Chapter 80 - A Little Hungry

The four of us continued fooling around, not realizing the strange looks we were receiving.

After leaning back in my chair, my eyes caught on to Reyna sneaking a glance at us. She appeared to be hesitating in making a decision.

A smile emerged on my face as my hand waved towards her.

"Hey, you seem to want to join in. Why don't you ask?"

Ned, Erin, and Alyx turned in the direction I was looking in. In fact, the whole class was staring at her.

Reyna was caught off guard. She tried to form words, but could only let out incoherent sounds.

My hand was placed on the side of my face like I was trying to hide my voice. My voice had the tone of a whisper, but it was loud enough for everyone.

"Pssssst. If you ask to join, you at least have my approval!"

Reyna was flustered.

"Um... uh..."

Ned smiled playfully, joining in my charade.

"Haha, I won't be against it either!"

Erin nodded with a smile.

"Me too!"

Reyna's eyes darted all across the room, without a particular destination. Soon, they landed on Alyx.

Seeing this, Alyx smiled bitterly.

"If my friends agree to it, I agree as well."

Reyna's purple hair was faintly trembling. She forced a smile on her face while her eyebrows trembled.

"Haha... can I join you guys?"

Alyx rolled her eyes.

"Isn't that obvious by now?"

Reyna had put her hands onto her desk but froze when she heard what Alyx said.

Reyna ended up awkwardly looking back and forth between us and her desk.

Ned put his elbow on the desk and used it to hold up his head. There was a playful smile on his face.

"She means yes."

Reyna picked up her desk and moved it over to us. Somehow, each step she took radiated with embarrassment.

She lightly placed the desk down next to us. She sat down but was unable to meet our gazes.

"Um... Hello, my name is Reyna."

Ned raised an eyebrow with a smile on his face.

"Haha, hey. We already know each other's names from the teacher calling us up, no?"

Reyna smiled awkwardly.

"Haha, I just thought you guys wouldn't remember me because of my mediocre talent."

Ned rolled his eyes.

"Since when was talent a measure for how well we remember people?"

My thumb pointed towards myself.

"Look at me! I literally have no talent, but they still remember me!"

Alyx shook her head.

"That's not something to be proud of!"

My face turned to Alyx and flashed a smile towards her.

"Too late! I'm already proud!"

Reyna couldn't help but giggle.

"How can you guys care so little about talent?"

Ned let out a tired groan.

"Why do you care so much about talent?"

Reyna looked at Ned in confusion.

"But talent determines your status!"

Ned raised an eyebrow.

"And why does status matter?"

Reyna furrowed her brows.

"Well... those with higher status are above others?"

Ned had been leaning back but sat up straight after he heard Reyna's remark. There was a smirk on his face.

"So what do you think my status is compared to yours?"

Reyna got nervous. Cold sweat started to form on her forehead.

"Your talent is abnormally strong, while mine is mediocre. That means your status is much higher than mine."

Ned pointed to Reyna.

"Then let me ask another question. Are you a person?"

Reyna nodded in a fluster.

"Uh, yeah?"

Ned pointed to himself.

"Now, am I a person?"

Reyna nodded, but she was confused.

"Yes?"

Ned smiled.

"So who cares about whatever status we have? In the end, I am a person and you are a person. We both think, feel, and hope. No matter what, we are the same in that aspect."

For some reason, Ned's words resonated with me. It made me recall that vision where I traded limbs with that four-horned demon.

Honestly, witnessing that scene back then filled me with disgust. Yet, now it didn't feel so bad.

Though that might be because there wasn't the taste of rotting flesh in my mouth this time.

Reyna was lost in thought after she heard Ned's words.

"Haha... maybe you're right."

People began getting up from their seats and leaving the classroom.

My eyes followed them as they left.

"Are they leaving to eat?"

Reyna nodded.

"Ah, yes. It is time for our servants to come and deliver us food, come on, follow me."

Reyna beckoned to us and we followed her lead. She took us to the school's courtyard. Just like before, there were carriages and people giving out food.

