It had been three years since Liam embarked on his training journey.

While he was away a large fleet was being formed on the Banfield Familys main planet.

Rosetta and Eulisia were visiting the space fortress with Ciel trailing behind them.

The docks of the space fortress were lined with various ships that had been purchased from the Third Weapons Factory, and they were floating in zero-gravity.

With documents in hand, Eulisia was explaining about some of the weapons. As she was in work mode, she was like a completely different person, and her normally disappointing figure was nowhere to be found.

They arent the newest models, but theyre mainstream, and weve been gathering a lot of them.

Originally, they were planning on having a small number of elite guards, but the numbers have been adjusted to fulfill Rosettas wishes.

To help those struggling like her former self, she recruited knights that were having a difficult time.

Similarly, the ships crew mainly consisted of nomads who had nowhere to go.

Eulisia asked once more for Rosettas confirmation.

Weve been following through with Lady Rosettas wishes, but is this truly alright? We havent been the most particular with the ships appearance other than our flagship and its escort ship. In fact, the flagships appearance also pales in comparison to the other houses.

Even Liam had a flashy flagship.

When put side by side, Rosettas personal guards were truly plain.

Its fine to have minimalistic looks. We should focus on practicality over aesthetics. I want them to help people in need after all.

Rosetta didnt want her personal guards to be around her.

Instead, she wanted them to help people on other planets who were in a predicament.

Darlings currently in the center of the Empires power struggle. He doesnt have the time to handle certain things, so I want to do something in his place.

I understand your sentiment, but the problems with the scale.

They werent dealing with a couple hundred ships here.

There were talking about tens of thousands of ships, with more joining as time passed.

Not only were there a lot of people in need of help, the Banfield Family was also focusing on territorial development and accepting immigrants, who were coming in waves and settling on newly pioneered planets.

Eulisia seemed worried.

Its already far past the scale of being personal guards. Im amazed Lord Liam even allowed this.

It was like a private army dedicated to Rosetta had popped up amid the Banfield Familys army.

Although Liam was at the top of the command chain, it was essentially under Rosetta.

Hence, a huge problem would occur if the two were to have a confrontation.

Even if that didnt happen, conflicts may arise in the future among their successors, and Eulisia was worried about that.

In the future, we should bring forth the matter of reducing the fleets size to Lord Liam.

Sure, Im fine with that.

Rosetta immediately agreed, and didnt seem to mind, but Ciel wasnt happy with that.

(I must have Lady Rosetta win the hearts of the peoplethe sooner, the better.)

While most people were enthralled by Liams public image, Ciel knew his true character.

She knew that Liam wasnt the kind and caring person that the world believed him to be.

Rather, he self-identified as an evil lord.

She was doing things behind the scenes to ensure that Liam didnt get any more powerful than he already was.

Lady Rosetta, simply having the guards trained wont be enough.

Oh, is that so?

Though she was quite knowledgeable, Rosetta hadnt graduated from the military academy, so she relied on Eulisia for such matters.

Eulisia stared at Ciel with suspicious eyes.

However, she didnt disagree with Ciel as what she said was correct.

Trainings just training in the end. Actual battle is something else, so shes not wrong. Still, we shouldnt move on our own. It wouldnt be too late to move after getting Lord Liams permission when he returns.

It was a valid point. Though the fleet was Rosettas personal guards, they shouldnt act on their own.

This made some gears turn inside Ciels head.

(Shes usually such a disappointing woman, why now! Right, theres that!)

Ciel proceeded to persuade Rosetta.

There are people out there struggling precisely because Lord Liams not there to help them. Lady Rosetta, this is the perfect chance for the personal guards to act now that Lord Liam is busy with something else. They were formed for that reason, were they not?

With Ciel bringing up the topic of her guards raison dtre, Rosetta was made to think a little.

Youre right. Darling must be doing his best over on his side, so I want to do what I can to help. There are a lot of petitions piled up, so lets handle the ones that we can. We wont be able to handle any of the important ones though.

