It had been several days since Blade joined this school, and a few things had happened in the meantime. He had made some friends; he had been promoted from the junior to the senior class; and he had made some mistakes (or rather, committed large-scale property damage) in both of them… But despite these errors and trip-ups, he was starting to get used to his new life.
Right now, for example, he was in the dining hall for lunch, looking around the crowded chamber for a free seat. At the moment, by far the most important thing on his mind was where he was going to sit. It was such an incredibly normal thing for a student to be concerned about. So blatantly average.
There was a mountain of food on his tray, perhaps enough for three people. The dining hall at the student dorms allowed you to take and eat as much as you pleased, so his tray was piled high with meat, meat, and more meat. There was also a little plate of veggies on the side, which he’d added after the lunch lady yelled at him. The main dish that day was some kind of unfamiliar brown sauce ladled over rice. It was called “curry,” apparently, and had only recently been brought over from the southern lands. With the Overlord gone and peace returning, trade had begun to flourish once again. All kinds of new things were flowing in.
Unfortunately, this was the peak lunch rush, and it was proving difficult to find a seat—but then Blade’s eyes stopped on a faraway table. Shockingly, every chair at it was free.
“Oh, look at that! This whole table is open!”
He planted himself down in a chair, and only then did he realize there was a single girl sitting diagonally across from him. A girl with a striking red silhouette. A girl who was already glaring at him with untold force. Blade had once accidentally fallen into a red dragon’s nest, and the Great Dragon’s eyes—filled with rage at having its sleep interrupted—had felt just like this.
“Yo,” he said, raising up a fork. This earned him an even more menacing look.
Earnest, after shooting him a glare that might have killed someone weaker, silently went back to her meal, her fork listlessly traveling between her plate and her lips. Blade copied her, doing much the same thing with his spoon, passively noting how she always seemed to be glaring at him whenever they met. He had no idea what he’d done to deserve such treatment. He thought about it a moment, bringing a hand to his chest…but no great ideas occurred to him.
This large, broad table was big enough to seat ten people, and he was sitting here with nobody but her. The entire dining hall was packed, and yet the two of them seemed strangely isolated.
“Oh, heyyy!”
A little ways away, Blade spotted some familiar faces—Claire, Yessica, Clayde, and Kassim. They were in different classes now, but this was the quartet he had first become friends with. They were all standing, trays in hand; he waved at them, signaling that there was open space where he was. But they shook their heads, refusing to take another step. What were they trying to tell him? He had no idea. He thought shaking your head meant no, but that had to be wrong, didn’t it?
“Everybody’s afraid of me,” Earnest grumbled abruptly.
“Huh? Afraid? Of you?”
She was finally talking to him. Blade’s eyes sparkled. He moved one seat over, positioning himself right in front of her.
“This table’s kind of exclusively for me.”
“Why is that?”
“Let me make one thing clear… I didn’t ask for this.”
“So why?”
It was news to him that Earnest was feared. Why would that be? There was nothing scary about her. She might have a habit of shooting people mean looks…as mean as a hungry Great Dragon, in fact…but still.
“Wait, are you maybe…like, being bullied or something?”
“Who? Me?” Earnest smiled. There was a darkness to her expression, however, which only deepened Blade’s concern.
“Well, if you ever feel like someone’s bullying you…tell me, all right? ’Cause I’ll go talk to them.”
“You…you’re a real idiot, aren’t you?”
She looked up from her lunch and glared at him. She called me an idiot? Huh? I was seriously worrying about her. Guess I was wrong.
Claire’s group came a little closer, but they never did join Blade and Earnest, instead sitting down at an adjacent table that happened to clear out. He tried motioning for them to join, but they just shook their heads vigorously. That really looks like the sign for no. But it can’t be—so what is it?
“…I take it back.”
“Huh?” said Blade. “What was that?”
Blade had to ask for clarification. He was too busy repeating the cycle of “come here,” shake, shake, shake; “come here,” shake, shake, shake with Claire and the gang to fully understand Earnest’s quiet words.
“I said…!” Earnest raised her voice for a moment, but quickly stopped, then started over from the beginning. “I said…that I take it back.”
“Take what back?”
“Look, I mean…!” Earnest blushed. Maybe she realized she was getting nowhere repeating herself. She stopped and tried again.
“I mean…like saying how you cheated…the admission system…and stuff!” She was holding back, but she still couldn’t keep from turning up the volume.
“…You said that?” Blade raised an eyebrow. He had no memory of it.
“Yes!”
She was no longer holding back. She slapped the table hard with one hand.
“Look, what is your problem anyway? Huh? I’ve been totally preoccupied thinking about that this whole time! And you’re saying you don’t even remember?!”
Her glare bored into him, deeper than ever. This was beyond “hungry Great Dragon” levels. The demonic glint in her eyes was akin to that of an Ancient Dragon. Even Blade was finally forced to conclude that Earnest was angry.
“Hey…what are you so mad about?”
“What, you ask?”
She glared at him again. That wasn’t such a big deal, but it was starting to unnerve Blade. She had just reached down for her sword—in fact, she was grasping the handle.
Unlike the other students, she carried her sword even into the dining hall. Having one’s weapon close by at all times was a given for anyone who lived and died on the battlefield, but she was the only one in the whole school acting on this “given.” Blade, of course, was just another regular, average student, so he never carried a sword outside of training.
You see? I’m normal. A regular person. Blindingly average…
“Wait, wait, wait! Don’t draw that thing in here! What…what’re you even gonna do with that sword?! You gonna strike me down right here?!”
“I already tried to once!”
“Huuuh?! When?!”
“You dodged it!”
“Huuuh?! No way! When?!”