Chapter 2. Encounters and Opportunities (3)

I woke up again in the middle of the night.

Grumble, and my stomach growled again, as always.

If I had fainted, it would have been nice to stay that way until the next day. Then I could just eat breakfast.

Moreover, my head was ringing as if I had used divine power again after depleting my energy.

I seriously considered whether to endure my hunger and go back to sleep, or to fill my stomach again.

The conclusion was easy. I can’t sleep properly when I’m hungry.

In my past life, I wasn’t this fussy about hunger. Well, there’s a big difference in metabolism between one’s thirties and twenties.

Even if it’s not the teenage years, which are growth periods, isn’t this the age where you use a lot of energy?

Besides, I’m twenty in Korean age, but I’m still nineteen in international age. I’m still at the tail end of my teens, so it’s an age where I can put anything I can get my hands on into my mouth.

Holding my hungry stomach, I headed towards the counseling room.

There should be ramen I hid after buying it last time. Ria strongly insisted, so we even stocked up on a few cans of tuna, so there shouldn’t be any shortage-

“…Hah.”

However, unfortunately.

The counseling room was brightly lit. Light was clearly leaking from the gap under the door, indicating that someone was inside.

…Even in a convent in modern society, which guarantees at least a minimum of personal freedom, the rules are much stricter than in the secular world. Wandering around at night is also prohibited.

It’s probably because of others making noise and having fun in other rooms. It’s also to prevent things from becoming even slightly disorderly.

Even so, there weren’t many people patrolling at night, but anyway.

What should I do?

If someone is in the counseling room at this hour, it’s highly likely to be the Nun Superior. Either someone was caught using the counseling room secretly at this late hour, or there’s an important guest who would visit at this hour.

Either way, it wasn’t a situation where I could knock politely, enter, and ask, “I’m so hungry, can I cook and eat the ramen I hid?”

My nose stung at the thought that I wouldn’t be able to satisfy my hunger.

With tears welling up in my eyes, I turned to leave-

Creak.

“Kkik!?”

The door opened so suddenly that I almost let out a scream.

I, who let out a hamster-like scream for the first time in my life, quickly turned my head to make some excuse-

And I almost lost my senses from the smell that wafted from the open door.

A slightly spicy, artificial soup smell that could never be made with natural ingredients. The delicious sound of bubbling.

This smell, though I hadn’t smelled it for a long time, was a smell I could never forget.

“…Packet ramen.”

That’s right. A rich smell that could never be achieved by simply pouring hot water into cup ramen. A sound of bubbling in real-time, which couldn’t be achieved by just pouring hot water like making tea. And faintly mixed in between, the smell of cooked eggs.

To me, who was already very hungry, that smell was irresistible. I couldn’t help but fix my gaze towards the open door.

“Oh, I was about to go call you.”

Ria was already standing at the open door.

Seeing her, I had many things to say.

Isn’t it too likely to be caught if you openly place a burner on the table and cook ramen in an aluminum pot at this hour?

No, more than that, the question is where she got the portable burner and aluminum pot. Did she perhaps steal them from the kitchen?

But I was too hungry to voice all those doubts.

Grumble.

Having already lost half my reason upon smelling the delicious aroma, I walked into the counseling room without saying a word.

“H-how did you prepare something like this?”

After entering, I asked as if I had just remembered,

“Ah, that.”

Well, before I could even hear the answer, I was already sitting down.

Actually, I sat down and then stood up again. It was difficult to check inside the pot while just sitting.

The egg yolks were perfectly intact and round inside. There were two of them. They weren’t fully cooked but were perfectly half-boiled, so they didn’t seem dry at all.

Slightly moved, I picked up a ladle, which looked like a rake on one side, and scooped up the contents of the pot. Placing it neatly in the bowl in front of me, the rising steam directly hit my face.

It was a visual that clearly suggested weight gain, but I was satisfied with it. In fact, not taking both eggs was the result of my remaining reason functioning somewhat.

