17 Troubles of The Heart

『Okay. Please start this from the beginning.』[Sarena]

Oswald and Nova had made their way to Sarena's room afterward, as there was a lack of any classes or instruction until next week.

『Okay. So after I beat the food challenge, I got to-』[Nova]

『Hold on. You beat the food challenge?! What's wrong with you?! Did you not eat in preparation of it?』[Sarena]

『No, I pushed myself to eat it- but after I beat it, there was a girl in the kitchen, and she called me in.』[Nova]

Sarena sat back in her chair.

『Alright, so what?』[Sarena]

『Then she told me to come closer, and she pointed to her ear- so I thought she was trying to motion me to listen to her.』[Nova]

『Okay, that sounds about right.』[Sarena]

『Then, she kissed me on the cheek-』[Nova]

『Haaah?!』[Sarena]

Sarena jumped out of her comfortable position and slammed the table hard enough for it to shatter to pieces.

『Woah!』[Oswald]

��Ah.. Ahem. I'm sorry. Continue.』[Sarena]

Sarena had a pink blush.

「I haven't even kissed anyone or got kissed before..」[Sarena]

『A-Alright.. So.. I left, then she showed up at my room with food for Rai and Leo..』[Nova]

『Wait. You said she was in the kitchen?』[Sarena]

『Yes. She cooked the food.』[Nova]

『Pointy ears? Green wings?』[Sarena]

Nova nodded his head.

『Wait.. Nova. Did you..』[Oswald]

『I thought that they were a myth..』[Sarena]

Nova was starting to get worried.

『What? What did I do?!』[Nova]

『So, they say a long time ago, the 31st principal of Genesis Academy summoned forth a humanoid familiar. We're on the 209th principal, by the way.』[Oswald]

『She was a beautiful woman with blonde hair, green wings, and pointy hair. She called herself an "Elf". They fought together in battles until one day he was gravely injured. She used a large portion of her lifespan to heal him, then he fell in love with her,』[Sarena]

Sarena pondered the rest of the story for a moment.

『Then, it was said that throughout the world there were many people called "half-elves". They have innately stronger mana- even higher than normal nobles. The higher the purity of blood, the more traits appear. If she has wings, then she is probably really strong.』[Sarena]

『You sure know a lot about this, master.』[Nova]

『Of course! It's a famous love story-』[Sarena]

She covered her mouth and silenced herself, but the damage was already done.

『...Master?』[Nova]

Sarena lightly blushed.

『I'm a girl too.. nobody hates love stories..』[Sarena]

Oswald cleared his throat and changed the subject.

「Oswald.. I won't treat you badly anymore..」[Sarena]

『Well, nobody has ever seen the cafeteria chef and general staff of Genesis Academy, so it's possible they're all elves. Maybe pointing to their ears and giving a kiss on the cheek is a greeting.』[Oswald]

Sarena covered her face with her hands.

『...It's a declaration of pledging their life to a single person.』[Sarena]

At this point, Nova was actually crying. He looked toward Oswald.

『Os-bro.. What do I do?』[Nova]

『Uh.. Don't worry! I'll find a way out of this mess.』[Oswald]

Nova wiped his tears off his face.

『..Thank you, bro.』[Nova]

『Phew.. That's all right? You guys are don- Wait. What did Nova just call you?』[Sarena]

『...』[Oswald]

『..Os-bro?』[Nova]

『And what do you call me?』[Sarena]

『Master?』[Nova]

『..Why don't you call me by a nickname?』[Sarena]

『Uhm.. There isn't a name that sounds nice!』[Oswald]

Sarena started laughing but it began to sound dark.

『How about Sis-rena?』[Sarena]

『Uhm... Sis-rena!』[Nova]

Sarena's tense face immediately became relaxed.

『Yes. Good, Nova. Remember, if you do something for Oswald, you have to do it for me too.』[Sarena]

She glared at Oswald.

「Just when I decided that I wouldn't bully you anymore..」[Sarena]

『It's not my fault.. I swear...』[Oswald]

『..Do you want to go eat dinner in the first year cafeteria?』[Nova]

『..That's nostalgic, sure.』[Sarena]

『By the way, Os-bro. I was talking with your sister and became friends with her, but she was talking about how she watched me while I was sleeping and training or something, under Soryl orders?』[Nova]

『..You're giving me a headache. Why did you mention that now?』[Sarena]

『..It didn't seem that important at the time. I was too busy focusing on my training.』[Nova]

『..Anastasia? That emotionless little sister of mine?』[Oswald]

『..Sounds like Soryl knows about Nova, Oswald.』[Sarena]

『We are the best when it comes to stealth..』[Oswald]

『Well, let's go eat.』[Sarena]

They ran out of the door, and shut it behind them.

-----

They entered the First Year's cafeteria, where a number of students sat, defeated by the challenge.

Oswald walked past all of them and pushed open the kitchen doors.

Sarena and Nova stood in line with everyone else and watched in confusion.

『Excu-』[Oswald]

As soon as he spoke knives and silverware flew at him.

He blocked all of them, just barely- they were inches away from impaling him.

『I'm here with Nova, Nova! 』[Oswald]

The knives suddenly came together and spun until a cute girl appeared in place of them.

『Nova?! I'm so sorry! Please tell me what you came for!』[Freyana]

『So, I heard you.. Pledged your life to him?』[Oswald]

Freyana blushed.

『I.. I uhm.. Yes.』[Freyana]

『..Why? Didn't you meet him just today?』[Oswald]

『He was the first to ever beat the challenge from the Elves. I was going to give him the normal reward, but in the end, I wanted to give myself to him.』[Freyana]

Oswald looked at her with a conflicted face.

『Does he.. Not want me?』[Freyana]

Oswald coughed.

『...Why give yourself?』[Oswald]

『..The first leader of our elf clan fell in love with the person who summoned her. That was because when she ate, she ate a large amount due to how strong she was and how much mana she spent in battle. The first time she made food for him, it was way too much- yet he forced himself to finish. When she asked why, He and Nova said that same thing.』[Freyana]

『...What did he say?』[Oswald]

『"If someone cooks for me, I'd never leave any food left.".』[Freyana]

She placed her hand on her cheek and squirmed a bit.

『That's the love story of the elves! We've always looked up to our great ancestor! That's why we always did the challenge every year. It slowly became a tradition and the principals each year would even assign a reward to it- under the excuse that if you finished, you "ate like a mage"!』[Freyana]

Oswald's eyes were leaking a river of tears. He gave her a thumbs up.

『..I support it.』[Oswald]

He called Nova's student ID.

『Nova?』[Oswald]

『Yes?』[Nova]

『I'm proud of you.』[Oswald]

『..Thank you?』[Nova]

Oswald hung up.