The Impudent Newcomer

“This girl will have a team of her own.”

The moment the head maid said that, a stir ran through the room.

The maids busily exchanged startled looks and whispered among themselves.

Seeing that, Lady Claire clapped her hands sharply and spoke.

“Silence. Who gave you permission to chatter?”

“With all due respect, Head Maid!”

At those words, a fierce-looking maid with red hair tied into twin tails stepped forward from among the others.

“Normally, someone is only allowed to lead a team after spending years training under one of the senior maids and having her skill and effort recognized! So how can a complete newcomer suddenly be given a team of her own!?”

She was incredibly worked up.

Still, that was probably how things worked. I had heard that cooks had to spend long years training from the bottom before they were ever entrusted with preparing dishes themselves.

It was probably the same for these women. They trained beneath someone else for a long time before finally being entrusted with a team of their own.

So if they were suddenly told that some girl who had just shown up—me—was going to become a team leader, naturally they would think, What kind of joke is this? Yes, I could understand that.

While I was thinking about it as though it were someone else’s problem, the conversation kept moving forward.

“Be silent, Jacqueline.”

“But…!”

“Are you questioning my decision?”

The head maid narrowed her eyes slightly as she said it, and the maid called Jacqueline let out a strained “Urk…” before falling silent.

Yikes, terrifying. After being thoroughly tormented during my etiquette training, I understood her feelings painfully well.

“Shirley Albrella is someone I personally recruited. She will prepare and serve snacks independently. I will not entertain objections. Is that understood?”

“…………”

Faced with that extremely authoritative declaration, none of the maids raised any objections.

However, their faces plainly showed their dissatisfaction.

More than a few of them were also directing openly hostile looks toward me.

Jacqueline-san in particular was glaring straight at me.

Um, Head Maid? Did you give any thought whatsoever to what my position would be after this?

“Now then, Shirley will need someone to assist her. Does anyone wish to volunteer?”

“…”

Once again, silence was the only response.

Of course. None of them even knew how skilled I was or what I could make, and above all, I was very obviously not being welcomed.

But when the head maid asked a question like that, what she really meant was that someone had better step forward.

Eventually, the maids’ gazes all shifted toward one particular girl, and she spoke with her face turning pale.

“W-wait, me…!?”

She had brown hair and brown eyes and looked about the same age as me. She glanced around in obvious panic.

Then a tanned, handsome-looking maid placed a hand on her shoulder and spoke.

“Anne, you’re the newest one among us. Besides, our team already has enough hands. You won’t get anywhere if you stay with us forever. Why not take a chance?”

“T-take a chance!? This is basically compulsory, isn’t it…!? Am I the unwanted one here…!?”

The girl called Anne spoke in a trembling voice.

Ah, she was the type whose thoughts immediately came out of her mouth. I felt an odd sense of kinship.

“Nobody said you’re unwanted. But when you think about it, you’re obviously the best choice, right? Don’t worry. If you ever want to come back, we’ll keep your place open.”

“Y-you really mean that, right!? I can come back…!?”

With tears gathering in her eyes, Anne-san seemed to resign herself and stepped forward.

“Head Maid, then, um… I-I’ll take the position…”

“Very good. This is also an opportunity for you. Apply yourself.”

The head maid—our perfectly satisfied workplace tyrant of a superior—said that, then looked around once more at everyone present.

“That is all from me. With a new team joining us, I hope everyone will be stimulated by the competition and improve in a positive direction. …Shirley, have Anne explain the details to you. Dismissed.”

With that, the head maid actually left the kitchen, abandoning me there.

And then came the stares. So many stares…

Yay, thank you so much, Head Maid. Damn you. One day I’m going to slap a piping-hot pizza right across that face.

“…What are you supposed to be? Some famous chef or something? You show up out of nowhere and immediately start acting awfully important.”

As if she had been waiting for the opportunity, the red-haired Jacqueline-san immediately came at me with undisguised hostility.

Personally, I had no recollection of ever acting important.

“No, I’m merely a town girl who cooked as a hobby! About a month ago, the head maid suddenly appeared and asked if I’d like to serve food at the royal palace, so I innocently came along, and I assure you, I have absolutely no intention whatsoever of causing any trouble for any of you. Truly. Absolutely. Yes, yes, not even the slightest bit!”

I rattled off my defense at a slightly excessive speed.

If I misjudged my position here, brutal bullying probably awaited me.

First, I had to make it clear that I bore them no hostility, and next, I had to assure them that I had no intention of threatening their positions.

I felt like a small dog exposing its belly in front of a large one.

So please stop glaring at me like that, Jacqueline-san.

“You’re just some town girl who likes cooking? Then why would the head maid go out of her way to recruit someone like you!?”

“I’d like to know that myself.”

I’d like to know that myself.

