Unexpected Customer
On the first day of the festival, some strange guy completely wrecked one of the booths.
Right after that, the Medal of Honor recipient turned him into a well-chopped blood rice cake.
Given how things turned out, it was enough to cause chaos among the students.
And in the late afternoon, when I went back to the place, there was indeed chaos.
“Senior! Four cream puffs!”
“Cream puffs? They're all gone. What about the bean paste?”
“Absolutely not! It has to be cream puffs!”
“Then wait a bit!”
Hmm.
“Ah, damn it! Hey, Alexander! Why is the ice cream all gone already?!”
“That was used as sparingly as possible, you crazy bastard!”
“Shut up and go get more quickly! Quickly!!”
Ugh.
“I'm a hotteok-making machine. I'm a hotteok-making machine. A machine...”
“Joachim. Is it still far?! Don't you see the line behind?”
“Hiiiiiiik! I'm not a machine! Kueeeee!!”
It was definitely chaos. But... should I call it good chaos?
On the first day, I was confident it would be popular.
Bungeo-bbang and hotteok—unique snacks that fit the cool weather of this world.
Everyone has a sweet taste, so it's advantageous in terms of likes and dislikes.
Moreover, the sellers are the top four protagonists. The most popular ones from the time of admission.
Of course, there's a sad past where they were all taken by Selena, but that's one thing, and this is another.
Even Selena, who was helping them right next to them yesterday.
With these elements overlapping, it was natural to receive a lot of attention on the first day.
The problem was how to maintain this popularity until the last day of the festival.
'Honestly, I wasn't thinking that far. I just wanted to fill my own pockets.'
Whether it was an ultra-luxury dish or an ultra-powerful bomb, I thought it was better to just do a first-day popularity rush.
It was also a good way to enjoy my own mouth, and it was more than enough compensation for the spoiled stomach due to those weirdos.
So, the bungeo-bbang and hotteok business started with the four male leads and one female lead.
I thought that as long as it went well for one day, it would be a great success.
But now, that cooking booth...
“Ah! Senior! Even the burnt ones, just give them!”
“This? This is too burnt, right?!”
“Burnt ones have their own taste!”
“Hotteok, please press it harder. I like it crispy!”
“Okay, okay. Got it, so wait!!”
The sun hadn't even set yet, but the shop was bustling.
Even that was because the students were so eager to open it quickly.
'Why? Why is it doing better than yesterday?'
I didn't expect this even though I suggested it. So I immediately started investigating the reason.
And the conclusion that came out was... These guys, do they remember the previous life like me?
The bungeo-bbang filling was set to bean paste, then expanded to cream puffs, starting with chocolate, pizza seasoning.
I heard they were considering adding cheese, but honestly, I don't know.
In the middle, Wilhelm even made a few more bungeo-bbang molds and brought them.
What about hotteok? This side also changed the contents.
They added chocolate or crushed nuts finely.
But the climax was, of course, putting ice cream on the hotteok.
They didn't even ask me, and didn't even give a hint.
Thanks to this, the snack that was just a momentary curiosity became the most popular menu at the festival.
“With so many people gathering at the end, there's also the effect of more people gathering out of curiosity.”
Marcus-senior, who had come over and become an explanation guy.
He had a bungeo-bbang in his mouth and a hotteok in his hand.
“This is what you suggested, Karl.”
“At first, yes. I didn't think it would turn out this big.”
“Speaking of which, it's doing too well?”
So, that's what's surprising. I didn't imagine it would be like this.
If they don't remember the previous life... Could it be that this was their real talent?
Actually, the fate of those four isn't a normal life of baking bungeo-bbang and hotteok as the family head... There's no way. No matter how you look at it, that's crossing the line.
Looking at it that way, there's one possibility. Just a protagonist buff that worked perfectly.
Things that work out well no matter what they do. They have to succeed because they receive attention from everyone.
'Thinking about it, at the training camp, they were doing way too well.'
From what the instructors said, there were many shortcomings, but they learned quickly.
If they weren't from a great noble family, I would have told them to get posted in the army immediately.
Thinking like that, I have no choice but to see it as some kind of buff.
...I'm envious of those weirdos. I seem to have received a buff for getting involved in all sorts of incidents.
“Karl? What are you doing?”
Selena came after briefly greeting some juniors.
Soon she looked at the cooking booth situation and exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my.”
“Uh... It wasn't like that yesterday? Impossible. I didn't know it would be this much.”
“I feel the same. Maybe they have talent for business.”
I thought to go closer and observe the situation right next to me.
