Ch 109 – Meeting Between Two Liers
***(The Next Day)
'AHHHHH! I just want to die right now!' Imerda screamed loudly in her mind. As of now, she can be seen walking on a stone pavement just beside the road under the shade of emerald green trees. She wore the Sage's Magic Academy uniform consisting of a black blazer with the golden insignia of the academy placed on the right side of the chest, a black skirt, and black stockings that reaches up to her thighs.
Her face was beet red as she felt the urge to just slam her head to the gray wall beside her from sheer embarrassment, nay, from the sheer cringe coursing through her very veins. The suffocating feeling from her heart made the scenes flash back vividly in her mind.
*** (Flashback)
"Yo."
There he was, the physical incarnation of beauty itself. His wide purple eyes full of child-like innocence. His soft, supple lips colored Sakura pink. His milky white skin. His cute, dainty nose is similar to a petite doll. His frail figure was both slim and fragile. Everything about him made Imerda think of one thing, and that thing was the word "Perfect."
Just one simple glance, one simple word, and the blood rushed towards Imerda's nose before her whole world turned blank.
*** (Flashback End)
'AHHHH! Why is he so goddamn cute?! Ngh, if he were to call me onee-san, I don't know what I would do to him in the heat of the moment!' Imerda bit her lips as her face flushed harder. Putting her right hand in her bag, she took out a white piece of paper and glances down at it.
Looking at it, she saw a pair of letters and words cutely written in an erratic matter.
'Ah! I still can't get over how cute he is! Even his handwriting is so cute!' Imerda squealed in her mind before remembering what happened after she got a nosebleed.
*** (Flashback)
'Eh?' That was Imerda's thoughts after she opened her eyes only to be greeted by a white, unfamiliar ceiling.
Slowly, she leaned her body forward to see she was currently lying down on a small, white bed. The feeling wasn't all that bad, but it still wasn't comparable to her luxurious king-size bed costing tens of gold to buy. Clutching her aching head, she yawned slightly before her eyes shot wide open after remembering what happened.
'N-No way! There's no way I would experience the anime trope of getting a nosebleed by just looking at somebody… But, but! He's just too damn kawaii! Kya!' Imerda blushed as she plop down on her bed and rolled around, the butterflies she felt in her stomach made weird emotions play in her heart.
'His name was Lute, right? Ahhhh! Lute, his name is also cute!' Imerda thought, before rolling to her right and seeing the table holding a white note.
Sitting up, she slowly grabs it with an interesting look. Opening her mouth, she read the following passage slowly with a soft voice, "Emily-san, I hope you're okay! When I suddenly found you bleeding to death at the library, I didn't know what to do and teleported you to the infirmary. But then I remembered I know healing magic so I could have just healed you from before, ehehe… If you are reading this, I'm sorry for taking off your glasses, they were getting in the way when I panicked, but don't worry, I put them just beside this note, uh… I don't know what to say next, goodbye!"
'My glasses?' Imerda questioned, before her eyes widened in shock as she blushed lightly.
'Does that mean… Does that mean he also saw my face?! Ahhh! I didn't put on any makeup today! Stupid, stupid, stupid Imerda! Not only that, my cheat wasn't activated at all, now he must have seen how I looked at my worst! Bleeding and all! AHHHH!' Imerda plop her face down on the white pillow on the infirmary bed she was sitting on, screaming loudly in a muffled tone at the sheer embarrassment she felt.
After a while, she dragged her face away from the pillow and looked back at the note with a slightly blushing face. 'Eh? What's this?'
"Also… also, I think that you look pretty without your glasses, Emily-san! But even with it on, you also look pretty cool and mature! Goodbye!"
Reading the tiny little text on the bottom of the paper, a goofy grin appeared on Imerda's face as she can't help but imagine how Lute had his face beet red writing this down.
"Ehehe."
*** (Flashback End)
"Ehehe," Rereading the last passage, Imerda grinned with a hint of lust in her eyes.
But as she chuckled lightly, she suddenly heard a young boy's voice right beside her. "Um… Good morning, Emily-san."
