Chapter 617
「 Sit over there . How should I put it, don’t get close to the working table 」
I tell Yukino .
「 What? Why? 」
「 I’ll be making bread now . It’s just a matter of sanitary problems 」
Last time Yukino came here, I was cleaning up, so there was no problem,
But now, I’m about to bake bread
「 That’s a lot of trouble 」
I wash my hands, put on my white coat and hat .
「 You wear this to keep the hair from dropping 」
I hold my hair inside the cap .
Then, I also put on the mask .
Then, I wash my hands with alcohol .
「 Okay, let’s do this 」
Katsuko-nee hasn’t come yet .
Still, there are things I can do alone .
I have to pre-head the even too .
I bring over the dough we made this morning from the warehouse in the back and check it .
Some doughs need to be processed before entering the oven .
I continue working silently .
「 Okay 」
I’ve checked all the dough in the pan .
Then .
「 Sorry I’m late 」
The door opens, and Katsuko-nee comes in .
「 Oh? You’re here 」
Katsuko-nee sees Yukino sitting on the corner of the room and said .
Yukino’s fiddling with her phone, looking bored .
「 I’ll get out if I’m in the way 」
Yukino looks at Katsuko-nee .
「 I don’t mind if all you do is stay there 」
Katsuko-nee said with a smile .
「 I’m not your friend 」
Yukino speaks in displeasure as she looks at Katsuko-nee’s peaceful expression .
She’s not good at dealing with Katsuko-nee .
Still, she doesn’t have any intention of leaving the room .
She’s got no other place to stay .
「 Katsuko-nee, please check this 」
I call her out .
「 Yes, give me a moment 」
Katsuko-nee washes her hands, puts on her white coat, hat, mask, and disinfects her hand in a hurry .
「 Okay, let’s see 」
Katsuko-nee double-checks the dough in the pan .
「 This is, well, okay . It’s average . Let’s try baking it and see if we can sell it or not after it’s done 」
「 Right 」
「 The bad ones are decreasing, you’re doing well 」
「 But, it’s not yet 100% 」
「 Idiot . You can’t do it perfectly, of course . You just started 」
But .
I should avoid making defects as much as possible .
I can’t make something I can’t sell .
The costs of production are increasing .
「 You should learn something else other than that 」
Katsuko-nee looks at me .
「 Baking bread is influenced by the season . Be careful with the changes in temperature and humidity 」
「 I know that, but 」
I’ve read several books on how to make bread .
「 You don’t . You need at least a year minimum to know the difference of baking on seasons . You need to check it with your own eyes and tongue 」
One year .
「 Therefore, think of this first year as the year for experience and learning . You don’t have to think of anything unnecessary 」
Katsuko-nee has been baking bread every day ever since her prostitute era .
「 The first bread you baked was during the Golden Week, then you worked for three months in the mansion, and it’s only been a month since you started to make bread earnestly in the school . Therefore, you don’t know about how to make summer bread for now 」
I have less than four months of experience .
「 Even in the average business, you’ve got to know the atmosphere of work in one month, the flow of work in the third month, the contents of work in half a year, and even if you know the arrangement of work in a year, even after three, five, or even seven years . Anyway, you gain experience when you see the next wall 」
「 Wall? 」
「 Yes . A wall you have to pass through . Once you cross that wall, there will be a next one . Furthermore, you need to overcome the walls one after another, in order . There’s no skipping 」
Yeah .
「 Well, those with talents can overcome several walls in no time, but they can understand something that takes ten years in three years . It’s a natural gift . But, in making bread, no genius could make the first year ordinary 」
Winter, spring, summer, fall, I’ve got to experience the changes in seasons to understand .
「 Geniuses could capitalize on their first year experience for the second year . Though they could average out the difference in seasons, it would take them three to five years to master on how to deal with it 」
I’m an ordinary man . No, I believe that I’m less than that .
Therefore, it’ll take a lot more time than most people .
「 Got it, in my case, I have to do my best to somehow master this by the time I graduate from high school 」
「 Yes . You’re only allowed to fail because you’re still a student . 」
I’m still a student of bread-making course .
