Chapter 13. Tasteless Pancakes

“Oh, you’ve done it now.”
“I-I’m terribly sorry, Major General… I lost my composure to the impudence of a mere girl.”
“Outside, Kamiya-kun, right?”
“Y-Yes, my apologies.”
As I sipped my coffee with a sullen expression, the mature older sister character who had been so composed earlier suddenly looked gloomy, sitting across from me.
“So… why is Mina just standing there?”
I glanced beside the table.
Mina stood stiffly, with her back straight beside the seat.
Despite her cute outfit, her military-like posture was mismatched with the fancy atmosphere of the pancake café.
“No… it’s fine for the junior officer to stay here.”
With a tense face, Mina replied politely.
“Mina. I told you, ranks don’t matter outside. Don’t worry about it.”
“There are limits!”
Well, Mina’s rank is only private, so it’s not like being a major general is even within reach for her.
Normally, there would be such a gap in rank that people wouldn’t even speak directly to each other.
“Ugh, I knew this would happen if we brought Mina.”
“It seems she finally understands her place.”
“Speed it up, Hayami-san.”
“Yes… I’m sorry.”
When Hayami-san, who somehow becomes rude when dealing with Mina, glared at her, she shrank again.
“Mina, just sit down for now.”
“Is that an order?”
“Yeah. Just sit down already, and order something. You’re drawing attention.”
“A super-strict boyfriend making her stand? Sitting across from a beautiful older sister, what’s their relationship?”
The female customers at nearby tables were whispering.
In this situation, I couldn’t even enjoy the pancakes properly.
Mina timidly took the seat opposite me.
“Mina, first of all, I’m sorry. I kept a lot of things about the military secret.”
“T-That’s…”
Since I suddenly apologized, Mina, who hadn’t caught up with the shock of the rank difference, panicked.
“It was difficult to talk about because of the confidentiality involved.”
“I… I understand.”
While Mina nodded obediently, she was just being a yes-man because she was being told by me, someone in a significantly higher position.
This was very uncomfortable.
“Mina. Please, go back to your usual relaxed self.”
“Y-Yeah… So, Yuu-kun, are you really a major general?”
“Yeah.”
“How did you get such a position at your age…”
“In wartime countries, promotions are handed out generously.”
Since I couldn’t talk about my soul armor abilities or my experiences on the battlefield, which were at a completely different level of military secrecy, I dodged the topic.
“Since you were in a research institute, I thought you might have a rank like sergeant or corporal.”
“That’s a normal assumption. It’s not sensible to give a 15 year old a general’s position.”
The policy of automatically promoting troops after major achievements had the side effect of promoting ranks without much consideration.
“But why is someone like you, in such a high position, attending school now?”
“It’s for resume padding. It would be bad if it became public that I’ve been conscripted into the military since I was 10.”
“I see. So, the higher-ups in the military are corrupt. They deserve retribution…”
“Mina?”
“Ah, it’s nothing. Just talking to myself. But if Yuu-kun is a major general, and I marry him, we’ll be an unprecedented couple in terms of rank difference.”
“Huh? What’s a lowly private like you saying?”
Hayami-san, whom I ordered to stay quiet, ignored my instructions and spoke up.
When I tried to warn Hayami-san, I saw her eyes widen, and I involuntarily flinched at her intensity.
“Ranks don’t matter outside, right, Hayami-sensei?”
“Yuu-sama holds a position far beyond your reach as a mere private.”
“Yes. Let’s eat pancakes since they’ve arrived!”
Mizushima, who had become stubborn, seemed about to leak classified information again, so I forcefully ended the conversation.
Even though the pancakes with plenty of whipped cream had arrived, they tasted bland.
“What should we do after this, Yuu-kun?”
“Well… you accompanied me for shopping in the morning, so let’s go shopping with Mina in the afternoon.”
We discussed our plan as I finished my pancakes and sipped my second coffee.
“Sounds good. Well then, Hayami-sensei. Thank you for today. That’s all.”
Mina stood up straight, grabbed my arm, and hurriedly left the shop.
“Wait. That sounds like you’re leaving me here.”
“Oh, is Sensei Mizushima one of those who can’t understand without a direct statement? Well then, I’ll say it clearly. Go home.”
“Even though it’s informal outside, there are limits to it, Torabou-san.”
Mina’s face, facing Hayami-san’s intimidating expression with wrinkles between her eyebrows, was dignified.
“I’m sorry. But, since Major General, Yuu-kun prefers a casual tone, I naturally became more familiar. Anyway, are you leaving soon?”
“I can’t overlook the signs of inappropriate relationships as an instructor.”
“There’s no point in coming along anyway since Yuu-kun’s house is where we’re going. Yuu-kun and I are childhood friends from neighboring houses.”
“Ngh!”
I heard Hayami-san grinding her back teeth.
That’s not a sound you expect to hear in a pancake café where only fluffy food should be heard.
(Buzz! Buzz!)
While I was watching the almost explosive exchange in front of me with a sense of escapism, I was brought back to reality by the notification sound from my phone.
“Major General. This is…”
“Yeah. You got it too, Hayami-san?. It’s an emergency assembly.”
When I opened the message, it was a notification in the format of an emergency assembly.
The sender of the emergency assembly was the Joint Staff Office, but the gathering place was the school.
“Sorry, Mina. I got some work and need to leave.”
“Eh? Is that so?”
“Sorry. We’ll make it up another time.”
“It’s okay, really. It’s work, so it can’t be helped. Don’t worry about me. Oh, and I’ll have the clothes I bought delivered to Yuu-kun’s house.”
“I’m sorry. I’ll leave it to you.”
Saying that, I quickly settled the bill and left the shopping mall.
I pretended not to notice when Mizushima, who had been following behind me, glanced triumphantly at Mina as she left. And that Mina’s teeth-grinding sound echoed in the shop this time.