CH 18

The traps were in plain sight!

I doubt anyone would believe me if I said, "Actually, I have memories of my previous life."

Even so, “How could I know something that is not in Astraea?” and the seeds of past life revelations are scattered everywhere.

Yulia stood in the small kitchen to represent the kids, along with me, Yuno, Karina, and Crista.

The other kids wanted to do the same thing, but because it would be difficult to keep track of them, I asked them to focus on the eating part this time.

Now, everything was ready.

Let's start making cat and Shiba Inu cookies! At this point, a question came up from everyone.

“What’s a Shiba Inu?”

“Eh…you don’t know?”

(TL: Of course they don’t, you dumb fk.)

I froze, and the four of them tilted their heads.

I was surprised because I had heard that there are usually dogs in Astraea…but there are no Shiba Inus!

“Isn't that the thing you promised to make for that person before?”

That person Yuno refers to is, of course, Mana.

The topic about the Saint was forbidden here because it cannot be divulged to the outside world just yet.

“Sensei, what kind of dog is it?”

That was, Yulia-kun; a Japanese dog, native only to Japan! …Of course, I couldn’t say that.

So I simply avert my gaze from everyone, hoping to mislead them.

“Oh, I don’t know either…”

“Eh!? Then why did you promise to make it!?”

“I thought Yuno would know…”

“Are you mistaking me for some kind of walking zoologist?”

Your intimidating smile is scaring me, Yuno!

“I will probably be fine! I can handle it! Look, it's a cookie, so it can't be too complicated, right? I'll just change the shape of the cat and make it look like a dog so we'll be fine! That's right, Yuno, do you have a pen and paper?”

“I do…”

Yuno gave me a piece of paper and a pen, and I began to draw what I imagined.

It resembled a dog seen frequently in Astraea, but it also resembled a lawn dog...All right, I did a pretty good job.

I then confidently show everyone the paper.

“It looks like this!”

“Kyaaa!!!”

Kya?

When I showed it to them, there was a voice that sounded like it was screaming.

When I looked at Yulia, she was shaking her head and covering her mouth with her hand.

Wait, it was most likely because of this...

“Well, it was creative, I suppose.”

Christa giggled after saying so.

She was laughing, but her eyes were not…

It looked like she was holding back, wasn’t she?

Also, didn't she physically move back and distance herself from me?

“Are you going to make cookies with this picture? Are you going to harass someone? No way, curse them!? I am not impressed by such a thing! I will report this to Ethan-sama!”

No, I was not trying to curse!

I was trying to make you guys happy, though!

I would definitely get in trouble if you reported this to Ethan, so please don't ever do that!

“Kuuga-sama, aren't you supposed to make adorable dog cookies?They're totally human eyes, nose and mouth…It looks like a dog with a human face.” (TL: Ed…ward…Onii…chan?)

“T-That’s scary…”

Yuno gave me a reproachful look while comforting Yulia, who was frightened by what I made.

It hurts when I am told such things…

It was unfortunate that no one recognizes this illustration with a high artistic point that balances realism and cuteness.

“I'll definitely make these cookies!”

“Why don't you make them anyway? after seeing that drawing, I can only think it's a miracle how you made those cat cookies, but if you try it, it might work out better than you think.”

“I'll make you say they're absolutely adorable…!”

I started baking cookies, irritated with my maid of honor who was throwing me under the bus.

I have prepared and brought the ingredients and tools.

I could leave the tools as they are and I have brought more ingredients so they could practice while I'm gone.

The first step was to make cat cookies, which I was familiar with.

I rolled out the dough and stacked it, checking it from the side.

“I wonder how it will turn out. Are you sure it’ll be fine?”

“What do you mean by that? Don't look at it yet, okay? Let's let it cool down and look forward to when we cut it.”

Why does Yulia look so anxious behind Kalina, who was trying to peek at me?

I secretly told Yuno, “What if we make a lot of those drawings earlier?” because they were listening to their Sensei perfectly.

If the balance was off, it would be an ugly cat, but I glanced over to check the sides and saw that it was done beautifully.

This will make everyone say how cute it is.

“All right. Now that it's all put together nicely, I'll let this cool down so it's easier to cut.”

“Allow me to do it; I'm good at cooling things down.”

Crista came forward and I asked her to do it while teaching Yulia.

In the meantime, I'll bake some dog cookies.

Today, I decided to make a sample and teach her when I got it right.

Because it had more parts than a cat, it was difficult to make it look like a Shiba Inu, but I'm confident I'd get it right.

