Summer Vacation School Cafeteria

Several days had passed since Laura joined, and it became Friday.

Kent was taking remedial lessons as usual.

Since school would be closed on Saturday and Sunday, finishing today’s lesson would mean a two-day break.

“Kent-san, thank you for your guidance today as well.”

“I think your teaching method has become quite skillful too, Tia-sensei.”

“This is also thanks to Kent-san.”

Said Tia, who was sitting in a chair lined up next to Kent.

At the beginning of the remedial lessons, Tia stood at the teacher’s podium while Kent sat in a student’s seat, but as the days passed, Tia brought a chair to Kent’s desk to sit facing him, and as more days passed, she came to sit next to him.

Since they were conducting the lessons with their bodies close together, he could hear Tia’s breathing.

According to her, it was easier to memorize things by looking at the characters from the same direction rather than facing each other.

Kent thought there was probably no deeper emotion than that.

“Kent-san, what will you do for lunch? If you like, would you like to go to the school cafeteria together?”

“I don’t mind, but is it okay?”

Tia invited him to a meal.

During the period he was taking remedial lessons, he had been getting lunch from his terminal, so going to the cafeteria was fine, but Kent asked back because he thought Tia’s position might be compromised if someone saw her eating with a student.

“This is also part of the guidance. It’s just interacting with a student.”

“I see. Understood.”

Just as Kent gave his consent, the bell signaling the end of the morning classes rang.

“There aren’t many students, so I don’t think the cafeteria will be crowded, but shall we go?”

“Yes.”

Kent and Tia headed to the school cafeteria.

Due to school policy, there was a contract that the cafeteria must operate during long breaks even if only a single student comes in to study, so the cafeteria was open during the summer break while remedial lessons were being held.

However, it seemed that actual use of the cafeteria was rare, and during the summer break, bread supplies from Marie’s bakery were not provided.

“Oh, Kent-san. It’s rare for you to come here.”

“Huh? Where’s the rest of the cafeteria staff?”

“As you can see, there are no customers, so I’m doing it by myself today.”

Today, Prim alone was working at the school cafeteria.

Originally, she had been harassing Rachel along with Caro as one of Josette’s followers, but they had rarely seen each other since the distance between Kent and Caro shortened.

“Kent-san, who is this person?”

“Umm, this is Tia-sensei. I heard she was recently appointed.”

“Is that so? Hello, Tia-sensei.”

Since Prim asked about Tia, who was with him, Kent gave a brief introduction.

“Yes, hello. It’s tough since it’s so hot.”

Tia spoke kindly to Prim.

“So Prim-san, can I order?”

“Yes, certainly. Since it’s summer break right now, the menu we can offer has been reduced quite a bit, so I’m sorry.”

Since there was little usage, to save ingredients, there were only items that could be easily made as single dishes.

Course menus and set menus were all suspended.

“Then, I’ll have the … please. Have you decided, Sensei?”

“I think I’ll have the ….”

“Yes, understood. I’ll call you when it’s ready, so please wait a moment.”

Tia paid for the spot, and Prim, having received the order, went to the kitchen and started cooking.

“Heh. Your movements are quite good.”

“Wait, Kent-san, please don’t stare so much. It’s becoming embarrassing.”

Since no one else was around, Kent watched Prim from the counter.

Noticing that, Prim looked embarrassed.

“Kent-san, she’s troubled because you’re staring so much. Let’s sit down and wait.”

Reprimanded by Tia, Kent sat in a seat near the counter.

Tia sat opposite him and waited for the food to be ready.

“I think there are other students taking remedial lessons, but they don’t use the cafeteria, do they?”

“Yeah, you’re the first customers since summer break started. Well, you can tell by the menu, but it’s basically open in name only. I heard that most of the students who were taking remedial lessons finished their re-tests by yesterday. Once Kent-san’s lessons are over, I’ll be able to go on summer break too. Taking remedial lessons for all subjects must be tough. Is it going well?”

Since they were stationed near the counter and there were no other customers, they could converse normally even from a distance.

Kent spoke to Prim.

