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Volume 1, Chapter 22: We got a new waitress.

While the exterior of Café Omusubi was being repaired, we put our time into coaching the Chesters.

I instructed Mister Paul in making bread and asked Zeke to instruct Helena in waiting on customers. Specifically, the various menus and the café system…all so that she could wait on customers without hesitation when the café reopened.

After all, we were a shop that sold meals, drinks and desserts, so she would need to ask about the timing to bring out drinks and desserts when customers ordered as well as explain the system to first-timers. In addition, the menu was packed with food never seen before in this world, so customers would not be able to tell what food they were just by looking at the names. Therefore, in order to work at this shop, waiters and waitresses had to start from knowing the menu like the back of their hand.

“Once you’ve taken the customer’s order, you write it down on this paper, a chit. When they want a drink with it, you write that next to the food and the timing to serve under the drink. Timings include before, during, and after.”

“Okay.”

Zeke explained with indifference. As a man of few words, his explanations were short and succinct. He quickly finished explaining the chit and moved on to the menu.

To put it bluntly, he was cold and strict. It wasn’t that he wasn’t interested in teaching, he simply did not give off a friendly atmosphere. Yes, it seemed Zeke was still affected by the incident and he treated the girl with antipathy.

The first day of Helena’s instruction ended like that.

The problem was the second day.

It would be very difficult to remember explanations like that. Helena was quizzed by Zeke to check whether she remembered his words and could explain the food, but she couldn’t answer very well. While she tried her best and squeezed out some answers in the beginning, her voice grew smaller and smaller. On the other hand, Zeke did not scold her but sighed every time she got stuck. Even though he was doing so because of what Helena did, I couldn’t watch any longer and told them both to take a break.

After everyone ate the staff meal I made, Helena suddenly went outside. Zeke offered to clean up, so I left it to him and ran after her. Helena had left through the back door, which was left slightly ajar. I thought maybe it was too much for her and she ran away, but I stopped when I heard the voice outside.

Helena was sobbing quietly. Even though she was already an adult in this world, she was still at tender sixteen. Of course, it was bad for her to do what she did, but she was much more mature than when I was sixteen in my first year of high school, and she did well enduring Zeke’s cold attitude.

She could have cried in front of us too. Tears are a woman’s weapon, which should pull out a bit of pity even from the strict Zeke. On top of that, her own father was in the kitchen. She could have cried and clung to him too.

However, she did none of those things, instead sobbing quietly out the back door so no one would notice.

It wasn’t that I forgave everything she had done. However, it was true that seeing Helena like this changed my opinion of her.

When the one hour lunch break ended, Helena approached me with red, swollen eyes.

“Uhm, Miss Risa.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I was wondering if you could lend me something to write on? Anything is fine as long as I can take notes.”

It seems Helena had not simply cried, but had also thought of a way to break through her situation. I took a pile of paper on the counter near the register and handed it to her.

“Here are some used chits. The back is blank so feel free to use them. If you run out, there’s more in the same place.”

Generally, only the front side of chits are used. At first I thought it a waste and tried to use the back too, but it got confusing which side was the current order so I stopped. I couldn’t stand throwing them away like that, though, so they were being used for small notes or tags for reserved food items.

The used chits seemed to harden Helena’s resolve, who held them tightly, thanked me and went towards Zeke. Curious, I pretended to return to the kitchen and quietly peeked into the front of the restaurant. Helena faced Zeke with a serious expression and began to speak.

“Zeke, I’m sorry but could you start from the top? I can’t remember it all by hearing it once, and I don’t want to wait on customers with such a hazy impression of the menu. Please.”

She said and lowered her head. Zeke’s eyes widened, perhaps from surprise or from noticing Helena’s swollen eyes and the notepaper in her hands.

“…All right.”

Zeke accepted and Helena let out a small sigh of relief. She quickly pulled in her emotions and bowed to Zeke again, saying please take care of me.

I also sighed in relief.

I didn’t chide Zeke on his attitude as punishment to her and so that I would be taking her in without bias. While it would have been easy for me to help, she would not grow if I did.

After that, Helena began diligently asking Zeke questions. She would ask immediately whenever she was confused and took notes of his answers. During break time, she would reflect on her notes and mumble under her breath in review. The second break was over, she would talk to Zeke about the things she noticed during break. She would also come in earlier than anyone and start cleaning. She also took the lead in doing other things.

Her actions must have given Zeke a lot to think about. While it was hard to tell from his lack of expression, he stopped being especially cold to her.

