Chapter 44: Moving forward [1]
I sat frozen, staring at the window in front of me with wide-open eyes. I had a hard time trying to make sense of what was before me.
What is this?
The sudden situation. It made no sense.
How could it suddenly...?
"You have overcome the first event."
My mouth unconsciously opened as I read the first notification.
"Leon has realized he has been found and that he doesn't have a lot of time left."
I chewed on those words as I continued to stare at the notifications in front of me. I stood there for a couple of seconds before closing my eyes and taking a small breath.
'So the criteria to activate it was for the first 'event' to be cleared...'
Or at least, seemed to be. There were still that didn't make sense to me but I had no time to think about those matters.
There was something else that was more pressing.
[ ◆ Main Quest Activated : Prevent the Calamities from awakening or dying.]
Calamity 1 : Slumber
: Progress - 0%
Calamity 2 : Slumber
: Progress - 2%
Calamity 3 : Slumber
: Progress - 0%
"This is..."
The more I stared at it the more confused I became. But in the end, I understood something.
"....I need to stop them from awakening or dying."
Kiera, Aoife, and Evelyn.
These were the Three Calamities. It was something that stuck with me ever since the memory of before my death.
Why were they called Calamities I wasn't sure, but...
For whatever reason, I needed to stop them from 'awakening' or dying. That was my main goal. I didn't quite understand the reasoning behind the task, or whether it was something I could trust, but to get answers, I needed to follow the quest.
Just what would happen when the game completion reached 100%?
Would I get to finally go back home...?
"What happens if I fail?"
There wasn't anything that indicated what would happen if I were to fail, but I could more or less guess.
「Game Over.」
"Right."
The situation became even more confusing, but...
"I need to try it."
I had to try it.
For the first time since entering this world, I finally had something to cling to.
A hope.
The dark path that I was following finally didn't seem as dark. I had finally found a path.
Whether it would lead to nowhere, I had no idea.
But...
I had to follow it.
This was my commitment.
***
A few days passed since then. It was Friday, the end of the week.
Things had cooled down after the incident with the professor. The Institute had kept a 'hushed' stance on the situation, stopping all cadets from talking about it.
That wasn't the only thing that changed. Everyone, ranging from cadets to professors, was assigned to a psychiatrist.
「Given the tragic circumstances, the institute has mandated that all personnel and cadets undergo mental health assessments to ensure a situation like this does not happen again.」
Such was the announcement of the Professor in charge of today's lesson. His words instantly aroused a wave of groans with one in particular being louder than the others.
"....This is bullshit."
That rough and unfiltered voice... I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.
"Kiera Mylne."
The Professor sternly spoke. He appeared to be quite tall, with short brown hair framing his face, complemented by thin-framed glasses obscuring his green eyes. He was quite young, and his looks were on the good side.
"....."
He didn't follow up from there, but the meaning behind his gaze was quite clear.
'Don't swear.'
".....Tsk."
The class continued from there.
"Everyone please get on your stations."
It was a peculiar class.
"This over here is how you cook the Mandrigol. First, you cut its stomach open and remove its lungs. When you remove the organs make sure you remove the gall bladder."
The name of the class was 「Culinary Guidance」and it focused on teaching the cadets about the monsters in the mirror dimension and how to prepare them.
"You must remove it as it is highly poisonous to us."
Perhaps it was because I had been taking care of myself and my brother for as long as I could remember, I was able to follow the class smoothly.
Tak, tak—
The knife effortlessly sliced the stomach of the creature set in front of me.
It was hard to describe. It appeared notably furry, with two of its eyes extending upwards from their sockets. Below, two long legs were aligned, and it appeared to have no eyes.
In short, it didn't look appetizing.
"Make sure you don't throw away the eyes. They're packed with nutrients and can be dried for rations later on in your journey in the mirror dimension."
But I still followed the Professor's instructions to a 'T'.
Guiding my knife around the eyes, I smoothly removed them from the creature and placed them in a nearby bucket.
