An Unwanted Lunch
Poke. Poke.
The sensation of someone jabbing my arm dragged me out of sleep. Wondering what it was, I rubbed my bleary eyes and lifted my head—only to find a girl with white hair and transparent eyes like polished glass staring at me with a completely blank expression.
Linus Liequia. Self-proclaimed “Riri.”
She had insisted on the shortened name herself, and whenever she introduced herself afterward she only ever said “Riri,” so almost everyone knew her and called her by that alone.
The aftereffects of forced experiments had left her emotional expression paper-thin, and her body—overly specialized toward magic—had simply stopped growing. She remained fixed in the form of a young girl.
Thanks to that, if she stayed perfectly still and silent she was constantly mistaken for a life-sized, pretty doll.
In my previous world that might have been a compliment. Here, though, mana was a real, nonstandard force that could make actual dolls move as if they were alive, so calling a living person a doll could easily be taken as an insult depending on who heard it.
The people around her might seethe, but the girl herself never cared. She was the optimistic type who simply let it slide.
Or maybe she already believed she was no different from a doll and quietly blamed herself for it.
A miracle product that had accidentally succeeded in a factory mass-producing dolls called “Archmages.” That was both the starting point and the entirety of Riri as an Archmage.
Even that emotional flatness changed dramatically when she was with us—more precisely, with Ban Taewung’s group. The perfect doll had begun to hold a human heart.
To outsiders the change still looked ambiguous, but Taewung’s people and I could read it clearly.
Little things like the corners of her mouth twitching just now, or her eyes softening a fraction—those tiny shifts were the clues that let us understand what she felt.
It wasn’t even a matter of heightened senses from skill. In my past life I had learned to read people just to survive; the habit had stuck, and now I could catch even the smallest changes and read her emotions with ease.
From everything I knew, the feeling she was carrying right now was “expectation.”
Still half-asleep, I tapped my head a few times to wake it up, then stretched to work the stiffness out of my body.
My mind felt clear, but my body was heavy—I must have slept quite a while.
The fact that Hong Su-ah had glared at me earlier and still left me alone told me just how soft she had gotten with me. Or maybe she had simply given up.
Honestly, letting go of someone who didn’t fit your standards was better for both sides. Cling too hard and you only got a messy disaster.
Moments like this really drove home how important having a powerful backer was.
Without that woman as my breakwater, a rigid, story-laden woman like her would never have backed off so easily.
Smack.
A small, childlike hand reached for my cheek. I casually tilted my head back just enough to dodge it, and a soft clap rang out right in front of my face.
“Ooooh…”
Riri had clapped without meaning to. Her eyes went wide for a second as she looked back and forth between me and her own hands, blinking. That was pure admiration.
Grrrrowl~
A stomach growled from somewhere. She stopped her little clapping motion, clutched her belly, then lifted her head as if she had finally remembered her original purpose and opened her mouth.
“Lunch. Hungry.”
“…Ah.”
So that much time had already passed. The clock on the blackboard showed roughly three hours gone. It still hadn’t vanished, so class wasn’t completely over yet.
That settled it—afternoon nap confirmed.
I casually reached into my shadow and took a CalorieMate from Hive. The moment Luicia saw it, her face twisted in horror and she snatched it right out of my hand.
Thwack!
I had tried to dodge by a paper-thin margin, but my skill was lower than hers, so she got it.
Considering she was a close-combat type and I was ranged, it was only natural—but it still stung my pride enough to make me frown. I glared at her; she glared right back, refusing to yield.
Oh?
“…What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“That’s my line. Skipping class is one thing, but what is this supposed to be?”
Thwap-thwap.
One hand on her hip, the other waving the stolen CalorieMate around—she was the textbook picture of a sulking girl. Honestly, who said she wasn’t a tsundere heroine? Looks and attitude matched perfectly.
The problem was that tsun only worked on people who already had some dere for you. Aimed at someone you barely knew, it was just pure nonsense.
“You said lunch, so I was going to eat.”
