CH 36

I want to go take a bath, but unfortunately, I don’t have a pair of clean drawers.

The drawers are bigger than the panties of my previous life, so I can’t put a lot of them in my wardrobe.

I used the one freshly washed today.

Was the bath I took today alright? The one I had over lunch.

Corinna-chan’s parent’s house is close to the academy, so she came back in less than an hour.

“I hope you ate at your parent’s house,” I said

“I was going to do that, but I was kicked out because they didn’t make anything for me,” Corinna said.

“That’s tough,” I said.

“That’s what a low-ranking official’s house is like,” Corinna replied, shaking her head.

“Did they accept the yoriko offer?” I asked.

“They were perplexed,” Corinna said. “The nobles of the vestments swear allegiance to the royal family, and they don’t do much with the yorikos and yoroshis.”

Or rather, they’re simple officials in the royal palace’s administrative bureaus, so you could say the royal family is like their yoroshi.

“Then, you’re in a pinch Corinna-chan, will I find you in a box of salt?”

“Don’t bring that up every time there’s a problem,” Corinna said. “When I was told I was in danger because of being involved with you, you agreed to shelter me. With that, you should do all of the yoriko duties.”

Well, if you’re a government official, you can’t really send out soldiers of your family.

“Or rather, does House Ceveres have knights?” I asked.

“You don’t need a knight to work in the sewers,” Corinna said. “We don’t have a single one.”

A noble who doesn’t own territory doesn’t have any subordinates.

Otou-sama hired no knights, either.

By the way, Carol’s family, House Albright, seems to have a super-strong knight order.

I wonder if it’s okay because knights cost money, but Albright Territory is the richest territory in the kingdom.

Alchemy pays, for sure.

When it comes to how great the Earl rank is, it’s roughly at the level of a prefectural governor.

A viscount at the level of a city mayor, a baron at the level of a town mayor?

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It’s a feudal system, so it’s an area conversion that you rule.

Then Karol is practically the prefectural governor!

It sounds great when you hear it.

The marquis is the head of the region that binds the prefecture, and the margrave is like the head of the region that compasses the border.

Dukes are a bit special, they have to be relatives of the royal family, so they have to marry a prince or princess, or the king’s brother has to start a house of his own.

In the Kingdom of Appleton, there are only three ducal families.

Appleby, Appleyard, and Pottinger.

As you can see from the “Apple” attached, two of the ducal families separated from the royal family a long time ago.

It’s like the Tokugawa Gosanke.

Aside from all that, I also enjoy spending time chatting with my friends in my room.

I like Corinna-chan next to Karol.

Well, Carol is my wife.

… What am I doing in the world of otome games?

No, it can’t be helped because Carol is more motivating than the Ikemen.

I have no choice.

I went to the cafeteria with Corinna-chan for dinner.

Somehow, the number of people who come to the cafeteria decreases with each passing day.

Today’s menu is sautéed chicken.

I will be in for a tough time again.

“Surprise,” the onee-san behind the counter said.

“Understood,” another said.

They started pulling out the plates of sauteed chicken that were already on offer.

What are they doing?

When I looked behind the line, there was Yuri-Yuri-senpai, Estelle-senpai, and Melissa-chan.

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Dormitory Master-san and Deputy Dormitory Master-san are at the counter for lower-ranking aristocrats’ food…

“Hey, I’ll replace your chicken, too,” the onee-san said. “Here, get one freshly made, okay?”

“… No, this is fine,” I said, keeping my already served tray.

Evidence preservation, you know.

I quickly put the salad and bread on the tray and bring it to the table so that the onee-san won’t take it away.

When I sat down with Corinna-chan and had some tea, Yuri-Yuri-senpai, Estelle-sama, and Melissa-chan came to the same table.

“Makoto-sama, good evening, may we sit with you?” Melissa asked.

“Fine by me, let’s eat together. If Yurisha-senpai and Estelle-senpai don’t mind, let’s all eat together,” I said.

“Thank you very much,” Yurisha said. “We’ll take you on your offer.”

“It’s a pleasure, Makoto-kun,” Estelle said.

“I’m also preserving the evidence here, so let’s eat and compare it with the ones who have the surprise countermeasures,” I said.

“You’re smart, Makoto-kun,” Estelle said.

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“As I’ve come to expect of you, Makoto-sama,” Yurisha said.

Both of them had nasty grins on their faces.

Yeah, the sautéed chicken that the senpais have is obviously different in quality.

“They were idiots, they’re just admitting that they’ve been cheating us,” Corinna said, looking at me.

“People who perform crimes are pretty idealistic about their odds,” I said, exchanging black smiles with her.

I took the strangely colored sautéed bird, divided it into three parts, and placed it on Estelle-senpai’s and Yuri-Yuri-senpai’s plates.

In turn, they cut up a nice brown sautéed chicken and put it on my plate.

“Oh, I want to compare eating them, too,” Melissa said.

“Melissa, I’ll give you some of mine,” Corinna said, cutting up her chicken and putting it on Melissa-san’s plate.

Melissa cut her bird in half and placed it on Corinna’s plate, instead.

“Well then, Neko-chans, let’s start with the bad ones,” Estelle said.

“Roger will do,” I said.

The five of us put the sautéed chicken in our mouths all at once.

