Lunch at the Special Dining Hall

The Magic Item class, during which Longo-sensei got extremely excited, ended, and lunch break began. I had to go to the Townsend ducal family's special dining hall. I should leave early, right?

"What are you doing for lunch, Leon? Are you eating in the main dining hall?"

As I stood up from my chair, Ronnie asked me that.

"No, I have to eat at the Townsend ducal family's special dining hall. Sorry we can't eat together..."

"You don't need to worry about it. If you hadn't been here, I'd probably have been alone not just at lunch, but all day."

Being told something so sad made me feel increasingly guilty about leaving Ronnie to go to the main dining hall alone...

Hmm, I wonder if I could invite Ronnie to the Townsend ducal family's special dining hall. Probably not...

I should at least ask Ronnie what he wanted.

"Ronnie, if they told you that you could eat at the ducal family's special dining hall too, what would you do?"

"Me too!? Th-that might be a little too much..."

Ronnie seemed to imagine himself in the ducal family's special dining hall, and said so with his face turning slightly pale.

I figured as much. I knew he'd say that. He'd probably feel more at ease eating alone in the main dining hall. Besides, there was at least a chance he might make friends there.

"I thought so. Well, I'm off then. See you this afternoon!"

"Yeah. See you later."

I hurried to the special dining hall, only to realize something shocking. I didn't know where the Townsend ducal family's special dining hall was!

My head had been full of all sorts of things that morning, and lunch had completely slipped my mind. I feel like I'd said we'd see each other after school before we parted... What was I doing?

Should I eat in the main dining hall today? But if Lucien was expecting me and I didn't show up, he'd worry.

What should I do...? There were many doors lined up, but they only had numbers on them, with no indication of which noble family had rented them. Going from door to door to check was out of the question...

It would be fine if Lucien hadn't arrived yet and was still on his way, but if he was already inside one of them, I had no idea how to tell which one it was!

As I stood there panicking, a nearby door opened, and a servant came out.

Wait, that's one of Lucien's attendants!

I was profoundly relieved when I saw someone I knew. If I stayed there, I could only imagine some other noble coming along and accosting me, so I was seriously relieved.

"Leon-sama, please come into this room."

"Thank you."

The room wasn't particularly large, but it was quite luxurious. There was a door at the back, along with a fairly large table and six chairs in the middle.

Lucien was sitting in one of the chairs.

"Leon, I'm sorry I forgot about lunch this morning. I never told you the number for the Townsend ducal family's special dining hall, did I?"

"No, I apologize for forgetting too. Lucien-sama's attendant showed me the way, so I didn't get lost. Thank you."

"No, it's all right. Have a seat."

"Certainly. Excuse me."

After I sat down, Lucien asked his attendant to serve us. Once all the food had been laid out, he sent the attendant back to the kitchen.

The dishes had been brought through the door at the back, so the kitchen must have been on the other side. The attendant withdrew into it.

"Leon, as long as you don't speak too loudly, your voice won't carry to the kitchen, so it's fine."

"Oh, really? Then I'll talk normally."

"Yes. Shall we eat, then?"

"Yeah. Let's eat."

"Let's eat."

Mmm, delicious! The ducal family's cooks were really skilled. Every dish was exquisite.

"Leon, how were your classes?"

"Hmm, I've only had two so far, but they were pretty fun. We had a Magic Item class, and, how should I put it... the teacher was really passionate about magic items."

The teacher was incredible... During the latter half of class, they did nothing but talk about how wonderful magic items were.

"If that teacher is the advisor for the Magic Item Research Club, it sounds interesting, though it might be a little difficult."

"There should only be one Magic Item teacher. That teacher is probably the advisor for the Magic Item Research Club."

"I see. Do you have Magic Item class today, Lucien?"

"Yes, I have Magic Item class during third period. I'm kind of looking forward to it."

I wonder if that teacher would stick to the same style even in Class A. At this school, the teachers were technically supposed to outrank the students, but they also said that was just a formality.

Still, that teacher seemed like the type to stick to that attitude. Someone like that probably didn't care about anything besides magic item research—not career advancement or social status, for example. They probably thought that observing the bare minimum of courtesy was enough.

For Lucien, meeting someone like that was probably unusual, so he might enjoy it.

"You'll probably enjoy it. What's your class like, Lucien? Is it peaceful?"

"Let's see... On the surface, it seems peaceful, but you never know what people are thinking underneath. Still, I feel I've become a little closer to the children of noble families belonging to the same faction. Other than that, when I'm with Stephan and Martine, people usually either resent me or try to curry favor with me, so it gets a little tiring. Those who talk to me because they genuinely want to become closer are rare."

Nobles really were scary... Lucien had it tough too. He'd been looking forward to making friends, so maybe he was feeling down?

"Are you not enjoying school as much as you expected?"

"What makes you think that? I'm having a great time."

"But you said it was tiring because people resented you or fawned over you..."

"It is tiring, certainly, but isn't that fun in its own way? Besides, there are a few people I might become friends with, and, above all, I've become close with you, Leon, Stephan, and Martine, so I'm having a wonderful time!"

"I-I see... I'm glad to hear that."

As I thought, Lucien really was a noble. He probably saw probing each other's intentions, being resented, and being fawned over as perfectly normal.

If it were up to me, I'd hate all that... or so I wanted to say, but I was already in the same situation myself. I missed the peaceful student life I had in Japan so much.

"How about you, Leon? Are you enjoying school?"

What about me? My school life had gotten off to a pretty rough start...

But I had made friends, and I liked school as a place because it felt nostalgic. I liked the atmosphere of everyone taking classes together, too.

Besides, I'd only attended two classes so far, but the lessons themselves seemed pretty interesting.

"For me, it's been difficult in some ways, but I think I'm having fun."

"I'm glad to hear that!"

Lucien beamed. It was fun being able to have lunch with him like this, too.

Besides, when I thought about it, getting an education in this world was a luxury. Having an environment where I could study to my heart's content was an incredible luxury. If I did nothing but complain about it, I'd deserve divine punishment... I should make the most of everything this school had to offer.

"I've been given this opportunity to learn, so I'd be missing out if I didn't enjoy it. I'll do my best for the sake of the ducal family, too."

"Yes, thank you, Leon."

"Thank you, too, for being my friend. I hope we'll continue to get along."

"Of course!"

After that, I spent a pleasant lunch break talking about all sorts of things with Lucien.

I'll do my best this afternoon too!