I Became the Academy’s Female Delinquent Chapter 23. Casting Shadows (2)

Elsie, horrified by Thrud’s sudden change in demeanor, shook her and tried to stop her.

It was because of the anxiety that Han Doyun, who had even bothered to bring food, might get punched in the face if she was left alone.

“C, calm down-!”

Elsie, who hadn’t expected such a violent reaction, hurriedly explained to Thrud the details of the incident that had happened with Han Doyun.

“…How could such a situation even happen?!”

“It’s not like it couldn’t! He was out of his mind… Anyway, I took revenge right after, so isn’t that enough?”

Elsie puffed out her chest proudly.

Thrud recalled Doyun, who had been turned into a human weapon and swung around like a stick by Elsie.

‘Was that revenge? Elsie…’

It was certainly a one-sided spectacle, to the point where it seemed like she was just swinging around a Han Doyun-shaped stick.

“You idiot. I was angry because of Doyun’s perverted behavior-! That’s true, but… it’s also because of you, Elsie!”

“M, me?”

“Even if your common sense is shattered! You’re so oblivious! You get embarrassed so easily, but you’re also so clumsy!”

“Um, uh… I, I have nothing to say… I do think I still lack awareness…”

Elsie herself seemed to be feeling something, as she hesitated and rolled her eyes around.

Thrud sighed and decided to take this opportunity to address it properly.

“The elegant behavior you sometimes show is acceptable. However-”

The habits Elsie herself acted on without awareness.

Covering her mouth and yawning gracefully, gathering her legs neatly when sitting, walking demurely with soft steps.

Besides that, various unconscious actions such as her eating habits and sleeping habits were unfamiliar even to Elsie.

‘I think it’s the influence of the possession…’

As Thrud said, it was only a glimpse of those behaviors.

In other words, she was mostly scolded for actions that contradicted those behaviors.

“What I want to say is that you need to be more wary of guys like Doyun. You innocent thing. Guys are so sly! Especially Han Doyun, that guy-!”

“O, okay…”

Elsie was well aware of men in their prime, who would let their imaginations run wild with just a touch or a glance.

‘It would be weird if I didn’t know- but I don’t think I’ve done anything wrong enough to deserve this scolding…? Or have I…?’

Even after thinking it over, nothing else came to mind.

This was clearly Thrud’s unnecessary worry.

Elsie was honestly a person who was well aware that she wasn’t good at communication.

Unless it was a special situation where she was consumed by battle, how could she not know when she was so shy in front of people?

Thanks to that, even after 5 days, the only people she had properly talked to and interacted with were the Valkyries in her class and Han Doyun.

If you exclude the Valkyries, whose faces she was familiar with because she had seen them so much in the game, Han Doyun was practically the only one.

“Okay, I’ll be careful…”

“You’re too oblivious. If men approach you, blow them away, and if they touch your body, beat them up!”

“E, even if they just approach?”

‘And whether I blow them away or beat them up, isn’t it the same thing in the end?’

Elsie started to give Thrud a lukewarm look.

The person who had touched her body the most was none other than her.

At this point, making such a criticism, she began to think that the lecture was meaningless.

Moreover, her nature, which was particularly vulnerable to physical contact with the opposite sex, was still intact.

For Elsie, Thrud was, in a way, a more dangerous existence than Han Doyun.

While they were chattering away without even thinking about organizing the things they had bought, time was steadily passing.

Elsie, suddenly realizing this, understood that this wasn’t the time to be focusing solely on chatting.

“We were going to make dinner, weren’t we? Shouldn’t we… organize this?”

Elsie said, looking back at the luggage piled high on the Shield of Nullification.

Mountains of ingredients.

Thinking about it calmly, she began to feel overwhelmed by how long it would take to consume all those ingredients in cooking.

“Oh no, I should have prepared the ingredients-!”

Thrud snatched up the shield and ran to the kitchen.

