“!!”
At dawn, Yunia woke up from her sleep.
“I-I… Ahh…!”
She pulled the blanket over her head, tugged at it furiously, and stomped on the bed with her feet.
“!!@#$@#$@#%#^#”
She let out a soundless scream and buried her face into the pillow.
If anyone saw her, they might have thought she was feverish.
And rightly so, for the dream she had was enough to make her face turn red with embarrassment.
“Crazy, crazy, crazy…!”
To summarize the dream in three lines:
Graduated.
Pounced.
Did it 17 times.
“…”
With a blank expression, Yunia lowered her pillow.
Her hand slipped under the blanket, moving downward.
“That…”
It was something she had never done before. Perhaps it was because of the atmosphere at the Academy.
After all, there was a widespread notion that Esdinas Academy was the kind of place where it was ‘normal to leave with a guy after graduation’.
In the dream, Yunia—now 20 years old, having graduated from the Academy and become a true adult—pounced on someone.
Even though it was her dream, Yunia could only refer to the person in the dream as if they were someone else.
“That… was me?”
If that was supposed to be her, then how should she even explain it?
It wasn’t something that could just be brushed off as extreme.
If the dream version of herself was supposed to be a glimpse of her future—
“…”
Yunia took a moment to think as she lowered the pillow.
“Is there really any reason to be… embarrassed?”
No matter how much she thought about it, there wasn’t any reason.
A dream is just a dream. Even if it was showing a possible future, the person in the dream would depend on how Yunia grows over the next three years.
And even if the dream showed her as something akin to a succubus—so intense that even mythical figures like the fox spirit [Nine-Tailed Fox] who first spread Mana Drain or the [Succubus Queen] would cower in comparison—
“…It’s just with one person, so what?”
If that person was supposed to be her ‘partner for life’, then there was no problem.
In fact, it could be considered an admirable thing.
After all, dedicating herself to just one person, from beginning to end, had deep meaning in many ways.
However.
“…Phoenix.”
The fact that the person in question was her fellow student living in the same building was the biggest source of her embarrassment.
She wasn’t embarrassed because her dream-self was worse than a succubus.
What embarrassed her repeatedly was that the person she pounced on just happened to be him.
And.
“…”
Yunia bit her lower lip and held her breath.
“…!!”
For a brief moment, her body shivered, and her ears turned red.
“… [Silence].”
Yunia cast a wide-area silence spell over her room.
After that, no sound could be heard from within her room.
* * *
Saturday morning.
The first weekend after the semester began.
Thankfully, the Academy provided breakfast even on weekends, so as soon as I woke up, I went straight down to the dining hall to eat.
I…
“…”
No one was there.
Only five people stayed in the Old School Building.
Yunia, Ludmila, Evangeline, Esta, and Kadisha.
I thought at least one of them would come down to join me for breakfast and chat, but for some reason, none of the five showed up, even though it was already morning.
‘That’s strange.’
Did I come down at the wrong time?
But the food laid out before me was proof that the Academy had prepared meals specifically for the Old School Building’s students.
“Hmm…”
Were they all sleeping in?
If that was the case, I could understand it for Yunia, but the others—
Jingle Jingle.
The bell hanging on the door rang.
“Yaaawn.”
Soon after, Instructor Kadisha entered, her green hair messy, wearing a white robe haphazardly over her shoulders, and dragging her feet in pink bunny slippers.
“Good morning~”
“Did you just wake up, or are you here for a late-night snack?”
“If you think about it in terms of meals, it’s more of a midnight snack~”
With half-closed eyes, Instructor Kadisha grabbed a familiar plate and began piling it high with desserts.
I’d heard that brainy types tend to consume a lot of sugar, but I couldn’t help but wonder if she was overdoing it.
The amount of sweets she heaped on her plate seemed enough to give someone diabetes.
“You’re going to gain weight if you keep that up.”
“I don’t gain weight~”
“If you keep saying things like that—”
“I can just burn the calories with mana, no problem. Yaaawn.”
Kadisha sat across from me, with a mountain of desserts much larger than my breakfast.
“In the first place, what’s a meal…Ah.”
Suddenly, she widened her eyes and covered her mouth.
“…”
“I’ll keep it a secret.”
“Do you even know what I’m talking about? Ah, haha, I was just joking, you’re taking it way too seriously~”
“I use it too, after all.”
“!!”
Kadisha almost jumped out of her seat, startled, and I quietly gestured around us.
“Luckily, it seems no one else is listening right now, so why not speak comfortably?”
“…How did you find out?”
“I just formulated a theory and put it into practice.”
I raised my index and middle fingers, mimicking a pinching motion.
“If you burn the solid matter in your stomach with mana and slowly release the smoke outside, isn’t that all there is to it?”
“…Well, it helps if you use wind magic to blow it away instead of just releasing it. But if you don’t absorb any nutrients at all, your health will deteriorate, so make sure to take in the essentials.”
“Aren’t I doing that already?”
I pointed to my healthy-looking breakfast tray.
“…True enough. Ugh, I never thought someone else would figure this out.”
“Did you let it slip on purpose?”
“No way. I was just… really tired.”
Kadisha scooped up a large portion of cake with her fork.
“There’s just so much research to do—between the Angel incident and the stuff about Angelica.”
“Are you getting enough sleep?”
“I’ll sleep after this. I’ll probably fall asleep around noon.”
“Noon?”