As I was about to sneak towards the cooking booth.
“Eh. Hey, there's Karl.”
“It's here? Hey, everyone! The Medal of Honor recipient has entered! Attention!”
This damn... Crazy bastards. Don't do that. Damn it! I told you not to!
Don't make me recall military memories! Don't do things like 'attention' in front of guys who don't even know the 'G' letter from the army! Look at that! Our academy kids don't know what that is!
“Pparapparabam!”
You bastards! Don't even play the entrance bugle in your mouth!
If I delay here any longer, I'll either get a bad grade or chop them all up.
So, I jumped and entered the place where those damn weirdos were in just a few steps.
Then, I hit the backs of the four guys hard one by one.
I wanted to hit them with the hotteok maker, but because they had worked hard to build a human barricade yesterday, I let it go.
“What the hell is this!”
“Ow! We were just doing what we did at the training camp?!”
“You liar! Instead of doing that, bake more bungeo-bbang! Wilhelm, press the hotteok properly!”
I quickly turned around, but the students around me had already seen the whole thing.
Everyone's eyes looking at me seemed to ask, 'What? Since the Medal of Honor recipient is here, do we have to do it like this? Should we greet him too?'
Fortunately, I had an ally who was on a different level from those weirdos.
“Hey. Hey! Everyone. There was a momentary chaos! From now on, please relax and focus only on the snacks!”
Hic. Selena is really grateful. At least you're different from these guys.
I can guess why they all confessed. They must have instinctively realized that if they didn't catch a woman like this, their lives would be ruined.
Thanks to Selena's efforts and the reason everyone came here.
The chaos didn't last long. Everyone just kept saying, "Give me this! Give me that!"
“…Karl.”
After some time, Schlippen was the first to speak.
Thinking that if he said something stupid again, I'd suppress him with the wooden spatula...
“Are you okay?”
“Huh?”
“You're okay, right?”
“…Yeah.”
“Then it's good.”
There would be many things to ask. Many things to want to ask.
But Schlippen didn't ask me that. He just kept his mouth shut.
Tuk tuk—
Someone tapped my shoulder, and when I turned my head, Wilhelm was offering a hotteok.
It was perfectly cooked, not too thick or thin, and ice cream was placed on top.
“Here it is. Eat.”
“Thanks.”
“Keep your spirits up.”
He didn't ask for the reason either. He didn't mention yesterday's incident either.
Alexander, who poured a cup of water, and Joachim in his weird clothes did the same.
It was consideration for me. The best they could do since they knew nothing.
Perhaps the greeting earlier wasn't to smooth out my twisted face.
I don't need to explain this, it's not something to sulk about. It seemed like he was saying that.
These bastards. Suddenly acting like they're grown up. It doesn't suit them.
“By the way, Karl. The ingredients are running out too fast. What do we do?”
“Ingredients? No. I wrote that I would prepare them just right.”
“Since there are many customers, it seems like we're using them up quickly.”
That doesn't make sense either? Even if customers are many, the amount of ingredients is limited.
With just four people, even if they work hard, they can't consume that much ingredients at once.
My question was soon resolved. They were just pouring it out as hard as they could.
Firmly, tightly. If anything, it was bigger than other things, never small.
Seeing it like this, there was another reason for the popularity. If they pour it out like that, even I would come back.
“…Hmm.”
At first, I thought I should warn them to not overdo it, but I hesitated.
But soon I changed my mind. Why would there be such a saying.
'They can go bankrupt by not selling, but not by giving away for free.'
And most importantly, those guys were enjoying it quite a bit.
At first, they tilted their heads, but now they were more enthusiastic than anyone.
It was the first time the four guys felt like protagonists.
...But the problem was that it was felt when making bungeo-bbang and hotteok.
*
The third day of the festival arrived. Less than the first and second days, but the cooking booth was busy today too.
The good thing was that today, Karl and Selena were there from the opening.
“Don't worry about the ingredients. Got it?”
“Great! Today, I will definitely sell a thousand!”
“You crazy kid. If you do that, we'll all die.”
Six men and women were pushing each other and coordinating to welcome the customers again.
“….”
A red-haired woman stood quietly behind the waiting line.
After quite some time, her turn finally came.
“Yeah, yeah. Thank you. Next!”
Karl, who took over for a moment instead of Schlippen, asked what and how much she would buy.
Normally, it would be something like "Bungeo-bbang of what flavor, or how many hotteok."
But the words that came out of the red-haired woman's mouth were unexpected.
“I came.”