22. When Friendliness Becomes Charm
22. When Friendliness Becomes Charm
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"Hmm...."
"Skadi, why do you look like you've been chewing on shit?"
"I don't."
"That's not what your face says... Did I do something again?"
"The fact that you're freeloading at my place is a nuisance in itself."
"Aha?"
Something felt off.
Somewhere, something felt off.
It was quite annoying.
I knew the reason.
It was honestly true that I was annoyed because of that little brat Noah, and frankly, there wasn't anything else to be annoyed about.
I wasn't on my period, and I always handled the hot weather by making ice myself.
"Hey."
"Whaaat."
"Never mind."
"......Is something really wrong? I know it's vacation, but is the convenience store revenue so hopelessly low that you have to close down?"
"......Sigh."
Still an annoying bitch.
I tried to get some help, but... nothing had changed since childhood.
.
.
.
That's that.
I still had to go to work today.
It was my job, and I wasn't sick, so naturally, I went to work.
Even if I leave early because it's vacation.
Regardless of that... I almost always went to work early.
Actually, since it's vacation, there were parts that required me to work from the morning, and the graduate students who come in the morning always buy coffee.
Plus, the other staff working at the Academy have a lot to do.
"Yaaawn...."
Checking inventory... checking items, checking expired goods, and as I spent time doing that, people started coming into the convenience store one by one.
It was no different from the past few months or years.
And it would be the same in the future.
"Owner-nim."
"That'll be 42 Coopers in total."
"Thank you...."
Actually, Noah isn't that special.
Aside from Noah, some students stay at the Academy to study or fulfill credit requirements.
So it wasn't exactly empty.
Aside from Noah's weird mentor, there were quite a lot of passionate nags.
So some students, especially in magic, often had to settle for simple meals because of their research.
"Owner-nim, how much is all of this?"
"...16 ice creams? The prices vary by type... but since you bought so many, I'll just charge you 8 Coopers each, so 128 Coopers."
"Oh.... really?"
"Would I say that if it were fake?"
"I'm grateful."
"But why are you buying so much ice cream?"
"Ah, I lost a bet."
"Aha."
Plus, it's summer.
This was common.
Nothing beats ice cream in hot weather, and things like that here... were hard to store easily.
Even though it's a world with magic, ice made with magic was quite different from real ice.
Plus, if it were ice made with magic... naturally, it would have to be much, much more expensive.
Ice cream was selling like hotcakes every day.
So, even though there's a freezer inside the convenience store, there was a much larger freezer in the annex warehouse.
And there were several boxes of ice cream piled up in there right now.
"...Should I have some ice cream?"
I was just sitting there calculating, but for some reason, I felt like it today.
So I took one out of the freezer and started licking it alone.
"Delicious."
Cold and sweet.
Good.
I'm a Snow Woman, but I wouldn't melt just by sitting still, and that part was usually handled by draining my mana.
I didn't usually consume cold food like ice or ice cream often.
Of course, I did put ice in most of the water or drinks at home.
"......Hmm, should I take one when I go home?"
She's a damn friend, but she doesn't like the heat either.
If I take one and toss it to her, she'll stay quiet.
I kept licking the ice cream alone, and when it started to melt, I froze it again and repeated the licking.
Since if the ice cream I was eating melted and dripped... it would fall on my chest too often.
I didn't want to get anything on my blouse, and I didn't want it to drip.
Even if it fell on the floor, it was my store anyway.
"......."
"Noona, are you eating ice cream?"
"......."
That damn brat walked in while I was licking the ice cream alone.
Young as he is, he doesn't even greet adults properly.
He didn't make eye contact, didn't say a word, and just followed his young, cute, firm childhood friend.
"Noona?"
The way he stood in front of the counter and spoke naturally, just like usual, reminded me of yesterday, and that made me feel a bit annoyed.
He usually talked so happily, but he didn't do that yesterday.
I just didn't like how he was trying to act like usual now.
It wasn't that I was sulking for a weird reason.
It's not that I dislike that a guy who said he liked me is suddenly acting differently; it's a person-to-person issue.
"Hey."
"Yes."
"You, what was that yesterday?"
So I decided to just speak my mind.
