"Um."
Ryuen pointed at the leg of lamb in the distance, and the corner of the real estate agent's eye twitched.
Seriously, where was he supposed to roast a leg of lamb for her?
"You're not planning to eat roast lamb, are you?"
"Why not?"
"Forget it. I'll ask someone at the restaurant to roast it for you later, but it'll have to be for dinner. There's no way it'll be ready this afternoon."
That was true. This thing took time. It was already noon, and if he sent it to the restaurant to be prepared and then brought out to Ryuen, it might not arrive until two.
"Oh, then forget it. Maybe later."
Ryuen Shoko waved a hand and went back to looking at the other food, bored.
"Just pick out whatever you want for now. I'll go choose some meat."
The real estate agent said, then went over to the butcher.
"Hey, buddy, can you do me a favor?"
"What is it?"
"Could you roast that leg of lamb for me?"
"Come on, you're joking. I don't have anywhere to roast it here."
"Could you send it to the restaurant, then?"
"That's easy enough. Buy it, and I'll send it over."
"Okay, I'll pay first."
Ryuen Shoko had said to forget it and maybe do it later, but the real estate agent could tell she really wanted it.
He'd just have to ask someone else.
"Hey, Ichinose, are you at the restaurant? You are? Great. Could you talk to the restaurant staff for me? The boss wants roast lamb. I'll have someone send the leg over. Could you ask them to roast it this afternoon and bring it over for dinner? Don't worry about the points. Could you cover it for now? I'll transfer them to you later."
How many points could one roast leg of lamb cost? A few thousand at most. Besides, they already had the lamb; it just needed to be cooked.
If spending a few thousand points could make Ryuen a little happier and keep her from giving him a hard time, the real estate agent thought it was worth it.
Yeah, keep spoiling her.
After hanging up, Ichinose had a rather complicated expression.
He was really going to all this trouble for the boss. He sure was putting in the effort.
"Ichinose, did something happen?"
"Oh, someone asked me for a favor. I'll go take care of it and be right back~ You guys go ahead and eat."
While Ryuen was away, the real estate agent took care of everything.
Then he started picking out all kinds of food, mostly things he liked.
Onions, potatoes, carrots, bitter melon...
Bitter melon was something the real estate agent really liked. He enjoyed making bitter melon juice.
Well... most people couldn't understand why.
"How's it going? Have you picked everything out? Couldn't you pick something fresher?"
"Huh? What's wrong with these?"
Ryuen looked at the tomatoes and cucumbers in her hands, not understanding what the problem was.
"Then these should be fine, right?"
"Um... If you want salted peanuts, I'll buy them for you. But if you just buy raw peanuts, I can't be bothered to cook them..."
"Oh, I see."
Ryuen put the bag of peanuts aside. If they couldn't be prepared, she wouldn't buy them.
"Never mind. I'll take them and cook them into porridge later. And I'll get fresh cucumbers and tomatoes."
The real estate agent took all the ingredients Ryuen was holding, found the cucumbers and tomatoes, swapped them for fresh ones, and went to pay.
Seeing the real estate agent looking a little peeved, Ryuen couldn't help but purse her lips.
Was he annoyed?
No way. He wasn't that kind of person.
He wasn't angry; he just couldn't understand how Ryuen could know so little about something like this.
Women... If her future husband couldn't cook, she'd starve to death.
You might ask if she could just buy a boxed meal. Forget it. If she became a delinquent, she might not even make a name for herself.
The real estate agent carried two bags of groceries, and Ryuen carried one. Hers held the tomatoes, cucumbers, and salted peanuts she liked.
Yeah, they were all good drinking snacks or things she could eat raw.
Cucumbers especially. She could eat one after washing it, or smash it and have it with drinks.
Of course, whether she knew how to do that was another matter.
"All right, take a rest. I'll make lunch."
The real estate agent could cook, but he was often too lazy. When he was by himself, he didn't always bother making a proper meal. But now there were two of them, so he might as well cook something decent.
He made braised eggplant, smashed cucumber salad, and stir-fried shredded potatoes with meat. Those three dishes were enough.
He didn't add any chili, since Ryuen didn't eat spicy food. As for why there wasn't more meat... he was worried that if she ate too much at lunch, she might not have room for the roast lamb tonight.
