episode_0031

1.

A disturbing inference suddenly occurred to Srenya.

“…… Have you ever been to the Rukia River?

I feel like my mouth is drying up.

Has the weight of a single word ever felt this heavy?

I waited for Taina’s mouth to open, and finally Taina responded.

“No?”

“…Huh?”

I was rather taken aback by Taina’s attitude of denying it so meekly.

“Rukia River? Where is that?”

Taina probably didn’t even know that the academy’s river was named Rukia in the first place.

But it looks so, so similar to the person I saw at the Rukia River.

They are so similar that it’s almost creepy.

Taina and the person who faced me with blood running down the corners of their mouths and no expression on their faces.

“Rukia, Rukia, Rukia… Ah! The name of the river next to the academy is Rukia River!”

Taina was probably upset that she didn’t know something while I was lost in thought, so she thought hard and eventually figured out the identity.

I looked at Taina, wondering if…

Because I thought I might have stopped by the Rukia River without knowing it.

But Taina proudly lifted up a piece of trout and said:

“Because this trout was caught in the Rukia River. And this Leple Pasta is made by catching trout directly. The river next to the Academy is the Rukia River, right?”

He looks proud, like a detective who has solved a mystery.

“The menu said that the origin of the trout pasta was the Lucia River. And I figured it out because they used live trout in the dish. The menu itself was unique in that it was a signature dish.”

Even after entering the restaurant, he didn’t rest his ears or eyes and was constantly collecting information.

Taina enjoyed Ignis’s longing gaze with a satisfied expression on her face.

“Hmm~”

He put the trout pasta in his mouth and let out a satisfied snort.

‘Then what was that person?’

A look that clearly resembles Taina, but a completely different atmosphere, and a stream of blood flowing from the corners of her mouth.

It seems like the whole story is becoming more and more mysterious.

Another reason why I’m nervous is that Professor Casselina took my words quite seriously.

Taina continued speaking, her expression slightly hardened as if she had noticed my gaze.

Ignis put the fork with the pasta in it into his mouth.

“Male.”

“Anyway, I’ve never been to the Rukia River. I was thinking of going later, but I have a test next week and I’m just studying. Do you want to go to the river with me?”

“…Okay. Let’s go on an outing together.”

But it still leaves a strong feeling of unease.

It would be foolish to spend such a happy day worrying.

Rather than worrying about a problem that seems impossible to solve, it is wiser to take a moment to divert your thoughts elsewhere.

“…”

As I was leaving my seat after finishing my meal, a thought occurred to me that I didn’t even want to think about.

should.

If Taina had deceived me.

If you pretended not to have ever entered the Rukia River.

‘Rukia River? Where is it?’

If it’s a lie that Taina has never entered the Rukia River, that would break the premise of my reasoning.

That’s not possible.

Anyway, I put my disturbing thoughts aside and left the Le Fleur Pasta.

…

Outside, it was still a sunny afternoon.

Good food, good connections, and good atmosphere.

It’s perfect for a weekend afternoon.

The tickling wind washes away my thoughts and I find myself smiling without realizing it.

I opened my mouth quietly, not wanting this feeling to end when I returned to the academy.

“Hey guys, would you like to have some tea at the cafe?”

I am reminded of the free and peaceful atmosphere of the cafes I saw in the central square.

How about spending an ordinary afternoon in a cafe like that?

Don’t let today’s lunch appointment end up as a show of respect,

I want to chat with sweet desserts like any other academy girl.

Such a desire arose in Srenya.

But I guess everyone has that kind of desire for human relationships.

“There’s a cafe I know well!!!”

Because Yuni raised her hand with a slightly surprised expression as she spoke.

‘…right.’

There was a uni too, right?

2.

“There’s a cafe I know well!”

oh.

A loner.

I can’t help but open my mouth when something I know comes up…

In an instant, Ignis’s golden eyes, Srenia’s blue spirit eyes, and Taina’s large crimson pupils turned towards me.

Yuni’s body froze in the unprecedented situation of being surrounded by three people’s gazes.

“Ah….. That….. In the central square, there’s a cafe called Shizuto Wi-Fi…. and I heard that there’s a famous dessert artisan there….. He’s said to be one of the best in the empire…. So, I thought it would be nice to go together…”

Yuni, whose expression was clearly tense, continued speaking.

No, it would be more correct to say that everyone was dumbfounded and couldn’t stop.

