Wolfram—live their school lives without attendants.

If the imperial family doesn’t do it, who would dare bring attendants to Zefflin?

And they didn’t have the courage to speak to those Trinity Rookies.

They didn’t have the courage to approach Wolfram von Lohengrin’s direct crew, nor the confidence to deal with the consequences.

Except for one person.

“I have a question for you three.”

“Huh?”

A beauty so stunning it was hard to believe she was human.

A girl who looked noble by anyone’s standards.

Flowing silver hair. Delicate build.

But the blazing fire in her eyes held a strong longing.

“I would like to know the name of the chef who made that food.”

“U-uh? Emily Hymelody-san?”

“Please tell me. I’m begging you.”

She bowed deeply to the three chicks.

“Wh-why?”

“The moment I saw that food, I felt fate.”

“……”

“……”

The two stared at Mille-feuille, who made a sour face.

“Hiii.”

—

As I was enjoying my small moment of peace, an intrusion came, as expected.

“So, this boxed-lunch commotion is your doing.”

The intruder—Yellow.

My family-register mate Eve von Lohengrin barged in and started talking about the boxed lunches.

“I’ve registered as a food business and received sanitation approval, didn’t I?”

“Yes, that’s right. I checked with the 【Contamination Detection】 skill, and you received a ‘no additional sanitation needed’ approval.”

“Hmm. So don’t pick pointless fights. And go back.”

“I know. Hoo. So give me some food, a bag of candy, and recommend a drink.”

“…What?”

“Since it’s clean, I can order with confidence, right? Hurry up. Ah, I’d also like to try the food you made.”

“……”

What a pain. A complete pain.

Ugh. But in a situation where even one customer is precious, someone who comes all the way to the store to order things—even if they’re my family-register mate—is still precious!

“Here.”

I set out the leftover ham sandwiches and chicken salad from the morning’s batch for the chicks, plus a smoothie. Eve leisurely enjoyed her meal.

“…Hoo. Ah, really… It’s annoying, and I really don’t want to admit it. Ah, really…”

Eve tirelessly worked her fork, demolishing the food.

If you’re going to admit it, admit it—if not, don’t—what is this?

“I’ll be honest. I’m really annoyed right now, so I’ll keep it short.”

“Go ahead.”

“Yourfoodisn’tinferiorcomparedtotheimperialchef. Ah, I really didn’t want to say that—ah!”

“……”

Did you have to spit it out like that and get angry?

Well, still… Hmm. I see.

Eve praised me. She praised me. Is that so.

A smirk curled at the corner of my mouth.

“Hmm. Is that so. Eve von Lohengrin has eaten my—Wolfram von Lohengrin’s—cooking, and acknowledged that it’s not lacking compared to the fine dining she had at the imperial palace.”

“U-ugh.”

“I see. I see. So even that proud Eve von Lohengrin can’t help but acknowledge me, Wolfram von Lohengrin! Is that how it is! Ah, what a comedy! Ah, ha ha ha ha!”

“Y-you don’t have to laugh that much! Just listen to me!”

“Isn’t this funny to you? Ahahaha! I’ll listen after laughing a bit more! Ahahaha!”

Eve loaded her holy light spear, and I stopped laughing.

Can’t a person laugh a little, seriously?

“Good. Now we have a proper atmosphere for conversation.”

“No. I wasn’t ready—you just decided that on your own, didn’t you?”

“If I’m ready, then it’s ready. Just listen first.”

That’s not a conversation—that’s a notification, isn’t it?

“Hoo. What is it? Hurry up and say it. I want to get back to cooking.”

“You know about the food poisoning incident, right? Do you know the cause?”

“I heard it was an ingredient incident.”

“But additional reports came in. The supplier brought in cheap ingredients through kickbacks, and their shelf life was already short.”

“I see. That happens.”

“…Yes. It’s also my fault for not preventing it. Anyway, because of that, we need to find a new supplier—and I want to make some changes.”

“Changes?”

“Yes. I want to bring in good ingredients at reduced costs and provide better meals to the students. But the budget is…”

“I see.”

“You have a talent for cooking, so don’t you have any ideas? You run a food business, don’t you?”

“And the consulting fee?”

“…I-I’ll pay. If you say you won’t charge as much as last time’s expedition… there’s room for negotiation.”

Eve trembled as she said that.

Hmm… I did squeeze quite a bit out of her last expedition.

“Never mind. I’ll give this advice for free.”

“…Really? No taking it back later?”

“Hmm. It’s simple. Reduce the number of ingredients and increase the cooking methods. In other words, expand the recipes. Like the sandwich you ate. If the ham is inside, it’s just a sandwich—but if you wrap it around the bread, press it slightly, and cut it, the ham ends up surrounding the bread in an interesting shape, doesn’t it?”

“…Ah. I see. Reduce cost in distribution, and give a new feel by developing recipes.”

She’s pretty smart in her own way.

The problem is she’s stupid.

“Was that a good answer?”

“…Yes. Good. That’s a really good answer. What needs to be rolled isn’t money—it’s people, right?”

“……”

Oh my, so that’s how you interpret it?

You’d make a good politician or business owner!

“…No, Eve.”

“Pfft. I’m joking. Good ingredients. Good recipes. Just cut useless spending. Then I’ll be going. It looks like there’s a customer outside too.”

At my words, Eve smiled—a smile I’d seen often as Kelterus, as if she’d finally been freed from her headache for the first time in a while.

By the way—

A customer?

—

As Eve left, I heard loud voices outside. “Hello, Student Council President!” “Hello.” “Ah, hello.” “…Greetings.” etc.

Looks like there really is a customer.

And someone I know, by the sound of it.

“Senior! We’re here!”

“Hello.”

“S-Senior. Hello.”

The three chicks entered through the door.

I nodded. Those three come often enough now.

But—unexpectedly, one more person followed them in.

“Hello. I’m Emily Hymelody.”

A perfectly polite greeting. I nodded.

Well, of course I know her.

That silver hair. Those blue eyes.

A truly quiet and cold tone. No change in expression.

But the heat in her eyes couldn’t be hidden.

“You’re the daughter of the Hymelody royal family. What brings you here?”

“Are you the one who made that food?”

“Yes.”

“I felt fate in that food.”

Wow—straight to the point.

Amazing. The word “fate.” The first person I’ve heard use it so casually since Ayla.

“Ugh…”

Mille-feuille trembled at Emily’s momentum.

Vanilla and Yogurt didn’t fully understand the reason, but they tightly held Mille-feuille’s hands.

“Senior Wolfram von Lohengrin.”

“Go ahead.”

“Take me.”

“Hmm.”

“as your disciple.”

With that, Emily bowed at a ninety-degree angle.

“You mean as a cooking disciple, right? What’s your reason?”

“I want to become a chef.”

“Couldn’t you learn from a professional chef?”

“I believe your ideas are hundreds of years ahead, Senior.”

“Explain.”

“Sandwiches are seen as snacks you eat while playing games. But elevating them into a meal and adding variations shows a fundamentally different approach.”

As expected.

Definitely the Emily Hymelody I know.

A princess who is more passionate about cooking than anyone, and has little interest in life outside of cooking.

“Fine. I’ll accept you as my disciple.”

“Thank you, Senior.”

She smiled faintly.

That smile—I haven’t seen it in a long time either.

Truly, a smile I used to see every day.

Emily.

Emily Hymelody.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Yes. Master.”

In the early game, she was the heroine whose endings I saw most often—even more than Eve.