Chapter 67: Dinner
“Pineapple… Pizza?”
Zephyr murmured it again, feeling a slight sense of strange dissonance with those two words together.
He had actually eaten pizza in the Navy’s canteen before; it was a very delicious West Sea delicacy.
The chefs making pizza usually liked to add all sorts of ingredients on the dough—like sausages, seafood, and such—to create different flavors.
But putting pineapple on it… Zephyr felt his body instinctively rejecting it.
Yet deep in his heart, there was a voice tempting him, giving him an urge to break the taboo.
“Hahaha! Boss, give us twenty of those pizza things first.”
While Zephyr was still hesitating, Garp had already pushed the door open impatiently, not forgetting to turn back and urge:
“Zephyr, what are you muttering about? Hurry up and come in!”
“Oh, oh.”
In the end, Zephyr was half-pushed and half-dragged inside.
Since it wasn’t mealtime, there weren’t many people in the restaurant, so Garp just found a seat and sat down.
“Boss?”
“Coming, coming. What would you like, sir… Hiss~”
Mister Saluzzo, dressed in a black suit and black jacket, was about to step forward to greet them, but he caught sight of the highly distinctive Navy Admiral coats on the two at the table and immediately sucked in a breath.
The orange in his hand was squeezed a bit out of shape as well.
He and his daughter hadn’t had little “friendly communication” with the Navy back home; their bounties were still posted at the Navy branch in the West Sea.
“Hm? What’s wrong? Are you okay, old man?”
Seeing the shopkeeper’s strange reaction, Garp asked with concern.
“Ah… Nothing, it’s nothing. Please, what would you two like to eat?”
Seeing that the other party didn’t seem to recognize them, Old Saluzzo secretly breathed a sigh of relief, though he was still a bit nervous.
His elbow accidentally brushed the flintlock pistol under his coat, and that hard texture gave him a slight sense of reassurance.
“First, give me twenty of those pineapple pizzas, ah… and ten portions of jam Syracuse noodles.”
Garp casually flipped through the menu, pointing at the two signboard dishes to order.
“Zephyr, what do you want?”
『Hm?! Zephyr? Isn’t that a Navy Admiral’s name…』
Hearing Garp’s words, the shopkeeper glanced at the epaulets on Zephyr’s coat.
“Squelch!”
The poor orange was crushed to bits this time, with juice dripping down through his glove onto the floor.
『Admiral?!』
Old Saluzzo’s legs were already going a bit weak at this point.
Back in the West Sea, they had only dealt with branch officers.
Forget Admirals—he’d never even seen a Commodore.
『My life is over!』
『Lapp, you have to take good care of yourself from now on. Father can’t stay with you anymore. That little girl from the Texas family, if you like her, just go for it…』
“I… I’ll have ten regular pizzas.”
Just as Old Saluzzo was mentally drafting his will, Zephyr, who was also wrestling internally, made his choice.
He hesitated for a moment but ultimately overcame his curiosity.
The crisis instinct honed from thousands of battles saved him once again.
This was the victory of instinct!
“O-Okay… right away, I’ll…”
“Old person, are you alright?”
Zephyr found it a bit odd—why were all the elders in this town like this, breaking down after just a few words?
“The shopkeeper mister must be getting on in years.”
Seeing Old Saluzzo like this, Miss La couldn’t help but step in to smooth things over again.
『Looks like the town chief didn’t notify them properly. But the shopkeeper mister and the head chef miss don’t seem simple either…』
She called toward the kitchen: “Miss Lapp, we have customers.”
“Coming, coming. I heard from the kitchen.
A total of forty portions… Hm? Navy?!”
Miss Lapp came out from the kitchen, stared blankly at the two for a moment, then instinctively reached for her waist.
But the empty sensation made her react quickly, so she smoothly pretended to wipe her hands on her apron.
Compared to Old Saluzzo’s panic, the younger and bolder Lapp was better at staying calm.
