50. Being Treated Like a Child
50. Being Treated Like a Child
The kids needed to work hard on their quests, but aside from that, they were also preparing for the Academy midterm exams.
It wasn't just about helping a friend solve their problems, after all.
It's not like they could just throw their grades away, right?
Katrina understood that part as well, and as the exams approached, she focused more on studying than on quests.
As the exam period drew closer, I also started to change how I ran the convenience store a little bit.
I kept the store open until much later in the evening than usual and stocked the shelves with plenty of caffeinated drinks.
I did exactly what I had done during the last final exams, and every exam period before that.
"Noona...."
"You look really tired. How are the exams going?"
"They're going okay, I guess. I didn't get everything right, but it's going much better than last time."
"That's a relief."
And so, the 2nd semester midterm exams.
Noah, along with most of the other students, became quite exhausted.
Of course, if we're talking about Noah, who was right in front of me, he was at least doing better than most.
"Aren't you tired, Noona? You've been staying open late lately."
"Well, it's not like I'm open 24 hours a day. I'm not that tired. The ones who should be more tired than me are kids like you."
"Kids... I suppose that's true."
With so many students in that haggard state typical of exam season, the caffeinated drink business was booming.
I'm not sure if I should be happy about that.
Regardless, from a business owner's perspective, I suppose it's the right way to think.
Ultimately, I was the one making a lot of money, and besides, they were the ones buying it because they wanted the caffeine, right?
From the kids' perspective, it would be better to get their caffeine cheaply and quickly.
Probably.
"By the way, how are your friends?"
"They're studying."
"Ah, I see. Everyone's in exam mode. They have no choice but to focus on studying."
"You've been talking about my friends a lot lately."
"Well, they are your friends, and if I'm not talking about you guys, who else would I talk about?"
"Hmm.... That's...."
At first, I felt it was a bit bothersome.
But now, I've actually come to like it in my own way.
If anything, since the kids visit often, I don't feel lonely thanks to them.
"...Pfft, talking like this makes me feel like I'm really old."
"I don't think so."
"Even if you don't think so, I do."
"...Is that so?"
"You're all just kids, so how could I not think that?"
"I've never thought of you that way, Noona."
"Geez, there's an 11-year age gap. Of course, you're just a kid compared to me."
He always talks like this.
Honestly, I didn't think much of it.
Since he's the type of guy who never thinks deeply about things, even when I talk to him.
"I really don't think of you the way you think, Noona."
"Geez."
Is this what they call being blinded by infatuation?
It would be nice if he could think a bit more objectively.
I was always dumbfounded by how Noah talked like this.
What is a 17-year-old brat even saying?
He should be saying things like this to girls his own age, not to an old lady like me.
Though, he never actually says anything like that to them.
"What are you going to do when you're actually grown up?"
"...I'm already grown up enough."
Is it because I keep nagging him?
Noah says things that only a real kid would say.
In the first place, people who are actually grown up don't talk like that.
But in reality, he was still just a kid, not even an adult yet, a 17-year-old.
Even though he was already over 180cm tall.
Height and physical size don't determine who is an adult and who is a kid.
"Pfft......."
"...Why are you laughing?"
"It's nothing. Never mind."
Actually, I wanted to tease him a bit.
But if I kept hitting him with truth bombs here, I felt like he'd get hurt, so I deliberately held back.
"Noah, are you sulking?"
"I am not."
"Pfft...."
Sitting at the counter, I tried talking to Noah... but he was such an easy guy to read.
It showed in his expression, his actions, and his words.
Honestly, I wanted to tell him that this part of him was exactly what made him seem like a kid.
He hadn't puffed up his cheeks or anything, but his lips were pouting, and he wouldn't even make eye contact.
Even though he sometimes tried to flirt with me in ways that didn't work.
In the end, he was just a kid.
"Noah."
"...Why are you calling me?"
"If you finish your exams well this time, I'll buy you a meal."
"...You always buy for me when we eat together anyway."
"That's because I'm not so destitute that I have to let a kid pay, right?"
"......."
Sulking is sulking, but I felt too sorry to just leave him like that.
So I said that to him.
It was true that he still had exams left, and the other kids had been working hard to help him study well, right?
So I didn't want him to sulk for no reason, get in a bad mood, and then do poorly on his exams.