Even if I fail, it’s tolerated since I’m a student .
I mean, if I fail, I don’t have to sell that bread for the day .
Oh, that’s why Minaho-neesan’s letting the merchant sell bread to the cafeteria .
It is not to trouble the students if I fail .
「 It’s only students who are recognized for working hard, professionals must always bring good results . The eyes of paying customers are still harsh 」
Katsuko-nee was a professional prostitute .
She knows how harsh it is to live like a professional .
「 Got it . I don’t think about anything unnecessary for now, I’ll concentrate on how to make bread as Katsuko-nee says 」
「 Stupid . It’s okay to think about other things . Instead, you should consider . “How is this possible?” Also, you can fail, try out a lot of things . That’s the reason why you spend your time as a student 」
Katsuko-nee said smiling .
「 Go on and fail . Failures are okay . But, you should learn why you failed . Then, learn what you must do not to repeat the same mistakes .
◇ ◇ ◇
Then, Katsuko-nee and I continued our work silently .
We’re already familiar with our share of tasks .
Katsuko-nee gives me advises from time to time .
If I think that was important, I take notes of it .
It’s so troublesome to wash my hands and disinfect it again every time I take notes, but,
Katsuko-nee said that it’s important to take notes in case I forget .
Katsuko-nee brings it up while we’re in the middle of work, so Katsuko-nee often doesn’t remember what she said after some time .
「 Okay, let’s take a break 」
Katsuko-nee said after we finished putting the last pan in the oven .
「 It’s Saturday today . They’re fewer than usual, so it’s easier 」
Yeah, we went to break time 15 minutes earlier than usual .
「 Coffee, or tea? 」
「 I feel like coffee today 」
I look at Yukino sitting in the corner of the room .
「 Katsuko-nee, can I? 」
「 Go on 」
I see Katsuko-nee’s eyes smiling between her hat and mask .
「 Hey, Yukino, which do you want, coffee, or tea? 」
「 Coffee 」
Yukino replied to me without looking away from the phone .
「 Okay 」
Katsuko-nee prepares coffee .
「 Ah, I’ll bring it 」
Yukino’s sitting on our usual tea zone .
I place three coffee cups in the tray and take them to Yukino .
「 Here’s yours 」
「 Thanks 」
Then, Katsuko-nee .
「 I made this, take them if you want 」
She brings out scones for a tea ceremony .
Yukino’s not taking any .
「 Eat . It’s delicious 」
I take the initiative and pick one .
I give it a bite and show that there’s no poison .
「 Then, I’ll take one 」
Yukino reaches out to the scones .
This isn’t Yukino’s personality’s fault .
During the holidays, Katsuko-nee and I fooled her a lot of times so now she’s extremely cautious .
「 Oh right 」
Now that we’re done baking bread, I remembered something I had to tell .
「 Katsuko-nee 」
「 Ah, I know that . I was listening to your conversation in the classroom 」
Oh, right .
「 I should tell Yukino about this, right? 」
「 Well, that depends on you 」
Katsuko-nee said, showing a gentle smile .
「 Yukino, look 」
「 What? 」
Yukino seems to like the scones after taking the first bite .
She’s eating it deliciously with her mouth wide open .
「 Earlier, I heard this from my classmates . Endou’s back, they said 」
「 Kenji? 」
Yukino stopped moving .
「 Yeah, I don’t know the details but, looks like he hates me so much that he wants to kill me 」
「 Hmm . Why not? I do think that Kinji beating you up is the right answer 」
She’s harsh as always .
「 So, was there anything about me? 」
「 Ah, I didn’t ask them, I forgot 」
「 The hell? So useless 」
「 Sorry . But still, I thought that I should warn Yukino just in case 」
「 Why? I didn’t do anything for Kenji to bear a grudge on me 」
Well .
Isn’t dumping Endou enough for a grudge?
「 Well, Endou’s an idiot in a lot of meaning, right? It’s possible that something unexpected happens 」
「 You’re right, that guy’s got loose screws everywhere 」
Yukino sips coffee .