"Why is there so little meat?"
Unfortunately, Ryuen didn't know what he was thinking and chose to challenge him instead.
"We're having something good tonight, so let's keep lunch simple. Also, no drinking. You can drink tomorrow."
"Tsk."
Ryuen clicked her tongue softly, then obediently picked up her rice bowl and started eating.
The rice came from the supermarket. The real estate agent had only just learned that they sold cooked rice in the prepared-food section. It wasn't hot anymore, but it was still fine.
Besides, the real estate agent wasn't particularly fond of hot food. He usually let it cool down anyway.
After lunch, the real estate agent started tidying up the place, while Ryuen Shoko sat on the bed playing on her phone.
She had no plans to go out that afternoon. The morning hadn't exactly been pleasant.
She'd gotten thrashed in a game and carried by someone else, run into people from other classes just trying to get milk tea, and even encountered weirdos while out for a walk.
She figured she'd been having bad luck lately. Oh, people in Japan didn't believe in that sort of thing, so she just thought her luck had been pretty bad recently.
That was why she said she'd stay in the dorm.
Well, she wasn't going back to her own dorm, either. She planned to stay here.
"You're not planning to go back to your dorm?"
"What would I go back for?"
"Then give me your key."
"What for?"
"So I can clean your room. You haven't been back in days. It must be a mess by now."
"Tch... Don't go snooping around."
"What could you possibly have in there that I'd snoop through?"
The real estate agent took the key and let out a dry laugh.
"I'm worried you'll secretly use my underwear to jerk off."
"Not a chance. Really, not a chance."
Listen to yourself. Even if he were going to take someone's clothes, he wouldn't take yours.
You were best when you were asleep. When you were awake... forget it.
"Then remember to answer your phone later. Otherwise, the dorm supervisor won't let me in."
Right, boys had to sign in to enter the girls' dorm. Usually, a girl had to escort them inside. As for the real estate agent...
He'd decided to communicate by phone. That should be enough to explain the situation.
"Hello, I'm going to 6-104."
The real estate agent showed the dorm supervisor the key. She looked at it and said, "Wait a moment while I check... This is Ryuen Shoko's room, from Class 1-C?"
"That's right."
"Sign in first and show me your ID."
The ID could be a student card or the electronic information on his phone. They mainly needed to confirm that the registration details were correct.
He'd heard that someone had once pretended to be someone else to get into the girls' dorm, causing a huge misunderstanding afterward.
"Real Estate Agent from Class 1-C... Oh, you're in the same class. What are you going there for?"
"To help clean up."
"Clean up?"
"Yeah, her dorm's a mess. I need to sort it out."
"Then call her and have her confirm it."
If he was only there to pick something up, the real estate agent would be out again quickly. But if he was cleaning, who knew how long he'd be there?
"By the way, what's your relationship with her?"
"Uh... We're superior and subordinate, I guess."
As he answered, he dialed Ryuen Shoko's number.
"Superior and subordinate? Hmm..."
At another school, she naturally wouldn't believe that. But at this school...
It was hard to say whether it was true or not.
"Hey, what's taking you so long? Aren't you here yet?"
"I'm still signing in. The dorm supervisor's asking if I'm supposed to clean your room."
"Tch... Why is this so complicated? Hurry up and come back. I'm running out of booze. Buy some more on your way back."
"Yes, yes, boss. Is there anything else you need to ask, ma'am?"
Hearing a young man call her "ma'am" put the dorm supervisor in a pretty good mood. She nodded, confirmed the information, and let him in.
At her age, how could she not understand their relationship after hearing that conversation?
Superior and subordinate, my foot.
She'd eaten more salt than they'd eaten rice.
The student handbook clearly stated that students weren't allowed to do things inappropriate for high schoolers, but... who was going to bother enforcing that?
A lot of the rules were just there for show. How many people actually took them seriously?
So when she watched the real estate agent enter the girls' dorm, she couldn't help shaking her head. Honestly, young people these days...
It should be this one.
Once he was sure he'd reached the right place, the real estate agent swiped his card to unlock the door.
Just then, a girl happened to step out of the room.
"Hey, good afternoon."
"Good afternoon... Wait, why are you here?"
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