Chapter 32: After-School Part-Time Club

The next morning, I woke up and headed to breakfast. Since the timing was perfect, I told my parents about going to the beach.

"Hey, remember when you were talking about Trinity the other day, and you said you went swimsuit shopping with your friend?"

"Yeah, I did. Why?"

"Last night my friend sent me a MomoTalk message asking when would be good if we’re going to the beach. Is it okay if I go?"

Dad thought for a moment.

"Let’s see… how about three days from now? Your mother and I will take the whole day off too, so go have fun."

"Okay, got it! I’ll check with my friend if that works. Thanks!"

"It’s fine. You’re our precious only daughter, Aika."

…Really, I’m blessed with such wonderful parents. While I quietly appreciated that, Dad suddenly seemed to remember something.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention… starting today, we’re having some part-timers come work here."

"Part-timers?"

"Remember how we opened a new melon field last year? And with you going off to Trinity General Academy, we just don’t have enough hands. So we put out a job listing in the central district of Trinity, and four students applied."

Normally, our farming is handled by the three of us—me and my parents. Thanks to all the automation we’ve been adding, we barely managed with three people, but with just my parents, it’s tough. I’m helping now because I’m home for summer, but once break ends, I’ll have to go back to the dorms. That’s why they decided to hire some Trinity students who are free for summer break—to finish not only the harvest, but everything else that needs to be done during the season.

"Since you’re also a Trinity student, maybe you know them."

"Oh come on, Dad, do you know how many people go to Trinity? There’s no way someone I know is randomly gonna show up here."

I don’t remember the exact number—or really, I’ve never had a chance to know it—but Trinity General Academy supposedly has thousands, maybe even tens of thousands of students. The people I know are Masa and Maiha, the Remedial Lessons Club, the Tea Party members, plus a few from the Justice Realization Committee and Sisterhood. At most fifty people, and the ones I can truly call friends are basically just the two officer-cadet girls. None of them are the type to come all the way out to the countryside for a part-time job. The odds of someone I know showing up are practically zero.

Dad laughed. "Haha, well, that’s true."

After finishing breakfast, I messaged Maiha on MomoTalk. I told her, "Three days from now works for me," and she immediately replied: "Got it~ ^-^ It’s at a place called Mui Beach, so let’s meet there around 10 a.m. (>ω<)"

I sent back, "Understood, I’m looking forward to it," and then started preparing for today’s work.

A nearly empty train rattled its way through the outskirts of Trinity, carrying four girls who swayed with every movement. Their outfits varied slightly, but all wore sailor-style uniforms embroidered with Trinity’s crest on their chests. They were members of the After-School Sweets Club. True to its name, its purpose was simply to enjoy sweets. Its four members were Ibaragi Yoshimi, Kurimura Airi, Yutori Natsu, and Kyouyama Kazusa. Unlike Gehenna’s infamous Gourmet Research Society, they weren’t extreme—just a small group of friends.

"Hey, aren’t we there yet? Actually, where are we even going?"

"……Paradise."

The girl with short twin-tails of golden hair—Yoshimi—asked the question, and Natsu answered absent-mindedly while staring out the train window.

"There’s no such thing as ‘paradise’ in the middle of nowhere!"

"Come on, Yoshimi-chan. Maybe not paradise, but I’m sure there’s at least some kind of resort area."

Airi said this as she pulled out a mint candy, and Kazusa—with her bobbed hair and cat-ear accessory—added, "…Looks like this region is big on fruit farming. Maybe she wants us to try local sweets at a roadside market or something."

She tried to go along with one of Natsu’s whims for once, but being dragged this far made her suspect the worst. If Natsu planned something stupid, Kazusa was fully prepared to go home and laze around instead.

"No, it’s somewhere even better. You can eat delicious fruit and get paid on top of that."

The moment she said that, all three girls—except Natsu—immediately considered turning back. Before coming, Natsu had told them to bring gym clothes and outfits they wouldn’t mind getting dirty, plus changes of clothes. They obediently brought everything, but… it was suspicious. Extremely suspicious. They wondered if Natsu was planning to make them do something indecent.

"There’s no way something that convenient exists… we’re totally getting scammed."

"Can I go home?"

"Natsu-chan, are you hiding something?"

"You’ll see when we get there~"

If Natsu was involved, they had reason to worry. Just recently, there had been an incident involving icicles made of maple syrup. While it did turn out to be real, their concerns had been valid—eating something unsterilized had made most of them sick for days. With that memory still fresh, all members of the After-School Sweets Club—except the blissfully carefree Natsu—continued their uneasy ride.

After over an hour on the slow local train, they arrived at a plain, tiny countryside station. From there, they passed through a small settlement and walked further until reaching a large estate surrounded entirely by fruit orchards and greenhouses.

"We’re here."

"…So what exactly are we doing here?"

"Here, look at this and you’ll understand."

Natsu handed them a job posting. It was from a local farm seeking extra help during its busy season. The hourly pay was surprisingly high, plus transportation expenses and free meals were included.

"So this place is… the part-time job venue?"

"Exactly right."

When Airi said that, Natsu gave a thumbs-up in response.

"Wait… working on a farm…? That’s gotta be brutal…"

Kazusa tried to turn on her heel, but Natsu grabbed her shoulder and moved straight into persuasion mode.

"Listen, the fruit here is super high-end. Grapes go for ten thousand yen per bunch, strawberries can be tens of thousands per box for the top quality ones. Even mandarins and persimmons sell for tens of thousands per kilogram."

