Chapter 17

In modern Japan, there was a café that I loved.

It was a coffee specialty shop located in the suburbs, not far from the station, where they roasted coffee beans in a corner of the store. I loved the relaxed atmosphere and the unhurried time that flowed there, the aroma that rose when the master prepared the coffee after an order, and the stylish coffee cups that I enjoyed looking at while sipping my coffee, which I couldn't afford to buy for myself.

They also sold the coffee beans they roasted, and when I knew I couldn't come on my next day off because of an appointment, I would buy 100 grams and enjoy them at home with my favorite cookies and chocolate.

Perhaps because I was reminiscing about such things, the taste in my mouth was the gentle aroma of butter and vanilla and the sweet taste of cookies. But they were unusually hard. ...Hard?

"......Can you let go of my finger now?"

As I hummed, Dillnan's voice, tinged with laughter, came from my right. I tried to understand what was happening with my foggy mind and opened my heavy eyes.

"Kril is still here if you want to eat. So, open your mouth for now."

"…Huh?"

Without thinking about the meaning of Dillnan's words, I opened my mouth as instructed. As I looked around the room in a daze, I saw Elies laughing heartily in a chair a little away, a middle-aged man with silver-gray hair and ice-blue eyes in a white coat looking stunned, and a young man in his early twenties with dark blue hair and eyes, also in a white coat, looking at me with a gentle face.

As I gradually became aware of the situation, I realized I was lying in a bed in an unfamiliar room.

"Big brother, where are we...?"

"It's the infirmary."

When I asked Dillnan, who was closest to me, for the location, I got an unexpected answer. Now that he mentioned it, I had an IV in my left arm.

Eh, what's going on?

To be honest, I've only been to the hospital a few times in my life, for the flu and when I broke my arm falling off a bicycle.

"You just had a health check-up while you were napping. You were a bit malnourished, so you're getting an IV, but other than that, everything's fine. Don't worry."

Ah, that's why I have an IV. I don't know how long I was in the forest. I was so hungry that I doubt I was eating properly. It's a relief that nothing serious happened.

As I was thinking about this, Elies came over to Dillnan's side.

"Good morning, Yurii."

"Good morning, Elies big brother."

Ah, no good. I stumbled over Elies' name. ...Why are Elies, Dillnan, and the two people in white coats laughing even though I did something so rude?

"Sorry, big brother."

"It's okay, Yurii."

"It's too much to expect a child of this age to pronounce every word perfectly. It will come naturally as they grow, and the only way to improve is to keep talking and get used to it."

Even though it was rude, I apologized properly. To forgive me so easily, Elies is not only beautiful but also kind. She's the best. And the man in the white coat came to my defense.

Still, this man has an incredibly good voice. If he whispered sweetly in my ear, I'd probably melt. Of course, doing that to a child would be criminal!

"Nice to meet you, Yurii. I'm Vincent. I'm the captain of the medical team. The one over there is Bax. He's the deputy captain of the medical team. You'll be seeing us if you need treatment, so can you remember us?"

"Nice to meet you, Yurii. Vincent uncle and Bax big brother."

...Please, no more katakana names with 'S' sounds! I can only say them properly one in ten times!

And I can't handle their warm smiles. I wish they would get angry instead.

After that, Bax brought me a cup of hot milk and a treat called Kril.

Currently, I'm sitting up in bed while receiving the IV.

Kril... it's like a soft cookie without chocolate chips from Country Ma〇m. It's delicious. It tastes exactly like what I tasted while sleeping. ...Ah, this must be a premonition dream!?

"Still, you really look like you're enjoying it."

"You have a real appetite. ...Yurii, don't follow strangers just because they offer you food."

As I was eating, Vincent commented, and then Dillnan warned me. Eh, do I look that unreliable? Well, I appreciated the advice and nodded.

"That's right. If you really want to eat something, don't take it from strangers. Come to us, and we'll give you delicious treats."

"You can come to me too. I always have a stock of sweets."

Eh, Elies and Bax are backing up Dillnan! Why!?

"Well, since you belong to the cooking team and the paperwork team, you shouldn't go hungry."

"Second Special Team."

"It's too difficult to place you only in the cooking team. We'll make you a prep specialist, but we use a lot of potatoes, carrots, and onions every day."

"We plan to have you do the paperwork once a week."

"Until you reach a healthy weight for your height, you'll do paperwork twice a week. Two days in the cooking team and one day in the paperwork team, twice a week, with a break if it gets too much. And you'll have a check-up every week, either at the beginning or the end of the week in the morning."

"Understood."

It seems Dillnan, Elies, and Vincent are discussing my assignment, but I can't interfere, so I decided to quietly enjoy the hot milk and Kril. The hot milk is sweet and delicious, but I want coffee after dreaming about it.

[Additional Information]

Potato: Tash potato

Carrot: Belmont

Onion: Ol onion