In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 140

Chapter 140: Volunteer Cleaning Duty – Part 2

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It was late autumn. The season of colorful foliage was nearing its end. In this garden too, several maple and ginkgo trees stood tall. Their leaves were brilliantly dyed in red and yellow. Around them, the ground was completely blanketed with fallen leaves, like a carpet.

“It’s beautiful, but having this many fallen leaves this time of year must be a lot of work.”

“It really is. No matter how much we clean, there’s no end to it. But we can’t just leave it be, either.”

“Everyone! Let’s start with cleaning the walking path. Please pull out any weeds growing between the paving stones from the roots!”

Wearing work gloves, I grabbed a bamboo broom from the tool box and immediately began sweeping the stone path. I set aside any larger stones, since they could be tripping hazards. Once the fallen leaves formed a decent pile, I stuffed them into a trash bag.

The volunteers were spread out all over the vast garden, chatting and working efficiently. One after another, the garbage bags filled to bursting were piled up.

“That pile looks ready for the bag, Yuusei-kun!”

“Yes… Madoka-san!”

“Ding-ding-ding! That’s three points for you. You’ve gotten them all right so far! Amazing—how can you tell us apart?”

“Just my hunch, I guess?”

Yeah. Somehow, I could tell just by looking. This new skill didn’t make text float in front of my eyes or whisper voices into my ear—it was more instinctive than that.

“You sound just like Ren. Did he teach you how to tell us apart?”

“No, not really. I haven’t asked him about it.”

Right now, I was able to tell them apart thanks to the skill, but I felt like if I kept doing this, I’d be able to distinguish the two on my own eventually. Even if they were twins, they were different people. There were subtle differences—just hard to notice.

“Yuusei-kun, since we’ve got a lot of full bags, could you come with me to the dump site?”

“Yes, Tomoe-san!”

“Correct! Yuusei-kun, you’re guessing too well. At this rate, you’ll break the game!”

Well, I am trying to guess correctly.

“I’m scared of the punishment.”

“I told you, the roasted sweet potato confiscation was a joke. But… Do you really like them that much?”

“Yeah, I love them!”

I was seriously looking forward to it, so I wasn’t slacking off today!

“I-I thought I was already getting used to it, but that hit hard. In a good way though!”

Tomoe-san was complaining, but she was smiling. And so, the game ended with my total victory and the cleaning session came to a close. Now came the real deal: roasted sweet potato cooking time!

〈♪ Roast~ Roast it~ Roast it all-you-can-eat!〉

〈Deliciously roasted, all-you-can-eat! ♪〉

〈♪ Ruuun-run, all-you-can-eat~ ♪〉

“Yui, what’s that song?”

“It’s a song to wish for the sweet potatoes to turn out delicious! I’m singing it while wrapping them up!”

When roasting sweet potatoes on a bonfire, they would end up as charred lumps if you just shoved them into the flames. So we had to prepare the sweet potatoes first. After washing the sweet potatoes, we wrapped them in wet kitchen paper, and then tightly in aluminum foil with no gaps. The silver-wrapped potatoes started piling up into a mountain.

“Your little sister is as funny as ever.”

“Yuuki-senpai, won’t you sing too? It’ll make the sweet potatoes even more delicious!”

“I’ll leave that to Yui-chan and her merry crew!”

“Aw, come on, let’s all sing together!”

“Sorry, I can’t do that~ But since the adorable Yui-chan is singing it, I bet it’s going to work like a charm!”

Yuuki seemed to have fit in well with Yui’s classmates. He was the shy type at first, kind of standoffish, but once he got used to people, he was surprisingly sociable.

“We’re lighting the fire now! Since burning leaves may scatter, please don’t get too close to the bonfire!”

We lit a pile of gathered dead leaves and branches. It quickly caught fire, but we didn’t throw in the potatoes just yet. We had to wait until the flames died down and became glowing embers.

Once the fire settled into embers, we buried the foil-wrapped potatoes in the ash. Then, flipping them partway through, we let them cook slowly for 40 minutes to an hour. Leaving someone to tend the fire, the rest of us went to clean up.

And finally, it was mealtime!

Using tongs, we dug the potatoes out of the ash. They weren’t chestnuts in the fire, but they were sweet potatoes in the fire. Still, burns were a real risk—even embers could reach around 200 degrees Celsius.

“We’ll be handing out the roasted sweet potatoes now, but be careful—they’re hot. We also have bottled tea here, so help yourselves!”

Yaaay!

First, I peeled back the aluminum foil. Then the kitchen paper. The steaming hot roasted sweet potato peeked out. Time to break it open! The sweet potato had turned soft, splitting apart with almost no effort.

Whoa. Just seeing it, I knew it was going to be good—a rich, translucent yellow. A golden sweet potato! The moment I took a bite, it was creamy and fluffy—and so sweet! The moisture had reduced just enough to enhance the flavor. It was incredibly rich.

“How’s the roasted sweet potato? Good, right?”

“Phenomenal. I don’t think I’ve ever had one this good before.”

I meant that. No flattery—just pure honesty.

“We do this every year, so come eat with us again. You can even call me ‘Aniki’ if you want.”

“‘Aniki’?”

“Takeda’s gotten pretty close with the Moemado twins, right? That’s why you can call me ‘Aniki’. I bet you three are a perfect match. In fact,you could totally take them both off our hands- Ouch! What was that for?”

The one who gave him a sharp bop on the head was—

“Tomoe-san!”

“Correct! But the game’s already over. Don’t pay attention to the nonsense my idiot little brother says!”

“Look, there’s no other handsome, athletic guy who can tell them apart like you. Ride the wave—ow! I’m against violence!”

He didn’t look like it really hurt though. Was he acting? Or did she have a technique to make light hits incredibly effective?

“Geez, Ren, you’re so dramatic!”

“I’m just worried about my dear big sisters’ future—whoa, hey, wait!”

Yuuki got dragged off somewhere by the Moemado twins. Sibling spat? That was… Kind of flashy.

“Onii-chan, I brought you some tea!”

“Oh, thanks! You’re always so thoughtful, Yui.”

“Right? Sweet potatoes are tasty, but they dry out your mouth so fast.”

True. I had just started feeling thirsty myself.

“Yui, how was today’s volunteer experience for you? You’re turning in a report for school, right?”

“It was fun! Doing stuff together in such a big space like this is really nice!”

“Yeah. I’m glad I tagged along too. I guess it’s thanks to your little slip-up?”

“Don’t say that~!”

We moved our bodies, feasted on the best seasonal food of autumn, and wrapped up our volunteer activity. The sweet potatoes were seriously delicious!

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