Chapter 283: The Pretty Problem

“That makes sense too. Then Lady Fjodra…”

“No! I’ll bring Pretty.”

Bjorn, understanding Reysir’s argument, mentioned the name of the person who obtained the third most ingredients.

But Reysir hastily cut him off and uttered the name written on the headband I was wearing.

‘When a specific person’s title suddenly changes, it’s almost a convention in creative works to first call them by the old title and then correct yourself once… But because he spat out such a cringey and embarrassing word so naturally, I was so startled that I missed the timing to point out the contradiction in his statement.’

But the others were not like that.

“Pretty became ‘Pretty’ because she had zero ingredients, right?”

“That’s right! Senior Reysir, your words don’t match up, do they?! To balance things out, both Senior Pretty and Senior Dandy should be on my team!”

Bjorn looked bewildered, and Pret protested.

While repeatedly mentioning the word ‘Pretty’ of all things.

Because of that, I had to try my best to ignore who that word referred to, and as a result, I couldn’t jump into the conversation this time either.

“You talked about balance and demanded the right to pick teammates first, and now you try to take Senior Pretty first? That’s unfair! Do you hate the idea of me taking Senior Pretty away from you that much?”

“Huh? You wanted to be on the same team as Pretty too? You were like that last week too—why are there so many people who want to be on Pretty’s team?”

‘You said it. But wait, who the heck is Pretty in the first place? I don’t know such a person. I don’t want to know. This has nothing to do with me, so let’s just ignore it.’

“Professor, Pret’s words are mere speculation, so please don’t listen. It’s not that I’m wary of Pretty getting close to Pret while they cook together. It’s also not that I chose Pretty just because I’m close with her and thought cooking together would be fun.”

“Then what is it?”

“If there’s no one who knows how to cook, having a variety of ingredients only causes trouble, doesn’t it?”

“That makes sense. Preparing each ingredient is work, and the recipes get complicated too.”

“Exactly! So I was only trying to secure someone who knows how to cook.”

‘It seems this ‘Pretty’ person knows how to cook. Then it’s only natural that she’d be the top recruitment target.’

“Uh?! Senior Pretty, you know how to cook?!”

“……”

“Senior Pretty?”

“……”

“Senior Pretty Karbaldr. Stop escaping reality and accept that you are Pretty. Also, please answer my question.”

‘I really don’t want to answer. I want to pretend I don’t know and treat it as someone else’s matter until the end. But now that my possession body’s name has been mentioned together, I can’t do that anymore. A sigh escaped me.’

“Haah… I don’t know how to cook or anything like that.”

“Then why is Senior Reysir so sure that Senior Pretty can cook?”

“He must have misunderstood again.”

‘There was something that bothered me, but instead of explaining in detail, I dismissed it with one word: “misunderstanding.”‘

“Huh? Why are you denying it? Was it a secret that you can cook? Why? I think it’s a great hobby.”

‘The protagonist of another novel threw question marks at me. And by inserting the phrase “great hobby,” he seemed to have misunderstood that I consider cooking a “shameful hobby.” I was only lying to maintain the character setting of my possession body.’

“Your opinion doesn’t matter. I said I don’t know because I really don’t know how.”

“Then what about last time when you, Pretty, served me homemade juice with jujubes cut into flower shapes floating in it?”

“Didn’t I clearly say that Yor made that drink? And making flowers out of jujubes isn’t some great skill—I just removed the seeds, rolled them up, and cut them.”

“So Yor knows how to cook, and Pretty knows how to handle a knife, right?”

‘If I deny this too, Reysir will definitely conclude that I’m lying, so I have to affirm it. Still, at this level, Pret won’t find it strange either. Even if he knows that Karbaldr never learned to cook, he wouldn’t know whether Yor is interested in cooking or what Yor and I usually do in our room.’

“Well, by helping Yor… it turned out that way…”

“Turned out that way? Is there a problem?”

“…..Can’t you just call me ‘you’? Without using that weird word.”

“Puhahahaha!”

‘I had mustered up my shame and carefully made that request with earnest sincerity. But the protagonist of another novel laughed so joyfully at my attitude. He found it so funny that I wondered if he thought I was trying to be funny.’

“Anyway, I’ll take Pretty. Is that okay, Professor?”

“No, no! You said that the more ingredients there are, the more you need someone who knows how to cook, Senior Reysir! So Senior Pretty should be on my team…”

“Can’t you cook too? Because of that… leftover work? at the circus troupe.”

“Well… that’s true. The older brothers and sisters made me cook when I was young…! Ahah! Senior Reysir, you’re really sharp!”

‘Pret showed a moment of conflict, but in the end, he admitted that he could cook. Of course—if he denied being able to cook now and then failed to get on the same team as me, he’d have to stand by helplessly and watch people who can’t cook flounder around throughout the meal preparation. He couldn’t deliberately ruin the food, so he had no choice but to give that answer.’

