I Reincarnated into the World of Otome Game with a Cheat Ability - Chapter 8

 Procuring Clothes

Today's wages came out to a whopping 1,500G. Up until now, my pay for working a full day on a school holiday had been 500G, but thanks to the shop's soaring sales, my earnings had been given a major boost as well. My cash on hand now stood at 2,060G. For the time being, I purchased a two-pack of underwear for 500G, a two-pack of undershirt T-shirts for 1,000G, and a bottle of laundry detergent for 300G. My remaining balance dropped to 260G.

(I finally managed to buy a change of underwear... If my savings keep growing smoothly like this, I should definitely be able to upgrade my living situation.)

The following day was another school holiday, which meant another full day of working at the bakery. The new flavored products we had launched the day before had a stellar reputation, and we were running around ragged right from the morning.

"It's getting to the point where the shop isn't going to function unless we hire a new part-timer," Marie-san remarked out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry," I apologized. "It seems like I'm the one who drastically increased the workload..."

"Oh, don't worry about that at all! Having so many customers flocking to us is something any shop would be incredibly grateful for. I have no idea if anyone will actually apply, but for now, I'll go ahead and stick a help-wanted sign out front."

With that, Marie quickly whipped up a job advertisement and posted it outside the storefront.

A little before noon, a massive line of customers began snaking out the door. Leaving the baking duties entirely in Marie's hands, Kent stepped up to help Catherine manage the front counter. With Kent assisting, the long queue quickly dwindled until it was manageable enough for Catherine to handle on her own again, allowing him to immediately dive back into baking more bread.

The day flew by in the blink of an eye. While Marie was busy tallying up the day's revenue, Kent and Catherine took care of cleaning up the shop.

"Wonderful work today, you two. You can head on out now. Here are your daily wages and your bread."

"Thank you very much. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow, Onii-chan!"

Kent returned home. His received wages were exactly the same as yesterday: 1,500G. Using this, he immediately purchased a matching tracksuit set for 1,500G. His remaining balance was back to exactly 260G.

"Man, you can really tell it's cheap... The fabric is incredibly thin. Well, it's still infinitely better than having nothing at all."

Changing into the tracksuit, I washed the school uniform I had been wearing up until a few moments ago. Since I had purchased laundry detergent yesterday, all the dirt and grime washed out beautifully.

The next day, just as I was getting ready to head to school after wrapping up my morning shift, Catherine called out to me.

"Onii-chan! I kind of messed up while spreading the fillings inside the bread today... If you don't mind, could you eat them for your lunch?"

She handed me two custard cream bakes, one margarine bun, and one strawberry jam bun.

"Thank you, Catherine. I'll gladly have them later."

Accepting the bread, Kent made his way to school.

When lunch break arrived, he set off toward the secluded area behind the school building to eat his meal. Along the way, however, he spotted a female student collapsed on the ground. Panicking, Kent sprinted over and called out to her.

"Hey! Are you alright?!"

"Forgive me..." she whispered weakly. "I haven't put anything into my stomach besides water for the past two days..."

"I happen to have some bread on me right now. If you'd like, would you care to eat some?"

"To accept charity from a stranger... is something I simply cannot bring myself to do as a noblewoman..."

"In that case, how about we consider it... a formal tribute?"

Recalling his past conversations with Josette, Kent threw out the suggestion.

"My... well, if it is framed in such a manner, I suppose I have little choice. Thank you very much."

Summoning every last ounce of her remaining strength, she attempted to push herself up. Kent instinctively reached out to support her body, helping her to her feet. It was only when he finally got a clear look at her face that he realized he recognized her.

(She's short, has a very petite, childlike frame, and pink hair tied into twin-tails. I don't know her name, but she's definitely the shorter girl who hangs around as one of Josette's lackeys.)

"Let's go sit down on that bench over there for now."

Kent guided her over to the bench he always used for his lunch breaks and helped her sit down.

"Here, please have this."

The bun he happened to pull at random from his bag turned out to be a custard cream bread.

"Th-Thank you..."

She accepted the bun and took a bite.

"It... it is incredibly delicious..." Tears began welling up in her eyes.

"Why haven't you eaten anything for two whole days?"

Kent was a bit out of his depth since he didn't know her name or her detailed backstory. Still, since she had explicitly mentioned it herself, there was zero doubt that she belonged to a noble family.

