Chapter 77

"Well... then."

Rina placed her hands on her hips and decided to start over. She was surprised that Lana couldn't even use a knife, but it made sense if her husband was the head chef. Besides, it seemed that most of the maids were young ladies, so it was natural that they couldn't do much.

Monica could crush onions... but that was a different story.

"...28 people?"

"What do you want to do, Rina?"

Head Chef Rick asked. Without instructions, they couldn't start moving, unfortunately.

"How about we have a competition to see who can slice the onions the fastest in groups of seven?"

Rina suggested with a grin, and the room suddenly buzzed with excitement. Just slicing the onions would be boring, and a competition would make the reward more valuable. It seemed everyone found it interesting too.

"How many onions should each group slice?"

One of the chefs asked.

"About 150?"

That would be 600 in total, which would be enough for both onion soup and potage soup.

"...However,"

"However?"

"If the losing team cuts them carelessly, they will be immediately disqualified and sent to the penalty game!!"

Anyone could cut them quickly, but as professionals, the key was how quickly and neatly they could do it.

"Penalty game...!?"

Everyone shouted. They hadn't been told there would be a penalty game.

"Why would you just try to get the reward?"

The reward exists... because there is a penalty game.

"...But still..."

The chefs seemed a bit disappointed. Trying to get something for free was too lenient.

"By the way...!! For the winning team...!!"

Rina deliberately raised her voice to boost morale.

"Winning team...!?"

"I will present them with a crepe with ice cream!!"

"Wow...!!"

Cheers erupted. Even if they didn't know what a crepe was, they had seen Prince Schueler and his friends eating and praising ice cream, so it must be delicious. They were now even more excited to win.

She would give Prince Schueler some sweets to offset the ones she had taken without permission.

"Then, let's form groups of seven and start the competition!!"

* * *

* * *

The sound of knives hitting cutting boards echoed through the kitchen. Everyone was slicing onions in a relay style. The competition would be decided by how they divided the work of slicing 150 onions among seven people.

Incidentally, each person had to cut at least 10 onions. Otherwise, the faster ones would do all the work.

"...Sniff... Sniff..."

Crying sounds could be heard everywhere.

"...Rina... my eyes hurt..."

Prince Egiedil's voice was also mixed in.

Indeed, cutting so many onions in a closed room would make your eyes hurt and make you cry.

"...We're cutting onions, that's why."

Rina opened a window slightly. They had been so focused on the competition that they had forgotten to ventilate. It was no wonder their eyes hurt.

"Do your eyes hurt because you're cutting onions?"

Prince Egiedil, who had never been in the kitchen and never cut anything, was experiencing this for the first time.

"Yep. When you cut onions, a component that irritates the eyes is released into the air."

She remembered her grandmother cutting onions with goggles on. She had been very serious, but it was a funny sight.

"Seriously... You should have told me sooner!!"

He hurried to the window.

"...Ed, it will take a while to make the soup. How about I make you a crepe to eat first?"

There was still a lot to do, like sautéing the sliced onions.

"I'll eat it!!"

He answered with sparkling eyes. Rina laughed at how cute he was.

"Then, wait in the dining room. It hurts your eyes here."

"...Okay!!"

Prince Egiedil was so cute and age-appropriate in moments like this. He might be cheeky, but he was probably trying hard to catch up to his brother.

"Well... then..."

Rina could feel everyone's eyes on her, but she started making the crepes at her own pace.

She guessed that Rick and the others were dying to know what a crepe was, but they didn't want to distract from the competition, so they gave up.

Finding all-purpose flour was a pleasant surprise. It was essential for baking and expanded the range of dishes. She started making the crepe batter, knowing it would take a while to finish slicing the onions.

When she went to the food storage, she made sure to mark the flour bags with the types of flour using a piece of chalk nearby. It was too much trouble to identify them every time, and she wanted to make it clear for those who couldn't identify them.

"...By the way... don't put snot in the onions, okay!?"

Some people were so focused on cutting onions that they were sniffling. She didn't want snot in the onions.

"Okay!!"

They responded, but she wondered if they would really be careful.

Rina decided to trust the chefs and started making the crepes.