Sleep Deprivation

The long night finally ended, and morning came.

“I’m seriously tired…”

“It’s only Wednesday, so we’ve still got a long way to go…”

“I’m feeling pretty worn out too.”

Because the interrogation had dragged on late into the night, everyone except Catherine was running on little sleep. I went to retrieve the IC recorder, while the others headed out to prepare the shop for opening.

After collecting the IC recorder and returning home, I began analyzing the audio. As a result, there didn’t seem to be any particularly notable movement at this point.

After that, we all headed to school and went to our respective classrooms.

“Good morning, Kent-kun.”

“Morning.”

“You look sleepy today. Were you up late?”

The girl sitting next to me asked.

“Yeah. I might be a bit sleep-deprived.”

“I see. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

“Thanks.”

Classes started, but since I kept dozing off, I barely listened to the morning lessons. When lunchtime arrived, we gathered at our usual spot behind the school building. I didn’t have the energy to make lunch today, so I brought bread from the shop instead.

“Oh? No boxed lunch today?”

Josette said, sounding disappointed.

“Sorry. I was too sleepy to make one.”

“That’s understandable. You were nodding off all through class, Kent-san. It was quite entertaining to watch from behind,”

Josette added with a smile.

Her seat was a little behind mine, so she had a clear view of me.

“By the way, that girl sitting next to you recently… um, what was her name again? She’s gotten pretty familiar with you, hasn’t she?”

“Huh? Big brother, are you getting attention from someone? Tell us, tell us,”

Rachel leaned in eagerly.

“I’d like to hear more too,”

Caro said.

At Josette’s remark, Rachel and Caro both leaned forward, eyes shining.

“And Kent-san, you keep staring at her chest. It looks like you can see right through the gap in her clothes.”

“What?!”

Josette said that to Rachel and Caro, and I blurted out without thinking.

“Oooh, her chest, huh. Is she well-endowed?”

Rachel asked teasingly.

“So… having a chest really is important to you, Kent-san…”

Caro said softly, pressing her own chest together a little.

“It’s normal-sized! And I only saw it by accident.”

“Is that so? It didn’t look that way to me,”

Josette pressed, piling on.

“Enough about chests already… She’s just been talking to me more lately. I mean, yeah, I looked, but all the other guys are looking too.”

“When you’re a commoner at this age, you kind of have to accept it. If I hadn’t met you, big brother, I’d probably be getting stared at by the other boys too,”

Rachel said.

“Me too. If Kent-san hadn’t helped me, I think I’d be in the same situation,”

Caro added.

Unless they came from wealthy families, commoners couldn’t afford expensive undergarments to wear under their uniform shirts in this world, which made their chests visible. For the boys, it was eye candy, but for the girls, it was uncomfortable being constantly watched.

“By the way, big brother.”

“Yeah?”

“The bras Caro-san and I are wearing—other girls seem curious about them. Could we sell them or something?”

“I’ve been asked about them by quite a few people too,”

Caro said.

“If we know the sizes, it wouldn’t be hard, but we can’t exactly sell them at school, right?”

Commercial activity was prohibited on school grounds. There was an exception for the building with the cafeteria, where designated vendors sold stationery and such. Since Prim essentially ran the cafeteria, that route might be negotiable, but the stationery vendors belonged to a different merchant group.

“Then maybe we could ask Marie-san to stock them?”

Rachel suggested.

“A bakery selling things unrelated to food or bread feels a bit off… I’ll think of a better idea.”

With that, I glossed over the topic of the girl next to me and postponed the issue of selling bras as well.

After school ended, I retrieved the IC recorder planted at Etsigoya’s place, returned home, and analyzed the audio.

“What?! The arson failed?”

“Yes. The one who tried to set the fire was caught just before carrying it out and taken away.”

“Don’t tell me… he didn’t talk about me, did he?”

“I don’t know that much.”

It sounded like Etsigoya was talking to someone who was probably an employee. While Etsigoya was clearly shaken, Baron Kroise seemed to enter the scene.

“Hey, I heard about it, Etsigoya. You really went and did something reckless.”

“M-My lord Kroise!”

“I apologize. Acting on my own and then failing…”

“Don’t ruin my carefully laid plans with thoughtless actions.”

“Yes. I will make this up to you, without fail.”

From the conversation, it seemed the attempted arson at Marie’s bakery had been Etsigoya’s decision alone.

“Looks like the delay in the plan was the real problem. If everything had gone as planned, we could’ve acted before Marie’s bakery gained strength. But that sharp Baron Frederick—the inspector—caught on to my plan and started investigating, causing a major delay.”

“Indeed. If not for his interference… It took time to fabricate documents and frame him for misconduct so he could be detained. It’s because I lacked the power… my apologies.”

“No, he’s sharp and has a strong sense of justice. It couldn’t be helped that it took time. But he’s already detained and just awaiting punishment. Serves him right.”

If not for this Baron Frederick, things might already have gone exactly as Baron Kroise and Etsigoya wanted. Thinking that, I felt grateful to a man whose face I’d never even seen.

“Very well… I’ll go speak to Marie’s bakery myself. I’ll use noble authority to force them into our camp. Besides, isn’t the shop owner rumored to be a beautiful woman with a child? If I like her, I might even make her my mistress.”

“It’s true. She was already famous for her looks, but lately people say she’s become even more beautiful. I’m sure you’ll take a liking to her, Lord Kroise. Heh heh heh.”

Hearing that Marie was being targeted made me feel sick as I listened.

“Then I’ll go handle it personally tomorrow evening. Stay sharp, Etsigoya.”

“Understood.”

“Hm? What’s that golden, cat-like ornament?”

“That’s a charm said to bring good fortune, gifted to my shop by a duke’s household. Apparently they liked our bread recently, so it was given as a token of appreciation.”

“Oh? That looks like quite a fine piece. If we can establish ties with a duke’s household, we might aim even higher. We’ll have to proceed carefully and avoid failure.”

“Exactly so.”

I took off my earphones and closed the notebook where I’d been recording the conversation.

Then I got ready to head out and made my way to Josette’s house.