Sharin Sazaris, the Bread Shuttle
She was one of the most unpredictable characters in the Flame Butterfly Chapter. Sharin possessed a unique trait—an overwhelming talent that appeared only once in a millennium. Her eyes, which shone like the Milky Way whenever they caught the light of Mirinae. It was a gift that allowed her to grasp the underlying principles and logic of any magic she laid eyes upon. I, too, was well aware of just how broken Mirinae was. Even the professors at Jerion Academy couldn't hold a candle to Sharin's Mirinae. It was a natural-born genius granted solely to her.
Still, I had never expected her to see right through the Bandage of the Veil. So that's why Sharin never appeared when Lucas used the Bandage of the Veil... Looking back now, it was because her Mirinae could pierce right through its disguise. It was a completely unforeseen variable. Beneath her heavy, sleepy eyelids, eyes that seemed to hold the galaxy itself gazed quietly at me. Just that look made me feel as if I were being stripped bare.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Are you still half-asleep?" I feigned ignorance for now.
"Then I'll go ask the professor~"
I quickly reached out and grabbed the scruff of her neck. "My bad. Stop right there." Bringing in an expert is cheating. Fight fair with jealousy and fabrication like everyone else.
Sharin glanced back at me, her neck still in my grip. Once I let go, she spun around gracefully.
"I really, really like the whipped cream bread they sell at the kiosk for lunch."
"I can't stand greasy, heavy stuff."
"But I do."
I barely managed to suppress a sigh. "So I just have to bring it to you at lunchtime, right?"
"Yep, yep." So this was the price of her silence. "See you then~"
Sharin waved a limp hand and drifted off toward the Magic Engineering department building. Watching her retreating figure, I turned on my heel as well. She was fickle, but she was a girl of her word. At the very least, she wouldn't go around blabbing before lunch.
First things first. Time to do my duty. Even if I had to make Isabel hate me, getting on her bad side for being lazy was a different story.
Today, I successfully rubbed Isabel the wrong way during the morning classes again. Lately, the glares from the female students had been growing increasingly murderous. Perhaps because of those sharp looks, the male students didn't seem particularly eager to approach me either. Thanks to that, I enjoyed a peaceful school life. Besides, I was living such a busy life that making friends was the least of my concerns.
For now, focusing on the main cast is more than enough. I had to put out the most urgent fires first.
I packed my things and left the classroom. Just in time, I saw the other students heading off to grab lunch. I followed them to the cafeteria. Normally, I would have picked out something simple to eat and then headed to the Student Council room to find Nikita. But today, an unexpected chore prevented me from doing so.
At the cafeteria, I bought the whipped cream bread, a sweet red bean bread for myself, and a tea and a drink. Just as I packed them neatly into a bag and was about to leave, I spotted a familiar face on the other side.
Surrounded by a massive crowd of people was a thoroughly exhausted boy. He had messy, short brown hair and large, round glasses. He was currently the most famous figure among the first-years—the Spiritist who had contracted with a Spirit Sovereign, Poara Silin.
"Poara, won't you join our team? If it's you, I can personally recommend you to the professor so you can get in."
"What are you talking about? Poara is joining our team! Back off, latecomer!"
"You greedy bastards, stop being so selfish! You guys already have a Spiritist on your team! We don't even have one!"
The crowd was currently engaged in a fierce tug-of-war over Poara. They were trying to recruit top-tier talent like him in advance for the upcoming Demon Palace battle that would take place after the mock battle.
In the Demon Palace battle, teammates were the single most crucial factor. The depth of the floors you could descend to depended entirely on your teammates' capabilities. Because of this, the mock battle was essentially a platform for self-promotion. It was a chance to show strong teams, 'Look, I have this much skill, so take me with you.' Since the professors also wanted to form as many strong and balanced teams as possible, the results of this mock battle were incredibly important.
However, there were those who were highly sought after by every team even without having to go through such mock battles. Poara, standing right over there, was one of them.
