I felt a familiar twinge of exasperation at Tre-san’s usual antics, but a thought suddenly struck me.
“...Come to think of it, where are Cento-san and Sien-san?”
“They’re right here! You two can come out now!”
At Tre-san’s command, the air shimmered and distorted as Cento-san and Sien-san materialized. They were elite even by Count-class standards, and they had suppressed their magic so thoroughly that I hadn’t sensed them at all.
“Hello, Miyama-san.”
“...We are truly sorry for Big Sis Tre, as always.”
“No, it’s fine. Hello, Cento-san, Sien-san. Why were you two hiding?”
I returned their greetings with a wry smile and asked why they had been concealing themselves.
“We happened to spot you earlier, Miyama-san, and decided to call out to you... but Tre-neesama insisted that a line like that would have more ‘atmosphere’ if she were alone.”
“She told us to stay hidden until we received a signal.”
“...You two certainly have it rough.”
As usual, it had been one of Tre-san’s whims.
“Anyway, Kaito? What were you thinking about so hard?”
“Oh, right. Actually...”
Tre-san brought the conversation back to the main topic. I explained my exchange with Elise-san and my plan to open a stall for the Founding Anniversary Festival.
“Ho ho, that sounds interesting! Leave it to me! I’ll be your secret weapon!”
“...Tre-san, are you actually good at cooking?”
“Fufufu, I’ll thank you not to underestimate me. Despite my appearance, I have plenty of experience in the kitchen. I’m quite confident in my skills.”
“...I-I see.”
Something felt off. Cento-san and Sien-san, who surely knew Tre-san better than anyone, were wearing expressions that practically screamed, "This is the first we’ve heard of this."
Realizing it would be pointless to keep pressing Tre-san, I turned toward Cento-san and Sien-san instead.
“Cento-san, Sien-san, Tre-san says that, but...”
“Well, we used vegetables harvested from Raz-san’s fields to make sandwiches together... maybe a few times?”
“...If that’s what she means, I suppose you could say she isn’t without experience... if you stretch the definition to its limit?”
Considering Tre-san was older than Fia-sensei, she was easily over ten thousand years old. I had heard that Cento-san and Sien-san had joined Kuro’s family at roughly the same time as Raz-san. Because of that, they addressed those who had been around longer than Raz-san as "Neesama" or "Nisama," while everyone who joined later was addressed with "-san."
Regardless, having served as her guards for thousands—perhaps even ten thousand—years, they knew Tre-san better than anyone. If those two had to struggle this hard to come up with "making sandwiches together" as her only cooking experience, it was safe to assume Tre-san was a complete novice.
“...Tre-san?”
“Hmph! My cooking experience is exactly as they described. You can count on me for everything!”
...Seriously? After hearing that conversation and seeing our reactions, she still managed to maintain her confident stance with total poise. She truly had a heart of iron.
“As is the case every time, we apologize for Tre-neesama... Um, though we expect we might be a burden, we would like to cooperate as much as we can.”
“We often prepare Tre-neesama’s meals, so we can cook to a certain extent.”
“That’s very reassuring. I’ll be counting on you.”
“...Hey, isn't your reaction for me a little different than the one you gave Cento and Sien?”
Well, obviously. The reliable ones were Cento-san and Sien-san. Their "to a certain extent" carried far more weight than Tre-san’s groundless confidence. I suspected their skills would actually exceed my expectations, whereas Tre-san would almost certainly fall short of hers.
“It’s a matter of realistic expectations. Just so you know, Tre-san, you’re on the same level as me.”
“That’s strange. I really thought I was the domestic big sister type.”
“What do you usually do when Cento-san and Sien-san are cooking?”
“I set the table! See? Domestic!”
Talk about high self-esteem...
Well, regardless, my team had grown by three. Tre-san was likely on par with me, but Cento-san and Sien-san seemed like they would be incredibly reliable.
Tre and her Sisters
A set of three consisting of a big sister known for her unbreakable spirit and misplaced confidence, and her genuinely capable younger twin sisters. While it often seems like Tre successfully slips away from them to wander off, in reality, she only succeeds about one out of five times. She is actually with them far more often than not. Whether one should be impressed by a twenty-percent success rate in evading two top-tier Count-class individuals or simply appalled by her persistence is a matter of debate.
Furthermore, Tre’s limited experience with sandwiches usually results in disaster, as she tends to follow her curiosity and pile in massive amounts of random ingredients. She has almost never made one properly, yet her iron-clad confidence remains unshaken.
Kaito Cooking: D / Packaging: C / Calculation: D / Customer Service: A
Tre Cooking: F / Packaging: C / Calculation: F / Customer Service: S
Cento Cooking: A / Packaging: A / Calculation: B / Customer Service: B
Sien Cooking: A / Packaging: B / Calculation: A / Customer Service: B
Mascot Cat Cooking: SSS / Packaging: SSS / Calculation: SSS / Customer Service: G (Due to the costume)