Chapter 16

Chapter 6 Part 19

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Translator : PolterGlast

While Jihad and Inda were dealing with the letter from Mekria, Nozomu and the others were in the courtyard of the school.

In the courtyard, many students were already sitting in their favorite places, enjoying their lunch. The cafeteria adjacent to the courtyard was crowded with students trying to satiate their appetites, and the buzzing noise could be heard outside.

Finding a suitable shady spot, they sat down on the ground and opened the lunch box they each had brought, and their lunches, full of individuality, spread out like an exposition.

Irisdina and Somia had soft white bread with ham and cheese inside their lunch boxes.

Shna and Tima's lunches were very similar to Irisdina's, with round doughnut-shaped bread, fruit, and salad, but since they were a small eater, their portions were much smaller than Irisdina's.

On the other hand, Mars, who has a large body, might need to eat more, so he brought two lunch boxes, one with a large loaf of bread and the other with side dishes.

The side dishes he brought were cold, but they were served with a nice variety of vegetables. It was probably leftovers from Ushitotei.

Mimuru and Tom were spreading out a large lunch box. The others asked if Tom had made it, but surprisingly it was Mimuru.

The lunch, which was full of colorful ingredients even when cold, almost made others drool just by looking at it.

The only thing that bothered Nozomu was why Tom's face looked so pale.

By the way, Nozomu and Feo's meal was still the same cheap black bread.

Feo hadn't been able to get out of his poverty, and Nozomu, a hardworking student, didn't have much money to begin with.

The amount of bread was not enough to satisfy him, but that was not a problem.

He chewed on a piece of dry, tasteless black bread.

*Chew~, chew~*

The hard and dry black bread was hard to swallow, especially today's bread, which seemed harder to eat than usual.

Nozomu wondered and slowly chewed the bread to soften it before swallowing. Even so, a choking sensation lingered inside of his throat, and he frowned.

Previously, Jihad suddenly visited the classroom at the end of the afternoon class.

While Nozomu was stunned by his sudden visit, Nozomu was taken out by Jihad and thrown directly into the newly restored martial arts garden for combat training. Before he could ask Jihad what was going on, he was hit with the Jaw Drop.

Feeling his life was in danger, Nozomu resisted with all his might. It could be said that he ran for his life.

However, despite his desperate resistance, Nozomu was thrown into the air, knocked down, and ended up screaming like a frog.

"Haa..."

A sigh escaped from Nozomu's mouth. At the same time, he recalled the combat training he had just gone through and vented his resentment in his mind, saying, "That dumb middle-aged man ......."

Jihad's image in Nozomu's mind has been getting worse lately. Well, at best, he was getting used to it. At worst, Nozomu was becoming less reserved.

"Nozomu, are you okay?"

"You don't look so good..."

"Well, it's been a while since I trained with Shish now ..."

Irisdina and Shna were staring at Nozomu with a sad expression, perhaps because they were worried about Nozomu who seemed to be exhausted.

Nozomu smiled at them and waved his hand, but then let out a big sigh again.

Combat training with Jihad was now held every few days.

Normally, direct guidance from such a superior instructor or teacher was only allowed for higher ranked students, such as first-class, but for Jihad to directly train him was an unusual situation.

The reason why this happened was obvious, though.

"Well, I guess it's because Nozomu went wild in combat training at that time."

"In fact, there was no one else in our grade who made Jihad-sensei pull out Jaw Drop except Nozomu-kun..."

"In other words, Nozomu reaps what he sows."

Due to the words of Feo, Tima, and Mars, Nozomu's shoulders slumped.

Apart from that, he has no regrets about showing off his katana techniques in front of Jihad, Lisa, and the other underclassmen, and he was glad he did so.

In fact, the rumors that Ken had planted throughout the school were starting to die down, and some of the underclassmen were actively talking to Nozomu.

Some of the underclassmen who were still unsure about the requests they would be able to do in the forest would come to Nozomu to ask for his opinion, and Eldor would occasionally bring a wooden sword and ask Nozomu to spar with him.

Nozomu was happy that his knowledge was useful, and when he had free time, he answered questions from the underclassmen and even had a light spar with Eldor.

Nowadays, Nozomu's reputation among the underclassmen was on the rise, and only a few students look at him with disdain.

When he left the dormitory in the morning, the underclassmen greeted him in a pleasant manner, and Nozomu found himself smiling back at them.

Nozomu had always been despised, but his surroundings had changed drastically in the past few years.

