[OP: ]
The five, no, nine people were now sitting in the wide garden of the academy under the shed of the great ancient tree.
Five of them were of course Eon, Rein, Carla, Alf, and their new friend Med, and the other four were Quin, Zoe, Chry, and Zoe's new friend whom she invited to this little lunch, Lizzy.
They were there and the atmosphere was peaceful so the nine of them were peacefully eating the lunch specially made by their vice-captain Lucifer.
And though others had pretty normal reactions while eating everything decorated on their little picnic table, their new friend Med, Quin, as well as Lizzy, was astonished, blown away by the exotic flavors, the popping-up explosions, and the uniqueness of the divine delicacies they were eating as their lunch.
They wanted to praise the creator of that great art but their hands, mouths, heads, and tongues couldn't help but continue eating, taking more, and eating, then repeat, and repeat, and repeat.
It was quite a sight seeing four house captains and vice captains eating together like this, and it was their first day too so this sight was practically absurdly eye-catching.
Anyone seeing this might have been shocked to their bones but it was true, and though anyone couldn't go close to them because of all the things going around in the area, they could see this sight.
And it was already a hotly debated topic on the Maginet and the official forums of the academy.
Many students wanted to go near them and take proper pictures of what they were doing, eating, drinking, or recording what they were talking about, but right now, none of them could do something like that.
The area the nine of these people were sitting in was almost a normal area before they came there but as soon as they finished setting up their things, out of nowhere, the residents of the ancient tree, the famous [Cerulean apis] honeybees started flying around them.
They were quite a distance away from them so the group wasn't worried about them. If anything, it was fascinating observing these amazing creatures this closely.
But, this little observation that was fun to this group of nine, was a hindrance to the spectators that wanted to know what was going on in their meeting.
They couldn't get close as the bees were on the ground, collecting flowers that were also available all around them.
But they were here, and thanks to them, the group of nine could talk, eat, and enjoy their time without any disruption… but talking would have to wait till they finish this batch of their food.
[[ "Hehe. Lizzy is a cute big brother~. ]]
[[ "Kyaaaaaa! Eon! Look at Quin and Med! They look like squirrels~." ]]
[[ "You look like squirrel too when you try my new dishes. And you look cuter than a squirrel with food in her mouth. You… look like a little kitten." ]]
[[ "Ahem. Eon? In general channel?" ]]
Carla glanced over at her brother and Alf was looking at his sister-in-law, seeing her surprised look that was a rare sight even for them.
[[ "He didn't mean it in a weird way, sister Carry. Big brother was just saying she looked like happy Clover when she is like them, hehe." ]]
Carla believed her words as they came from none other than their little Zoe but she still gave him a smirk that said she was always fine with their little things.
It was fun for her too, but it was most fun for them to look at the three new people among them.
The first one was Zoe's new friend Lizzy that though was surprised to be invited to a group lunch like this in the garden, was even more surprised to taste the things from Zoe's vice-captain.
They had done their initial hi-hello but the two of them were last to be here and the lunch was already served so they didn't get the chance to talk for long.
Chry and Quin were the first to arrive after the five of them and they seemed to be comfortable around each other now.
And it was good from the perspective of her only friends as she still had to learn a lot about the common language here.
Chry was nice and tall, and he was a good listener who could read the other person well thanks to all the training from the two sitting with them and he found this simple girl… unique.
He still wasn't attracted to her or anything though. He had one thing he had to do before he even starts to think about stuff like this.
And going against a kingdom wasn't an easy task for them so the preparations were still ongoing.
But the time of his revenge would come one day, and at that time, things would have to take many turns for many of the people we know.
And these turns could be bad and good, but no one has seen tomorrow.
They were having their first-ever lunch, and just like their class, this was a group thing where people who had known each other only for a little while had gathered… at least from the other's perspective.
They were eating their lunch and the talk was going on between the family members as they watched their new friends being enchanted by the divine delicacies made from the blessed, experienced hands of their amazing brother.
And this was only the start so they were excited to see what cute things would happen by the time they tasted his extra amazing desserts.
