The cafeteria was a war zone.
Clatter. Clink. Buzz.
It was filled with the deafening sound of students chattering about the upcoming Expedition, the scrape of chairs, and tableware colliding like poorly orchestrated percussion. The air slled of cheap stew and nervous sweat.
I took one look at the chaotic ss, my sensitive ears already ringing.
"Nope."
I couldn’t bear the environnt to have a proper al. I grabbed a tray, piled it high with whatever at I could find, and walked out the side door.
I planned to eat alone in the quiet garden behind the cafeteria.
But as I sat down on a stone bench under a large oak tree, a shadow fell over my tray.
Soone insisted on sitting next to .
Thump.
A tray slamd down next to mine.
I looked up.
It was Maya.
But this wasn’t the usual haughty, confident Maya. She looked like a kicked puppy. Her shoulders were slumped, her blonde hair looked a little less shiny than usual, and she was aggressively stabbing a potato with her fork.
"You’re alive," she grumbled, not looking at . "I thought you died in a ditch sowhere."
Ah. The forgotten date.
"Maya," I started, putting on my best apologetic face. "I’m sorry about Friday. Truly."
"Hmph." She turned her head away, crossing her arms. "Roxy told you were ’training.’ Must have been so intense training to make you forget a lady."
"It was," I said smoothly, leaning closer. I lowered my voice. "I was preparing... for us. I didn’t want to disappoint you during the Expedition. I wanted to be strong enough to protect you."
Maya’s ears twitched. She peeked at from the corner of her eye.
"Protect ?" she scoffed, but her cheeks were pink. "I don’t need protection. I’m strong."
"I know," I smiled, reaching out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. "But even strong girls need a break sotis. Let be your shield next ti."
Maya stared at for a second, her brooding expression cracking. Then she sighed, her shoulders relaxing.
"Fine," she mumbled, picking up her fork again. "But you owe . Big ti. Next ti, you’re paying for the deluxe parfait."
"Deal."
Just like that, the storm passed.
Once she was coaxed, Maya did a complete 180. She went from brooding thundercloud to chattering sparrow in seconds.
"Did you see Ariana unable to use magic earlier?" she chirped, stuffing her face with bread. "It was so refreshing! I almost laughed out loud when her crystal just flopped over."
I didn’t respond imdiately. At the mont, my greatest concern was why the at was cooked so poorly. It was tough as shoe leather.
’Need to tell Lily to pack a lunch tomorrow,’ I noted.
"She always boasted about being confident in support magic," Maya continued, oblivious to my culinary critique. "But why did she keep failing in performance? It’s refreshing, so refreshing! Very refreshing!"
She stabbed another piece of at.
"She always looks down on everyone just because she’s a Duke’s daughter or sothing. That haughty bitch. Acts like she owns the school."
Suddenly, Maya twisted her expression into a grotesque parody of elegance.
"’Ariana Flahart~ It’s a deduction...~ Don’t ever think of the Professor’s words as a joke~’"
She muttered in a strange, nasally tone. It took a while to realize that Maya was imitating Cassandra scolding Ariana.
I chuckled. "You have a talent for impressions."
"Thanks," she grinned.
This ti, I decided to test the waters.
"Do you have any idea why Ariana made a mistake?" I asked casually.
Maya shrugged. "Isn’t it just because she couldn’t do it herself? She was whining that it was like a ’god’s curse’ or sothing. Blah blah blah. But where is such a god who cares about her throwing a rock?"
Maya put a handful of at into her mouth as if the food was delicious today.
"..."
’She is a total dumbass,’ I thought fondly. ’Well, at least she knows how to suck dick. A fair trade.’
"Who would have interfered with magic?" Maya mumbled through a mouthful of food. "That’s nonsense. If that had happened, wouldn’t anyone have noticed? There are so many students around. Even the Professor didn’t say anything."
It was fascinating how soone as thin as Maya could eat so much food. Maybe she mastered Space Magic and was storing it in a pocket dinsion in her stomach.
Suddenly, sothing else ca to mind.
"Until the day before the exploration assignnt," I asked, "are all the lectures like this?"
"Like this?"
"I an, are we only learning the use of Scrolls?"
