The welcome party for Patty and her younger siblings had ended, and they had managed to loosen up to some extent. The next day was Monday.
Starting that morning, Patty’s younger siblings began helping with simple tasks at the shop. Since they were still young, their abilities were limited, but Emily, their caretaker, took charge and looked after the four of them.
“Marie, I apologize for the sudden notice, but I will be taking some time off from work starting this afternoon.”
“Oh, it’s a shame to lose a valuable asset. However, I cannot refuse, so I understand.”
Josette had requested leave from Marie as soon as she arrived at the shop that morning. Marie had granted her leave without inquiring about the reason. Josette had only been helping out of kindness, and although she received a salary, she wasn’t an official employee, which also meant Marie couldn’t press the issue.
The other employees were surprised by Josette’s request. However, since Marie, the shopkeeper, hadn’t pressed for details, no one else dared to ask Josette for her reasons.
“Josette.”
“Yes, Kent?”
“Um, I wasn’t able to contact just you, so I couldn’t tell you…”.
Kent explained that Patty and her siblings had started living and working at the shop, and he also spoke about the smartphone’s calling function.
“Is that so. Patty, that must have been tough. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask me.”
“Thank you.”
Josette spoke to Patty.
“So Kent, to use calling function, I need to receive a piggy bank from Emily, right? I’ll pick it up later.”
And so, the morning work began.
It was time to head to school, so Kent, Josette, Rachel, Caro, and Patty finished their work and decided to head to school.
“That reminds me, Josette, about the school festival sponsor, we found one.”
“Really? Did you search for sponsors by yourself during your day off?”
“I intended to go alone, but my sister came with me, so it ended up being two of us.”
On their way to school, Kent told Josette that he had found a sponsor for the school festival.
“Is it that slightly unusual Auntie? She said she’d send someone in charge, but they haven’t arrived yet, have they?”
“That’s right. Well, she didn’t say when they’d come, so I suppose they’ll be here soon.”
Rachel recalled the Auntie as she spoke.
“She also said she’d provide the money, and we could decide on the exhibition freely.”
“That’s a very favorable condition. Since it’s not related to business, could it be related to aristocrats?”
When Kent said that, Josette slightly pondered. As they were talking, the school building came into view.
“We’re getting close to school, so we’ll have to say goodbye here… We didn’t talk much today.”
Patty said with a tinge of disappointment. As if waiting for this, male students gathered around Patty and whisked her away.
“Patty, you must have a tough time every day.”
“I suppose so.”
Rachel said, sending a sympathetic gaze towards Patty, and Caro chimed in.
“Yo, Kent, still walking around with flowers in both hands, huh? I’m jealous!”
“Morning, Bobby. Are you alone?”
“Yeah. Hey, hey, introduce me!”
Bobby called out to Kent.
“Uh, this is Bobby. He’s a classmate and we’ve been hanging out together a lot lately. And this is Josette… oh, she’s in the same class, so no introduction needed. This girl with pink hair is Caro, and the girl with brown hair next to her is Rachel.”
“Oh. Caro and Rachel, huh? Nice to meet you, Bobby here.”
“You are Kent’s schoolmate. I am Caro. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Ohh. You have guy friends. I’m Rachel, nice to meet you.”
Caro ended with a simple greeting, but Rachel extended her hand. Bobby hesitated for a moment, then took Rachel’s hand and shook it.
“Wow… a girl’s hand is so soft.”
“That’s a surprisingly fresh reaction…”
Rachel watched Bobby, who seemed delighted, as if observing him.
“Well, we’re going this way, so see you later.”
“Kent, Josette-sama, and Bobby-san, it was nice meeting you.”
After parting ways with Rachel and Caro, who were in different grades, the three headed towards their own classroom.
“Josette, I’d heard rumors, but you’re really commuting to school with Kent.”
“Yes… Oh… Right…”
Josette, who was about to answer Bobby, suddenly fell silent, remembering something.
(What’s wrong with Josette?)
Kent watched Josette with concern as she suddenly became downcast. As they approached the classroom, female students began to gather around Josette, pushing Kent and Bobby aside, preventing further conversation.
“Wow, to be able to commute to school like that every morning, I’m envious. I aspire to that.”
“It just gradually became this way.”
Kent muttered to himself, as if letting Bobby’s remark flow past him.
After school, Kent, Rachel, Caro, and Patty headed to the shop where they worked part-time.
“It’s a bit lonely without Josette.”
“But I’m here for you, Kent. If you’re lonely, I’ll keep you company tonight.”
Caro said jokingly when Kent murmured. Josette had declared her leave and had been acting separately since after school.
“Then, may I ask you to?”
“Hngh!”
“Older brother, you’re quite energetic.”
“Kent… if possible, me too… No, never mind.”
Caro, thinking that with so many people around, he would likely refuse or give an ambiguous answer, turned bright red, her hand on her cheek from the unexpected response. Rachel had a resigned expression, and Patty looked like she wanted to say something. When they arrived at the shop, Elnet was just leaving, preparing to go for training.
At the shop, Emily was conducting work training with Patty’s younger siblings.
“Huh? One person is missing.”
Emily had three children with her.
“Master, Caro-san, Rachel-san, Patty-san, welcome back.”
“We’re back. You seem to be teaching them diligently, but one is missing, right?”
“You mean Hanako. That child seems to be a fast learner, look over there.”
Emily pointed to Hanako in the kitchen, standing on a step stool and working at an unbelievable speed.
“The child who usually does nothing, what happened to her?”
Patty said in surprise.
“Yes, pasta, fried rice, and yakisoba are ready!”
She finished making three dishes in no time at all.
“Yes, yes, I’ll bring them over right away.”
Marie took them and served them to the customers. Judging by their reactions, the taste seemed to be fine.
“Isn’t that kid amazing? Caro also works at a high speed, but isn’t this child comparable?”
“No, no, I can’t lose to the younger generation yet.”
Rachel said to Caro, who replied in a manner befitting a grandmaster.
“That child is only six years old…”
“…”
“Hearing that makes it even more surprising.”
Patty said, and Caro fell silent while Rachel spoke with excitement. While he was worried about losing Josette, a valuable asset, Kent felt a little relieved to have unexpectedly found an immediate replacement. Hanako could handle everything except heavy labor and customer service, and she could even make bread by herself.
“If she’s working that hard, what about my position…”
“Patty, you’re already contributing more than enough to the shop. Cheer up.”
Kent comforted Patty, who was feeling down.
“Excuse me for interrupting your work. Is Kent-sama by any chance here?”
As they were talking, a customer arrived at the shop.