However, the thought of continuing the combat training with Jihad reminded Nozomu of nostalgic scenes, which naturally made his eyelids feel hot.

"Jihad-sensei, I thought he was a little bit more decent~"

Although Nozomu's impression of Jihad has changed a bit recently, Jihad is an intelligent man by nature.

He is extremely knowledgeable, and although he holds a great deal of power within Solminati Academy and Arcazam, he is also a man of reason and integrity.

He is definitely a person who is respected by many countries and is a pillar of the Solminati Academy.

However, there is no doubt that his opportunities to wield his sword have dwindled as he has been busy teaching and serving as a window for the council that governs the city.

Jihad is a genuine swordsman by nature. With so many inexperienced students and so few opportunities to wield his sword, perhaps he was happy to have Nozomu who could compete with him.

Now Jihad had started to set up combat training with Nozomu every few days.

Because of this, Nozomu has had to risk his life many times, just like he did when he was training with Shino.

"Certainly, it may be too much, but I think that's how much they value Nozomu."

"Also, thanks to this, no one doubts Nozomu's ability anymore, right? The students who used to yell at Nozomu these days don't even make eye contact with us."

As he repeatedly did combat training with Jihad, Nozomu's abilities became known throughout the school.

Now, no one doubted Nozomu's skills.

The rumor that he was a cheating bastard was still controversial, but most of the students who had despised Nozomu up until now had begun to avoid him. After they found out that the person they had mocked until now was more powerful than they had imagined, they fear Nozomu's retaliation.

However, Nozomu had no intention of retaliating, nor was he able to do so. He was too occupied with Lisa, Ken, and Tiamat to worry about anything else.

"Nozomu-kun, how are you these days?"

"About what?"

"Umm... about that dragon. As expected, it's still..."

"Yeah, I had that dream again today..."

His battle with Tiamat in the dream world. The dragon was still running rampant, trying to take over him in a fight that had been happening periodically since he had fought the Metal Dragon and confessed everything to Irisdina and the others.

Each time he was overwhelmed, he had visions of his own death over and over again. Even so, he had been able to wake up in the real world without being eaten by Tiamat.

Nevertheless, the mental burden was not light.

If they looked closely, they could see dark circles under Nozomu's eyes, and his complexion was not good. To be honest, Nozomu had a hard time concentrating in the morning class, and even now his mind seemed to have a haze in his head.

Nozomu's pale complexion was partly due to the intense combat training with Jihad, but it was probably more due to the mental tug of war with Tiamat.

(And lately, I feel like there's something wrong with that guy...)

Tiamat had been trying to kill Nozomu with a clear intent to kill him, but recently Nozomu had noticed a change in his behavior.

His eyes were lit with anger, just as they always were. However, there seemed to be some other emotion swirling inside of his eyes.

However, Nozomu still did not know what it was.

While he was deep in thought, Nozomu took another bite of the dry black bread.

"Here, Tom! Eat your fill."

"U-un"

Suddenly, in the corner of Nozomu's vision, he saw Mimuru holding a sandwich in her hand.

The way she snuggled up to Tom and took care of him, there was none of her usual mischievousnesses, and from any point of view, they looked like a pair of lovers who get along well.

But why? Tom's eyes were swimming as he stared at the sandwich Mimuru had offered him.

Nozomu called out to Tom, who had been acting strangely since a while ago.

"Tom? What's wrong?"

"N-no, it's nothing!"

Nozomu tilted his head at Tom's behavior.

He looked into Mimuru's lunch box to see if there was anything odd about it but found only neatly cut sandwiches inside.

"It's made pretty neatly."

"Of course it is. It's for Tom!"

"I'm surprised ... I can't believe that a peeping addict like you has such culinary skills."

"...... What are you getting at?"

The sandwiches were made with such care that Nozomu and Mars couldn't help but marvel at them, which was hard to imagine given her usual behavior and actions.

Mimuru glared at Mars, who had unintentionally expressed his true feelings, but it was understandable that he would let such words slip out.

In fact, his friends around him were looking at him with wide eyes and surprised expressions on their faces, though they didn't say anything.

"Yeah, it's surprising. It smells good, and it looks delicious."

Perhaps it was because he had been living in poverty lately and hadn't been able to eat well, Feo was looking at Mimuru's sandwich hungrily.

"W-what do you want? I don't mind, but I will ask you to give me your money."

"You're going to charge me!?"

When Mimuru took out a slice of sandwich and asked for money in return, Feo couldn't help but shout. But Mimuru tilted her head as if to say, "What are you talking about?