“…Haa. Knowing we went out of our way to come find you and you still chose this makes me even angrier.”
Ah, right—who asked you to?
I didn’t bother hiding the thought; I just let it show on my blank face. Luicia ground her teeth, something inside her snapping, and crushed the CalorieMate in her fist until it burst.
If you’re mad, just be mad. Why waste perfectly good food? This is why rich people are hopeless. Why treat something edible so carelessly?
I asked Haze to gather the scattered pieces into a floating bubble. Riri found it fascinating and started poking it carefully with a finger to make sure it was safe.
Spirit power wasn’t magic—it was the concept itself—so even she couldn’t grasp the principle and was clearly intrigued.
After a few more pokes she simply stuck out her tongue and started licking the floating bubble like an ice-cream cone.
When that wasn’t enough she buried her whole mouth against it and began sucking it down like a goldfish gulping water.
…She really must have been starving.
Watching her made me feel weirdly guilty. This was why human relationships were such a pain. I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet somehow I ended up looking like the bad guy. It pissed me off.
I clicked my tongue softly, divided the bubble into bite-sized pieces for her, and floated them around her. Nowhere near enough to cover an Archmage’s mana needs, but fine as a temporary fix.
“…Excuse me. Are you joking right now?”
“Do I look like I’m joking?”
“Yes. We say let’s eat together and you put on every possible air and bounce us off like some rebellious teenager.”
Fuck, this is ridiculous. How is this chuunibyou?
“Ahh, that face that truly believes there’s not a single cloud over your own actions! It’s so irritating…!”
She could read that too? Well, who taught her? If you spell it out this clearly of course she’ll match it.
Even if I didn’t want to meet them, Ban Taewung as the center of gravity meant we inevitably spent long stretches together. I knew her as well as she knew me.
As a chaebol second-generation, not knowing the people around you would be the strange part, wouldn’t it?
If it were me I would have dug up everything from their status down to their fifth cousins and the personal details of everyone around them.
“Look at this! Riri was so excited and now she’s all dejected!”
Apparently realizing she couldn’t win a verbal fight, Luicia switched to emotional appeals—“the tears of the defendant are the evidence!” I felt how far she still had to go.
Anyone could see she was only dejected because she had finished the bite-sized CalorieMate pieces I made for her. They went down so easily she had been gulping them nonstop without a break.
I silently fixed my gaze on the crushed remains of the CalorieMate still in Luicia’s hand. Her face slowly soured.
She understood how stupid her own excuse had been. That was why she looked like that.
I won.
I was about to curl my lips into a full sneer when Ban Taewung, who had been watching, cut in with a bitter smile.
“Hmm, she does look a little down to me too.”
“…What?”
“Taewung-ssi…!”
Bolstered by his backup, Luicia’s spirit flared again and she glared at me with sharp eyes. So it was two against one now. Well, that was only natural.
“Tsk…”
Objectively I was the weird one. Friends had gone out of their way—not even to my house, just right next door—to invite me to lunch, and I was bouncing them off because it was a hassle. But it really was a hassle, so what was I supposed to do?
Making excuses would get them off my back easily, but I didn’t want to scramble for every possible reason just to rest in peace.
They were the problem for forcing care on someone who clearly didn’t want it.
Just give up and go eat by yourselves. Why do you have to drag the person who said it’s a hassle along just to feel satisfied?
I wondered why I had ever taught them how to read expressions.
I really shouldn’t have taught them.
The reason those two could read Riri’s face was simple: I had taught them.
They had found it so amazing how easily I read her emotions that they pestered me every single day until I finally gave in and taught them.
If you’re dumb your body suffers—time would have solved it if we just stuck together long enough—but I had shortened that time by dumping my knowledge on them and exhausting myself in the process.
And this was how they repaid the favor… Even if I raised my voice and made a scene now, the outcome was already decided.
Because right now Riri’s expression was openly saying she had enjoyed the CalorieMate appetizer and wanted to get to the main dish as soon as possible.
Ban Taewung read it perfectly and asked her again with his usual good-natured smile.
