Chapter 88

The comic adaptation of "Villainess Level 99" Volume 1 has been released. I shouldn't be reading such a novel right now.

In the activity report, I introduce various things like the new illustrations and special features in the comic adaptation.

I want to go to the convenience store.

Even I, in my high school tracksuit, can only go as far as the garbage disposal. I want to change into some pants, put on a cardigan, and walk to the convenience store.

I want to walk through the deserted residential streets at night and go to the convenience store where the lights spill out. I want to listen to a melody that won't leave my head while passing through the automatic doors. I want to feel apologetic when I see the night shift clerk who looks like they don't want to be there.

I want to take a basket and go to the back of the store where the bento and drink sections are lined up. I want to buy some convenience store sweets. I want to agonize over what to choose. I want to reach for a limited-edition roll cake, hesitate, and fall into deep thought again. While thinking, I want to stand like a statue in the sweets section, considering whether the roll cake is good or if the Mont Blanc is better... and deciding that anything with whipped cream is a must...

Ultimately, I want to choose a luxurious pudding. I want to put the pudding with cream on top into the basket. I want to take a paper pack of tea without hesitation and head to the register. I want to buy some long, thin chocolate snacks and melon bread that I didn't plan to buy.

While the clerk is ringing up the items, I want to glare at the hot snacks. Since it's a time when no one is around, I want to stare at the chicken that's left behind. But I want to apologize to the chicken in my heart, saying, "Sorry, I've bought so many things that I can't afford to take you home..." and encourage it, saying, "I hope you get bought by someone nice before you get thrown away."

I want to pay with an IC card smartly. I want to show the card I took out of my wallet in advance, declare its use boldly like in a card battle, and place it in the designated spot. I want to take the bag, thank the clerk, and stride out of the store confidently.

"Ah, I miss pudding."

This is a world without convenience stores. In other words, a different world.

Even though I was reincarnated into a place with different customs and culture, I don't have many complaints. I think it would be different if I didn't have the status of a noble or the ability to use magical artifacts.

The mansion in the Dorkness territory. I'm not very sleepy and end up staying up late at night.

In the dark room, I was sitting on the bed.

As my stomach started to rumble, memories of convenience stores from my previous life in Japan flashed back.

Right now, I really want to eat pudding. Pudding, pudding, pudding. I miss pudding. I want to meet my beloved again.

In my previous life, the reason I never had a lover... I mean, the reason I never made one, might have been because of pudding. No, that's a lie.

Thinking about things I can't get is not good for my mental health. I should forget about pudding. It's an old flame.

As I struggle to erase pudding from my memory, I hear footsteps. In the silent night mansion, the sound of footsteps echoes.

The footsteps stop in front of my room, followed by a knock, and the door opens slowly without waiting for a response.

"Yumiera-san...? Are you already asleep?"

"It's unusual for you to come at this hour. What's wrong?"

The face peeking through the door gap is Elenora's. It's the first time I've seen her awake at this hour. When she realizes I'm awake, Elenora's expression of relief appears as she enters the room.

"I just couldn't fall asleep."

"Did you take a nap during the day?"

Upon hearing that she can't sleep, one would suspect insomnia caused by worries or stress, but that's impossible for Elenora.

In her pajamas, she cautiously approaches the dark room and sits next to me on the bed. Then, she pouts and says,

"I'm not a child who takes naps."

"Come to think of it, you went to help at the church today, didn't you?"

Instead of me, who avoids religious facilities, Elenora frequently goes to the church in the Dorkness town.

I remember that she left early in the afternoon and returned in the evening.

If she didn't take a nap, what could be the reason for her insomnia? Could it be that something happened at the church?

"By the way, what did you do at the church today?"

"As soon as I arrived, lunch was over, so I helped with the dishes. I was in charge of the wooden dishes."

Hearing about the dishes, I almost interjected, "Did you break any?" but their precautions were thorough.

Listening to her story, it seems she often ends up doing more work than helping. However, as a bridge between me, the lord, and the church that takes care of orphans, I think it's fine. Since support requests that didn't come before are now coming, I believe Elenora is fulfilling her role.

"Wooden dishes need to be dried properly to prevent mold. It's an important job."

"Oh! They said the same thing there too."

"...They're used to it. What did you do after that?"

"After the small children's nap time, I was in charge of putting them to sleep. Then... then..."

Elenora twists her neck and trails off. Could something unpleasant have happened after that? Could that be why she couldn't sleep?

If she doesn't want to talk about it, should I try to get her to tell me?

As I hesitate, Elenora continues.

"After putting the small children to sleep, I... I..."

