Shirud’s steps felt unusually light today.
Although he saw the sky every day, it felt especially fresh today.
His heart, filled with expectations for the days to come, would have been difficult to calm if he were not a mage handling the Circle.
Because today was ‘that day’ that all the academy students had long awaited.
“Ah, finally, it’s vacation.”
Shirud muttered as he looked up at the sky.
After a long semester, winter vacation had finally begun.
It truly felt long.
After a moment, Helena chimed in.
“Yeah, it’s vacation.”
Vacation is really nice.
Because everything that troubles students gets resolved once vacation starts.
The biggest issue for kids of that age is, of course, the academy.
In that sense, Luke, who could come and go from the academy as he pleased, seemed like such an enviable child.
“You don’t seem very excited.”
“Well, for me, it doesn’t really make a difference whether there’s vacation or not.”
Although he attended school to see the kids after a long time, it didn’t feel special since it was vacation.
He already came only when he needed to or wanted to.
Moreover, unlike other kids, Luke was preparing for graduation rather than vacation, so his indifference was heightened.
Having completed the graduation exam, his graduation next year was guaranteed.
However, whether Luke was indifferent or not, today was still a good day.
Starting from today, he wouldn’t have to wake up early to come to the academy, he didn’t need to go to bed early, and there was no need to attend boring classes; he could go out and play as he pleased.
Going on a long trip that he couldn’t take during the semester wouldn’t be bad either.
“But it’s not good to be too lax just because it’s vacation.”
That was Mary’s remark.
It was rare to walk home with Mary.
That’s because Mary usually stayed in a dormitory since her family home was far away.
But today, with vacation starting, the reason for staying in the dorm had disappeared, so they ended up walking home together.
However, to be nagging while walking home together seemed unfortunate.
“If you focus too much on playing, you’ll forget about your vacation homework.”
That was a valid point, but Shirud couldn’t agree with Mary’s words.
“What? Are you going to keep talking like a class president? We’re second years now. Besides, vacation homework isn’t that big of a deal.”
Mary seemed to have internalized her role as class president after serving from the first semester into the second semester, but now that they had advanced a grade, she was no longer a class president.
And besides, the vacation homework was barely making something out of recyclables, writing a vacation report, an observation journal, and a diary.
This kind of work could be suitably forgotten and wrapped up just a week before school resumed.
Even though it was Tigr Academy, there was a basic age-related educational curriculum set by the state, so they wouldn’t give unreasonable assignments to students who were only 11 years old.
I heard that serious vacation homework only gets harder after you exceed the sixth grade.
However, nearing the age of 12, that felt very far off, so he really didn’t need to worry about it just yet.
But Mary was an upright kid.
“Still, that attitude is not right.”
“But you can’t say you study properly either, right?”
Before scolding someone else’s lack of diligence, she needed to reflect on herself.
You can’t talk about a student’s duty without mentioning study.
But at that statement, Mary replied with a proud expression.
“I heard that those who give orders don’t need to be smart; they just need to follow the rules well!”
That was nonsense.
Regardless of how valid the point, if the person making the statement is ignorant, the argument lacks persuasion.
Thinking that, Shirud opened his mouth.
“Huh, who says that?”
“My dad.”
“……That’s a good saying.”
Upon thinking about it, it seemed to make sense.
At that moment, Mary asked.
“Shirud, then what are you going to do during vacation? Do you have any important plans?”
“I don’t know, I don’t really have any plans………”
“What?! Then you better do your homework properly!”
“Hmm.”
However, Shirud didn’t want to say that he would do his homework properly.
If he acknowledged that, it would become a promise he had to keep.
So, Shirud glanced at Luke for a moment, but since talking to Luke would likely just lead to more homework admonitions, he turned his gaze to Helena and asked.
“Then Helena, what about you? Do you have any plans?”
Helena responded with a slightly bitter smile.
“Um, my dad said he’ll be busy starting today with formal heir training.”
“Ah….”
Shirud, who was all set to have fun, fell silent for a moment.
She was only 11 years old, yet already heir training…
That seemed a bit early, but ultimately, it was someone else’s family matter.
It was hard to not come to the conclusion that her family had a rather strict atmosphere.
By the way, heir training was not completely unrelated to him.
