I managed to make it through the fourth period of the day, and Ehr and I headed to the school store. We flew out of the classroom the moment the bell rang, but the store was already crowded with students.
“You’re kidding…” Ehr muttered.
“I can’t believe it,” I gasped.
The crowd was primarily comprised of boys. The girls were nowhere to be seen. It was like a charge in a game of rugby, and Ehr immediately determined that girls would’ve been pushed away.
“Misha, I’ll score us some bread,” he said. “Could you wait for me here?”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah. No way I’m letting you dive into this hellish mess. I’ve got this.”
“Thank you.”
Ehr charged forward and tried his luck. Currently, the upperclassmen were fighting among themselves for bread, and Ehr was a lot smaller in comparison. I nervously watched, hoping that he was safe. Simply going in would cause one to be pushed away and fall on the ground. He made several of these attempts, but to no avail, and realizing that waiting would do him no favors, he lunged furiously into the crowd and squeezed forward. He used his petite frame to do his best. Five minutes later, he managed to get through the crowd and returned with bread and bottles of milk in his hands.
“I did it, Misha!” he crowed.
“That was amazing! Thank you!”
We went to the courtyard, but all the benches were already taken, and we didn’t have a blanket or anything to sit on. We settled directly onto the ground and ate our bread. It was a normal, round loaf that came with a pat of butter to spread. The bread itself was quite dry, but that was where the milk came in; they complemented each other nicely.
The bread was half a silver coin, and the milk was the same price; I’d already paid Ehr in advance. The food was pricey, just as rumored. A simple meal—if it could even be called that—such as this would’ve been one bronze coin for both the bread and milk back home. Ehr turned to Lizard, his familiar, in his pocket, and gave it some breadcrumbs that fell on his uniform.
“Your familiar likes human food, it seems,” I observed.
“Yeah, looks like it,” Ehr replied.
When he agonized over his plate of food at the dorm, which he failed to finish, Lizard had popped right out and polished it all for him.
“I asked a magical creatures professor if familiars were allowed to eat human food, and I was told that there are familiars like that every now and then,” Ehr explained.
“I see…”
Lizard looked delighted as it nibbled on the crumbs, and Ehr petted it.
“Your familiar seems very friendly,” I remarked.
“Yup. Cute little thing, don’t you think?”
And when I see it up close, its eyes are round and cute, I thought. I reached out to pet the familiar, only to be interrupted when Gem headbutted me.
“Whoa?! Gem?!” I gasped.
“I think your familiar’s jealous,” Ehr said.
“That can’t be…”
I glanced at Gem, who frowned angrily, its body dyed red. It seemed Ehr was right on the money. My familiar’s jealousy was so adorable I felt compelled to pet it, but I held myself back—no doubt Gem was hot to the touch right now.
“Gem, I’ve only got eyes for you,” I reassured it.
At once, the spirit turned back to its transparent hue and wiggled from side to side. Frightfully simple, this spirit is…
Once we finished our bread, Ehr sighed in satisfaction, but frankly, I was still a bit hungry. One small loaf of bread wasn’t nearly enough to sate my hunger, and I was determined to bring a bento starting tomorrow.