“I’m back.”
“Mhm, you’re back.”
As Kent and his companions were relaxing in the kotatsu, Al and Hanako returned.
“Master, you brought out the kotatsu.”
“Mhm, kotatsu. Warm.”
Al, who had peeked into the living room, noticed the kotatsu making its presence known in the center of the room and spoke. Hanako had already taken an empty spot and put her feet in.
“Hanako, want a mandarin orange?”
“Mhm, I’ll eat.”
Hanako received a mandarin orange from Rachel and began peeling it herself.
“Mhm, delicious.”
Hanako, after eating the peeled mandarin orange, had a happy expression on her face.
“Al, you couldn’t eat mandarin oranges, could you?”
“Yes, I can only consume things other than water.”
Rachel asked Al as a precaution, but received the usual reply.
“I see, that’s a shame. They’re so delicious. Ah, this one’s sour too. Here, Older Brother, have some.”
The newly peeled mandarin was sour, so Rachel gently offered it to Kent.
“You peeled it yourself, so take responsibility all the way. Hmm, this is indeed sour.”
Since it would be a waste to throw it away, Kent involuntarily put the mandarin orange offered by Rachel into his mouth, but it was indeed sour.
“I’m thinking of starting preparations for dinner soon, what do you want to eat?”
Marie, about to start preparing dinner, asked what they wanted to eat.
“Speaking of New Year’s Eve, it has to be soba. We can’t skip this. You agree, Older Brother?”
“It’s true, New Year’s Eve soba is a classic.”
Rachel and Kent’s opinions matched.
“I don’t know why soba, but I’ll prepare that then. Kent, could you get the ingredients?”
There were no ingredients at home to make soba, so they first needed to secure them. This could be easily done with Kent’s terminal, so Marie asked Kent to do it.
“Yeah. I’ll get the ingredients then.”
In this world, there was no custom of eating soba at the end of the year. It was natural since the food called soba didn’t even exist, but after Marie’s Bakery started offering noodle dishes, similar foods began to appear in the town. Kent took out his terminal, thinking that if he could successfully guide the customers to order them, they might become a popular staple.
“Here we go.”
“Uwah!”
As Kent placed his terminal on the kotatsu and was about to operate it, Rachel sat on his lap.
“Older Brother, lend me your hand.”
“Hmm? Like this?”
Rachel grabbed Kent’s right index finger with her right hand.
“As expected, the response is faster than Emily’s.”
“Hey, don’t operate it on your own.”
Then, she pressed Kent’s finger onto the terminal and started operating it herself. Only Kent could operate this terminal, so by using Kent’s finger like a stylus, Rachel could operate it as she wished. It was indeed a logical method.
“By any chance, is this how you always operate Emily’s terminal?”
“Pretty much. But with Emily, I have a nice cushion on her back, but with you, there isn’t one, so it might be a little disappointing.”
Rachel said with a hint of disappointment. The cushion Rachel was referring to was the large bulge on Emily’s chest. Kent thought it would indeed feel comfortable to use that as a cushion.
“After all, I want to choose the soba toppings myself. Let’s see… the frozen food section is… ah, found it. Then, I’ll have this, and this, and this. What about you, Marie?”
“Let’s see…”
Marie also peered at Kent’s terminal. Marie’s large chest, which was subtly touching Kent’s back, felt somewhat comfortable.
“Hanako, which one will you have?”
“Mhm, add all of the ones I just picked.”
“I see, I see. Then I’ll add one quantity to each.”
Rachel, who frequently operated Emily’s terminal, added the ordered items one after another with practiced ease.
“Then the rest is what Older Brother wants to eat.”
After choosing their own, and with their tasks complete, Rachel stood up and returned to her original spot. Kent selected his preferred ingredients, then added the basic necessary ingredients and placed the order.
“Alright, I’ll go prepare it.”
“Ah, Marie, I’ll help too.”
Holding the ingredients, Marie moved to the kitchen, and Rachel followed her.
“Speaking of which, what were you two doing today?”
“It’s unusual for you to ask where we were going, Master.”
“Mhm, unusual.”
With Marie and Rachel gone, Kent, now with free time, asked Al and Hanako how they spent their day. Hearing this, Al and Hanako showed slightly surprised expressions.
“Is that so?”
“Yes. After all, we’re by your side as your obedient servants, but you always leave us alone.”
“Mhm, that’s right. That’s right.”
Al was as usual, but Hanako, unusually, seemed to agree.
“Well then, will you two come over here?”
“Yes!”
“Mhm, coming.”
Saying so, Al and Hanako took positions on either side of Kent.
“So, about what we were doing today? Actually, we went to the sanctuary with Emily.”
“The sanctuary?”
“But Catherine is at the castle right now, isn’t she?”
At Catherine’s request, Kent had assigned Al, Hanako, and Emily, three fairies, to assist him as support personnel when he served as a saint. However, Catherine was supposed to be attending a party at the castle during the New Year’s period, so she shouldn’t have been at the sanctuary.
“I believe that’s generally the case. We went to the sanctuary for preparations for a different matter.”
“Should I not ask too deeply?”
“Mhm, it’s not a problem, but I think it’s better to save it for tomorrow’s enjoyment.”
If it was an important mission, asking would be problematic, but Hanako’s way of speaking suggested it wasn’t the case. Although curious, Kent decided to stop asking further since he would find out tomorrow.
“We’re back! The soba is ready!”
After some time had passed, it seemed the soba was ready. Rachel and Marie brought the finished soba to the kotatsu.
“We’re going to eat.”
Marie and Rachel finished serving and sat in their own seats. Then, everyone except Al put their hands together and started slurping the soba.
“Eating soba makes me feel like the year is ending, doesn’t it? Slurp.”
“Indeed. If only we could watch the year-end TV broadcasts too, but given the current environment, that’s not possible. Slurp.”
While slurping the soba, Kent and Rachel, though feeling a slight lack of something, felt that the year was indeed coming to an end.
“Thank you for the meal.”
Dinner time was over, and Marie and Rachel began cleaning up the used dishes.
“I guess I’ll prepare the bath.”
Kent stood up and decided to prepare the bath. However, since the cleaning of the bathroom was already finished for the day, it was a simple task of just pressing the button to fill the tub.
“The bath is ready.”
After a while, an automated voice announced that the bath was ready.
“Who will use the bath first?”
Kent asked everyone.
“Then, I’ll go with Older Brother.”
“Eh?”
Rachel said so.
“Understood. Then, Kent and Rachel, you two go ahead.”
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Oh, hey, don’t pull my hand!”
Seeing them off, Rachel pulled Kent’s hand and headed for the bathroom.