And on the topic of cute, Med was so cute while eating that the other girls couldn't help but glance at her with a helpless expression.
They wanted to pet this adorable bunny, hug her, kiss her little head, and play with her more.
She was cute, and they were watching her eat without the proper manners that most nobles should follow.
It was a pretty sight and a surprising sight was seeing Quin, the person they were meeting for the first time but knew she wasn't from a noble origin, eating so properly but quickly that even some high-ranking nobles would be ashamed before her manners.
She was a pro, and though not as good as her, even Lizzy was eating in a quick but gentle way, tasting all the flavors of those delicacies, and analyzing everything she could with her other senses.
She was like a gourmet, and she was a chef herself so it was only natural she would take great pleasure in tasting fine food like this.
It was her first time eating something so simple yet ineffable that not even her mind could process with what ancient divine knowledge this food was made of!
She was charmed by this food and the maker of this food who… strangely felt different to her.
But it was just a doubtful feeling right now. The time she will stand beside him, and a few other special ones like her, was still far away.
It isn't certain, everything that has yet to happen is always uncertain. But, probably, in a certain future where the world would be turned upside down, she would be in the center of it all with the two people that she was seeing for the first time today.
She will not only be their colleague, friend, and partner but also a member of their special family.
Many of them there would call her healer Liz, some Lady Liza, a few close ones would call her Lizzy as usual, while the world would know her as (Saintess Alize of Morana).
But it was uncertain, and in some other possibility, at some other time after going through some other scenarios, she might even become a kind of catastrophe this world hadn't seen for the past few eons.
She was a child of light whose ancestor was a demon king and ruler of an entire floor of hell.
Her fate was unique and had many knots. It was intertwined and full of uncertainties.
What she wanted to do and what she wanted to become were all the things that would decide her future… but we don't know what she would do in that uncertain future.
As a matter of fact, we didn't even know anything about her.
And the same was true for all of them, including Zoe who had been with her throughout their three lectures.
And yes they wanted to ask her about herself but she was busy finishing all the things on the table before them.
So they waited and chatted, and ate with a cheerful expression while... a certain shadow grew a pair of eyes and looked at the scene of these four captains and vice captains chatting away with warmth.
And from their perspective, there shouldn't be this kind of warmth between the captains that were enemies.
They had to be at each other's throats all the time, compete, try crushing each other, and be weaker than the other.
These pair of eyes… they were unhappy with the progression going on the very first day of their academic life that was supposed to be full of competition, blood, and animosity.
They didn't like it, but when an evil thought crossed through their mind that involved malice… a pair of ruby red and blazing pink eyes looked down on these shadow eyes, and in the very next moment, a silhouette of some dark predator bird graced them, smashing away one of the eyeballs, while a bright light from an uncertain tiny lifeform pierced right through the second one, stealing away their remaining vision.
The perpetrator did not know what had just happened, but one thing was for certain.
There was something, someone, very dangerous among this batch of captains.
Or maybe it was someone protecting one of these captains? But… they were surely dangerous.
And these dangers would certainly be a threat to their plans as well, so… they had to eliminate them when the fire was still a candle.
They can do it. They can deal with any of them as long as they were together. It would be easier if they took care of them one by one too, so they had decided.
Their plan would be set in motion from tonight and the very first and most threatening ones they would deal with would be none other than…
"Pass this to her~!"
"Yes."
"And this, and this~."
"Yes."
"And-"
"We still have other things to eat after this ma'am. I understand you are excited and they are cute but slow down. They can just ask me directly."
"No! I will feed them!"
"Huhu, they aren't your pets, Miss Uriel."
"But just look how they eat~. Aren't they just adorable~?"
She was happy, and the others couldn't help but laugh at once, excluding the three pretty ladies of course.
They were too busy eating that amazing lunch and now there was a kind of competition between the three of them, and though the people behind those shadow eyes wouldn't know this anymore, there certainly were things happening behind the curtains, and those movements weren't covert to the eyes of those little butterflies watching over many areas of this ginormous academy…
