The Days We'll Be Together Will Grow Fewer
Ever since I'd given Astra her third cooking buff — and run into Snow White along the way — a small change had settled over my daily life.
"Still open for business?"
"You're here again."
In other words, my restaurant had picked up a new regular.
It had surprised me at first, but by now I greeted the white-haired woman stepping through the door like it was the most natural thing in the world.
"Where's Yuna?"
"Working, I'd imagine. Finished with your patrol, Miss Baek Seol?"
"It's Snow White."
"You're not here on hero business right now. You're here as a customer."
"Well… yeah, but still."
Watching her grumble under her breath as she took her seat, I started cooking with the ease of long practice.
"Today's special again, right?"
"Yep! What is it today?"
"Curry… want me to make it a little spicier?"
"You can do that? Then yeah — hit me with the heat!"
For Snow White, who was already settled in and waiting for her meal, I portioned out two servings of the curry I'd prepared as today's special and stirred in a little extra chili powder to turn up the fire. While that simmered, I fried up the garlic I'd soaked to take the edge off its bite, along with chicken that had been marinating in cooking wine and soy sauce.
"Today's special. Curry with karaage on the side."
"Whoa!"
With her usual bright, lively reaction, Snow White dove straight into the curry and polished it off in no time. Golden-battered karaage tumbled into the spicy, fragrant curry and disappeared down her throat, while the garlic flakes tucked between bites layered on an extra punch of heat for accent.
"This is so good!"
"Glad you're enjoying it."
As a cook, nothing lifts your mood quite like watching a customer eat with that kind of pure delight.
Was this the fourth day already? The fourth time Snow White had come to my restaurant as a customer.
She'd said she would come by later as a guest and apologize for what she'd done, and true to her word, she had shown up the very next day.
"Here. Take this. Sorry for barging in on you late at night like that."
"Oh, come on, you didn't have to go this far…"
She'd arrived with a gift set of premium beef and formally apologized for interrogating me about Astra. Then, since she was already there as a customer, she'd stayed for a meal — and it must have suited her palate, because she'd been dropping by every day since to eat and go.
"Still seeing Yuna these days? What does she usually eat?"
…Well. Getting a meal didn't seem to be her only reason for coming.
Every time she visited, Snow White would casually fish for details about my relationship with Astra, just like that. At least she wasn't pressing the way she used to — more like tossing the questions out over the table during a meal — so it didn't leave too bad a taste.
And then there was this…
"You know about this? Yuna's up for a performance review this quarter, and if things keep going the way they are, as a B-class hero…"
Even when she brought up Astra like she was testing me, the smile lingering at the corners of her mouth made it plain how much she liked and cared about her. That alone made it hard to take offense.
She's just worried about Astra, that's all.
And honestly, as someone who'd actually been intimate with her, I did feel a little guilty. Still — we'd more or less agreed to it, so I could hold my head reasonably high.
…Granted, our first meeting had been anything but consensual, but given the circumstances, I'd call that extenuating.
So it didn't really bother me. Even so…
"Could you maybe stop coming by just to grill me about Miss Astra every single time?"
"No way. I really do come for the food, too. You're a great cook."
"Ahem."
I'd been about to say something to the woman who kept showing up day after day — then her praise for my cooking left me flustered, and I let the subject drop.
Ahem. Well. I was pretty good.
Half of it was the cooking skill that had awakened alongside my ability, sure — but developing recipes by dredging up dishes from a past life, refining them through trial and error… that part was pure effort on my end.
"Honestly, I was shocked. From the outside you can't even tell what kind of place this is, and there's no banner or anything hanging up — and then the food turns out this good… Is this what they mean by a hidden gem?"
Snow White tilted her head slightly as she shoveled curry into her mouth without pause.
…Was that a compliment?
It sounded like one, but the way she put it also kind of sounded like she was roasting the restaurant for looking run-down.
"No, I mean — uh. The vibe doesn't quite match, I guess? Not that it's weird or anything."
"You don't have to walk it back. I deliberately left it undecorated."
Catching the subtle shift in my expression, Snow White realized her slip and tried to clean it up, but I waved her off lightly. I'd never bothered advertising the place or putting up a big sign in the first place. Quiet business only.
"I didn't open this restaurant to make money, really."
"Huh?"
Snow White, cheeks stuffed to bursting, rounded her eyes at me like she couldn't believe what she'd just heard. It wasn't anything I needed to hide, so I laid out my situation without fuss.
"For one thing, this building is what my parents left me. So there's no rent to worry about…"
"Oh. Ohh."
Maybe she hadn't expected me to casually mention that my parents had passed. The curious look on her face twisted into something awkward.
I didn't really mind. It had been hard at the time, but I'd gotten through it a long time ago.
"Ah. Um. Sorry for asking something dumb."
"I don't mind. Anyway, they left me a decent amount of other assets too, so I don't really need to grind for money. Running the restaurant is half a hobby."
Thanks to my parents' inheritance I had money, but just loafing around as a full-time freeloader felt wrong — so I'd started the restaurant as something between a job and a pastime. Of all the things I could have done, I'd chosen restaurant work partly because of the ability that had taken root in me… but also…
Hahaha! Honey, look what our Siwoo cooked for our anniversary!
Oh my. When did you get this good? Our boy should be a chef!
"…Hah."
The faces of two people I missed brushed through my mind. I shrugged, keeping my voice as even as I could.
"Anyway, business is basically a hobby, so I don't want to get too busy. That's why I barely advertise. I made the 'today's special' menu so I can cook whatever I'm craving while I'm at it."
