Today was another peaceful festival preparation day.
Rena was teaching Iria the Customer Service Manual.
In a Maid Cafe, hospitality and service are everything. It’s more about attracting certain tastes than the quality of food.
So, Iria’s role was quite important this time. Rena was doing her best to teach her.
“Alright, watch closely and follow, okay?”
She made a heart shape with her hands, aiming it at the omurice. Then she cheerfully chanted the order.
“Make it delicious!”
Of course, she didn’t forget the adorable maid gestures. Spinning around, she flashed her customer service smile. It might seem a bit excessive, but that’s just how Maid Cafes are.
Since the theme of the shop was set from the beginning, this level of enthusiasm was necessary.
After watching everything with her eyes, Iria followed along and chanted the order.
“Make it delicious.”
Her voice came out like it had zero soul behind it. It was surprisingly the brightest tone we could expect from Iria, but it was still far from being maid-like.
That wasn’t the tone for greeting customers. Rena hadn’t really expected much, but she didn’t think it would be this bad.
“That’s too stiff! Customers would want something softer.”
“Make. it. delicious?”
“Why are you using a questioning tone again…?”
“It’s delicious.”
“I don’t even know what that means now.”
Will this festival run smoothly?
Rena felt an impending sense of dread creeping in.
*
Only one day left until the festival!
Rena and Iria decided to check on the preparations of the other class.
Class A’s preparation was a mess from the start, so they wanted to see how the other classes were doing.
“We can’t be the only ones failing. Right?”
“Why would we be failing?”
“Um…”
Rena bit her tongue and swallowed her words, unable to say it was all Iria’s fault.
Iria’s customer service skills were honestly dreadful. There were so many factors that would get her docked points it was hard to count them on one hand. The biggest reason was simply that her personality wasn’t suited for welcoming people.
Whether she had talent or not, it was just her nature. She was fundamentally blunt and awkward with her words.
Rena thought that aspect of Iria was part of her unique charm, but it wasn’t suited for dealing with customers.
‘But at least she’s pretty to look at, so she’d probably get some attention…’
In the end, you couldn’t turn everything around with looks alone.
At first, people might be drawn in, but there had to be something to truly captivate the incoming customers.
“Anyway, let’s check out some other shops. We’re definitely not the only ones having trouble.”
“Why are we having trouble?”
“……”
Poor thing, she was so oblivious.
Rena just couldn’t bring herself to say it was all because of her.
“That’s the B class booth over there. I heard they’re selling desserts.”
“Isn’t that overlapping with us just a little?”
“Exactly. We need to pay close attention. Let’s see how they’re preparing.”
Class A’s main menu was omurice and fried chicken, but since it was a cafe, they also sold cakes and parfaits.
If they were a dessert cafe, it was unavoidable that some parts of the menu would overlap.
Therefore, they assumed the overall situation wouldn’t be too different. They wanted to observe what strategy the other class would use.
At the booth, Wendy was standing.
Her expression twisted when she caught sight of the two.
“Che, what do you want?”
Normally, she would’ve kept a confident look, but after losing to Rena in the last practical exam, she was deflated.
She often wore a haughty look, but seeing her subdued was somewhat fitting.
It seemed like she didn’t particularly welcome them.
Iria, unbothered, spoke up.
“We’re here to order.”
“……What?”
“You have customers here! Your employee seems to have poor attitude; you should call your boss.”
“Are you crazy?”
There was still a day left until the festival.
What was she doing in front of a shop that hadn’t even opened yet?
Caught off guard by Iria’s sudden outburst, Rena found herself stuck in the middle, deciding that it was impossible to clean up the spilled water now.
Sometimes, being bold in these situations can be a good strategy.
“Y-yeah! Tell your boss to come!”
“Crazy girls are going nuts together now.”
Now, Wendy was in disbelief, and after a long sigh, she spoke.
“Come on in.”
She knew their purpose well. They were there to scout anyway.
Even though the shop wasn’t open yet, accepting two customers first wasn’t a big deal.