If that was the case, I was considering skipping the lectures entirely to train in the basent.
From the beginning, I wasn’t particularly fond of Scrolls.
As soone whose brain was already filled with the mathematical formulas for thousands of spells from the ga wiki, sothing auxiliary like a scroll was useless to . It would have been useful if it consud no mana, but scrolls still required a "jumpstart" of mana to activate.
For , with my high Calculation Power, casting directly was more efficient.
But for the others? It was a cheat code.
The main characters (like the Hero or Ariana) had vast amounts of mana reserves, unlike . Their only defect was that they usually struggled with complex calculations or rembering obscure spells. Scrolls eliminated that derit. They just poured mana in, and the spell ca out.
’The world is unfair,’ I mused. ’Rich kids get richer.’
I would inevitably have to participate on the day of the assignnt to get the grade, but I didn’t want to attend lectures specifically for practicing scroll usage. It felt like learning how to ride a tricycle when I could already drive a car.
"Ah, no. Of course not," Maya shook her head, swallowing a massive bite.
"The exact announcent will probably be posted in the evening... Oh, right. Alex, you have to be careful. Okay?"
Maya stopped eating and tapped on the shoulder with her fork.
"What for?"
"Ariana is getting all worked up," she warned, her eyes serious. "Isn’t it funny? Starting a fight and getting all worked up alone... but she’s vengeful. She thinks you humiliated her."
I quietly pictured Ariana Flahart in my mind. The image of her with her fire magic and her twin tails.
One-on-one? I could crush her. Even if she brought a group, my telekinesis and new physical stats would overwhelm them before they could finish a chant.
So I listened to Maya’s words but didn’t pay much attention to the threat.
"Let her be worked up," I shrugged. "With magic like mine, she’s not a big issue."
"You’re too confident," Maya sighed. "Professor Cassandra apparently loves to make students compete against each other. It’s said that when she’s in charge of senior students, she even has them engage in real magic duels for extra credit."
"Is it okay if you don’t participate in it?"
"You can’t avoid participating or escaping. Professor Cassandra says that all of that would be reflected in grades. And she fails people who bore her."
Maya leaned in, whispering like it was a secret.
"Still, if you get high grades, there’s definitely a reward. Seniors who received high grades under Professor Cassandra... they’re all soaring now. They get the opportunity to present papers first, conduct research at the Magic Tower, and even get scouted by the Royal Mages."
My ears were starting to hurt. The cafeteria noise was bad enough, but her endless strategic ramblings were giving a headache. I had heard enough explanations at this point.
I chose my words carefully to interrupt Maya’s speech.
"Do you like at?"
"I want to get a high grade and study abroad in a unique region... Huh?"
Maya blinked her eyes rapidly, derailing her train of thought. "What did you say?"
I pointed at the thick, albeit tough, slab of steak on my tray with my fork instead of answering directly.
"Oh, yeah. I like at. Who dislikes it?"
I grinned, a devilish, knowing smile spreading across my face.
"Well then, co with . I think we can both help each other with that craving."
Maya stared at for a second, confused. Then, looking at my eyes—dark and full of intent—her breath hitched. She understood.
She didn’t ask where. She didn’t ask why. She just stood up, leaving her half-eaten lunch behind.
We walked out of the cafeteria and took the side stairs, heading up. Higher. Past the classrooms. Past the faculty offices.
We reached the heavy iron door of the rooftop.
Click.
I opened it, ushered her in, and then—Click-Clack—I locked the deadbolt behind us.
The wind hit us instantly. We were high up, overlooking the entire academy grounds. It was secluded, quiet, and forbidden.
Maya stood there, her back to , looking out at the view. Her ears were bright red. Her hands were fidgeting with the hem of her skirt.
She knew what was coming. And the terrifying truth was... she wanted it.
Since that first day in the classroom, since I broke her on her desk, she hadn’t been the sa. She couldn’t go back to her fingers. The toy she used in her dorm felt like cold plastic compared to the heat of a real man. She was addicted.
I walked up behind her.
"Turning around," I whispered.
Maya spun around. Her face was crimson, her eyes hazy with anticipation.
"You like at, don’t you, Maya?"
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