Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Let's Study at Anna's House!
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I slipped on a glove on my left hand and stood in position.
Across from me, Selena—also wearing a glove—stared right at me.
The lesson was simple.
We just had to toss the ball back and forth as hard as we could.
The PE teacher had the students doing catchball and was just sitting in a chair, watching us.
"Throw it!"
Selena, holding the ball, nodded at my words.
She brought her hands together in front of her and slowly raised them.
As she flipped the glove behind her neck and lifted one leg high, her form looked anything but amateur.
She planted the raised foot back on the ground and thrust her right hand forward. The ball left her hand and flew straight at me.
But it was faster than I'd expected.
Thwack!
I barely managed to catch it in surprise.
The ball, spinning inside my glove as it kicked up dust, finally came to a stop.
...I knew it. So that's why she wanted to pair up with me.
My glove was positioned right in front of my groin.
If I'd missed it, that would've been a soul-crushing home run.
She was clearly planning to smash my balls with a baseball and play it off as an accident.
"Hoo..."
I'd been somewhat prepared mentally, but that was close.
Selena's throw was surprisingly strong. If I hadn't done some casual catchball in college as a hobby, I might've panicked and dropped it.
Anyway, now it was my turn to throw it back.
Part of me wanted to aim right for her body in return, but if a rich young lady like her got hurt, it'd be a hassle in all sorts of ways.
So my chosen strategy was to chuck the ball as far away as possible.
"Aaaah! Where are you throwing that?!"
Selena shrieked as the baseball arced out of sight. She chased after it furiously.
She ran hard, picked it up, came back, and fired another shot straight at my body.
But it was easily blocked by my ready glove, and I hurled it far away again.
"Throw it straight!"
Our catchball session dragged on.
No matter how many times the ball smacked into my glove, she kept stubbornly targeting my body, like her pride had kicked in.
Then I'd lob it high over Selena's head with all my strength, and she'd come huffing and puffing back with the ball to throw again.
Hmm, it's been ages since I did catchball. Pretty fun.
The downside was how long it took for the ball to come back after I threw, but the incoming speed kept things tense.
Maybe this time I'll throw it for real.
I wound up and hurled it with enough force to nearly dislocate my arm.
"Aaaah!"
Selena's scream echoed across the field.
---
The same day.
I was diligently chopping carrots in the home economics lab.
Because it was home ec class right now.
If you asked why a magic university had a class like this, I wouldn't know—I couldn't give you an answer.
Besides home ec, there were plenty of other classes that didn't seem magic-related at all, so I was already used to it.
The school's chairman wasn't exactly chairman-like to begin with, so the magic school not feeling very magic-school-ish was just par for the course.
Anyway, we'd been grouped by seating, so I was cooking with my partner Dania, Anna from the row ahead, and Anna's partner.
I wanted to sexually harass Anna a bit or tease Dania about her training progress, but I held back so no one else would notice.
The practical ended, and it was time for the cooking evaluation.
Honestly, "evaluation" was just a fancy word for eating each other's dishes and chatting.
Dania, Anna, and I sat at the table with our finished dishes laid out.
But the fourth seat wasn't occupied by Anna's partner—it was Selena.
"Swapped seats?"
"I asked to switch because I wanted to eat with Dania. What's wrong?"
What's wrong? I figured she was here for revenge from PE class earlier.
"Nothing. Let's eat anyway."
I ladled soup from the big pot in the center into a plate.
"Here, Dania. Anna, yours."
I served Dania next to me first, then Anna across from her.
Acting all buddy-buddy out of nowhere? Just to irritate Selena more.
She must still be pissed from running around like a dog in PE because of me.
If I grinned like an idiot in that situation, wouldn't it boil her blood even more?
"Selena worked hard in PE too, so eat up."
I set a plate in front of her last, and sure enough, she wore a sour expression like she'd tasted shit.
"...Thanks."
She took a sip of the soup and suddenly grimaced.
"Ugh. What is this? You call this cooking? Sorry, but it doesn't seem fit for human consumption."
She glanced at me slyly.
...It's delicious, though. What's her deal?
Rich girl tastes different, I guess?
"What kind of technique produces something like this?"
This time, she shot me a blatant look.
It was clearly directed at me.
...Ah. She swapped seats to trash my cooking and make herself feel better.
She must've thought I was stepping up to serve because I was proud of what I made.
But what could I do?
"Beats me. No idea."
"Huh? Didn't you make it?"
"Dania made all that."
"Wha..."
I glanced right, and Dania stared at her mistress with a heartbroken look like the house was on fire.
"Young Lady..."
The flustered Selena waved her hands.
"S-Sorry, Dania! My tongue must've gone numb for a second!"
She frantically shoveled soup into her mouth with the spoon.
