Kent was sleeping.
Someone placed something against Kent’s mouth. Kent, still groggy from fatigue, felt like someone was kissing him. The scent was similar to Marie’s, so he thought it was Marie and responded by entering with his tongue.
“Hya…nnn, fuaa…”
Marie (?) seemed to hesitate for a moment, but then inserted her tongue back into Kent’s. They shared a deep kiss. Kent suddenly desired Marie’s body and reached out to touch her chest, grabbing hold of it. However, his hand seemed to have grasped something with only a slight protrusion, not Marie’s ample breasts.
“Kyaan. It tickles.”
(Marie is making a cuter sound than usual)
Kent thought to himself and pulled Marie (?) closer.
(Huh? Was Marie this small?)
Kent, filled with a sense of wonder, gradually regained consciousness. He realized that the person he was hugging was not Marie, but Catherine.
“Kent-san, you’re too rough. You startled me,” Catherine said, having confirmed that Kent had opened his eyes.
“G-Gomen. I think I was a little groggy.”
Kent apologized to Catherine.
“It’s okay, Kent-san. I was happy too. I want you to touch me a little more.”
Suddenly, he found himself curious and looked towards Marie. She was sleeping soundly on her back, belly exposed, snoring away.
“You can ignore Mother for now. Just look at me.”
With that, Catherine snuggled into Kent. Resigning himself to the fact that it had already happened, Kent embraced Catherine, and they drifted back to sleep.
“Kent-san, it’s morning. Let’s get up soon. Chu!”
“Ah, good morning, Catherine. I’m sorry about last night; I was groggy and did something I shouldn’t have.”
“It’s fine; I’m okay,” Catherine said with a smile.
“Mother, it’s morning. From today, we’re back at the shop.”
Catherine tried to wake Marie, who was sleeping beside her. Marie was in the same position as last night, but not quite—her lower body was exposed. Her pants and the lower half of her jersey were thrown outside the covers. Kent couldn’t help but stare at Marie’s exposed lower half.
“I haven’t really looked closely before, but this is what it looked like.”
“Kent-san, your eyes are lewd. If you want to look that much, I’ll show you mine too?”
“No, Catherine, you don’t have to go that far.”
Kent hastily stopped Catherine, who was about to reach for her jersey pants.
“Marie-san, it’s morning. Let’s get up.”
Kent said gently.
“…N, Faaaaa. Good morning, Kent-san. Huh? It feels breezy down here.”
Marie seemed to have woken up and felt a strange sensation in her lower body.
“Huh? Wasn’t I wearing pants? I don’t remember doing anything with you last night…”
Looking puzzled, Marie picked up her pants and jersey, and put them back on.
“Well then, Kent-san, could you go check on the person you brought here yesterday? It’s still early, so if they’re sleeping, let them rest.”
At Marie’s request, Kent quietly entered his room. Elnet was sleeping soundly, snoring lightly on Kent’s bed. As Kent leaned over to peek at her face, Elnet grabbed him and pulled him into bed.
“Whoa!”
He tried to pull away in a panic, but with her surprising strength, Kent’s freedom was taken away. She hugged him tightly and kissed him.
“Kent, I love you!”
It turned out to be Elnet’s sleep talk. Hearing the commotion, Marie and Catherine entered the room in surprise.
“Kent-san, what’s happening?”
“Kent-san, is everything alright?”
With some help from Marie and Catherine, he finally managed to escape.
“Thank you, Marie-san, Catherine.”
After the three of them ate breakfast, they left Elnet to sleep and headed towards the shop to prepare for opening.
“Older brother, thank you for yesterday. You really helped me out.”
“Good morning, Akane. Are you planning to make some cosplay outfits?”
“Something like that. Making Marie’s work clothes pattern the other day really inspired me,” Rachel said with a vibrant expression from early in the morning, as if she had found her goal. Her sister had previously made cosplay costumes for doujinshi events in her old world and had often participated as a cosplayer. Her skill in costume making was highly regarded by those who attended the events.
“Alright, everyone. I’m counting on you again today.”
Marie’s Bakery opened after the preparations were complete. As soon as the doors opened, customers who had been waiting rushed into the store. It seemed like it would be a busy day again.
“Older brother, it’s almost time for school.”
“It’s time to get ready to head out.”
Kent and Rachel prepared to go to school. He checked on Elnet just in case, but she was still sleeping, so they left her be. School began, and Kent entered his classroom.
“Morning, Kent-kun. Did you have a good rest over the weekend?” Patty, who sat next to him, asked.
