Eating With Rachel

“Big Brother, I wonder how many times the people next door have done it now?”

“At least three times since we entered.”

Since Kent and the others had entered the room, the excitement had continued in the room next door, and it had entered the third round since Kent and Rachel came in.

“Since we went into this kind of place, shall we do it too?”

“D-Don’t say stupid things. In the first place, there’s no way siblings can do something like that.”

Kent said that while being shaken by Rachel’s mischievous gesture.

“Honestly, Big Brother, you’re forcing yourself. In this world, you and I are strangers, so it would be fine even if we had that kind of relationship, you know?”

Saying that, Rachel pinched her own skirt and lifted it to about the point where her underwear could almost be seen.

“If you’re going that far, then I understand.”

Saying that, Kent pulled Rachel into his arms. The faint sweet scent was strangely pleasant.

“I-It was a joke. Honestly, Big Brother, don’t take it seriously.”

“Well, of course.”

Saying that, Kent put some distance between himself and Rachel. After that, things became a little awkward, but Rachel’s business seemed to be finished, so even though plenty of rest time still remained, they got ready and left the room.

“Big Brother, I’m hungry.”

“It’s been a fair amount of time since then, so shall we have lunch somewhere?”

Since the two had not had anything except drinks after eating roasted sweet potatoes, they were moderately hungry, so they searched for a shop to eat at.

“Then, Big Brother, how about this shop?”

“It looks like an incredibly expensive shop, though…”

The shop Rachel mentioned was the noble-oriented restaurant she had stopped by before on her date with Mark. However, because of the owner’s policy, even commoners could use it as long as they paid. That said, the prices were quite high, so among commoners, only a very small portion of the wealthy class could use it.

“Big Brother is treating me anyway, so let’s go in.”

“Hey, you.”

Rachel entered the shop without hesitation, and Kent had no choice but to follow after her.

“Welcome. A table for two?”

“Yes, two people.”

“Understood. Please come this way.”

The inside of the shop was relatively empty, and they were guided to their seats right away.

“This is my first time in a shop that looks this high-class.”

“Certainly, from a commoner’s perspective, shops like this don’t feel relaxing.”

“Then you shouldn’t have come in.”

“It’s fine to be luxurious once in a while, isn’t it? Big Brother, you’re earning a lot, right?”

Kent could not relax because of the shop’s atmosphere, but although Rachel said it did not feel relaxing, she had a calm expression. Then Rachel picked up the bell placed on the table and rang it.

“Have you decided on your order?”

A man in black clothes, a waiter who had been standing by behind them, spoke to Rachel.

“Yes. Then please give us two of this course.”

“Understood.”

When Rachel ordered, the waiter bowed and went to put the order through. (Incidentally, when she came with Mark, she was paying for herself, so she ordered something around the lower-middle range, but this time she was relying on Kent, so she chose the most expensive lunch menu without holding back.)

“Still, the decorations are really luxurious. It feels like nobles would use this place too.”

“Not ‘would use.’ This is a shop meant for nobles, you know?”

“Huh? Is it all right for commoners like us to come in?”

“We weren’t turned away at the entrance, right? This shop is fine.”

“I see.”

Kent did not understand their value, but the interior was decorated with luxurious and expensive-looking ornaments. He thought the chairs and tables Kent and Rachel were sitting at were also finely decorated and must be very good items.

“This is the appetizer.”

The meal began with an appetizer, then soup, a fish dish, a palate cleanser, a meat dish, dessert, and finally a drink, but each portion was small, and because Kent was nervous, he had no room to savor it. In the end, he did not even clearly remember what he had eaten. In contrast to Kent, Rachel seemed calm and appeared to be savoring each dish.

“Could it be that you often come to shops like this?”

“I don’t come often. It’s just that I happened to come to this shop once before.”

“I see.”

They finished eating and paid the bill. Since it was a high-class shop, they were charged quite a large amount, but Kent thought that eating out as siblings once in a while was nice too.

“Big Brother, thank you for the meal.”

“Yeah, but next time, I’d like somewhere a little kinder to my wallet.”

“You couldn’t really taste it, could you?”

“Yeah. A shop being too high-class makes it hard to relax.”

“I was like that the first time I came too. But this time, because I was with you, Big Brother, I had room to enjoy the taste.”

Rachel said that with satisfaction.

“Then shall we head back soon?”

“Yeah. I think you’re tired too, Big Brother, so it wouldn’t be good to drag you around too much. Then let’s go home.”

Rachel took Kent’s hand.

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

“It’s fine to at least hold hands, isn’t it? Don’t worry about it, and let’s go home.”

In the end, they headed home while holding hands with Rachel.

“Oh, Kent-san. You were out with Rachel-chan.”

“Ah, Marie-san, are you going out now?”

“Yes, I have a guild meeting now.”

On the way home, they met Marie.

“Marie-san, thank you for your hard work.”

“Rachel-chan, did you enjoy spending some private time as siblings?”

“Yes. I had fun. Marie-san, even though it’s your day off, having a meeting must be tough.”

“As long as I belong to the guild, it cannot be helped. Then I will be going.”

“Yes, take care.”

After parting with Marie, Kent and Rachel arrived in front of Kent’s house, then each returned to their own home.

“Ah, Kent-san, welcome back.”

When Kent returned home, Catherine was relaxing in the living room. There was juice and snack foods on the table, and she was spending her time leisurely.

“I’m back. Has Al come back?”

“No. She still hasn’t come back. Are you looking for Al-chan?”

“Not exactly, but I just thought I hadn’t seen her since this morning.”

“I see. I think she’ll come back casually before long, like usual.”

“Well, I suppose so.”

Al often went out, so the two of them did not worry much. She looked like a little girl, but she was stronger than most adults, and in an emergency, she could also hide herself, so they recognized that she would probably be fine.

“I’ll prepare some for you too, Kent-san. Wait a little, okay?”

“Ah, it’s fine. I’ll prepare it myself.”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Kent-san, please relax and rest.”

Saying that, Catherine headed to the kitchen to get Kent’s drink and snacks.

“We should start preparing dinner soon.”

After that, he spent a relaxed time with Catherine, and outside, the sun began to set and it gradually grew dark. In other households, dinner preparations began much earlier, but Kent’s house had well-equipped facilities, so they could prepare without spending that much time. Kent and Catherine began preparing dinner together.

“Mother is late.”

“I wonder if the meeting is taking longer.”

The food for three people was lined up on the table, and all that remained was to wait for Marie to return home.

“She usually isn’t this late.”

“That’s true. It can’t be helped, so shall the two of us eat first?”

“Yeah. I feel bad for Mother, but let’s eat first.”

A fair amount of time passed, but Marie did not return, so Kent and Catherine had no choice but to eat dinner first.