“Riri, hungry? Want to go eat right away?”
“Yeah!”
He even delivered the finishing blow with a bitter smile. I finally closed my eyes. Three against one. My defeat was complete.
“…Tsk. Can’t even eat when I want.”
“That’s—ex—act—ly—why! The world doesn’t call this stuff a meal!!”
Crrrunch!
I ignored Luicia as she crushed the empty wrapper even harder in her rage and offered a silent prayer of mourning for the CalorieMate. And Luicia—you should apologize right now to everyone in the world who lives on CalorieMate. To them it’s not just a meal; it’s life itself…
Standing here any longer wouldn’t change anything. I gave up, pushed my chair back, and stood as slowly as humanly possible.
Seeing me finally rise, Luicia let out a long sigh of relief and started tapping her device, saying she wanted something spicy, while I headed toward the cafeteria.
“…So, what happened with the third-years?”
“Ah, well, Luicia, Riri, and I each took one down.”
“Of course, everyone who challenged them before we arrived lost without exception. There were all sorts of restrictions, and it felt like we forced the wins somehow. It left a bad taste.”
Luicia frowned slightly as she seriously replayed the fights in her mind, chewing her lip.
“Same on my end. The seniors had already used up some of their strength, but more than that, it felt like they weren’t fighting at full power. Even so, I only barely won thanks to my job-exclusive skill. If it had been pure ability, I would have lost for sure.”
“…Two years is a bigger gap than I thought.”
“Yeah… I decided I need to work even harder.”
Listening to Luicia grumble about wanting a full-power rematch someday and Ban Taewung agreeing while steering the topic toward how much they could still learn, I clicked my tongue inwardly at how immature she still was.
At the same time I accepted that no matter how capable, a kid was still a kid.
It was fine. She would grow mentally in her own way by being tangled up with Ban Taewung.
Being the strength at the protagonist’s side was the “role” the world had given her, so her growth was basically guaranteed.
That was just how things went when the protagonist’s group got involved.
Still, things should quiet down a little.
The academy’s original goal of teaching that “rank isn’t everything” had been more or less achieved. Everyone except the protagonist’s group had definitely received a thorough education.
Filtering out a few outstanding talents and discovering hidden gems they hadn’t noticed before was probably the secondary profit the academy was aiming for this time.
“Anything else?”
“On the way to join Taewung-ssi I confirmed that Reus Vagna won.”
“I saw Jang-mi barely manage a draw. She was carried off right after so I couldn’t talk to her, but I’m thinking of buying something later and visiting.”
So roughly five people left.
Even if they weren’t on Reus Vagna’s level, there were quite a few with strength worthy of S-class, so those five would probably win a few matches and then conveniently lose when people like Ban Taewung showed up.
From their first appearance and the way they egged people on, I hadn’t believed a word of it. More accurately, there was no sincerity in it. The fact that Hong Su-ah had been watching from the back made it clear the academy was quietly involved, so there was no need to waste energy.
That was probably the biggest reason she had left me alone too.
Third-years weren’t idiots with nothing better to do. At a time when they should be worrying about jobs or focusing harder on studies, they wouldn’t join something like this for free.
I would ask Hong Su-ah about it later or look into it myself.
“Hurry. Food!”
I looked pitifully at the ones urging me from the front and flanking me like bodyguards so I couldn’t escape, and headed for the cafeteria.
For the record, I ordered the same bulgogi set meal I had eaten before. It came out fast and tasted good, so I had started getting it often.
Riri ordered as many high-volume dishes as possible, and Ban Taewung prepared nearly as much food.
The real eye-catcher was Luicia. She had somehow procured a jjamppong that looked painfully spicy just from the sight of it and started inhaling it like a drink.
When Riri snuck a taste and frantically stuck out her tongue, casting pain-block and cooling magic, it was clear ordinary taste buds couldn’t handle it.
Could you even call that food? My eyes stung enough that I had to wrap them in mana; I half-suspected it was some kind of torture tool.