“I think it’s late…”

Elsie, looking at the setting sun beyond the cracked window, shook her head and followed Thrud.

***

Doyun, arriving at Elsie’s house with a pot of warm stew, was a little nervous.

The spicy aroma seeping through the pot lid tickled his nose.

“It’s close after all.”

Elsie’s house, although clearly on the outskirts of the city, was relatively close to the academy.

Just a little outside the forest, it was also close to the residential area where Doyun’s house was located.

It was a good location in terms of having meals together.

“It would be even better if it wasn’t so remote.”

It’s not that he didn’t know about Elsie’s excellent combat skills.

But now that he knew a little more about her, he was a little worried.

On the surface, it looked like an abandoned house.

The window with the warm light shining through was cracked.

“She said there’s no lock on the front door either…”

He hoped she would get one soon.

The city of Glitnir was relatively safe in terms of public order.

However, there were often cases of troublemakers or mercenaries from outside causing problems, so it was necessary to be careful.

Even if Elsie had excellent combat skills, as a human being, there were bound to be moments when she was defenseless. For example-

‘When she’s showering, or when she’s sleeping…’

“Ahem…! Cough!”

Doyun, clearing his throat at the naturally unfolding image, quickly approached Elsie’s house.

The stew pot rattled, and the spicy aroma wafted out.

***

“Wh, what are we going to do?”

“Let’s prepare something simple since we don’t know what Doyun will bring. I was going to make you a proper dinner…”

“Anything is better than preserved food for me, so it’s fine.”

“…….”

Thrud looked down at Elsie with a pitiful look.

Embarrassed, Elsie brushed her hair behind her ear and turned away, pretending not to notice.

Then, rummaging through the unorganized ingredients, she picked up a package of pancake batter and a jar of lingonberry jam and handed them to Thrud.

“Here, something simple to make.”

Elsie handed over the ingredients a little shyly.

Thrud, who was cutting bacon, widened her eyes at the sight.

It was a face that could be described as a parent happily receiving something brought by a baby who had just taken its first steps.

“Why are you so happy… It’s creepy.”

“Anyone would make the same face as me if they saw someone like you, who neglects eating, bringing ingredients to ask for pancakes.”

“I just brought it because I saw a simple recipe, okay?”

“Pfft! Cute.”

Elsie, who was huffing at being called cute, was about to argue when a knock was heard.

Knock knock.

There was only one person who was scheduled to visit this remote and shabby house.

“Han Doyun?”

“I brought the dish I prepared for dinner.”

Elsie, who had approached the front door to open it, hesitated as a very familiar smell began to waft in.

‘This spicy scent that makes my mouth water is…’

It was a smell that was excessively familiar for the food here, and a little bit nostalgic.

Unable to believe it, Elsie grabbed the doorknob with trembling hands.

Then, Han Doyun appeared with an awkward smile.

Elsie’s gaze was fixed on the pot that Han Doyun was holding, as if possessed.

The stimulating smell of food wafted even stronger as she opened the door.

Doyun opened his mouth at the sight of Elsie, who was swallowing hard and frozen like a stone in front of the entrance.

“It’s a dish passed down from my ancestors.”

“R, really? Ancestors… C, come in. Quickly-”

Elsie, trembling at the memory-stimulating smell, stepped back.

Thud!

“Ouch!”

Elsie tripped over the threshold and fell.

But her gaze was still fixed on the pot that Doyun had brought.

“Are you okay?!”

“Oh dear…”

Doyun took a worried step closer to Elsie, who was sitting on her butt in a daze.

Doyun’s shadow, holding the pot, loomed over Elsie’s face, which was filled with mixed emotions as the spicy smell spread.

“What… is that…”

Elsie, her pronunciation slurred with saliva, asked as if possessed.

Thrud, who had rushed over as soon as Elsie fell, also sniffed as she helped her up.

“This smell that seems incredibly spicy-”

Thrud, guessing something, sparkled her eyes.

