Chapter 169

Chapter 169. Blessing of Frost (2)

Main Building Restaurant.

A restaurant mainly used by nobles of the Empire, high-ranking clergy of the Holy Kingdom, and children of wealthy families from the Republic. Among the candidate restaurants within Reynaldo Hero School, it boasted the highest quality and price.

Inside such a Main Building Restaurant, there was a private room.

A special place that only candidates with both wealth and excellent grades could use, not just anyone with money.

At a table large enough to seat at least ten people, I, Lanes, Iris, and Yuren were seated.

“So…”

Iris’s gaze turned to Lanes.

Lanes flinched like a wolf caught in headlights and quickly averted her eyes.

“So, this is Senior Lanes, whom you became friends with during the mentoring class, right?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Lanes… If it’s Lanes from the fourth year, then surely…”

Yuren, who seemed to have heard rumors about Lanes, stiffened his expression.

“If it’s those rumors, don’t worry about them. Lanes has nothing to do with the Mine.”

“Da, Dale…”

Lanes, with teary eyes, looked at me as I firmly shook my head.

Yuren watched this with narrowed eyes, then sighed and nodded.

“Ha. Alright. If Dale says so, I’ll believe it.”

“Me too.”

Both of them still seemed to have some reservations about Lanes, but they nodded as if they would trust my words for now.

“So, did Senior Lanes invite you to the Main Building Restaurant?”

“No, the opposite.”

“The opposite…?”

Iris looked at me with surprised eyes.

“I invited Lanes.”

“You… invited her?”

Iris’s eyes sharpened in an instant.

She crossed her arms and nodded, then glanced at Lanes.

Lanes hiccuped with a frightened expression.

“There were some circumstances.”

I explained that Lanes had been ostracized by the fourth-year candidates and had never been able to use the restaurant due to the surrounding gazes.

‘From Lanes’s perspective, it’s something she’d want to hide.’

But considering our future relationship, she couldn’t keep hiding it.

‘And frankly, what reason is there to hide?’

She was the victim, not the perpetrator.

Why should the victim, who has done nothing wrong, have to hide her past as if she were guilty and not be able to hold her head high?

“Such a thing…”

Iris’s sharp gaze softened as she looked at Lanes.

She knew that the child of a Mine wouldn’t be welcomed at the Hero School, but she didn’t expect that adults, who are supposed to be ‘Hero’ candidates, would torment her so maliciously.

“That’s too much.”

Iris sighed and shook her head.

Yuren also seemed to have never imagined such a thing, his expression hardening.

“It’s, it’s okay. Dale… saved me.”

Lanes turned to me and gave a faint smile.

Iris clicked her tongue, seemingly understanding the situation.

“Anyway, Dale, you’re still the same.”

Iris smiled at me.

Though her mouth was smiling, her narrowed eyes were fiercely gleaming.

I coughed and turned my head to avoid Iris’s gaze.

“Anyway. So, since we were coming, I thought it would be better to go to a nice place, so I brought her here.”

“So that’s why you came to the Main Building instead of the Annex.”

Yuren nodded and looked at me and Lanes.

“By the way… you call Senior Lanes just ‘Lanes’?”

“Ah, that.”

“I, I told her to call me that comfortably!”

Before I could answer, Lanes hastily spoke up.

“Senior Lanes?”

“Y, yes. Dale is… my savior.”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

Yuren narrowed his eyes and scrutinized Lanes.

Lanes’s ears turned red as she hung her head.

Yuren sighed with a ‘I knew it’ expression and glared at me.

“Then, shall we eat first?”

“Ha. Alright.”

“I’ll get the plates.”

The Main Building Restaurant basically operated on a buffet system.

As I got up to get plates for the four of us.

“No, no need.”

“No need?”

“In the private room, you can choose the menu you want, and they’ll bring it to the room.”

“…There’s such a thing?”

This was something I didn’t know either.

“Yes. Just a moment.”

Yuren pressed a button on the side of the table, and a holographic menu appeared in front of each seat.

The menu was divided into categories of Empire, Holy Kingdom, and Republic dishes.

“Here, you can choose, and they’ll make it and bring it right away.”

“It’s like ordering room service at a luxury hotel.”

Now I understood why, no matter how much money you had, you couldn’t use the private room without good grades.

‘Still, it’s good that Yuren is the top of the year.’

Originally, Lanes and I wouldn’t have been able to enter, but as the top of the year, Yuren could bring additional guests regardless of grades, allowing us to use the private room.

“Wow, wow.”

Lanes exclaimed in admiration at the full menu.

“Look, Dale! There are so many dishes I’ve never seen before!”