Helena was also used to waiting on customers. It was only natural, as she had always been helping in the family business. She could perform calculations so she could take care of the register, and her movements were efficient. Thanks to her notetaking, her memory improved, and she could even play by ear now. I felt relieved at her bright signs.

On the other hand, her father Mister Paul wasn’t doing so well.

“Like I said, please measure the amounts accurately with the cup! Didn’t I say to adjust the thickness with water and not flour?”

“Ah…You did…”

A sigh escaped me. It was like this the whole time. We had met an obstacle at every turn starting from measuring. While it was possible to eyeball the amounts, products that would be sold needed to have the same taste and texture. If the amount of ingredients weren’t measured exactly according to the recipe, there would be small pockets of different taste and texture in the bread.

Even so, Mister Paul said he had never measured his ingredients before. Shocked by his reality, I began to drum the idea of measuring into his head. I didn’t know about the rock hard bread Mister Paul had been making, but it was definitely unforgivable to make my bread that way.

I had thought to teach him how to make yeast as well, but it seems there would be no time for that. For now, I taught him how to manage and maintain the yeast and decided to give him yeast I made.

The most troublesome part about teaching Mister Paul to make bread was my inability to dispel the notion in his head that bread = rock hard bread after he had eaten the bread of this world for so long. This also applied to the method. First rise? Second rise? He couldn’t understand why the bread needed to rest, and at first, he tried to put the shaped dough in the oven immediately after mixing and kneading the ingredients.

There was no other way than to have Mister Paul believe with his heart and soul that bread = leavened bread!

I made him make bread with my puffed up bread in mind for four days straight. Finally, he made something closer to leavened bread. Somehow I managed to get him to master the method for bread rolls and loaf bread, and he reached the standard where he could deliver them on reopening day. I wouldn’t know if it would work until the day of, though…

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One more new thing appeared at Café Omusubi. Uniforms.

The fourth day of temporary closure.

Instruction for the Chesters was basically over, and now they simply needed more experience. While I was thinking about new menus, it popped into my head when I looked at Zeke and Helena who were in serving practice.

We should have uniforms!

Up until now, Zeke and I had been working in our casual clothes. Zeke wore dark colored pants, usually black or navy, under a casual collared shirt. I had on similar clothes to Zeke.

When I first came here, I wore the dresses Tasia prepared for me, but the sleeves covered in lace and frills were a fire hazard and unsuitable for cooking.

In this world, mainstream fashion mandated that men wear pants and women wear skirts. There were female knights, though few and far in between, so it wasn’t necessarily skirts for women all day every day. However, that was only the uniform. Clothes were a cultural and habitual issue, and there would always be people who stuck out like a sore thumb or actively went against the stereotype.

Even Tasia, who had approved of my opening a café, offered her frank advice to my wearing pants. Among the customers were people who would scrunch their eyebrows together when they saw my clothes as well, though they were by no means malicious.

In addition, Tasia was also the owner of a clothing brand. Even if we were not connected by blood, there was no way she wasn’t concerned about her daughter’s appearance. Of course she would want her daughter to wear cute clothes.

That’s why, when I approached Tasia about making uniforms, the conversation moved quickly as if she had been waiting for it. She was very excited about making it at her own clothing shop.

The day after I talked to Tasia, she brought an artisan from the clothing shop and burst into the closed café.

“This is Sheryl Merry! Thank you for choosing us to design and make your uniforms!”

Tasia smiled brightly to us and signaled to the artisan waiting outside to bring in their things.

“Uhm, Miss Risa, what is the meaning of…”

Taken aback by Tasia’s entrance, Zeke whispered to me, confused.

“Sorry for the commotion. I asked my stepmother to make us some uniforms and…as you can see…she’s more excited about it than I thought she would be.”

I didn’t think it would blow up like this, and I began to be overwhelmed by the staggering amount of cloth and thread being carried in one after the other. Mister Paul, who had been focused on making as much bread as he possibly could, even poked his head out to see what the commotion was all about.

“Zeke, Helena, we’re making uniforms today so you can take a break on the serving practice.”

The two, shocked speechless by the avalanche of people with Tasia in the lead, smiled wryly to me and walked towards Tasia, who was all fired up to make uniforms.

“All right, Risa! Here we go!”

Fidgeting with excitement, Tasia happily gave the signal to take our measurements.

“…Uhm, even me?”

Helena hesitantly asked next to me.

