“El! Let’s buy this too! Come on, hurry up and open the basket!”
On a Monday expedition, my friends and I went shopping to prepare for our upcoming ecological survey.
On a Saturday afternoon, the market street was bustling with city residents, and here and there we saw kids our age browsing through shops, just like us.
Judging by their familiar faces, they were likely students from our Academy year.
They were probably out for the same purpose as us.
As can be inferred from the name “Ecological Survey,” it was an outdoor class where we would venture into the forest near the city, and thus, we had to bring along packed lunches for the midday meal.
Though we weren’t forced to bring packed lunches, it was also fine to eat at an appropriate restaurant in the city during lunch and return to the outdoor class location afterward.
However, how many people would make the effort to return to the city just to eat when we were on a rare excursion disguised as class time?
If someone already brought a fully prepared lunch box, they might not bother going back to the city to buy food.
Of course, there weren’t many students like us who were going through the trouble of personally shopping and preparing their own homemade lunches.
At least among the girls, some of the classmates we met earlier or even us would bring homemade lunches, but most boys would likely just buy ready-made meals from any restaurant to finish their lunch.
While walking through the market, which was mostly frequented by residents, Anne suddenly held up a piece of meat she had somehow picked up and urged me enthusiastically.
Behind Anne, I noticed a butcher’s shop attendant anxiously watching to make sure Anne wouldn’t run off with the meat.
“Anne, you’ve already grabbed how many pieces of meat? You pick one up every time we pass a butcher’s shop. What are we supposed to do with all of them?”
Just as I was about to take another piece of meat from Anne, who seemed to think any kind of meat was always right, Selian stepped in and snatched the meat right from my hand, scolding Anne.
I quickly slipped my hand back down, realizing the situation.
Fortunately, Selian seemed not to notice my slight movement and was still giving Anne a lecture.
“Anne, your habit of picky eating is too serious. You’ve always been eating either meat or sweets. You really need to change that habit.”
Thus began Selian’s nagging at Anne.
Unable to escape Selian, Anne glanced at me, desperately rolling her eyes—a silent plea for help.
“For your health, you should eat more vegetables in balance instead of only eating meat…”
It’s true that Anne’s picky eating was a bit severe, and as Selian correctly pointed out, it would be good for her health to change that habit.
But watching Anne being scolded by Selian, I felt a tiny pang of pity and decided to interject with a small comment.
“Would one day like today be okay?”
“…But, people do need to eat meat to gain strength, right? I think it’d be fine this one time. Would you please put it in the basket, El?”
To my relief, recalling the special circumstances of the day, Selian promptly stopped nagging Anne and placed the meat she had brought into the basket.
…It was absolutely not because I wanted to eat the meat either and decided to interfere with Selian.
I only did this because I felt sorry for Anne’s downcast look…
About sixty percent… maybe?
Still, helping Anne was the main intention, so it wasn’t entirely wrong.
“Alright! We’ve bought a lot of meat, so let’s buy some vegetables too!”
Just as I thought the situation was wrapping up, Yuli, who had been watching on my side, grabbed my arm and spoke up.
“Yuli, is the amount of vegetables we’ve bought so far enough? Isn’t it?”
Even as I was dragged along by Yuli, I cautiously raised the question as subtly as I could.
“What? So far, we’ve only bought one head of cabbage, right?”
Sure enough, one basket was filled with meat, while the other, much lighter basket, contained only one lonely head of cabbage.
But Yuli, even though vegetables are just side ingredients, isn’t one cabbage enough?
It’s not because I prefer meat so much—I’m not a die-hard carnivore.
One part meat to one part vegetable—considering it’s the main ingredient versus the side ingredient, the ratio of three to one feels entirely reasonable to me.
But as I hesitated over whether to voice that thought, I found myself already dragged by Yuli in front of the produce stand.
“Alright, put this one in, and that one too, and let’s get two of this…”
Yuli started picking every vegetable in sight, from the usual vegetables to the nameless green herbage.
Selian joined in too, occasionally reaching for vegetables Yuli missed.
Meanwhile, only Anne and I stood slightly apart, simply watching them.
“…Hey, Anne, want to sneak in and grab one more piece of meat?”
“I’d love to, but Linne’s watching us over there…”
—Hehehe. I’d be happy if you two would act on this, but because it’s Yuli’s order, I can’t ignore it. But I think I can look away for about a minute, what do you say?
Linne, who seemed to be on guard against any mischief Anne and I might get into, was watching us.
Even Linne was gently teasing us with a sly smile.
But knowing Linne’s personality, we would never fall for it…
“Eh, really?”
“…Anne?”
Don’t fall for it, Anne! It’s Linne’s trap!
“Hot! No, no! I never thought about getting more meat, I promise!”
I tried to warn Anne by softly calling her name, but Anne, mistaking me for someone else entirely, was already giving an elaborate excuse.
—Tch. That didn’t work.
I realized this from before, when Linne was gleefully watching Anne get scolded.
Linne really has a bad personality.
When Linne noticed we weren’t taking any action, she seemed to give up on her surveillance and went back around to help Yuli pick vegetables, but we couldn’t move.
If I, the one holding the basket, disappeared, they’d notice right away, and if Anne took a step, Yuli would immediately hear about it.
So, Anne and I could only helplessly watch as the two loaded vegetables into their arms.
“Here you go.”
In the end, the vegetables completely filled the basket that had only contained a head of cabbage.
Amidst the lush green vegetables, there were a few peppers in bright colors peeking through, modestly showing their presence.
…
“El? You’re not also picky like Anne, are you? Hmm?”
I tried to put the pepper back on the stand from the basket, but Yuli’s voice stopped me in the act.
“No way, right? Don’t you agree, El?”
For some reason, both of them were smiling, but their gazes were fixed on me.
Even Anne, who had been glued to my side before, watching Yuli and Selian from afar, had now distanced herself and was pretending not to know me.
“No, no! Just that… the pepper seems like it might be in a bad position and about to burst… that’s why I picked it up to put it higher!”
“Hm…? Really?”
Yuli looked at me with a smirk, questioning me with suspicion.
Her expression was no less intimidating than that of the investigators Duo, Erin, and Stella who interrogated me after the Saint attack incident.
“Of course. How much could I possibly… l-like… peppers…”
“To save the situation, I tried to smile while making excuses, but Selian’s words, who returned just then, only deepened my despair.
“Haha, since you like peppers so much, why don’t we buy a few more?”
Unprepared for Selian’s unexpected words, I frantically signaled Anne with rapid eye movements, but Anne casually turned away and ignored my desperate look.
…Repaying a favor with grudges…
Anne! I’ll make sure to record this grudge in my journal tonight so I never forget it.
You shouldn’t take the revenge of an assassin lightly…
Despite everything, after finishing our vegetable shopping, we strolled around the market for a while. By the time the red sunset began to darken, our market visit had finally come to an end.
Of course, we had already bought far more ingredients than necessary, but it was also fun to wander around together and enjoy the little snacks we bought from roadside stalls in between.
“Well, shall we head back?”
In one hand, I carried the heavy basket of meat, Yuli carried the basket packed with vegetables, Anne carried the basket of fruits, which we bought for dessert rather than the main meal, and Selian carried the cake we planned to enjoy together after returning to the dormitory, while Linne, floating as usual, also carried a loaf of bread from the bakery.
All of us returned carrying something in one hand, and along with the groceries, we each carried a new memory within our hearts.
…Of course, none of us expected the disaster that would happen the next day while preparing our bentos.