Ned rubbed his chin.

"Why doesn't everybody just bring their own meals to school? Wouldn't that be so much easier for everyone involved?"

Reyna raised an eyebrow.

"What? You can't expect us to eat spoiled food, do you?"

Ned was visibly confused.

"Food spoils that fast? You can't just reheat it?"

Reyna made a disgusted expression as though she was imagining it. She let out an awkward laugh.

"That... would be quite unpleasant, to say the least. You would have to freeze it and then reheat it if you wanted that... but... most people wouldn't look favorably on a mage that did so."

Ned shrugged his shoulders.

"Then we can just do that once we learn magic right? It's simply being practical, I could care less about what other people think."

There was a dull expression on Reyna's face. She seemed to spend a few seconds thinking about what Ned said.

"Yeah, that makes sense."

A butler came up to us carrying a dish but remained a couple of steps away. Reyna noticed it was her butler and walked up with a neutral expression.

She came back with the dish in hand. There was some meat, vegetables, rice, and a fork. Instead of eating, Reyna turned to us.

"Do you have people who are going to deliver food?"

My thumb and forefinger rubbed against my chin.

"There should be arrangements made for us, though I can't be sure."

Reyna nodded.

"Ah, that makes sense."

A butler ran up to us.

"May I know if you all are Ned, Alyx, and Erin?"

Ned was quick to reply.

"Oh, that is us. But aren't you missing someone?"

The butler furrowed his brows as he caught his breath.

"Who did we miss?"

My hand waved in the air.

"Haha, it's me. I spent a little too much time sleeping, so it's normal that I wasn't mentioned."

Beads of sweat formed on the butler's head.

"Um... we did not prepare enough for all four of you."

My shoulders shrugged.

"It's fine, it's fine."

My hand reached into my pocket, pulling out the piece of bread that Mildred gave me.

"I got something to eat, so it's fine."

In reality, I was actually very hungry. My stomach shriveled, sending pangs of pain to my mind.

However, I didn't eat the bread because, for one, the circumstances made it a little awkward, and two, I was still feeling disgusted by the taste of the four-horned demon's rotting leg.

Ned raised an eyebrow.

"Eh? That is hardly anything though. Ah, and you didn't eat breakfast either!"

My hand waved dismissively.

"Don't worry about it. I will just eat a little extra when we get back."

The butler nodded and calmed down.

"Ah, that is good. Anyways, please follow me to get your food."

The butler led us to the carriage, Reyna followed us as well. Once we got there, some people handed out plates of food with bread, vegetables, and ham.

We went to one of the many empty stone tables. After all, everyone else ate in the carriages.

My disgust from eating the four-horned demon's leg had more or less faded by now. As such, my mouth subconsciously tore into the bread like a wolf.

Only after the bread was gone, did I realize what had happened.

The others looked at me with widened eyes.

My hand scratched the back of my head.

"Haha, well I am a little hungry."

Ned laughed.

"We kinda ate a lot for breakfast already. You can just take mine if you wish."

One of my hands raised, gesturing to stop.

"No need for that... Actually, on second thought, give me a bit."

Ned rolled his eyes, but there was a bright smile on his face.

"Here, take the bread since you don't have a plate."

Ned handed me a piece of bread, gently placing it in my hand.

The corner of my lips turned up.

"Thanks."

Ned nodded.

"No problem."

Erin raised her hands in the air.

"You can take mine too!"

Alyx sighed.

"You can take mine as well. I shouldn't be eating so much, in any case."

Reyna's face twitched.

"...Um, you can take some of my food as well."

My head turned to Reyna before flashing her a smile.

"Don't worry about it, it's too inconvenient since I have no plate anyway."

My hand brought the bread Ned gave me closer to my mouth.

My mind told me to be reserved, but after the first bite, my hand and mouth moved on their own.

Then, in the corner of my eye, I saw a kid run away.

The kid was in rags and painfully clutched his stomach.

Ah, I scared Nolan off.