“Of course. You’re also an employee here, and it would be weird for only one person not to be in uniform, right?”

“But this is Sheryl Merry! I can’t afford such luxurious clothes!”

“You don’t have to worry about the price. Tasia agreed to give me a family discount, and this is a necessary expense so I can’t ask you two to pay for it.”

“Really? …I can wear Sheryl Merry’s clothes…!”

“Uh, Tasia. Could it be that your store is actually a luxury store? …I’m ignorant of things like that so I asked for your help, but…”

I grew anxious hearing Helena’s words and tentatively asked Tasia, who was rolling measuring tape around my waist.

“It’s a request from my lovely Risa, of course I would want to do it! Preparing your clothes is my job as your mother!”

Tasia said nonchalantly as she raised and lowered my arms, taking my measurements and telling them to the assistant waiting on her next to me.

“If you say so…Um, Helena, are you okay?”

“It’s Sheryl Merry, you know!? I’ve always dreamed of wearing Sheryl Merry’s clothes since I was a child! I’m over the moon!”

Helena’s eyes were glossy and her cheeks flushed red.

According to her, Sheryl Merry was the runner-up, if not the top clothing store in the country. It wasn’t famous simply because it was luxurious, but it had state of the art concepts, designs that created harmony between traditional and novelty…It was also lauded for its conscientious tailoring such that parents could pass down their clothes to their children with slight alterations. When going to special occasions, you picked Sheryl Merry. Any girl dreamt of being clad in the gorgeous and beautiful clothes of that shop. Such a shop’s clothes were definitely not cheap. The more intricate the design, the higher the price to reflect the labor put into it. An unattainable prize for young girls…that is Sheryl Merry!!

…Is what Helena said, fiery with passion.

“I can’t believe I can wear clothes that I wanted to wear once in a lifetime! Not only that, but since this is a uniform, I can wear it every day! I’m simply over the moon!”

“My my, I’m so happy that you love it!”

Tasia smiled broadly and answered the excited Helena.

I listened to Helena, amazed, while Zeke seemed uninterested and stood silently, allowing his measurements to be taken.

After all the measurements were taken, we began to discuss the cloth and the design. I took Zeke and Helena’s opinions into account and talked to Tasia and her artisan.

“Zeke and I have to cook in the kitchen, so we’ll need to move easily.”

“True~ The cloth should be one that is hard to dirty as well.”

“For Helena, a skirt would probably be better? But wouldn’t a skirt be hard to move in?”

“She’s serving customers, so the cuter she is the better!”

“Then how about we take the middle and go with something like a culotte?”

“Ooh, that’s a good idea! Hmm…how about this for the design?”

Tasia quickly drew some sketches while listening to my thoughts.

“This one is Risa, this one is Zeke and this one is Helena.”

I checked the designs Tasia drew.

“Uhm, Tasia?”

“Ye~s?”

“Please give me pants.”

“No! You’re a girl so it has to be a skirt.”

“No, Tasia, I insist! While it’s not that I can’t move with a skirt, any movement is very restricted. Setting Helena, who will be serving in the front, aside, I’ll be mostly working in the kitchen. I use the stove as well, and I won’t be able to work wearing something so frilly! Instead, I’d be terrified of it catching on fire! It’s a fire hazard!”

No matter how I looked at it, Tasia’s design did not seem suitable for cooking. It looked like an extravagant version of the servant’s clothes that the maids of the Claude family wore.

“B-but…”

Tasia slouched, dejected by my strong tone.

“…! I mean, this design is very cute! But as I’ll be working, I want to avoid wearing anything that restricts my movement. Besides, Tasia, didn’t you say that the female knights’ uniforms also include pants? Then you could treat these uniforms that way, too, and make some wonderful pants! I imagine there haven’t been many female chefs, but wouldn’t it be great if more girls began to dream of that path? When that happens, there will be more people to wear uniforms like this. Besides, I’d be happy if people evaluated me purely based on my skill as a chef without caring whether I was a man or a woman.”

A long time ago in my previous world, we also had an era where women only wore skirts. However, that perception was changed by a great female designer. Because of the war, women were forced into independence even if they didn’t want to, and pants for women spread across the world. In modern day, women could wear pants without judgement.

While I wasn’t planning on forcing my common sense onto this world, a small thing like women not being allowed to wear pants seemed to point to a bigger problem.