"You...?"

"When I realized, it was already evening. I was alone in that room."

...You were sound asleep, weren't you? You were still sleeping soundly even after the children woke up.

I'm unsure whether to point out the facts, but she continues.

"So, I decided to go home in the evening. Before leaving, Riri wiped my mouth for me."

...Was it drool? Was drool dripping?

I imagine Riri, who has a big sister personality, wiping Elenora's mouth.

"Riri is a reliable person."

"No, that's not it. Riri is timid and often cries... but she's a very kind girl. Everyone loves Riri, and she's like a little sister to everyone."

Is she being treated like a little sister by everyone? Is that okay?

Regardless of whether Elenora was taken care of by the children, it's good that she's not suffering from insomnia.

Glancing to the side, I see her wavy blonde hair, which is as beautiful as... pudding.

"Ah. I remembered."

"What happened?"

I didn't expect to remember pudding by looking at Elenora's hair.

In this world, or this cultural sphere, pudding doesn't exist. It might be found if I search the entire world, but...

To explain pudding to Elenora, who likely doesn't know the word, I rephrase it.

"I was thinking about an old lover. I want to see them again..."

"E... Eee!!"

"Quietly, it's night."

"I'm sorry. I thought Yumiera-san was only interested in Sir Patrick. If you want to see them, do you still... like them?"

"Yes, I do. I still love them."

Elenora, surprised, almost shouts again and covers her mouth. Then, she stammers and says in a needlessly small voice,

"Yumiera-san, you have Sir Patrick now, right? Liking two men at the same time... that's..."

"I only like Patrick now. I can't compare because I can't see my old lover anymore."

"Could it be that... that person is..."

"Yes. Far away."

Incidentally, the one who went far away is not the pudding but me.

Elenora is clearly imagining something sad. It's a complete misunderstanding, but it's amusing to be thought of as someone with a dramatic love history.

"Well, the old lover I was thinking about is actually a food item."

Comparing Patrick and pudding is a strange conversation. Which one do I like more... which one? Patrick isn't sweet and smooth, after all.

If Patrick could turn into pudding, everything would be solved. For my happiness, I need to transform Patrick into pudding.

Even if I don't realize it, happiness is built on the unhappiness of others. Ah, humans are such complicated beings.

...No, that's not right. There's no need for Patrick to turn into pudding.

Occasionally, my thought process veers off into a strange direction. Starting from the question of which is more important, Patrick or pudding, I end up thinking like a demon or an evil spirit who turns people into sweets.

Of course, the ingredients for pudding are not humans but eggs and... milk? And sugar, I think. Since the ingredients are commonly available in this world...

"I'll just make it! Lady Elenora, I'll make pudding. ...Lady Elenora?"

Come to think of it, Elenora hasn't said a word since I revealed the truth about my old lover. Is she angry about the fabricated sad past?

Cautiously checking next to me, I see that Elenora, who had her eyes wide open just a moment ago, is now lying on the bed, snoring.

She fell asleep without any signs of drowsiness, even though we were having a normal conversation just a moment ago.

Eh... Didn't she take a nap during the day?

It would be wrong to wake her up while she's sleeping peacefully, so I'll carry her to her room. I gently lift her with both hands.

◆ ◆ ◆

The next day.

I came to the kitchen to make pudding.

"Master! I'm here! It's an emergency!"

"Hide the ingredients! And the knives too! The ingredients and the knives, everything will be ruined!"

This is a conversation between the cook and his apprentice who work in this mansion. This is what happens as soon as they see me.

They quickly hide the ingredients and knives as if they've practiced it several times... No, they really look like they've practiced it. They block the entrance to prevent me from entering the kitchen.

"What brings you here? Yumiera-sama is not allowed to enter. If you try to force your way in, I'll call Sir Patrick."

"...I just wanted to thank you. Thank you for the delicious meals every day."

"I apologize for overreacting. I'm glad to hear that the master is satisfied."

He scratches his head, looking relieved.

Someone as skilled in negotiation as me wouldn't dive straight into the main topic. First, friendly small talk. The timing to make my move is... now!

"I have a favor to ask—"

"No."

"...Ah, I see."

Not here. Was the timing bad, or is negotiation impossible?

Ah, I really wanted to make pudding.

Thinking about it, this might be the first time I've tried to use my knowledge from my previous life for something other than leveling up. I might be told to use my head more, but it's surprisingly difficult to apply the knowledge I gained in modern Japan.

Academic subjects like mathematics are more advanced in my previous life with supercomputers and all. However, the level of mathematics I know, like Math II·B, is also commonly used by scholars in this world.

