95 Granny

After Nova had turned the broken shards of glass and technology into the machine Reagan used, he and Cael waved goodbye to each other.

Nova watched as Cael went toward the handful of misty workstations in the background.

『...I wonder when I'll see the rest of them?』[Nova]

By the time he left the building, it was already afternoon.

Cael told Nova that his points should be available before long and that he should be looking forward to getting a new, personalized status plate.

Nova's mind was stuck on the Raiment that flashed on and off before breaking.

While he was walking, he kept thinking about the Raiment that appeared before the plate exploded.

「Raiment, huh? I guess there's potential to be had here. Maybe it wasn't just something I was imagining..」[Nova]

After a moment, he suddenly knocked into something and was sent straight to the ground.

『Ouch! I'm sorry!』[Nova]

When he opened his eyes, he saw an elderly woman with gray braided hair to the side who had almost shut eyes and a kind smile.

She grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him off of the ground and dusted him off gently.

『Ah- Thank you.』[Nova]

『...Mhm. Are you alright, young man?』

『Ah… yes. Are you okay?』[Nova]

Once he asked this, he realized that she didn't have a single scratch on her.

She nodded with a peaceful look on her face.

『Yes, quite alright. What's your name, young man?』

『I'm Nova. What should I call you?』[Nova]

When she heard his name, her peaceful smile and eyes were disturbed before she returned to her usual face.

『You may call me Granny.』[Granny]

Nova was slightly put off by her suddenly asking him to call her Granny.

『Uh… okay!』[Nova]

He just went with it.

Her peaceful smile got a little wider.

『Right, Nova dearie. What is your house name?』[Granny]

『Uhm… I don't have a house. I suddenly awoke at the public awakening ceremony.』[Nova]

Her smile seemed to sink down a little, but her eyelids opened up a bit and looked straight into Nova's eyes.

Nova stared back into her eyes and was met with two bright blue shining pupils.

『...You have very beautiful eyes, dearie.』[Granny]

She suddenly pinched at Nova's ears.

『Ow.Ow.Ow.Ow.Ow.』[Nova]

『And very pinchable ears!』[Granny]

Her eyes returned to their natural resting state as she pulled Nova along the direction she was coming from.

『Huh?! Where are you taking me, Granny?!』[Nova]

『I'm going to feed you.』[Granny]

『But I'm not h-』[Nova]

Just as he said that, his stomach began to start growling.

『Oho. You should listen to your elders~.』[Granny]

『Ah! Weren't you going the other way?!』[Nova]

She began to pull at an even faster speed that caused Nova to see nothing but blurs.

『WAIT! JUST HOW FAST ARE YOU GOING?!』[Nova]

She seemed to completely shrug off Nova's question though.

『Hmm? I think I will take a bit of a detour.』[Granny]

Nova's ear felt like ripping off.

『...CAN'T I AT LEAST WALK?!』[Nova]

『Huh? What was that dearie? I can't hear you over this blasted wind!』[Granny]

Nova resigned himself to his fate with one final shout.

『BLESSED FLAME REBIRTH!』[Nova]

A blue flame covered his ear.

...

Nova held a blue flame to his ear as he and Granny stood in front of a familiar door.

『Oho. Sorry about that, dearie. I couldn't hear you over the wind.』[Granny]

Nova sighed.

『It's alright.』[Nova]

Now that Nova got a closer look at her, she was taller than he thought, just a few inches shorter than him.

She wore a sweater with a corgi printed on the back and had track pants.

She seemed to be easygoing, so Nova didn't really worry too much about calling her Granny at all.

『Anyways, what are you doing around, Granny?』[Nova]

『I was on my way to a club I managed because there was a new student, but I think taking care of you is the priority, oho. 』[Granny]

Nova was taken aback.

『Huh?! New student? Isn't that pretty important? You should go!』[Nova]

She had a contemplative face for a moment.

『Hmm… They probably left already. It's been a few hours and there isn't much to do, after all.』[Granny]

Nova sighed and shrugged.

『Okay, Granny. Lead the way.』[Nova]

She opened up the door and led Nova into a very familiar room.

『..Isn't this room...』[Nova]

When Nova looked around, he saw a bunch of students scurrying around.

『Right. It's the cafeteria. Where else would you find food?』[Granny]

Some clinking and dropping noises scared the both of them.

『Oh my.』[Granny]

『NOVAAAAAA!』

Nova was hit by a giant green impact that he recognized right away.

『Nova, Nova, Nova!』[Freyana]

The impact knocked both of them to the ground with Granny watching in amusement.

Freyana rubbed her head into his chin.

『Freyana? You're doing stuff in the open now?』[Nova]

When he looked down, he realized she was wearing the official Genesis Academy uniform now.

『Yeah! I'm officially a student here!』[Freyana]

He also saw her giant green fairy wings behind her.

『What about your wings?! Won't they recognize it?』[Nova]

『My seed! I just say it's convenient.』[Freyana]

After a moment, some other people ran over as well.

Anastasia and Sophia were included in this group of people.

『Huh? What are you doing here, Nova?』[Sophia]

『Are… Are you okay?』[Anastasia]

Nova lifted himself off of the ground with Freyana still hugging onto his arm.

『Yeah. I'm alright. What are you guys doing here?』[Nova]

Sophia awkwardly looked away while mumbling.

『Err.. Uhh? I wanted to learn how to make mana infused food- not to say that my food was previously bad, or anything!』[Sophia]

Nova nodded- completely believing that she had no idea how to cook.

She moved her hands back and forth in denial.

『It's not what you think! It's not like I'm trying to improve for anyone!』[Sophia]

Things suddenly connected in Nova's head.

『...Oh. Okay.』[Nova]

He then realized that Anastasia was here as well.

『Wait. Anastasia, why are you here?』[Nova]

She seemed a bit zoned out and needed Nova to call her name a few other times.

『Huh? I'm sorry, what did you say, Nova?』[Anastasia]

She shook herself back into reality.

『What are you doing here?』[Nova]

『...The cooking club and the fine dining club are working together..』[Anastasia]

Nova didn't know how well these two were handling the club, but he put on his best poker face smile.

Granny finally grabbed him by the ear again.

『Come on, sonny. It's time for you to eat!』[Granny]

Everyone finally realized Granny was standing there.

Once Saeyeon and Hazel heard that voice, they came walking from the other side of the room.

『Grandma Sue?! I thought you left to go to another club?!』[Saeyeon]

『Grandma… Sue?』[Nova]

When Nova said this, she frowned and pinched on his ear harder.

『Ow, ow, ow!』[Nova]

『For you, it's Granny.』[Granny]

She dragged him and sat him down nearby after separating him from Freyana.

『Ohoho. I won't let any of you girls date him unless you satisfy my palette.』[Granny]

『...Huh?』[Nova]