“Welcome~! Cooking club of the Luminous Academy~! Welcome to this place with nothing of note!”
“Thank you for having us for the following days, ma’am!”
“Yes yes, same to you~! I’m sure you’re tired from traveling here, so you can have dinner and go relax in your rooms!”
The sun had set by the time Yuugo and the others reached their destination.
Everyone said hello to the owner of the inn where they would be staying, and after being led to a dining hall, they had their fill of the food prepared for them.
“It’s so good…! It really hits the spot on my tired body…!!”
“This village is known for its tasty vegetables, so of course soup made using them is really good! And the fact that they were freshly picked only amplifies that!”
“I see…! But it really is good! I can’t wait to see what you can do with them, president!”
“Now now, if you have such high expectations, I’ll have to really use my skills! But we need to gather the ingredients first!”
Precia and Yuugo gulped down the food while having fun talking.
They were getting along nicely, but Hao was not amused, and cleared his throat before interjecting.
“President, and Yuugo too. Please check the room assignments.”
“Ah, thank you Hao. You’re always helping me out~!”
“Thanks! Hn…? Uh?”
Yuugo looked quizzically at the paper handed by Hao.
His friends also peeked at it and thought it was strange, and Melt voiced their doubts to Hao.
“Doesn’t it look like Yuugo and the others’ room is the only one away from the rest? How come?”
“A-ah, no, hum, well, there was some stuff…”
Groups of two or three were assigned to each room, and most of them were close to each other, but… The room where Yuugo, Marcos, and Phi were staying was the only one that was a little far from the rest.
It was almost as though the three of them were being excluded, and they all watched as Hao awkwardly tried to evade Melt’s question.
“What stuff? It’s not like there weren’t any free rooms.”
“Yes, but… Well, there really was some stuff…”
…Suffice to say, this was an idea Hao came up with after talking to Shian and Egos, to cut Yuugo’s contact with Precia.
From the point of view of Shian and Egos, if Yuugo was away, it would make it easier for them to get closer and win over Melt and An, so it matched perfectly with Hao’s motives.
However, this was so clearly a deliberate act to get that group away from the rest, that not only were Yuugo and the others suspicious, but Precia also questioned her vice-president’s decision.
Melt and the others looked at Hao with anger, feeling he was clearly excluding Yuugo on purpose, but it was actually Yuugo who threw him a bone.
“Ah… It’s okay. If it really was unavoidable, and they had to book one room away from the others, we’ll just have to accept it. We’re not even a part of the cooking club anyway. Don’t worry about it either, vice-president.”
“…Sorry, thank you for understanding.”
Yuugo knew Hao did not see him in a pleasant light.
It was natural considering what he did, so Yuugo felt it also made sense to try to keep him away from Precia, who Hao admired.
After Yuugo accepted it as punishment for the bad behavior of his past self, Hao was left with a bad aftertaste, and thanked him and apologized.
Melt and the others were not convinced, but if Yuugo said so, they would not complain any further.
And not too far away from them, Shian was sitting down, and asking the owner of the inn a question.
“Ma’am, can I ask something?”
“Oh~? Are you hitting on me? My name is Serel~! I am a widow and have one child, but we can still get married if you want!”
“Hahahahaha, you’re funny.”
(Who’d want to hit on an ugly fat old woman like you!? Gross!!)
Shian responded amicably and with a warm smile to Serel, but inside, he did nothing but hurl abuse at her.
He felt a woman past her fifties who was more than chubby needed to know her place, but focused and asked his question.
“We’re going to be gathering ingredients in the forest near the village starting tomorrow, but is there anything we need to watch out for? Like sightings of monster armor beasts…?”
“Oh!? You know your stuff! Yes! There was a monster armor beast sighted nearby not too long ago!”
“Eh!? R-really!?”
Precia was surprised to hear this.
She felt perhaps they should not be picking ingredients in the forest if there was a dangerous thing like that around, but Serel smiled and soothed her worries.
“It’s all right~! The monster armor beasts were already dealt with!”
“Eh…!?”
This time, it was Shian and Egos who were surprised.
Serel did not notice their reactions, and continued speaking to the cooking club.
“There was a sighting a while back, but they sent guards here! They took them out no problem! The forest is safe! Don’t worry and pick what you want!”
“Oh…! That’s good~! Thank goodness!”
“Sorry~! I misspoke and worried you~! Ah, but…”
Serel’s loud laugh shook her body, but then she stopped.
Yuugo and the others wondered what was the problem, but then she smiled awkwardly.
“It’s just a really small thing, but a boy from this village ran away from home and he’s holed up in the forest somewhere. So it’s not like there’s no problem at all…”
“Eeh!? He’s alone in the forest!? Isn’t that pretty bad!?”
“It’s okay~! He just got mad because his parents were upset with him, he’ll be back soon. If you want, look for him while collecting ingredients.”
“Y-yes…”
They thought it was dangerous for a child to run into a forest where monster armor beasts had been sighted, even if they were taken down, but Serel did not seem to mind too much.
Yuugo thought it was strange, but also that Serel was more familiar with the forest than any of them. But then he noticed Shian and egos whispering to each other.
“What’s up?”
“Nothing. It’s nothing.”
“It’s nothing that concerns you.”
Yuugo thought back, and remembered that this conversation started with them, when they asked a question as if they knew some sort of trouble happened in the village. But speaking to them only got Yuugo curt answers, so he figured he wasn’t going to get anything out of them.
He thought if they, like Hao, knew of his bad behavior, it was hard to imagine them getting along. And so, he stopped thinking about it, and instead started to enjoy the food again, eating well in preparation for the next day.
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