Lanes excitedly pointed at the menu with her hand, her feet tapping.

Seeing her like that, a happy smile naturally formed on my lips.

“Order whatever you want.”

“Y, yes.”

Lanes, unsure of what to order, browsed through the categories, looking at various dishes.

“Lanes is from the Empire, right? Then you might want to choose from the Empire dishes.”

“But I’m also curious about the Republic dishes…”

“Or how about the Holy Kingdom dishes?”

“Th, the Holy Kingdom dishes are a bit…”

Lanes trailed off and averted her gaze.

No.

Even Lanes, who said she’d eat dog food if I bought it, was avoiding the Holy Kingdom dishes.

‘What on earth did they do to the food?’

It was a moment that made me realize the Holy Kingdom’s status anew.

“Dale… what are you going to eat?”

“Hmm.”

“Republic dishes?”

“Um… no.”

Having eaten Republic dishes all the time, today I felt like having Empire cuisine.

“Since we’re at the Main Building Restaurant, I think I’ll try a steak today.”

“Th, then I’ll have the same as Dale!”

“Really? How do you want it cooked?”

“Cooked? I can choose that too?”

“…I’ll order it medium.”

After ordering the steak through the menu, it arrived in the room shortly, perfectly cooked.

Lanes’s eyes widened as she took a bite of the steak.

“Uuuuuh!”

Lanes, exhaling excitedly, flapped her legs.

Seeing her with a happy smile as if she had the whole world in that one piece of steak, Iris and Yuren had complicated expressions.

“Ha. I can’t say anything now.”

“Right?”

Iris and Yuren exchanged glances and smiled wryly.

Lanes, who had been devouring the steak, suddenly looked around.

“Sorry, I got too excited…”

Lanes, with sauce on her mouth, blushed.

Iris smiled and handed Lanes a napkin.

“Here, wipe your mouth.”

“…Thank you.”

Lanes took the napkin from Iris and wiped her mouth, smiling bashfully.

After such a luxurious lunch.

Lanes, Iris, Yuren, and I took a light walk around the school to digest.

The walking route was chosen to be the back mountain, where the fewest candidates were, thinking of Lanes.

“Then Dale appeared and burned the monsters!”

“Hmm. Is that so?”

“Hehe. Yes!”

Lanes, who had become a bit closer to Iris, excitedly told her about the mentoring class.

Though Lanes was a year older, the atmosphere made Iris seem more like an older sister.

‘Appearance-wise too.’

Though not as much as Sophia, Lanes also had a small stature and a delicate build.

“I know that feeling too.”

“You do…?”

“Yes. The person I’m dating now also saved me when I was in danger.”

“Huh. I see…”

Lanes nodded and looked at Iris and Yuren.

“You… ah, Iris and Yuren seem to match well.”

“Huh? Match well?”

“…Huh? Aren’t you two dating?”

“Ah.”

Iris burst into laughter at the unexpected remark.

“The person I’m dating is not Yuren.”

“Ah, is that so? Sorry. I didn’t know.”

Lanes, who had assumed Iris and Yuren were dating because they were together, looked flustered.

“The person I’m dating is…”

Iris smiled faintly and pulled my arm.

“Wait…”

Before I could say anything, Iris continued.

“It’s Dale.”

“…What?”

Lanes’s face stiffened.

“Dale and… you’re dating?”

“Huh? Didn’t Dale tell you?”

“……”

Lanes’s face turned pale.

“Dale and Iris… are lovers?”

Lanes’s shoulders trembled.

“Lanes. This is…”

“Lies… lieslieslieslieslies.”

Lanes sat down and nervously pulled her hair.

Whoooosh.

A strong light erupted from her Holy Mark, and the surroundings began to freeze.

A fierce chill and a white blizzard swept through.

“Ah, I see. Yes… It makes sense that someone as good as Dale… would have a girlfriend…”

Ha, haha.

Lanes laughed a broken laugh and shrugged her shoulders.

“Was I… getting carried away? Dale… could never love someone like me…”

“Lanes!”

“Ah, haha. Hahahaha!”

Crackkkk!

A white blizzard raged.

The towering trees, the firmly embedded rocks, the scattered leaves.

All froze and shattered.

“This is insane.”

I gritted my teeth as I looked at Lanes, who was laughing emptily as if her soul had left her.

‘Why! Why is this happening!’

I saved her from being bullied!

I warmed her up with Ash Fire when she was cold!

I even got her Holy Mark stabilizers!

I did everything! Everything!

‘Then why did she awaken the Blessing of Frost in less than a day!!!’

A silent scream echoed deep within my heart.