6. Want to Stay for Pasta?
6. Want to Stay for Pasta?
"...It's hot."
After all the Academy's daily routines—not just classes, but even extracurricular activities—had finished.
It was evening, and the sun had completely set.
I was on my way home, slowly, after closing the convenience store.
"......It's hot."
It wasn't a 24-hour convenience store, and since I didn't have any part-timers, I couldn't keep it running past the evening.
Naturally, I had to clock out.
Well, it was a schedule that hadn't changed for the past few years.
There was no reason for the students to complain about it now.
And there was no such thing.
In the first place, Academy students lived in the [Dormitory].
They had to spend their time in the [Dormitory] after the evening, too.
"......It's hot."
So, as I was walking back... it was too hot.
Because it's summer.
Since it was already past July, the weather had naturally become hot.
Of course, it wasn't weather that was generally unbearable, but I was a [Snow Woman].
They say there's usually nothing to worry about, but I was a [Snow Woman].
"...Phew."
A [Snow Woman]'s body is bound to be strongly affected by heat.
Of course, it wasn't like I was crazily affected all the time, or struggling just because the temperature went up or down by 3 or 4 degrees... but once it crossed 25 degrees, fatigue would slowly start to pile up.
And from 30 degrees onwards, well....
"......Aren't you going into the [Dormitory]?"
"I was just about to head back."
While I was feeling the summer evening heat alone, complaining about this and that in my head.
I happened to run into a familiar brat on the street.
And not in a school uniform, but in thin clothes that looked suitable for working out, clothes that looked like they would absorb sweat well.
Was he working out?
Looking at his clothes soaked in sweat, it didn't feel like sweat just from the heat.
"Working out?"
"Yes, I did a little exercise. Nothing too intense."
"For someone who says that...."
It looks like you did quite a lot.
Just looking at his clothes soaked in sweat, the sweat dripping down his neck, and the sweat on his clearly visible, bulky shoulders, it was definitely not just a little exercise.
It looked more like he had been working out incredibly hard for about an hour.
"I do this regularly. About 2 hours before going into the [Dormitory]."
"Aha...?"
Being young is definitely nice.
Doing daily routines and then working out for 2 hours in the evening.
It was something I couldn't understand at my age.
If I did that now, I would probably... collapse as soon as I got home, and wouldn't wake up until well into the next day.
On top of that, I'd fall asleep without washing up properly.
Cold sweat would dry on my back, causing heat rash.......
Hmm.
That's a grand undertaking that a 28-year-old body couldn't achieve.
"What were you doing, Nuna-nim? It's been a while since I've seen you outside the Academy building."
"Going home. I closed the convenience store."
"Aha."
"Did you eat dinner? The cafeteria will close soon. You worked out, and you're not eating anything?"
Well, exercise is exercise.
But I asked because I was curious about the time.
After all, there were no restaurants or shops inside the Academy [Dormitory].
If he went back to the [Dormitory] now... it would be a time when he couldn't eat anything until the next morning.
But if he had been working out for 2 hours...... he definitely hadn't eaten anything.
"I haven't eaten yet. I was going to go in, wash up, and eat the chicken breast I bought at the convenience store earlier."
"......."
Something, it's a good thing because convenience store sales went up.
But when I get an answer like this... it's a bit much.
Since he's younger than me.
Aside from the strange interest he has in me, it was pitiful in many ways for a student who was only 17 years old to just make do with chicken breast for dinner.
Even if it was because he missed the time to eat at the cafeteria while working out.
Seeing a kid who was much younger living like that, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him.
Literally, he's just a kid.
It wasn't a very pleasant sight to see a 17-year-old making do with chicken breast for dinner.
"Hey, Noah. When do you have to be in the [Dormitory]?"
"The [Dormitory]? I have to be in before 9 o'clock, right? After that, it's penalty points."
"Hmm... 9 o'clock, still a little less than an hour left."
About 50 minutes or so....
Even if it takes 5 minutes more to get to my house from here.......
Time....
"Hey, want to eat dinner?"
"Yes?"
"I asked if you wanted a proper dinner, not chicken breast. It'll just be pasta, but what do you think?"
"It would be nice if I could, right?"
Since he didn't want to settle for just chicken breast for dinner either.
That would be obvious.
Everyone has an appetite, and it was quite difficult to satisfy the hunger right after a workout with chicken breast, and furthermore, nobody would like to treat that as dinner.
"Then do you want to come to my place and have some pasta? You said you wanted dinner, right?"
"Your place, Nuna-nim?"
"Yeah, it's not like you have to go back to the [Dormitory] right this second, right? I'll make you a plate of pasta, eat that and go back."
"I haven't even washed up yet, so I'm a bit sorry...."
"Was I the type of person to make a fuss over a bit of sweat smell?"
"That's not it, but...."
"No more talk, just hurry up and follow me. It's hot enough as it is, I don't want to stay outside."
"......Yes."
So I just brought him home.
It only took about 5 minutes anyway.
We arrived after walking slowly.
The day was quite hot, and the high school boy next to me... no, the Academy student had even worked out.
We both felt quite a strong heat when we returned home on a summer day.
This is why I hated summer.
"Tsk.... It's hot, as expected."
No matter if it was a fantasy world, devices that acted like air conditioners couldn't generally be installed.
If those were common... I wouldn't have needed to run a convenience store.
They exist, but most of them are things used by wealthy nobles.
They were all quite expensive.
The rental housing I live in now... provided to faculty and staff at the Academy, couldn't have anything like that, and the house, which had been heated up all day, was hot from the moment I opened the front door.
"Noah, don't stand in front, stand behind me."
