Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Dumplings and Steamed Buns

"Could you tell your friends about this place?"

The shopkeeper smiled broadly as he made the awkward request to Seria, who was about to leave.

'What do I do? I don't have any friends...'

But unable to tell him the truth, Seria could only bow her head.

Just as she stepped out of the store, several students blocked her path.

"Hey."

"Y-Yeah?"

The three female students practically radiated nobility at a glance.

They were faces she'd encountered several times since entering the Academy. Every one of them was the daughter of a noble family.

"You just came out of there, didn't you?"

"...I did, but wh-why?"

"What did you buy?"

"I didn't buy anything... I ate lunch in there..."

"Hmph. I suppose a commoner would eat something so low-class."

Seria couldn't understand.

What had she possibly done wrong to deserve such cruel words?

Or perhaps the mere fact that she was a commoner was enough to make her an eyesore to them.

Despite being born into an entirely different station, she had been granted the privilege of entering the Academy simply because she possessed talent. That fact must have irritated them immensely.

"Come to think of it, for a commoner, you sure like talking back."

One of the young ladies stepped forward and unpleasantly jabbed Seria's shoulder several times.

"Hey. Lower your eyes."

Seria simply pressed her lips together and lowered her head.

She was used to this.

When a commoner was mixed in among noble children, things like this happened often enough.

At times like these, simply doing as they said was the safest choice.

"Ha, at least you know your place."

"If you knew your place, you shouldn't have shamelessly enrolled at the Academy in the first place."

There was no one here on her side.

The Academy's regulations claimed there would be no discrimination based on status, but none of the students actually followed that rule.

Even the faculty tended to turn a blind eye to the practice. After all, most of them were nobles too.

Even so, Seria refused to lose heart.

She knew better than anyone how hard her commoner parents had worked to send their precious daughter to the Academy.

So, as always, she decided to endure it in silence.

"From now on, whenever you see us, don't even look us in the eyes."

"Right. Walk around with your head down like a criminal. Being a commoner is practically a crime anyway."

"Pfft. That's a good one."

She was silently enduring the young ladies' abuse with nowhere to escape when—

Whoooosh.

'...Huh?'

Seria suddenly felt a chill run through her entire body.

"Eh? What?"

"Didn't it suddenly get cold?"

It wasn't only her. The noble girls had begun to feel the sudden cold as well.

"No way."

Their faces instantly stiffened.

"Yekaterina!"

All three shouted at once while looking somewhere behind Seria.

Curious, Seria turned her head and saw a beautiful girl with snow-white hair standing there.

"What?"

Yekaterina asked the girls in an icy voice.

"N-Nothing."

"Tch, let's go!"

She had merely been passing by and asked why they'd called her name.

Yet the young ladies hurried away like villains promising revenge another day.

'...What was that?'

Naturally, Yekaterina had no idea what had happened and could only find it strange.

"Th-Thank you!"

She became even more puzzled when the pink-haired girl bent deeply at the waist to thank her.

* * *

Yekaterina von Winterbaut.

By lineage, she came from a family second only to the Imperial Family itself.

That was because she wasn't merely the daughter of an ordinary duke, but the only daughter of the 'Grand Duke of the North.'

Naturally, even nobles couldn't treat her carelessly...

'?'

Recently, however, there was someone who had been catching her attention more and more─

A small-animal-like girl with pink hair.

Stare.

Whether during class or breaks, the girl couldn't seem to take her eyes off Yekaterina.

It had probably started after she'd thanked her a few days earlier.

'...What did I even do?'

She was curious, but had no intention of asking.

Yekaterina had never been particularly good with words.

Besides, receiving other people's attention was nothing unusual for her.

At the same time, being astonishingly indifferent to others was simply part of her nature.

She was, in a sense, like a lone wolf.

It was a characteristic shared by those with northern blood.

They were fiercely indifferent to anyone outside their own pack—that is, those who weren't family or retainers.

So while Seria's presence stood out, it wasn't enough to bother her.

Any other noble might have gotten angry in the same situation...

But to northerners, who valued courage above anything else in the world, social status wasn't particularly important.

Perhaps that was why Yekaterina was actually somewhat surprised when Seria gathered the courage to speak to her.

"Y-Yekaterina?"

It was like a squirrel trying to speak to a wolf.

Thinking of it that way, Yekaterina became mildly interested.

What could this little animal possibly want to say?

What Seria said next was completely unexpected.

"Would you like to go to the store with me...?"

Yekaterina couldn't understand the meaning behind the invitation.

