#6: Tuna Bread — It Seems that I was Reincarnated into the World of a School Otome Game, but I was a Background Male Student with Cheats (WN)

After that, we didn’t really have anything else to talk about, so the two of us sat shoulder to shoulder on the same bench and spaced out until the warning bell rang.

“It is almost time for the afternoon classes to begin. You will be late.”

Josette stood up, said that, and pulled me to my feet by the hand.

I didn’t really understand what she was thinking, but it didn’t feel unpleasant. That was what I thought.

In the end, once we left the back of the school building, Josette ran ahead and got back to the classroom first.

Classes ended, and I went home.

Then I used the terminal to buy something for 100G and headed to the bakery where I worked part-time. My remaining balance dropped to 40G.

“Welcome back, Kent-san.”

“Welcome home, big brother.”

“I’m home. I’ll jump in and help right away.”

The shop was busy again today, and we ended up baking extra bread. While Marie was preparing the dough, I made a suggestion.

“There’s something I want to try—may I use a little of the dough?”

“Huh? A new bread, perhaps?”

Marie said with a delighted expression.

“What are you making this time, big brother?”

Catherine was watching with curiosity, too.

“I’m thinking I’ll try making tuna bread today.”

“Tuna bread?”

Marie tilted her head, since she’d never heard the name before.

“Well, um… before baking, I shape it… make a cross cut on top… then I drain the oil from this canned tuna, mix it with mayonnaise… and stuff it into the cut… I guess it’s like this.”

I’d bought one can of tuna on the terminal before leaving home.

“Marie-san, could you bake these together with the others?”

“Okaaay. I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of bread it becomes.”

After a while, the bread finished baking. The scent of warmed mayonnaise drifted through the area.

“Big brother. It smells really good.”

Catherine stared at the finished bread with a face that clearly wanted to eat it right away.

“Then could you taste-test it?”

When I said that, the two of them took the tuna bread and put it into their mouths.

“Delicious. Is this called tuna? The combination of this and mayonnaise… is wonderful. It’s really delicious.”

“Big brother. This is super good.”

Marie chewed as if savoring the flavor, while Catherine ate hers in record time. Both of them looked satisfied.

I also took one and put it into my mouth.

“It turned out well.”

This was the first time I’d put anything other than bread into my mouth.

“Kent-san. The flavor seems like something we could sell immediately, but the problem is cost… Food that comes in a metal container sounds very expensive…”

I told Marie the cost of the mayonnaise and canned tuna, and how much of each was needed.

Marie immediately started calculating the unit cost.

“If we simply add it onto the price of the bread we sell now… the price will go up a bit, but it might work. This time we’ll produce a small batch as a trial and see how it goes.”

Saying that, she handed me a sheet of paper with the required quantity written on it. We’d already baked the last batch for the day, so the tuna bread wouldn’t appear on the shelves until tomorrow. And once the last bread we’d put out sold out too, it was time to close up.

“Kent-san, good work. Tomorrow, please handle the ingredients. And here’s today’s wages and some bread. I’ll also give you money for purchasing supplies.”

“Thank you very much. I’ll make sure not to forget and bring them tomorrow.”

“See you tomorrow, big brother.”

Saying that, she went back to the house across the street. Today’s wages were 500G. I had to save this little by little and put it toward clothing. For now, I went ahead and bought the mayonnaise and canned tuna I’d been asked to get.

The next day, I went to the bakery for my morning shift.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning, Kent-san. I know you just got here, but I’m thinking we’ll make tuna bread right away.”

“Yes. I brought them.”

I handed over the mayonnaise and canned tuna.

“Be careful—once you open the can, the lid edge can cut your hand easily.”

The two of us made our usual bread and the tuna bread. Then, once it baked, we set it out in the shop. Since it was a new item, we prepared samples again, too. Customers grew interested in the unfamiliar bread and tried the samples. And because the price was a little higher, it didn’t sell as explosively as last time, but we managed to sell out. Then, once the morning customer peak had passed, it was time for me to head to school.

“Kent-san, good work. I’m counting on you again this evening, too. Ah, and these are the failed tuna breads… they’d be good for your lunch.”

Saying that, she gave me two tuna breads that couldn’t be sold.

“Thanks. Then I’m heading out.”

“See you later, big brother.”

I went to school, and once my morning classes ended, it was lunchtime. I went behind the school building—something that had become almost a daily routine—and decided to eat lunch there. This time, I’d upgraded from regular bread to tuna bread.

“You brought a rather unusual bread today, didn’t you?”

Josette was sitting on the bench beside me.

“This is the tuna bread I mentioned before… well, this time it’s a failed batch that can’t be sold.”

“Oh. So this is tuna bread? munch munch… My, this is delicious.”

Before I knew it, Josette had taken one tuna bread and was eating it.

“Hey—when did you even…?”

I spoke to her the way I always did, like she was a friend, and then I snapped back to my senses. She might be acting like this, but she was still a duke’s daughter. I had to be careful not to be disrespectful.

She seemed completely focused on eating and didn’t look bothered, so I felt relieved.

“Josette-san, why don’t you eat lunch?”

“Well… until now I’ve eaten at the cafeteria, but it isn’t tasty. And maybe because people are trying to be considerate of me, everyone acts distant, and it’s uncomfortable.”

A duke was basically royalty’s relative. Even among nobles, that was a high-ranking noble. Apparently even ordinary nobles had to treat her with the proper attitude.

“That sounds rough in a lot of ways.”

“It truly is… I’ve had the urge to throw everything away because I hated this environment so much—many times. But recently, there’s been a slight change in my surroundings, and there’s less that I dislike.”

“Really?”

“It feels as if I found a place where I belong… something like that.”

We chatted a bit, and then the warning bell rang.

“The afternoon classes will begin. Let us go.”

Saying that, the two of us entered the school building together.

The afternoon classes ended too, and it was after school.

On my way out, I spotted Rachel.

And Josette and her two attendants were surrounding her as they argued.

(This scene was definitely… Mark, the knight commander’s son, stepped in while they were arguing, and in the commotion Josette got shoved, and the furious Josette slapped Rachel, right?)

“You’ve shamelessly gone after the prince again, I see.”

“You really are a foolish girl who can’t understand what we told you before.”

“Why don’t you hurry up and go back to the countryside?”

Josette and her two attendants hurled insults at Rachel.

“Stop it!”

“Kyah!”

Mark barged in and shoved them aside. Josette wobbled backward trying to regain her balance, but she ended up landing on her backside.

““Josette-sama!””

The two attendants screamed.

And right beside where Josette had fallen on her backside, I was standing there.

Before I even had time to think that interfering with an event was a bad idea, I spoke to Josette.

“Josette-san, are you okay?”