“So, that day, you’re going to the pool with Helena alone. Are you okay with that?”
“Just the two of us? That seems a bit awkward… I mean, I haven’t really talked to her much.”
“My schedule is busy, so it can’t be helped. Sorry about that.”
“You’re not trying to escape because you can’t swim, are you?”
“…That’s not it. I truly have a packed schedule. Thinking of all that needs to be done, I have to start preparing for the competition, and I also need to prepare for the magic tournament…”
“Oh, I get it, I get it! I was just joking!”
As they chatted, they quickly reached the bus stop.
Having company really made the walk feel quicker.
And usually, at this moment, Shirud and Luke would part ways.
“Take care, I had a good time today.”
Luke waved goodbye, but Shirud shrugged and said.
“Huh? I’m not leaving yet?”
“Hmm? Aren’t you supposed to be getting on a ride now?”
“I’m taking the bus today. The usual driver said he’s resting. So, I decided to take the bus instead.”
“Oh, I see.”
Luke nodded.
“By the way, have you ever been on a bus before?”
Shirud was a child from a fairly well-off family.
There was a good chance he wasn’t familiar with public transportation.
In the past, children from aristocratic families who had only taken carriages driven by their own servants sometimes didn’t know how to board a carriage driven by someone else.
Shirud shook his head and replied.
“Please don’t underestimate my age. My family had to take the bus at one time.”
Luke tilted his head in confusion at Shirud’s answer.
“Was that so?”
“You don’t know?”
When they first met, Luke seemed to know about the Trifind family, so Shirud thought he’d naturally know about their past.
“The business went bankrupt once. My father passed away.”
There was a time when they struggled economically after his father died in an accident.
And most people knew about the state of Trifind back then.
Although the Trifind family is doing fairly well now, that incident was often reported in the news at the time.
It just happened that all the group executives, including his father, were involved in the same accident.
The end of a major corporation—there was no way the press wouldn’t report on such a significant event.
Finally, the only person left capable of managing the group was his mother.
It was nearly impossible for a single person to handle all the work, so she hurriedly chose new executives.
However, among the newly selected executives, there was one who happened to have bad intentions.
As a result, they sold off all their vacation homes, leaving just one, and most of their other businesses were shut down.
“So, there was a time we were poor enough to have to take the bus.”
Starting from rock bottom and working up to now had been quite the struggle.
Because of that, he was often teased in the past and had many fights.
He hadn’t lived an entirely happy life.
“Hmm, I didn’t know that.”
Indeed, considering Shirud was a rich kid, his tastes and hobbies were surprisingly humble.
That was quite a remarkable thing.
Usually, a child growing up in a wealthy family does not understand the culture of ordinary people.
Luke had been like that once too.
It wasn’t because they were bad; it was due to their youth and lack of experience.
However, when he thought about it, Shirud didn’t seem to have any of that.
He was well-versed in the popular culture of the time, such as going to internet cafes, was reasonably skilled in physical sports, and being an Elf, he ate well without restrictions, aside from avoiding meat.
It was as if he was completely accustomed to everything.
But if the reason was that he was genuinely familiar, then that made sense.
Luke gently patted the boy’s head and said.
“That’s quite admirable.”
Those words were sincere.
He had somewhat guessed, but he didn’t realize Shirud had gone through such hardships at a young age.
He had thought of him as just another rich kid.
Even though it was said there was no war now, one could never say that no tragic events had occurred.
Despite having gone through such things, how admirable it was for him to grow up so resilient.
It felt like Shirud was truly comforted by that gentle touch.
Though Luke didn’t want to mention it, it was only natural that he too had experienced losing both his mother and father.
In that aspect, Shirud felt like Luke genuinely understood his pain.
But on the other hand, it felt uncomfortable.
The fact that the person patting him was a younger girl than him.
Shirud distanced himself from Luke’s hand with a dissatisfied voice.
“…What are you talking about, you’re younger than me.”
Luke replied with a meaningful expression.
“Do I really look that young?”
“Hey! Now you’re teasing me about being small!”
“Not at all.”
While they were playfully arguing and laughing, Shirud suddenly realized a sweet scent was wafting from somewhere.
Something sweet yet nutty, akin to bread, was the first smell he’d detected while walking this street.
Had a new bakery opened nearby? He turned his head toward the direction of the scent and noticed a food stall had appeared there.
It seemed like it hadn’t been there before; maybe it had just opened recently?
Luke asked Shirud.
“Shirud, it seems someone’s making something over there. What is that?”
“It’s fish-shaped bread. Looks like someone’s already making it. I guess it’s getting chilly lately.”
“Fish-shaped bread, huh? Hmm…”
“Wait, you’ve never seen fish-shaped bread before?”
Luke nodded.
“Wow, really? You haven’t seen it at all?”
“Is it really that surprising?”
“Well, a little?”
Seeing Luke’s interest in the fish-shaped bread, Shirud readily offered.