It had to be hot, but she gulped it down and coughed before speaking.
"I-It's so good, I devoured it in seconds? As expected of you, Dania! Haha..."
"I'm glad it suits your taste, Young Lady..."
Dania's eyes sparkled like a calf's at her mistress's lavish praise.
This maid looked so poised, but her ears were surprisingly soft.
"N-Next, let's try this one!"
She scooped some pasta from in front of me and popped it in her mouth.
"...This is truly inedible. Feels like chewing on rope instead of noodles. How do you even get a taste like this?"
Her mocking gaze stabbed at me.
But when I just smirked, a question mark popped up on her face.
"You thought it was mine since it was in front of me? Nah, I didn't make it."
It just happened to end up there.
"What?"
"...Sorry. Pasta's my first time..."
Selena's eyes went wide like a rabbit's.
"Oh! Sorry, Miss Anna! I didn't mean it like that... I mean, it's not that it tastes like rope..."
Unable to take back her words, she slurped down more pasta.
"It's so good! Could I ask for more next time?"
"Really? Uh... yeah."
Selena sighed in relief at Anna's response, then shot me a fierce glare.
Wait, I didn't even do anything.
Her eyes wandered the table and stopped on the curry in front of Anna.
She took some, ate a bit, and without hesitation, unleashed more criticism.
"I can't hold back my anger at this taste. My tongue was off earlier, but this one's for sure. I'd want an apology from whoever made it."
Her glare at me brimmed with confidence.
She'd eaten Dania's and Anna's dishes, so she figured the last one had to be mine.
But oh well...
"Dania made that too."
"Huh!? What do you mean?!"
"I burned the food by mistake, so Dania whipped up something quick instead."
"Young Lady..."
Dania looked like a refugee, and even Selena turned pitiful.
"Sorry! I'm really sorry! I didn't mean that last one!"
"You've thought of my cooking that way all this time...? I'm sorry for serving you stuff like this until now."
"No, Dania! No!"
Watching Selena desperately deny it was the perfect side dish to my meal.
"I thought I was decent at cooking, but it was arrogance. Young Lady, I think I need time to improve my skills. In the meantime, you can have the other servants'..."
"Daniaaaa!"
The home ec cooking evaluation turned into Selena's apology session.
She seemed even angrier at me now, but there wasn't much she could do about it, so I ate comfortably.
---
After school the same day, on the rooftop.
"Oh, it worked! Anna, look!"
"W-Wow..."
Unlike me bouncing with excitement, Anna clapped lightly by pressing her fingertips together and pulling them apart.
It was one of her habits when she was awkward about showing emotions openly.
"Ah."
The sand that had formed a perfect hexagon scattered away.
My excitement had broken her concentration.
"Still, this should be plenty for the practical, right?"
We had about a week left.
I'd hit the goal early, but I planned to keep practicing magic steadily whenever I had a gap.
Until now, I'd slacked off using the All Stats Reduction debuff as an excuse, but for the future, I needed to build my magic skills.
"Yeah..."
Anna's response sounded listless.
She'd been low-energy since morning.
She was always so quiet that others might not notice, but I could tell.
"Anna. Something wrong?"
"Huh? ..."
She couldn't say no and just averted her eyes shyly.
"Tell me. Venting about worries makes them feel lighter."
"Actually..."
I looked away to make it easier for her to speak and listened closely.
The source of Anna's worries was none other than her older sister.
Her sister had been taking care of her instead of their parents since she was little, which made her overly controlling.
Especially about dating—she insisted students should act like students and opposed it fiercely. And lately, since Anna had been getting close to me, her worries had deepened.
"I see."
I recalled Anna on the phone with her sister before.
Even talking to her own sibling, she'd been totally cowed.
Seeing Anna's gloomy face made me feel bad too, but honestly, there wasn't much I could do from my position.
Just nod sympathetically and say it must be tough.
"But it's okay, 'cause Ian's here."
Anna said something sweet and gave a small smile.
"No call from your sister today, huh?"
The moment I asked, her phone rang.
"Y-Yeah... Uh... O-Okay. Hang in there."
I eavesdropped without meaning to while she talked.
"Sis is working overtime, so she'll be home tomorrow afternoon."
"Got it."
This world had overtime too.
And tomorrow was Saturday, no less.
"Then we can practice a bit more before heading out."
Wait. Didn't Anna say she lived just with her sister?
I think she mentioned that while spilling her worries earlier.
"Anna."
"Yeah?"
"It's getting dark soon, so wanna practice at your place?"
"M-My house?"
Her eyes shook.
But she quickly caught my intent and blushed shyly.
"Y-Yeah... Okay."
I didn't need any convincing or coaxing to get her answer.