Ch 108 – Otherworldy Beauty

'Eh?' Imerda thought, her eyes widening in surprise to suddenly see that someone was actually seated beside her. But as if her mind was being influenced by something, she blinked and opened them once more only to see that the seat was once more vacant like before.

Shaking her head, she squinted her eyes and looked to her left, and slowly but surely, as if she was dispelling an illusion, the boy reappeared once more. Not only that, she noticed that the boy wasn't paying attention to the lecture at hand and was blatantly reading a book in plain sight.

But, she blinked, and poof.

'Huh?! Am I getting insane?' Imerda thought, before squinting her eyes once more and seeing the boy reappear in her vision. This time, she calmly inspected the young boy, and can't help but feel a sense of familiarity with him, and the height difference between her and the boy was like a high school boy compared to a kid from elementary.

Blink, gone once more.

Focused, there he was again.

A constant cycle of both appearing and disappearing like a ghost was experienced by her. Imerda can't help but feel that the boy in front of her was one of the seven mysteries of the school or something similar, or maybe just a simple illusion casted by somebody—maybe by a previous student—as a joke to bored students like her.

"Imerda-sama, do you want us to help you? We can see that the glasses he wears have some magic enchantments on them that lower his presence," A voice whispered to her hear.

"Eh, really? So you mean he's real and not a projection?" Imerda whispered to nobody but the empty air.

"Yes, Imerda-sama."

"Okay."

And so, a mysterious force influenced her mind and she felt the illusion that confused her mind disappearing. It was as if she was just blind, and suddenly wearing a pair of glasses that gave her perfect vision.

Upon seeing the boy, she can't help but feel strange that she was the only one who can see him.

'Now that I looked at him more closely, he actually looks kinda cute.' Imerda wondered if his glasses also changed his appearance and now she was looking at his true appearance, or maybe just lowering his presence wouldn't allow her to truly see how cute he looks.

'With his short stature, small face, and wide purple eyes, he really looks like a shota, huh.' She thought, grinning secretly as she can't help but feel a bit strange watching the boy read through his book so intently. Even her face became slightly rosy, having her cheeks have a tinge of pinkish red to them.

And with that, her focus was taken for the whole morning, ignoring all of her classes as she yawned lightly.

"Okay students, that's all for today. It was nice finally meeting you all, and I hope we have a great two years together. You may now have your lunch, and I recommend the fried chicken, its taste is very refreshing," the teacher bid her farewell, before Imerda stood up and secretly glanced at the boy standing up, and almost chuckled at how short he was.

'He really looks like a shota. Sigh, Arthur Pendragon, one of the romantic targets is in the same class as me, and that's making my villainess senses tingling. Though I wonder when I'll be able to meet the other romantic targets like the shota with crimson eyes.' Imerda thought, standing up and packing her stuff before her interest was piqued once more.

'Hmm, he's going the other way from the cafeteria. Wait, isn't that the area where the library is?' Imerda wondered, before deciding to follow him secretly.

"Spirits, conceal my presence as if I'm air, [Dispel Presence]."

As green light illuminated her whole body, she nodded her head and started to follow the boy. After casting her spell, she noticed how her footsteps didn't make any sound, nor no matter how she talked, no sound came out of her mouth.

But her fun was interrupted when she felt her stomach grumble, and grab it with a sad face. But she held on and continued to follow the boy even with her stomach incessantly grumbling as if commanding her to get some food. This is due to her glutinous nature since young, and now, when it matters most, her stomach is starting to become a pain in the ass for her.

'We're finally here!' Imerda smiled brightly as the two arrived at the library entrance. Yet the boy didn't know Imerda was following her, so in retrospect, only the boy technically arrived at the library entrance.

Opening the door, she slid right in after the boy opened it and found herself staring in awe at the grand library. It was seemingly endless, with multiple floors holding multiple wooden bookshelves, each holding countless books.

Entering the library, she watches as the boy just blatantly passed by the girl over the counter without even greeting her and walking to a faraway place in the library. It was quiet, and peaceful, a perfect place to eat lunch all alone.

'Huh, he really does seem like the quiet type.' Imerda stood at a far away distance from the boy before her vision was connected to one of her spirits and inspected the boy clearly. Moving the spirit around, Imerda nods her head at her great control over spirits considering she had them since young using her special cheat.

Pulling back the chair, it caused some screeching sounds on the wooden floor before he sat on top of it. Putting his bag down on the wooden table in front of him, he zips it open and takes out a lunch box—similar to a bento box—from inside the bag.

"Hmm, it should still be fresh if what the old man said was true," the boy softly muttered. The bento box was black in color, and it reflected the white light above the boy's seat to illuminate the area around it. As he grabs hold of the lid with both hands, he slowly pulls it open, and a scent emanated from the bento box that can only be considered divine.

'W-what is this scent!' Imerda thought; her stomach grumbled louder as her mouth salivated. Gulping her saliva, she crutches her stomach and watches the boy intensely through one of her spirit's eyes.

And there she saw it, inside the bento box was a fluffy mountain of rice and rolling hills of pink meat with a char to them. The smell intensified further as the pain assaulted her mind like a raging river, directly coming from her precious stomach that wanted to eat the food inside the bento box.

"Mmm, still fresh like it was in the morning when I made it. [Gate]."

Out of nowhere, Imerda's eyebrows raised as she saw a miniature gate the size of an open palm appear on the wooden table just beside the bento box.

"Oink? (Huh? What is this?)," a pig's voice appeared from the small portal as her cheat automatically translated what it said.

