Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 8 - Chapter 9

Extra Chapter:

Juliette & Manners 

IT WAS NOON on an ordinary day, and Zanoba, Julie and I were eating outside the cafeteria. We drew a bit of attention as we sat there, in our slightly uncomfortable chairs made by earth magic, but eating out in the sun had become something of a trend of late. Others had begun following our example and doing the same, particularly those who dined on the first floor of the cafeteria. That crowd also tended to be a bit ill-mannered, eschewing cutlery and to just shovel food into their faces with their hands. Not that Zanoba or I cared, but Julie might start imitating them if she kept observing this behavior— 

Just as I’d thought—I caught her trying to eat her bacon by picking it up with her hand. 

“Hey, make sure to use your fork,” I said. 

As I said that, her whole body trembled and she dropped the bacon back onto her plate. 

Zanoba shrugged. “Master, it’s not that bad. Shouldn’t you just let her eat?” 

“But it’s bad manners to use your hands to eat.” 

“Hm…but in Shirone, we sometimes eat food with our hands.” 

I looked at Julie again, and noticed that she was avoiding the carrots on the edge of her plate. Unlike the carrots in my previous life, these were rather difficult to eat, with their strong vegetable smell and bitter taste. Even so… 

“Make sure to eat your carrots, too,” I told her. 

“Master, it’s just carrots, I don’t see the problem.” 

“Well, I do.” 

Zanoba frowned and turned sullen, his lips pursing. “Are you saying that because she’s a slave? Was it not you, Master, who decided we shouldn’t treat her like a slave?” 

“That has nothing to do with it. It’s… how should I explain this? If we give in whenever there’s something she doesn’t want to do, then she won’t put the effort in when it comes to situations where she has to do something she doesn’t like.” 

“Hm? But I have enough money that we never need worry about not having food to eat. I might understand if we were very poor, but that’s not the case, is it?” 

I looked at Julie, who was staring down her carrots like a grade school student who’d been forced to stay after lunch. Her expression seemed to say she was being unjustifiably punished. 

Well, maybe I was being too harsh. When I was an adventurer, I’d encountered plenty of people who ate with their hands. It was even part of the culture of some tribes on the Demon Continent. I deflated slightly as I recalled that. Maybe I was just hung up on customs from my previous life, and using that to justify being unreasonable. There were cultures in my old world that ate with their hands, too. Food items such as crab, potato chips, hot dogs and stuff… Maybe I was overthinking this. 

“If you insist that she must learn then I will caution her as well, but considering it’s irrelevant to figurine creation, I’d prefer not to.” 

I still kind of felt like it might be setting a good example, but then again, people didn’t care about the table manners of craftsmen. As Zanoba’s employee, she would be doing business with the royal family, but if her employer Zanoba said that she had no need for them, who’d dare say otherwise? 

“What’s wrong?” Elinalise came up to us. She’d just finished lunch, judging by the fleck of sauce by her lips. 

“We were just discussing Julie’s table manners. Like how it’s not good to eat with your hands, and not good to be picky about food.” 

“Ah-ha.” 

“What do you think, Miss Elinalise?” 

“Hm, let me think.” She took a moment to consider the question, then grinned as if she’d thought of something mischievous. “Hey, Julie, watch closely. If you’re going to eat with your hands, do it like this.” 

She snatched a thick slice of bacon off my plate. Then she lifted it, pinched between two fingers, and started to lower it into her mouth. The way she raised her chin emphasized the pale white skin of her neck and clavicle. It was bewitching, the way she stuck out her red tongue to meet the pink bacon as it came close, making you want to lick the sauce off her cheek. 

“That’s bad manners!” Reflexively I smacked the back of Elinalise’s head. 

“Ah!” 

The recoil caused her to drop the bacon. It arced through the air, flapping as it headed to the ground—but a shadow dashed by and grabbed it just before it landed. 

“Phew, that was close.” 

It was Pursena. Impressively, she’d caught the bacon in her mouth, and proceeded to gobble it down. She approached us only once it was all gone. Linia was with her, too, a dumbfounded look on her face. 

“You may be our boss, but that doesn’t mean you can waste meat like that. If you’re going to fling it around because you’re full, give it to me instead.” Pursena’s face was angry, but the bacon must’ve been delicious, because her tail was whirling like a helicopter blade. 

Linia kept Pursena in her periphery as she surveyed us with great interest. “Are you fighting? That’s rare, mew, for Zanoba to defy Boss.” 