Even if she deployed her guards, she shouldnt be too conspicuous about it.

This was to avoid pulling Liams legs later down the line.

They would have to limit themselves to things like disaster relief, and avoid matters such as sending reinforcements to resolve skirmishes.

But of course! We should help the needy!

Ciel was banking on increasing the number of Rosettas allies.

Yup!

While the two girls were hyping themselves up, Eulisia was looking at them with cold eyes.

Eulisia distanced herself from the two, and called out to a Black Ops member, who shouldve been observing them.

Can you come out?

Though she said that, she didnt know if there would be any reaction.

She wasnt even sure if the person was there, or not.

However, a woman wearing a mask immediately came out from her shadow.

She was freaking out inside, but Eulisia held herself back, and explained what was happening with Ciel.

Is it okay to leave her alone? That child must be plotting something by taking advantage of Lady Rosettas enthusiasm.

The masked woman, who revealed herself was Kunai, the one that Liam had named.

Lord Liam has ordered us to keep an eye on her, but to let her do as she pleases.

What is he thinking? The Banfield Familys military is also complaining, isnt it?

Some generals in the army thought Rosettas fleet of personal guards was too big and viewed it as a threat.

Just like her, they pushed for Rosetta to reduce the scale of her fleet in the future.

Were using the fact that Lord Liam has given his permission to hold them at bay. Klaus-dono has been tasked with this, so everything should be alright.

Klaus was responsible for handling this troublesome matter.

Eulisia was relieved to hear that.

Its good that hes returned from the border. If he wasnt here, their dissatisfaction might have exploded out into something else by now.

Then they wouldve become targets of our purge.

Kukuris clansmen were there to purge those that disobeyed Liam, even if the targets were from the family.

Eulisia felt a chill.

Even so, youre willing to let that child run amok.

That was Lord Liams order after all.

Having said her piece, the masked woman disappeared into her shadow.

Were on a trip to search for Master Yasushi, and were currently traveling to the next planet.

Ive just finished my daily training, and Im talking to my Junior Disciples while wiping off my sweat.

What should we eat today?

Its fun exploring various planets, but Im getting tired of the food on board.

More accurately speaking, I want something stimulating.

Different dishes are served every day, and theyre all delicious, so I have no complaints in that aspect, but I want something stimulating.

Eating a full course meal every day makes me miss the food I ate when I was poor.

Weve tried things like Ochazuke, but I want to experiment with other things.

Rather than these luxurious dishes that we eat, is there something you want to eat from the time when you were having a hard time?

The chefs have satisfied all my requests, so Im asking for my Junior Disciples opinions.

Fuuka and Rinho look at one another.

Wouldnt that be the time before Master picked us up from the streets?

We had to rummage through trash for food, so I dont have many good memories of those times.

It seems Ive stepped on a land mine.

I usually order people not to speak about heavy topics in front of me, but I cant say that to my cute Junior Disciples.

After all, Ive decided not to involve One-Flash with my act as an evil lord.

I myself have also fished for food in the trashcan numerous times in my previous life, and I dont want to do that ever again.

Lets say after Master picked you guys up.

Rinho thinks with her arms crossed.

Something deliciousyou say that, but we were happy just being able to eat.

Fuuka puts her hands behind her head to think as well.

Yeah. Everything tasted good, even the fish that Master cooked for us which was slightly burnt.

Since the two couldnt decide, I turn towards Ellen for an answer.

What about you, Ellen?

Well, uhm I cant think of one either

I can tell that shes lying by how her eyes are darting from one place to another.

Stop lying. You have one, dont you? Be honest. If you arent, Ill make todays meal filled with food that Ellen dislikes.

Hiii! Well, um

Ellen tries to say what her favorite food is, but she seems to be having a difficult time answering in front of us.

Eventually, she squeezes out a response.

I want food made by my mom.

Ellen looks down at the ground.

