Ch.19Chapter 19

After the morning lecture for Academy students ended, I said goodbye to Lenya and parted ways. Having a makeup class on Saturday shouldn’t feel great, but why didn’t everyone look so displeased?

I found my gaze drawn to them, wondering if they were all just being diligent at the start of the semester.

Or maybe they were just managing their expressions in front of the Professor. Either way, it seemed like something I couldn’t really understand.

After finishing what could be called a lecture but read as an inspection, the Professor briefly organized today’s materials before pushing them aside.

“…Ourr, was today okay? Were you not bored?”

“Yes. I learned letters.”

“Good, good.”

When I said I hadn’t had time to be bored, the Professor smiled as if that was all she needed to hear.

“Then shall we have lunch and go downtown?”

I nodded. The Professor put down her belongings and stepped forward with a lighter gait.

We left the Academy and set our warp point destination to downtown. Naturally, a large commercial district had formed due to the increased foot traffic around the Academy. This place had a different feel from the market area I’d visited with the Professor before.

HONK! My eyes widened at the loud horn. A fascinating world entered my vision.

It was like seeing what happens when a world with magic develops—a strange landscape.

Cars raced across asphalt roads, stopping at traffic signals. Just watching people cross the crosswalk felt somehow amazing.

The Professor looked around, seeming slightly anxious. Then she firmly held my hand.

“Don’t let go, okay?”

“…Yes.”

Even though it didn’t seem likely I’d get lost in the crowd, the Professor was overly worried.

I walked diligently behind the Professor. The main streets seemed to have more clothing and cosmetic shops than restaurants. The side streets, on the other hand, were overwhelmingly filled with eateries.

I could see why they called this downtown. Each city probably had its own version of a bustling downtown area like this.

“What would you like to eat, Ourr? Anything you want? Or something interesting?”

“…Hmm, something interesting.”

I turned my head quickly. The alleyways were quite long, requiring me to look far ahead. I followed the Professor into an alley, but even there, I felt overwhelmed by choices, experiencing a kind of decision paralysis.

There was curry, chicken, and so many exotic restaurants.

“How about there?”

“It’s just a simple pancake place. Good. Have you ever had pancakes before, Ourr? I don’t think I’ve made them for you.”

“I haven’t tried them.”

“Then you should.”

With those words, the Professor led me into the store.

As we entered, a sweet aroma tickled my nose. The distinctive smell of pancake batter cooking seemed to stimulate my appetite.

I thought it was one of those foods that smelled good just by itself.

I looked at the people seated at tables. My eyes sparkled as I watched them place butter on their pancakes and drizzle honey all over. I couldn’t take my eyes off the sight of honey being poured from a blunt-ended stick rather than a honey jar—something I was seeing for the first time.

While I was staring blankly, the Professor tapped my shoulder.

“Um, we’re going to eat too.”

“…Ah!”

The Professor seemed embarrassed, perhaps because I was staring too much at other people. I felt sorry for making the other customers uncomfortable, but I couldn’t go over and apologize, so I just turned my head with an awkward expression.

Sitting down, I looked at the menu. As expected, there wasn’t anything I could read. Nevertheless, the Professor explained everything diligently.

“This is pancake, and this is waffle.”

At first, it was about choosing what I would eat.

“For garnishes, there’s mashed potato, baby potatoes, scrambled eggs, and sunny side up.”

“…Hmm. This, this, and this.”

I remembered the words from the Professor’s explanation and chose my menu items.

The pancake smell was so good that I chose pancakes. I thought baby potatoes and ade would make a good combination with it.

After watching the Professor place the order, I took off my coat. With my arms straight and shoulders slightly back, it fell off effortlessly. I grabbed the coat that had fallen behind my hips and hung it on the backrest.

Then I adjusted my posture. Suddenly remembering our conversation from yesterday, I tilted my head.

“By the way, Professor.”

“Yes?”

“Are we watching a movie today?”

“Yes, we are. I’ll book it before our food arrives. How about a horror movie?”

“…A horror movie?”

My hand trembled slightly. Horror movie? Did I like those? I groaned a little, not understanding why anyone would want to watch something designed to scare people.

“If you’re scared, we can watch something else. It just had the highest ratings.”

