43. Touch Little Eli and You're Fucked
43. Touch Little Eli and You're Fucked
Even while listening to the explanation about the club, Pina never once wiped the smile spread across her face.
I couldn't tell whether she actually understood any of it, but since she said she'd do it, I didn't stop her either.
Meanwhile, Stella was glaring at me like I was trash, and Eurasia was looking at me with an extremely complicated expression.
I felt like I'd become some kind of con artist.
But I didn't con anyone. I told Pina the facts exactly as they were, and I had her stamp it with her own hand.
After that, every time the topic of Ge Vihenum came up, Pina's tail curled and her ears wilted, but the single word "I'm asking as a friend" resolved everything.
There was no violence or coercion involved.
So I had nothing to be ashamed of.
Slurp— I sipped my sixth mint-choco of the day.
I glanced over at Pina, who had gone quiet a while ago—no, she was always quiet, but now even her presence had vanished.
Nod, nod— She was hugging her tail and dozing off.
Outside the window, the sunset hung thick and heavy.
The crowd of students had dwindled by more than half, and the lively music that had filled the café was now replaced by a soft, gentle tune.
The time was already 6:30.
Eight hours had passed since we arrived at the café.
And now, it was finally time to eat.
"Let's get going."
"Oh, shall we?"
Eurasia, who had already finished her entire lecture schedule, stretched her back out after lounging around for ages.
Her dead eyes sparkled brightly, and a smile hung on her melted, gooey expression.
Eurasia must have been pretty bored too.
"Mmm... just five more minutes."
Meanwhile, Stella was still working on her schedule.
She was even doing Pina's schedule alongside her own.
Pina had said she wanted to take magic-related classes...
No, after seeing Pina's handwriting, Stella had declared that if that was the case, Pina should just do as she was told, and had stubbornly started helping her.
At a glance, it didn't seem like she was helping with the ulterior motive of taking classes together.
Pina's and Stella's schedules had completely different lectures written on them.
Did she actually feel some sense of kinship?
She was helping an awful lot.
"This much is... excellent. As expected of me."
Stella, having finished the schedule, wore a triumphant smile and laughed, "Heh-heh!"
Then she shook Pina, who was diligently dozing, awake and spoke in her usual rude tone.
"I'm helping you, and you're falling asleep?"
Pina, jolting awake with a "Hik, hik!", scrubbed the drool that had run down her chin.
"Here. Check it. From what I saw, you should be in the basic class. Am I right?"
Nod, nod—
"Then I was about right. Here, starting with magic theory—"
Stella, gaining confidence from the fact that her eyes hadn't been wrong, launched into a long-winded explanation for the still half-asleep Pina.
Pina just nodded with a blank expression, not looking like she understood any of it.
About ten more minutes passed like that.
Only after Stella's explanation was completely finished were we finally able to leave the café.
Honestly, I could have left Stella and Pina behind and gone out first.
But, well.
I couldn't bring myself to leave Pina behind after she'd stamped with a blood-soaked thumbprint—the triangle in my heart felt like it would turn into a blade.
Maybe because I'd grown up in a warm household.
Maybe because I'd lived seventeen years in this body.
Maybe because it was this damn era of peace.
Compared to my Past Life, my personality had definitely softened.
"Hngg...!"
I twisted my stiff body this way and that and stretched out refreshingly.
I'd gotten through lunch with cake and simple bread, so my stomach felt hollow. Today, I was going to eat rice soaked in pork-bone broth, and tear into big beef ribs and chicken legs.
I was going to eat until my stomach was so full it burst.
"Sluurp... sounds delicious. Let's hurry and go eat."
Gulp— The moment I swallowed my saliva and stepped forward.
"Eliarnes!"
A voice I'd forgotten about rang out.
"...Ah, please."
"Huh?! You missed me that much? Nyahaha!"
I turned my head, clutching my starving stomach.
Leona.
Leona, wearing a playful smile, was walking toward us.
"Oh, Vice Dean...! H-hello...!"
"Yeah, Eurasia. Hi, hi."
"V-Vice... Dean?"
"You're..."
Leona's brightly smiling face stiffened for a moment. Then she smiled her usual smile again and laughed, "Nyahaha!"
"Stella, right. Stella Verheigen. Second rank!"
"Huk... yes...! Hello."
Stella hurriedly bowed her head, and Leona patted Stella's back—pat, pat—and looked at the remaining one.
"Pina!"
And she spread her arms wide with a bright smile.
Seeing Leona like that, Pina smiled a fleeting, bright smile and threw herself into the Vice Dean's embrace.
"Nyehehe! Already making friends and everything. You're doing great. You've made some really good friends. Pina's got a good eye, huh?"
Everyone present was surprised by Leona's affectionate treatment of Pina and by Pina's bold action despite how timid she'd been until now.
I was surprised too.
Had the two of them known each other before?
"You lot. You're not going to do anything bad to Pina or bully her, got it?"
"Y-yes, ma'am. We will."
Eurasia answered with a voice full of fighting spirit, and Stella still wore a dazed expression.