"…gulp."

Even for students attending a prestigious school like Trinity, such luxurious fruit isn’t something you get to eat every day.

"They say that as a bonus for working, you can get fruit that’s just as tasty but maybe not perfectly shaped. As the After-School Sweets Club, I think we can’t pass that up… what do you say?"

"…Well, if you put it that way, I guess we don’t have much choice. We’ve come this far anyway."

And so, after a brief pause to reconsider, all four of them decided to take on the part-time job at this farm.

"Oh, looks like the part-timers are arriving soon. Aika, let’s go greet them."

Hearing the door chime, Dad said that, then got up from the dining table and headed to the entrance. I followed him and unlocked the door.

"Hello, we’ve come for the farm work part-time job. Is this the Gion Farm?"

Standing there was a Trinity student with semi-long black hair and jade-colored eyes… Kurimura Airi from the After-School Sweets Club. Behind her, I could see the other three girls. These four were apparently the students coming to work part-time.

"Ah, yes, that’s right. Well then, let’s start by explaining the farm work… let’s head to the inn over in the settlement."

The inn belonged to our family and had ten guest rooms. It’s normally used as a regular lodging, but few tourists ever come to this remote countryside, so it’s usually empty. Honestly, it operates at a loss.

That’s why it’s perfect for housing part-timers during the busy farming season. In fact, the main reason we keep it open at a loss is basically for that purpose.

"Alright, is everyone ready? Let’s start the explanation."

We assigned one room to each of the four girls from the After-School Sweets Club. They changed into outfits that could get dirty—gym clothes—and then gathered in the lobby. I wore a long overall skirt, which was slightly better than yesterday’s full-on farm gear but still a bit rustic.

"When harvesting, my wife, my daughter, and I will handle the quality assessment. What we want you four to do is carry the sorted fruit to the warehouse and bring empty baskets back from the warehouse."

"Got it…"

"Going back and forth between the warehouse and the fields might seem simple, but it actually wastes a lot of time. By leaving that to the part-timers, we can focus on harvesting and sorting, which makes the whole operation much more efficient."

Our orchard is huge. Each area has a small shed, and there’s a large warehouse next to the main house where all the goods are consolidated. Even if you use a truck, a lot of time is spent loading, unloading, and traveling back and forth, so having the part-timers handle that really speeds things up.

"Of course, as mentioned in the job posting, after the work is done, you’ll get to take home some of the harvested fruit as a bonus. So I hope you’ll do your best."

"Understood."

Natsu gave a thumbs-up. The other three nodded as well, clearly understanding the instructions. And with that, they moved on to the actual farm work.

"Please take the baskets from here and here over to that shed, and in exchange, bring back two red baskets and one blue basket."

"Got it…!"

Continuing the grape harvest from yesterday, the baskets were filling up, so I gave Airi some instructions.

"Oh, by the way, Aika-san, you’re about the same age as me, right? Which school do you go to?"

"I attend Trinity General Academy. If I remember correctly, the same as everyone else here."

Well, I haven’t met them in this world before, and they probably don’t know anything about me.

"Oh, really? Any clubs or committees?"

"The Tea Party’s subordinate organization—the Security Squad, to be precise."

"…Eh?"

Hearing that surprised voice, I stopped my work and turned around, wondering what was wrong. She looked flustered, like a small, nervous animal—pretty cute, actually.

"U-um… the Tea Party is the student council at Trinity, right? And someone like that… is here…?"

…Ah, I see. The Tea Party is an organization that regular students rarely interact with—it’s almost like they exist on a different plane. Even if it’s a subordinate organization, they probably couldn’t connect the idea that a member would come to the countryside and be fully immersed in farm work.

"I only come home for summer break to help out with my family business. It coincides with the busy farming season. In a few weeks, I’ll have to return to Trinity."

"W-wow… that sounds like a lot to handle…"

"Indeed. But coming back home after a long time is really comforting for the heart."

"Huh… wow…"

Airi responded with a somewhat slackened voice, but once the conversation seemed to be over, she walked off toward the shed to fetch baskets. I returned to sorting the fruit.

That night, after the farm work was done, my mother and I carried something to the inn.

"Everyone, I brought some treats for you—here you go!"

As soon as my mother said that, the four girls came out of their rooms and gathered around immediately.

"Luxury fruit…!"

Before the girls, whose eyes shone with excitement, we presented…

"Right, I made a fruit punch using some of the grapes we harvested earlier today. Don’t hold back—help yourselves!"

The fruit punch was simple but elegant: grapes and melons that weren’t suitable for gift-giving due to size or shape, plus greenhouse-grown mandarins and strawberries, all marinated in syrup and chilled.

"Wow!"

Once the dishes were handed out, they each took portions onto their plates. True to Trinity students, they didn’t dive in greedily, but they ate the fruit with visible delight, savoring every bite.

"So sweet… incredibly sweet…! I’ve never eaten grapes this sweet before…"

"And the juice is just overflowing… it’s amazing."

"This is really delicious…!"

"Harvesting for the first time was tough, but… if this is the reward, then it was totally worth it."

Watching each of the four girls’ reactions, I could tell they were genuinely pleased. It’s not often that anyone outside the family gets to eat our fruit, so seeing someone else enjoy it directly was both a little embarrassing, slightly awkward, but… extremely gratifying.