The Cook Specializing in Sweets

Pierre-sama watched Stacey-sama leave the room, then sat down on the sofa. Carolyn-sama sat beside him, while the cook remained standing.

"Leon-kun, I'm sorry the conversation got sidetracked. Thank you for keeping Stacey company. Now then, I'll introduce the cook. This is Yoan, who has been researching sweets."

"My name is Yoan. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Yoan-san had green hair and green eyes and was quite tall and powerfully built. His slightly slanted eyes and intimidating features made him look a little frightening at first glance. Perhaps it was even more pronounced because he had a blank expression right now.

But I didn't think Yoan-san was that much older than me. Maybe Yoan-san was around twenty, or a little older.

"I'm Leon. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"I've given Yoan a brief explanation of your shop, Leon-kun, but could you tell him about it yourself?"

"Certainly."

I replied to Pierre-sama and turned fully toward Yoan-san.

"Yoan-san, I would like to open a specialty sweets shop. Unlike a café, it would be a shop that sells nothing but sweets, without any meal options such as sandwiches. I'm looking for a cook who can work with me to develop new sweets. Would you be willing to lend me your help?"

"Pierre-sama told me that it might be difficult to keep researching sweets forever, so I'm truly grateful for the chance to continue. I also think the shop sounds wonderful. However, may I decide after hearing the terms?"

That's fair. Yoan-san couldn't decide without hearing the terms.

Hmm, the terms... How much would be appropriate for the salary? Perhaps I should start by saying I'd pay about as much as Yoan-san was currently earning.

Then there's housing and the place of work. At this point, I'd have to ask Yoan-san to find a place to live, and I hadn't even decided where the work would take place...

Huh? Aren't these terms terrible? I was sure Yoan-san wouldn't come! What should I do...? For now, I guess I should hear what Yoan-san wants...

"What sort of terms would you like, Yoan-san? I would like to accommodate your requests as much as possible."

"Let's see... I'd like to be able to eat sweets every day, and I would like you to increase the research budget as much as possible."

"Is that all...? Do you have any requests regarding your salary, where you live, where you work, or your working hours?"

"No. As long as I earn enough to live on, the salary is fine. I don't care where I live or work. As long as I can eat sweets and research them, I don't need anything else. Ah, but as a cook, I'd like to keep myself clean, so I would need somewhere at the shop to change clothes and wash up."

Yoan-san looked intimidating, but maybe Yoan-san was actually a sweets obsessive... Still, someone that devoted would probably be better at research. I really wanted Yoan-san to lend me a hand.

"Then, to begin with, you can have as many sweets as you like. You may make and eat as many sweets as you wish using ingredients purchased as business expenses. However, you may only eat them during your breaks or after work, and only you may eat them. Also, there will basically be no upper limit on the research budget. If you need more, just let me know and I'll add to it."

As I said this, Yoan-san's intimidating expression, which might have been tense until a moment ago, gradually melted away.

"R-really!? Are those terms really all right!?"

"Y-yes. They're real..."

Yoan-san came at me with incredible intensity. Yoan-san, you're incredibly intimidating... If someone with that frightening face approached a child with that kind of force, the child would normally cry!

Perhaps my unspoken thoughts reached him, because Yoan-san slowly backed away from me, undoing the step he had taken forward.

"I-I'm sorry. I was just so happy..."

"No, it's all right. Are those terms acceptable?"

"Of course! They're better than I could have hoped for! Thank you very much!"

Even from a distance, Yoan-san agreed with tremendous enthusiasm. Finally, Yoan-san bowed deeply.

For someone so large and intimidating, Yoan-san was kind of cute. It might sound strange to say that, but still.

"Please raise your head. I should be thanking you for lending me your help. As for the other terms, your salary will be your current salary plus an amount to cover housing. So please find your own place to live. I haven't settled on a workplace yet, since the shop isn't decided, so please wait while I rent a kitchen somewhere."

