Side Story 4: Kyouya can be a real bro, in his good moments.

Side Story 4: Kyouya can be a real bro, in his good moments.

Considering that she doesnt have all her tools in this medieval world, it turned out pretty well.

So? How was it, Tatsuya Nagata-kun? The person responsible for my meal asked me for my opinion. Respecting my mealtime, she kept to herself while I was eating, but now, her glittering eyes are demanding me to answer, pressuring me as the one who fed me.

Well, to be honest, it was pretty good. But I still need to ask something, Tsuji-san.

I was currently eating in a private dining hall, reserved for us heroes only. It was currently empty, as it was a bit past lunchtime, except for the people I was sitting at a table with.

To my side, my ever-faithful best friend, Kyouya Ishigami. Sitting on the opposite side to me, was Aiko Hasebe, and next to her sat the girl that made me this meal, Tamae Tsuji. Also known as Miss Rep., as she was our former female class representative.

The food from the churchs chefs was already pretty good, so why are you doing it?" I continued after Tsuji-san gave a nod to my request.

Well, doesnt it bring back memories? Nostalgia? Tsuji-san further added. I also wanted to work with the ingredients in this world. Despite looking the same, all their equivalents have different tastes, methods to prepare, and just, in general, they spark my inner chef~

Tsuji-san is the daughter of a couple who owns a high-end restaurant, so it's not surprising that their daughter also shows interest in cooking. I never had the chance to try her cooking, but she frequently brought cupcakes and other pastries to class, so I knew that she had talent.

Now I know shes fucking legit.

Ah, your cooking is good, Tama-chan, but I really wish you'd go back to baking. Nothing beats your sponge cakes! Hasebe-san began talking after I was done giving my opinion.

Urgh, Ai-chan, saying it like that actually hurts my chefs pride. Ill forgive you, but only because you helped me get the chance to cook in the first place. She made an over-dramatic stab to the heart pose, trying to make her friend feel bad.

However, Hasebe-san just gave a cutesy apology and giggled, before resuming speaking. Ahh, dont worry about that. It feels good to be able to use my authority as a saint candidate to help you. I just wish I could have done it a bit earlier.

What Hasebe-san meant with this is that she requested, using her status as a saint candidate, the upper echelon of the church to allow Tsuji-san in the kitchen.

We were initially only served cooking from the churchs chefs, as they wanted us to have meals fitting for heroes. More like, from what I heard it was cooking meant for nobles, wealthy nobles. No wonder it tasted pretty decent, completely going against my expectations that medieval food would be bland and boring.

Tsuji-san. I called out Miss Rep.s name to attract her attention away from the bantering between the girls. Thanks for the food. Sorry for having you make more just for me.

Both girls looked at each other and chuckled. Thinking that this was her chance to speak to me, Hasebe spoke. Well, if youd only come a bit earlier, we wouldnt have to serve you in the first place, Mister Training Addict.

I could only moan at my own incompetence.

It has been three months now since my whole class was summoned into this medieval, fantasy world. Two months, if you only count the time when I started training properly. Hasebe-san giving me a taste of those coffee-tasting leaves reinvigorated me, giving me the motivation to finally train properly, only so I can earn enough money to buy those leaves from the church.

I was actually so filled with energy that I couldnt do anything but train. It seems my addiction for coffee was temporarily replaced with training my stats and skills, to the point that I sometimes lose time and forget about food.

This world doesn't have any clocks, so we're reliant on the ringing of bells to determine the time of day. The third bell of a day would signify that it's 12pm, lunchtime, and the fifth bell would be 6pm, dinner time. Those are the bells that I miss hearing the most, due to being too concentrated on training.

Our meals are scheduled by the church, which means that if you came late, you would get the cold leftovers or nothing at all.

Hasebe-san, as a saint candidate, would have probably received something warm, even if she came late, but me? I had to sleep hungry a couple times.

Trying my best not to look at Hasebes smirking face, I tried to change the subject. A-Anyways, Hasebe-san, I However, before I could continue speaking, she pushed her open palm into my face, forcing me to stop talking.

