Sofia's Tastes
Sofia's Tastes 1. [A new target currently wishes to bond with you.] …… [Do you accept the bond?]
A new target currently wishes to bond with you.
Do you accept the bond?
The system messages flooded my vision like that. The overlapping hologram windows were so dense I could barely see ahead. Startled by the sudden pop-ups, I couldn't help but take a step back. Rectangular windows kept materializing out of thin air, making it hard to stay calm.
What… what is this? What the heck just happened?
Even though countless windows had appeared as if the system were infected with malware, I couldn't carelessly close them. They might look like errors, but they had to have appeared for a reason. I pushed the bonding acceptance prompt aside and shifted my gaze backward.
—Slurp! Gulp…!
—Crunch…! Crunch!
The young ladies seated there were devouring the coffee and biscuits I'd brought out. Not a trace of draconic grace or dignity remained.
—Haa? The coffee tastes better than I expected?
—I thought the tea I'd prepared in advance would be disappointing, but…
—Forget the coffee, try the biscuits together like he said!
—Haat? C-crunchy! And I've never tasted anything like this before…?!
—The cookies have a coffee flavor? And it's just the right kind of sweet?
—It's a coffee-scented biscuit, so it pairs well with coffee, right? Why is that?
—In over five hundred years, I've never had a flavor like this……!!
Everyone let out exclamations of delight as they inhaled the coffee and biscuits, like dragons who had skipped lunch. A few had already emptied their plates completely.
Thank goodness. Looks like it suits everyone's palate.
They'd been lukewarm about the coffee alone, but pairing it with the cookies created an explosive synergy that drew genuine admiration. And thanks to that, countless bonding success notifications now floated before my eyes.
The unexpected development was startling, yet it was undeniably good news. That only made me more cautious with my choice. With Derke, the bond had formed automatically through a handshake, but this situation was different—just like with Johnson earlier. Because I'd served the biscuits, the targets had unilaterally expressed their favor first. The choice was entirely mine.
I'd saved myself an enormous amount of effort by not having to grind out favorability one by one.
Actually, this turned out well. To think an opportunity to bring an SSR-rank dragon to my side would come so easily……
While the dragons were absorbed in the coffee and cookies, I examined the system messages one by one. My goal was singular: I was searching for Sofia's name among the flood of notifications. I didn't need the other dragons. The remaining slots were reserved exclusively for SSR-ranks. With only five slots left, I couldn't afford to waste them on lesser dragons. No matter how high their level—or age—might be, if their rank was low, they were of no interest to me.
This one looks like it was R-rank, so obviously not needed…… There's even an N-rank among the fourth-years. A failing student, maybe? You won't do either……
I carefully dismissed the system windows one at a time while muttering to myself. If I clicked too hastily, I might accidentally skip past Sofia's name. My obsession with SSR-ranks had its reasons. I hadn't pulled a single one in the game, but more than that, I wanted guaranteed safety. In short, I needed a powerful backer.
After all, right now I was nothing more than a weak human servant. In an academy teeming with other races, it was the perfect condition to meet an unnoticed early end. On top of that, I possessed a frail body with no skills capable of protecting myself. That was why I needed a reliable ally—someone no one would dare touch. The strongest of the strong. And the only beings who met those conditions were dragons. More precisely, I needed a powerful dragon who would protect me.
I had no intention of spending the next fifty years living on tenterhooks while serving coffee to dragons. If things went well, I might even use their power to escape the academy. That was why……
Reject, reject, reject, reject……
I slowly checked each dragon's name and dismissed the windows, taking care not to make a mistake. My sole target was the Dragon of Dawn, Sofia—the main heroine of Destiny Dragons. If she became my ally, no one would be able to touch me easily.
SR-ranks appeared in the notifications as well, but I resolutely chose to reject them. Better not to bond at all than to settle for a middling rank. As I recalled, there had been nearly eighty characters at launch, and only about eight of them were SSR.
Now that I think about it, the probability was close to ten percent, yet I couldn't pull one even after spending two million won?