“Thank you for the meal.”

I said that and picked up my chopsticks. When Ria sat down, she had already broken the yolks and was gently mixing them into the noodles, then slurped a large mouthful into her mouth.

“Hoo, hah.”

I cooled the hot noodles by rolling them around in my mouth and breathing in and out. The slightly undercooked, gooey texture of the yolk touched my palate first, providing a soft and rich egg flavor, and then the noodles, infused with the stimulating ramen broth, hit my tongue, bringing an unbearable heat along with its unique artificial spiciness.

…It’s delicious.

I sniffled and chewed and swallowed the ramen, then moved my chopsticks again to take another bite.

“Hey, hey, you’re going to peel off the roof of your mouth. Eat slowly.”

“Hoo-hoo, ha-ha-ha-ha?”

Because if you get caught while eating, you’ll have to leave it behind?

That was my intention, but my mouth was full of hot noodles, so my words didn’t come out properly. The last four words came out properly after I swallowed the food.

“There’s no way that will happen, so don’t worry.”

I don’t know how she understood, but Ria said that comfortably, sitting in her chair.

Seeing me freeze as I picked up the next mouthful, Ria laughed incredulously.

“You’ve been like this all along, haven’t you? You pass out after saving one person, wake up in the middle of the night, and secretly eat something. Why have you been living like that for so many years?”

I frowned and slurped the ramen in my mouth.

Since Ria said it was okay, this time I chewed and swallowed the ramen a little more leisurely. Still, after eating about three mouthfuls, my stomach felt a little better. It was still a bit hot, but it was bearable.

“What are you talking about? I just lived by the rules.”

“No, I mean, there are unavoidable exceptions in the world, aren’t there? Even the strictest Nun Superior wouldn’t refuse to serve a meal to someone who saved a life and is hungry because they couldn’t even eat.”

“……”

Oh, is that so?

The Nun Superior was sleeping at night too, so I just tried not to wake her up.

Actually, you know, if we were eating something alone- no, the Nun Superior would probably just watch me without even eating. And if I had some free time, she would likely nag me about something.

“…It’s just more convenient to eat alone.”

So I replied, somewhat defensively.

As I primly picked up a few strands of ramen and put them in my mouth, Ria laughed incredulously, got up from her seat, and took my bowl.

“Ah…!”

I thought she was going to snatch the bowl away? Such a wicked- but before I could finish, Ria put another egg, which was still in the pot, into my bowl. Along with plenty of ramen and broth.

Still, a heroine is a heroine. Yes, it’s worth pairing with the protagonist if she has such a kind heart. Isn’t that what being tsundere is all about?

Quickly revising my assessment in my mind, I broke the slightly more cooked egg in half with my chopsticks.

“When I told the Nun Superior, she was surprised. And she seemed very apologetic. I think she might talk to you separately tomorrow.”

“…Really?”

At Ria’s words, I blinked.

Ria picked up the bowl in front of her and scooped out some broth and noodles.

As she moved like that, Ria paused for a moment as if she had forgotten something, then smiled and said,

“Do you need kimchi?”

When I nodded enthusiastically, Ria took out a small side dish container from the refrigerator.

“I portioned some of this out earlier this evening too. I had forgotten.”

“……”

Hearing that, I was a little moved. The slight stinging in my nose wasn’t because the ramen was spicy. Although it’s a bit spicy for foreigners, I’m Korean. Even though my appearance is unusual for Korea.

We ate in silence for a moment.

Well, mostly I ate more enthusiastically. Even though I was no longer on the verge of starving to death, my hunger hadn’t completely disappeared.

“That person earlier.”

“What?”

“That patient who was brought in.”

“Ah.”

I blinked and put down my chopsticks.

“Is that person okay?”

“As I saw them last, they’re fine. They regained consciousness almost immediately after you collapsed. No, I don’t think they even ‘fainted’ in that situation.”