First-years are supposed to undergo about half a year of rigorous training before entering the Demon Palace, but... there were always exceptions to the rule. Jerion Academy had established a special class specifically for such outliers. Poara hadn't originally been in the special class, but he had successfully formed a temporary contract with a Spirit Sovereign. Therefore, whether he liked it or not, he was now part of the special class and scheduled to enter the Demon Palace alongside his seniors. Naturally, Poara's team had not been decided yet, which was why the students were swarming him like locusts.
Poor guy. Wait, was he really pitiful? His life was practically on the fast track to success thanks to his contract with a Spirit Sovereign. Thinking about it, there was nothing to feel sorry for. If anything, I was the pitiful one—I had worked my butt off and hadn't even caught a glimpse of a spirit's face.
"Oh, ah! Ha-Hanon-sunbae!" At that moment, Poara spotted me and suddenly called out my name. Why the hell was he calling me now of all times? When I looked at him with a bewildered expression, his eyes sparkled like an abandoned puppy's. They were filled with a desperate plea, begging me to rescue him from this place.
Instantly, the gazes of the students surrounding Poara snapped to me. Their eyes practically screamed, 'Who the hell are you?' Oh, what a remarkably insolent look. There were even third-year seniors among them, but their glares didn't intimidate me in the slightest. After all, the glares from the girls in my own department were far more lethal.
I walked over to Poara and grabbed his arm. At that, the students' eyes grew even sharper.
"We have Student Council business. I need to take Poara with me. Is there a problem?" I said, proudly flashing my Student Council badge. The students flinched and took a step back. I felt a thrilling rush of authority. Poara was technically part of the Student Council now anyway. If I claimed it was for Student Council business, they couldn't say a word.
The students glared at me with sheer frustration. They looked like predators who had just had their prey snatched right out of their jaws. What of it? If you're mad, join the Student Council yourselves. Go ahead, scream it with me: Authority rules.
"Let's go."
"Y-Yes!"
I led Poara out of the cafeteria. Only then did he finally catch his breath and let out a sigh of relief. He then bowed his head deeply to me.
"Ha-Hanon-sunbae, thank you so much! You really saved my life back there!"
"You've had it rough." Come to think of it, Poara had that going on. I decided to take this opportunity to ask him something.
"Poara, do you have any intention of boycotting the Student Council later on?"
"W-What? M-Me? There's no way I would ever do such a thing!" Poara waved his hands in a frantic panic. He shook them so violently that his glasses nearly flew off his face.
I guess he hasn't thought about it yet. Then again, Poara's entire life had been turned upside down. Still, it was a concern. Although the world had already changed significantly from the original story, if he didn't participate in the boycott, the influence of the boycott group would be greatly weakened.
Well, it's not something that will happen immediately. I'll think more about this later.
"Um, Hanon-sunbae..." Poara looked at me as if he had something to say. Seeing a guy steal glances at me like that was honestly a bit unpleasant.
"What is it? If you have something to say, spit it out."
"I-I'm really sorry I wasn't of much help back in the Great Forest of Spirits. I just hid and couldn't do anything..." Poara said, his shoulders slumping. I was pretty sure I had told him not to come in the first place, but it seemed he had been beating himself up over it.
"You have nothing to be sorry for."
"While you were fighting the Mystery, all I did was form a contract with the Spirit Sovereign. I only found out you had collapsed after the contract was made." Poara mumbled, pouring out apologies one after another. Personally, I was glad he hadn't intervened, but Poara clearly felt differently. Seeing him like this, he wasn't a bad kid.
"It's fine. Don't sweat it."
"B-But still, isn't there anything I can do? Running around being a nuisance like this would bring shame to my family. I really want to do something for you!"
"Not really..." I was about to tell him I didn't need anything, but I stopped myself. I stroked my chin for a moment before turning back to Poara.
"Then, can I call on you when I need help next time?"
"Yes, of course!" Poara's face lit up instantly as he answered. He looked just like a golden retriever.
I've secured a pretty good card. A contractor of the Spirit Sovereign. He would be highly useful in the future. And thinking about it, I realized I might be able to resolve the boycott issue at the same time.
I'll make good use of you. He was a contractor of the Spirit Sovereign that I had essentially created. I was going to milk this for all it was worth.
After parting ways with Poara, I arrived at the Magic Engineering department building. Along the way, the Magic Engineering students cast curious glances in my direction.