Come to think of it, I had told the Professor I trusted her.

But how could a horror movie have the highest ratings among all movies? The Professor would have checked not only the ratings but also the reviews.

Left speechless, I just shook my head.

“No, it’s fine. Let’s go see it.”

I couldn’t just say I didn’t like it when the Professor had probably researched everything thoroughly. I also couldn’t rule out that the Professor might enjoy horror movies.

When I agreed so easily, the Professor clasped her hands slightly.

“Then after that, shall we go buy some clothes? I think it’s time for Ourr to have some casual clothes.”

“…Casual clothes.”

While I was seriously considering it with an “Hmm,” our food arrived.

“I’m not sure.”

“Casual clothes might be more comfortable. You can wear pants with elastic waistbands.”

“I’d only wear them when going out like this, right?”

“That’s right.”

I thought about it with a “Hmm.” It didn’t seem like a bad idea, so I nodded.

“I don’t mind.”

Whether due to the principle that uniforms should function as uniforms, or because of social perception, there were no elastic waistband skirts. Certainly, button-type skirts looked much neater than elastic ones.

But there was no need to dress that way in everyday life outside the Academy.

So I nodded at the Professor’s suggestion.

“Good. And this is how you eat this.”

The Professor smiled with satisfaction and began to show me step by step how to eat pancakes.

The pancakes cut smoothly, and you eat them with butter or honey on top. A sweet aroma burst in my mouth. I wanted to stuff my mouth full as usual, but I couldn’t, which was disappointing.

It was a good experience. I thought pancakes could be used as a meal. Even though they weren’t particularly filling, I could tell the portion size was substantial.

After finishing our meal, we headed to the movie theater. A space filled with caramel scent. Even after looking around a bit, we still had plenty of time. The Professor printed our reserved tickets amidst the bustling crowd.

She showed me the paper that looked like a receipt, fluttering it. As I held it and narrowed my eyes, the Professor kindly explained what was written on it.

“The… School?”

“It’s a horror movie set in a school.”

“Is an Academy different from a school?”

“The educational process is different. Schools teach basic knowledge or skills useful in the workplace, while Academies teach specialized knowledge. People come to Academies if they want to get into better companies or have other dreams.”

The Professor explained the difference between Academies and schools to me. Then she pointed to the popcorn counter beyond.

“Let’s get popcorn and cola too.”

“Popcorn, cola.”

I thought the caramel scent was nice, so I had no reason to refuse when she offered to buy some.

I hugged the popcorn to my chest. Every time I sniffed, the sweet smell tickled my nose, and I unconsciously reached out with my mouth.

“Haup.”

“Oh! Ourr, why are you eating like that? Let me feed you.”

Since both my arms were hugging the popcorn, I was burying my face in it to eat. The Professor exclaimed in surprise and offered me popcorn. I ate that too.

“Is it good?”

“It’s good.”

“That’s great. Ourr likes sweet things, I see.”

The Professor chuckled and told me to follow her closely. Her hands were full with cola, so she couldn’t hold my hand. Well, I wasn’t so weak that I’d get lost without holding hands, so I followed her well.

“Is it here?”

“It says Theater 4. Over there.”

We sat in our seats at the theater. Advertisements started playing, and soon after, all the lights in the theater went out.

It was fine at first. The setting was a school with a bright atmosphere, so I just quietly munched on my popcorn. But as the movie progressed, strange hints began to appear, and the background music gradually changed to something discordant and bizarre, quickly transforming the atmosphere.

I had been hugging the popcorn, but now I clenched my fists, not knowing what to do. Realizing this wasn’t the time to be hugging popcorn, I quickly put it down by my feet and scooted closer to the Professor.

The Professor whispered quietly, just loud enough for me to hear.

“What’s wrong? Ourr, are you scared?”

“…Ah, that’s not…”

At that moment, a terrifying ghost appeared in the hallway with a “BOOM!” I gasped in surprise and buried my face in the Professor’s chest. Given the position of our seats, that’s where I ended up when I leaned over.

The Professor embraced my shoulders. With my eyes tightly shut and ears covered, I could only feel the Professor’s touch.

I learned for the first time that I can’t handle scary things.