Time passed, lunch break.
Among the students rushing toward the cafeteria, Third slowly rose from his seat.
Finally, the promised time had come.
Lunch break, the scheduled fight on the roof.
Third casually glanced at the spot where his opponent had sat.
For some reason, he hadn’t seen him since the morning.
‘Hmm, is he preparing something in his own way?’
This was not an action that Third couldn’t understand.
Wasn’t it the same for both parties to take their best action before a fight?
He didn’t know what kind of tricks his opponent might pull, but he too conserved his strength to be as prepared as possible.
As a result, he didn’t feel tense.
No, rather, he felt somewhat excited.
He was curious as to how a person who could easily brush aside his killing intent would approach him.
Ever since Dylan’s death and the subsequent handling of matters that had forced him to leave the underworld, he hadn’t experienced a fight that felt this intense.
Of course, while hanging out with the aggressive Carlos, there had been occasional brawls outside the Academy, but those were usually just teenage scuffles at most.
The memories of the time he lived solely for fighting had almost faded away, yet the sensations from that time still lingered, frustrating Third.
Those annoying days spent fighting in places where no one would know, filled with such anger that was inevitable back then; now, having become accustomed to peace, he found himself longing for the air of that time.
Perhaps this was a contradiction inherent to human nature.
As Third pondered these thoughts and stood up, he noticed a few students cautiously rising from their seats behind him.
They seemed to be students wanting to watch the fight on the roof during lunch break.
‘Could they be spectators…? How bothersome.’
Spectators were not desirable in many ways.
It could become dangerous just to watch from the sidelines.
If a real fight broke out, it was a given that spectators could be put in harm’s way.
But that wasn’t the only issue.
His fighting style was a typical alleyway type, meaning there was no ‘back’ for him.
If it didn’t end within at least one or two exchanges, he would inevitably be the one to lose—extremely efficient against a first-time opponent, but if it went awry, it was a straightforward approach that could be countered.
Such weaknesses hadn’t mattered in the past alleyway fights.
After all, the witnesses would all end up dead and gone.
But if there were spectators, wouldn’t that change the situation?
In the Academy, he couldn’t simply go about killing all the witnesses to silence them like before.
Well, he wondered if he would even resort to such means, but until he understood what tricks that guy Jack might be hiding, there was no harm in keeping some cards hidden.
Third cast his gaze at them.
“Don’t follow me.”
“……!”
Hearing Third’s words, the students who were about to rise immediately sat back down.
This made it clear that Jack had brush aside the killing intent with ease.
It had certainly been effective on the other kids.
Then how in the world could he have brushed aside that killing intent?
It was a mystery he couldn’t solve no matter how hard he thought.
As he contemplated this, Third opened the back door of the classroom.
Well, he intended to open it.
“D-Don’t go.”
The small girl blocking Third’s path was Umi.
However, she was far too short to be at Third’s eye level, and her voice was so tense that it lacked the strength needed to halt Third’s steps lost in thought.
Yet, thinking that Third was ignoring her, Umi grabbed his leg to stop him and continued speaking.
“D-Don’t go! There’s no need for you to fight!”
Naturally introverted and passive, Umi had mustered the courage to speak up.
She genuinely hoped that Third wouldn’t go to the roof.
In fact, Umi had been quite anxious since a while ago.
It couldn’t be helped since the fight was happening because of her, and regardless of who won or lost, she had nothing to gain from it.
Although Third had once shielded her, there was no guarantee that his kindness would last indefinitely.
Just like that moment when he had shielded her—what was to stop Third from changing his mind later on as he found it all a nuisance?
Moreover, Third wouldn’t always be there to keep an eye on her so that Jack wouldn’t bully her.
It was obvious that Jack would sneak off somewhere outside Third’s line of sight and torment her.
If Third ended up losing the fight, it would be the worst possible outcome for her.
It was a foregone conclusion what would happen to her in the absence of her minimal defense.
In conclusion, both scenarios led to the same conclusion: Jack’s bullying would intensify.
Amid these thoughts, Umi spoke hesitantly, “I-I’m okay. Just having you step up for me is enough to make me happy…”
As she spoke, Umi’s voice trembled.
In such an unfortunate situation, she felt pathetic for being forced to make the lesser of two evils.
And she felt an overwhelming gratitude and guilt towards Third, who had protected her even for a brief moment.
But Third spoke with an unsettling calmness.
“Because I made a promise.”
“…Huh?”
“Because I made a promise, I’ll keep it. That’s all there is to it.”
Upon hearing Third’s words, Umi was momentarily taken aback.
A promise? What promise?
Could it possibly be the promise to protect her from the person who bullied her?
No way, such sweet words couldn’t possibly exist…
“So, there’s no need to cry over something trivial. It’s just wasting your strength.”
Third spoke, wiping Umi’s tears with his hand, and his expression was more resolute than anyone else’s.
At that, Umi had no choice but to release her grip on his pant leg.