"Yes! As long as you honor the first two conditions, anything else is fine."

Anything else? Surely not! Once Yoan-san started researching sweets, Yoan-san might lose sight of everything around him. I'd have to make sure Yoan-san went home on time...

As I was thinking this, Pierre-sama suddenly spoke up as if an idea had occurred to him.

"That's right, Leon-kun. You may use our kitchen until your shop is ready. Yoan is familiar with it, and it's fully equipped already."

"What? No, that would be too much!"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it."

"But..."

This was far too much to ask of them...

"In that case, how about this? In exchange for lending you our kitchen, could you also give Stacey some advice about her shop? I'm sure Stacey would be happy to meet you too."

"I'd be happy to, but... are you really sure I may use your kitchen?"

"Of course."

...What a wonderful person. I wish all nobles were like this. To show my gratitude at least a little, I'd bring them some delicious sweets from the experiments.

"Thank you very much. In that case, would you also be willing to taste the sweets while they're still in development?"

"Yes, I'd be the one asking you to let me do that."

"Then I'll work hard to make delicious sweets."

"I'm looking forward to it."

And so, we finished our discussion for the day, and I returned to the ducal household.

We decided that Yoan would spend the next week packing his belongings and move out of the residence on the next Recovery Day. Pierre-sama had even offered to let Yoan continue using one of the servants' rooms in the residence, but I politely declined since that would be taking advantage of his kindness too much.

So Yoan would look for a place to live himself, but apparently Yoan could find one quickly as long as the location didn't matter. This week would be for searching for a room and getting used to the new life, and Yoan would start working on the next Recovery Day.

From now on, I'll be going to the Daligard household every week too.

First, I'll focus on developing sweets. Once that is on track, I'll need to decide on a location for the shop and establish a trading company, so things are going to get quite busy. It will be difficult, but I'm excited.

Then, during dinner that evening, I reported what had happened to Richard-sama.

"Richard-sama, I visited the Daligard household today, and they introduced me to a cook who had been researching sweets. For now, we plan to continue researching sweets."

"I see. That's good to hear. Where will the cook conduct the research? You haven't decided on a shop yet, have you?"

"No. Former Baron Daligard-sama kindly offered to let us use his kitchen as-is, so I've decided to accept his generous offer."

It was truly a wonderful offer. I needed to repay Pierre-sama somehow.

"That's very helpful. However, wouldn't it be better to decide on a location for the shop soon?"

"I thought it would be fine to wait until the development of the sweets was on track, but would that be too late?"

"Hmm... You're planning to open the shop in the central district, aren't you?"

"That's the plan."

"In that case, it would be better to move quickly. Shops in good locations are bought as soon as they go on the market. In addition, renovations take time."

Now that he mentioned it, that made sense... Buying a shop didn't mean it would necessarily be ready to use as-is. Maybe securing the shop should come first.

"You're right. In that case, I'll prepare the shop as soon as possible. Where should I look for shops that are on the market?"

"The church can help you search, but I'll look into it myself. I can obtain much more information, and faster. Oh, right, Leon-kun, are you planning to register a trading company?"

"Yes. I intend to register one."

"Then I'll take care of both registering the trading company and looking for a shop. I'll find several good ones, and you can choose from among them."

"Would it really be all right for you to do that much...?"

I felt as if I was relying on Richard-sama too much. I was incredibly grateful, but still...

"Of course. The Townsend ducal family is backing your shop, so it's only natural. Besides, something this minor won't take me very long."

"...Thank you. Thank you so much! I'll make sure it succeeds!"

"I'm looking forward to it."

After that, I told Richard-sama that the company would be called the Japanis Trading Company, explained what I wanted in the shop's location and design, and discussed securing a milk supply. Then dinner came to an end.

Things were moving so quickly that I could barely keep up, but I had to work hard. First of all, I needed to develop the cakes.