No, no. We already went through this, Tatsuya-kun. Drop the formality and just call me Aiko. She pulled back her hand and then crossed her arms, looking a bit displeased that I called her by her family name. Just like Kyouya-kun, weve been riding the same train for three years now, and you have not called me by my first name once. I think its time you do that, with how youre making me help you with training. You should be happy and proud that a girl allows you to use her first name, hmph! With her eyes closed, she smirked, proudly waiting for me to obey her wish.

Aiko. She cackled when I caved in.

Very saint-like

Watching us pull this comedic stunt, Tsuji-san could only give out a sigh, before explaining the real reason why there was still something warm for me.

To explain this, I had to understand the churchs hierarchy.

The culture of this world has been influenced by the availability of magic and mana, and only those that have studied and gained skills like [Mana Control] and [Arcane Mind] can cast spells and control mana. The whole foundation of this church is based on their deity, the Goddess of Light Aurena, and the usage of her elemental affinity, the holy element.

The clergy is, therefore, divided into two separate categories: the pure white-robed priests and shrine maidens that can cast spells, and the gray-robed priests and shrine maidens that attended them like servants.

The upper echelon, the white robes, are further divided into those that are nobles by birth and commoners with magical talent. While they, fundamentally, have the same privileges, duties, and respect; it seems that the official church decisions were being made by the noble-born priests.

The difference in influence and power is even apparent in their robes. The nobles robes were detailed and extravagant like Aikos saint candidate robe. Whereas, the robes of the commoner-born priest are by default plain white, only having fancy embroidery or other fine details if they were rich.

Remember how I mentioned food specifically made to suit the taste of nobles? Well, those chefs were the employees of the white-robed priests. They hire chefs and they cook meals for them.

Now here comes the role of the gray-robed priests and shrine maidens. They are, essentially, servants and attendants of the white-robed priests and shine maidens. They work and assist them in their duties that can range from personal to church work. For their servitude, these gray robes are granted food and a personal quarter.

Im being told that not all gray-robed priests have a master. Some are master-less and are required to live and sleep in the orphanage, the place where all the gray robes came from. Yup, all gray robes are orphans that have been raised into priests and shrine maidens by the church.

Now, where do these gray robes get their food? This is where the reason for the warm food comes from. Master-less gray robes are given alms in the form of the leftover from the meals of white-robed priests and their entourage.

You scumbag. I jokingly said while a small tear rolled down my eye, as I was overwhelmed by the loyalty shown by my best friend.

Ill always have your back, man. He gave off a smile that was radiant enough to blind me.

"Ohh, geez." On the sidelines, the girls looked like they were in pain as they massaged their temples. I could also hear Tsuji-san mumble, "That's a friendship between dudes, I guess.".

Ok, before we derail this whole thing again. Aiko was wavering her hand to catch our attention. You guys do know that out of the five possible five-man parties, four have already been registered. You boys are telling me that you arent part of any of these four?!

Reminded why we even had that quarrel in the first place, I glared at Kyouya, forcing him to speak. I-I didnt think everything would have gone by that fast. They only announced it last week, so I thought we still had enough time.

We all looked visibly annoyed at Kyouyas idiotic mistake. I even released my hand from his, ending our bro moment. I scratched my head and sat back down, asking for Aiko to explain everything to me.

Aiko raised one finger up, showing the number one. In one month, the knights will bring us to a dungeon filled with low-ranked monsters. They want us to gain some levels to improve our strength and also have us gain skill points, so we can spend them in the skill shop.

As we havent killed a single monster yet, were all only level 0 without any SP. Being an [Otherworldly Visitor], I had access to buying and upgrading skills using a resource called skill points.

I was curious about the skill shop, and I found a few skills that I wanted but without SP, this function was useless to me.

As I am a saint candidate, and also the person with the highest magical skill level, I was automatically assigned to the party belonging to the person with the [Hero] title.

Tch, that asshole Akanishi, huh? Yeah, we wouldnt have gotten along. Aiko nodded to my statement.