It was meek, light, and soft, but it was akin to a ghost to Imerda who was too focused on her own fantasies. Shocked by the sudden voice, she screamed lightly before banging the back of her head towards a nearby tree.
"Ak!" Dropping down to her knees, she took a deep breath and felt the sharp pain coming from the back of her head before looking up once more. And what greeted her made her stomach drop to the deepest depths of hell.
With a short stature akin to a child, wide dark purple eyes full of innocence, supple pink lips, and skin as plump as a babe's bum. His whole appearance just screamed "I'm a cute shota!" that made Imerda's mind come to a complete halt at how unimaginably cute he was, even with his glasses on.
"L-L-Lute-kun?!" Imerda gasped, before her eyes widened, and remembered how stupid she looks right now.
"Y-Yes? Are you okay, Emily-san? It seemed you hurt yourself pretty bad right there," Lute crouched down right beside Imerda whose face turned a flushed red like a bright tomato. Stretching his hand out, Lute slowly grabbed the back of Imerda's head as her mind went from slightly blank, to no thoughts head empty.
"I order thee, as a scholar of magic, fixed thine targets damaged body, [Heal]."
As a soft green light covered Imerda's body, her ocean blue eyes looked at Lute's warm purple eyes and can't help but mutter softly, "C-cute."
"Hmm? Did you say something, Imerda-san?" Lute asked, grinning at her lightly to see if she was okay.
"N-nothing!" Waving her head to the left and right, she blushed lightly before finally realizing how soothing his healing spell was. After a while, she slowly stood back up and patted the back of her head, only to feel that it was all healed with no hints of pain coming from it.
"Uwah! Thanks for the help, Lute-kun!" Imerda cheered, grabbing Lute by the hands and shaking them to show her thanks. Her face was bright and sunny, her smile was wide and her cheeks were rosy. The bright sun above them sent blocked sunrays towards them through the thick layer of leaves.
"It's no problem, Emily-san," Lute responded. Turning his body away from Imerda, he grinned and bid his farewell, "Goodbye, Emily-san, see you back at class."
Her eyes widened upon seeing Lute walking away from her, and before her rational mind can think of any response, she shouted loudly, "W-wait!"
"Hmm? Do you need anything, Emily-san?" Turning around, his dark purple eyes illuminated by sparkling sunlight directly met Imerda's eyes.
"L-lets walk to school together!" Imerda shouted in the heat of the moment before her face became flushed red after realizing how it sounded like a proposal. She could already feel the sound of her heartbeat thumping loudly at the amount of cringe she was inhaling right now.
'Ahh! I'm too much of a virgin otaku for this!' Imerda thought, before hearing Lute's soft chuckle.
"Sure, let's walk to school together, Emily-san."
It was like the tunes directly coming from the nine heavens. Like the soft lullabies of a sweet mother cooing her child to sleep. Looking up, her eyes widened and sparkled, and saw Lute's grin that directly pierced through her thumping heart, 'KYUUUN!'
***
It was unbearable, the silence between the two made Imerda want to bury herself in a hole right now as she doesn't know how to start a conversation. Most of the time, others would start the conversation considering her cheat was passively activated, but now, she was just a normal girl who had a lavish upbringing, and in the end, she was still a virgin otaku in her previous life.
"Emily-san."
"Yes!"
"About yesterday-"
'Oh shit, here it comes.' Imerda thought, her fist tightened for the oncoming cringe while she steeled her resolve to burden the embarrassment.
"Can I ask why you were bleeding from your nose?" Lute asked politely. He wore an amicable smile while adding, "You don't need to answer if you don't want to, I was just curious considering it might become a dangerous problem if it's related to your health."
'H-he's worried about me! He's not only cute but also kind! Uwah, he's totally boyfriend material right now!'
"Well, you can say I overexerted myself with my Spirit Magic," Imerda said, but deep inside her mind, she was grinning widely at the great response she gave. Even with the panic she felt, the response she gave was truly just chef's kiss.
