[18.3] I am Groo-[REDACTED]

Felix started walking, "I'm excited there is actually interest in my club. I was beginning to think no one at this Academy had class."

Felix looked at me with a look of intrigue, "Do you know about the history of art?"

There's a history of art here? I wonder if it's the same as it was in my world.

Cyrus groaned, "Not another lesson."

I ignored him and shook my head, "I don't know. What is it?"

Felix started his long history lesson, "You may not know this, but painting and art aren't very common among humans. The reason why can be traced back to a thousand years ago when the first piece of art surfaced. Although no one knows why there were never any drawings or sculptures of living things up until this point. Then, suddenly human portraits were being made and lifelike landscapes were drawn. Some believed the portraits were humans stuck inside and that the landscapes may be a portal to another world."

A portal to another world? Is such a thing possible?

My eyes sparkled with curiosity, "Where are those paintings now?"

"Nobody knows. They were lost to history. However, they found ancient scrolls that said that it was actually a demon who came up with the art technique and it was so beautiful that people were afraid it was some kind of Demonic magic. The Holy Light army, led by Alora, started a campaign that said only demons were interested in and skilled at art. Of course, this was debunked hundreds of years later. However, there is still a stigma surrounding it. Even now some people think that only those who suffer from demonic delusions or people who are inherently evil are interested in art."

Just how far back in time is this world…

Zephyr scoffed and spoke telepathically: <<Don't believe this crap. Alora loved art and thought it was amazing. She would never claim that only demons were skilled at it because I was so terrible.>>

I glanced at him and raised an eyebrow: <<This isn't the first time you've mentioned her. Were you intimate with her or something?>>

His face burned red uncharacteristically: <NO WAY! Who would be intimate with that hellish woman!? She may have been beautiful with an attractive body and I may have->>

He abruptly stopped and his face went a darker shade of red.

I gasped: <<Oh my gods. You actually were.>>

*Poof*

He turned into his fox form and ran away in embarrassment.

Looks like I was right…

However, as he ran past Hazel, she snatched him up with lightning-fast speed. She coddled him like a baby as his face was frozen in horror. Hazel giggled, "Reika! Your fox familiar is so cute!!"

I corrected her, "He's not a fox he's a cat."

"O-Oh…"

Zephyr squealed in her arms, "I'M NOT A CAT YOU TRASHY GIRL!"

Hazel grinned at him and rubbed down his fur, "He's so soft!! I want one!"

He growled at her, "Little girl! I WILL bite you!"

I ignored him and spoke to Hazel, "Don't you have a familiar?"

She shook her head with a sigh, "No… I have no magical affinity so I couldn't sign a contract even if I wanted to."

"Couldn't you just get a pet?"

She tilted her head, "What's a pet?"

I frowned.

This world is messed up.

I glanced at Felix, "Wait. I've never seen you with a familiar. Do you have one?"

He grinned, "I do. It's a familiar with an affinity for only wood elements. I keep it in the art club room when I'm in class, so you will get to see it soon."

When we entered the room, he motioned to a potted plant with a large grin, "Here he is."

I stared at it dumbfounded, "...It's a plant."

He nudged the small plant with his finger, "Wake up, Root. Come say hello to Reika."

The plant twitched at the sound of his voice. The two single leaves fluttered and pushed on the soil. The tiny plant wiggled out of the ground revealing roots as feet. It hopped over to me and waved with its leaf.

I stared at the small creature in disbelief, "...Grout?"

He shook his head, "No. I call him Root. But you're close."

I reached out to it and poked its leaves. It wiggled and wrapped the leaf hands around me. I giggled, "It's kind of cute."

Felix was a bit shocked, "I'm surprised he likes you."

I frowned, "Why wouldn't he? Everyone likes me."

Zephyr scoffed, "Everyone hates you."

I pushed him over in annoyance.

Felix forced a smile, "Actually, Root isn't very nice to people. I have no idea why… See, watch this. Root. Look! There's Cyrus."

Cyrus looked over in a panic, "W-What are you doing!? Wait! This is a new suit! AH!"

Root picked up soil and started throwing it at Cyrus as if angered.

Caldwell jumped in front of him, "I will save you, young master!!"

A handful of soil struck Caldwell and he fell down dramatically. He held out his hand to Cyrus, "Remember… Me…"

Cyrus frowned, "No."

Caldwell looked as if he would cry, "Young Master!!!"

Hazel giggled, "You all are a lot of fun."

Felix picked up Root, "Okay, okay. Enough fun."

After putting Root back in his pot, he started setting up canvases for each of us. He smiled, "Take a seat."

We all sat down and stared at him expectedly. Hazel looked at the canvas in front of her, "What are we painting?"

Felix grabbed a table and started laying things out, "How about a still life?"

Cyrus tilted his head, "What is that?"

Felix answered with a patient voice, "You just paint the thing you see. In our case, it's the items I placed on the table."

Ah… This takes me back to when I took my first art class… How nostalgic.

Everyone started painting with a relaxed expression.

...Except for Zephyr and Cyrus.

Zephyr looked as if he was fighting a great war and used his hands to paint rather than use the brush Felix had given him.

Cyrus was focusing so hard, that I could almost see wrinkles between his brow turning permanent.

Well… At least they are having fun?

Hazel sighed in contentment, "This is really nice. I should come here every day."

Felix grinned, "Please do! It's nice to have someone here with me that actually enjoys art. Do you think you'll come back, Reika?"

I nodded happily, "Definitely! Painting is the best stress reliever."

And I am in serious need of a stress reliever after everything that's happened to me.

Zephyr snickered, "I know of a better stress reliever."

I glared at him, "Shush. Children are around."

Hazel tilted her head and looked at Zephyr curiously, "What do you mean?"

I smiled at her, "Eating cake."

Zephyr smirked, "More like eating peaches."

…Who raised this scoundrel.

"Ooh." She nodded in understanding, "I see."

Felix glanced at Cyrus, "Cyrus? What about you? Are you going to come back?"

He was so focused he didn't even hear us.