“I understand that you’re worried for me, Tasia. There’s a reason why people say first impressions matter the most. But just because I’m wearing pants doesn’t mean I will act like a man, nor do I want to become one. I firmly believe that neither is making food nor eating it related to sex. That’s why I’d like my uniform to have pants instead of a skirt.”

Tasia’s concerned gaze matched that of my biological mother’s. Although their contours were completely different, somehow that’s how I felt. While we had only been mother and daughter for a little while, her expression showed her concern and worry for me. It roused some memories for my biological mother, and I became a little sad.

I smiled at the worried Tasia to comfort her.

“…haaaa. I can’t help it if you say it like that. I can’t let you wear any clothes that might prove dangerous, too.”

Tasia sighed deeply, giving up, and sketched out a new design. The sketch made in a few minutes had pants that accentuated womanly curves.

In the end, my uniform was a white dress shirt decorated with lace on top of black pants, with a long garcon apron. Lace and frills were added here and there to lighten up the attire.

Zeke had a white shirt with black pants and a garcon apron like me. Simple and clean.

Helena had a round collar dress shirt with frills and a black culotte under a short apron.

“Wow! It’s so cute!”

Helena’s eyes sparkled with delight as she gushed over the design.

“I think it’s great, too! How about Zeke?”

“Yes, I think it’s good.”

“Then I’ll go ahead with this! I’ll bring it in for fitting tomorrow.”

We finished the talk, and Tasia exclaimed she had to get to work and left with her artisans.

The next day, she brought in temporarily sewed outfits to the café. We changed into them and she checked for small details while we told her places that were difficult to move.

The day after that, she brought in the fitted uniforms and checked for any defects. There weren’t any problems, so she would bring in the final product tomorrow morning. As she made it in a hurry, spare uniforms would have to be made some other day, but it was thanks to Tasia and her artisans that the uniforms were made so quickly.

In this way, all the preparations were made towards the following day when the café would reopen.

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The day of the reopening.

Neighbors and fast made regulars came to the store after catching wind of the reopening. It was also the day of the Chesters’ debut.

First, albeit barely on time, Mister Paul managed to deliver the promised amount of bread rolls and loaf bread, which all received a passing grade. It was his first day, so I made more just in case, but it seems I would no longer have to worry about the bread starting tomorrow.

Helena was also nervous in the beginning, but after a while she relaxed and was very animated. There were customers who knew about the incident and looked at her with astonishment and suspicion, but Helena’s sincerity and refusal to back down won them over, and they happily ate the food and left.

Personally, the decrease in customers that I was so worried about did not happen. On the contrary, there were even more customers than before. We were forced to close temporarily when we had just opened, and I was worried the customers would leave, but it seems the short time before the closure was enough for Café Omusubi to find a place in many people’s hearts.

That day, not only the bread from Mister Paul, but also the bread I made just in case were all sold out, and the café closed for the day without a single lull in business.

After closing up, I made time to interview Helena.

“How do you feel after today?”

I asked, sitting across from her at a table seat. While Helena seemed quite drained from the unfamiliar workload, she looked refreshed.

“I was really busy, so I completely lost myself into work…but, I think I did pretty well in my own way.”

“I see, that’s good. Do you think you can keep going?”

“Yes. I’ll do my best.”

“Actually, I wondered whether you would tell me it’s too hard and want to quit.”

“…Huh?’

“For a week until yesterday, you had to endure Zeke’s icy attitude. there were people like that among the customers today too, right? It was your fault, but I wondered if you would crush under the pressure.”

“…”

“Even so, you never whined once and tried your best. Zeke accepted you, and there were no complaints from the customers, either. I think that’s because of how sincere you were.”

Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair. The only way Helena could rebuild that trust was by doing her best on her own.

She understood that. That was why she refused to be discouraged by the cold stares, nor would she cry and complain.

“…Thank you, so much. You could have reported it to the chivalric order, but you gave me this chance to start over…”

Overwhelmed with emotion, Helena squeezed out her words.

“…I was like that, but…My father told me about many things…I really, truly regret what I did that day. I’m relieved that…this shop…didn’t…burn down…”

Her emotions took over and Helena covered her face. She must have thought over a lot of things after the incident, and worked through some hard feelings where I couldn’t see them. While I do feel that she reaped what she sowed, she was still a sixteen year old girl. She would probably continue to make mistakes. Correcting and having her make up for those mistakes while guiding her on a new path was something a proper adult would do.

I got up to sit next to her and quietly patted the crying girl’s head.

She sobbed harder, and I quietly watched over her as she let go of the feelings she had bottled up inside her.