"Eh? You know how to do Spirit Magic, Emily-san? Well, I guess it is normal considering how charming you are, ehehe," Lute chuckled lightly before turning his head back to the front, where many other students like them headed off towards the Magic Academy in the distance.
'Eh? Eh?! EH?! D-did he just say I was… I was charming?! KYUUN!' Imerda felt like passing out right now, her mind started to create romantic and sexual fantasies in her mind, a skill she developed over the years she was a degenerate otaku in her previous life.
"Eh herm, yeah, yeah. W-what about you, Lute-san? What magic are you most proficient in?" Considering they were both students of the Magic Academy and they were on the topic of magic, Imerda decided to continue on this topic.
"Well, I can say I'm pretty proficient in Tier Magic," Lute grinned, but the last bit he added made Imerda almost reel back in shock, "Also, I'm a 6th Tier Mage right now."
'A-A Rank?! Did he say he's an A-Rank Mage?! Imerda had her eyes opened wide. Shock and disbelief flashed through her blue eyes.
"R-really?"
"Yeah, and I already know more than 100 spells, so I think I'm a pretty good mage," Lute said with a small smile. But what seemed like a small feat with how Lute acted so nonchalant, was actually a ginormous feat belonging to the greatest of mages.
'100 SPELLS?!' Imerda thought, she subconsciously gulped before shaking her head. Taking in deep breaths, she nodded her head and decided to say her own feats.
"Well, I'm also a 6th Tier Mage. Though I'm really not proficient in Tier Magic considering I came from the Central Continent. Eh, wait, are you a native of this kingdom, Lute-san?" Emily inquired, now curious at the place of origin Lute came from.
"Oh, me? I came from the Central Continent too. I wanted to further my magical studies and decided to come here. Though I was surprised I got in considering I was a self-taught mage," Lute simply smiled and continued to walk.
"Eh? You're self-taught?" Imerda asked, now her interest was fully hooked.
"Mmm. I came from a small village and decided to become an adventurer in the Pendragon Kingdom after gathering up enough money. After that, I spent some time being an adventurer and earned enough money to join the Mage's Guild. After some things here and there, I'm now here," Lute chuckled and looked at Imerda in the eye. His eyes were pure, imerda instinctively knew that. He didn't curse his poor fate, he didn't hate how he was born in a faraway village, he simply did what he can and now he was here.
'He's not only cute, kind, but also so cool! Ahhh! I'm so head over heels for him right now! Just imagining him taking off his glasses might actually make me die, and if he whispers "I love you," to my ear, ahhhhhh!' Imerda squealed, that was until they finally arrived at the entrance of the academy.
'Oh, right, we're just strangers. After this, he'll just bid his farewell and ignore me forever.' Imerda thought, her aura now turning for the worse as she felt gloomy all over.
"It was fun hanging out with you, Emily-san. You want to eat lunch with me later?" Lute said. Hearing his words, Imerda's eyes opened wide and looked at Lute with sparkling eyes.
It was as if the whole world came to a halt for her. The rustling leaves, the noisy students in the background, the passing carts, it was as if the only things left in the world were her and Lute.
"Eh?" She softly muttered, her voice soft yet held a swirl of chaotic emotions.
"Hmm? Is everything okay, Emily-san?"
"W-why do you want to eat lunch with me?" She asked, her voice confused while she tightly clutched her thigh, hope flashed through her eyes as the bright sun above the duo shone brightly.
"Hmm, it's because we're friends, right?"
And in that one single instance, Imerda's felt her heart thump as loud as an exploding volcano. At that moment, she finally learned what true beauty meant. Her very perception of the world she lived in drastically changed, it was as if it became a lot brighter and dazzling. She could already feel her face flushing red while her heart beat erratically thumped, but she only smiled and said joyfully, "Mmm, we're friends!"
AN: This chapter has 2305 words.
Holy fuck, I watched too much anime. This chapter is just too cliche, but eh, it's all part of Braun's plan.
And yes, in my story, Imerda Pinata is officially a shotacon.
GIVE ME POWERSTONES, NOW! *KABOOM*
(August 4, 2022 – 253rd day of writing)