"It is a deeply embarrassing tale... but two days ago, my father's corruption was brought to light, and he was placed under arrest. Our entire estate and property were seized, our servants scattered, and I have no other family members besides my father. With absolutely no one to turn to... I have spent the last two days wandering the city streets aimlessly. And yet... I am still required to attend school."

According to the laws of this kingdom, students enrolled in the academy were strictly forbidden from missing classes without a valid, officially recognized reason. This girl seemed to be following that rule to a fault.

"Couldn't you ask Josette-san for help?"

"That would likely be impossible... Lady Josette's own position within her household is quite precarious, so I cannot bring myself to place any further burdens upon her."

"You have absolutely no need to worry your head over such trivial matters, you know?"

Sitting next to Kent before anyone had even noticed, Lady Josette spoke up, casually munching on the strawberry jam bun she had swiped.

"Josette-san?! When did you even get here?!"

"I caught sight of the two of you and found myself intrigued, so I decided to stroll on over. Nom, chew... My, this bread is wonderfully sweet and delicious."

"Could you please stop casually reaching into my bag and eating my food without asking?"

"Oh, what harm is there? It is not as if we are strangers, is it? Nom, chew."

With that, she immediately moved on to eating the margarine bread.

"Oh my, this one is spectacular as well. It has a slightly rich oiliness to it, but it sinks into the bread in the most delightful manner..."

"Like I said, stop eating my stuff..."

"You two truly get along splendidly, don't you?" the lackey girl chimed in.

""We absolutely do not!"" they retorted in unison.

"Hehehe."

The sight was apparently amusing enough to make the lackey girl burst into a warm chuckle. The three of them sat together finishing the bread—though Josette ended up eating more than half of it—and finally took a moment to catch their breath.

"Lady Caro, what do you intend to do from here on out?"

Ah, so her name is Caro, Kent noted internally.

"If possible, I would love to find a place where I could work as a live-in maid or assistant..."

"Is that so? As it happens, I know of a standalone house where someone is currently living entirely on their own. It is an ideal location."

"If it is a recommendation coming from you, Lady Josette, I am certain it must be safe. If it is not too much trouble, would you mind introducing me?"

"And that is how matters stand. I am leaving her in your care, Kent."

"Huh?"

Suddenly having the ball thrown entirely into his court, Kent let out an incredibly dumbfounded reply.

"I may be inexperienced, but I look forward to working with you. Please take good care of me, Kent-san."

"Uh, look... my house literally has absolutely nothing in it..."

"Kent has always been an immense help to me, so I shall gladly provide her settlement funds out of my own pocket money."

Josette pulled out a small handbell and rang it, prompting a maid to materialize seemingly out of thin air.

"How may I serve you, My Lady?"

"Caro shall be moving in to reside at Kent's house starting today. I intend to provide her with settlement funds, so see to it that they are prepared."

"Understood. I shall have them ready by the time school dismisses."

With a bow, the maid vanished back into the shadows.

"Well then, you two. Afternoon classes are about to commence."

The afternoon lectures began, and eventually, the school day came to an end.

"Kent-san, a moment if you please?"

"Yes?"

Kent was called to a halt by Josette in the hallway.

"Here are the settlement funds. You are entirely free to use them as you see fit, but please ensure that Caro's needs are prioritized above all else."

"Understood. Thank you."

He was handed a heavy pouch. Kent accepted it without checking the contents inside. Right on cue, Caro walked into Kent's classroom.

"Well then, take good care of Caro."

"I will."

"I am in your care, Kent-san."

Kent and Caro walked back to his house together. However, the interior of the house was still an absolute void. For now, his shift at the bakery was coming up, so he had to prioritize his job.

"I'm really sorry, Caro-san. I have a shift at the bakery right after this, so I have to head out. There's literally nothing to do here, but do you think you can wait for me?"

"Yes, of course! Have a safe trip."

Sent off by Caro's warm smile, Kent hurried over to the bakery. To his surprise, however, a "Closed for Preparation" sign was hanging firmly on the front door. Pushing the door open, he found Catherine sweeping the floor inside.

"Ah! Welcome back, Onii-chan."

"I'm home, Catherine. How come the shop is closed?"

"Um, you see, a sudden meeting of the Bakery Guild was called. I think pretty much every bakery in town is shut down today."

"Ah, I see. Guess there's no work for me today then... Since tomorrow is... our regular day off, I guess I'll see you the day after tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Onii-chan. Please help us out again the day after tomorrow!"

