The Baking Club That Can't Bake - 3
They say people never change. Personally, I agree. Looking back on four years of civil service, people aren't something you fix—they're a species you can barely hate enough. Sorry, Nature. For putting people on this planet.
But if someone asked me now whether a person can be fixed, I'd answer without hesitation. With enough effort, they absolutely can!
This big brother rarely cries, but I'm about to tear up.
A few days ago, after advice that became his blood and bone, Erich had managed to change. Watching with quiet satisfaction, I saw him glued to Luise's side, pouring himself into baking.
"When it's like this, you do it this way!"
"Oh, I see."
Luise taught Erich with a face full of bright smiles and pure passion. Honestly, Erich didn't look so much obsessed with baking as he did simply happy to hear Luise's voice—but that was exactly why I'd given him the advice in the first place. Well done. Proud of you, Erich. Go on and conquer Luise.
For several days after that, Erich seized the lead in the five-man dead-heat race of hopeless cases. Sensing the crisis, the other four finally started making half-hearted attempts at baking. But Erich, having claimed the high ground for the first time, had no intention of surrendering it with his eyes open. He deftly deflected every interference and held his position to this day.
That part still irritated me a little. The guy could do it if he actually tried—so what the hell had he been doing until now?
Still, he should be fine on his own from here.
I'd only resorted to shock therapy because watching Erich had been so painfully frustrating, but I was hardly in any position to give romantic advice in the first place. Now that he'd broken through that frustration and leveled up, it was time to trust him. I was an inspector and an advisor—not some guy who rigged love affairs.
"Wow, Erich's getting good now too!"
Look at those corners of his mouth climbing.
Caught between pity and pride as I watched the two of them, my eyes met Luise's. She smiled softly and dipped her head a little, so I returned the nod.
Thank you for being so good to my hopeless little brother… Granted, she was the one who'd enchanted him in the first place, but that was the power of the original work—force majeure. From now on, that was how I would think of it. Luise was a faultless, blameless child.
The weakest link Erich's rebellion lasted for several days. No—wrong phrasing. The strongest player Erich's reign lasted for several days. Pulling ahead of a lineup of star-level men that included royalty? The family head would be thrilled. The Crassius family's child-rearing harvest was looking abundant this year.
"Advisor. Do you have a moment?"
I was about to leave the clubroom in high spirits when Later, who for some reason had stayed until the very end, stopped me. I'd more or less expected him to speak up. He must have had business with me if he'd bothered remaining last.
"Sure. What is it?"
I had no idea what that business might be, so I offered Later a seat and brought down the cookie jar from the shelf. Luise still produced an overwhelming volume compared to Erich, so the jar was packed with her cookies.
Later's mouth twitched slightly at the sight of the jar. What on earth had the royal chefs been feeding this guy to make his palate so ridiculously picky? I'd only brought them in case the talk ran long and he got bored, but it looked like I'd be eating them myself. They were delicious, at least.
Later watched in silence as I casually took a cookie and put it in my mouth. He tapped the desk a few times with his index finger, lost in thought. Then, as if reaching a decision, he spoke.
"You're busy with any number of things, so I won't beat around the bush."
Contrary to Later's assumption, my life right now wasn't particularly busy. The six gathered in the club were, miraculously, behaving themselves, so I had nothing to clean up after. I could almost be grateful for that.
…No, wait. What the hell am I thinking? I came to the Academy because of those bastards. Is this that Stockholm syndrome thing? Was I just defending my own tormentors?
Setting aside those horrifying, tragic inner thoughts, I nodded my agreement. Later then said exactly what he meant, without any detour.
"Did you push Erich forward, Advisor?"
I had just put a second cookie in my mouth and had no choice but to look at him. Interpreting my silence however he liked, Later continued.
"A few days ago, after you stepped out with Erich, his behavior became noticeably more proactive."
Of course it did. After I'd verbally beaten him without mercy, if he still hadn't changed he wouldn't even count as human. At the very least, my little brother fell into the category of normal people.
"And from that point on, your gaze often turned toward Erich."
It would have. I believed my brother would change, but the possibility that the advice hadn't landed still made me anxious, so I'd watched with a trembling heart. Fortunately, Erich had taken the lead in the race and put that anxiety to rest.
"So I couldn't help but think that Erich had begun acting after receiving your advice."