Moh-kyu-moh-kyu-moh-kyu-moh-kyu-moh-kyu.

“This is no good,” Estelle said, taking out a handkerchief and spitting out her chicken.

“I can’t swallow this,” Yurisha said, also giving up.

“Uegh, it’s so bad,” Melissa said, spitting it out on her plate

Moh-kyu-moh-kyu-moh-kyu-moh-kyu-gobuhn.

The two poor people swallowed it up.

The trick is to chew it well.

Because it won’t taste good anyway.

“This was more than I imagined,” Estelle said.

“The morning porridge is bad, too,” Corinna said.

“It’s salty mud,” I said.

“That bad?” Estelle asked.

We put the delicious chicken into our mouths.

“Yummy,” I said.

“It tastes like the ones from the welcoming party, so good, so good,” Corinna said.

Oops, the bread is different too.

I break my own bread and put it on Estelle-senpai’s and Yuri-Yuri-senpai’s trays.

“It’s so hard, It’s more like you’re eating shoe soles than bread,” Yurisha said.

“This is terrible, I thought it could not be helped to some extent, but if it continues like this, some of the students will start getting sick,” Estelle said.

“What are you going to do, yell into the kitchen?” I asked.

Estelle-senpai smiled gracefully.

“I won’t do that, I’ll just report it to the principal, and I think the dormitory cafeteria will start to taste better.”

“At this point, it might be better to change suppliers,” Yurisha said.

“The food of senior aristocrats is delicious, though?” I said.

“As someone who has to eat lower-ranking noble food, it would be helpful if it tasted better,” Melissa said.

“Indeed, there are many houses that are struggling to pay the tuition due to their poor household finances,” Estelle said. “My apologies for making this so horrible for all of you.”

“No, it’s not Estelle-sama’s fault, so I don’t need an apology,” I said.

“Since I and Yurisha are the Dormitory Masters, we are responsible for all the painful and tragic things that happened in this girls’ dormitory,” Estelle said.

What a saint.

Corinna-chan also has an impressive smile.

From the kitchen, a middle-aged woman came to our table.

“Um, E-Estelle-sama, it, it seems that there was some kind of mistake,” the woman said.

“… Did I ask you for your opinion?” Estelle said.

She was always smiling but she looked at the women with cold eyes like the air of Alaska, the voice that accompanied it was below freezing.

“But, that’s…” the cafeteria lady said.

“Do you know what kind of status my family holds?” Estelle countered.

“It-It is a Koushaku-sama’s house, bu-but,” the cafeteria lady says.

“I don’t remember allowing you to answer directly, please step back,” Estelle said.

Uuhaaa, the noble’s wrath is here.

The woman is trembling while clutching her toque hat.

Her face turned red and her expression contorted with anger.

“You’ve never suffered from hunger, a noble daughter will never understand my feelings…!!”

The woman grabbed the cook’s cap and slammed the table where we were sitting.

“”””…””””

As if it was a ripple disturbing the water’s surface, the cafeteria fell silent with a “shin.”

Woaahh, a commoner yelled at the daughter of a marquis.

It’s a serious crime, you could even be hanged for it.

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Estelle-senpai snapped her fingers.

Dormitory knights arrived without a sound and grabbed the woman’s shoulders.

“She looks tired, let her rest somewhere quiet,” Estelle said.

“Right,” the knights said.

“I, even I wanted to make the best product possible!! I wanted you to say it’s delicious!!” the woman cried as she dragged away.

I wonder if there’s a reason for all this.

Oops, I made eye contact with her.

“You, you’re a saint!! Help me!! Save me!!”

Heh, is it up to me?

I have no reason to help someone who makes bad porridge.

I shook my head slightly.

I don’t know what it was about that betrayed expression.

The woman was whisked from the dining room.

“What an idiot,” Estelle said, “this confirms the change of ingredients supplier, even though she was a chef who could make delicious dishes.”

“I’m sorry, we won’t be able to serve breakfast tomorrow,” Yurisha said.

“It’s impossible to arrange for a contractor from now on,” Estelle said.

Tomorrow’s breakfast will be canceled.

I’ve bought some bread, so that’s good.

Hmm, but, speaking of that:

Although there are few, there are some students who are forced to eat the lower-ranking noble’s food.

“Whatever happens next, I’ll take care of it,” I said.

“Huh? Aren’t you a saint candidate?” Estelle said.

“I’m also a baker’s daughter,” I replied.

“”Ah,”” everyone went.

Corinna frowned.

“Makoto’s making porridge, huh… will it be sweet?”

“You can make it sweet if you boil it in milk,” I said.

“I like porridge with honey,” Yurisha said.

“Yurisha-senpai, it depends on the materials I have to work with,” I said.

“I-I’d like nuts, please put nuts in mine, Makoto-sama,” Melissa said.

“Yeah, I don’t take individual orders,” Is aid.

I’m not your mom.

“My apologies for foisting this on you, but could I task you with tomorrow’s breakfast, Makoto-kun?” Estelle said.

“It’s okay, if you don’t eat breakfast, you won’t be able to study well,” I said.

“Breakfast made by a saint candidate, yeah, I’m really looking forward to it,” Estelle said, smiling.

By the way, will I get paid?

Wages, wages, I do so love wages.

Uhehe.