It appears Ive stepped on a land mine yet again.

A child with the appearance of a 10 year-old leaving her parent and going on a training trip.

Its no surprise that she misses her mother.

Todays been nothing, but a series of failures.

How bout you two?

I turn towards Fuuka and Rinho for help, but neither of them notices my hint.

Anythings fine.

I guess anything that will look good in a picture, or a video?

Anything, they say. They couldnt have given a worse answer.

Fuuka remembers something while were wondering what to eat.

Oh, I want to eat bread.

Bread? So Western cuisine?

We were given bread when we first met Master. It was a cheap bread, but it was the first taste of food that we had.

Fuuka recalls her memories of that time and looks back at it nostalgically.

The same goes for Rinho, but shes absentmindedly holding her cheeks with her hands.

That bread was delicious. One of the people competing with us over the scraps of food tried to kill us, but we turned the table on him. That was when we met Master. He treated us kindly and gave us some bread.

Fuuka tilts her head.

Really? I thought he helped us when we were being attacked?

Does it really matter?

Whats up with this ambiguous encounter?

Then again, Master picked them up when they were very young, so their memories might be hazy.

Bread, huh?

Okay, well have the chef make bread for us. What kind of bread was it?

Sweet buns!

With jam for mine!

This is how our meal became sweet buns.

On that day, the head chef onboard Liams battleship was waiting for his order.

Even for chefs that served Count Banfields family, preparing Liams meal wasnt an easy task.

Not only did the chefs have to be skilled, they had to command the highest level of respect, and honor in their field.

Chefs with both skill and pride were awaiting Liams order.

Head chef, this is Lord Liams order!

Seeing how much of a hurry his subordinate was in, the head chef made a stern expression.

Calm yourself! No matter what kind of dish he demands, I can make it perfectly.

He scolded his subordinate for being so panicked, but when he heard what the order was, he buried his head in his hands.

H-he demands bread.

A dish that goes well with bread? Thats rather vague, but I should be able to come up with something.

No, he wants bread. Only bread.

Hm? What are you on about?

The head chef fell into a dilemma when he was told that Liam wanted only bread.

So umm he wants sweet buns.

The other chefs around him also came to a stop.

The best chefs in the territory were being ordered to make sweet buns.

A-and, um, this is for reference.

The image that was shown was that of a cheap bun.

The head chef was utterly confused.

Whats this? Is he trying to test me? Does Lord Liam wish to see how far I can improve this? That has to be it, right?!

His subordinate shook his head and replied in the negative.

Hes ordered to reproduce the sweet buns as close to the original as possible, and to make it cheap.

The surrounding chefs rushed to support the head chef who was about to collapse.

The head chef then said, B-bring the ingredients. Since its an order, Ill reproduce it perfectly, even if its just cheap sweet buns.

Liam was making one of the most talented chef bake cheap sweet buns.

Rinho and Fuuka start devouring the sweet buns when they come out.

This is it! This was what I was talking about.

Theyre not as tasty as I remember them to be, but I guess these will do.

Ellen also takes a bite seeing how happily the two are eating.

Then, she turns to face me.

Master, these cream buns are delicious.

That so. Eat as much as you like.

Yes!

I felt sorry for them and prepared food that they wanted as an apology, but I feel conflicted, and cant help but wonder if these cheap buns are enough to make it up to them.

Theyre delicious alright, but doesnt something feel off?

-

Brian (): Its painful. Lord Liam, instead of ordering first-class chefs to bake them, couldnt you have simply bought them? Lord Liams misusing the chefs its painful.

Wakagi-chan ( ): Enough about the buns! Im here to advertise Volume 7 of The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs. Finally, its time! Volume 7, which kind-of-sort-of-maybe has the possibility of me making a big appearance

Brian: Ei! ()~;) Nougyaa~

Brian (): .

Brian (): Volume 2 of Im the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire where Lord Liam causes big waves will be out on December 25th. Please look forward to it!