Since he was off the clock, Kent walked back to his house where Caro was waiting.

"I'm back. Turns out the bakery had a temporary closure today."

"Is that so? Well, that means you can get some proper rest today."

Seeing Caro's bright, welcoming smile made Kent's heart skip a beat.

"Before I can rest, we need to make this place livable for you... Since there's literally a whole lot of nothing in here."

"I am terribly sorry for causing you so much trouble," Caro said, looking deeply apologetic.

"Don't worry about it. For now, we just need to figure things out using the settlement money we received..."

With those words, he pulled open the pouch Josette had given him. Inside sat 10 massive gold coins—equivalent to roughly 10 million yen.

"Uh... is it really okay for me to just spend this?"

"In fact, she will be furious if you don't use it. Lady Josette can be quite terrifying when she loses her temper."

"Right... Guess I won't hold back then. Um, Caro-san?"

"Yes?"

"I need you to promise me that whatever you are about to see stays strictly between us. Don't tell a single soul."

"Y-Yes, understood."

Suddenly being forced into secrecy made Caro look a bit anxious about what was about to happen.

"Alright, let's conjure up a full set of living necessities for you."

Kent pulled out his purchasing terminal.

"What exactly is that device?"

"Think of it as a little bit of magic. Though, every time I use it, my money takes a massive hit..."

"I see..." Caro replied, her face a complete picture of confusion.

"First off, we're definitely going to need electricity..."

Muttering to himself, Kent accessed the terminal and purchased a complete solar power generation system paired with a storage battery unit—installation costs fully included—for a whopping 4,000,000G. It turned out that even if an item wasn't physically stocked in a standard store, as long as it was listed in the system, it could be bought. He was a bit curious about how the "installation process" would manifest, but since he'd still have 6,000,000G left over even if it failed, he proceeded with a completely carefree attitude.

The moment he pressed the execution button, a heavy THUD echoed from the roof, causing the entire house to violently shudder.

"Eeek!"

Startled by the sudden shock, Caro instinctively threw her arms around Kent, burying herself against him. A soft, distinct sensation pressed firmly against his chest.

"It's okay, you're safe," Kent reassured her.

Once Caro calmed down, the two of them stepped outside to investigate. Sure enough, sitting directly on top of the roof was a gleaming array of solar panels. They were angled perfectly so that they were only visible from inside the courtyard; from the outside street, they were completely hidden from view—an absolutely flawless installation.

"What in the world is that?"

"Those are solar panels. It's a device that generates electricity. Though, I guess 'electricity' doesn't really mean much to you, does it?"

"I have no understanding of it... I am terribly sorry."

"No, no, that's definitely not something you need to apologize for."

"Is that so?..."

Now that a stable power supply had been secured, the two of them stepped back inside, and Kent guided her to the vacant room he intended to allocate as her bedroom.

"Alright, we're going to build your bedroom right now, so go ahead and pick out whatever you like from this list."

Kent held out the terminal, displaying an array of items complete with detailed descriptions and photos. As Caro pointed out her choices, Kent purchased them one after another, rapidly assembling the room. Rugs, a sturdy bed frame, a spacious wardrobe, and full bedding sets materialized into existence, followed by casual indoor clothing and undergarments—though since they were sourced directly from a modern home improvement center, they possessed zero aesthetic flair and were strictly focused on utility. Finally, he installed a ceiling light fixture and a modern air conditioning unit, burning through a total of 550,000G.

Next, he turned his attention to the kitchen, purchasing a complete countertop unit, various cooking utensils, tableware, a refrigerator, and an induction cooktop, spending another 450,000G. The remaining balance of the entrusted money sat comfortably at 5,000,000G.

"There. That should give you a perfectly comfortable environment to live in."

"To think all of this was spent solely on my behalf... I feel incredibly guilty, Kent-san. Please, you must use the rest of the funds to furnish your own room as well!"

Since Caro insisted so passionately, Kent gratefully accepted the offer.

He purchased a matching rug, bed frame, and bedding set for his own room. Moving on to the living room, he picked out a plush carpet, a comfortable sofa, a low table, and mounted a secondary air conditioning unit on the wall. This final round of shopping cost 300,000G, leaving their remaining balance at 4,700,000G.

Yeah, this feels like a solid place to stop.

With their living environment fully modernized and fully equipped, the cohabitation of the two teenagers officially began.

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