No, to be precise, I asked this brat a proper question.
It was right to hear his thoughts first instead of lecturing him myself.
"Uh...."
"Why are you ignoring people? You came in, didn't even greet me. You only talked to your friend. What was that?"
Basically, there's such a thing as courtesy, and I thought ignoring people was discourteous.
Especially if you already knew them.
It's only natural to do so even more.
Even if the situation is ambiguous, just a simple nod would be enough.
But he didn't even do that.
Not making eye contact was rude.
"Ah...."
"You'd better explain it in a way that makes sense."
I said my piece and gave Noah a chance to explain.
I couldn't not give him a chance.
He's young, and he might have had his own thoughts, so I kept looking at Noah after speaking.
Still licking the ice cream.
"I did it because I didn't want to cause trouble for Noona for no reason."
"Trouble?"
"Yes, trouble. If I talked to Noona there, other people might think it's strange. Then, it would be annoying for Noona, too."
A question arises from his explanation.
To say other people might think it's strange... it was trouble right now.
He had done it until now.
It was honestly laughable that Noah himself was saying this, to the point where I wanted to sigh.
"You've always talked to me like this in the convenience store."
"Ah."
"You talked to me like we were close even when other people were around, so why are you doing this now?"
"Ah. Um.... that's true, but she's a close friend of mine. Since she's a close friend. If I showed that kind of behavior, there might be a bit more of a reaction...."
"......."
"If that happens, I thought it would be trouble for Noona. And I thought speaking ambiguously would be even worse."
There was no feeling of lying in his expression as he said that.
Rather, the feeling of being sorry was stronger.
But the more I listened, honestly, I almost laughed.
It was because he was a guy who had already shown some connection with me to Iris, that black-haired childhood friend.
Did he forget that?
It happened before vacation, so that could be it.
"Don't you remember when your friend came looking for you while you were resting in my break room right before exam period?"
"......Did... that happen?"
"You were studying, I even gave you coffee. While you were studying in the break room, that girl came into the convenience store looking for you."
"......That happened...."
The girl named Iris had already seen Noah spending time in the convenience store.
She didn't seem to care much back then.
Since no weird rumors started regarding that incident, at least that girl Iris would never do anything bad.
"She came to find you because of some club activity or something, right?"
"...Ah."
"Did you remember?"
"...That did happen. I was so tired for a while, I briefly forgot."
"......Sigh."
I felt like an idiot for thinking seriously.
His childhood friend came looking for him because of him, and he somehow forgot that.
Is he still just an immature brat who I don't need to think too seriously about?
He only got a bit taller.
He was still just a brat.
I was annoyed because he suddenly ignored me when he usually approached me and talked to me like this, but hearing this, I was just dumbfounded.
I also thought it was right to listen to the conversation....
"Sigh."
"I'm sorry. I did it because I didn't want to cause trouble for Noona. Actually, I don't think there was any need to go that far."
"To begin with, I'm not some Academy professor, just a convenience store owner. Why are you overthinking it? If someone saw, they'd think I was someone really important."
"......."
Really, he was such a brat with short-sighted thinking.
If he was going to be careful about talking to me, he should have done it a long time ago.
Doing it now was just a nuisance.
"Just treat me comfortably."
"...Yes."
"Right, you're going to meet that childhood friend today anyway, right?"
"I have a lunch appointment in a little while."
"Really? Then take an ice cream each before you leave. Not just yours, but one for your childhood friend too."
Since the thing I was annoyed about was much less than I thought.
Naturally, my mood improved.
So I told Noah to take some ice cream.
It wasn't anything else, just two ice creams.
It didn't matter, and I could easily give a service item in the summer.
"Hmm...."
On one hand, I thought about bringing up Iris, Noah's childhood friend.
But thinking about that black-haired girl's expression.
Even if I didn't do anything separately, I'm sure she'll handle it well on her own.
So I just decided not to say anything.
"Tsk tsk...."
Right now, Noah is only attracted to me, which is why he's like this.
But later, if that friend Iris approaches him just a little bit more.
If that childhood friend's unique familiarity crosses into charm.
It's certain that he'll fall for her in an instant after that.