When training class ended, it was lunchtime.
But to head straight to the cafeteria,
they would surely have the smell of sweat and the dust of the earth clinging to them after moving their bodies throughout the entire class.
And so, the students headed toward the changing rooms where they had changed into their protective gear before entering the training grounds.
Beside the changing room where they had put on their training gear before class,
there were also shower rooms where they could quickly wash up.
One by one, the students took off their training gear, gathered their uniforms,
went into the showers, and washed away the sweat and dirt.
After that, they changed back into their uniforms.
Of course, I couldn’t follow them all the way inside,
so I waited quietly for Elysia outside the corridor where the showers and changing rooms were.
I thought Richard might come pick another fight,
but surprisingly, he left the training grounds without saying a word.
‘He’s leaving quietly again. When that type gets quiet, it actually makes me more uneasy…’
A little while later, the students who had washed up began coming out into the corridor one by one.
Among them, a few of the female students glanced at me.
Some slowed their steps as if reluctant to leave, but in the end, they headed straight toward the cafeteria.
They probably wanted to touch me.
“Haku.”
A little later, I heard a familiar voice.
When I raised my head, Elysia was walking out from the direction of the showers.
Back in her neat uniform instead of her training gear,
Elysia gave off a completely different impression from the sight of her holding a sword just moments ago.
Perhaps because she had washed off the sweat and dust, her rose-gold hair looked much more orderly,
and the collar of her uniform was neat, without the slightest disarray.
“Sorry for making you wait.”
Elysia spoke quietly.
Instead of answering, I immediately ran to her.
And, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, climbed onto her head.
“……You really do seem to like being on my head.”
Elysia gave a small laugh and raised a hand, lightly supporting me so my body wouldn’t wobble.
‘It is comfortable.’
I crouched low among her golden hair.
Maybe next time I should try sitting on her shoulder. With my current body, her shoulder wouldn’t be bad either.
That would probably be better for Elysia, too.
If I stayed on top of her head too much, it might strain her neck…
After confirming that I had settled into place, Elysia quietly started walking toward the cafeteria.
“After lunch, we have afternoon classes. If you’re tired, it’s all right to rest a little.”
She spoke in a low voice.
I gave my tail a small flick.
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to rest, of course.
If anything, I wanted to rest all day if possible.
But the problem was that when I dozed off on Elysia’s head,
for some strange reason, even more gazes gathered around us.
The corridor was far more crowded with students than before.
And naturally.
Most of those gazes were directed at me.
I was lying sprawled out on top of Elysia’s head.
‘……They’re staring again.’
I had thought I had at least gotten somewhat used to the classroom and the training grounds by now.
But the cafeteria at lunchtime was different.
If the gazes I received in the corridors and classrooms were merely the curiosity of a portion of the students,
the gazes gathered in front of the cafeteria were much broader and more blatant.
Students from other departments, upperclassmen, students who walked around with familiars,
even the cafeteria staff were glancing at the top of Elysia’s head.
At me, to be precise.
“What is that?”
“A fox?”
“It’s on Lady Valerion’s head.”
“It’s silver with a bit of pink mixed in, isn’t it?”
“I guess it’s a familiar.”
“It’s so tiny……”
I half-closed my eyes and flattened my ears slightly.
If I couldn’t avoid it, I had no choice but to get used to it.
I didn’t know if academy life was originally like this,
but at least judging by today alone, my plan for a quiet life had completely failed.
I had attracted attention from the very first class.
I had erased magic at the training grounds.
Elysia had defeated Richard in a mock duel.
And now, we had advanced all the way to the lunchtime cafeteria.
Thinking about it, the moment I climbed onto her head in the first place, I had already strayed far from ordinary.
Elysia remained calm despite the flood of gazes.
She took a tray and quietly walked toward an area with fewer people.
Since the center of the cafeteria was already crowded with students,
she headed for a relatively quiet seat near the windows.
Of course, “quiet” was only a relative term.
The moment we sat down, the surrounding gazes gathered again.
“She sat over there.”
“Would it be even cuter up close?”
“We probably shouldn’t touch it, right?”
‘You understand well.’
I slowly raised myself on top of Elysia’s head.
I couldn’t stay on her head for the entire meal.
If Elysia was going to eat, I had to stay out of her way.
I carefully climbed down along her shoulder and hopped down beside the chair.
And once again, the surroundings stirred.
“It came down.”
“It’s walking around.”
“Look at its tail.”
‘Of course I walk around. Reacting to every little thing like this is already tiring me out.’
Pretending not to notice, I sat in the seat beside Elysia.
Elysia set down her tray and looked at me.
“Haku, are you hungry?”
I thought for a moment.
Considering my current condition, I could endure without eating if I wanted to.
The reason I had been hungry when I first came to this city
might have been because I had only just arrived in this world.
But now, as long as I circulated my spiritual power properly, I could go a few days without issue,
and if necessary, I could slowly absorb the surrounding energy.