Takuma Akanishi, the current holder of the [Hero] title and 100% certified arrogant asshole. He is the stereotypical kid who acts all pretentious as hell, just because his father is earning enough money. His ego is so over-inflated, that he actually tried to become the leader of our whole class group, just because he learned he had that title.

I feel bad for Aiko but even I can see the reason for why this would be the best choice. Fantasy stories always paired the Saint with the Hero, and Aiko is only one among us with a level three magic skill.

I heard from Tsuji-san that she hasnt been able to learn an elemental magic skill yet, despite her affinity for it. Her unique skill was made for it.

Enchanters Oath

A skill that promotes supportive actions. Improves the effectiveness of stat-boosting spells and enchanted items. Reduces the mana costs of all actions and arcane corruption accumulation

Akanishi-san really wanted Kyouya-kun to join us, as he has the best defensive unique skill among our classmates. However, he outright declined after he learned that you two were a package deal.

"You're the fucking man, Kyouya." I fist-bumped him, thanking him for standing up for me. Kyouya just gave a proud, I know..

Tama-chan founded a party with Kudo-kun, so we knew you two werent in theirs. Nishio Kudo was our male class representative.

Aiko then continued speaking. The third party was also formed, as I learned that from their leader, but I didnt know their members. Which leaves us with the party made by Akabane-san. I dont think its presumptuous of me to believe that you werent even interested in joining his party in the first place, right?

Daisy? That fucker can go to hell. I clicked my tongue and turned my head away, now biting my nails in annoyance.

Daisy wasnt this guys real name. Daisy is literally a nickname I gave him just so I could trash talk him without trying. Ironically, I had to learn the kanji of his name before I could do it. One of his kanji was Orchid so I thought, Daisy, the name of a weak flower would be the best way to insult that piece of shit.

If Akanishi is a spoiled asshole, then Daisy is the true definition of a piece of shit. Due to his fathers reputation as a jerk and the most influential prosecutor in the whole of japan, Daisy seems to have develop a superiority complex. He's literally one of the few students in our school that our homeroom teacher Segawa-sensei wouldn't even dare scold, as his father could ruin her career and the school.

That says a lot, in a school where nearly every student comes from a wealthy or influential background.

You really shouldnt say that when hes around, Tatsuya-kun. Aiko said in exasperation while holding her head in one hand.

Ai-chan is right, Nagata-kun. You should have realized even before our one-way trip to this world that his mood has been terrible for a month already. I dont know what caused it, but the stress has even turned most of his hair white.

Yeah, Tatsuya. Even Kyouya pitched in to dissuade me from looking for a fight with Daisy. Just avoid him completely. Now that his party is formed, hell be able to power-up his already strong posse. My old man told me that his father would backstab you in a heartbeat if it meant he could win a case. His son looks like he could do that too.

I dont care if his mood has gotten worse or not. It really doesnt matter to me. To me, this person is an enemy, somebody that I could never get along with, even if it meant our lives.

Ill avoid him just because I cant stand his face.

Everybody gave a collected sigh of relief when I said that. As a way to change the subject, Aiko made an exaggerated surprise face as if she just remembered something.

Thats right. You two! Considering you arent in a party yet, must mean that you two will form a party with the three remaining free classmates. Haruka-chan doesnt have a party yet!

Haruka Sakamoto, the youngest girl in our class with an age of 16. I dont know much about her as she seems to be quite reserved besides when she talks with the other girls in our class. The only thing I do know is that her father does business with mine and Kyouyas.

Tsuji-san further added. You guys will have to protect her, ok? You two seem normal enough so dont let anything happen to her, especially with your two remaining members.

Uhh, alright. I agreed to Aikos and Tsuji-sans requests. Who are our remaining party members though?

The two girls looked displeased when I wanted them to tell me who my other teammates were.

The first is that perverted creep, Daichi Mikami. He was able to learn [Fire Magic Lv. 1] and has been a literal pyromaniac, ever since. Tsuji-san said it with a tint of envy.

The other is Asaka Hanazawa Aikos frown deepened as her displeasure grew more and more. The other holder of the [Saint Candidate] title and a fucking delinquent.