My enjoyable long vacation as Lark came to an end, and a few days had passed since the new school term began. Looking back at this break, so many things happened.

First, while I was active as an adventurer, I met Leticia and formed a party with her, completing various requests together. Additionally, I had a conversation with my maternal grandparents and was able to meet my benefactor, Idel. And during the latter half of the vacation, I had my own shop and engaged in activities to spread rice. It was safe to say that it was a fulfilling long vacation.

As I sat in my seat in the classroom, preparing for the lesson, someone called out to me from the side.

“Good morning, Lark-kun.”

“Ah, good morning, Lia.”

When I turned towards the voice, there was Roselia, the first princess of the Recommetys Kingdom, my former student as a private tutor, and now my classmate. I used to call her “Lia-chan,” but recently, at her request, I started calling her simply “Lia.”

I stopped my preparations and engaged in small talk with Lia.

“Speaking of which, Lia, we didn’t meet at all during the vacation. How was it for you?”

“Well, it was okay, I guess? I studied using the methods you taught me to keep up with the studies after the vacation, and I also made dolls with my mother.”

“I see. So, Lia is the type to relax and take it easy during the vacation.”

“Yeah. It’s nice to go somewhere, but I feel most relaxed when I’m in my usual surroundings. But I was curious about the rumor that you opened a shop, so I went to see it.”

“Eh? You came?”

Surprised, I asked, and Lia nodded.

“Yeah, but you seemed busy, so I asked one of the guards to buy me some grilled rice balls and went back home immediately.”

“Oh, I see. It would have been nice if you had told me.”

“I was just curious, and I didn’t want to disturb your work… By the way, the grilled rice balls were delicious!”

“Thank you.”

After that, our homeroom teacher, Karl, entered the classroom, and the scattered classmates took their seats.

“Good morning, everyone… Well, I believe you all remember, but we have a test four days from now, after the vacation. It will be a test to see if you have properly remembered the material we studied before the break, so it will be evident if you haven’t reviewed. Have you all been studying properly?”

“Yes!”

Everyone in the class responded energetically.

“…Yes,” I also gave a small response in a low voice, just in case.

…To be honest, I had been so occupied with my activities as an adventurer and running the food stall that I completely forgot about the test.

“I’m glad to hear such positive responses. Now, let’s begin the lesson…”

Throughout Karl’s class, I kept sweating nervously. After school, I packed my belongings and headed home.

By the way, I noticed that Maurice-san was absent today. Actually, I feel like I haven’t seen him around much lately. I wonder what happened? …Oh, right! While I check on the state of my shop, I should ask Leticia-san.

When I arrived at my shop, located a little off the main street of the commercial district, there was already a long line forming even though it was almost evening. It had been a few days since the opening, and it seemed to be off to a good start.

But still, I never thought I would open a shop in this new world that would have a line forming…

As I pondered deeply, I spotted a man watching the shop from a position slightly away from the line. At first, I thought he might be a suspicious person, but upon closer inspection, I recognized his face.

(…So he was here.)

Letting out a sigh in my mind, I approached the man, Maurice and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Ah! La-Lark!”

“Maurice-san… If you’re worried about Leticia-san, why don’t you just go to the shop openly?”

“Well, um, it’s not like I’m particularly worried about Leticia… I-I was just doing a patrol to make sure there were no suspicious guys!”

“Skipping school for patrol duty, huh?”

“Ugh…” Maurice choked on his words and reluctantly began to explain, “I wasn’t too worried before because I was with Lark, but since school started and Leticia started going out alone, I’ve been feeling anxious…”

“Well, I understand how you feel… But for now, please don’t skip school. I have to study for a test, so I’m going home now. But if I find you in this state again tomorrow, I’ll tell Leticia-san.”

“Y-Yeah, I got it. I’m going home too.” Maurice walked away dejectedly.

(Why are all fathers so overprotective?)

Thinking of Father, those words crossed my mind as I left the scene.

◇

The next day and the day after, I studied for the test at home. Yesterday and today are both holidays.

Today, too, I reviewed the contents of the lessons recorded in my notebook and solved reference problems while looking back at them. Thanks to “Enhanced Memory Capacity,” I have confidence in memorization-based questions, but for application problems and essay-style questions, understanding the content is crucial, so I need to prepare properly or I’ll be worried.

“…Hmm, I’m tired~”  I took a break and stretched.

Before I knew it, the sun had risen and it was already past noon. I took a break from studying and went to the kitchen to quickly make lunch, which I ate together with Shafal.

It’s a somewhat unrelated story, but Shafal’s efforts to lose weight surprisingly continue. He gradually reduces the amount of food he eats and doesn’t neglect exercising outside. It must have been quite a shock…

After lunch, Shafal and I left our seats without taking a break.

“Well then, Shafal. I’ll be studying in my room.”

“Yes, I understand. I’ll be exercising today as well. Good luck with your studies.”

After saying that, Shafal went outside through the living room window. Seeing Shafal off, I washed the dishes and quickly dried them with a combination of wind magic and fire magic, creating a warm breeze.

I put the shiny dishes into the “Useful Box” and returned to my room to resume studying.

“-Ku-La-ru-ra-ru-ku!”

“Eh!?”

Suddenly, my name was called near my ear, and I jumped up with a strange voice.

When I looked up, Father was standing right next to me. It was Father who called me…

“Lark, it’s already night,” Father said, pointing at the window with a look of exasperation.

I looked, and indeed, it was completely dark outside the window. It seems I had unknowingly fallen asleep.

“I’m sorry, I’ll make dinner right away.”

“I already made it. It may not be as good as Lark’s cooking, but for my son who’s working hard on his studies, let me do this much.”

