Chapter 75: A Tame Gastronomy Research Club Tale

It’s peaceful.

On the day when the tactical exchange was all over, it was late around the time Sensei’s feedback was over, so we ended up camping until that day,

and we were able to return to Trinity only after organizing all the equipment in the morning, so the time I returned to Trinity was in the afternoon of that day.

I got a Friday off, saying that I had worked hard from my sisters and that I should rest for a day today.

It was closer to a half-day off since I had already worked in the morning, but it’s a vacation anyway.

Normally, I would try to spend time with my sisters or not even try to rest properly…but sometimes, this kind of time would be nice.

It was even more so because Mika-senpai was on duty at Chalet today, and Seia-senpai said she would go home early due to personal reasons.

It’s a place that always blends into my daily life as I pass by, so I used to pass by the Trinity Square without much thought, but seeing it after several days, it was quite picturesque, so I also took out my notebook and pencil.

-Scratch scratch-

Trinity Square was quiet because it was still during class hours.

The sound of the fountain, the scratching sound of the pencil, and the hymns coming from the cathedral far away were all the noise that resonated in this Trinity Square.

And how much time has passed, the hymns coming from the cathedral changed several times, and as the number of classes ending increased, noise began to mix into the quiet square.

-Swoosh-

“You were here.”

“Hmm…you’re here, sister.”

Someone came up behind me and wrapped their arms around my neck and spoke to me.

Even before she spoke, the bergamot scent that brushed my nose made me think, “Is it Nagisa-senpai?” but I was sure once again after hearing her voice.

“What if someone sees…?”

“Oh my, is Sora saying that? Do you know how much trouble I had to go through to explain to the members of the Justice Realization Committee? Fufu…”

It’s a checkmate, it’s definitely because I did it first…I don’t dislike it either, so I decided to stay like this.

Of course, this state didn’t last long, and Nagisa-senpai moved to my side.

“You always carry that notebook.”

“Yes, I don’t know when, where, and what kind of scenery I’ll see.”

Notebook, perhaps it’s my only hobby, so I didn’t spare any time investment, so the notebook I’m holding now has reached the 3rd volume.

3 volumes, it’s not a large number, but considering the time I got this hobby, it’s proof that I always held a notebook and pencil and captured the scenery with a scratching sound in my spare time.

“Hmm hmm…this much…I’m satisfied!”

“…The lines are getting cleaner. It’s good. Here…you can take the strength out a little more and it will give you a nice feeling?”

After Nagisa-senpai knew that I was drawing, she used to give advice only when she was around when I was drawing.

I heard later that she is quite skilled, she said she is thinking of holding an exhibition at the cultural festival someday, so I look forward to that day and slowly close the notebook.

“Ugh…I sat for too long…”

“Fufu…the timing is ambiguous…why don’t you spend some time?”

“Good!”

“Oh my, your tension is higher than usual?”

“Hehe…”

It’s true.

I’ve been without my sisters for almost 4 days or more, so my mind is tired…ah, this is just being tired, anyway, maybe if it was one more day later, my head would have been filled with the thought that I wanted to see them.

Anyway, if I spend time with my sisters normally, I often went to cafes.

Basically, the tea and desserts used at the Tea Party are generally selected from high-quality products, but even so, the joy of finding new tastes or being intoxicated by the atmosphere from a new place cannot be replaced,

so I often did that.

But today is a time for just the two of us, so don’t you think it’s natural to want to spend a little special time?

The place we moved to was the Tea Party table in the center of the garden managed by the Tea Party.

“This place…it’s lacking in lighting, so it will get dark soon…?”

“Then I’ll draw it later.”

“Are you asking for an after? Sora?”

“If you think of it that way, I’d appreciate it?”

Drawing, as I always did, I open the notebook, take out a pencil, and draw the scenery in front of me on the empty paper.

But this drawing is the first kind I’ve ever drawn.

It’s not the first time I’ve drawn a person, but it’s the first time I’ve drawn a picture for one person.

The drawings I’ve been drawing were mostly close to the background, and even when I put the children of the dessert club in the picture before, it was close to a landscape, and I didn’t make them themselves the main focus.

Therefore, the first experience, for the first time, I put a person in the center as the subject and put it in the picture.

Selfishness, a picture is often slightly different from the original by the person who draws it, the artist, the painter.

That phenomenon is selfishness and greed, and it is a phenomenon that comes from purity.

People are creatures that move with the feeling of happiness that comes from selfishness, greed, and avarice.

Therefore, when a person does something that contains selfishness and happiness, they create a faster and better result.

It’s the first time I’ve drawn a picture with a person in the center.

But the experience so far, the selfishness, creates the result.

More beautifully, more brilliantly.

“…This…is it me? No…it seems to be me…”

“Hehe…”

So the completed drawing seems to have been a little far from the original, even to the person in the drawing.

But what can I do, in my eyes, which are already completely enamored, it’s a picture that is drawn as it is, without much difference between the two, so I like it very much.

“Ahem…yes…that…I like it…but if you draw so quickly, you won’t need an after…”

“Huh…? Ugh…then I’ll find a better place next time!”

Ugh, I moved my hands busily without thinking and finished the drawing much faster than usual, so I lost the excuse to get more time later.

But rather than being embarrassed for a long time, I decide to make another excuse with quick wit.