Because of that, Yuni froze in the classroom with her hand raised like a loner who had something to say.

“…”

The three people except for Uni were a little surprised by the sudden rash and didn’t say anything.

In that hellish moment of silence, Yuni’s eyes filled with tears.

In a dangerous situation where it seemed like something would explode at any moment, the first person to speak was,

“Really? Then should we go to Shizuto Wi-Fi? It seems close to here, and it would be good to go after eating.”

It was Taina.

He gently pulls down the hand that was reaching up and trembling pitifully and corrects his posture.

Without letting go of his hand, he pulls Uni, who is on the verge of tears, and goes ahead.

Taina looked straight ahead, while Ignis and Srenia stayed behind so they couldn’t see Uni’s face.

‘T, eeeing… Thank you Taina…’

I was able to overcome my shame by feeling a renewed sense of consideration.

It was Yuni who headed to the cafe, led by Taina’s hand.

…

Originally, Srenya and Taina were somewhat difficult friends for me.

Except for Ignis.

Srenya had a noble and cold air unique to elves, so she felt psychologically oppressed.

As if I were thinking of a natural hierarchical relationship in my mind.

Whenever I took on the position of the lesser, Srenya always followed me and was considerate of me by lowering herself.

The person who had it harder than Srenya was Taina.

First impression… A fierce-looking bully girl?

Talking to someone out of the blue and then turning away as soon as your business is done is enough to leave a bad first impression.

It was as if the images of bad guys who I called friends overlapped according to my needs.

But those preconceptions were washed away.

Because Taina is a lady who knows how to be considerate and considerate like this!

“Mmm~ This is delicious! What’s the name of this?”

“Ah, it’s a dessert called eclair. It’s the dessert that the artisan here is most confident in!”

When questions about dessert come flying in with Taina’s happy smile, I get so excited that I can’t hold back my words.

The origin of the dessert, how famous is this cafe called Shizuto Wi-Fi, how is this dessert made, what are its features, etc.

When I bring this conversation up, my friends, including Tai Na, listen to my conversation.

When I was young, when I was sick.

For me, who couldn’t go out of the house, it wasn’t enough to enjoy conversations with peers, running around, and various delicious foods…

dessert.

Desserts that had little difference in taste between inside and outside the home were a comfort to me during my difficult fight against illness.

I’ve naturally visited dessert shops all over the empire, so I could probably write a dessert travelogue just with the information I have in my head.

If 60% of my brain is about sex, then 30% is about dessert!

“Really? I think this is the first time I’ve heard of such a story…?”

“Wow, wow. Yummy! ”

“Oh, calm down, Ignis. It definitely tastes better when you eat it knowing the inside story.”

But it’s something I’ve always dreamed of.

Having afternoon tea time with my peers and enjoying a fancy dessert.

No matter how sweet the dessert was, I wanted to have a pleasant conversation where the sweet dessert only played a supporting role rather than savoring it miserably on the bed.

“That’s right! In addition, the special feature of Shizuto Wipi isㅡ”

It goes beyond just being fun, it’s exciting.

The maids at home reluctantly showed up to my conversation, but they looked somewhat tired.

Because it was a pitiful sight, accepting the whining of a poor noble girl who reluctantly agreed to hang out with him.

I had the illusion that giving dessert as a gift and telling stories about it would be fun.

‘Ah, I’m giving this to Julie…! Forget it…’

Unfortunately, I never thought about the idea that my favors might not be needed by anyone when I was young.

‘Oh, this is annoying… How many hours have I been doing this?’

‘It seems like a record-breaking move. Hey, but isn’t it a bit insincere to just reply with the same words?’

‘I’m not curious. I just feel dirty because it feels like I’m dropping it off to the guard dog of the house.’

Because the words that one of the maids, who usually had a bad mouth, blurted out without being careful with her words are still engraved in my head.

-Thud…

The shock I felt at that time was so great that I even stayed away from the desserts I liked so much for a while.

But, but now is the afternoon tea time I’ve been longing for.

An ordinary, everyday life where we all share trivial stories and laugh at silly jokes.

Finally, the long-awaited happiness

“”……””

silence.

As I finish speaking, I finally feel the cold silence.

And in an instant, my heart freezes.

My frozen heart is about to split open with a thud.

I can’t raise my eyes, and I struggle to endure the crawling sensation of my clasped hands wriggling.

