"Heh… heh."
Gut replied dryly to head chef Lecker's question, exchanged a few polite words, then paid and carried away the food.
Carrying bags full of snacks, the senior and junior brothers made their way back to the examination hall.
At the door, Gut put down the food and released a bit of mana to probe the surroundings. As expected, the magical seal on the hall's door had disappeared—Master Serie had likely cald Gumi's emotions.
With that, Gut gently pushed open the wooden doors, which swung open easily to reveal the hall's interior.
Inside, Serie was slouched as usual in the "seat of power" at the center, resting her cheek on one hand, seemingly lost in thought.
But Gut, who often stole glances at her, quickly noticed sothing different—one of her hair ties was missing, making one side of her hair look a little ssier than usual. Suspecting sothing, Gut looked toward Gumi.
Sure enough.
His guess was correct. Gumi's hair, usually worn loose, was now braided—and the missing hair tie was now holding her hair together.
Seeing Gut and Lernen return, Gumi—having recovered—smiled brightly and waved at her senior brothers, completely back to her cheerful, sunny self. Especially upon seeing the haul of food, she even jogged over excitedly.
As she approached, Gut smiled and handed her the takeout boxes, not forgetting to ruffle her head.
Mm...
With her hair now braided, the sensation was definitely different—like touching sothing entirely new.
In addition, Gut caught a familiar scent from Gumi, one he rembered lingering after Serie used the Clean Clothes Magic to remove stains. It seed Gumi had cried so much, even her clothes were soaked in tears.
Looking at this cheerful, food-loving girl grinning ear to ear, Gut fell into a mont of silence.
What kind of tragedy had her hotown faced…
And how long had she kept those painful mories buried deep inside...
"Sigh~"
Gut exchanged a glance with Master Serie above. In the end, all he could do was sigh.
...
Several days later.
At dusk, the church bells rang softly. Lernen opened his eyes from ditation and, after a glance at the sunset, pulled out the barrier terminal from his robe and quietly cut off the magic supply to the examination barrier.
As the blue semi-spherical barrier slowly faded, the Continental Magic Association's first mage exam held in Äußerst officially ca to a close.
Inside the hall—
Serie slouched in her chair, swinging her pale feet, her expression tinged with annoyance.
"So in the end, I only took in this handful of disciples."
"If I'd known, I wouldn't have bothered showing up these last few days."
Below the dais, Gut was holding his thick spell book, though it had been a while since he actually flipped a page—not that he rembered. After all, all his attention was on gazing at the... divine beauty of his teacher.
Originally, he had planned to use this as motivation: "One glance at her divine feet for every page of magic mastered."
But it didn't take long before that balance collapsed. He finished a page in no ti, and yet continued to gaze at Serie's bare feet far longer.
At first, he told himself, "As long as I don't blink, it still counts as one look."
Then two minutes in: "Well, since I've looked already and this chance doesn't co often… may as well enjoy it a bit longer."
Even the system's notification sounds couldn't snap him out of it.
Unfortunately, the bells rang—and Serie left her seat.
And with her... those divine feet were no longer there to admire.
As she descended from her seat, Serie glanced over her disciples one by one. She gave Gut a hard whack on the head with a spell book and said,
"Let's go. Dinner tonight. There are things to discuss."
"Yes!"
The disciples all responded eagerly—none more so than Gumi, whose eyes instantly lit up at the ntion of food.
...
A short while later.
In a private room of a high-end restaurant.
Looking over the nu, Gumi pouted slightly, seemingly in low spirits.
Even her ordering was surprisingly restrained—only a steak for the main course, and a few side dishes and desserts.
Gut, sitting beside her, was puzzled. He nudged her with his elbow and whispered, asking if she felt unwell.
It never crossed his mind that high prices might have been the cause.
First of all, als like this were always paid for by Master Serie.
Unlike Frieren, who didn't understand finances, Serie had a solid grasp of money.
As a legendary archmage who had lived since the mythic era, Serie's wealth probably couldn't be counted even by herself.
And to be honest—
If anyone in the party was financially poor, it would be Gut.
Lernen, though stripped of nobility, was still once a noble from the Imperial Capital—not the type of wealth common folk could imagine.
As for Gumi...
Though she never talked about her background, Gut, as her long-ti food buddy, had figured out a few things.
Her hotown lay on the border between the northern and central nations.
Her family likely had noble blood, albeit of a lower rank—maybe untitled knights or non-inheriting barons.
Unlike Lernen, whose wealth was inherited aristocracy, Gumi's parents were rchants, running a massive trade guild headquartered in their hotown, which they had developed into a prosperous settlent.
Their noble status seed less like a reward and more like recognition for their contribution to regional comrce.
Even if her ho was destroyed in the demon raids—even if the main guild was wiped out—
Such a vast comrcial empire wouldn't have relied solely on one place. They would still have branches across nations and city-states.
That kind of wealth couldn't be underestimated.
Gut didn't know how she'd handled it in the end—but he was certain: Gumi wasn't soone who'd be troubled by money.
So this quiet appetite probably had another reason.
And sure enough, when Gut gently asked what was wrong, Gumi bit her lip and responded softly:
"No, it's not that I feel unwell. Thanks for asking, big brother."
"It's just... kind of a habit of mine."
"Back in the day..."
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