"Porky, it's me, Lute."

"Oink! (Master!)."

From the small miniature gate, Imerda was greeted by a small green pig the size of a closed fist running out of the dark purple gate. The boy chuckled after seeing the small pig, and took out a piece of meat from his bento box and gave it to the pig.

'C-cute!' Imerda squealed after seeing the pig. Its appearance was just too cute for her that she almost fainted after seeing it. She can't even believe it's a living, breathing being.

'I-is that an actual pig?! But from what race?!' Imerda now wanted to have that same type of pig for her own, so she asked her spirits to see if they know what the pig was.

"Sorry, young mistress, but from what we can find, that's clearly a Verdant Hill Pig, but just somehow shrunk down to a very small size."

"Eh? You mean those pigs the size of large hills?!" Imerda muttered in shock and looked back at the pig in front of her. Controlling the spirit to go closer, she indeed saw how its fur was similar to grass and reeled back in shock.

'W-what is this sorcery?!' Imerda shouted in her mind, her eyes widening in shock as she almost bumped into the bookshelf behind her.

"Ehehehe, Porky, you like the Dragon Meat?" the boy, now known as Lute, asked the pig while feeding it another piece of pink meat, that in comparison to the small stature of the pig, was almost the same size as it.

"Oink! Oink! (Yes, master! Just like Raiden-sama says, its taste is so good!)," the pig squealed as it rapidly devoured the meat that was almost the same size as its body in no time.

"Oh, really? Then if you think Silvy uses the same dragon meat, you think she can cook better food than me?" Lute asked softly, his voice was pleasant to hear that it was almost similar to the ASMR Imerda listened to in her past life.

"Oink… Oink! (Hmm… Considering Master is Silvy-sama's sensei, then Master is obviously better!)."

"Hehehe, you're very much right, Porky. Just wait, I'll kick Honda on his ass once he tastes my new food, always bragging about how SIlvy is much better than me, tch," the boy clicked his tongue, before eating his own fill.

But far away from them, Imerda listened and felt a bit strange at how… Well, at how Lute was seemingly holding a proper conversation with the green pig.

'D-does he actually understands what the pig is saying? But how?!' Imerda felt more and more curious about the boy eating in front of her. He seemingly held so many secrets, that she wanted to know more about him. From how he has a pet pig so cute, to seemingly understanding what it says.

"Hey, Porky, what has Raiden-kun been doing these past few hours while I was gone?" Lute muttered while grabbing some green vegetables from his bento box and munching on them.

"Oink, oink. (Well, Raiden-sama is training with Kira-sama as of now. He's also being taught some magic by Old Man-sama and his mastery over Lightning magic is going well. Not only that, his Martial Arts are improving as well.)"

"Really? Well, it means that he deserves a reward, especially considering how much stuff he needed to do a few days ago for the family business," Lute said, grinning lightly.

Upon seeing his grin, Imerda felt her heart skip a beat. And one thought occupied her mind, 'C-cute!'

And so, just like that, Imerda watches the boy like a creep with a grumbling stomach for more than ten minutes before he finally ate his last bite.

"Oink? (Is it all gone, Master?)"

"Yeah, lunch is finished."

"Oink! (Well, goodbye then, Master! Have a fun time at school!)"

"I will, but everyone is just too childish for my unparalleled maturity."

"Oink! (Yeah! Master is so mature!)"

"That's right, that's right," Lute laughed lightly, before chanting a spell and opening a miniature gate once more. Upon opening, Imerda heard someone shouting from the other side of the gate.

"Dada? Or Grandpa?" the voice Imerda heard seemingly belonged to a young child full of innocence.

"Oink! (It's me, Raiden-sama!)"

"Oh, Porky!"

As Imerda watches the pig slowly disappear through the gate, she can't help but feel empty as the bundle of cuteness was now gone. Just the pig disappearing alone caused a whole shift in the atmosphere for her, it was bleaker, darker, more… sadder.

"Yawn, I really miss them so much right now, is this what they call homesickness? Or maybe family sickness? Hehe," the boy muttered, his face facing towards the ceiling and Imerda can't help but feel a sense of serenity from him. His eyes were clear and bright as if it was a calm lake without disturbance.

"Wearing these glasses is really uncomfortable, sigh, maybe I could take them off for a bit," Lute muttered, and so, he slowly took them off and his whole aura rapidly changed in one single instance.

From a silent and low presence to suddenly becoming akin to a shining star in a dark world. His mere presence alone caused the whole area around him to suddenly become brighter in the sense that it was lighter, it was as if someone's worries would simply dissipate away into thin air.

But that was not the most drastic change for Imerda, no, the most drastic change was how he turned from a cute little boy you wanted to be brothers with… to a cute little boy you wanted to be stepbrothers with. She can already feel her face becoming hotter as she licked her lips subconsciously, not only that, the spirits around her were even agitated by his otherworldly beauty.

"B-beautiful! I can't bare to taint his presence with my ugly face!"

"AHHHHH! What is the reason for living if a perfect being exists?!"

"P-please marry me!"

And so, just like that, she fell down to her butt just as the spirit magic concealing her presence disappeared. With a loud thud that alerted Lute, he slowly turned his head and looks at her straight in the eye.

"Yo."

'K-KYUUUUUUUNNNNNNNN~' Just like that, Imerda passed out while a nosebleed appeared from her nose, for the meeting between two otherworldly beauties has started, and one instantly fell to the charms of the other.

AN: This chapter has 2259 words.

Power stones.

(August 3, 2022 – 252nd day of writing)