“Mom, Kent, you’re late. What were you doing?”
When Kent and Marie came out of the bath, Catherine spoke to them with a displeased expression.
“Sorry. There was a child who was a little too energetic, and Mom was comforting them.”
“Kent, Mom, you said we’re short on time, but did you do it again in the bath?”
“Ahahahahaha”
When Marie frankly explained the reason, Catherine, as expected, spoke in an angry tone. Kent and Marie, with no room for excuses, could only offer a dry laugh.
“Breakfast is ready, so hurry up and eat and come to the shop! Hanako and I are going ahead.”
“Catherine, what about Al?”
“Al went ahead. Well then, we’re off!”
“Yeah, he went ahead.”
According to Catherine, Al had already gone to the shop. As they were pressed for time, Catherine hurried out of the house with Hanako.
“Kent, let’s hurry up and eat and go to the shop too.”
“Y-yeah.”
If you call it their own fault, that’s all there is to it, but Kent and Marie quickly finished the breakfast Catherine had prepared and headed to Marie’s Bakery.
“Oh, good morning.”
“Good morning, everyone. I apologize for starting the opening preparations without you.”
Kent and Marie arrived at Marie’s Bakery significantly later than usual.
“Good morning. It’s unusual for my older brother and Marie to be late together.”
“Well, things happened.”
Rachel, who was cleaning near the entrance, stopped her work and spoke to them. Marie is the owner of the shop, and although she usually has a hard time waking her up in the morning, she is rarely late. Therefore, Rachel found it unusual, but as she came to work with Marie, she had some idea of what had happened.
“As expected, you had fun last night, didn’t you? What happened?”
“Rachel, this smell isn’t from last night, it’s from this morning. Good morning, Marie, Kent.”
As Rachel teased them, Caro approached and greeted them.
“Good morning, Caro-chan.”
“Good morning, Caro-san. And you, you just wanted to say ‘you had fun last night,’ didn’t you?”
“Ahahahahaha. My older brother is very popular, you know. I was just teasing.”
Kent and Marie returned Caro’s greeting. Then, Kent had a brief chat with Rachel as usual.
“Marie, monopolizing Kent all morning is too enviable!”
“Feel free to come over on your next day off. I’ll yield then.”
“Thank you, Marie. So, Rachel, you’re canceled for next time.”
“Ehhh!”
Rachel and Caro seemed to have made plans to stay over on their next day off. When it was suddenly canceled, Rachel let out a disappointed sound.
“Well, I guess I should get to work too.”
“Kent, please take care of me today as well.”
As time was running short, Kent and Marie hurried to get ready.
“Kent, could you please carry this to the warehouse in the back? It’s too heavy for me.”
“Uwah, that looks heavy. In times like these, I’d ask Elnet… oh, she’s not here.”
As Kent worked on the opening preparations for a while, Josette asked him to carry a heavy load to the warehouse.
“My older sister is participating in the annual general military exercise. Father is pleased that you’ve prepared so many things, which will help mitigate the cold somewhat.”
“That’s right. I’m glad the Duke was pleased. Well then, I’ll carry it for you. Here we go.”
“Thank you. Then, I’ll be counting on you.”
Elnet was absent because she was participating in the annual military exercise organized by the Kingdom. This exercise gathers almost the entire army of the Kingdom at the training grounds, where they split into two teams and conduct realistic combat training. The training lasts for three days, and including the travel time from the Royal Capital to the training grounds, it takes five days. Even in February, it is still cold outside, and spending the entire time camping is very difficult. Therefore, the Duke’s family asked Kent for assistance to boost their army’s morale, and Kent provided various cold-weather gear and food. Normally, Elnet handles the heavy labor, but in her absence, the physical work naturally fell to Kent, as he is a man.
“Kent, numbers 1 and 3 are baked, so please take them out.”
“Roger. Ouch, ouch.”
After finishing the task for Josette, Kent moved to the kitchen and helped Marie with bread making. While helping, he was asked by Marie to take the baked bread out of the oven, and he accidentally touched a hot part, causing a minor burn on his arm.
“K-Kent, are you okay?”
Marie, noticing this, dropped the dough dividing work and rushed to Kent’s side.
“I’m fine, I’m fine.”
“It’s red. Emily, could you help for a moment?”
“Yes!”
Kent said he was fine, but Marie looked worried and called for Emily.
“You called?”