"Can't I go in?"
"I'm going to freeze it. Ah, unless you don't want to go back to the [Dormitory]? Then standing in front is fine too."
"Um... Yes."
So I decided to deal with this first while pushing Noah behind me.
Rather than preparing a meal right away.
Because I wanted to be in the house comfortably for a bit.
"S-s-s-s...."
I took a deep breath....
And slowly started to mix [Mana] into my breath.
Without needing magic circles or engravings, just instinctively mixing [Mana] into my breath, lightly and shallowly.
"Hooooo......."
As I started to exhale, the temperature inside the house started to drop in an instant, just like when I prepared the freezer and refrigerator every morning.
The room, which was like a steamer, instantly became as cool as a refrigerator.
I thought about exhaling a bit more, but....
"...Wow."
There was a guy behind me watching with fascination, and if I made it any colder, he'd catch a cold while eating dinner.
"Come in now."
"Yes... Nuna-nim."
I stopped exhaling, said that to him, and went inside.
As for the remaining breath.
I just swallowed it, and that was that.
"I'll just throw in some bacon and make Aglio e Olio. Just eat it and head out, okay?"
"Yes, I'm grateful just for you making me dinner."
"Yeah."
And as I said a moment ago, I prepared dinner right away.
It wasn't a long distance from here to the Academy [Dormitory].
But rather than pointlessly failing to make the time while going back... it would be right for me to make it quickly, and for him to eat quickly and go back.
I started boiling water right away.
...The metal pan also became quite cold in the process of rapidly lowering the overall temperature of the house.
But it was high heat, so it wasn't a problem.
While the water was boiling, and while the noodles were cooking, I just had to slice the ingredients and stir-fry them.
Anyway, in an instant... although that took a little over 10 minutes.
"Eat."
"I'll eat well. It's my first time receiving something other than convenience store food from you, Nuna-nim...."
"Stop saying weird things, eat quickly. And go to the [Dormitory]."
"Yes."
I just dished the pasta onto a plate and handed it to Noah like that.
Actually, I don't usually cook as soon as I get home.
But given the situation.
I ended up doing it a little differently than usual.
In the first place, I usually go straight to the bathroom to wash up after coming home, and I usually change into comfortable clothes to rest....
But I couldn't wash up while he was inside.
I ended up having dinner together as well.
"Nuna-nim...."
"Why."
"Uh... I......."
"What is it."
While eating like that, Noah suddenly looked at me and called me while watching my reaction.
There's something troublesome.
I even made him dinner like this, is he going to say something weird like he usually does?
If that's the case... I made up my mind to hit him on the head once.
"...Could I have a little more?"
"......What?"
"...I finished it all."
"......Already?"
But unlike that, what the brat said was unexpected.
It hadn't even been 5 minutes since I served it.
He had already eaten it all, showing me the bottom of the bowl clearly exposed, and said that.
...Seeing that, I remembered something I had briefly forgotten.
"......Ah."
Come to think of it, he's a high school boy.
Of course, he's an Academy student, not a high school student, but it's a fact that he's a 17-year-old male student in the middle of a growth spurt.
There was no way the appetite of a young boy at this time would be similar to mine.
Because I always ate alone.
After opening the convenience store, I had been eating alone at home for over 2 years, so I had forgotten.
"......."
I realized once again that although I was 28, I had become a woman.
But this was all the pasta I had prepared.
Actually, by my standards, this was a lot too.
Effectively 2 servings, 2 meals worth of pasta by my standards....
...But it would take more time to make another one here, and considering the time for Noah to get back to the [Dormitory].
"...Just eat mine, and if you're hungry when you get back, eat another chicken breast or something."
"There's no need for you to go that far, Nuna-nim......."
"Don't say useless things, just eat quickly. And hurry up and leave. Once you leave, I'll wash up... and boil more noodles."
"......."
Isn't it right to just do this?
Rather than pointlessly doing this and that, the choice of just handing over what I had only taken a bite of to Noah.
Of course, even that was less than what was on Noah's plate...?
At least it would fill his stomach a little more.
No matter how much bigger his appetite was than mine, at least it would be better than chicken breast.
Thinking things like that, I watched Noah eat my pasta.
Was it because I made the whole house cool?
The sweat that had been on his forearms and triceps was already completely dry.
By the way, is it because he's in the [Swordsmanship Department]... his muscles are definitely visible.
...He was a guy with a good body anyway, like when he helped me move luggage last time.
It was a natural thing.
He wasn't just a tall, lanky guy, he was a guy with a good body.
Since he worked out like that every day, his body would naturally get better.
"Hmm...."
It felt like the days of my prime, when I was attending the Academy, were coming back to me.
Back then, I did a lot of exercises like that too.
Although I'm busy with convenience store work now.
"Nuna-nim, thank you so much for dinner. It must have been sudden...."
"It's fine, I'm the one who offered, so it's nothing. Stop saying weird things and hurry back. The [Dormitory] will close soon."
"...Yes."
I had my dinner stolen by him, and since I couldn't use the bathroom with a male guest in the house, I was just thinking useless thoughts, and the kid who had finished his meal was getting ready to leave and thanked me like that.
It wasn't that I didn't like hearing it... but he was a guy who really had to go back to the [Dormitory].
"Go back quickly. And get ready for school tomorrow."
"Yes, Nuna-nim. You have a good rest of your day too. Thank you."
"Yeah."
Well... things like this.
It's not bad.
It's not bad.
I just thought that.
There was nothing more special, nothing stranger than that.
It was just fun to have a conversation at home for a moment, just for a very brief moment, for a change.