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chapter 11
Karsion carefully lifted his closed eyelids and looked at me with a hint of anticipation.
“…More than Fior?”
Should I be judging their personalities?
Even though they acted rough with each other, I knew neither of them was bad at heart.
Maybe that was why it was hard to compare and decide who was kinder. Still… when it came to looks, Karsion was definitely more handsome.
“Yeah.”
The moment the word of affirmation left my mouth, Karsion’s face broke into a radiant smile.
If he had a tail, it would’ve spun so fast it might’ve lifted him off the ground.
Unable to contain the grin pulling at his lips, he covered his mouth with one hand and said,
“Then that’s enough. I’ll make up with Fior, Rien.”
…?
What?
That single sentence both resolved the entire situation and sent mine and Fior’s sense of disbelief flying out the window.
I stood there blankly, thinking.
How do you quit a club again?
Unfortunately, today was my turn on duty.
Well, “unfortunately” might be a bit much—the tasks weren’t actually that many.
All I had to do was check the remaining mana in the enchanted blackboard and broom, and replace the mana stones.
The most annoying part was having to take attendance manually.
But that also meant I had to wake up earlier than usual.
Groaning all the way, I got ready before Jane and was about to leave the dorm when she suddenly ran out in surprise.
She must’ve woken up in a hurry—her hair looked like a five-star magpie hotel.
“Rien! You forgot this!”
“Hm?”
Jane handed me a large brown envelope and winked, as if saying “I did good, right?”
I looked at her in confusion. My books and stationery were already in my academy cabinet, so what could I have forgotten?
When I opened the envelope, I found the cookies we had bought together at the shopping district the other day.
Oh—she wants me to eat breakfast!
Right. Food is important.
I let out a small laugh and picked just one pack from the cookies she brought.
“I’ll just take this. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“Huh? Why only that one, Rien?”
I heard her flustered voice, but I pretended not to and left the dorm.
Actually, I bought those cookies for you.
I stuffed the cookie pack into my half-empty bag and hurried along.
On the way to the academy—so close it was practically next door—I noticed there were more students than expected.
It was even a bit noisy.
Isn’t it too early for this?
Though puzzled, I made it to the classroom safely and carried out my duties.
As I was finishing up, I heard footsteps entering the room.
When I turned my head, it was a girl I’d never seen before.
The strange thing was—she wasn’t from our class. Even if I didn’t know everyone well, I was confident in my memory.
As I stared, she seemed to notice and stammered,
“I-I’m just leaving this here.”
What she held was a cookie bag decorated with a pretty ribbon.
“Please don’t say I left it!”
Before I could ask anything, she stuffed it into someone’s desk drawer and ran off.
Watching her retreating figure, I finally realized.
So that’s what today is.
I became certain my guess was right during morning homeroom.
Professor Walter tapped the attendance book against the podium.
As always, he looked far too shabby to be a professor.
With a face full of distrust, he began,
“I trust that none of my students brought cookies today.”
He clearly didn’t trust us at all.
“But perhaps someone ‘accidentally’ forgot the rules. If anyone brought or received cookies, raise your hand honestly.”
The classroom fell silent.
No one even made a motion that could be mistaken for raising a hand.
Professor Walter’s brows furrowed.
“Right. Such good students.”
Again, he clearly didn’t mean it.
“Then how about anyone who saw someone bring or carry cookies? Raise your hand. I’ll remember the honest ones.”
At that, everyone in the class raised their hand—including me.
Professor Walter smacked his forehead.
“You troublesome brats. You just never listen.”
Muttering something like “Cookie Day, my foot… if I catch whoever started this…”, he pressed his temples and continued,
“There’s a reason Cookie Day is banned. You think it’s just because we don’t want to see your dating nonsense?”
For a moment, the students’ faces showed agreement.
Seeing that, he clicked his tongue.
“There’s a sad legend behind Cookie Day…”
Just as he began speaking nostalgically, someone raised their hand.
“Professor, we’ve heard that story over a dozen times already.”
“Be quiet and listen. Judging by your behavior, you need to hear it dozens more times.”
“Yes, sir.”
After a long explanation, he concluded,
“…So if you don’t want to die before me, don’t bring or accept any.”
In short: every year, incidents happened—someone poisoning gift cookies out of spite, or slipping in a love potion that turned out to be an aphrodisiac.
There were even fights over using the cooking classrooms.
“I’ll overlook it if you come clean now, but be careful. This is a warning.”
At that moment, the same student raised their hand again.
“Professor, did you ever receive cookies when you were a student?”
“Me? Well, a couple of times…”
“Oooooh—!”
The class buzzed with excitement.
“Tell us more!”
“Come on!”
“Professor, homeroom is over. It’s class time—you should continue the lesson.”
???
Just when it was getting interesting!
At that remark, Professor Walter glanced at the clock and said,
“Oh. It’s already this late. Good thing this period is my class. Let’s continue the lesson.”
I ground my teeth.
There are annoying people everywhere.
Despite the students’ complaints, he continued teaching.
I half-listened while lost in thought.
So that’s why snacks had been banned this week.
I’d assumed it was because some important guest was visiting the academy.
Truthfully, I hadn’t bothered to find out.
Even now, knowing what day it was, I found Cookie Day ridiculous. It was probably just a commercial gimmick anyway.
And since I’d never heard of it before, it must be something only popular at Arena Academy—or maybe just in this region.
For reference, Cookie Day is when girls give cookies to boys they like.
Well, I don’t have anyone to give them to, so it doesn’t matter to me.
After first period—
“What?! You didn’t know it was Cookie Day?!”
Jane’s loud voice drew everyone’s attention to us.
I tapped her shoulder to calm her.
“Relax. I’ve never even heard of Cookie Day before. It’s normal not to know.”
“Then why did you take the cookies I gave you and thank me?!”
“I thought they were for breakfast.”
Jane gasped, her voice trembling.
“D-don’t tell me you ate them?!”
“I forgot about them in my bag…”
I pulled out the cookie pack. Jane’s pale face immediately brightened.
She really must love cookies.
I held them out to her.
“Want some?”
She pointed at herself repeatedly, as if she’d misheard.
“Me? You’re giving them to me? The only pack you brought?”
(Nod.)
“Oh my gosh, Rien! How can you give that to me?!”
Her high-pitched voice rang through the classroom.
The other students shot us unfriendly looks.
Noticing them, Jane’s eyes flashed.
“What are you staring at? Want your eyeballs ripped out?”
The hostile gazes instantly vanished.
(For reference, she’d been wearing her “boss-like” makeup since the first day of school to make a strong first impression.)
Ignoring the stares, I felt oddly dejected that Jane had refused and quietly fiddled with the cookie bag.
“I thought you liked cookies.”
At my subdued voice, Jane panicked.
“No! I do like cookies! And I really appreciate it—really! But…!”
“But?”
She glanced around, struggling for words.
“R-right! Cookie Day is when girls give cookies to boys, right? This isn’t right.”
“But I don’t have any boy I like. Not like you, anyway.”
“Rien…!”
Her eyes widened, touched—before she snapped out of it and slapped her own cheeks lightly.
“You don’t have to give them to someone you like! Y-you can give friendship cookies!”
“Friendship?”
“Yeah! Like to someone in your club…!”
Jane grabbed my hands, eyes sparkling.
But I shook my head.
“I think it’s better not to give them at all than to cause unnecessary misunderstandings.”
Especially since someone in my club—Karsion—might like me.
I couldn’t bring myself to say that last part out loud.
