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In the student cafeteria at Arsene Academy…
……inside an exclusive dining room, notorious for its exorbitant prices. Six figures huddled together: Ulan, Noah, Ibella, Dilia, Ian, and Laurea.
As they observed their surroundings, Ulan wore a face filled with newfound emotions. It was only natural. Except for Noah, the four other individuals were comrades who had fought alongside him in a past life. 'Of course, things are different now.'
Only Ulan rembered their shared past and the decade-long bond they forged. Even so, he couldn't help but feel a surge of pure joy at being reunited with them.
'I wish Perticia and Sven were here too.'
But that would be too greedy. eting Ian and Laurea was already a miracle in itself. Lost in mories, as others in the group were engrossed in perusing the nu.
"Dilia, what's good here?"
"This."
—as soon as Laurea's question was finished, Dilia promptly pointed to a particular item on the nu – a golden, thick stew. Observing it closely, Laurea cocked her head, "Huh? What is this, pumpkin porridge?"
"Honey, spider stew," Dilia replied matter-of-factly.
"......."
Laurea's expression froze at the answer. After a mont, she seed to recall a forgotten mory and nodded.
"Ah, yes, that's right, I rember now. You used to like dishes with bugs in them, didn't you?"
"Quite, they're delicious."
"Ugh, I'm good, no thanks."
Shaking her head in disgust, Laurea turned to the others for recomndations, hoping to avoid any more insect-based cuisine.
"Can anyone recomnd anything else? Sothing without bugs, please."
However, there was no imdiate response.
Ibella averted her gaze, seemingly avoiding the conversation, and Noah hesitated while attempting to suggest sothing. Perhaps she was about to recomnd a dish with larvae, which she enjoyed last ti.
An awkward silence followed.
Just as Laurea was about to speak again, Ulan unfolded the nu, "In that case, I recomnd this."
"This is......."
"It's a stew of at and red onions simred in a broth made from pork spines."
Just the description was enough to tell that it was a normal dish, unlike the spider stew Dilia had suggested. As Laurea's complexion brightened, Ulan added, "It's filled with plenty of radishes and green onions, making it excellent for both hangovers and relieving fatigue."
Hangovers and relieving fatigue. At the consecutive words, she montarily displayed a surprised expression, as if she had accidentally revealed a long-hidden secret.
"You had about five bottles last night, didn't you?"
".....No, I didn't."
Quickly regaining her composure, Laurea retorted with a chubby face. When Ian, in a hushed tone, murmured, "More like six bottles... Ugh!" But Ian didn't finish his sentence.
Before he could finish the sentence, Laurea, predicting that unnecessary details would follow, jabbed her elbow into his side.
While Ian groaned in pain, she responded with a smirk, "I don't drink alcohol, but since you recomnded it, I'll go with that, even though I never drink alcohol!"
She repeated her answer for emphasis.
Soon, the group's orders were brought to the table and among them was the spine stew that Ulan had recomnded; it was definitely better than spider stew.
The aroma was enticing too; the only problem was that it looked a little strange.
"......."
A stew with whole pork spine bones.
Laurea hesitated for a mont, wondering if she should eat it or not. It looked like sothing that would be eaten by savages of the grasslands.
Did he sense her indecision?
Ulan spoke again, "Eat it. It's delicious."
After saying that, he began to eat silently.
It was the sa spine stew as Laurea's, although it was considerably larger.
Laurea, on the other hand, had a nervous expression on her face. It was understandable. She had never eaten anything like this before in her life.
But her hesitation didn't last long.
"Hmph! Hmph!”
After blowing on it to cool it down, she carefully took a sip of the broth.
A short while later.
"......!"
Her yellow eyes widened in surprise; the flavor was much more savory than she'd expected.
It was not only savory, but also had a light and oily taste that soothed her stomach, which was sour from drinking too much the night before.
Perhaps it was because it was so delicious, but she couldn't help but let out a sigh of admiration, "Heheugh!!"