But one thing was certain: Seria was at least the sort of girl who knew how to repay a kindness.

Even if she wasn't financially well-off, she could still offer a small token of gratitude.

*

"Hmm..."

As I guarded yet another completely deserted store, a question suddenly occurred to me.

'At this point, did the principal issue some kind of ban on the store?'

Seriously, there were way too few customers.

At this rate, I wasn't sure I'd be able to prove anything within the one-month deadline.

I was starting to wonder if I should go outside and start dragging customers in myself.

'That girl said she'd bring her friends, but I haven't heard a thing...'

Had she been lying when she said she could eat there every day?

'Tsk, no.'

The reaction I'd seen when she ate the gimbap had definitely been genuine.

The truth was written all over that furrowed brow.

"Sigh..."

I was doing nothing but sigh when—

Jingle.

The door that had seemed destined never to open finally swung inward with the sound of its bell.

"Welco─"

I sprang to my feet to greet the customer, only to freeze in place.

It wasn't because Pinky had returned.

It was because the girl accompanying her was unbelievably beautiful.

'What the hell, is she a doll?'

The white-haired girl looked somewhat cold, but her beauty was beyond description.

Her skin was as white as porcelain, and her figure was so developed it made Pinky look like a little kid.

The sudden appearance of such a beautiful girl intimidated me for a moment, but I quickly remembered my job and asked in a cheerful voice.

"You brought a friend?"

When I naturally switched to casual speech, Pinky merely gave me an awkward smile instead of answering.

"Hehe..."

What a good kid.

She actually kept her promise!

Honestly, with how timid she was, I hadn't expected much!

'But why did it suddenly get so cold?'

I glanced at the refrigerated display, but there didn't seem to be anything wrong with it.

Then the culprit was probably that girl...

Pinky had been shivering ever since entering the store, even though it wasn't particularly cold outside.

Meanwhile, the white-haired girl's expression was so flat it could practically be called indifferent.

No need to overthink it. I simply guessed she had some kind of ice-related ability.

Anyway.

"Going to have gimbap again today?"

"Ah... I'm not sure."

"All right, all right. Is there anything your friend wants?"

When I asked, Whitey stared straight at me.

'What? You're making this awkward.'

I scratched my cheek for no particular reason.

"There's nothing in particular I want."

Really?

Then why'd you come?

I barely managed to stop myself from asking.

"Then want me to recommend something?"

Instead of answering, Whitey turned and looked at Pinky.

As if to say, You brought me here, so you deal with it.

But that obviously wasn't going to produce an answer.

"S-Sorry. This is actually only my second time here too..."

Realizing I'd have to take charge, I stepped out from behind the counter.

'It's still a bit early to start selling these, but...'

I gestured for the two girls to follow me.

"'Dumplings and Steamed Buns'...?"

They read the sign aloud at the same time.

"Dumplings and steamed buns. They're foods made by wrapping fillings like vegetables, meat, or sweet bean paste inside flour dough."

They were what immediately came to mind when I saw Whitey.

'Nothing beats these when it's cold.'

Normally I'd keep them ready to eat in a steamer, but it wasn't really the season yet, so I took some from the refrigerator and showed them.

"Well? Want to try these?"

Once again, Whitey looked to Pinky for her opinion.

"Y-Yes! We'll have those!"

Nice.

"Dumplings? Steamed buns? Which ones?"

"One of each, please...!"

"Here. You know how to use the microwave, right?"

"...Can I do it myself?"

"Of course."

Convenience stores were self-service, after all.

"Just tear the bag open a tiny bit and microwave it for exactly as long as the instructions say. Easy, right?"

I was ready to help if she got confused, but Pinky handled it surprisingly well.

Then again, there weren't many machines as intuitive as a microwave.

Whirrrrr.

While the microwave ran, I quietly watched the two girls sitting at the table.

Whitey maintained her usual expressionless face, while Pinky kept nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

'Are they not actually that close...?'

Well, people didn't have to chatter nonstop to be friends.

Before long.

Beep, beep, beep.

The microwave chimed to signal that it was done, and I nodded when Pinky looked at me as if asking whether she could take the food out.

"Wow, look at all the steam...!"

"It's hot, so be careful when you eat it."

Not long after I warned them not to burn their mouths.

Whitey and Pinky each put their dumpling and steamed bun into their mouths.

"Wow! It's so soft and fluffy!"

Pinky, who had always given great reactions─

"...!"

And for the first time since she'd entered the store, I finally saw a reaction on the face of the perpetually cold-looking Whitey.