“Good morning. Actually, I went to Samput town over the weekend, so I might not have rested much.”
“I see. Speaking of which, we have tests starting next week. Since you’re top of the class, Kent-kun, you should be fine, but I’m always at the borderline for passing. If I fail, I’ll have summer school.”
“That would be troublesome. If possible, I might need you to help out at the shop full-time as well, so perhaps we could have a study session this Saturday?”
“Eeeh, I’m so happy! If Kent-kun helps me, I think I can avoid failing this time.” Patty said happily, pleased that Kent would help her study.
“If you’re having a study session, count me in,” Josette chimed in. Perhaps conscious of the eyes around them, she spoke in a slightly haughty tone. Patty let out a wry smile.
“It must be tough being a duke’s daughter.”
“It is. I have to maintain a certain dignity, so it’s quite difficult,” Josette whispered so others couldn’t hear.
In the end, they agreed to hold the study session on Saturday for Patty.
“A study session? Can I join too?”
“That’s right, we have tests next week. I need to work hard so I don’t lose to Caro this time.”
During lunch break, they usually ate behind the school building. However, the shop had become busy, leaving no time to prepare lunch. So, they decided to eat at the school cafeteria. Of course, they used the self-service section again. With Josette by his side, they were drawing curious stares from those around them, but they decided to ignore it. When the test was mentioned, Caro and Rachel said they would participate as well. The four gathered here were the top and second-ranked students in the first and second years. While Caro didn’t seem to be studying, Josette was working hard and maintaining a high academic standing. By the way, Kent and Rachel didn’t study at all. The content was so simple, at an elementary school level, that they had no motivation to study. In the end, with Caro and Rachel joining, Kent became slightly more motivated. The lunch break ended, and they dispersed.
After school.
“Kent-kun, shall we go home together?”
Since they now worked at the same part-time job and their routes home were the same, Patty had been walking home with him lately. Today, Josette had some other business and had already left. They met up with Rachel on the way, and the three headed towards their part-time job.
“W-Welcome.”
The clerk at Marie’s Bakery greeted them with a slightly awkward voice.
“Um, Elnet, what are you doing?”
“Huh? I decided to work here starting today. Nice to meet you, senpai!”
“Marie-san, what’s going on?”
Kent asked Marie, who was working on the floor in a maid uniform.
“Around noon… she came into the shop and asked if she could work here, so I hired her. You know her, Kent-san, so it should be fine, right?”
“Hmm. Actually, I don’t know much about Elnet. I only know she’s a swordsman from a well-to-do family.”
“I see… However, we’re short-handed, so anyone willing to work full-time is welcome! Therefore, I’ll leave her training to you. I’m heading back to the workshop now.”
With that, Marie quickly retreated to the workshop. As there was no other choice, Kent spent the day training Elnet.
“Still, Kent, you’re amazing. I’ve fallen for you all over again,” Elnet suddenly said to Kent when the flow of customers briefly subsided.
“What’s this all of a sudden?”
“You seem to know everything about this shop, Kent, and everyone relies on you! Plus, you give clear instructions. I could never do that.”
“Well, I basically built this shop myself. Ah, right, Elnet, you’re strong, aren’t you?”
“I think so.”
“In that case, could you give me a hand?”
Today, they had a delivery of wheat flour for one of the shops, which involved heavy labor.
“I need you to help me move the bags of flour, which are ingredients for our bread, to the front of the shop for when other bakeries come to pick them up.”
“That’s easy! Which ones should I carry?”
The two of them went to the storeroom in the back. There, they found bags of flour stacked up, prepared in advance.
“So, I just need to carry these.”
“I’ll go get a cart… Huh?”
Elnet effortlessly lifted two bags of flour, each weighing 25kg, onto her shoulders and carried them to the front of the shop.
“…I was going to get a cart because it’s heavy…”
Kent was astonished as Elnet easily carried two 25kg bags.
“Elnet-san…”
Kent spoke to Elnet as she returned after finishing the carrying.
“What? Did I do something wrong?”
“No, it’s not that. I was just going to say we could load them onto this and carry them all at once.”
Kent showed her the cart he had prepared and said.
“Oh, really? Sorry, sorry. Then I’ll load them up quickly.”
Watching Elnet easily load the cart with bags of flour, Kent was unsure what to say.
“This is kind of fun,” Elnet said, seeming to enjoy pulling the cart loaded with flour. In the end, Kent only gave instructions, and Elnet did all the carrying.
(I’ve secured valuable manpower, but I feel like I lost somehow…)
Kent thought this as he handed over the flour to the other bakery that had come to pick it up.