The park I went to with Mika-senpai, or…yeah, it would be nice to use the night view overlooking the Chalet building as the background.

“Oh my…fufu…then if you finish that drawing, can you give me this drawing?”

“Ah…that…ugh…I’m thinking…”

A sudden request from Nagisa-senpai, I think this is a masterpiece, at least one of the best works that can come out of my skills, so I almost fell into agony, but…

“Are you choosing a picture in front of the original?”

“…Hiccup…I…I’ll give it to you…”

Suddenly, Nagisa-senpai gets up and looks at me face to face, leaving only a span of space.

The bergamot scent stings my nose, melts my brain, and stops my thoughts.

A sudden zero-distance gaze from a person I cherish and at the same time a person I fell in love with had tremendous destructive power.

…Anyway, I can draw another picture, so I accepted.

So we spent time in the Tea Party garden, and it was around the time the sky started to turn black.

Considering the date when July is just passing, it can be said that it’s a little late, but it was also proof that time passed quickly.

I feel sorry for making my sister play the role of a model for quite a long time, but I think it was a meaningful time.

Anyway, we are now at a Western restaurant that has recently opened near the central district of Trinity.

“You seem to be quite confident.”

“I guess so…”

The diet of Trinity is almost Western.

The reason why I mainly eat Japanese food or home-cooked meals, or dare to find such a restaurant to eat, is that from the school cafeteria to the majority of restaurants in Trinity, most of them are Western restaurants,

so even if my taste is a little closer to Western food, wouldn’t people want to make the lunch and dinner menus different if possible?

Anyway, yeah, opening a Western restaurant in Trinity is an act of challenging many other competitors, so you can’t survive for long with mediocre skills.

In fact, the damage from the terrorism of the Gourmet Research Society, which is heard occasionally, came mostly from businesses with few business days,

so a Western restaurant that has survived for a long time in Trinity means that it has excellent skills.

“So how much trouble did I have to go through to stop Mika-san at that time…”

“Pfft…I thought Mika-senpai would be like that…”

“…Actually, I thought about allowing it. Chained and gagged.”

“Yes…?”

“More than that…the number of people has decreased compared to usual, but why is the number of people sent to the ward due to the Justice Realization Committee increasing?”

“Tsurugi-san worked a little more than usual? Mostly, the psychiatric ward was running out of space.”

“Ah…”

“So at that time…ah, the menu is out.”

“Oh my, I didn’t know time was passing..”

While waiting for the food, I continued to chat with Nagisa-senpai.

The story of the 4 days I was away and the story of the 4 days that happened, on the other hand, quickly burned time with me, and even though it took quite a while for the ordered food to come out, I didn’t think it took that long.

But it seems that it took a long time for the food to come out was a precursor.

“…”

“…”

It’s subtle.

No, considering the price, I would dare to say that it is a restaurant that will close soon.

First of all, the menu we ordered was carbonara pasta for Nagisa-senpai, and since I really like meat, I ordered a porterhouse steak, medium.

…First of all, the carbonara is undoubtedly ruined.

Even I could see that the noodles were soggy.

The steak I ordered…it’s medium, so it was medium well.

It’s an expensive Western restaurant that won’t tolerate even mistakes due to the rush of orders, but there aren’t that many customers, so it’s a disaster…it’s hard to tolerate.

“Here, our table…”

“Sora, it’s okay. Let’s eat first and leave…”

I took out my smartphone in advance, took pictures of the cross-section of the meat and the pasta, and called the staff.

I think it’s worth a complaint at this level, but Nagisa-senpai seems to have something in mind, or something is bothering her, so she rather stopped me.

The meat…the doneness was very different, but the taste itself was not bad, so I could eat it, but it didn’t seem like a good experience for Nagisa-senpai to eat the soggy pasta.

So we continued to eat silently for a long time, then paid the bill silently and left the store.

Because Nagisa-senpai, who pecked at it and eventually declared surrender, had to stop eating, both I and my sister were in a state of ambiguous satiety.

“Sigh…Sora…I’ll make a call for a moment.”

“Ah..that..yes…”

The angry expression of Nagisa-senpai, which I see after a long time, this…this store will never be able to operate for long.

“Fufu…”

“That…what…did you do?”

Nagisa-senpai’s call didn’t take long, and Nagisa-senpai’s expression brightened as soon as the call was over.

Nagisa-senpai’s face is pretty, but…given the previous situation, and the Nagisa-senpai I’ve seen so far, she must have taken some action, and it wouldn’t be a gentle method.

“Ah, it’s nothing. I just remembered something I had to talk about urgently with the head of the Tea Party’s Food and Drug Administration.”

“…Haha…”

The Food and Drug Administration is…a department in charge of internal administration within Trinity that is hardly related to politics within the Tea Party, so there would be no reason for Nagisa-senpai to contact them first…

And I know the taste of the pasta that I asked my sister to take a bite of, so I could guess what would happen next…

The memories of my previous life, when I was a working adult, suddenly surfaced, and I felt a sense of eeriness…and a bit of pity, but in fact…I think it’s reasonable…um…it’s self-inflicted.

I heard later that the store was eventually closed down because it violated various standards.

Yeah…well…it’s self-inflicted.

…The story that the average taste of Trinity Western restaurants has been upgraded since that day is a story I heard a little later.