“Hmm, I wonder.”

To be honest, since he had been using the time for Tia’s sake from the first day, the remedial lessons hadn’t progressed at all.

Kent spoke ambiguously.

“Tia-sensei, aren’t you actually troubled because there’s nothing left to teach Kent-san?”

“Th-that’s not true… right?”

“Is that so? Actually, Kent-san is very smart, so maybe he’s the one teaching you instead. Hahaha.”

“Ahahaha… haa.”

Having the truth pointed out by Prim, Tia gave a strained laugh.

“Sorry to keep you waiting.”

The food was ready, so Kent and Tia went to the counter to pick it up, returned to their seats, and began eating.

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Thank you for the meal.”

“Thank you for coming. Good luck with the afternoon remedial lesson, Kent-san.”

Quickly finishing their meal and returning the finished dishes to the counter, Kent and Tia left the cafeteria.

School ended, and without going home, Kent headed directly to Rachel’s new shop.

“Sorry for the wait.”

“Good work on the remedial lessons, Big Brother.”

“Somehow, I don’t like it when you emphasize the ‘remedial lessons’.”

“Why? I only said the truth.”

When he entered the shop, Rachel was working on the opening preparations.

“Good work, Kent-san. Looking at the interaction between you two, I really feel that you’re family.”

Caro, who was watching the natural exchange between Kent and Rachel, said a bit sadly.

“So, how are the preparations?”

“Mmm, so-so, I guess.”

“Wait, you’re opening the day after tomorrow, right? Is it okay?”

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Not many customers will come at first anyway. Besides, since it’s a shop for nobles, customers won’t come rushing in like that.”

“If you say so…”

Rachel was thinking lightheartedly, but Kent was a bit anxious.

The interior and exterior had already been made beautiful, and shelves and showcases were arranged in the shop with products lined up.

For electricity, due to budget reasons, they installed solar panels with a lower capacity than those at Marie’s bakery.

Because of that, cooking appliances that use electric heat cannot be used at all, and it is limited to air conditioning, lighting, and refrigerators/freezers.

As for the water and sewage systems, equipment equivalent to that of Marie’s bakery has been installed.

“It’s a bit late for this, but is it okay to sell at these prices?”

“It’s fine. Even so, this is a reasonable price setting, you know?”

The products lined up were shampoo, conditioner, body soap, hand soap, face wash, body care lotion, and such; they seemed to be taking refill items that cost several hundred G per bag, transferring them to small bottles purchased for about 100 G, and selling them for a significant amount.

There wasn’t just one type of each, but multiple brands were available to suit preferences.

Also, cosmetics, perfumes, and such were lined up in the showcases.

In addition to that, things like salt, sugar, and spices, which cannot be easily obtained in this city, were placed in the corner of the shop.

All of these were items ordered from Kent’s terminal.

These were strictly items sold as a side business; the main business was a bakery.

Yes, it was a bakery.

The guild Marie belonged to was the Bakers’ Guild.

Because of that, there was a rule that if Marie opened a shop, she had to sell bread.

As long as bread was being sold, it was apparently fine to sell or provide other things as bonuses.

Incidentally, if you belonged to one guild, it seemed you couldn’t have overlapping memberships in other commercial guilds.

This was apparently decided to prevent a single person from occupying multiple industries, but since this method could be taken as long as items within the guild’s jurisdiction were kept, the original purpose was practically nonexistent.

Incidentally, the bread sales area was a tiny thing built in a spot near the register, almost as an apology.

The other half of the shop was used to create a snack corner for nobles.

This is where the original goal of providing ice cream would take place.

Tables and chairs that looked expensive were lined up, covered with tablecloths that also looked expensive.

Since the procurement source was a home improvement store, even if the appearance looked high-end, the prices were affordable.

Cheap wallpaper was applied to the walls, but it looked high-end.

“Even so… I was surprised that such a shop could be built with this budget.”

“It’s amazing, isn’t it? I’m going to make a fortune with this.”

Caro was impressed by Rachel, who had used the provided money efficiently to create a waste-free and effective store.