Fairy Tale Chronicles

Volume 5 Chapter 3.3

Translator: Reflet

「Ah, Hiroshi-kun.」

「Oh, it’s you, Haruna-san.」

「How’re things going for you?」

「Smooth sailin’ mate. Seems like the school store wasn’t necessarily unmotivated but just didn’t know where to start cuz they’re inexperienced.」

「That makes me so jealous……」

Hearing Hiroshi’s situation, Haruna truly felt envious. To put it bluntly, the stubbornness of the cafeteria was no joke.

「So, what about……、wait、I’m guessin’ based on yer attitude that it’s pretty tough.」

「Honestly, the whole situation needs a seriously vicious, drastic treatment.」

「So I should go ‘n help ya out too then?」

「Yeah. I’ll give you more details later, but just know there’s a lot to work on.」

「Then how ‘bout I go over ‘n help right now?」

Seeing Haruna struggling quite a bit, Hiroshi proposed the idea, considering both his work and hers.

「You sure?」

「Yup, I feel like it’ll be fine just waitin’ to see how things play out after a week.」

Her face lighting up at Hiroshi’s proposal, Haruna still wanted to make sure. Hiroshi just nodded.

In actuality, nearly all the initial work involved with the school store was finished. All that was left was to monitor sales and demand and adjust various things based on that, and they already had a connection with the person in charge of the school store and each new businessman, so unless there was a consultation, Hiroshi wouldn’t be commenting much on the situation.

「In that case, I have tea with Professor Fluit in the lab, so feel free to join in as I explain the current situation and plan.」

「Gotcha. In that case, how ‘bout ya try the bread I plan to sell at the school store while we’re at it?」

「Ah, so the last adjustment before sales ended, huh.」

「Yeah, at least for the cream rolls ‘n yakisoba sandwiches.」

Hiroshi said, taking out two pastry-based products, or more precisely, strangely colored noodles stuffed in between bread, the visuals of which repelled Professor Fluit.

「It’s a weird color now.」

「Yup, cuz this is our country’s traditional sauce mixed in. As opposed to oyster sauce or yakisoba sauce, I thought this type might go better over here. Same reason for not includin’ red pickled ginger.」

「I see, makes sense.」

Haruna understood why Hiroshi did what he did. They definitely had to consider that every country preferred their own condiments the most. It was probably true that Farlane and Forre were the weird ones in this case, suddenly accepting any sort of oddity like soy sauce or miso.

Then again, in Forre’s case, food with thick soy sauce and mirin went well with most alcohol as a side snack, so that was the most likely reason.

「I think Professor Fluit might have some difficulty eatin’ two of these breads, so how ‘bout the two of ya split it?」

「I agree. At my age, eating two of these breads at a time like this could very well mean not being able to eat anything else until dinner.」

Professor Fluit concurred with Hiroshi’s offer. Being aware she was getting to that age where eating one portion was difficult, she was grateful for the thoughtfulness. Some people out there might make fun of her for that and backlash, but Professor Fluit would like to think she was above the foolery of not being able to admit the changes brought through age, especially as a citizen of the country of knowledge.

「……I see, they are both very delicious. The one over here was a yakisoba sandwich, you said? As long as you fix up the appearance, I think it will be more than enough to be accepted here. And the cream roll just hits me hard and makes me wonder why no one had tried making this type of thing before.」

These two breads, half size to be served alongside tea, truly satisfied Professor Fluit’s palate, and would go on to be sold alongside cola, gathering popularity at a rather quick pace and becoming the first step in dealing serious damage to the cafeteria.

Incidentally, if you were wondering about the issue with the yakisoba sandwich appearance…

「If you compare it to eating the cafeteria food, this appearance doesn’t look half bad.」

「It’s tasty, it’s cheap, and it fills you up, so if we griped over something as silly as appearance we wouldn’t have anything decent to eat.」

「Once you get used to it it’s no biggie.」

So any objections to the appearance immediately were shot down like that. This demonstrated just how low the ratings of the school cafeteria had fallen, although ironically enough, Hiroshi and Haruna had never intended to deal damage to the cafeteria’s sales in this manner.

And just like that, the academy’s cafeteria received its just dues.

「Lime-chan, morning!」

「Lime, you’re cute as ever today!」

「Lime, who’s that little chick? It’s super cute!」

And today, as per usual, Lime was greeted with an impressive entourage of pampering as soon as she went into class. Hiyohiyo, seated on her head, darted his eyes in bewilderment at Lime’s popularity.

「Morning! His name is Hiyohiyo!」

「Tweet!」

Unfazed by the torrent of excited classmates, Lime returned their greeting with an equally enthusiastic greeting of her own. This attitude, far removed from any bashfulness, only served to grip an even tighter hold over the classmates’ hearts.

「It’s true that Lime’s cute, but Leyla-san will have an even harder time with her as is, so I’d prefer it if you didn’t spoil her too much.」

Nora smiled awkwardly at the classmates endlessly doting on Lime, giving them a warning. If she left this be, the classmates would give Lime a little too much attention.

Nora was also quite the looker, but rabbit-eared girls didn’t have as much of a scarcity value, so while of course Nora wouldn’t be unpopular, she also wouldn’t be something to freak out about.

「Hmph, well aren’t you a goody two shoes.」

「I agree, but I can’t go against my higherup’s orders.」

Nora felt herself agreeing with the male classmate who had made a snide remark. This was because had their positions been different, Nora could see herself having the exact same thought.

Then again, in Nora’s case, she might in fact just go right ahead and dote over Lime.

「This is a place of study. Don’t come here dragging kids along.」

「Actually, both Lime and I have come here to study. Besides, Lime might ask questions, but she never gets in the way of class.」

Thinking she definitely needed some sort of retort for this kind of slander, Nora stated the truth plainly. The guy probably wouldn’t care to listen to her, but it was always important to state the facts as they were. Nora spoke in a detached manner because getting emotional would have the opposite effect.

「Hmph. But clearly she’s doing shady stuff behind the scenes to come here, right? Otherwise how in the heck could a little brat have the ability to enroll here?」

「And you saying this with no evidence is just pure slander. If you’re truly enrolled at the school of sages, you need to bring forth actual proof before picking fights.」

Nora flat out asserted, exasperated at this low level accusation. Upon further glance, other classmates who also did not feel excited about Nora or Lime also agreed with her.