I looked at Yulia as I worked, and she was listening intently while taking notes.

She and Christa, who was kindly teaching her, looked like beautiful sisters.

Karina was also a beautiful girl, and perhaps she was the most attractive person in the world right now?

If only I could forget that two of them are probably Ethan's assassins!

“Kuuga-sensei, is this okay?”

“Un, that’s good.”

Crista liked the idea of calling me Kuuga-sensei.

It was embarrassing to be called that outside the orphanage, but it was okay while we're here.

I asked her to wait a little while and let the finished dog cookies cool down.

Yulia attempted to make this one on her own and did an excellent job.

“Then, I’m going to cut it.”

I started with the cat first.

With a knife, I first cut off the uneven edges, and then cut another piece where it was clean.

“...!? Uwaah!! It’s so cute!!”

Yulia, who had been jittery before cutting, squealed with delight when the cute cat's face appeared.

“That's incredible! It's amazing that the person who drew that picture could come up with something like this!”

"Haha, thanks, I guess...."

I have learned in the past few hours about Karina's specification, so I interpret this as an honest compliment.

“Christa?”

I looked at Christa, who was being silent for a while, to see what was wrong. But, she was staring at the cat cookie while trembling.

“Christa, what’s wro–”

“IT’S SO CUTEEEEEEE!!!”

Everyone was surprised at Krista’s exclamation.

Her calm and gentle older sister vibe was gone

As I froze in surprise, Krista looked at me with a big motion.

“Ed–guh.”

Hearing the name she was about to say, I hurriedly suppressed her mouth.

Yulia’s with us, you know!?

“It’s Kuuga!”

When I warned her quietly, she nodded apologetically and because of that, I let go of my hand.

“Kuuga-sensei!  I adore cats, so this is so wonderful!! It’s so adorable~~~~~~~!!”

Her face was delirious as she held both cheeks and shouts, and because of that everyone was bewildered by the sudden breakdown of her character.

There was a cat lover in this place, too.

With Mana being what she was, I wondered “Do you really like cats?” but from the looks of it, it doesn't seem to be an act.

“W-Well then, I’ll continue cutting it.”

*Tonk* (TL: Cutting sfx)

“Kya!”

*Tonk*

“Kyaa!!”

*Tonk*

“Kyaaaaa!!!”

Shut uuuuup!

A scream comes in every time I cut the cat cookies.

“Aaahh! What shall we do!? The number of cats is increasing!!!!”

It was only annoying to have a constant scream next to me, but I managed to finish cutting them all.

The Dog cookie turned out to be more Shiba Inu-like than I had anticipated.

It seems I have shown my unbridled talent.

Everyone did not react strangely to the cookie, but rather said, “How cute!” I think it must have turned out well as a dog.

They were surprised to discover that the dog with a human face was actually a real dog! But I was pleased that I was able to persuade them that it was cute.

“Please leave the baking to me!”

This time Karina played the role of Yulia's teacher and baker.

They were beautifully baked in no time, and the delicious aroma quickly spread.

It was great that the waiting time was so short.

“Sensei! Is it done yet!?”

“Is it time to eat!?”

The delicious smells lured the children to gather around the kitchen, and because of that we decided to make it snack time.

Yulia left the kitchen to eat with the kids.

We stayed behind and the four of us started eating cookies while drinking tea.

“Ah~ they’re so cute! It's a waste to eat them!”

Crista's wild mood was still going on.

“What should I do…I really can't eat them~!”

Everyone except Crista was already ravishing the cookies, but she looked at them and held them in her hands as if they were precious jewels.

She eventually began to cry because she couldn't eat it.

You don't have to be sad about it...

“It's a cookie, you must eat it or it’ll be a waste!”

“...! Yes, That's right…”

Crista took a tentative bite of the cookie at Karina's suggestion.

Then, a nice crunching sound came from Crista's mouth.

“It's delicious..hicc…”

Don’t cry please…

I mutter as I stare at the cookie she bit on.

“I will never forget your self-sacrificing devotion! Please become my flesh and blood and live with me…”

“That’s depressing.”

It was just a cookie-tasting party that turned out to be partly a wake, but now that Yulia was out of the picture and there were four of us, I decided to bring up an example I had been meaning to check.

We'd only been together for a few hours, but they didn't seem like bad people.

So I decided to ask them straight out, hoping they would answer.

“I have a question I'd like to ask you both.”

“What is it?”

“What did Elder Brother Ethan tell you to do?”