Apparently, she would charge money for her food for anyone but Tom.

"Now, now. It's okay, isn't it? We're all eating together, so why not share it?

"If that's what Tom wants, then fine, but Feo, you should be grateful."

"Oh, as expected Tom! You know what I'm talking about!"

Feo's mouth was agape with frustration, but he immediately felt better when Mimuru shared the sandwich with him due to Tom's approval.

After getting their approval, Feo replied in a good tone and grabbed the sandwich in Mimuru's hand.

Mimuru's mouth twitched a bit in frustration, but she let out a sigh as if she had no choice but to offer the lunch box in her hand to everyone.

"Can we have some too?"

"Yes. I don't make that much, though."

Even though from her earlier impression she was somewhat dissatisfied, she must have been honestly happy to be praised for her cooking.

Contrary to her slightly dismissive tone, Mimuru had a smile on her face.

"Alright then, bon apptit~."

"I think I'll go ahead and have a bite."

"W-well then ... I'll also..."

"Eh? Wha..."

Somia, Irisdina, and the others were also curious, and they reached out into Mimuru's lunch box and picked up a slice of sandwich each.

Nozomu was concerned why Sheena was looked shocked, but since it was a good opportunity, Nozomu also took a sandwich from Mimuru's lunch box.

The meat in the sandwich was thick, and the appetizing smell of the spices used in the sandwich was enticing to the nose.

It was hard to imagine from her usual words and deeds, but the taste seemed to be quite promising as well.

"Does everyone really want to eat it...?"

While everyone took a slice of the sandwich each, Shna was the only one who did not take the sandwich.

Eh, is Shna really don't want to take one?

"Y-yeah. I can't eat much ..."

The bread that Shna had brought for lunch still showed no signs of having been eaten except for a few bites. Considering her slender body, she was probably a small eater and ate slowly when she ate.

Shna waved her hand apologetically.

Feo didn't show any sign of being concerned about her at all, and he chewed on the sandwich she had taken from Mimuru.

"Hehe, well then, let's get to it... Guhaaaa!"

"Eh?"

The next moment, Feo suddenly screamed and fell to the ground, burying his face in the grass and his body convulsing, rendering everyone present speechless.

"Aa, you've done it again..."

"... Shna, what do you mean?"

Shna was looking up at the sky with her hand on her forehead, and Nozomu called out to her timidly.

"Mimuru can cook, but sometimes she mixes things that taste ridiculous. The only way to be sure is to try it. Moreover, it doesn't look and smell like ordinary food, so the only way to be sure of it is to try it ... "

"""........." "

Nozomu was shocked when he heard Shna's words, and he fearfully checked the sandwich in his hand.

The smell and the ingredients in the sandwich were no different from an ordinary sandwich, but because of Shna's words, he felt as if he had been exposed to a dangerous thing.

Irisdina and the others were also speechless at the tragedy that had suddenly occurred in front of them.

At the edge of Nozomu's field of vision, Mimuru was saying to Feo, who has suddenly fallen to the ground, "How rude of you to suddenly scream and fall down!". She was pouting and angry. Looked like she didn't understand why Feo had collapsed.

"Well, whatever. Here's one for you, Tom!"

"T-thank you. I-I'm very happy ..."

Mimuru left the fallen Feo with a single word, "Whatever." and leaned back to Tom as if nothing had happened.

In her hand was a sandwich that Nozomu and his friends had just deemed as a dangerous substance.

Mimuru's tail was moving as if expecting Tom's reaction. The way she gazed at her lover with a glittering gaze was purely that of a maiden in love.

"Come on, eat it!"

Mimuru leaned in even closer as she made a sweet-like voice.

The innocent look in her eyes, which was different from her usual smirking and teasing expression, showed how much thought she had put into preparing Tom's lunch.

Seeing Mimuru like this, Nozomu and the others couldn't push her back even if they knew that the sandwich in her hand might be deadly. Not to mention Tom, who felt that pure love was directed at him.

The eyes of Nozomu, Irisdina, and the others, met with Tom's eyes.

With sandwiches in their hands, Nozomu and the others closed their eyes tightly, made up their minds, and bit into them all at once.

At the same time, an indescribable taste, the opposite of the appetizing aroma, spread in their mouths.

It was, in a word, an explosion of taste.

The bread was white but somehow salty, and the vegetables had a nauseating bitterness and astringency. The meat sandwiched between the bread and vegetables had an intense sweetness and sourness that was somehow insistent on their tongue.

It was a miracle sandwich that condensed all the flavors that a person can feel