After glancing at their military ranks, she guessed they probably weren’t here for their two small fries.
A few million Belly bounties wouldn’t warrant an Admiral’s personal attention.
“That’s right, we’re Navy. No need to be afraid.” Zephyr reassured.
He noticed that the people on this island seemed to have some inexplicable rejection and fear of the Navy, so he always tried to keep his voice gentle.
“Do you have anything ready-made to tide us over, chef miss?”
“Yes, I’ll bring out some mille-feuille for you two first. The pizza and noodles will be ready soon.
Old Man, you come to the kitchen and help me too.”
Lapp smoothly dragged her frozen-with-nerves father into the kitchen.
“I’ll help too. You two probably can’t manage alone.” La spoke up at this point.
“Ah?! No need, I can handle it alone… Oh, okay, you come too.”
Lapp instinctively refused but changed her tune immediately after seeing La give her a look.
And so, the three of them went into the kitchen together, leaving Zephyr and Garp staring at each other.
『Looks like this little girl is quite familiar with the restaurant’s boss.』 Zephyr thought to himself.
“La…”
Lapp had just opened her mouth upon entering the kitchen when La stopped her.
La made a shushing gesture, then took a menu and pen from the counter and wrote: 『Don’t speak. Those two Navy guys can hear.』
Lapp nodded quickly, took the paper and pen, and wrote below La’s words: 『What’s going on? Why are there Navy on the island?』
『They ended up here by shipwreck accident. No need to panic, just act normal.』
『But Father and I both have bounties on us… What if they find out?』
『They probably haven’t recognized you. Act natural. If anything really happens, I’ll step in.』
『You?』
『I’m an executive of the Beasts Pirates.』
“?!”
Lapp was shocked; she never imagined this underage little girl in front of her was a Beasts executive!
This was totally a different art style!
『You’re joking, right?!』
Lapp wrote heavily on the paper.
『No, trust me. Let’s start making the pizza. I’ll take the mille-feuille out.』
After writing that, La put down the pen, took the mille-feuille from the counter, put it on a plate, and brought it out to the two outside.
Leaving only Miss Lapp, still slowly digesting this shocking fact, and Mister Saluzzo, who still hadn’t come back to his senses.
“Mille-feuille is here. Please have some to tide you over, sirs. The pizza will be ready soon.” La stood on tiptoe to place the plate on the table.
“Oh! Finally! I’m starving to death!”
Finally seeing food, Garp immediately dug in impatiently.
“Mm~ Delicious! Nom…”
Smelling the aroma from the mille-feuille, Zephyr couldn’t help but pick up a piece and put it in his mouth.
“Mm, not bad indeed. Little girl, want a piece?”
“Thank you, sir, but no thank you. I’ve already had breakfast.”
La shook her head politely and turned back to the kitchen.
『What a polite good girl~ If only my son were this sensible.』
Zephyr watched La’s small back and couldn’t help but think that.
Back in the kitchen, La saw that Lapp had already started kneading dough, so she took out pineapples and began peeling and cutting them.
Pineapple after pineapple was quickly peeled in La’s hands, then cut into appropriately sized chunks.
The process was smooth as flowing water; Lapp on the side couldn’t help but praise:
“Who would’ve thought Miss La had skills like this. I used to think you were some noble miss~”
“I learned cooking for a few days once. Don’t worry, I won’t get in your way.”
After peeling enough pineapple for twenty portions, La also started helping knead the dough. Her actions were still very skilled, with strength and rhythm matching Lapp’s perfectly.
Soon after, the first batch of pizzas came out of the oven. The wafting aroma made the two outside, who had already finished the mille-feuille, salivate.
“Smells so good! Way better than those pancakes in the headquarters canteen!”
“Indeed!”
“Haha! Looks like we came to the right place. I’m gonna eat my fill today!”
“Uh… Let’s hold back a bit. Don’t wear out the little girl.”
……
