They climbed the stairs along the familiar path.
The Martial Arts Practice Room was on the underground third floor, and the food court was on the underground first floor, so they needed to go up to the second floor.
The elevator?
They could use it, but…
“Ugh! Hey! Summoners are supposed to take the Summoner Exclusive Elevator!”
“Why?! It’s small and quiet!”
“Being quiet is secondary… You crazy idiot! The summon creature is literally on fire! Why would you take the regular elevator with that?!”
“What?! This fire isn’t a problem unless it’s an enemy!”
“You crazy bastard! If that summon thinks I’m an enemy… Hey! Is it going out or not?!”
“Ah~ Just a second~ I’ll pass through~”
“Oh, right… Wait a minute. You… no, senpai? What is this?”
“Huh? It’s nothing much~”
“…Is that a barrel with a skull mark?”
“It’s nothing~ It’s safe~”
“…Senpai. How about going quietly to the Dangerous Cargo Elevator before I report it?”
“Yeeess~”
As always, the elevator was filled with chaos.
It was unavoidable, really.
The elevator was always short on supply compared to the overflowing demand…
Especially since there were even exclusive elevators for certain capable people.
For Alchemists or Wizards, if they had artifacts or experimental items, they had to use only the “Dangerous Cargo Elevator,” and for Summoners, they had to use the “Summoner Exclusive Elevator” no matter what. That included both the Summoner and the summoned creature.
And what if that wasn’t possible?
They had to get permission from the school to use the freight elevator or the staff elevator.
But where does the world operate strictly by rules?
Due to their size and safety equipment, the number of exclusive elevators was inevitably limited, leading to long waiting times. This was compounded by an overflowing number of users, and the lengthy loading and unloading time in the elevator didn’t help either.
For the Summoner Exclusive Elevator, one had to wait from the blink of an eye to an eternity depending on the size and shape of the summon. Meanwhile, the Dangerous Cargo Elevator also took a long time due to the need for caution based on the danger of the items inside.
Even after boarding, precautions had to be taken to avoid explosions in the elevator, and one couldn’t relax even in the elevator…
Thus, it was natural for people to seek other elevators.
Well, it wasn’t really a serious problem.
It could be somewhat excused if a Summoner carrying a small summon used an empty elevator during off-peak hours…
But on the flip side, dangerous cargo could never be excused.
However, if they continued to use it “sneakily,” they would inevitably become desensitized…
And eventually, someone would appear making unreasonable demands.
Like that Summoner trying to board with a summon even when others were around.
Then what happened…
“Penalty punch!”
“Capture missile!”
…Most ended up getting a proper lesson!
Pfft!
The Summoner who was causing a scene was quickly subdued.
A shiny golden stroke flashed from the Warrior’s hand and brushed against the Summoner’s chin, causing a light concussion, while a waiting Wizard student used an artifact to bind both the Summoner and the summon. Other students expertly reported it to the teachers and student council.
Soon, people would come, take the Summoner away, give them a penalty, educate them, and call the designated senior mentor of that Summoner to give them a good scolding…
Well.
It was a common occurrence.
At the same time, it was a mess I didn’t particularly want to get involved in.
Thus, Iarin and Yesuhwa turned their backs on the chaos occurring in front of the elevator and headed to the food court via the stairs.
The rough concrete and rebar stairs looked like they belonged to a bunker, and though they exuded an eerie atmosphere due to the lack of design and focus on durability, it wasn’t particularly unusual.
And so they reached the underground first floor.
As soon as they arrived, they were hit with pungent food smells.
The scent of deep-fried meat in oil, the tantalizing aroma of tteokbokki and malatang beloved by middle and high school girls, the savory smell of stir-fried pork that made men’s eyes spin, and the drool-inducing scent of jajangmyeon and jjamppong that made teachers gulp…
Yeah…
They had arrived.
At the place bustling with food courts, convenience stores, and dessert shops.
The so-called “food court.”
“Back to the usual place, huh?”
“Of course! People need to eat meat!”
“…Yeah. I figured you’d say that.”
They naturally moved towards the area dense with meat dishes.
Then they began to order their meals using the kiosk.
Yesuhwa ordered a single plate of Dongpo pork and dumplings, while Iarin ordered a light feast: six lamb skewers, one serving of gyukatsu, four servings of grilled pork belly skewers, one serving of seasoned chicken, kebabs, three pieces of mint meat pie, six shashlik, and two large cup servings of chicken galbi.
Once the orders were complete, the machines at each station started to bustle, preparing their food. Then, in remarkably efficient motions, they finished cooking and began delivering the food to their table through serving robots.
With a plate of Dongpo pork and a plate of dumplings for Yesuhwa.
And a table filled with all sorts of meat dishes for Iarin.
What a stark contrast.
“Hey, are you going to eat just that?”
“Yeah. I’m on a diet, you know.”
“Even on a diet, that’s a bit much… At this rate, you’ll just be left with bones and skin.”
“I can’t help it… I have to wear a swimsuit, and it’s better than having flab hanging out.”