"When you cut, you must make sure to cut it into equal pieces..."
Tak, tak—
It was weird, but I felt strangely at home.
This wasn't any harder than the things I had been cooking back at home when it was just me and my little brother.
Slicing the pieces into equal portions, I looked around me to see that I was the only one that was capable of following along with the instructions.
"Professor can you slow down..."
"....I cut it too short. What do I do?"
"Damn it."
Even Aoife appeared to be struggling as her eyes were knit together tightly.
"Okay, here's the next step. Once you're done cutting the Mandrigol into pieces, place it in the pot in front of you and let it boil in the soup. It's a very tough meat, so we must cook it on a low burn."
The Professor then proceeded to place the filets into a large pot in front of him. I also had one, and it had been put on simmer since the start of the lesson.
I had already put the necessary ingredients beforehand so all that was left was...
Plo Plop—!
Chucking the fillets into the pot.
And...
"Done."
I patted my hands in satisfaction. I felt a strange sense of accomplishment out of this.
".....Alright! It will take approximately until the end of the lesson for the meat to become tender. For those who are finished, please clean up your stations and wash up your dirty dishes."
The Professor's gaze wandered around before eventually falling on me.
"Ah."
That was when I understood.
I was the only one that had managed to keep up.
***
Simmer~
Aoife stared at her pot and swallowed her saliva. The water bubbled, and the pieces of the Mandrigol floated at the top.
It wasn't the first time she had eaten the 'Mandrigol'.
While not a rare delicacy, it was still an 'infant' ranked beast. With several noticeable health benefits such as the cleansing of impurities, it was a staple food amongst the population of the Empire.
But...
Plo Plop—!
'I can eat this?'
Aoife secretly swallowed. She had followed the instructions to perfection, so logically yes, but...
"...."
She closed the lid.
'Maybe not.'
It didn't look that appetizing.
Aoife looked around her. All the cadets were still busy cutting the Mandrigol. Only a few were done with that part and were now placing the cuts inside of the pot.
All with the exception of one.
'....It's you again.'
He was done a lot faster than them. Nine minutes faster to be exact. The gap between him and the rest was evident, and Aoife felt herself frowning at the thought.
'Why is he so good at everything..?'
In the time that she had spent at the Academy, he had beaten her in almost everything besides the magic and physical score.
There was a gap between them in that matter but...
'He's an Emotive Mage.'
It made sense for him to lag in such matters when he was so proficient in such a field. It was a frustrating thought, but he was... competent.
The thought made her competitive spirit flare up.
'...He may have been faster, but that doesn't mean it's better."
Yeah.
Speed wasn't important. What was important was taste.
"...."
The image of the contents in her pot flashed in her mind and her blank expression cracked.
Aoife looked around. Julien was still away washing the dishes, and so was the Professor who went out to get a new supply of Mandrigol for the students who failed to cut it on the first try.
A thought struck her.
Just maybe...
".....Just a little taste."
Right.
She just wanted to check if had season properly.
Making sure that there was no one paying attention to her, she carried a few trays with her and moved toward Julien's desk.
It was on the way to the cleaning station outside and just a few steps away from her station...
She could play this out well.
"...."
Her steps stopped at the station. It was clean with the only thing left being the pot and the stove.
Pursing her lips, she looked around before carefully opening the lid of the pot.
Plo Plop—!
"....!"
A nice aroma wafted through the moment she opened the lid and her brow twitched.
"It can—"
"What are you doing?"
A cold voice echoed from behind her and Aoife almost flinched. Thankfully, she was able to keep herself composed and turned around.
Platinum long hair, deep red eyes, and a gaze that was filled with nothing but contempt.
With a look that suggested she had caught a rat, Kiera smirked.
".....Are you trying to sabotage the competition?"
She didn't even try to hide the disdain in her voice.
"You haven't changed, have you? You're still the same. Whenever someone better than you appears, you try to put them down. Aren't I right?"
Aoife frowned.
'What is she on about?'