I raged while calculating with miracle-level math, ignoring the gacha rates set by rank. No matter how I looked at it, the odds made no sense. There hadn't even been a guaranteed pull. It felt like I'd been deliberately possessed.
Disgusting and petty. I'll find a way out of this academy no matter what.
While I searched for Sofia's name with that single thought, I suddenly came to my senses.
“Huh? What? It's already over?”
All the system windows had vanished while I was busy rejecting bonds. With the countless messages gone, the lounge came back into view.
“……?”
I had carefully checked every name before rejecting, yet Sofia's name had never appeared. Not a single system message remained. At first I was bewildered, but I soon realized what it meant: there had never been a bonding notification from Sofia to begin with. And that meant my biscuits had failed to raise her favorability enough—despite satisfying every other dragon.
What? Were my biscuits that bad? Their reactions seemed pretty good, though.
In reality, Sofia was currently eating the coffee and biscuits I'd brought without complaint, flipping through a thick book as she did so. Her expression and reactions weren't bad. But they certainly weren't filled with admiration either. She simply continued reading with an almost expressionless face. It was hard to understand. After all, she had been the first to notice the scent of the biscuits and had even mentioned looking forward to them. Yet her own reaction had remained lukewarm. She only sent me the occasional meaningful glance……
* 2.
—Slurp…!
The warm coffee passed down her throat, spreading a rich aroma around her nose. The scent of beans roasted over low heat. It wasn't a perfect roast, but it was decent. Probably because the bean quality was lacking or the grind size from the grinder was inconsistent.
Still… it's not bad.
It was a coffee good enough to soothe the fatigue from flying to the academy and the accumulated boredom from the entrance ceremony. That was the extent of its flavor— squarely in the ordinary category. Adding sugar or creamer to make it smooth and sweet would improve it, but sweet coffee wasn't to her taste.
Honestly, the real star was probably the biscuits, not the coffee.
What had transcended the ordinary was the accompanying snack. Rectangular brown biscuits. Their appearance was utterly plain. But these were special. They carried a coffee aroma wrapped in just the right sweetness. A flavor and fragrance she had never experienced before. She almost wanted to take the biscuits with her.
The aroma that reached all the way outside the lounge really was extraordinary…… But something still feels lacking.
Sofia, who had been tasting the coffee and biscuits Breeder brought, murmured inwardly. Objectively speaking, the coffee was ordinary. In contrast, the biscuits' flavor was quite novel. Honestly, it was a taste she had never encountered. That was why she had been so surprised. Dessert accounted for eighty percent of the overall impression. It made sense why he'd suggested eating them together with the coffee.
It's certainly at a respectable level. But still not quite enough.
That was Sofia's cold assessment.
“Still, at least the next semester won't be boring. Though with a short-lived species' body, he probably won't last until graduation……”
Even so, she ended with a relatively generous evaluation and looked toward Breeder.
“…Hm?”
At that moment, her eyes met Breeder's. His gaze had also been directed at her. A hint of bewilderment lingered in his dark eyes, as if he had somehow heard her cold assessment directly.
Pfft, for a human, he's surprisingly perceptive.
Having confirmed Breeder's expression, Sofia responded with a bright smile. It was a smile that said, while it had been a little disappointing, she had still enjoyed the refreshments. Breeder hurriedly bowed his head and averted his gaze. Staring directly into a dragon's eyes was considered rude, after all.
“Huhu, contrary to his eager-to-please personality, he has a rather cute side.”
Sofia smiled in satisfaction once more.
From now on, I should order according to my own tastes without worrying about other people's opinions.
She really shouldn't have settled for coffee just to match everyone else. She should have ordered mint tea without hesitation. She couldn't understand why everyone disliked the mint aroma.
—Crunch, crunch…!
While grumbling inwardly, Sofia shrugged her shoulders and took another bite of the remaining biscuit.
This is definitely good, isn't it? And it doesn't get boring. If only it had a refreshing, tangy note added to it, it would be even better……
She continued to apply her personal preferences and felt a lingering regret. Still, seeing that he possessed solid fundamentals, perhaps……
Maybe this servant could make desserts that suited her tastes?
Sofia murmured that private wish to herself and resumed her reading.