「 Who met Kenji? 」
「 A guy in our class, Sakai, he met him in the game center 」
「 Oh, that guy, he always wears disgusting glasses, he looks disgusting 」
「 Well, it’s true that his glasses don’t look cool but is he that disgusting? 」
「 He is! His face is full of acne 」
That has nothing to do with the glasses then .
「 So, what did Kenji look like? 」
Err .
「 Seems like he’s gotten chaotic . He’s imitating exile with his haircut 」
「 Exile? What? 」
「 Kameda . He looks like Kameda 」
「 Was there someone like that? 」
Huh?
「 No, I don’t know either . That’s all I heard from Sakai 」
「 Did the number of people increase without anyone knowing? 」
「 Also, Endou’s become an Otaku it seems 」
「 Huh? 」
「 Somehow, he became a Napoleon otaku . So much that he was shouting “I’ll become Napoleon” 」
「 Napoleon? 」
「 I don’t get it, but it looks like Napoleon is a boom inside his head . Saying that “I’ll crawl my way to becoming the emperor just like Napoleon” 」
「 Hah, that guy’s all-talk as usual 」
Yukino said .
「 When he was in the baseball club, he said: “I’ll become a player like Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez!” 」
Oh, it’s his habit of saying big names .
「 Really, what an idiot . Of all the names he could say, it was those two 」
What?
「 The two of them were accused of using drugs . Barry Bonds was banished from the Major League, and Alex Rodrigues is about to be expelled 」
Hearing that, Katsuko-nee laughs .
「 Is Kenji doing drugs too? What an idiot 」
「 Well, talking about suspicions of drug use, the two major baseball players were using steroids and growth hormones, it’s different from using stimulant drugs 」
Haa .
「 Either way, Kenji’s head is like a flower garden 」
Well, that guy was your boyfriend, Yukino .
「 Well, just be careful not to bump to him, tell Kouzuki SS too 」
I said .
「 Also, Katsuko-nee 」
I look at Katsuko-nee .
「 It’s just my intuition, I don’t know if it’s right or not, but 」
Hmm .
「 Could it be that Iwakura-san’s involved with this case? 」
Katsuko-nee smiles .
「 Why do you think so? 」
「 Well, it’s just that I heard Endou was getting a lot of underlings, that he’s making a group 」
「 Group? 」
Yukino looks at me .
「 Yeah, it had a strange name if I recall . Hmm, not Napoleon . Right, “Nyapoleon party” 」
「 No way . Kenji doesn’t have money to do that 」
Yeah, Yukino also knows that Endou’s house went bankrupt .
「 That guy can’t have followers unless he’s throwing them money 」
He doesn’t have the source of money anymore .
「 But, I heard that guy’s got a team of a hundred members and more supporters 」
「 That’s just Kenji’s delusions 」
「 If so, then that’s great, but 」
I .
「 Is there a possibility that Iwakura-san’s moving behind the scenes again? 」
Katsuko-nee .
「 That’s a possibility . I’ll investigate 」
She said and smiled .
「 We thought that she’s calmed down after having her mess around with the fishermen during the summer vacation, although 」
Oh right, she was made to ride a ship where it’s filled with black people, and they can’t speak Japanese Seriously .
「 Indeed, it’s about time for her mischief 」
Huh?
「 You know, the brothel will still take time to resume 」
During the holidays in May, Iwakura-san told Minaho-neesan that she and the others want to continue being a prostitute . Therefore, the brothel has to reopen .
However .
Iwakura-san and the others are all prostitutes that didn’t sell that much .
It was necessary to find girls who were attractive enough to recall the previous customers as new prostitutes aside from those people .
Just in case, Kouzuki Jii-chan promised to introduce some families who are on the verge of collapsing, however .
It’s taking some time .
Yesterday, Minaho-neesan interviewed the first two .
Iwakura-san must be feeling “how long are they going to keep me waiting?”
「 Well, we’ve been busy with other things for a while 」
Replacing the school faculty .
Constructing the bakery .
Katsuko-nee’s teaching me how to make bread while doing housework .
During the summer, we traveled overseas, a lot happened .
Thus, the reopening of the brothel is delayed .