“Kent has burned his arm.”
“Master, I’ll heal you now. There, it’s done. Does it hurt anywhere?”
“Thank you, Emily. The pain is gone thanks to you.”
Emily used recovery magic to heal Kent’s arm. Previously, healing magic was limited to injuries sustained within the shop, but her abilities improved, and now it can also be used in the vicinity of the shop. Furthermore, even injuries sustained in the town of Tiol can be treated with healing magic, although with reduced effectiveness. Thanks to these abilities, she now occasionally assists Catherine as a saintess in treating the impoverished who cannot afford a doctor.
“Master, please don’t overexert yourself.”
“Thank you, Emily.”
“Not at all, it is the duty of a contract fairy to protect my Master. Well then, I will return to work.”
Emily said so and returned to her work.
“Kent, please be careful with your injuries too.”
“Sorry for making you worry.”
Kent apologized to Marie with a word and returned to his work. Although there was a minor trouble, the opening preparations proceeded smoothly, and Marie’s Bakery reached its opening hours.
“Welcome. Please line up here to purchase bread. There are plenty of seats in the dining space. If you wish to use it, please enter the store directly.”
As soon as the opening hours began, customers rushed into the store all at once. This has become a daily scene, and the employees calmly carried out their respective tasks. Near the entrance, Patty was loudly guiding customers.
“Young lady, this is my first time at this shop, how should I proceed?”
“You are a first-time customer. Welcome to Marie’s Bakery. Regarding our system…”
Patty has also become accustomed to this job and is now dedicated to it with confidence. On this day, she explained things carefully to a customer who was visiting the shop for the first time, providing service that was sensitive to the customer’s needs.
“Rachel, table 1, order in.”
“Coming right up. I’ll prepare it super fast!”
“Rachel-san, table 2, order in!”
“Yes, yes, Al, can you take care of table 2?”
“Affirmative.”
In the dining space, Caro, Rachel, Josette, and Al worked in coordination. With simplified cooking and the fact that they all knew each other well, they could communicate and work with minimal conversation. As a result, the time from taking an order to serving the customer was overwhelmingly shorter compared to other restaurants, and customers appreciated being able to sit and eat even during the busy morning hours.
“The total is 480G. I’ll take one silver coin. Your change is 520G, which is 5 large copper coins and 2 copper coins. Thank you very much.”
“Yes, thank you.”
At the register, Catherine was handling the register, and Hanako was bagging the items. Previously, Catherine, who was not good at calculations, had worked hard and could now calculate change in her head without using the register. Hanako doesn’t talk much, but she is fast at her work and finishes bagging the items while Catherine is handling the payment with the customer.
“Kent, it’s almost time to go to school. Could you call the others?”
“Ah, is it that time already? Understood.”
Marie, who was working in the workshop, stopped her work and told Kent to get ready to go to school.
“It’s almost time to go to school.”
“Oh, it seems so.”
“Patty, it’s almost time to go to school.”
“Yes, I’m coming now.”
“The peak of the crowd has passed, so the shop seems to be okay now.”
When Kent called out, Josette, Rachel, Patty, and Caro gathered.
“Well then, let’s change and meet up.”
” ” ” “Yes” ” ” ”
They wear the shop’s uniform while working, so they need to change into their school uniforms and meet again after changing.
“Alright, everyone is here. Then, we will head to school.”
As the students, who had changed into their school uniforms, gathered, Josette gave the order to leave the shop and head to school. Just then.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang. Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang.
“Older brother, I can hear the bells. Could there be a fire somewhere?”
“It seems so. Let’s confirm the source of the fire for now.”
The sound of intense bells echoed through the town. Since Kent came to this town, there have been several fires. Each time, the handbells installed in multiple locations in the town have rung. Rachel and Kent looked around the vicinity to see if there was any sign of fire.
“Normally, it should ring near the origin of the fire, but this time it sounds like it’s ringing in multiple places. Is it a big fire?”
Normally, in case of a fire, the handbell closest to the origin of the fire rings to indicate its location, but this time, multiple locations were ringing simultaneously. Patty, who had been listening, said with a puzzled expression.
“Josette, Caro, what’s wrong?”
“What happened to both of you? Your faces are as pale as a sheet.”
Kent, who had been looking around thinking it was a fire, noticed that Josette and Caro’s faces were pale. Rachel also noticed Kent’s voice and spoke to them with a surprised expression.