They had mentioned it was a cafe, right? If she could assert her dominance in this opportunity, maybe the others would give up and change vendors.
Wendy led the two inside.
The first thing that caught their attention was the clean and simple decor.
Rather than having flashy decorations everywhere, it was more focused on a calm atmosphere.
In the center of the shop hung a sign that read, “We sell with skill.”
It seemed like it was aimed at Class A, which relied on looks to attract customers.
Wendy coldly handed over the menu. Her true feelings, wishing they’d eat up quickly and leave, were evident.
“Here’s the menu. Since you came before the opening, it’s double the price.”
“That’s a deduction in service points.”
“Oh come on, ugh… Why am I even talking to you?”
In truth, Wendy and Iria weren’t significantly different in terms of customer service skills.
Of course, Wendy seemed blissfully unaware of this disparity, as Rena was the only one who knew.
Iria and Rena each ordered a parfait and lemonade. It didn’t take long for the orders to come out.
What was slightly different from expectations was that Wendy personally prepared and served the food.
Since she was the only one working that day, she had handled everything: customer service, cooking, and serving.
Though she was prickly, she was quite competent when it came to running a shop.
As much as Rena didn’t want to admit it, everything seemed much more stable compared to Class A, which had been all over the place.
Rena noted everything down in her notebook.
“Please eat quickly and leave.”
“Ugh, okay…”
Their service attitude left much to be desired, but it wasn’t like they treated every customer that way, so Rena found it hard to pick out any major flaws for now.
She wished it would taste bad, but deep down, she knew better than that.
There was no way it wouldn’t taste good with the effort Wendy put in.
Wendy’s parfait was well-presented and decorated nicely. There was no way something made with that much care could taste bad.
Rena already knew Wendy’s specialty was cooking. She scooped a spoonful of the parfait and popped it into her mouth.
“……?!”
The first taste was sweet, with the refreshing tartness lingering in her mouth from the fruit.
Not to mention, the texture was so smooth that it glided down her throat with a delightful satisfaction.
Was this what they meant by selling with skills? It was light yet delicious—better than what Class A was offering.
“This is so good! Can you share the recipe?”
“Huh? No way. Just pay up.”
“Why does lemonade taste like lemon?”
“Could you just leave?”
Iria handed Wendy two coins.
It was just slightly over double the price of the dessert. She hadn’t expected her to actually give double.
No matter how much she hated the person, they were customers as long as they paid. Wendy thought so, at least.
“Hmph, this time only.”
Getting kicked out before they finished was avoided.
The B class shop excelled in every aspect compared to Class A.
From the décor to the preparation of ingredients, and even the quality and skill of the cooking.
Even the kitchen hygiene was flawless, and their marketing was quite savvy.
They were giving out small samples of desserts to passing pedestrians to attract customers. With confidence in the quality of their food, they had a strategy that worked.
‘At this rate, we’re going to lose.’
At this point, Rena started to feel a slight sense of crisis. Meanwhile, Class A hadn’t even figured out how to operate yet.
“Seriously! How is it that with such a group, there isn’t a single person who knows how to cook?”
“……”
“……”
“I can cook.”
“No, Iria. You really can’t.”
The number of burnt eggs Iria had generated was already over ten.
If it were anyone else, she might have considered sending them to the kitchen, but thoughts of putting Iria there popped up alarm bells.
If that was the case, they needed to find someone to manage the kitchen, but that wouldn’t be easy. It felt like only the pretty faces were gathered without a hint of survival skills.
Rena sighed deeply.
Well, as long as they looked nice…
If the food didn’t taste good, they’d need to find another way to draw in customers.
“Ugh… Let’s do this. I’ll handle the kitchen, so I just need a few people to help me. Iria will attract customers in front, and the rest can assist with serving and services.”
In the end, Rena decided to take on the kitchen by herself.
Things had gone slightly off course, but she could finally arrange a rational distribution of roles after taking on the heavy responsibility.
The overall division of labor was complete.
Now, all she could do was pray for good fortune.