“No shock either?”

Actually, it was miraculous that he was alive in that state. It was amazing that he didn’t die from excessive bleeding, but even before that, he was in a state where he could have died from shock. Well, there are people in the world who survive even when their bodies are split in half, so I can’t say that such cases ‘never’ happen.

“Yeah. It seems the girl who was injured next to you also recovered thanks to your divine power.”

“That’s a relief.”

I said that and picked up my chopsticks again.

“……”

The sound of slurping echoed in the counseling room again. This time, it was mostly me making the sound. Ria seemed to have no appetite, perhaps because she had already eaten dinner.

Even though she took a portion for herself since we were sitting together, it seemed like she had taken less than half a packet of ramen, perhaps just eating out of politeness.

I got up from my seat again and checked the inside of the pot. Did she cook two packets of ramen? I had almost finished picking up all the noodles.

“There’s rice in the refrigerator. It hasn’t been in there for too long, so it should still be just cold rice, but is that okay?”

“Ah, then, I’ll get it-“

“No.”

Before I could even turn my body after getting up, Ria quickly got up and went to the refrigerator, bringing back a sealed container containing white rice.

“…Why, is something wrong?”

Given that she’s been treating me so well lately, and preparing things in advance, it all seemed very suspicious. Was there something wrong?

Of course, I didn’t stop eating. I put the cold rice in a bowl and poured some of the still-warm broth over it. As the steam from the hot broth permeated the cold rice, it became a little thicker.

“No, well.”

Seeing me pick up a spoon, Ria seemed to hesitate for a moment- then, as if she had made up her mind, she opened her mouth.

“Uh, sorry.”

“Sorry?”

At those words, goosebumps rose on my back.

“What is it? What did you do all of a sudden?”

I asked, my voice filled with alarm, and Ria blinked.

“What did you do? Did you perhaps drop him somewhere badly while moving him?”

I asked, patting myself all over my body.

“No, hey.”

Even though she apologized first, Ria seemed a little offended by my reaction.

But perhaps because it wasn’t a situation where she could just stay angry, Ria took a deep breath as if to compose herself.

“No, it’s not because of something like that. I moved him properly using a stretcher.”

“Is that so?”

I replied, sitting up properly again.

And I picked up my spoon again, maintaining a slightly wary attitude.

“So, what are you apologizing for?”

“…No, it’s my fault that you collapsed?”

“What?”

“Last time, you were fine until you went to sleep. You even showered properly in the shower room.”

As I stared blankly at Ria, she scratched her head as if a little frustrated,

“I was wondering if I had accumulated fatigue by making you act like that and caused you to faint.”

“Ah.”

Only then did I understand why Ria was showing this attitude and nodded.

“That’s okay.”

I replied, taking a spoonful of rice and blowing on it to cool it.

“That’s not your fault, is it?”

“…Really?”

“How could you know that something like that would happen and train me? If soldiers are training and the enemy attacks, do they say they trained in vain?”

When I heard this from the army drill sergeant, I was incredibly angry, but thinking about it, that drill sergeant didn’t seem to cook ramen with eggs.

As expected, people’s brains work rationally only when they eat something.

“Well, if you think about it, the training itself was a trap from the start, but it’s too late to turn back now.”

I said.

“If I run away now, it will be seen as running away out of fear of Ria.”

And I put the rice, which had absorbed the ramen broth well, into my mouth.

Ah, a warmth different from the noodles spreads through my body. As expected, Koreans’ meals are complete only after eating rice.

“Ah, is that so…”

Ria replied in a somewhat dispirited voice, as if something was displeasing her.

“Can I eat all the rice?”

“I don’t know where all of that goes into you.”

“The human stomach expands more than you think, you know? Did you doze off during biology class?”

“……Hah.”

Despite my provocation, Ria only let out an incredulous sound and didn’t argue.