“Does anyone else know how to cook?”

Bjorn took his eyes off the bickering Reysir and Pret and scanned the remaining students one by one as he asked.

Unfortunately, not a single person raised their hand.

I had hoped that maybe Svein could cook.

‘According to the materials Pret gave me, Svein’s parents ran a small inn, and it was written that Svein helped with the work… But it seems he didn’t touch the cooking—just cleaning and serving food. Or maybe Author Senna originally intended to include a setting that Svein could cook too, but since Yor and I said we can cook to some extent, she might have scrapped that setting at this moment. The thought suddenly crossed my mind.’

“Still, we have someone who can cook and a cat? Anyway, it’s lucky there are two! Then Karbaldr and the Familiar will join Reysir’s team…”

‘I had secretly hoped to be on Pret’s team since he had lots of ingredients and could cook, but my wishes were not reflected, and I ended up being sent to Reysir’s team.’

“Pret, it’s your turn to pick a teammate.”

“I’ll go with Senior Dandy. The key to cooking is heat control.”

“How come people with no ingredients are so popular?”

‘Bjorn clicked his tongue at Pret’s answer, expressing surprise. But I had expected this. After all, the ones in charge of picking teammates were none other than Reysir and Pret. I knew he would try to bring the penalty person into his own team just for fun in teasing them! As Hailga moved behind Pret, Reysir looked very disappointed. Still, he didn’t insist that Hailga had to join our team. He probably thought it wouldn’t be right to slyly take the priority in picking teammates and then interfere with the other team’s choice.’

If only the team selection had ended smoothly.

The moment Reysir opened his mouth under Bjorn’s gaze urging him to pick the next teammate, I couldn’t help but object.

Because the protagonist of another novel…

“…said ‘Svein, come over here.’—and gestured to the traitor of the original work.”

“Why Svein?”

“That’s right…! Why, sir?!”

‘Let’s set aside Fjodra as an exception since she has lots of ingredients but is uncomfortable and awkward. Then he could have chosen Risi who has six ingredients. If he didn’t think the number of ingredients mattered, he could have chosen Vigdis or Liolikin, whom he’s more familiar with. “But suddenly Svein?”‘

It seemed Svein was also baffled by Reysir’s decision.

He pointed at himself with an index finger, as if asking ‘did you really call me?’

“Svein, I did pick you. I don’t know what dish we’ll make, but seasonings are essential.”

“Ah!”

As Reysir repeated his name and added the reason, Svein showed understanding and came to stand beside us.

But I still couldn’t shake off my bewilderment.

Surely Reysir wasn’t comparing Svein to a ‘seasoning-like person’?

‘Does he know that the treasure I gave to Svein was the Seasoning Set…?’

Which means…

“Did Svein tell you what treasure I took from him?”

“Yeah, I was planning to take all the treasures you had, Pretty. When Svein and Vigdis said you took their treasures, I asked them what and got answers.”

“……”

“Pretty, see now? That I really went easy on you.”

‘It’s a statement bragging that he could have searched my body until a note saying “Seasoning Set” came out, but he didn’t out of consideration for me. Knowing his persistent personality, I know he really did go easy, so I have no retort. But I didn’t want to say thank you either.’

I could only let out a “Hmph!” and turn my head away.

Then the protagonist of another novel laughed very, very cheerfully, as if this was exactly the reaction he wanted.

‘My face was already burning from the nickname issue, so this made it even more embarrassing than usual. The only saving grace was that Reysir’s laughter didn’t last as long as usual.’

“Let’s finish team selection quickly and start cooking. If I pick Senior Liolikin, I’ll incur his resentment, so I’ll pick Senior Risi.”

Pret passed the turn by saying this.

Reysir suppressed his laughter and continued the team selection.

“Then I’ll pick Liolikin.”

“Hooray! Finally, I’m on the same team as Kar… no, Lady Pretty!!”

‘Liolikin performed the “convention of first using the old title and then correcting once,” expressing his joy. I don’t understand why he’s so happy to the point of cheering just because he gets to cook with me. Even if I had joined Pret’s team, I wouldn’t have been ignored or mistreated…! So I was curious, but I didn’t dislike someone showing pure joy at being with me. But I didn’t know what reaction to give in such a situation, so I just stayed quiet.’

That aside.

“So the remaining people are Senior Piyora and Senior Vigdis? Personally, I’d like to pick Senior Vigdis since she’s a swordsman and would handle a kitchen knife well… but it doesn’t seem right to steal the chance for an engaged couple to cook together lovingly, so I’ll choose Senior Piyora!”

‘I have no idea what Pret is thinking by saying something like that.’