—A blade of fire.
When I snap back to reality, in front of me is a blade of fire.
The most excellent of weaponry, it is only used by masters of their art.
So, why is it that this particular one seems to be coming for my face?
"——Turn it off. You'll burn your face off."
The vicenarian's voice calls out to me from behind, where he's wiping his head from the heat.
The blade of fire is really a flame of fire.
A flame of fire coming for my face, because I forgot to turn the oven off.
A natural occurrence in the bakery of Shukufuku, made clear through the burn marks on the counters surrounding "my side" of the kitchen.
"Don't beat yourself up for it. It happens all the time for you."
He tries to make me feel better, but the sentence alone is passive-aggressive, even if he didn't intend for it to be.
"Sorry again, Kota-sensei. My mind wasn't all there."
"That's okay, Apprentice. Let's clean it up, okay?"
He smiles like usual.
Kota Kuwagawa.
He's the university student who's been taking care of me ever since I was six years old.
I usually wasn't in school, so in the meantime, I would show up to help around in his family-owned business.
The Shukufuku family bakery is criminally underappreciated.
The cakes and baguettes served here are heavenly, and all for criminally low prices.
But, that underappreciation has more to do with the owner himself than the customers.
"We made about 3,000 Yen today from 25 cakes. Subtract that from the rent, and…"
He taps his head crudely and looks up.
"—We made a grand total of 53 Yen! Isn't that surprising, huh, Apprentice?"
"Hm. Yes, Sensei…"
For as long as I've known Kota, he has never made any actual money from his business.
Six years ago, when I arrived here, I noticed how Kota always made free cakes for homeless beggars who stumbled across this area.
Of course, I had many questions and advice to give, but I eventually had to come to terms with his style of business.
For the Shukufuku family bakery is not a business of profit, but rather a business in the sense that customers receive something, and the business receives more customers.
In other words, Kota seems like a sunflower, but is really hard headed on the inside.
And so, naturally, I went under such a man and became his one and only successor.
I grab the cleaning equipment under the counter and start wiping away the burnt crust of the table tops.
Surprisingly, through my six years of being a student under Kota, I've never had any problems with him. He's a lenient person and easy to get along with.
It may seem unsettling, but considering his life outside of the bakery, he only had the option to be kind or sorrowful, and he ended up choosing the first one.
"—With our monthly earnings, we should be able to finally buy a mailbox service."
I don't respond.
I don't even look at Kota as I scratch at the table through a cloth repeatedly.
"Are you in a bad mood today? I know you had to stay a bit longer, but it's you who insisted on doing so…"
He writes something down in a small notebook and places it on the counter.
Then, he looks up at me smugly.
"——Maybe we can even get a ride to your Knight brother, hm?"
He closes his eyes as he smiles innocently. It was a joke, but enough to snap my mind out of the trance it was in.
"——T-that's not funny, Sensei! You know that!"
"Sorry, sorry. I just thought that'd wake you up. After all, you can only visit somebody if you actually know where they are, right?"
"——H-hey—!"
...And the mind of Sustrous Aron is back to earth.
Kota's not a cruel guy, but when he says something insensitive with that warm smile, it makes me feel a certain way.
"Hm…"
And even so, I'm thankful.
Suffering a brain injury as a toddler, I developed a constant fog clouding my brain. At first, there was no way to snap me out of my trances, but Kota noticed my weakness pretty early on.
"...So, that man that saved you. He really was a Knight, wasn't he?"
"——?"
He looks at me seriously.
"Y-yes. And I still intend on meeting him one day."
"..."
We lock eyes for about twenty seconds.
"—Hm, yeah. Whatever you say, Apprentice!"
Kota's smile is like the sun.
Not that it has a heat of 10,000 fahrenheit, but its appearance is vaguely warm, and it burns my feelings.
"H-hey! I was already back to normal!"
"I know, I know. I'm just joking around with you."
He crosses his hands behind his back like a girl and sways back and forth.
"It is a bit strange, though."
"?"
"The only thing that you really seem to care about is something that doesn't even exist!"
Kota frowns.
"Not even the bakery catches your attention."
"S-sensei!? Have you tried calling out the bakery to snap me back to reality before!?"
"That's not the point, Apprentice. You don't really care about this place, do you?!"
"T-that's not it…!"
"Hahahaha! Look at how red you can get! You're too funny, Apprentice!"
"G—rrrr."
I suppose he is right, though.
If somebody told me they had seen a Knight before, I wouldn't think twice before calling them a stupid liar.
They're even more stupid for thinking anybody would believe such a thing.
…Is it possible that Kota looks at me the same way?
"Finish cleaning that stove up, and you start heading home, 'kay?"
"Mhm."
I nod my head in agreement and continue to scrub at the grime.
I was trying to bake a strawberry shortcake, but I ended up daydreaming about that day again.