Then Later fell silent again and simply watched me. It could have meant Is my guess correct? or Do you have anything to say? Only Later himself would know which. The guy barely changed expression to begin with.
"You're right. I gave Erich advice—as his older brother."
At my calm admission, Later let out a small sigh. I recognized that one. It was the reaction you get when a guess you desperately hoped was wrong turns out to be true. I'd been on the receiving end plenty of times.
"Advice as an older brother. I see."
"Is there a problem?"
"Not exactly. I simply hadn't anticipated your involvement."
Saying that, Later laced his fingers on the desk and tilted his head to one side.
"The five of us—myself included, and Erich as well—had all been holding ourselves in check."
I knew that perfectly well. I was the one who'd watched it from the closest seat.
From the outside it was a frustrating game of reading the room, but the behavior wasn't completely incomprehensible. The five had only been able to meet Luise after enrolling, and the other four competing over her were facing that situation for the first time too. You had to figure out what kind of people your rivals were before you could sense how to move.
In short, the highborns had simply carried their high-society habits straight into the Academy.
"That standoff collapsed the moment Erich stepped forward. And he did it with the title of being the first to approach Luise proactively."
Later sighed again, as if the situation Erich had shaken felt bleak.
"There are times when moving quickly—rather than taking your time—is the correct answer."
At that almost lamenting remark, I momentarily lost my composure despite the fact that the person in front of me was royalty.
What is with this bastard.
If he was sharp enough to notice that Erich's actions were the result of my goading, then he at least possessed basic social awareness. Very basic, but still. That meant he almost certainly already knew the importance of "stepping forward first" that had just come out of his own mouth.
In fact, while the intelligence-degeneration suspects blinded by love were fumbling around, Erich had broken free of the standoff, chosen a straight line, and gotten results. Exactly as Later said—when it came to Luise, fast and proactive action was the correct answer.
After a brief internal debate, I let out the words I'd been keeping to myself. If he was going to grab me and pour all this out, I could probably be a little honest too without major consequences.
"You knew that… and still did nothing?"
At my near-muttered words, Later had nothing to say either. He quietly averted his gaze.
Suffocating silence settled over the clubroom.
After Later left and I was alone, I looked at the seat he'd occupied only moments before.
What a novel specimen.
A laugh slipped out on its own. Recalling the last thing Later had said right before leaving, I couldn't hold it back.
"I would prefer that you simply watch, Advisor."
That had been the true purpose of this conversation, spoken only after ten seconds that felt like ten minutes, from a Later who seemed embarrassed by his own spectacular blunder and kept his mouth shut. Not merely that I shouldn't give Erich more advice—he wanted me to stay completely out of the five-way competition altogether.
He must have been uneasy. If Erich continued receiving my help going forward, the match would be over before it began. But telling me not to help Erich specifically would have been too blatant, so he expanded the scope to the competition itself. Since I had no intention of helping anyone but Erich anyway, it amounted to the same thing.
Of course, I'd already planned to leave the rest of the competition entirely to Erich, so I nodded along appropriately. That seemed to put him at ease. Later's expression loosened a little, and he even apologized for making such a rude request. It didn't leave a particularly bad taste, so I accepted the apology too.
"Have I been underestimating the kids too much?"
Without realizing it, I'd been treating the five members as nothing more than the love-blinded male leads from the original story. Five years after being isekai'd into this world, I already knew that the people here weren't flat characters who moved like they were in a novel—and yet I'd still taken these five lightly.
Honestly, watching that stomach-turning game of reading the room, it was hard not to write them off as simple cases of intelligence degeneration. Anyone else would have done the same. There was a shortest conquest route right there—why dance a tap routine on top of it instead of walking it?
Even so, the way Erich changed after my advice, and the way Later tried to break through a disadvantageous situation, showed that the five of them had diverse, non-simple patterns of behavior. Seeing that directly left me in a rather pleasant mood. It made me think that maybe they weren't just enchanted by the power of the original work—maybe they were genuinely, sincerely falling for her and putting in the effort.
"Do well while keeping things within reasonable bounds."
I hummed to myself and popped another cookie into my mouth. I wouldn't throw my weight behind any particular person, just as Later wished—but if the competition deepened in an ugly direction, I'd have to step in immediately and tear them apart.
Come to think of it, was this pleasant feeling just my defense mechanism sensing a future of suffering between the five of them? You need to be in a good mood if you're going to last long while getting crushed in the middle.