kscans

Chapter 852 - Refueling

The next day, after surviving my morning and afternoon lectures, I returned to the dormitory. It was just before dinner.

Today, our esteemed chef Kazuharu Chitose was out on business, which meant it was my turn to don an apron in the kitchen—not the two young ladies who possess no particular cooking skills.

Ms. Madoka, Kazuharu's mother and our other caretaker, had offered to cook, saying, "You must be busy, so I can handle it." But she already does so much to maintain the facility and handle various chores; I felt bad asking her to take on even more work.

Besides, the young ladies themselves had insisted, so it was a natural outcome. Whenever the private restaurant is closed, I'm generally the one who prepares meals for the three of us, plus a fourth serving for Ms. Madoka now that we've all become quite close.

To be perfectly honest, it's a lot of work.

It's a common saying that cooking for one, two, three, or even four people takes about the same amount of effort, but if I may offer my personal opinion on the matter: Of course it's different, don't be an idiot.

It's one thing if you only have to satisfy yourself, but when you're serving others, the difficulty ramps up right from the menu-planning stage. Furthermore, the time required for each step of the preparation, from chopping ingredients onward, multiplies with the number of people, and the same goes for plating and cleanup.

Whether you consider the work itself a chore is another matter, but my stance on that hasn't changed since I was a kid—and speaking from that perspective…

"—If we're talking about this as players, then Haru is right."

"Right? Sora and I discussed it thoroughly beforehand and decided…"

"But if I were in her shoes, I'd probably sulk too. So I'm on Sora's side. Haru, you're in the wrong."

"And that's… the heart of the matter, isn't it? Yes, yes, I'm well aware."

Well, regardless of the topic of conversation that colors our joint effort.

Putting aside actual culinary techniques, I have a super-excellent assistant who demonstrates fundamentally superhuman specs in every task she undertakes. The mere addition of that single factor to the situation is enough to completely erase the burden of handling dinner for multiple people, with change to spare.

"Still, I didn't really have any other choice… Making her wait around for two weeks while she was stuck with me would have been too much, and if Sora had taken a break to stay with me, the whole clan would've felt obligated to stop activities… and that, well, that just felt wrong."

I watched the glossy brown sauce simmer in the small pot, then turned off the stove.

"Tetra is one thing, but Ui-san and Kanata… they're like the living embodiments of motivation. It felt like a waste to drag them into it too."

Hyoi, I held out my hand to the side.

"That's true. …Though I did snatch one of them away."

In an instant, a small tasting dish was placed in my palm. Not one, but two—as always. I let out my usual wry smile, spooned a drop of the sauce, and tasted it.

"Well, that's that."

"Delicious."

We spoke at the same time, one a continuation of the conversation, the other a comment on the flavor.

It was an exceedingly peaceful scene, a tranquil moment… By the way, it's not that we're excluding her, but Nia-chan has voluntarily opted out of assisting with the cooking.

Perhaps she dislikes being compared to Sora, with her incredible cooking skills, or Ashe, whose specs transcend humanity. I hear she's currently training under Mitsueda-san's tutelage.

When I recently saw Mitsueda-san and asked about her progress, the perfect superhuman—who can apparently handle cooking flawlessly as well—just dodged the question with a vague smile and an "Ufufu~."

Who knows when she'll finally join the fray? And with that thought—

"Is it ready?"

"Yeah, it's… done. By the way, there's no taste-testing event over here."

"…Do you think I'm a glutton?"

An alarm from the timer called me to the steam oven. As I opened the door, I was greeted by the sight of a culinary treasure beloved by all, young and old alike: hamburgers.

They were plump, with a beautiful glaze on the surface—a rather fine result. A soft, appetizing aroma wafted through the air, and perhaps prompted by it, the glutton (Ashe), who had been staring intently with a blank expression, shot me a deadpan glare when I teased her.

"Alright, let's get this done quickly. Go ahead and set the table, Ashe-kun."

"Do you think I'm a glutton?"

"Oh, and we're delivering Ms. Madoka's portion to her room again today, so get the usual insulated container."

"Haru?"

And so, the Yotsuya dormitory continues its normal operation. After refueling with a perfect dinner—main dish, side dishes, a small accompanying bowl, and even soup, a complete three-course meal—

"Look at me."

"Ish wash a shoke. Shorry."

First things first. My partner is in a bad mood, which means… starting tonight, I'd better pick up the pace and throw myself into conquering the Key Tree Maze.

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It's only natural since she clearly uses more energy than a normal person. Eat up.