He would likely face a similar fate in the future.
Since he was an only child and his father was also absent.
He wouldn’t be undergoing heir training while attending the academy, though.
Elves have long lifespans, so they generally have plenty of time.
Moreover, if she were a high elf…
Anyway, was Helena unable to play today?
Shirud looked at Helena’s gloomy expression and asked.
“So, you can’t come out to play with us today?”
“Probably. I have to come home early today.”
“That’s disappointing. It’s been a while since Luke is here, and I was planning to go to a place you would like, like a karaoke bar. Can’t you escape for just today?”
“…I’m sorry. My home is kind of strict. They already have a car waiting at the gate. I’ll probably have to get right in the car as soon as I leave the academy.”
“Ah.”
Then there was really nothing that could be done.
They had to let Helena go.
However, was it due to Helena’s disappointed feelings?
The atmosphere among the group felt strangely cold.
And then, it happened.
– Grrrrowl -.
Luke’s ears perked up.
“…What was that sound just now?”
It definitely came through loud and clear.
That was most certainly the sound of someone’s stomach.
Luke turned his head toward the direction of the sound.
Then, he made eye contact with Helena, who shook her head vigorously.
“I-it wasn’t me! Not at all!”
“Is that so? Then….”
Luke’s gaze naturally drifted to Shirud beside her.
Then Shirud scratched his cheek awkwardly and opened his mouth.
“Sorry.”
He thought Luke couldn’t hear, but Luke had surprisingly sharp hearing.
“That was my stomach.”
“Ah, I see.”
At that, Luke seemed to think.
It wasn’t because Shirud’s house was poor and he was starving.
In that case, it would suggest indigestion or a stomachache.
Eventually, Luke spoke up.
“Shirud, are you perhaps feeling sick? I happen to know some good herbs and treatment methods for stomach pains—.”
But Shirud interrupted his words.
“It’s not that, I just didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”
Shirud knew that if Luke lingered in this mood, he would only react more intensely.
Thinking back to when they went on a school trip to Beriton and Luke kept insisting on applying spit to the mosquito bites on his own face, it was easy to understand.
At times like this, it was best to put an end to it right away.
“Oh, is that all?”
Luke nodded as if he understood.
“But why did you skip breakfast? Did your family run out of food….”
“Why think there’s no food first? I just overslept and was too lazy to eat. I went to bed a bit late yesterday.”
“Ah, is that so… I’m glad.”
Luke seemed quite smart, yet there were certain aspects where he appeared rather foolish.
These days, who doesn’t have food to eat to be worrying about such things?
At that, Mary shouted, as if to prove her point.
“See! Because you didn’t go to bed on time, you ended up hungry! That’s why rules are important!”
“….”
Shirud had nothing to say.
If he hadn’t played games less the night before and had gone to bed at a reasonable hour, he would have woken up in time to have breakfast.
At that, Luke wore a thinking expression before asking.
“Then you must be really hungry now?”
“…That’s true? Well, it’s okay. Even if I’m a little hungry, I can still play….”
“Oh no, how can a growing child say they can skip meals? That’ll be a big problem. Kids need to eat well to grow properly.”
“Ugh….”
He couldn’t argue back because it was Luke saying it.
Meals during the growth period…
Seemed incredibly important.
As Shirud was left speechless and averted his gaze, Luke lightly smiled and turned his attention to Helena.
“And Helena, once you leave the academy, you’ll have heir classes.”
“Huh? Uh… right?”
Helena, caught off guard by Luke’s sudden question, replied awkwardly.
Then Luke nodded and suggested a clever idea.
“Perfect timing. Since you’re here, let’s have a meal inside the academy for a bit. Helena, it should be okay for you to leave the academy a little late, right?”
After a moment of thought, Helena replied to Luke’s follow-up question.
“Huh? Well, that should be… alright?”
“Great.”
At Luke’s words, curiosity filled Shirud and Mary.
“What do you mean by that? A meal inside the academy? Today’s classes finished early, so there’s no lunch, right? Since there’s no canteen planned, there would be no food prepared either.”
“Right, how do you plan to handle that? Any brilliant ideas?”
Luke nodded as if it were obvious.
He was not someone who proposed ideas without any plan at all.
“I have a method all figured out.”
