It had happened right after he patted her on the head. Earnest had come at him with a lethal strike. He had unconsciously darted to the side to avoid it, not even registering it in his memory. You can’t keep thinking about every move you make in battle if you want to cut it as a Hero. Not that he was one now or anything.
Some snickering could be heard from the seats around them. Earnest glared fiercely in the direction of the sound, and it promptly stopped. Now aware of the attention, she calmed down and took her hand off her sword.
“I really don’t remember…”
At that comment from Blade, however, Earnest’s hand slipped right back to the handle.
“Whoa, whoa, hold it! I do, I do, I do remember! I do! I swear that I—I—I do! I swear!” He really didn’t remember, but he thought it prudent to lie.
“See?” Earnest looked at Blade. She didn’t look angry or upset.
Oh, thought Blade, she’s capable of smiling? This was a fresh surprise.
“You…have a decent amount of ability, I will admit,” said Earnest. “It’s unconventional, yes, but I can’t deny it… I wouldn’t have slashed at you otherwise. Not unless I knew you could avoid it… See?”
She stabbed at her pasta as she spoke, cruelly spinning it around her fork like it was her archnemesis.
Oh. I guess it’s okay to eat again.
Following her lead, Blade began to eat again. This curry sauce poured over rice, and this sliced filet of fried chicken—“katsu,” they called it—placed on top… This dish…was so good. So good. Curry was delicious. Even better with a piece of katsu. Katsu curry was like ambrosia. Whoever invented it was a genius.
But as Blade lost himself in his choice of lunch—
“And certainly…you have enough skill…to be at the bottom rank…of the senior class…”
—Earnest started muttering again. Her voice was too soft for Blade to make out much, and he wasn’t listening anyway. The katsu curry was just too good.
“I’m sorry… I take it back. Not the bottom rank. You’d probably place a little above average… Or perhaps, near the bottom of the top… I mean, ummm…”
She just kept stabbing and spinning her pasta around, not bothering to eat any, as she continued to mutter away.
“…No, but…!” Her head shot up, her voice suddenly gaining volume. “But I just want to say that you have the skills to be in the top group—”
Blade lifted his head up from the curry plate just long enough to ask, “Sorry, did you say something?”
“Why, youuuuu!!”
Earnest slammed her hands on the table. The plates lifted into the air for just a moment.
Whoa. Neat.
All sound in the dining hall suddenly stopped cold. The entire room fell into a profound hush.
What does this mean?
Blade swiveled his head to look around the chamber. His eyes settled upon Claire’s group at the table next to his—they were all pale and quivering. No more weird shakes of the head, either. The cacophony of the crowded dining hall had suddenly been overtaken by sheer silence, and Blade had no idea why.
“…Ahem.”
Earnest very deliberately cleared her throat, as if this sudden shift in atmosphere was her fault or something. But that can’t be right, Blade thought. Maybe she’s just overly self-conscious? He didn’t dare say as much, however. He knew it’d only earn him another vicious glare.
After a few moments, the hall began to regain its clamor.
“I can’t believe this!” Earnest said, plopping back into her seat.
Blade observed their plates carefully, hoping they’d be thrown up again, but no such luck. He was a little disappointed. It seemed her rear end didn’t have enough weight to it.
Grabbing her fork, Earnest indignantly began to eat—not just spinning her pasta endlessly like before, but actually eating it. Her food gradually began to disappear.
Blade had already just about finished, so he rested his chin atop his folded hands and watched her. She was eating fast, like all good soldiers do. Eat when you can, then rest when you can—words to live by for anyone in an army. You never knew when you might be called on to engage in constant battle for an unknown amount of time.
…As he thought this, it dawned on him that he was still mentally in “battle” mode. But he wasn’t a soldier, right? He was just a regular person. He’d heard that this school was meant to bring up champions, though. That meant she, too, was likely a champion in training…
As he watched Earnest tear into her meal, taking out all her anger on the food, Blade had a thought. There was something he wanted to tell her, and now seemed like a good opportunity.
“You know, I’m really grateful.”
“Huh?” Earnest put her fork down and blinked at him.
“For you being here. You’ve been a big help.”
“Huh? What?”
Her eyes, usually squinting with resentment, were now perfect circles.
“Wh-why…why are you telling me this all of a sudden?”
“I mean… I’m a midsemester transfer student, right?”
That’s what she’d told him—and right when he was trying his best to be normal and inconspicuous. But he was actually standing out like a sore thumb, as Earnest was quick to point out. Her advice had been very helpful, something he still appreciated now.
“Midsemester or not, we don’t really get transfer students here—”
“I thought that we could be friends.”
“Huh? Friends? With who? Huh? What? W-w-with me…?” Earnest’s mouth was open as wide as her eyes.
“Yeah. And now we’re eating together. That means we’re pals, right?”
Blade raised his spoon up as he spoke, using it to point at himself and Earnest in succession. Then he began finishing up his lunch. The katsu curry was all gone, but the salad the lunch lady had insisted on giving him was still there. He packed that away, too.
“F…f-f-friends?”
Earnest looked like something unbelievable had just happened. She turned away and stared at a random point in space. The other students in the dining hall all looked down, not wanting to wind up in her line of sight.
As far as Blade was concerned, facing each other across the same table and eating together meant you were friends. But why wouldn’t Claire and the others join them? They were his friends, too, and there was all this extra space. He turned toward them again…only for their rapidly shaking heads to make a return appearance.
That was when Earnest finally snapped out of it. “W-well…I guess we could…maybe…be friends, but…”
So easy.
The Empress went down in no time flat.
He barely had to try.
Voiceless thoughts erupted in the minds of those sitting around them…but Blade and Earnest were none the wiser.