I just didn't want him to be too upset.
I'm not an idiot; I know a meal won't solve everything.
"Hmm? How about it?"
"......."
"How about it, do you think that'll cheer you up?"
"......Yeah, I guess."
They say you can't spit on a smiling face, right?
As I spoke to him gently, Noah had no choice but to lower his head.
He's a good kid, after all.
He gets sulky when I treat him like a kid, and he occasionally tries to flirt even though it doesn't work... but he's definitely not a bad kid.
.
.
.
"Morgan, what brings you to the convenience store?"
"I have a lot of free time because of the exam period."
"You're not the type to just visit a convenience store for no reason. Didn't you come here for a specific purpose?"
Since it was exam time, the convenience store was quiet, and for some reason, Morgan had stopped by.
She wasn't angry like last time.
She just looked like she was visiting normally.
She was wearing a cardigan over her signature sleeveless top, and she wasn't carrying her sword.
"I really just came because I had some free time."
"Hmm... is that so?"
"Yeah."
"Hmm."
I see.
Is that it?
The very behavioral pattern of this person I know coming to visit someone just because she had free time was, quite literally, surprising.
In the past, even when she had nothing to do, was bored, or had days where she did absolutely nothing, she would never visit anyone.
She was the type of woman who would just swing her sword, clean her sword, or sharpen her sword every single day.
The fact that she came to find me just because she had free time was simply astonishing.
"Well, it's been a few years, so I guess that can happen. Anyway, it's exam time, so there won't be anyone coming in. Want to sit over there and drink some coffee?"
"Sure."
Anyway, I couldn't treat a customer who came to visit coldly.
I moved to the corner of the convenience store with Morgan and brought out some coffee.
Just some regular canned coffee.
Nothing special.
But it wasn't too cheap, either.
I placed the coffee on the table, the kind that students could easily buy, and we started talking normally.
"I said this before, but I really didn't think you'd end up becoming an Academy teacher."
"I didn't plan on it either."
"Then how did it happen? You were so rude last time that I couldn't hear it properly. Try talking properly this time."
We had met again at the Academy after a long time, but every time we met, we couldn't have a proper conversation.
I wanted to try talking more normally this time.
Since Morgan had gone out of her way to visit, after all.
"I was just living my life as usual, and my family started bothering me, so I ended up doing it."
"Your family? Why would your family bother you?"
"They told me to choose between getting a job as a teacher at the Academy or getting married to a blind date partner. So, I just got the job."
"Ah."
I see.
That was a reasonable choice.
Rather than getting married to someone she had no interest in and didn't want to be with, she'd rather get a job.
It was a statement I could understand, so there wasn't much more to say.
If it was something this simple, she could have just answered normally when I asked last time.
She really was a rude woman.
That was why I scolded her so much last time, though.
"How's the teaching job? Does it suit you?"
"It's boring."
"Pfft, I thought so. Knowing your personality, I didn't think you'd like living quietly at the Academy like this."
"...Are you picking a fight?"
"But it's the truth, isn't it? Honestly, the Academy is incredibly boring. It's probably even more so compared to the Academy before you dropped out."
"...That's true."
Even though she dropped out, she was a woman who had attended the Academy too.
Not that she attended with me, though.
Compared to the Academy back then, the current Academy felt so docile and peaceful.
"I felt it too when I opened a shop inside the Academy. The Academy these days feels so comfortable. There aren't many incidents where high-ranking noble children suddenly fight each other, and there aren't any sudden poison incidents inside the Academy either."
"It was the past that was weird, actually."
"Well, that's true. It's an Academy for kids, so it was weird that those things happened, but honestly, it has become boring, right?"
We had formed a bit of a consensus.
Of course, besides this, we also had a consensus about our days as adventurers.
But that part had more annoying and stressful stories.
Especially because of Morgan, the woman right in front of me, there were many times when my head got very hot.
It was enough to make my naturally cool Snow Woman body heat up... there were truly many moments that made me lose my mind.
"...Wow, you've really become a human."
"...Are you picking a fight again?"
"It's a compliment, a compliment. Why does she take everything as a fight? Geez."
If it were the past, she would have been the type of woman to suddenly shove a sword right in front of my throat and act crazy even in a situation like this.
I really felt like she had gone from being a beast to a human.
She must have been eating a whole lot of garlic all this time.