“Okay, then… make sure you win.”
Perhaps Third could be a more impressive boy than she thought.
Of course, the promise Third referred to was simply the promise to go to the roof during lunch break.
——–
“Alright, if you win the bet, you’ll raise the price of the recipe by 1.5 times and make me pay for it. Are you accepting?”
“Is that for real?”
“Yeah, if you want, I can even write up a contract.”
Luke was slightly perplexed by Kaila’s unexpectedly compliant response to the bet.
In fact, 1.5 times was just a throwaway line, and he had planned to adjust based on Kaila’s betting conditions gradually, but she nodded without hesitation right from the start.
What kind of conditions did she intend to throw in for Kaila to accept this so readily?
“Surely, you’re not going to ask for a discount on the recipe, right?”
Of course, he had no intention of losing, but neither did he want to take on unnecessary risks.
Wouldn’t that make it merely a simple cash payout?
Well, he couldn’t exactly criticize someone for asking for a larger sum, given he was the one who initiated the money request, but the price of the recipe was something Luke still needed to purchase multiple items for.
However, it was also unpredictable whether he could win, given his current ‘bad luck’, so there was a chance he could actually lose.
Unless he had confidence, it was undoubtedly wiser to avoid risks if possible.
“Come on, I wouldn’t be asking for less from you regarding the recipe price, would I? If I did, my mom might just scold me for bullying a junior.”
“Is that so?”
Luke rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
If it wasn’t about money, what in the world could Kaila possibly want from him?
Kaila, observing Luke’s contemplative demeanor, offered a cryptic smile and spoke.
“Don’t worry too much; after all, I wouldn’t expect much from a 10-year-old.”
“Phew, that’s quite reassuring to hear.”
At her words, Luke relaxed slightly and wore a more comfortable expression.
In situations like this, being ‘10 years old’ often served as a protective shield in many respects.
When he was approached by a male for the first time, he could refuse simply by invoking that phrase, and even when he accidentally inconvenienced someone due to his inexperience, it was easily forgiven due to his age.
At present, Luke was unwittingly making good use of that status of being “10 years old.”
“But doesn’t that make the bet pretty unfavorable for you? I’m starting to feel a little sorry for you.”
Luke looked at Kaila with a somewhat worried expression.
At the same time, Kaila smiled brightly and replied.
“You don’t need to feel sorry. Just so you know, whatever extra I give you is a bonus, and anything I keep is embezzlement. Regardless of the bet, that’s only fair.”
Luke was taken aback as he looked up at her, surprised by the clear ethical stance she held.
She was a surprisingly principled employer.
“But, how about if I win the bet, can I lick your ears and tail a bit? It’s just that I’ve been needing to stock up on that lately…”
Cancel that.
Kaila was losing her mind.
“What?! Why would you lick that!”
Luke was taken aback, practically jumping back as if he had just heard something extremely perverted.
He understood well enough if it was just about touching and could even willingly offer; after all, he occasionally found himself brushing through his own fur and unconsciously petting it because of how nice it felt. In fact, he sometimes offered his tail to Helena.
But licking was a whole different realm!
Luke backed away from Kaila as if she were a criminal, shocked.
However, Kaila seemed to find his reaction strange, looking at him as if she were confused.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you groom with your parents at home? At 10 years old, isn’t that still a common thing?”
“Huh? Groom? As in grooming?”
Grooming is the term for the act of animals like primates or mammals using their tongues or hands to clean their fur.
That instinctive behavior surely still existed in Kaila, a beastfolk, and grooming was an entirely natural act within a household of pure cat-type beastfolk.
Recently, Kaila had been feeling rather solitary as her once-close 9-year-old younger brother, who used to groom her, now refused her touch, citing embarrassment, and claimed they don’t groom with sisters in other households.
In that situation, seeing the cute Luke, a fellow cat beastfolk, might naturally make her think, ‘I want to lick him.’
However, to Luke, who had no way of knowing that background, it was just shocking and deeply embarrassing.
As Luke was flustered and confused, a club member next to him chimed in.
“Hey, but that’s probably because the president’s mom is a cat. Luke might not do that since he’s a mixed breed. There are a lot of houses where they don’t when you’re 10 because of embarrassment.”
“Ah, I see. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Kaila nodded knowingly, as if realizing something for the first time.
So that meant Kaila was speaking about an instinctual act completely devoid of any sexual context.
In light of this, Luke started to question whether he really was the strange one.
‘Certainly, I know nothing about the culture or family of beastfolk. For cat beastfolk, perhaps that was a daily occurrence…’
Just as Luke was pondering whether he had committed a faux pas due to his lack of cultural awareness, a nearby club member leaned in closer and whispered.
“Luke, I still think the president is the strange one.”
No matter how cute Luke was to the point where someone would want to groom him, the fact remained that he was a stranger, not family.
That was a major faux pas.
Eventually, Kaila’s bet terms were compromised to “If I win the bet, I’ll get to pet Luke all day.”