「 Iwakura-san can’t wait, so she started something, that’s enough for consideration 」
She hired people to kill me before
「 Where’s Minaho-neesan? 」
「 She’s back now . I waited for Ojou-sama to reach home then I came here, crossing paths with her 」
Mana, Agnes, and Mao-chan are left in the mansion .
There should be one adult left with them as much as possible .
「 Iwakura-san is Ojou-sama’s toy so we can’t just move arbitrarily 」
Katsuko-nee said .
「 Haa, why is Minaho-neesan looking after such troublesome person 」
To be honest, I don’t feel any charm from Iwakura-san .
I wonder why Minaho-neesan still keeps her as a toy?
「 I think your questions will be answered soon 」
Katsuko-nee said smiling .
「 Ojou-sama finds meaning in dealing with a girl like Iwakura-san . She’s a necessity 」
I don’t get it
「 You’ll understand it soon 」
Will that time really come? Really?
「 Now then, shall we go back to work? 」
Katsuko-nee and I put on our masks again .
We washed our hands and disinfected them .
「 Let’s finish up 」
「 Yeah 」
We begin packing the bread
Then .
「 You really are immersed about your family and making bread in these past four months . You’re working so hard 」
Katsuko-nee says suddenly .
「 Therefore, the students in your class are so kind to you and Megumi-chan 」
Those guys?
「 After all, people judge others from what they see do every day . The students in your class know how hard you’re working to become a master baker . Therefore, they’re all kind to you 」
「 No, I’m not 」
「 An average high school student isn’t thinking of the future as ready as you . You’re already working so hard, trying to become a baker 」
「 That’s 」
Because I have a lot of women .
Minaho-neesan’s feeding everyone, including myself .
「 I want to become an adult as soon as possible . I wanted to earn money with my own hands 」
For the sake of my precious women .
「 I don’t have a talent . That’s why I’m thankful to Katsuko-nee for showing me the way how to become a baker 」
I’ve decided on the direction I’m heading to .
What’s left is for me to run that way .
「 It makes me happy when you say that, but 」
Katsuko-nee’s face looks gloomy .
「 Do you remember the weather today? 」
Huh?
This bakery has no windows .
I can’t look outside .
「 If I recall, it was sunny 」
「 It’s sunny without clouds today . The sky looks beautiful as you can see it blue 」
「 I see 」
「 Try stopping once in a while and look at your surroundings . If not, you’ll overlook all the beauty around you 」
Katsuko-nee?
「 I think that your efforts in the last four months are incredible . You’re my pride . Our family’s pride . But, it’s about time for you to calm down and stop for a while 」
I .
「 Your classmates see your efforts, they recognize you and Megumi-chan . But, the other students 」
Oh, I see .
They don’t know Megu or me as much as our classmates .
「 They don’t know anything . Therefore, they make a judgment based on rumors . They think of the wrong impressions . Those who bring their lunch usually don’t have the opportunity to eat your bread 」
What do the students think of me?
「 There were some who spoke harshly during the fuss this morning, weren’t there? 」
Yeah, saying that it’s disgusting for first-year students to be engaged and live together .
There were some who said they’d never buy my bread .
「 That was an excellent opportunity . Usually, people don’t speak our their thoughts to the person 」
Yeah .
I .
I was naive .
I thought that just working hard would be enough for everyone to accept me .
I thought that they’d understand, they’ll be convinced .
「 See, it’s better if you stop and have some time to look around, right? 」
Katsuko-nee tells me .
「 In this past four months, you were concentrating on the inside . The family and making bread . It’s certain that you need time . And you worked your best . I understand that, but 」
Katsuko-nee
「 It’s about time you move to the next step . Perhaps, you overcame your first wall . But, the next barrier is standing right after . You can overcome the second wall only with a different method from the first wall 」
Yeah .
「 Now, several things are moving at the same time . You need to deal with them all so worry all you want . You can fail as much as you can . You can take your time with it . Even if you make a big mistake, you can transfer out of the school with Megumi-chan, that’s okay too . So, you can worry, suffer, try all you want, and 」
Katsuko-nee said .
「 Overcome it . We’ll watch over you no matter what happens 」
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