“My arm… it feels like my arm is gonna fall off…”
With her arms crossed over her aching biceps from scrubbing the kitchen clean, Aisha let out a string of pitiful moans. Since no magic could be used in the kitchen – meaning everything had to be cleaned by hand – none of us were left with any strength to spare.
“Ah, President-sama… why must you…”
All this hardship was thanks to our esteemed president. You see, according to him:
“Cooking with magic lacks heart, therefore using magic in the kitchen is forbidden.”
Yet he had no problem using magic to mass-produce the school meals. The standards for what constitutes “heart” are completely unclear.
Gurgle
Was I losing my mind from exhaustion? Normally, I wouldn’t be pondering such philosophical questions about ‘heart’, but then…
My stomach growled.
“It wasn’t me.”
Currently, the only ones in this office are me and my teaching assistant.
“Aisha?”
“…!?”
The most likely – indeed, the only possible suspect turned bright red when asked about the source of the noise.
“N-no! It’s… uh… coming from the next room!”
“All the professors’ rooms have soundproofing, you know that right?”
“Huuuuh…”
Realizing her lie wouldn’t hold up, she shyly turned away.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t eaten dinner either.”
While teasing Aisha, it occurred to me that due to the wyvern meat preparation disaster, my own kitchen was unusable, meaning I hadn’t eaten dinner either.
Normally, I’d just skip dinner and eat a big breakfast tomorrow, but…
There’s someone right here who missed dinner because they helped clean the kitchen.
I couldn’t very well let a growing girl go hungry, especially since it was at my request that she skipped dinner to help clean. As her professor, I should take responsibility.
“So, Aisha. As a sort of reward for helping with the cleaning… would you care to join me for dinner?”
“R-really?!”
She lit up at the suggestion.
Seeing her so excited made me feel guilty for originally planning to reheat leftovers meant for my pet wolf.
“Even if it was just leftovers… I couldn’t offer them to someone who reacts this happily.”
Though the leftover meat from earlier could probably still be salvaged with some extra seasoning…
“Professor’s cooking~!”
Looking at her hopeful face, I felt even worse about my original plan. Only after deciding to make a proper meal did the guilt subside.
“I had some meat left over from earlier…”
It was originally meant for tomorrow’s breakfast, but giving it to her seemed like the better choice. What kind of professor would hoard food from their own teaching assistant?
Considering all the things she does regularly, it’s the least I can do.
“Since you’ve worked so hard today, how about I grill up some extra meat? Is that alright with you?”
Nodnod!
She didn’t even wait for me to finish asking before vigorously nodding, her green hair bouncing wildly.
With that settled, I entered the now-clean kitchen and opened the fridge. Miraculously, despite the kitchen being half-destroyed, the fridge and some dishes remained intact.
Grateful that the fridge had protected the ingredients from the earlier chaos, I took out the meat. Unfortunately, all side dishes and seasonings hadn’t survived.
“Let’s just focus on the positives.”
Placing the meat on a heated pan…
Sizzle~
The sizzling meat filled the air with a different aroma than before. With the small amount, it didn’t take long to cook.
Carrying the quickly-grilled meat to the dining table, Aisha was already waiting with everything set up.
“Go ahead, don’t be shy.”
“Thank you!”
Without waiting for further invitation, she immediately began slicing into the meat.
She must have been starving.
Her aggressive eating style was quite different from the usual Aisha I knew, though considering the intermittentgurglesounds coming from her direction while I was cooking, this reaction was understandable. Actually, given how ravenous I get, her restraint was impressive.
“Eat slowly, Aisha. You’ll give yourself indigestion.”
Nodding while chewing with a mouthful of meat, she asked:
“Professor, where did you get this meat? It’s not regular beef or pork, is it?”
As expected, she noticed.
Not being a difficult question, I decided to tell her, partly out of curiosity about her reaction.
“It’s wyvern meat.”
“…”
Clatter!
Her utensils clattered to the floor in shock.
She never fails to react wonderfully.
“Wyvern meat?! I thought one piece costs half my monthly salary!”
“That’s correct.”
“I just ate more than six pieces… That’s three months’ worth of my salary gone in an instant?!”
“That’s correct.”
Now realizing what she’d been eating, she stared at her plate with trembling eyes.
But her plate was already empty except for some lingering juices, evidence of the meat that had been there.
“Professor… This has to be a dream. Tell me it’s a dream…”
“This is reality.”
Her attempts to deny reality were starting to sound like a naughty child caught doing something wrong – which was rather cute.
“Don’t worry about the cost. Consider this a gift for all your hard work today. There’s no need to concern yourself with it.”
Though words alone might not convey my sincerity…
I transferred some meat from my plate to hers.
“Even so, the price… If this keeps up…”
“Money is earned to be spent, isn’t it? Seeing you enjoy your meal is enough for me.”
“B-but…”
My teaching assistant is great, except for this strange tendency to refuse gifts.
For some reason, she always gets like this when accepting something from me, repeating that it’s too much even as I insist it’s fine. It’s an endless loop.
Unless I ask her for something in return, we’d probably keep going back and forth forever. So I decided to ask her for a small favor.
“If you really feel that way, could you pick up some feed for me later?”
“Feed… for animals?”
“Yes, animal feed. Preferably something for carnivorous mammals.”
“That’s not difficult… but will that really be enough?”
“That’s all, Aisha.”
It’s not even necessary, but I’m doing this so you don’t feel too uncomfortable.
“Actually… I’ll be quite busy from now on, as you know.”
“O-of course. The exams are coming up…”
“With the exams approaching, it wouldn’t be right for me, as a professor, to leave the academy. Would you mind helping me out?”
Giving her my best “you’re the only one I can ask” look.
“Alright… Though I don’t think this fully repays the debt… But if it’s something I can do…”
You don’t need to repay me, you know.
Too kind-hearted.
I’m worried she’ll get scammed somewhere.
If someone asks her to be a guarantor, she’d probably actually do it.
“Well then, I’ll be going…”
“Aisha, wait a moment?”
“Hm?”
Just as she was getting up to leave, I handed her an envelope.
“Professor, what’s this?”
“It’s a secret. Open it when you get home.”
At my words, she stopped trying to peek inside.
“Alright… Then I’ll be going…”
“Take care on your way home, Aisha.”
After giving a polite bow, she left the office with the envelope in hand.
Thinking about how she’d been shoving meat into her mouth moments ago made me smile. Remembering that brought back memories of how my grandmother used to spoil me.
Speaking of which…
“Aisha ate so much meat…”
She showed no signs of feeling bloated at all.
Is that the power of youth?
“Compared to that…sniff”
Until now, everything about me was fine except for being too old to enroll in the academy.
Looks like I’ve gained another issue today.
“…Guess I’ll take a bath.”
Even wyvern meat has its limits.
*
“…”
Walking down the hallway from the professor’s office, the young woman sighed repeatedly.
“Ended up accepting something again…”
Helping the professor was one thing, but now she’d accepted even more.
This weighed heavily on Aisha’s heart.
“Still haven’t paid back the kindness from my childhood…”
An enormous debt she could never repay in her lifetime.
That’s why she became a teaching assistant at this academy, hoping to repay even a small portion.
Yet somehow, these days she felt she was receiving more than giving.
“At least I can buy proper feed!”
Firmly clenching her fists in determination…
Of course, it was too late tonight, so tomorrow.
“Still, suddenly wanting animal feed… Is the professor planning to keep a pet?”
If it’s because the professor feels lonely, then I…
“No no! What am I thinking!?”
Shaking her head violently to dispel the embarrassing fantasy, little did she know that meeting a certain wolf would come…
A bit later.