But that wasn’t the problem.
Right now, I was Elysia’s familiar.
It would be strange if a baby fox didn’t eat.
And more than anything.
Too much had happened since this morning.
‘It should be fine to eat a little.’
I let out a small cry.
“Kiing.”
Elysia’s expression softened a little.
“I’ll give you a little at a time.”
She looked over the food on her tray.
Today’s lunch consisted of roasted chicken, vegetable soup, soft bread,
and a side of sliced fruit.
Perhaps because it was a cafeteria used by many students,
the portions were not small, and the meal seemed to have been planned with nutrition in mind.
Elysia tore the chicken into a very small piece.
Then she placed it on her fingertip and held it out in front of me.
“It’s not hot. Eat slowly.”
I looked at her fingertip.
The gazes of the surrounding students followed as well.
‘……They’re watching this too.’
I hadn’t expected even my eating to become a spectacle.
But if I didn’t eat, that would be even stranger.
Giving up, I stretched my head forward.
Then I took the small piece of meat into my mouth.
“…….”
It tasted fine.
Better than I had expected.
I hadn’t had high expectations for a training grounds cafeteria, but the meat was tender and not overly seasoned.
It wasn’t burdensome to eat with the body of a baby fox, either.
I chewed slowly and swallowed.
Then tiny exclamations rose from the surroundings.
“It ate.”
“It ate from her hand.”
“It’s so well-behaved……”
‘It’s just eating.’
Of course, I ate only a very small amount.
If I ate too much in the body of a baby fox, it would be uncomfortable to move,
and above all, if my belly became round, there was no doubt there would be another strange reaction.
No, it might already happen.
“Look at it eating little by little.”
“Its mouth is so small……”
“It really is a baby fox.”
‘I’m not a fox. No, before that, have you never seen a fox before? Don’t react to every single thing like that.’
I only answered inwardly.
At that moment, Elysia quietly laughed.
It was a very small, faint laugh.
I raised my head and looked at her.
The face that had been tense all morning had relaxed a little.
The cold expression she had worn when she clashed with Richard,
and the self-reproach she had shown at the training grounds, had both faded for now.
It was simply the face of someone quietly sharing a meal.
Seeing that expression, I was momentarily at a loss for words.
‘So she can make this kind of face too.’
The young lady of House Valerion.
A sword with talent, yet unable to fully bloom.
A child who always tried to stand neatly amid the expectations and judgments of those around her.
That was all I had been thinking of her as,
but right now, Elysia looked like an ordinary student sharing her lunch with a small familiar during the noon break.
It wasn’t bad.
Truly.
“Haku.”
Elysia called softly.
I moved only my ears.
“During training earlier…… thank you.”
For a moment, I froze.
‘Did she notice?’
Elysia quietly looked into my eyes.
“I don’t know exactly what you did or how you did it. But it felt like you were telling me it was all right.”
“…….”
“So thank you.”
I looked at her for a moment, then turned my head away as if it were nothing.
“Kiing.”
I have no idea what you’re talking about.
I’m just a baby fox eating its meal.
That was the meaning behind my cry, but Elysia only smiled even more gently.
“Mm. It’s all right if you pretend not to know.”
‘……It’s troublesome when you’re too perceptive, too.’
For no reason, I tapped the edge of the plate with my forepaw.
Elysia didn’t pry any further.
I liked that about her.
She suspected, but didn’t forcefully dig deeper.
She watched, and waited.
She was more delicate than I had thought.
I accepted another piece of fruit from Elysia and ate it.
A fresh sweetness spread through my mouth.
‘This is nice.’
I liked it more than the meat.
Perhaps noticing that my reaction had changed slightly, Elysia blinked.
“Do you like fruit?”
I gently swayed the tip of my tail.
“Kiing.”
“Then eat this too.”
Elysia shared a little more of her own fruit with me.
I accepted it and ate.
The reactions of the surrounding students were now almost beyond saving.
“It must like fruit.”
“It wagged its tail.”
“It looks really close to Lady Valerion.”
“Rather than a contracted familiar……”
“What?”
“No, it just looks like family.”
At those words, Elysia’s hand paused for a moment.
I stopped chewing the fruit and looked at her.
Elysia said nothing.
But her emotions flowed over very faintly.
Surprise.
Embarrassment.
And a very small, warm feeling.
‘Family, huh.’
I lowered my gaze.
That word was not easy to simply brush aside.
I had been reborn in this world,
but this body, this name,
and this situation still did not feel completely like mine.
The memories and instincts of this body kept shaking me,
and yet this girl had picked me up.
She had let me ride on top of her head.
She was sharing her food with me.
And when I was bullied, she had gotten angry.
‘……It’s not bad.’
I let out a small breath.
Then I lightly placed the tip of my tail on the back of Elysia’s hand.
Elysia looked down at me.
I bit into the piece of fruit again.
As if it were nothing at all.
Elysia looked at me for a moment, then smiled very quietly.