“I’m not defying him,” Zanoba said. “We’re just having a difference of opinion.” 

“I don’t know about that, mew, are you sure? If you upset him, he might not make figurines for you anymore, mew?” 

“Hmph, Master isn’t so narrow-minded as to get that upset over something this trivial.” He glanced at me afterward as if to ask, You aren’t, right? 

Of course not. I wasn’t even upset, just a bit disheartened. “Oh yes, there’s something I’d like to ask the two of you.” 

“Mew?” 

“About table manners.” I asked them what they thought about eating with one’s hands and being picky about food. 

“Manners are important.” Pursena stepped forward without any hesitation, as if to say, Leave any discussion about food to me. “It’s particularly unacceptable to use your hands to eat during meals.” 

She had a self-satisfied grin on her face as she said that…while holding a piece of dried meat that she was actively chewing on. She couldn’t have been more unconvincing if she’d tried. 

“Ignoring Pursena, manners are important for a lady, mew,” Linia said. “Being picky is an absolute no-no, mew.” 

“Meat is different. And you can’t talk, you left those dried grapes on your plate before.” 

“Those things can’t even be considered food, mew. They’ll just destroy your stomach if you eat them, mew.” 

“Sounds like an excuse.” 

And now they were both glaring at each other. Asking them had been a mistake. Everything they were saying was correct, or at least it was supposed to be, yet it didn’t inspire confidence that Julie would grow into a proper lady if we followed their advice. 

See , I thought, Julie looks entirely confused. 

Master Fitz appeared out of nowhere. “Hm? What’s everyone gathered here for?” 

“You came at a good time,” I said. “Please listen!” 

“Huh? To what?” 

“So what happened is… yadda yadda, this and that…” 

“Yadda yadda? This and that? What?” 

“We were discussing Julie’s table manners.” 

Once I explained, Master Fitz put his hand to his chin. After humming in thought, he murmured, “Okay,” and lifted his head. “Isn’t it fine to let her eat the way she likes right now?” 

“Okay, what’s your reasoning for that?” I’d thought he, of all people, would say that she needed to learn manners as quickly as possible. Just like how if you used ma-gic (ma-nners) constantly from a young age, your ma-na pool (ma-nners) would grow to two or three times the average. 

“She’s learning earth magic from you, right? She’s also helping take care of Zanoba. That’s a lot. If you force her to think about etiquette on top of everything else, it might overwhelm her to the point she struggles to master any of the things you’re teaching her.” 

“Ah, I see.” There was some truth to that. There was also the idea that sleep and mealtimes were meant to be periods of relaxation. 

“I do think she should learn eventually, but I think it’s fine if that’s a year or two from now.” 

“Hmm.” With Master Fitz’s opinion included, I was now at three for and three against. We were back to a tie. 

I looked over at Julie, who had an anxious look on her face. What did she want to do? Her decision would also break the tie. 

“Alright. Julie,” I said. “You decide.” 

She looked at me in surprise. The expression on her face said that she didn’t think she had a choice in the matter. Julie’s gaze travelled to each person present—Zanoba, Elinalise, Linia, Pursena, Master Fitz—and then settled back on me, looking frightened. 

“I won’t be mad, whatever you decide, so choose however you like.” 

“O-okay.” 

Julie grabbed her fork in her fist, as if she’d made up her mind. She stabbed it into the carrots and stuffed them all in her mouth at the same time. She pinched her eyes shut as she chewed, and after making a noise that indicated she might throw up, swallowed them with tears in her eyes. 

“Gulp, gulp… pwah!” 

She chugged her water, gasped, and thumped her cup back down. Then she looked at me with an accomplished expression, as if to say, There, how was that, are you satisfied? 

“You ate them all! Very good! I’m so proud!” I was momentarily taken aback, but still praised her and patted her on the head. 

“You did well! Excellent!” 

“A splendid show!” 

“Now she won’t be scared when she has to do it next time, mew.” 

“That was brave.” 

“Aw, I’m glad!” 

“Yeah!” Julie smiled as she was showered in praise. It was the first time I’d ever seen her smiling so proudly and boastfully, and it made me glad. It might be a trivial matter, but she’d faced down something she didn’t like, conquered it, and gained confidence. I felt as happy as if it had been my own accomplishment. 

“Then, starting tomorrow, I’ll start teaching you some table manners.” 

“Yes, please, Grand Master!”