I, reincarnate as the leader of the villainous knight order

Chapter 95: Cake Cutting

The next day at noon, everyone gathered in the dining hall early. The reason was obvious—yesterday, I had informed them that the cakes would be delivered, and I had requested everyone to finish their meal early.

“Hello! We have a cake delivery!”

The lively voice from the entrance caused a stir in the dining hall.

“Anyone who’s finished eating, come with me. I need seven people.”

With enthusiastic responses, more than ten people stood up, but those near the exit moved quickly. You guys, don’t use your impressive physical abilities for something like this.

“Thanks for your help. Hand over the whole cakes to these guys. I’ll take the sliced ones.”

“Certainly, here they are.”

I thanked the patisserie staff at the entrance and had my subordinates receive the cakes. The small boxes with three pieces each were for the clerks who couldn’t compete with the subordinates.

“You lot, let anyone who wants to try cutting these into eight pieces. Naturally, the one who cuts it gets the last piece.”

Grinning, I headed to the office. The clerks might know that the subordinates were excited about the cakes since yesterday, but they probably didn’t think they’d get any themselves.

Entering the office, I found that the three clerks had just finished their meal. They were placing their trays on a dedicated cart, so the timing was perfect.

“You’ve been busy lately, so I brought you a dessert as a treat. Sweet things help when you’re tired.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful! I’ve been feeling unusually hungry, probably from all the calculations…”

The oldest clerk, Orban, eagerly accepted the cakes. Judging by their expressions, it seemed all three were fond of sweets.

After leaving the cakes, I returned to the dining hall, which had a peculiar atmosphere. Even the cooks were watching intently from behind the counter.

“Hey, what’s going on? Haven’t you cut the cakes yet?”

“Well, when Cassius and the others heard that the person who cuts the cake gets the last piece, they froze.”

Jest, who had come to the dining hall with me because of the cake delivery, explained. It seemed they were eager to cut the cakes, but got serious when they realized the last piece was involved.

“Cassius, didn’t you want to know what it felt like to cut a cake? Go ahead and do it.”

“Damn it… the center… here? No, maybe a bit to the right?”

He was nervously hovering a bread knife over the center of the whole cake, trying to find the exact middle with a serious look in his eyes.

“Come on, hurry up and cut it. We want to eat!”

“Shut up! Then you do it!”

“You were the one who volunteered, weren’t you? Take responsibility for your words.”

“Damn it, just wait a minute!”

Amedeo from Elliot’s unit and Cassius were having a pointless argument. For me, cutting something into eight equal parts was easy since I was one of eight siblings. My mother used to buy an adult cake with liquor just for herself, so it was naturally my job to cut the cakes for everyone else.

There were various types of cakes, like strawberry and cream, gâteau au chocolat, and Mont Blanc. As soon as it was mentioned that the person who cut the cake got the last piece, groups started strategizing over who would cut.

Orel, who loved gâteau au chocolat, quickly cut and finished his piece. He was used to eating it, so he probably didn’t mind if his portion was a bit smaller.

“Hey, staring at the cake won’t do you any good. Give it here; I’ll cut it.”

I cut the cake for a group that hadn’t started yet, and there were small cheers.

“Wow, all the pieces are the same size…”

“Maybe this accuracy is the secret to his sword skills.”

“Captain! Over here too, please!”

Seeing me cut, Simon quickly offered the cake his group had reserved.

“Why don’t you cut it yourself? Or Jest, do you want to try cutting it?”

“Sure!”

“Huh?”

Simon’s voice cracked in surprise at Jest’s enthusiastic response. He probably didn’t expect Jest to cut the cake. Though Jest did eat cake, he didn’t seem very attached to it since it wasn’t one I had made.

“I’ll cut it like Justin! I just need to cut it four times, right?”

“That’s right. First, cut it vertically and horizontally, then cut the middle of the lines you made.”

“Um, Captain…?”

“Like this! There you go! Just one more time!”

While Simon was mumbling, Jest swiftly cut the cake. W-Well… for a first attempt, it wasn’t bad, right?

“Hmm, it’s strange. It’s not as neat as Justin’s… and there’s a lot of cream on the knife.”

“Ah… um…”

“It’s not like that! It was Jest’s first time, so it was a bit difficult for him to cut like me. He’ll get better at it next time.”

“Yeah!”

I ruffled Jest’s hair, drowning out Simon’s voice, and since he seemed happy about it, I decided to leave it at that. In the end, Cassius and the others had the cooks cut their cake, but Jest and I shared the slightly smaller cake that was left.