Monday arrived with the turn of the date.
As usual, Kent and his companions woke up early to prepare the shop for opening. Upon entering the shop, Emily and Rachel were already busy cleaning.
“Good morning. Master, everyone.”
“Good morning, Older brother. Marie, Caro, Catherine!”
After exchanging greetings, Kent and his group took their positions and began their respective preparations. With one more person, the morning work became considerably easier. Since the renovation of the shop, preparation time had been reduced, allowing them to wake up a little later than before. However, it was still early in the morning.
The shop opened, and customers flocked in. Most customers at this hour bought bread for breakfast or lunch before heading to work. Unpackaged bread does not keep well. If purchased the day before, it becomes hard and loses its deliciousness. Therefore, it is common sense to buy bread on the day of consumption. However, at Marie’s Bakery, each loaf is placed in a plastic bag before being wrapped, which maintains its softness for about a day. The shop prefers customers to eat the bread the same day, so they do not inform customers of this fact, and customers continue to purchase as they always have.
After the morning peak, they started baking bread for delivery to the school. This involved a considerable amount, so almost everyone, except for the shopkeeper, was involved in the work. However, with the increased number of people, they finished baking the required amount for delivery and had some time to spare before Kent and his group had to leave for school. The break time was genuinely appreciated.
“Well then, we’re off to school.”
“Have a good day.”
Escorted by Marie, Catherine, and Emily, Kent, Caro, and Rachel headed for school.
“I’m sorry. I apologize for disturbing you two on your way to school.”
“It’s okay. We’re going in the same direction.”
“Rachel, you don’t need to worry about it.”
Rachel said apologetically. The three of them arrived at school and headed to their respective classrooms.
The season changed to summer, and the temperature gradually rose. Today was a bit hotter than the past few days. The classroom was stuffy and filled with a strong odor. Except for a few, commoners did not have a custom of bathing, which tended to result in stronger body odor.
(It’s really strong today. It’s going to get worse as it gets hotter.)
Kent thought to himself, but since it was an individual issue, he couldn’t do anything about it alone.
“Kent, you smell nice.”
“Huh?”
Kent was surprised to be spoken to so suddenly. Among his classmates, only Josette usually spoke to him. The one who spoke to him was the female student sitting next to him. She was of average size, but since she started wearing summer clothes, her chest was sometimes visible through the gaps in her outfit, which Kent always found to be a pleasant sight.
“I take a bath every day, so perhaps that’s why?”
“Your family has a bath, Kent? Lucky you. I asked my parents to install one at home, but they said it wasn’t necessary… I get self-conscious about my body odor in the summer.”
The female students seemed to be concerned about body odor. However, in this world, men have more influence than women, and unless a father who isn’t interested in baths approves, a bath will not be installed. This appears to be a significant hurdle for commoners. By the way, Kent’s father liked baths, so his house had always had bathing facilities.
“I smell really bad, don’t I? Want to take a whiff?”
Saying so, the female student next to him leaned closer to Kent. A strong odor assaulted Kent’s nostrils. Seeing Kent’s reaction, the female student said with a disappointed tone.
“So I do smell bad…”
“A little… yes.”
In reality, it was to the point of making him feel sick, but he softened his response out of consideration for her.
“Please wait a moment.”
Kent found it difficult to have someone smelling so strongly sitting next to him, so he stepped away, purchased an antiperspirant spray on his terminal, and returned.
“Sorry, could you raise your hand a little?”
“Like this?”
As instructed, the female student raised her hand. Kent then sprayed antiperspirant on it.
“Eek! It’s cold!”
The surprised female student took a step back.
“It’s okay. This will help reduce the smell a bit.”
“Really? Then I guess I’ll have to ask you to…”
Hesitantly, she raised her other hand, and Kent sprayed it with antiperspirant.
“How is it?”
The female student asked Kent.
“It seems to have greatly improved the smell.”
“Really? Thank you, Kent.”
Seeing this, some of the other female students came to Kent one after another and asked him to spray them with the antiperspirant. Perhaps stimulated by the sweet scent emanating from the female students whose odor had dissipated, the male students were quite flustered. Incidentally, the male students didn’t seem to be interested and no one asked for the spray. As a result, the strong odor from the male students, who smelled worse than the female students, continued, so the air in the classroom did not improve overall.
At lunchtime, Kent, Josette, Caro, and Rachel, the usual foursome, gathered behind the school building.
“Kent, what was that spray you used on some students this morning?”
After finishing lunch, Josette, who couldn’t stop thinking about what happened that morning, asked Kent.
“Uh… are you talking about the antiperspirant spray?”
“I think so.”
“Older brother, you brought antiperspirant spray?”
“This one, perhaps.”
It was still in the bag where he kept his lunch, so he took it out.
“Wow, Older brother, you have good things. Can I try it?”
Saying so, Rachel snatched the antiperspirant spray from Kent and sprayed herself.
“This cool feeling… it’s nostalgic. I used it a lot at summer festivals in the past.”
“Oh, it really smells nice now.”
“That’s like saying I smelled bad!”
Rachel playfully retorted to Josette. Kent thought it was a scene that would have been unimaginable not too long ago. In the end, Josette and Caro also tried the spray, confirming its effectiveness for each other.
Lunch break ended, and the afternoon classes began. The lesson content was, as usual, of low difficulty, and Kent was starting to get bored. He happened to glance at the female student next to him, who seemed sleepy and was nodding off. Occasionally, he caught glimpses of her chest through the gaps in her uniform, and he focused more on observing her than the lesson. She must have been very sleepy, because when she dozed off heavily, her head bumped against the desk with a loud thud. The students around her seemed equally sleepy, so no one seemed to mind. However, she seemed to have hurt herself and woke up. Suddenly, her eyes met Kent’s, and she realized she had been seen looking at her chest and quickly covered herself with both hands, her face blushing.
(Damn. I’ve been caught.)
Kent thought to himself, his heart pounding. However, even after class ended, she did not mention it. Then, he, Caro, and Rachel returned home and, as usual, worked at the bakery.
Several days passed, and it was Friday. Marie’s Bakery was closing, and as Kent and his companions were finishing the final tidying up, it happened.