Ban Taewung even seriously wondered if it could be used for training. When a guy who was dead serious about toughening his body said something like that, it had already left the realm of food.
“Huuu, that hits the spot!”
“You… really have no right to say anything to me. Seriously.”
“Agree. Strongly agree…”
Riri’s deadpan agreement with a fed-up face finally made Ban Taewung burst out laughing. Luicia wiped her mouth with a napkin as if she couldn’t care less and immediately reached for the next dish.
At least that one looked normal. So she really had eaten it to settle her stomach. Unbelievable.
I need to get out of this insane place as soon as possible. With that single thought I piled side dishes and meat onto my rice and shoveled it into my mouth as fast as I could.
Murmur, murmur.
A stir rose from the far side of the cafeteria. The crowd parted and someone strode straight toward us.
Our eyes naturally turned that way and landed on a familiar face. One of the third-years who had appeared this morning—someone whose fight I had watched before.
Sharp, fierce eyes with jade-green irises glittered like a beast that had spotted prey. His short hair swayed as he walked without the slightest hesitation, heading directly for our table.
3-B.
Binboji Kazu.
The moment he reached the table he smiled arrogantly.
“Some people are working their asses off, and some people are sitting pretty stuffing their faces.”
His low growl held not a shred of goodwill—only faint anger. Why was he so pissed?
Obvious.
While I wasn’t looking, Ban Taewung had done something again and dragged me into it. The talent for attracting incidents no matter where he went was truly something.
Now this guy would ask Ban Taewung something. Ban Taewung would answer, and then there would be a fight or an event or whatever.
Figuring it had nothing to do with me, I shoved more rice into my mouth so I could leave quickly—when Binboji Kazu snorted and opened his mouth.
“You’re the one called Jang Sinwoo?”
Cough.
The words were so unexpected I choked. Rice nearly went down the wrong pipe. I calmly drank some water, cleared my throat, and looked at Ban Taewung. He was staring back at me with the same startled expression.
So I hadn’t misheard.
What had I done? I thought hard, but there were so many possibilities I couldn’t pin one down. So I decided to ignore him. I didn’t need the hassle.
He read the shift in my attitude and put on a face that said he had scored a hit. In reaction my expression twisted like a sewer.
What the fuck are you smiling about, you bastard with a name that sounds like a joke.
“What the fuck are you smiling about, you bastard with a name that sounds like a joke.”
…Ah. I was so startled the inner monologue slipped straight out of my mouth.
“Haaah?”
The atmosphere around us froze instantly, and the thug’s face twisted even further—I hadn’t thought it was possible.
Well, I did it. No point crying over spilled milk. So I ignored everything and went back to eating. Finish fast and leave. That was the best plan.
“…Ha, this bastard’s a real psycho, isn’t he?”
Binboji Kazu sneered with a sigh of disbelief, and the people nearby nodded faintly in agreement. That annoyed me.
“Did you sell the phrase ‘land of courteous people in the East’ for scrap? I’m still a senior, you know? Two years older.”
Yeah? So fucking what? I’ll throw that right back at you. If you count my past life I’ve lived more than twice as long as you, you little shit. Still wet behind the ears and trying to pull rank with age?
Of course saying that out loud would get me labeled worse than crazy, so I went with the direct approach.
“Don’t make a scene where people are eating. Just shut up and eat. Trying to show off that you can’t act your age?”
If you want to be treated like a senior, act like one first. With that I focused on my food again.
A gaze sharp enough to stab me was boring into the side of my head, but I ignored it. Ignored it again.
Was this the foreshadowing for Hong Su-ah’s glare this morning? I entertained the silly thought while chewing as thoroughly and slowly as possible before swallowing.
I wish he’d just leave because it’s a hassle. Can’t he say the classic thug line about losing interest and disappear?
Instead of that meaningless hope, the only thing disappearing was the rice in my bowl.
…Damn it. I should have eaten slower earlier. I chewed a sigh along with the rice and cursed the god who had gifted me yet another annoying day.