‘I made a mistake, I messed up again, once was enough for me to do it……”

I feel cold sweat dripping down and the tip of my nose feels tingly.

The trauma of the maids leaving the room, grumbling, and reacting in annoyance eats away at my brain.

I thought the nail-like wound I received back then had finally healed, but it feels like it’s starting to grow again.

“Mi, Mi……”

When I feel like I’ve ruined this delightful tea time and am overcome with the urge to apologize.

Srenya said.

“Teacher Ka Selina……?”

…huh?

The kids are looking back at me with their mouths open.

In an instant, my negative thoughts paused and I turned around to look behind me.

Behind me,

“……big.”

There was Ms. Casselina, who seemed embarrassed and coughed in vain.

But there was another person, or rather an elf, by Ms. Casselina’s side.

Unlike Professor Casselina, who is dressed like a scholar with a chignon style, this elf wears her hair in a long ponytail and a hood, as if to show off her free-spirited nature.

The elf was wearing an apron with the name Shizuto Wipi on it and was ‘personally’ feeding eclairs to Ms. Casselina.

“Oh my~ Students? Are you familiar with Casselina?”

“She’s our homeroom teacher. But who is…”

“Huh? You’re the homeroom teacher? What do you think someone who’s never been a homeroom teacher before would want to do~?”

As if it wasn’t the first or second time she had done this, she crumpled up the finger-shaped eclair and put it directly in front of her homeroom teacher.

…the homeroom teacher put it in his mouth as if he were a baby bird eating it.

However, éclair is a dessert characterized by a thin choux pastry filled with sweet cream.

That is, it crumbles easily, but is filled with thick cream inside.

When you force such a dessert into your mouth, it’s natural that the cream will leak out.

“Ugh, Chelloa, wait a minute. Do you really need to feed me now…”

When that cream spurted out around the sides of my lips.

“It’s not okay to walk around with cream all over your face~”

A person who is obviously 10% at fault says shameless lines, then runs his ring finger over his lips covered in cream and sucks it with his lips.

At such an absurd sight, Ms. Casselina blushed as if completely speechless and glared at the cafe owner.

‘This, the image collapse is happening…!’

A homeroom teacher who notices the students’ gazes and glares at her friends with resentment!?

Before I could get mad at that cute sight, Taina struck again.

“Teacher~ Would you like to have a cup of tea with us~?”

…in an even more sly tone.

A tone of speech that seems more teasing than friendly to anyone who sees it.

He is practicing nonverbal expressions with an artificial tone of voice, mixing in a sarcastic yet coquettish nasal sound.

The owner of the cafe seemed to have noticed the atmosphere and agreed.

“Yeah! You go out with students like this in the afternoon, right? Kaselina. Don’t just stay in your room and study! ”

But still, Ms. Casselina.

But he sat there with his eyes wide open and rebelled.

“Chelloa, I’ll definitely remember this… And you guys, the written exam is on Monday, what are you doing here…”

“Teacher~?”

was stopped by Taina.

Really, really viciously.

First, Taina picked up one of the eclairs we were eating and shoved it towards Ignes.

“Wow!!!”

Then, like a carp with bait in front of its eyes, Ignis opened its mouth and lunged at him, and at the same time, pulled out the eclair slightly and pulled out Ignis’s head.

Because of this, Ignis’ smaller mouth failed to swallow the eclair in one bite.

Taina deliberately put an eclair in the gap, but the cream spilled out because it was already blocked by her teeth.

“Wow, woof!!!”

The cream dripped down and landed on Ignis’s chin and cheeks.

He then lifted Ignis’ chin with his hand, and their lips almost touched.

I swept the cream with my fingers and sucked it up with my lips.

-side

It sounded like a bird kissing.

“Heh, heh heh heh…….”

Ignis, who was sacrificed to recreate the situation, was shot down.

“……I understand. Please stop…..”

In a chain reaction, Ms. Casselina was also shot down to the chair next to us.

“Yuni, I think it would be good if you told your teacher about your dessert story.”

In front of the dazed Ignes and the shameless, blushing teacher Casselina with her pointed ears…?

“Your story was great as a side dish to dessert.”

“Really…?”

“Yeah. Everyone was listening with interest.”

I thought about it as we shared a sweet afternoon conversation.

Covering up my shortcomings, highlighting my strengths, and capturing Ms. Casselina’s emotions in real time…

I absolutely cannot stand being beaten by Tyna and Chuck.