“Come on, come on, eat your breakfast quickly, it’s time for work.”
Marie and Hanako finished their preparations and came out of the room. Catherine, who had finished preparing breakfast, hurried them by banging a ladle and a frying pan together with a clanging sound.
“Thank you for always preparing it for us. Mother, I used to be able to wake up on my own a little more, but I guess I’ve become too reliant on someone waking me up.”
“N, I was awake.”
Marie said to Catherine apologetically. As for Hanako, she was the victim this time, so she seemed to say that she wasn’t involved.
“Everyone is seated. Well then, let’s eat.”
“““Let’s eat”””
When everyone gathered at the dining table, they began their breakfast with Catherine’s greeting.
“Haa, Catherine has become so grown up that I can’t tell which one of us is the mother anymore.”
“I only have one mother. You work hard for the shop all the time, so I think you can relax in the morning.”
“You’re such a good child, I’m so happy I can eat a lot. Nom nom nom.”
Marie expressed her gratitude to Catherine for always preparing breakfast. After a bit of conversation, they ate breakfast at their usual pace, a little rushed, and after getting ready, they all headed for Marie’s Bakery.
“Good morning, Emily.”
“Good morning. Master. Marie-sama, and Catherine.”
“Good morning. Emily, thank you for your hard work this morning.”
“Mornin’, Emily.”
When Kent and his companions entered the shop, Emily, the shop-attached fairy, was already cleaning the inside of the store. Noticing their entrance, she stopped and greeted them.
“N, I didn’t get a greeting.”
“I didn’t get one either.”
“Greetings are a matter of politeness. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t think it was necessary for you two, but did you want me to?”
Emily had noticed Hanako and Al but had intentionally not greeted them. Hanako and Al protested about it.
“W-well, I wasn’t expecting a greeting from someone like you anyway. Hanako, you think so too, right? …Oh, you’re not here.”
Al said with a sulky demeanor. Al tried to include Hanako, but she had already started working.
“Emily, please continue your work. Al-chan, could you check the merchandise?”
“Ugh, I guess I have no choice. Understood, Roger that.”
Marie, showing her good judgment, gave instructions so that the two of them could work at a distance from each other, preventing an awkward atmosphere from developing.
“Mornin’!”
“Good morning.”
As if sensing the shop was getting a little livelier, Rachel and Josette came down from the upper floor, timing their arrival.
““Good morning””
Almost simultaneously, the shop entrance opened, and Caro and Patty entered.
“It looks like everyone is here. Well then, please prepare for opening, everyone.”
“““Yes!”””
With the employees gathered, Marie’s Bakery began its full-scale opening preparations. Each person moved to their assigned area and started working.
“By the way, Marie-san.”
“What is it?”
Kent, who was preparing the bread dough in the workshop, decided to ask Marie about a person who hadn’t been seen, even though no one else seemed to have noticed. Marie, who was setting up the oven, stopped and turned to Kent.
“I didn’t see Elnet, so I was wondering what happened? No one seemed to care.”
“Ah, about that. Actually, yesterday, after work in the evening, she went for sword training as usual, but she came back looking extremely tired just before closing.”
“So she’s sleeping upstairs?”
Kent was concerned about Elnet, who hadn’t shown herself, and asked Marie. Marie then recounted what had happened the previous day.
“No, I think she’s probably gone out. Elnet-san wasn’t unwell. She said she was mentally exhausted, though she didn’t say why. So she said she’d take a few days off.”
“Is Elnet all right?”
“The shop should be a little less busy now that the event is over, so I told her she could rest without overdoing it…”
Marie spoke about yesterday with concern.
“Elnet-san just sighed and went back to her room after saying that.”
“So, you don’t know the reason either, Marie-san?”
“I’m sorry.”
Marie bowed her head, unable to help Kent.
“Really, Older Sister, whatever could be the matter?”
“That’s right. She looked quite exhausted yesterday.”
With preparations complete, it was time for opening. Yesterday, being the day of an event, there had been a rush of female customers looking for boxes and sweets needed for it, so it was very busy. However, with the event over, the normal morning scene had returned. Kent and his companions continued their work uneventfully, finishing their morning tasks, and the students headed to school. On their way, Josette and Caro were talking with concern about Elnet.
“Haaaaw.”
“You look sleepy.”
Normally, Rachel would walk next to Caro on the way to school. However, today, she walked next to Kent with a sleepy expression.
“Yeah. I had a sudden job I couldn’t turn down. I was working late into the night, so I didn’t get much sleep.”
Rachel answered Kent’s question with a sleepy expression.
“Is that work for Store No. 2? If there’s anything I can help with, please don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thanks, Haaaaw, ahh, I could play games all night long, though.”
“I totally get that feeling.”
Kent remembered how, in his previous world, he’d sometimes realize it was morning after playing games, and Rachel’s analogy resonated with him. He recalled how difficult it was to go to work after staying up all night playing games due to sleepiness. In this world, there weren’t any games that engrossed him to that extent, so staying up all night playing games was impossible now. He felt a little lonely thinking about it.
“Speaking of which, aren’t you sleepy too, Kent? You have dark circles under your eyes.”
“Huh? Really? Well, actually last night…”
Kent hadn’t slept much either. He didn’t feel sleepy, but it must have been visible on his face, as Patty leaned in to look at Kent with a worried expression. The reason he hadn’t slept much was that he had been supplying Al with magic power late into the night, but he couldn’t tell Patty that, so he vaguely explained the reason.
“We’re on the first floor, so we’ll part here. Let’s go, Rachel.”
“Huh? Well then, see you at lunch break.”
Kent and his companions arrived at the school and parted ways with Caro and Rachel, who were first-year students.
“Rachel-san seemed quite sleepy. We were working together, but she didn’t show that expression while working.”
Josette, who had spent more time with Rachel this morning, mentioned that she hadn’t seemed particularly different during work.
“Maybe she just lost steam on the way to school. She seemed to be working on something.”
“I don’t know what kind of work it was, but she must have been working hard, sacrificing sleep. Rachel-san has good grades, so if it comes down to it, she might be able to sleep in class.”
Kent mentioned that she seemed to have been working at night, and Patty also seemed concerned about Rachel.
“Yo, Kent. Good job with the remedial class yesterday.”
“What, it’s Bobby.”
“Saying ‘what’ is pretty cold.”
When Kent entered the classroom, Bobby greeted him.
“Good morning, Bobby-san. You two always greet each other the same way every morning.”
“Good morning, Bobby-san.”
“Good morning to you too, Josette-san and Patty-san. Being greeted by two beauties in the morning makes me want to work hard all day.”
When Josette and Patty greeted Bobby, he returned the greeting with a happy expression.
“We’ll talk later for now.”
“Yeah, let’s talk after we’re ready.”
Kent said that to Bobby and went to his seat.
“Hmm?”
“What’s wrong, Patty-san?”
As Kent sat down and prepared his things, Patty, who sat next to him, seemed a little off, and Kent called out to her, concerned.
“Hmm, maybe it’s just my imagination, but I think there’s a strange smell coming from my desk.”
“Huh?”
“Hmm, it’s like squid, or maybe chestnut flowers…”
Patty put her nose on her desk and sniffed.
“P-probably just your imagination, right?”
“R-right. I’m just being too sensitive. Ahaha.”
Kent had a clue as to the cause of the smell. If Caro sniffed it, she would definitely identify it, but fortunately, Patty’s sense of smell was only average, so Kent managed to brush it off with a cold sweat.