She couldn't understand what she was talking about. And perhaps noticing her confusion, Kiera suddenly smirked while shaking her head.
".....Fucking bitch. You never change."
Aoife's face turned cold.
"What did you call me?"
"A. Bitch."
Kiera emphasized while leaning her head closer.
"What? Is the sheltered Princess angry?"
"...."
A small crack appeared on Aoife's blank expression.
"You think I wouldn't call you out on your shit? That I would just let you do whatever the fuck you wanted just because you're the fucking princess?"
The cracks on her face became larger. Her well-maintained facade was slowly crumbling...
"Still nothing?"
Kiera's eyes squinted as her smirk became more prominent.
".....Pathetic."
Aoife clenched her teeth and her expression almost crumbled. However, with the little rationality she had left, she turned to look away from her and focused her attention back on the pot.
"....."
All of a sudden, she didn't feel like tasting it anymore.
She was just about to close the lid when a finger poked into the soup.
"Oh? It's not bad."
Licking her lips, Kiera looked at Aoife before taking the salt and sprinkling it over the soup.
"....!"
Her eyes widened and she looked back.
"It's missing a little salt."
".....Stop it."
Her hand reached for the salt, but Kiera deftly avoided her and continued to sprinkle it.
"Or what?"
"It's not my soup."
"So? I'm just helping a classmate out."
"Stop it."
Aoife's voice grew cold but that only served to encourage Kiera who doubled down on the salt.
First the middle finger on the first day then this...
Aoife found her patience running thin. Her mana flowed and Kiera's hand stiffened.
"You..."
Unbothered by the look she was receiving, Aoife reached out for the salt when...
"Kkh...!"
Her 'Telekinesis' shattered and Kiera's hand swung in the air.
"Fucking bitch. Who told you that you cou—"
Plop—!
Her words were broken by an abrupt 'plopping' sound and the two of them stiffened on the spot.
Especially Aoife who found her mouth opening at the sight.
".....Oh."
A single word came out of her lips. When she looked up again, she found Kiera standing rigidly by her side.
A cold voice followed a few seconds after.
"....What are you doing here?"
"I..."
For a brief moment, Aoife panicked.
"Your food... It was overflowing."
"Overflowing?"
Julien's gaze latched onto her and Aoife felt her mouth go dry. Eventually, though, he turned his gaze away and focused it on the pot.
His nose wrinkled at the sight of the soup.
Aoife's face tightened.
"Where is the salt?"
His gaze wandered back to her and she almost flinched. Thankfully, she was quick-witted.
"Kiera borrowed it."
She pointed at Kiera and threw her under the bus. Feeling her finger, Kiera opened her eyes to rebuke but ultimately stopped and nodded.
"You were done, so..."
"Oh."
The two simultaneously sighed in relief at that moment and Kiera glared at Aoife who silently felt the corner of her lips pull.
Throwing her under the bus like that... It felt strangely nice.
"....Give it back to me when you're done."
"Will do."
With a quiet nod, Julien shifted his attention back to the pot. What he didn't notice was the sudden change in Aoife and Kiera's expressions.
"It should be ready."
"....!"
Especially when he picked up the spoon by his right.
Unable to notice anything out of the ordinary, Julien lifted the spoon to reveal a thick viscous brown liquid.
"Looks good."
Aoife felt every part of her body grow tense. The same was true for Kiera whose entire face was twitching.
And then, under the horrified eyes of the two of them...
Julien brought the spoon to his mouth.
"....Um!"
His expression immediately shifted the moment the spoon touched his mouth and his head flicked their way. A strange tension lingered over the area they were in as his voice, colder than it usually was, asked,
".....Did you do something to the soup?"
"No..."
"No.
The two of them shook their heads at the same time though their refusal sounded anything but convincing.
Even so...
"Is that so?"
Strangely, Julien didn't seem all that bothered.
Putting the spoon down, he frowned. It was as if he was undecided about something.
Then...
Just when the two of them were fearing for the worst, they heard his soft mumble,
"....Since when was I such a good cook?"
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