“Father.. Thank you very much.”

Father and I went to the living room together, and a delicious smell filled the room.

“Wow…!” I exclaimed when I saw the dishes arranged on the table.

“Tonight’s menu is stir-fried boar meat and leafy vegetables, freshly cooked rice. It’s a simple dish, sorry about that.”

“No, it looks really delicious!” I sat down at the table right away and started eating Father’s cooking.

The stir-fry was incredibly delicious. The simple seasoning of salt and pepper, combined with the skilled cooking technique, created a very fragrant and appetizing dish. Moreover, knowing that Father made it for me made it taste even better. This must be what they call a father’s cooking.

I got absorbed in eating for a while, but I noticed Father looking at me with a worried expression, so I stopped eating and spoke, “It’s really delicious!” I said with a smile and resumed eating with gusto.

“I see, that’s good to hear,” Father muttered with a relieved expression and began eating as well.

After dinner, we took a bath together and then returned to our respective rooms.

Now, I have to make up for the time I spent dozing off… That’s what I thought when I remembered something.

“Oh, by the way, today was the day to offer grilled onigiri to Samady-san.”

That’s right, the other day, Samady asked me to send him three grilled onigiri once a week. When I asked him why, he said that he couldn’t forget the taste of the grilled onigiri he had eaten before and wanted to have it as a snack every week. He also wanted to share some with Magilt and Goldra, the gods who have a deep connection with me.

As a token of gratitude for always watching over me, I readily agreed.

I checked the “Useful Box” to see if there were any grilled onigiri left in stock.

“Oh, there are exactly three left. That’s good. I’ll have to make some more in advance.”

I took out the grilled onigiri and placed them on a plate in front of Samady’s statue.

I closed my eyes and prayed for a while, and when I opened them, the grilled onigiri had disappeared as usual. I wonder how it works, but I’ve decided to think of it as one of God’s miracles without delving too deep into it.

After collecting the plates, I returned to my desk and resumed studying.

Around midnight, Father came into my room. “Lark, I like seeing you work hard, but don’t push yourself too much. It’s already late, so go to bed.”

“But…”

Without paying attention to my attempts to argue, Father picked me up from the chair and carried me to the bed, laying me down on my side. “You have a test the day after tomorrow, right? It’s more efficient to get a good night’s sleep and study tomorrow than to push yourself until morning. So, go to sleep now,” He said in an admonishing tone and turned off the light before leaving the room.

…I guess there’s no helping it. I understand what Father is saying, so I’ll obediently go to sleep today.

I pulled the blanket tightly and covered myself up to my shoulders, making sure not to catch a cold, and closed my eyes.

◇

The next day, I woke up early as usual and solved practice problems before going to school. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it in time.

“It would be nice if I could do it every day, but I’ve been busy lately…,” muttering to myself, I stopped studying when Father woke up.

After having breakfast and getting ready to go to school, I hurried to the entrance. “Well then, I’m off.”

“Yeah, good luck with your studies.”

“Yes, Father, do your best at work too.”

After exchanging a few words with Father, I headed to school.

During my commute to school, I spotted a boy in a school uniform staggering aimlessly ahead. Is that… Roeck? He seems unsteady on his feet, as if he might collapse at any moment.

I ran a bit closer to Roeck and tapped his shoulder. “Good morning, Roeck.”

“Oh, hey there, Lark-kun.”

As Roeck turned around and responded, I noticed deep bags under his eyes.

“…Roeck, did you get enough sleep last night?”

“Well, I slept just a while ago, I guess. There was this problem I couldn’t figure out no matter what, so I kept working on it, and before I knew it, it was dawn.” Roeck swayed his body from side to side and answered with half-closed eyes. I was worried he might collapse during our commute.

Supporting him from the side, I walked while occasionally talking to him to make sure he didn’t lose consciousness. It felt like we were stranded in a snowy mountain, even though we were simply walking on a regular road.

We managed to reach the classroom somehow, but besides us, only Kagura had arrived so far. It’s unusual for everyone not to come to school at this time.

Anyway, I helped Roeck sit in his seat.

“Thanks… When the teacher comes, wake me up…”

Those were Roeck’s final words before he collapsed onto his desk and fell asleep.

Just as I was about to return to my seat, Kagura, who was sitting next to Roeck, spoke up, “Roeck-kun, what happened?”

“Oh, I collapsed from studying too much… Wait, Kagura, you also look tired around your eyes!”

Under Kagura’s eyes, there were bags no less pronounced than Roeck’s. “Haha, I couldn’t sleep either because I was studying my weak subjects… Lark-kun, please wake me up when the teacher comes if you don’t mind. I want to sleep too.”

With those words, Kagura also rested her head on the desk. After that, other classmates began to trickle into the classroom, but everyone seemed sleepy to varying degrees.

…Are they all in such bad shape from cramming? What happened to their energetic responses just three days ago?

Comparing my classmates’ faces, I decided to ask Lia, who seemed relatively energetic, “Lia, why does everyone look so tired? When Karl-san asked us, everyone answered confidently.”

“Well… I think normally, when we’re asked like that, everyone would just give a positive response for the time being.”

“Hmm…”

Well, I guess I can understand that to some extent…

Lia continued her explanation, “Well, I think everyone has been studying seriously. But the tests during this time of the year are always incredibly difficult. Many students end up with scores that are about half of what they usually get, so I think everyone is working hard,” she said.

“I see…”

“Lark-kun, since you might find it a bit challenging, I think you should study more than usual.”

“Yeah, thanks for the advice… Everyone’s going through a tough time, huh?”

Is there anything I can do for everyone…?