However, the sound that ca out of her mouth was not the clear voice that she had been using until now, but a rough and hoarse voice that was clearly hungover.
"......ah."
The mont she realized this, it was already too late; the eyes of everyone in the group, except Ian, had turned to Laurea. Embarrassed, she coughed loudly and tried to cover up the situation.
"Ahem! Cough! I'm sorry. My throat is not feeling well, maybe because it's morning..."
"It's okay. Drinking is not a sin."
"But I didn't!"
Laurea refused to budge despite the obvious evidence. Perhaps there was sothing going on, so they didn't pursue it any further.
And so the al resud.
Unlike Laurea, who seed to enjoy the spine stew and couldn't put her spoon down, Noah, who was sitting across from her, had a bad expression on her face.
‘I think I'm going to .......throw up’
The reason was simple.
It was because Ibella and Dilia, who were sitting on either side of Ulan, had been constantly on edge since earlier.
Ibella was especially bad; she was even wary of Laurea.
'I understand how she feels, though.'
Noah rembered what Laurea had done in the classroom earlier. She sat close to Ulan, whispered in his ear, and so on.
Perhaps each of these behaviors had piqued Ibella's jealousy.
'But even so…'
She wished Ibella would at least restrain herself during als.
If she kept this up, Noah felt like she would throw up.
But then, at that mont.
An even more painful situation arose.
It was when Ibella and Laurea's eyes t in the air.
"......!"
A tense situation that only Noah could feel.
At that mont, when the tension was at its peak, Laurea spoke first, "You don't have to be so wary of ."
"What? What are you talking about all of a sudden…?"
"Because I'm not interested in him."
She smiled and said it in a whisper; a word that cut to the chase.
Perhaps she had used her Eyes of Penetration to see through Ibella's heart.
Imdiately after Laurea's answer, Ibella narrowed her eyes, "…Lies."
"I'm serious. I prefer older n, middle-aged n in particular, to peers or younger n."
Despite the clarification, Ibella still looked disbelieving. Perhaps she thought Laurea’s answer was ridiculous.
However, regardless of Ibella's reaction, Laurea's words were true.
Because her ideal type was also closely related to the penalty she held.
'Middle-aged preference.'
Saintess Laurea's penalty.
It was literally the penalty for having a crush on middle-aged n of the opposite sex. Of course, if you only hear this far, you might wonder what kind of penalty this is.
'But there's a real issue.'
The problem is that when she's around middle-aged n of her taste, her concentration, judgnt, and self-control all plumt at the sa ti.
‘The only fortunate thing is…’
The penalty itself disappears once Laurea reaches middle age. So in the original work, it was a penalty that barely appeared.
Because by the ti the Gates of the Abyss opened and the Rulers began to fight in earnest, Laurea was already past her pri.
‘It is still a nominal penalty, though.’
Laurea would soon beco a saintess.
Before she steps down from her position as a saintess, she will be forced to remain chaste. In other words, she is not allowed to marry, let alone have a relationship.
There's an unspoken understanding that she won't have any romantic entanglents.
'Probably, Ian is similar...'
She knew he had a similar penalty.
It was sothing related to sexuality, but she couldn't rember exactly what it was. Noah had never played as Ian Marcus.
'But he definitely didn't like n.'
Among the nurous events in the original work, there was an event where Ian developed feelings for and confessed to Dilia. Of course, there was a considerable age difference. In any case, based on this, it seems he wasn't interested in n or had a homosexual inclination.
'Then what could it be?'
Noah's thoughts, which had been filled with doubts and a puzzled expression, were interrupted by Laurea's voice.
"No, it's real?!"
It was a continuation of their earlier conversation.
Laurea, as if frustrated, tapped her chest while speaking, "If you don't believe , I'll swear on the na of the Star God, okay?"
The future saintess had ntioned God. And she was even swearing on God's na?
End of Chapter. . . . . . . .Thanks for Reading. . . . . . . . .
Translator's Notes:-
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