Products also don't seem to work out. There are similar items, or various reasons make development impossible.

Additionally, there's the concern of negatively impacting this world's culture... but pudding shouldn't change the world.

However, even if the world doesn't change, the confectionery industry should be shaken.

The day I become a top pastry chef and open a popular patisserie is not far off.

By the way, a patissier is a confectioner, and a patisserie is a shop that makes and sells Western pastries.

I only recently learned the word "patisserie." When Rita said it, I embarrassingly corrected her, saying, "No, it's a patissier." I felt like I lost in terms of womanly skills and decided to develop the habit of looking up unknown words.

Now, to write the book "Love Story of Otherworld Sweets ~Fear the Rakshasa Who Dyes the Battlefield Red~ Volume 1: The Crawling Undead," I need to make pudding.

Should I force my way into the kitchen? But if Patrick is called, I can imagine him getting very angry. Since I made him sick for three days with my cooking, he's very strict about cooking-related matters.

"Please. There's something I really want to eat."

"We'll make it for you! Yumiera-sama, please don't do anything."

"I said pudding, but you won't understand, right? I want to make something that doesn't exist in this world."

"The stew you made before was something that shouldn't exist in this world."

The back-and-forth isn't getting anywhere, and I'm even being criticized for the stew.

Since only I know how to make pudding... Ah, right. I can give them the recipe orally and have them make it.

Since the apprentice sometimes makes sweets, if they understand the recipe, they should be able to make pudding.

"Alright, I won't do anything. I'll give you the recipe, and I want you to make it. Please."

"Well... I'll do anything for that. What is this... pudding? What kind of thing is it?"

"Pudding is a sweet. The ingredients are eggs, milk, and... sugar. First, you mix everything."

"Do you not use flour?"

"I don't think so..."

They might be imagining cookie dough. But I've never seen a floury pudding, so it probably doesn't use flour. I don't think so...

"Simple ingredients. What do you do after mixing?"

"......Bake?"

Huh? I've been proceeding with the spirit of "once you start, it flows," but do you bake pudding? I have an image of using an oven, but... how is it done?

Heat is definitely applied to set it, but it's not boiled... baked...?

"If you bake it, you'll get sweet scrambled eggs."

"Huh? ...It's not fried, and it's shaped. It's like this. You put it in a cup or something and set it, right?"

"Like an omelet?"

"Huh? No, no... more like, you know..."

The situation is getting strange. If you bake it, it will turn into scrambled eggs or an omelet.

So, how is pudding set? Is it shaped with chemicals or something? Ah, maybe it has gelatin?

I didn't realize the method of making pudding was so mysterious. I'm even starting to doubt if the ingredients are correct.

Then, a ray of hope in a desperate situation. The apprentice speaks up hesitantly.

"Maybe it's Flaidag?"

"Flaidag?"

"It's a local dish from the north. It's a sweet egg dish. You bake it while turning the edges to shape it."

"That's it!"

I set my brain to automatically translate Flaidag as pudding.

I see, you bake it while turning it. So, this world already has pudding. Since the ingredients are not rare, it should be popular in the Dorkness Kingdom.

The master, who also recognized the northern local dish pudding, promised to serve it for breakfast the next morning.

I thanked him repeatedly and looked forward to the next morning's breakfast.

◆ ◆ ◆

"It's a tamagoyaki (Japanese omelet)!"

There you go. It's a tamagoyaki. It reminds me of my high school lunch.

It's sweet and delicious. However, I felt a bit out of place with the knife and fork. The proper utensil for tamagoyaki is cheap plastic chopsticks.

So, it's tamagoyaki. I thought I could eat pudding.

I revised my mental dictionary again, changing the automatic translation of Flaidag from pudding to tamagoyaki.

"Tamagoyaki. I've heard the name before, but it's the first time I've tasted it. It's good that it comes with a sweet flavor. This level of sweetness is acceptable even in a meal."

"I love this! Is it called tamagoyaki?"

Both Patrick and Elenora seemed to like it.

However, I was enveloped in sadness. If my mother said, "Your snack is pudding," and what came out was tamagoyaki, there would be a riot. My siblings would team up and form a resistance.

"Does Yumiera not like it?"

"No, it's delicious. Very delicious. I think the salty version would be delicious too."

I weakly replied to Patrick.

From then on, tamagoyaki became a regular part of our breakfast. They even made a salty version to cater to my preference.

◆ ◆ ◆

Later. The information that "I prefer the salty version" became a negative legacy.

Thinking of the almost correct method of "pouring into a cup and