CH 83

Chapter 83 : Hospitality Spirit

「I’m home.」(Pamella)

「Welcome home.」(Camilla)

When Pamella opened the door of Camilla’s shop, “Iris”, and called out, Camilla’s voice was heard from the back of the shop.

She must be cooking in the kitchen now.

After a moment, Camilla showed her face from the kitchen.

「How’s your school today?」(Camilla)

Pamella trotted, approaching Camilla, and beckoned, telling her mom to crouch.

She then put her hand on Camilla’s ear and started whispering.

「Un, un… And then? Hee…. Eh? Is that so? That’s surprising. You have to do your best too, then!」(Camilla)

I could hear Camilla’s voice but I couldn’t guess what their conversation was about.

And then Camilla approached me and Nicola, who was waiting near the entrance.

As soon as she saw Nicola closely, she looked surprised.

「I saw you this morning, but after I looked at you closely, I just realized that you’re so cute! You’re Mark-chan’s little sister, right? Would you like to work here in the future?」(Camilla)

Nicola shook her head cutely and saidー

「I want to be a princess in the future!」(Nicola)

She declined Camilla’s offer with her usual angelic smile.

「Ara! So cute!….. But, I see. That’s too bad. Hmm… If she’s this cute, I’m sure she can marry a wealthy man in the future…」(Camilla)

Camilla muttered with a pondering face while staring at Nicola’s face.

A princess, huh…?

I know she just doesn’t want to work…

After that, Camilla guided us to the kitchen.

The kitchen wasn’t very large but not too small either.

However, when the customers fill this place, I don’t think Camilla can handle all the food orders with a kitchen this big.

Therefore, I came here to help today.

When we entered the kitchen, Camilla began to cut the cucumbers that had been left on the cutting board.

That cucumber is most likely a cucumber Gill brought from the vacant.

I wonder if she is making vegetable sticks.

After Camilla finished cutting all the vegetables she had prepared, she took a breather and turned to me.

「Mark-chan, I’m counting on you.」(Camilla)

「Un!」(Mark)

I put all the vegetables, including the vegetables that were cut before we came, into my item box.

While seeing me storing the vegetables, Camilla talked to me with a worried tone.

「Item boxes are really convenient… Mark-chan, please be careful, okay? There are a lot of bad people in this world. They might kidnap you and force you to do their orders with a magic tool.」(Camilla)

「Eh? There’s a magic tool that can force someone to do what you say?」(Mark)

「Yes. That kind of magic tool is normally used on slaves. It has a mechanism that causes unbearable pain if you disobey. I heard this from a slave dealer who came to this town before.」(Camilla)

Well, that’s scary.

I’ve heard that there are slaves in this world, but I didn’t know such a magic tool existed.

「It seems like it requires the victim’s blood before it can be used. Be careful not to be fooled by some bad people, okay?」(Camilla)

「Un, understood.」(Mark)

I wonder if an experienced adventurer like Celine knows about this.

I guess I’ll ask her next time.

After the vegetables, it’s time for fried food.

It looked like the fried food would be fried chicken and french fries.

After rolling the seasoned chicken meat in flour, Camilla put it into the frying pan with heated oil.

By the way, Camilla was wearing a cooking apron, long-sleeved clothes, and thick kitchen gloves even though it was hot in the kitchen.

It looked like it was a measure to prevent burns on her beautiful skin.

She didn’t care if it was hot here as long as she could protect her skin. That’s a professional for you.

「By the way, are you the one who usually cooks food here?」(Mark)

「Yeah. I’d like to hire a cook, but I can’t afford it. Besides, the customers are happier if I’m the one who cooks their food. Ah, but Pamella helps me sometimes.」(Camilla)

「I see.」(Mark)

I looked at Pamella.

She is now peeling potatoes to fry later.

From her hand movements, she looked like she was quite used to it.

I feel like she’s better than me at peeling potatoes.

「Actually, I don’t usually make fried food, but this time is different. It takes days for the feudal lord and his soldiers to get to this town, and most of the soldiers usually choose my shop to relieve their fatigue.」(Camilla)

I heard it would take about a week by carriage to go to the capital from here.

Certainly, that’s a long journey.

Moreover, not all the soldiers rode horses, some of them walked, so it would definitely take longer.

「Therefore, I make fried food as a service because they are willing to spend their precious free time in my shop.」(Camilla)

Saying that, Camilla smiled.

She is not only thinking about making a profit, but also thinking about her customers.

Certainly the main things here are the alcohol and the hostess, so she wouldn’t make much profit from fried food.

As I was impressed by Camilla’s hospitality spirit, the delicious smell of fried chicken drifted from the frying pan.

When I was about to store the freshly made fried chicken into my item box, Camilla stopped me.

「Ah, Mark-chan, wait. Let it cool down a bit. Hot fried chicken is delicious, but its smell will fill the inside of the store. I made it so it’s still delicious even when it’s cold, so it won’t be a problem.」(Camilla)

「I see. Okay!」(Mark)

Well, she’s right, fried chicken smells delicious but it can disturb other customers.

――――――

「Hello. I hope I’m not disturbing.」(Gill)

When Nicola and I were sitting in a chair in the kitchen, watching Camilla and Pamella cooking because we didn’t have anything to do, Gill oji-san came in with a basket full of potatoes.

I don’t grow potatoes in the vacant lot, so I guess he bought them from somewhere else.

「Oh, Mark-boy, Nicola ojou-chan, thank you for helping today.」(Gill)

「Don’t worry about it.」(Mark)

「Gill-san, are you bringing something again? It’s helpful, but you really don’t have to do it, you know?」(Camilla)

「Maa, maa. This is the only thing I can do to help, so please don’t worry about it.」(Gill)

「Well, if you say so. Thank you very much. But… We have enough fried fries, so I wonder what I can do with these potatoes…」(Camilla)

「I see…」(Gill)

Gill oji-san looked a little sad after Camilla said that.

He must have thought that he troubled Camilla.

He looked like a scary grumpy old man when we first met, and he was a great merchant who ran multiple stores, but now he looks like a miserable boy who struggles to pursue a girl he loves…

I fixed the rooftop and made tables for Gill oji-san’s sake the other day, but after I saw his face now, I feel like I want to do something for him again.

I feel like a grandchild who wants to do something for his grandpa…

By the way, I had a grandfather from my mother’s side in my previous life, but I have never felt this kind of feeling toward him.

I feel this way toward Gill oji-san maybe because he always takes care of me.

Anyway, let’s think about a dish using potatoes other than fried fries.

The food with less odor will be better, and of course it must be a good snack to eat while drinking alcohol.

Hmm…

Ah, I know the perfect food to solve this problem!