It was also a predictable dish since Han Doyun was a member of an otherworldy race.

Doyun, nodding at Thrud’s hunch, opened his mouth.

“I don’t know if it will suit your taste… This is the representative traditional dish of the otherworldy race-”

“Spicy seasoned vegetable stew!!”

“It’s Kimchi Stew!!”

Thrud and Elsie shouted at the same time before Doyun could finish his sentence.

“Oh… yeah, both. Usually, it’s known as spicy seasoned vegetable stew, but how do you know that name?”

Kimchi Stew was the name of a traditional method that almost no one knew unless they were a member of the otherworldy race.

Doyun looked at Elsie with wonder.

“Ugh-”

Elsie, covering her mouth, swallowed hard with a troubled expression and avoided his gaze.

Doyun, shrugging his shoulders, went to the table, put down the pot, and opened the lid.

The red vegetable stew revealed itself along with the rising steam.

As Elsie expected, a perfect-

“Real kimchi stew…”

Elsie felt a dizzying sensation as she experienced a visual shock she never thought she would see in this world.

“I didn’t make it as spicy as the Otherworlders eat it. You guys should be able to handle it.”

The tastes of the Otherworlders and the races of the Nine Worlds had proven difficult to reconcile over the past few hundred years.

This was Doyun’s consideration of that point.

“And this tastes best with rice.”

Saying that, Doyun unpacked the small bag he had been carrying on his back and took out a small container.

It was a portable rice cooker.

Elsie was about to lose it.

“Oooooh—”

She could only exclaim in admiration.

Food from her homeland that she never expected, that she thought she could no longer have.

For Elsie, who had been subsisting on meager meals, it was an irresistible temptation.

Han Doyun had such a bright halo behind him that it was blinding.

‘Kimchi stew for dinner in a world filled with games and mythology… Otherworlders are the best!’

Doyun could only smile awkwardly at Elsie, whose eyes were sparkling as she swallowed her saliva.

The piping hot, spicy vegetable stew… kimchi stew took center stage on the table, steaming.

Around it were pancakes with lingonberry jam made by Thrud, *köttbullar*, finely minced and shaped meatballs, and reindeer steak.

Finally, a bowl of warm rice was placed at each person’s seat.

It was an absurd combination of foods, but it was a minor issue for Elsie.

‘I feel like my wish has already come true.’

For Elsie, who had been living in poverty, this dinner was nothing short of a feast.

Just smelling it made her feel like she was back home.

But there was one thing she hadn’t expected…

Elsie ladled some kimchi stew into her bowl, humming a tuneless melody, and happily picked up her spoon.

Clink—

The spicy-looking red broth traveled along the spoon and into Elsie’s mouth.

Doyun and Thrud watched with tense expressions.

Elsie felt the flavor of the kimchi stew swirling across her tongue and throughout her mouth.

And…

“It’s spicyyyy-!!!”

Contrary to her expectations, Elsie’s body could not handle the spiciness of her homeland.

Elsie’s screams flowed out of the house.

Gentle laughter.

A moment of peace was carried on the wind and spread into the forest.

Cold eyes watched it from afar.

Beyond the cozy light of the house fading into the darkness, eyes gleaming ominously in the bushes began to move.

“Hrókr.”

At the voice calling him, the man adjusted his black mask and turned his head.

One of his subordinates, dressed in the same attire, was holding out a signaling device.

The jewel on the signaling device was emitting a faint red light.

“The order to eliminate her has been given. Prepare yourselves.”

Hrókr felt the blood rushing through his body and licked his lips.

The current head of the Adorencia family, whom he served,

The family’s greatest stain in her eyes.

Elsie Adorencia.

Incompetent but naturally beautiful, she was rumored among gossips to be growing into the most beautiful woman in Asgard.

“This will be fun for the first time in a while.”

His expressionless face twisted into a dirty grin at the thought of toying with a beauty comparable to the goddess Freyja.