Ah. I accidentally said exactly what I had been thinking out loud.

“You little—don’t screw with me—”

“Enough, Jacqueline.”

Just as Jacqueline-san was about to snap at me again, the lovely beauty named Christina stopped her.

Then she walked gracefully toward me with the posture of a model and spoke.

“I do not understand the head maid’s intentions. However, basic courtesy requires that I introduce myself. Welcome, Shirley. I am Christina, head maid of Team One.”

Head maid. Apparently, that was what they called a team leader.

And if she led Team One, then Christina-sama was indeed probably the most senior maid present.

“The head maid has ordered us to provide you with a workspace, so we shall. Let me see… You may use the area at the back over there.”

Christina-san pointed toward a compact cooking area.

It was probably used as a secondary workstation, because it was visibly dirtier than the rest and the utensils looked somewhat old.

Still, that was perfectly fine. Even so, it was far better equipped than the kitchen at my house.

“Thank you very much, um…”

“You are to address senior maids as Onee-sama.”

Onee-sama. Onee-sama, huh!

For some reason, being told to use a form of address I had not expected filled me with excitement.

So this kind of thing really existed! N-not bad…!

“Understood, Christina Onee-sama! I may be an insolent newcomer, but I hope you’ll treat me well!”

“You mean inexperienced, not insolent. …In any case, do your best. Now, everyone, back to work!”

Christina Onee-sama clapped her hands as she spoke, and all the maids immediately returned to their tasks.

That left me behind with one other person: Anne-san, who had been forced into becoming my teammate.

She stared gloomily toward the companions who had abandoned her.

“…Um…”

I had no idea what I was supposed to say.

While I hesitated, Anne-san tightly gripped the fabric of her maid uniform, then, to my surprise, suddenly slapped both her cheeks with her hands.

“Right! Change gears, change gears! Fine, I’ll do it! Um, you’re Shirley, right!? I’m Anne! I’ve only been here six months myself. Nice to meet you!”

With that, Anne-san firmly grabbed my hand.

Wow. What an impressively fast recovery.

“Um, I’m Shirley. Nice to meet you, Anne Onee-sama. I—”

“Ah, stop, stop. No more polite speech between us! From now on, we’re in this together, for better or worse, right?”

Anne-san interrupted me just as I was about to introduce myself properly.

“Just call me Anne. I’m technically your senior, and we look about the same age, so even if you’re the team leader, I’m going to talk casually with you from now on. That’s fine, right?”

That was exactly what I wanted. I hated stiff formalities too.

“Of course. Then Anne, let’s get along from now on! I’m sure I’ll cause you lots of trouble.”

“…This is the part where I’d like you to lie and say you’ll try not to cause me trouble… Anyway, Shirley, were you really brought here even though you’re not actually a professional cook?”

“That’s right. I just lived off my parents while making food for myself. Then the demon… I mean, the head maid suddenly showed up, stole my snack, and ate it. Don’t you think that’s horrible!?”

“That’s really not the important part… So what, she brought you here because she liked the snack?”

“Probably. But more importantly, she said that if I came here, I could research cooking as much as I wanted using someone else’s money. Hey, that’s really true, right? I can do whatever I want here, can’t I!?”

“Not whatever you want. But… yes. Since you’re technically a team leader, you should be free to use the ingredients and equipment provided to you.”

Yes!

I instinctively pumped my fist.

Even if I had suddenly been given some mysterious position, even if the atmosphere around me was decidedly unwelcoming, none of that mattered as long as I could conduct my culinary research!

Just you wait, hamburgers, rice bowls, noodles!

I’ll recreate every last one of you perfectly!

As I thought that with drool practically running from my mouth, Anne looked slightly disturbed and spoke.

“But not right now. Snack time is almost here.”

“Snack time…!? Did you say snack time!?”

Snack time. What a sweet and wonderful phrase.

Come to think of it, several hours had passed since lunch, and it was now perfectly around three o’clock—the ideal time for a snack.

So we were all going to enjoy snack time together now!?

“Wow, amazing! I’m going to get to eat the snacks the Onee-samas made! I’m so excited! Amazing, amazing!”

I could not help getting carried away.

With this many people putting in their best efforts, surely the snacks would be absolutely wonderful.

However, Anne looked at me in exasperation and spoke.

“You idiot, Shirley. We’re not the ones eating them! We’re the ones serving them. To His Highness the Prince, no less. Look.”

Anne pointed toward the Onee-samas busily working throughout the kitchen.

When I looked, every single one of them was preparing sweets with deadly serious expressions.

No, beyond serious—there was almost something frighteningly intense about them…

“Listen carefully. Our duty is to give His Highness the Prince an enjoyable snack time, and we devote everything we have to that goal. This isn’t playtime. This is a serious contest! That’s right. To us snack maids, snack time is… war!”