Plus, their conversation was weirdly off.
Calling the Dongpo pork and dumplings, a perfectly adequate meal for an average person, a “diet meal,” and sighing in agreement to that…
It was an odd sight, especially since the two sitting at the table weren’t chubby people but pretty girls.
“By the way, you have a lot of lamb today, huh? You usually prefer beef.”
“Maybe? I guess a sheep appeared in my dream or something yesterday. I couldn’t stop thinking about lamb today…?”
“Speaking of which, one of your nicknames was Puma, right? So is that why you want lamb?”
“Is that so? But do pumas eat lamb?”
“Huh? Don’t they?”
“Isn’t that more like wolves?”
“Pumas are carnivores too, so if you give them lamb, I’m sure they’d enjoy it, right? Or are there no lambs where pumas live…?”
“I’m not sure?”
“Now I’m curious… doesn’t anyone raise pumas as pets? We should ask them.”
“Uh… I don’t know about pumas, but I know some who have hyenas or lions as pets. Should I ask them?”
“Sure, we can ask during recess. Let’s go together.”
The two at the table chatted freely while digging into their food.
Just like students their age would, with a warm atmosphere.
Of course, unlike a typical conversation, the bizarre speed at which food disappeared from the table and the oddities hidden in their seemingly mundane dialogue hinted at something far from ordinary…
But that wasn’t particularly important.
Thus, they rapidly devoured their meals.
Despite saying she was on a “diet,” Yesuhwa finished her Dongpo pork and dumplings in under three minutes, while Iarin, who had ordered a massive spread, polished off her meat in under ten minutes.
“Ah~ That was delicious.”
“…Yeah. I guess it was. Ah~ I don’t want to diet…”
“Then why say you’d go on a diet…”
“Exactly… Why did I even say I’d wear a pretty bikini and do this…?”
One was satisfied.
The other grew melancholic.
And that was how their meal concluded.
The two stood up as usual, pressed the button to call the robot for cleanup, and stepped outside.
They quietly gazed at the sky, where the sun was setting, taking in a moment of beauty while hoping for a moment of enlightenment…
“Ah! I remember now. Why I wanted lamb!”
…but they didn’t. Instead, they seamlessly continued the topic they had discussed while eating earlier.
“Hey, Seora, listen. I had a dream…”
“Was it another nonsense dream?”
“No, really, just listen?”
Iarin linked arms with Yesuhwa and forcibly dragged her over to a bench.
Then she laid her head on Yesuhwa’s lap and casually stretched out on the bench.
“Hey, aren’t you waking up?”
“Just wait. I feel like I’ll remember it better in a relaxed position like this. This way, I can tell the story vividly, you know?”
“Ugh, fine… But if it’s boring, you better brace yourself.”
Yesuhwa’s genuine threat.
But Iarin, hearing that threat, instead wore a confident expression.
“You’ll only know once you listen. So, I had a dream where I was a puma. I had sharp claws and a patterned fur coat. And when I opened my mouth, it was wide, and I had an amazing sense of smell.”
“Patterned…? Isn’t that more like a leopard?”
“Maybe? No, it’s a puma. In the dream, I knew I was a puma, so it’s a puma.”
“Uh, okay. And then?”
“I was perched on this incredibly huge tree. I’m not even joking; it felt like hundreds of meters high. Up there, I was lounging on a branch like I was drying laundry.”
“…”
“But then suddenly, I heard a loud bang from afar. Wow, I never knew animal hearing was that great. It was like listening through a thousand-dollar speaker right in front of me! I was so startled that I nearly fell off the tree.”
“…”
“When I looked in the direction of the sound, I saw a volcano about to erupt.”
“A volcano?”
“Yep. A volcano.”
“Oh, so that’s why you…”
You teased me so much today because of the volcano?
Yesuhwa almost said that but swallowed her words.
Because she knew if she said that, Iarin would tease her, and she’d feel compelled to smack her in annoyance.
“What did you say today?”
“Oh, nothing. Just keep talking.”
“Okay. Anyway, the volcano was about to blow. So, I was trying to escape, but… Oh man. Suddenly, a snowstorm appeared over the volcano, and a weird skeleton floated in the air.”
“A skeleton?”
“Yeah. It was a cloaked skeleton… you know, a lich? It seemed like one of those game monsters. The vibe it gave off was really intense. That snowstorm was definitely magic from the lich, like an 8-circle spell Blizzard! You know what I mean?”
“….”
“And just like that, the lich showed its power and suddenly brought a sheep and tossed it into the volcano’s crater. Then the volcano calmed down as if it was satisfied. I thought, wow, how good must lamb taste for a volcano to stop erupting like that? Something like this.”
“Ah…”
She really is like that even in her dreams.
Her essence is truly that of a beast….
Yesuhwa couldn’t help but admire Iarin’s thinking process.
“Anyway, once the volcano calmed down, the lich came over to me. Then it grabbed me and tried to feed me some weird grass, but I was like, no way, I’m a puma, I don’t eat plants, so I struggled… Seora? Are you listening? Are you really listening?”