"He's so tiny."
"Is he a first-year?"
"His name tag is blue. Isn't he a new face?"
"Oh, then is he that transfer student from the Martial Arts department?" Some of them even recognized me. Rumors really did travel at a terrifying speed. How could news spread so fast?
I ignored the students' stares and kept walking, looking around the Magic Engineering hallway with curious eyes. Unlike the desolate hallways of the Martial Arts department, the Magic Engineering department had plenty of things to look at.
It's actually quite a sight. Various magical artifacts were on display like works of art. As I walked along, admiring them with interest, I soon reached the second-year classroom. Perhaps because most of the students had gone to eat, the room was half-empty. The problem was, Sharin wasn't there either.
Is she not here? She told me to bring it to her classroom, so I thought she'd be waiting. I figured I'd just leave it on her desk and go. But just as I was about to step inside, I felt a presence behind me. The moment I turned my head, I realized a split second too late that someone's forehead was right in front of my nose. Ah, we're going to crash.
Thwack! With a crisp sound, the other person and I tumbled backward in opposite directions.
"Uuuugh..." Clutching my forehead, I turned my head to see Sharin curled up on the floor, holding her own forehead. She looked at me with a tearful face and protested.
"Why did you turn around right then~?"
"The one who snuck up behind me is the one at fault." Once the pain subsided slightly, I walked over to Sharin. I extended my hand, and she grabbed my arm, wobbling as she stood up. The aftereffects of the headbutt seemed to be quite severe.
"...Where's the bread?" It was honestly impressive how she asked for the bread first.
"I brought it. So where on earth did you suddenly pop out from?"
"I was picking flowers."
"And where are the flowers?" Sharin's hands, of course, were completely empty. At my question, she raised her sleepy eyes to glare at me.
"You have no tact~"
"Yeah, I have plenty of tact. Why are you beating around the bush just to say you went to the restroom?" Of course, I knew exactly what she meant. A flicker of annoyance crossed Sharin's eyes.
"So prickly."
"That's because of what you put me through today." I had been demoted to a bread shuttle; of course I was going to be prickly. Sharin stared at me for a moment without replying, then walked into the classroom. Following her inside, I placed the bag of bread on her desk.
"So, you're not going to tell anyone about what happened earlier, right?" When I asked, Sharin rummaged through the bag. Looking at the bread inside, she immediately began to unwrap the red bean bread.
"Hey, freeze." Seeing Sharin on the verge of shoving the red bean bread into her mouth, I quickly clamped my hand over her lips. Sharin shot me a look that asked what my problem was.
"You asked for whipped cream bread, so why are you eating the red bean bread? That's mine."
"Whipped cream bread is too heavy."
"You said you liked it this morning."
"I changed my mind."
Should I smack her?
Slurp. Suddenly, Sharin licked the palm of my hand that was covering her mouth. Startled, I yanked my hand away, and she immediately took a massive bite of the red bean bread. Her small cheeks puffed up as she chewed and swallowed. Watching her in utter disbelief, I walked to the opposite side of the desk, pulled out a chair, and sat down.
"It's delicious. Thank you."
"You don't sound thankful at all."
"Yeah, Bel told me to say thank you whenever I receive something, so I did." A sigh escaped my lips. I should have known better than to get tangled up with this whimsical girl. I had been played.
I unwrapped the whipped cream bread and took a bite. Sure enough, a heavy, greasy sweetness coated my mouth. I definitely preferred red bean. Just then, Sharin stared intently at my whipped cream bread.
"I thought you said you didn't want it."
"Other people's food always looks tastier." Sharin craned her neck forward and opened her mouth. "Ahhh." As her cute little mouth opened, I could see all the way to her uvula. I stared at her blankly, then raised my finger instead of the bread.
Snap! Sharin's mouth clamped shut. Her expression clearly warned me that if I put my finger in, she would bite it off. To save my finger, I had no choice but to offer her the whipped cream bread instead. Once again, Sharin took a huge bite. She didn't seem to care that whipped cream was smeared all over her mouth. She chewed diligently and swallowed. Then, looking at me a moment later, she tilted her head.
"So, why did you buy this for me anyway~?"
Let's just smack her.