Chapter 114
Chapter 114: Trouble Comes Again
***
The opening ceremony turned out to be shorter than I'd imagined.
The principal granny's powerful speech had a great effect. Afterwards, the students were all fired up, each one looking spirited and motivated, especially Sarah. I felt like she was almost moved to tears.
I just wonder how long this enthusiasm will last.
Next came the reading of school rules, then the arrangement of courses... Finally, with the "clang— clang—" sounds from the bell tower, everyone prayed to the divine together with Sister Theresa — I don't think this can change anything. Placing hope in deities whose whereabouts are unknown, it's better to choose to believe in yourself.
Of course, I can't say such things out loud, but I also don't understand what exactly to pray for, so in the end I just silently recited in my heart: I hope the academy cafeteria treats me well.
As for those running laps... most of them still hadn't finished even when the ceremony ended. Some girls collapsed midway and were helped by teachers into the small building at the corner of the training grounds, presumably an infirmary or something, not sure what they did there, but they came out quickly and continued running until they completed 20 laps.
Later I saw that fire boy throw up... it was quite embarrassing with all the retching. Now those two must hate my guts, and they'll probably come looking for trouble again later.
Though I'm not afraid, being constantly harassed by flies would be annoying, and I can't just kill them outright... I should find a way to give them something else to occupy themselves with.
After dismissal came the much-anticipated lunch time!
Urging Sarah and the others along, we jogged all the way to the academy cafeteria, and then I was pleasantly surprised to discover that praying to the divine might actually have some use after all.
The building had an antique yet simple design. You could smell the aroma of food from 10 meters away. The interior space was unimaginably large, with stalls lined up in two rows against the walls, displaying all kinds of delicacies, basically every type you could think of, just like a food street.
Most importantly, all of this was provided free to students — though there's a hefty annual fee, but I'm not the one paying the gold coins, Engel already took care of it.
I happily ran to a salad stall, deciding to pick an appetizer first.
"Hey there~ beautiful young lady, you're here early. What would you like?" The plump auntie stirring the salad dressing smiled warmly.
"Um... borage, sage..." I thought for a moment with my finger on my chin, "not those two, I want everything else."
The warm smile on the auntie's face froze.
"...Miss, academy regulations say you can only choose 5 types of vegetables and fruits at once. Come back after you finish eating, and don't waste food."
I frowned.
I really want to eat this today... but if I can only choose 5 types, it won't be satisfying and I'll have to come back again and again. How troublesome.
The academy made this rule just to prevent waste, but rules are dead while people are alive.
So I looked at her seriously: "I can finish it."
"Miss, you're joking..."
"I can finish it."
I blinked my eyes.
"...Alright then." Perhaps convinced by the strong confidence in my eyes, the auntie smiled and shook her head. "What a cute girl, you're melting my heart... but there's no plate that big. How about a little less of each?"
"Okay." After thinking, I added, "Extra dressing."
"Sure~ But no wasting, the uncles who grow the vegetables work very hard."
"I won't."
In the end, the auntie served me two large plates full of salad. I carried them back to the table Sophia had picked out, then ran to the roast meat uncle's stall and tricked him into thinking we had a large group, getting a whole roasted lamb leg.
Tilting my head in thought, I went to get some pastries and pies. When I returned to the table for the third time, the girls had already sat down with their chosen food.
But they looked a bit dumbfounded.
"Peylo, are you... are you planning to stockpile this for 3 days?" Sophia's eyes widened, filled with incomprehension.
"Won't it go bad? Even though it's free... this is way too wasteful, who could possibly finish all this!"
Sarah said with a frown. Even Daisy looked at me with a confused expression.
I sat down and smiled at them.
"I can..."
Wait.
Suddenly I realized a serious problem.
Before this, I'd almost always eaten with people I was familiar with, like Carlos or everyone at Shanter Castle, otherwise I'd hide somewhere and eat secretly by myself, so I hadn't thought about this for a moment... I'm in the academy cafeteria now, a public place!
A quick glance showed more and more students coming in, and many were sneaking looks at me. If I were to eat all this food in front of so many people...
No way, I'd become famous at the academy for this. I, Sylvia, can't afford to lose face like that.
My eyes darted around, and I quickly said: "To feed the puppy. Yesterday, behind the tower, I found one."
Obviously, this lame excuse couldn't convince the girls.
But I didn't need them to believe it. Since we'd be spending time together day and night, this matter would be exposed soon enough anyway. Better to be honest early on, and maybe they could even provide cover for me later.
It's just that lunch became rather painful. The delicious food was right in front of me, but I couldn't dig in... forget it, my reputation is more important.
Afterwards, I got some kraft paper from a shop and wrapped up the barely touched lamb leg and pies, planning to take them back to the dorm to enjoy slowly. But I didn't expect to run into annoying people on the way back.
"Hey hey, where are you going?" Red-haired A-something-lex and several of his companions, I don't know if they happened to pass by or were specifically waiting for me on the necessary path back to the tower, surrounded me when they saw me. "What's that good stuff you're holding? Can you let me see? Miss Peylo?"
...So they already know who I am.
These guys clearly have bad intentions. Sarah stepped forward to stand in front of me, looking at them warily: "What do you want?"
"Nothing at all, we're friends with Miss Peylo."
A-something-lex acted as if he didn't notice Sarah's vigilance, saying nonchalantly, then asked me with a smile: "Right, Miss Peylo?"
Sarah opened her mouth to say something, but I gently tugged her sleeve.
"Let's go, ignore them."
I lifted my foot to continue forward.
I was thinking that if they dared to block me again, I'd smash their noses first. But this time A-something-lex didn't make any move, just stood there with a smile, watching us walk past him.
Then without saying anything, the group followed behind us at a distance, neither too far nor too close.
...This is also very annoying.
"Stop following me."
"Who's following you? We're going this way too, okay?"
"Hahahahaha!"
A burst of mocking laughter immediately came from behind. I frowned, feeling like punching someone.
At that moment, I suddenly felt someone grab my arm tightly. I turned my head to see Daisy's nervous little face.
"Who are those people... they seem so fierce..."
"Peylo, do you know them?" Sophia also quietly leaned her head over, her expression rather serious.
I smiled and shook my head: "I don't know them."
Hearing this, Sophia's expression became even more somber.
"This might be trouble... I know that red-haired one. His name is Alex, he's a notorious troublemaker from the royal city. He's got his eyes on you."