Knock knock.
Kent, who had arrived in front of Lola’s room, knocked on the door. He knew no one would answer since the person inside was asleep, but it was a matter of politeness before entering a woman’s room.
“Good morning.”
He slowly opened the door and entered the room, speaking in a low voice.
(I remember seeing something like this on TV once, a surprise wake-up call getting into someone’s room.)
Thinking such unnecessary thoughts, he closed the door behind him.
He peered into Rachel’s face as she slept soundly, her breathing even.
(She’s sleeping so soundly. She must have been really exhausted.)
Kent sat down on a nearby chair and observed Rachel’s condition. Her complexion seemed poor, but he felt she would recover if she slept. Kent decided to leave her be until she woke up.
Knock knock.
After some time, someone knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
Kent replied, and the door was opened quietly.
“Kent, how is Rachel doing?”
“Ah, Caro. She seems a little pale, but I think she’ll recover if she keeps sleeping like this.”
“Is that so? I’m relieved to hear that. We’ll handle the shop, so please keep an eye on Rachel.”
“Understood. Thank you.”
“Please take care of Rachel.”
Caro closed the door quietly with a relieved look and went downstairs to the shop.
The second store was already well past its opening time. There were signs of many people from the shop below. Kent surmised that, just as he had intended, the shop was bustling with customers.
Kent decided to devote himself to nursing Rachel.
“Nnn… hot…”
Rachel moaned in her sleep. It was late July, and the temperature had risen considerably during the day. There was no air conditioner in the room, so the temperature had gotten quite high. Sweat beaded on Rachel’s forehead from the heat. Furthermore, with the futon covering her, she seemed extremely hot.
“Shall I remove the futon for now?”
Kent took off the futon covering Rachel. Her clothes, which she had worn before leaving the shop, were quite damp with sweat.
“Should I change her clothes? She might catch a cold if I leave her like this.”
Kent should have called for help from downstairs, but the thought of his struggling sister made him unable to think of anything else, and he concluded that he had to change her clothes himself. Fortunately, the clothes Rachel was wearing were the shop’s maid uniform. Since it was slightly revealing, it was easy to remove. Kent called forth a set of summer pajamas from the terminal. All that remained was to put them on, but then Kent realized something.
(Wouldn’t it have been better to ask someone else to help with the change of clothes?)
However, Rachel, lying in bed, had her clothes removed and was now in her underwear. Looking at her beautiful, clear skin, Kent couldn’t help but have strange thoughts.
(Even though her appearance has changed, lusting after my sister means I’m a failure as an older brother.)
Kent managed to calm himself down and finished changing her clothes.
In the afternoon, Rachel woke up.
“Ah, Older Brother. I… collapsed at the shop…”
“It’s all right. Just concentrate on resting now.”
“But, like this, the shop…”
Rachel seemed worried about the shop.
“Don’t worry, Marie and the others are doing their best at the shop.”
“Eh? Why’s that?”
Rachel was surprised to see Kent there, and even more surprised that Marie had come.
“When you’re feeling up to it, you can go down to the shop. Are you hungry? I’ll get you something to eat, so wait a moment.”
Saying that, Kent retrieved a can of peaches from the terminal.
“Ah, canned peaches. They’re nostalgic. When I was sick as a child, you used to bring them for me often, Older Brother.”
Kent opened the can and handed her a fork. Rachel ate the peaches nostalgically.
“They’re delicious. Actually, I was having a dream.”
“What kind of dream?”
Kent asked Rachel.
“Um. I dreamt I was playing ‘Tale of school in another world’ with you, Older Brother. And the villainess kept getting in my way. I couldn’t help but shout.”
There had been several times when her attempts to play ‘Tale of school in another world’ ended in a bad ending due to the villainess’s interference. At those times, she always shouted the same line.
“‘Josette. She’s so annoying!'”
Kent and Rachel said it at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.
“Hahaha.”
“That’s nostalgic. That line.”
“Yeah… it’s been quite a while since then.”
Of course, they were referring to Josette from the game. Not the Josette they interacted with in this world.
“But if you said that in front of her, she’d be sad, you know?”
“Of course, I wouldn’t say that. Josette is a really good person.”
When they first met, she was no different from the Josette in the game, but as they interacted with her, they realized she was a good person.
“And to think we’d end up in that kind of relationship, Older Brother… you, who had never had a girlfriend in your life.”
Rachel glared at Kent.
“Don’t look at me like that. It’ll make me feel bad.”
“I don’t think you need to feel bad? You have a harem that everyone envies right now, don’t you?”
“Ugh, when you put it like that…”
Kent was speechless.
“Would you like me to join the harem too? Since we’re not blood-related in this world, I don’t think there’s any problem.”
“Eh?”
Kent involuntarily asked Rachel to repeat what she said.
“Jeez, don’t take me seriously. It was a joke. A joke.”
“R-right. A joke.”
Kent was startled.
“By the way, Older Brother?”
“What is it?”
“You’re the one who put these clothes on me, right?”
Rachel pointed to the summer pajamas she was wearing and said.
“Ugh, yes.”
“Ew, Older Brother.”
“Gah!”
Kent was wounded.
“I think I can move around now, so I’m going to go to the shop. I’ll change, so wait outside.”
After a short conversation, Rachel asked him to leave, and Kent was kicked out of the room.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
After a while, Rachel emerged from the room, having changed into her work clothes. Her complexion had improved, and she looked like she could work without any problems.
“I might have caused everyone trouble.”
Saying that, Rachel went down the stairs. Kent followed her.
“What is this?”
Rachel exclaimed in surprise as she descended the stairs and entered the shop. The entire store, not just the dining space but also the areas where beauty-related merchandise was displayed, was filled with customers. Marie, Caro, Patty, and Lola were attending to them, explaining the products. In the dining space, Catherine and Mike were attending to the customers.
“Ah, Master has awoken, nya?”
Mike was the first to notice Rachel and speak to her.
“Could it be Mike?”
“It’s me, nya. I can help out at the shop a little now, nya.”
“You’ve powered up.”
Seeing Mike’s improved appearance, Rachel realized that the shop was back on track.
“Could it be that Older Brother…”
“Now is not the time to think about that. Work comes first, right? The customers are waiting.”
“You’re right. Thank you, Older Brother.”
Saying that, Rachel returned to her work.
“Well then, I should get back to work too.”
Kent also decided to return to his work.
