Volume 1 Chapter 8 Ran And Sweethearted Bento Time
"Hey, Mobu. Let's eat lunch together."
"Yeah."
Ran slid the wobbly Z-class desks together with a metallic clatter. Morning classes had just ended—it was finally lunchtime.
"The girls' dorm breakfast was super fancy today."
"Is that so? The boys' dorm was the same as always—miserable."
"So today, it's a feast. Here."
She placed two small, neatly arranged lunch boxes on the desk. It felt almost surreal. Back in my previous school, I never ate lunch with a girl. Just this alone made it feel like I was living in a dream.
"Look."
"Yeah... This looks amazing. Beef cutlet with veggies, scrambled eggs, and even meatball stew."
"Right? Hehe."
Ran and I lived in the old dormitory. Naturally, meals weren't provided there, so we ate separately—Ran in the girls' dorm, and me in the boys'. Due to staff scheduling, lunch was only served for students ranked Class A and above. Everyone below that either went hungry or survived on preserved foods from home.
To begin with, students in Class S or higher got special treatment at every meal. They even dined in a VIP room alongside the teachers. The food there was supposedly on a whole different level.
"Here, Mobu. Open wide..."
Ran lifted a piece of beef cutlet I had just bitten and brought it to my mouth.
Ah... Is this one of those scenes? Something out of the junior high school dreams I never got to experience? If so, I wasn't about to let the moment slip away.
"Aahn," I replied, letting her feed me.
The cutlet crunched lightly as I bit down. The juicy, savory flavor of the beef burst across my tongue. It was insanely good. Without a doubt, the girls' dorm had better cooks than the boys' dorm.
"Is it good?"
"Yeah."
"Yaaawn... Mobu, you're so cute."
Ran smiled, clearly pleased.
Neither of us had real families to rely on, and we both hated skipping lunch. So each morning, Ran packed up leftovers from the girls' dorm cafeteria into a lunch box. Due to dieting or picky appetites, there were often extra side dishes left behind. I'd noticed those meals were way better than what we got.
Some students mocked her, saying it was stingy or desperate. But I didn't care. Ran and I were poor. That was our truth. While others relied on their parents for tuition and allowances, we were surviving on our own. We had nothing to be ashamed of.
Ran wore the Z-class badge, but everyone knew she had the skill to pass into the elite SSS class without breaking a sweat. The SSS class sat at the very top, beyond even S or SS. No one dared criticize Ran out loud. Some whispered behind her back, but I ignored them.
Whatever I asked of her, Ran did without hesitation. She was that kind of person.
And honestly, after my previous life as a corporate drone ground to the bone, I didn't have the heart left to care about petty gossip. If that kind of thing still got to me, I would've given up a long time ago.
"Delicious, Mobu."
"Yeah, Ran."
"...I wish we could've shared this with everyone in the village."
Her hands stopped moving, and her eyes dimmed with sadness.
"Don't worry about it. We warned them about the monster. There was nothing more we could do."
I gently patted her head.
"That's what I tell myself too, but..."
Ran was kind. And incredibly beautiful.
Until recently, she'd always worn secondhand clothes from the orphanage. Even then, her cuteness was obvious—but now, wearing the fitted uniform of Hector Royal Academy, she looked like someone entirely new. They say people shine when they're polished, but this was something else entirely.
The blazer hugged her figure tightly, the shirt buttons straining just a little. Her slim waist and the gentle curves of her thighs peeked from beneath her skirt. Long, elegant legs stretched out from beneath the hem. The uniform brought out all the beauty that her rural clothes used to hide.
Her face was well-shaped, framed by flowing golden curls. I hadn't met every girl at the academy yet, but from those I'd seen, none compared. Even Margrethe—the refined daughter of a noble—couldn't match Ran in pure charm.
Walking beside her, I felt every guy's gaze settle on us. It was no wonder Blaze, the academy's main hero, carried such a bitter sense of defeat.
"Hey Mobu, what's the afternoon class again?"
Ran placed one of her meatballs into my lunchbox.
"Thanks."
She always shared her food with me, smiling whenever I wolfed it down. Since lunch was the only time we ate together, she always looked forward to it.
"Hmm... this afternoon..."
I tried to remember the schedule.
"Introduction to Magic, I think."
"Ugh, that's the one that puts me to sleep."
Despite her massive magical talent, Ran was always so laid-back. I laughed softly.
"Well, the class is just silent reading. No wonder it's boring."
At Hector, everything ran on merit. Higher-ranked classes got better dorms, food, and even lessons. In A-class and above, students were taught practical combat and spellcasting by real warriors and mages. The SSS class even had legendary figures from the kingdom as instructors.
But for the lower ranks—B through Z—it was a different story.
Classes were mostly just lectures. Not even proper ones, either. We sat there in silence, flipping through dusty, marked-up textbooks passed down for generations. The teacher was a frail, bald old man who spent most of the period asleep at the podium.
The books had titles like "Basics of Combat," "How to Read Terrain," and "History of Magic." It felt like high schoolers being forced to read elementary-level material. That's how far behind we were.
Honestly, I hadn't expected it to be this bad. In the game, the story followed Blaze's point of view, so the academy scenes were all full of stylish SSS-class battles and character arcs.
They should've at least thrown in one Z-class event. The only thing Z-class got was that one humiliation scene where a rebellious student challenged Blaze and got flattened.
"Let's take a peek..."
I pulled out the Introduction to Magic textbook and flipped to today's page. Not that it mattered—everyone just read on their own anyway. I opened to the section I was supposed to be on.
Now then, let's see...
Notes:
• Ran - Female. An orphan and a close friend of Mobu. She has long, dark hair and a gentle appearance. Ran is kind and trusting, often relying on Mobu for guidance. She survives the demon attack by hiding in the secret base with Mobu.
• Hector - A prestigious academy located in the kingdom, known for training adventurers. It is primarily for the children of nobles and wealthy merchants, with a few spots reserved for those with true ability. The entrance exam is practical rather than theoretical.
• Margrethe - Female. A new student and sub-heroine character in the game. She is a Mage class with low physical strength. Her appearance is not described in detail, but she is noted to have a pleasant scent. She initially comes off as hostile but warms up to the protagonist, Blaze, over time. She is proud and insists on being addressed with honorifics, reflecting her noble upbringing. She has a strong dislike for men, considering them weak and arrogant. Her relationship with Mobu starts on a tense note, but she eventually shows a more vulnerable side, acknowledging her need to improve her physical strength.
• Blaze - Male. The protagonist of the game, born into the wealthy Rosinore family. He has blond hair and a heroic appearance. Blaze is kind and lacks arrogance despite his status. He is destined to become a hero and defeat the Demon King. His relationship with Mobu and Ran is complex, as they are not part of the main story.
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