"Oh…"
I'd thought I was decent at managing my expression, but maybe it had come out more awkward than I'd hoped. Snow White, who had been chattering without a break, suddenly went quiet and poked halfheartedly at her rice with her spoon.
Just as the air turned chilly, a relief pitcher showed up to break the mood.
Jingle!
"Siwoo, I'm he— Seola. You're here again?"
"Ah! Yuna!"
Astra walked in still wearing her full hero costume, clearly having come straight from patrol. The moment she stepped through the door, Snow White bounced over and latched onto her like the awkwardness from a second ago had never existed.
"You weren't saying anything weird to him, were you?"
"No! …Probably."
"Nothing much. Just that the restaurant looks a little shabby for how good my cooking is…"
"Hey!"
I tossed the light jab at Snow White, who was rolling her eyes like she had a guilty conscience, and immediately started preparing a dish for Astra. Honestly, when Snow White first started dropping by every day, it had felt a little awkward and uncomfortable… but that feeling had mostly faded by now. We could trade jokes like this.
Doesn't seem like she's figured anything out, either.
She was probably just worried, as a friend, that Astra kept getting tangled up with some random guy. That was all.
Still not sure what she meant by 'someone I look up to,' though.
As long as she hadn't caught on to my ability, I didn't particularly care. Even if she'd come to the restaurant with some other agenda, she was still a customer who'd walked through the door.
"Oh, right. Have you been to the hospital since then?"
"No. I wasn't hurt, so I didn't really…"
"Even if there's nothing visible, you should still go. When you get taken hostage like that, they cover a full checkup for free — you should take the opportunity…"
If you set aside how hard she fretted over Astra, she didn't seem like a bad person. The way she was worrying about me now and handing out little tips made that clear enough.
"Miss Astra, this is for you. Miss Baek Seol — want another bowl?"
"Thank you, Siwoo."
"Oh! Thanks."
I set the dishes in front of them and moved on to light dishwashing. From the dining floor, their conversation carried all the way to where I stood.
"Congrats, Yuna. I heard you're getting promoted to B-class soon?"
"Not yet. At this rate it'd be a few months from now — nothing's confirmed."
"That's basically confirmed! Ugh. I want a promotion too."
"You'll get there, Seola. You're working hard enough for it."
Promotion?
Listening in, it sounded like Astra — whose steady training had been amplified by my buff cooking — was on track to rank up to B-class before long.
B-class… Come to think of it, what would happen if Astra really did promote to B-class off the back of my cooking?
From B-class up, the territory you covered got wider. Dropping by my restaurant mid-patrol the way she did now would become impossible. And if Astra, assigned to a completely different neighborhood, kept making the trip to my place every day, that might draw attention all on its own.
Still… I'm weirdly proud of her.
Research into my ability might get harder, but hearing that Astra was going to rank up filled me with the kind of pride you'd feel for your own accomplishment. I knew better than anyone how hard she'd worked as the hero in charge of my neighborhood.
From what I'd heard, plenty of other districts had heroes who were lazy or had rotten attitudes. Compared to those, Astra was basically an angel.
Bzzzt!!
"Hm?"
Astra, quietly pleased and soaking in Snow White's congratulations, stopped mid-meal and lifted her communicator. Her face hardened. She stood up in a hurry.
"I'm so sorry! Something urgent came up — I have to go!"
"Huh? What is it. A monster signal?"
Snow White, who had peeked at the communicator over her shoulder, rose as well and started getting ready to leave with her.
"I'll come with you. Since I'm already here, I can help."
"No. This is my zone. And looking at the wavelength, it's a small-class monster. I'll be right back."
Astra tossed me a quick goodbye and hurried out of the restaurant. Watching her back as she left — the same woman who cut into her own mealtime to keep pushing herself — I found myself nodding without meaning to.
"…Once she promotes, we won't get to fight side by side as much either."
After Astra left, Snow White stayed behind alone, muttering something under her breath that sounded almost wistful. Like she was already missing the chance to fight alongside her.
She looked so forlorn — like a rain-soaked puppy — that the words came out of me before I could stop them.
"Are you upset you won't get to fight with her as much?"
"Hm? Ah… yeah. Yuna's going to climb a lot higher than someone like me. Once that happens, we won't stand shoulder to shoulder the way we do now."
Snow White stared at the spot Astra had left empty, her eyes heavy with regret. For a second I wondered if it was jealousy — but there wasn't a single trace of envy in her gaze.
"You're not jealous?"
"Jealous? Me? Come on. A real hero as pure and good as Yuna is finally heading where she belongs. What's there for me to be jealous of?"
Her eyes didn't waver for a second as she said it, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I just wanted to keep working with her a little longer. Stay a little closer. Chase after her a little more. That's why I stuck to her side calling myself her rival and all that… but even that's going to get hard now."
"……"
Was this connected to what she'd said before — about looking up to someone? Turning over the news of Astra's coming promotion, Snow White's expression had gone quite dark.
Watching her, I felt a twinge of conscience. My own share in how far Astra had come was not small.
No. What's there to feel guilty about? This is a good thing.
Maybe it was because, for all the way she needled me about my relationship with Astra, Snow White was also the one who had saved me. Seeing her look that disappointed left a strangely sour feeling in my chest.
So, hoping to lift her spirits even a little, I started putting together a light dessert.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Hmph. Kind of scrawny for a hero who took down a large-class monster, aren't you?"
In a deserted place where no one came and went, Astra had engaged a small-class monster. And a suspicious gaze was watching her.
"Well, fine. Doesn't change what I have to do."
Slosh.
The woman watching Astra fight murmured something under her breath and stretched out her hand. An arm that was unmistakably human flesh rippled like jelly. At the same moment, a black shadow came crashing down over where Astra stood.