Leona looked at each of them once, then shot me a sidelong look and said.
"Especially you. Eliarnes. Don't you go bullying our Pina. Got it?"
"Why would I bully Pina?"
"You sure?"
"Of course. Right, Pina? We're friends, aren't we?"
Pina, wearing a bright smile, nodded.
Stella and Eurasia shot me sharp looks at that, but I paid them no mind and spoke confidently.
"See?"
"Well, if Pina says so. Anyway, you're all done now, right?"
"No."
"Huh? You're done."
"We haven't eaten yet."
"Eat with me!"
"...No."
"Why?!"
"You're going to eat noodles again. If I eat that, I get hungry and can't move."
Noodles. They weren't bad.
In fact, the noodles Leona brought were tasty, and I did feel full at the time.
But I digested them way too fast.
Three hours after eating them—no, two—my stomach would go hollow and I couldn't muster any strength.
So today, I was absolutely going to eat meat.
"Huh? Really? Then let's eat something else today."
"...I'm going to eat meat."
"Let's eat meat!"
"...I'm going to eat chicken legs too."
"Sure!"
"I'm going to eat four."
"As many as you want!"
Leona shrugged her shoulders as if to say, trust me.
I stared at Leona for a long moment.
"...Fine."
I handed my card to Eurasia.
"You three eat with this, and leave the card at the Signia Hall front desk."
To prevent another disaster like today, when I couldn't eat breakfast because I didn't have my card, I came up with a solution.
Leave it with the maid stationed at the front desk.
This way, I could feed the kids even when I wasn't around, and the next morning, I could eat too!
"Uh, um... yes, understood. Thank you...!"
Eurasia looked like she wanted to refuse, but when I glared at her, she bowed and took the card.
Stella, excited at the prospect of another free meal, kept gulping down her saliva.
Pina, perhaps because it was her first time eating with a group, squeezed both hands tight, her eyes sparkling.
*****
Slurp— slurp—
Goddamn noodles.
Slurp— slurp—
Did that person—no, that Beastkin—never get sick of noodles?
Slurp— slurp—
She's fucking devouring them like they're delicious.
Well, it wasn't like they tasted bad.
"...Hah."
I let out a sigh and looked at the training hall...
at my portion of noodles sitting on the floor of the faculty-only training hall.
Just as I'd said, there was plenty of meat and chicken legs.
Inside the noodles.
Leona had ordered it for me.
At the faculty-only dining hall, she'd added beef and chicken legs to the same noodles as yesterday.
How thoughtful.
Still, since there was meat in it now, I figured it'd be better than yesterday and picked up my chopsticks.
"How did you get close with Pina?"
Leona, who had practically been drinking her noodles, emptied her fourth bowl and asked just before starting her fifth.
"On the first day, we went around together inside the illusion magic, then this morning we met and talked a bit, and that's how we got close, I guess."
Slurp.
It really is better with meat in it.
Chew, chew— I chewed and swallowed the tender beef, then threw a question back at her.
"Seems like you and Pina knew each other already."
Leona, with a mouthful of noodles, shook her head side to side.
"Nope. We met this time."
"For people who just met, you two seemed awfully close."
I'd bought her so much food, gotten her into a club, given her my number, and even become her friend, yet Pina still couldn't meet my eyes.
"Well, circumstances being what they are, that's how it turned out."
Leona laughed, 'Nyehehe,' and kept eating, giving off an air that said not to ask any more.
I followed Leona's lead and started eating my noodles again.
Nom, nom, nom.
The chicken legs were so tender that the meat fell away at the touch of my chopsticks, so I didn't have to struggle to strip it from the bone.
For chicken legs, there was no gamey smell, and yet they hadn't lost their chewiness.
Along with that, the deep flavor of the broth steeped from beef and chicken, and the thin but springy texture of the noodles clung to my tongue and gums, keeping things from getting boring.
...Was the faculty-only dining hall actually a noodle place?
Did the student dining hall's noodles taste the same?
Slurp.
With the thought of trying the noodles tomorrow, I shoved the remaining strands into my mouth in one go.
"Kheung... that was good."
Just then, Leona also polished off her seventh bowl.
Leona patted her stomach—pat, pat—and immediately stood up.
"Now, today I'll be teaching Student Eliarnes the basics!"
Seeing Leona's wide-open hand, I stood up as well.
"What's this?"
"A hand."
"Right. Then, what's this?"
The wide-open hand clenched—tight—into a fist.
"A fist."
"Right. A fist. When your hand is open, if you clench it—tight—like this, it becomes a fist."
Then, step, step— Leona walked up to where her arm could reach and giggled—heh heh.
"Today, we're practicing dodging this fist."
"...Excuse me?"
"If you get hit wrong, your bones will break, so be careful?"
"What do you—"
Golden Mana burst from Leona's fist.
Immediately, I tightened my breathing and raised both arms.
I clenched my teeth and flared my Mana, wrapping it around my arms.
"Ehehe. I said dodge."
At the same time.
Crunch!
The guard I'd raised collapsed helplessly.
Stars exploded before my eyes.