“Esta… uh, never mind. If I keep talking, I’ll slip up. Why don’t you say something instead, Phoenix?”
It’s no secret that one adult around here sleeps until noon on weekends.
“What should I talk about? The fact that you eat all that dessert and don’t gain weight because it’s just a natural talent? Or that you trick people into thinking that, when you’re really using mana to break it down and release it?”
“At least you didn’t say I ‘vomit’ it out. Yeah, you’re right. It’s not really a topic you talk about while eating but…”
Kadisha ran her hand down from her throat to her abdomen.
“If this is a ‘furnace’, then whatever. Talking about this only works against me, so I’m done discussing it.”
Kadisha stabbed her fork into a piece of cake coated in blue jelly and took a big bite.
“You know it’s hard if you spread it out, right? Even if you spread it out, I’ll pretend not to know.”
“You know it’d be a problem if this got out, right? If it does, I’ll just play dumb.”
“I understand. It’s a technique every woman would love to have.”
“Not just women—everyone in the world would want it.”
“If people start consuming three times more, won’t there be a food shortage, and won’t that bring about the Apocalypse?”
“The Apocalypse, huh. Ha, that sounds even worse than Angels killing people left and right—an apocalypse of gluttony.”
I flinched slightly at her words but kept eating in sync with her pace.
“If we don’t finish these desserts, we’ll be the ones in trouble. Even Angels would fall if they tasted Esdinas Academy’s cakes.”
“Hm.”
With it being the weekend, maybe it was time to drop a little bait.
“Is it really that good?”
“What?”
“The food is overall excellent, but saying it’s good enough to corrupt an Angel might be pushing it.”
“Are you questioning the Angels or the food you’re eating right now?”
“If the Angels are going to give up on ending humanity, thinking, ‘We can’t kill those who make such delicious desserts’, then we’ll need to prepare something even more delicious than this.”
“…Student Phoenix?”
Kadisha gave me a serious look as she picked up a large piece of cake.
“First, rinse your mouth with some water, and then try this.”
“Understood, Instructor.”
Following her instructions, I opened my mouth toward the fork she held out.
To an outsider, it might have looked like a casual ‘Ahh~’ moment, but knowing Kadisha’s personality, it was more like a mad scientist collecting research data.
‘Hmm.’
Was she being bolder because there was no one else around?
There was a subtle hint of personal satisfaction in Kadisha’s smile.
After all, she wasn’t the kind of woman who’d ever given a man an ‘Ahh~’ before.
“It’s delicious. I’d give it 4.5 stars.”
I hid my realization and replied calmly.
“Right? The people who prepare the food here are all masters in their craft. Even if you set aside the instructors, do you think students would be satisfied with just ordinary meals?”
“Well, the noble students certainly expect a minimum level of quality, and commoners probably enjoy food they’d only get to eat once a year, every day.”
“Exactly. Or are you saying that because it’s buffet-style, you’re not fully satisfied? That can’t be helped. We have to mass-produce, and the food needs to last at least two hours. Especially with the Old School Building, we have to account for transporting the meals.”
She wasn’t wrong.
The meals for the Old School Building were prepared at the large dormitory kitchen of the Academy and transported over in carts. It was a well-prepared system.
“Student Phoenix, you shouldn’t speak so carelessly, especially considering the effort of those who prepare the meals. I’m letting it slide, but if any of the staff who made this food heard you, they’d be quite hurt.”
Her gentle scolding was also spot-on.
I was at fault for making the comment.
But.
“I understand.”
A mistake is a mistake, but I had brought up the topic on purpose.
“If they prepared a single dish with care, I’m sure it would be incredible. However…”
To highlight my own abilities.
“Compared to the desserts I make? Hmm, I don’t know.”
“…Huh?”
I threw out the bait.
“What? Are you saying that as a master of confectionery and baking, you can make better desserts than the ones prepared here at the Academy?”
“Not just desserts, but food in general. If there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s handling fire.”
I can grill meat, bake bread, and roast villains with equal skill.
“I’ve already made a list of the supplies I need, but I guess I’ll need to add a few more items.”
“Oh, did you finish that list?”
“I’ll need to add some things. You might be left trembling the moment you take a bite of the dessert I’ll make, Instructor Kadisha.”
“…Heh?”
“I’ll bake enough for everyone at the Old School Building to enjoy, too.”
“Hahaha, for a second, I thought you were asking me out on a date.”
“Does making dessert for you count as asking you out?”
“If it’s truly delicious, then yes. Hahaha.”
“I see.”
In that case.
“I’d better get a proper apron, then.”
Time to show off the skills that made even the Dukes of Hell overeat.
– I’ll have blueberry smoothie.
– This is… mint chocolate? What have I been eating until now…?
– If I eat that cake, I’ll be full for 10 months!
– Oh, for crying out loud. Get out of my house, you crazy b*tches! My slave needs to make my strawberry tart, not deal with you idiots…. Oh my, Oops… How much of that did you hear?
…
“You might cry after eating it, you know?”
The truth is, I had even studied desserts abroad.
Not as Phoenix or Regif, but based on ‘my’ skills alone.
“Don’t tell me what your favorite is… Actually, don’t bother. I’ll make it for you right away.”
Using the knowledge, experience, and in-game data from my life as a ‘player’, I could recreate every dessert recipe imaginable in this world.
“If it weren’t for the Apocalypse, I would’ve opened a bakery near the Academy after graduating.”
