Hazel

What Nova expected was a stall with a kitchen or maybe just food samples there.

He arrived in hell.

『...Where is the part where this is the cooking club?』[Nova]

In front of Nova was a bunch of boys trying to impress the girls of the cooking club and vice versa.

Freyana covered her eyes, but let her ears go a little pink.

Through her covered eyes, she glanced to the side at Nova and began to speak.

『...I swear these are the new students. 』[Freyana]

『...I see.』[Nova]

The boys were offering to cook to some girls, whereas the girls were either mostly uninterested or offering to cook for the boys.

『...This is… a bit hard to look at.』[Nova]

She grabbed the hem of his uniform and gently dragged him to the side without drawing too much attention.

『...I… haven't been in the club much longer than everyone else, so I didn't know what to expect...』[Freyana]

Nova found her response amusing, so he poked her on the forehead.

Her head bounced back a bit as she covered her forehead with her hands.

『Ow! What was that for?』[Freyana]

He found a bit of fun in doing this.

『...For fun?』[Nova]

She looked up at him with slightly concerned eyes.

『So… is that a no on the cooking club?』[Freyana]

Nova thought about it for a moment, but decided against not joining.

『I can just join, then go to other clubs, right?』[Nova]

Her eyes sparkled a bit when he said this.

『...Yeah! Let's go sign up really quickly!』[Freyana]

They went over to the table and saw a familiar crimson red hair that called out to him.

『Oooh! Are you looking to join the cooking club, Nova?!』

It was Saeyeon standing next to another female club member with brown hair that seemed to be a bit depressed.

Nova hesitated when he saw the depressed person, but went for it anyway.

『...Yeah. I'll join! How do I do it?』[Nova]

She put her hand out and held it open.

『Hand me your student ID!』[Saeyeon]

Nova took it out and gave it to her.

『Alright! Hazel, the club pad, please?』[Saeyeon]

The girl who Nova thought was depressed brought a strange disk out and laid it on the table.

Saeyeon nodded and was about to put Nova's card onto the disk when the girl suddenly grabbed Saeyeon's wrist.

『...Senior, please wait.』[Hazel]

Saeyeon was a bit surprised, but she nodded.

The girl pulled in front of Saeyeon a bit and faced Nova directly.

『...Why are you joining this club?』[Hazel]

Nova took a moment to think because he thought saying "Freyana suggested it" would be a bad idea.

『Umm… Because I like cooking?』[Nova]

When she heard this, her expression seemed to get a bit hostile.

『Really? Prove it.』[Hazel]

Nova was taken aback by her sudden hostility, but accepted her challenge.

『...Sure. How can I prove it?』[Nova]

She nodded.

『If pour water on freshly boiled noodles, what happens?』[Hazel]

Nova thought deeply for a moment.

『Umm.. The cooking process stops, but it washes off the noodle's starches?』[Nova]

Her eyes widened up a bit.

『Searing is to..?』[Hazel]

『Cook with a high heat for a short time?』[Nova]

She nodded her head.

『What makes sauce thick?』[Hazel]

『Uhh… starches?』[Nova]

She grabbed Saeyeon by the arms and began to jump up and down.

『Finally! A student that isn't horny!』[Hazel]

The entire area heard her and most of the boys became a bit self conscious…

『Pfft.』[Saeyeon]

Saeyeon broke into a laugh as she scanned Nova's card.

『HA HA HA HA HA HA!』[Saeyeon]

『Hmm? What's so funny?!』[Hazel]

Saeyeon nodded to Nova as he gave him back his student ID.

『Isn't there someone we know, latched to Nova's arm?』[Saeyeon]

Once Hazel looked over, she saw Freyana hugging Nova's arm.

She immediately began to talk to Freyana.

『Oh! Lil' Frey! What are you doing here?!』[Hazel]

『I- I- I wanted to take Nova around to look for clubs!』[Freyana]

『...Wait. Saeyeon, you're in the cooking club...?』[Nova]

The topic was swapped over to her.

『Huh? Yeah. Why do you ask?』[Saeyeon]

『...You didn't really seem like the type of person to cook.』[Nova]

『...I can cook… Actually, all of Lotus team can cook!』[Saeyeon]

Nova had a hard time believing that.

『...Even big sis Sarena?』[Nova]

When Nova mentioned Sarena, Saeyeon's face twitched for a moment and she lost her composure.

『...Okay, we can ATTEMPT to cook. Most people in Raidagem teams eat another dinner after their mission. If you look in the back of each team's room, there should be a kitchen. You can order ingredients or just be lazy with Mage's Meals.』[Saeyeon]

After she said that, an overbearing silence lingered before Nova said something.

『...So, Sarena really can't cook..?』[Nova]

『...We still eat dinner in the cafeteria.』[Saeyeon]

Freyana happily chimed in here.

『That's right! So that means you can still eat my food for dinner, even if you join a Raidagem team!』[Freyana]

『Still. I can't believe someone so young could cook such difficult recipes...』[Hazel]

When Freyana heard her, she was confused.

『...Hmm? Like noodles?』[Freyana]

When Hazel heard this, she was shocked.

『...The food that's infused with mana? And how you make already complicated recipes while you do that?』[Hazel]

Now, even Nova was confused.

『...Infused with mana?』[Nova]

After a moment, Freyana started to understand what they meant.

『...You mean how when I put mana into the food and it makes the food better?』[Freyana]

Hazel nodded very strongly.

『...How to sum it up- makes the food give the consumer more mana, at the cost of the chef's mana, yes! It's a traditional thing that the old houses do in order to raise up stronger heirs! Didn't you know?!』[Hazel]

Even Nova was stunned at this- now he understood why the portions were always enough for him, even after getting stronger.

For a moment, Freyana put her finger to her chin and just thought.

『Hmm….』[Freyana]

After a good moment of waiting for what she was going to say next, she broke the silence.

『My mom taught me how to do that!』[Freyana]

Saeyeon and Nova burst into laughter while Hazel just stood there dumbstruck.

『...Ta-taught you how t-to?』[Hazel]

Saeyeon couldn't contain her laughter.

Hazel lost her composure and harshly slipped onto Saeyeon, allowing Saeyeon to catch her.

『Hahah- Huh?! Hazel? You good?!』[Saeyeon]

After slipping into the grasp of Saeyeon, Hazel slowly recovered bit by bit.

『Uhh?! I'll help out here. Nova, please go ahead and look for other clubs!』[Freyana]

She ran over and supported Hazel.

Nova just nodded and was about to leave, right as he overheard Hazel say something.

『I'm… Ha-ha-Hazel! Ni-Nice to meet you, Nova.』[Hazel]

He looked back at the still shaky Hazel- who was struggling to regain her composure.

『...Nice to meet you too!』[Nova]

He walked off after saying that.