“Since the bus isn’t coming yet, should I buy one for you as thanks for the ten wins today?”
“Oh, really? Then I’ll gratefully accept!”
Luke didn’t refuse.
To be honest, he was curious about the taste.
Holding back curiosity was tough.
‘Hmm, I’ve been craving seafood lately. This is perfect.’
——–
Luke returned to the bus stop, feeling the warmth of the paper bag containing the fish-shaped bread.
The bag was quite heavy.
Anyone could tell it wasn’t filled with just 2000 gil worth.
Luke stated flatly as if to show it off.
“How about that? Like I said, we got a lot, didn’t we?”
“…Wha?”
Shirud looked at Luke with a somewhat exasperated expression.
‘Can you give us a bit more, big brother?’
Anyone could tell he was a portly uncle! He even had a mustache!
Honestly, it sent chills down Shirud’s spine to see Luke using that face so much lately.
Does he really have to overuse that adorable pleading look?
…But, one could not deny he had indeed received a lot.
Having experienced it himself, Shirud knew the destructive power of that expression.
If you look cute, smile, and say ‘big brother,’ that uncle would be beaming and worried about the bag ripping as he pumped in more than enough!
Shirud looked at Luke’s bag with an exasperated expression.
“Can you even finish all that…?”
“Well, if there’s any leftover, I can take it home. I have Pyris at home too.”
“Hmm, that’s true.”
Pyris, Luke’s younger sister, eats a tremendous amount.
“Well, let’s stop talking about that and eat. Hmm, this is Elvish style. Here.”
“Um…”
Luke handed one fish-shaped bread to Shirud and took one for himself.
“Phew… Hah.”
Not good with hot food, Luke blew on the fish-shaped bread to cool it down.
Once it felt suitably cooled, he held the bread up like he would a fish and took a bite.
However, even though he cautiously bit down with his front teeth, he felt a sharp pain due to something bursting inside.
It seemed that while the outside had cooled, the inside had not.
“Ugh!”
Luke immediately spat out what was in his mouth.
The sudden pain made his eyes water slightly.
“Whew, ha… Hah!”
Luke stomped his feet while constantly blowing on his tongue.
He was worried that he might have burned it.
However, touching his tongue to the cool air relieved it a bit.
As he finally calmed down, Shirud couldn’t hold back his laughter at the sight.
“Ha ha! I’ve had that happen too! The inside stays hot and burns you!”
It seemed he made a mistake since it was his first time eating fish-shaped bread.
That’s how you learn after making mistakes.
He had his share of burns from it too.
“Hah…”
Luke quickly revived his tongue and sighed.
The first bite was quite a struggle.
He had to spit it out before tasting anything…
But when Luke looked at the cross-section, there wasn’t even a small fish visible.
All that showed was just a slightly red, black bean paste.
“What’s this? Did the Elvish fish-shaped bread exchange? There’s no fish in this.”
“Fish-shaped bread doesn’t actually contain fish.”
“What?”
Luke made a face as though he had just heard something shocking.
“Then why call it fish-shaped bread? There’s not even a bit of fish in it.”
“Look and you’ll see? It just looks like a fish, so it’s called fish-shaped bread.”
“How convenient.”
Seriously, isn’t naming like this a bit careless?
Even with melon bread, it’s not because it’s made with melons but because it looks like one, creating confusion.
At least with melon bread, it’s more justified due to the nature of how it’s made that it ends up looking like a melon.
But what reason could a piece of bread have for resembling a fish?
Didn’t they intentionally make it that way before naming it?
Expecting there to be at least a bit of fish in a fish-shaped bread…
‘Names should involve deep consideration…’
Is this also due to the spirits disappearing into history?
All the names of the breads seem so thoughtless.
Like how Renie named Liv…
“Ah.”
Startled, Luke suddenly flung his bag open.
While shuffling through various items and books, he found Liv, looking quite lifeless inside.
“L-Liv. I’m really sorry, I completely forgot about you…”
He had been so engrossed in the games at the internet cafe that he had entirely forgotten about Liv, who was trapped inside the bag.
Liv weakly shook her head and raised her hand.
Like the last gesture of a soldier bleeding out…
Silently, Luke grabbed her hand and pulled her out, then said to Shirud.
“I’m really sorry, but you have to take the bus alone! I suddenly thought of a place I need to go!”
“Huh? Oh… No, it’s fine. See you!”
“Then!”
As Luke rushed away with the bag of fish-shaped bread, Shirud waved goodbye, feeling the shock of the one left behind.
“Hmm.”
By the way, Luke carrying a teddy bear with him?
That sight was quite surprising for Shirud.
It seemed he really liked the teddy bear that was a birthday present.
He must have brought it to school as well when he took it out of his bag.
“I thought Luke didn’t care much about stuff like that.”
With such thoughts swirling in his head, Shirud took another bite of the fish-shaped bread.
