27 Chapter 27: Treasured Memories (Part 3).
Putting his clothes into the Rucksack in front of him, Julius muttered, "I never imagined this day would come so soon.".
In preparation for his trip, he was tidying up his room and packing his bag. They had finally made their decision.
"That being said, I didn't expect for the majority to vote on that…" Julius muttered.
-Memory
"The academy, I think that's the best option." Said Ava.
"I think so too." Lyra agreed.
Their choice surprised Julius, who had personally wanted to go hunting and experience the freedom that comes with it.
"What makes you say that?" He asked.
"Well, as you know, we've been working as hunters here for some time now, doing the quests on the bulletin boards and working our asses off all the time, but we barely make a living."
"This is mainly because of this settlement's shitty economy. If it was another settlement, we'd probably earn more and have a better experience, but so far, it hasn't been the best."
The other three listened closely as Lyra explained the situation.
"The military academy will not only teach us and make us stronger, but will also provide us with better facilities and training halls. In addition, I've heard that the military academy we got invited to actually grants freedom to its students."
"The quest system is similar to the hunter's organisation, in which you complete tasks from the school which involve Labyrinth portals or requests in other worlds in exchange for rewards."
"Oh and they invest a ton of their resources on their most promising students, making them even more powerful, something that the hunter organisation rarely cares about-"
Lyra was interrupted by Julius who raised his palms.
"Okay, I get it, you've convinced me. We're going."
-Memory End.
"She really did her research, huh… now that I think about it, back then when we first got an invite, they were both excited to go." Julius added as he continued to pack his bags. "But neither of them went, they stayed."
Julius's eyes became hollow as for a moment, he stopped moving his hands.
"It was probably because of me… If they had gone I would've been left on my own."
Julius sat in silence for a few moments and resumed tidying shortly after. During that time he didn't utter a sound.
Once he was finished, he closed the large rucksack in front of him and left his room, making his way to the toilet.
In order to get to the toilet, he had to pass by the kitchen. There he found Ruby and Lyra cooking.
"Hey, Julius, you done preparing?" Ruby asked as she glanced at him from the sink
"Almost, all that's left is to get my toothbrush from the toilet . What about you girls? Are you done packing up?" Julius asked as he made his way to the toilet.
"We're just about done so we started cooking so that we could all eat after. Ava is almost done packing her bags." Lyra responded.
"Oh, I'll be okay, thanks. I skipped breakfast so I'll be looking forward to eating whatever you two make… the salamander from last time was good."
"Right?" Ruby asked as she placed her hands on her hips and smiled proudly. "Fufu~ Lyra is a great cook. She'd make a good wife."
"Ruby…!" Said Lyra looking teary eyed.
"Haha, that's true. Whoever marries Lyra will be a lucky man." Julius responded before entering the toilet.
Just like that, he'd left the two girls behind. Lyra, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes as she stared at the toilet door.
"What's that supposed to mean? He wouldn't mind if I were to marry someone else?"
Lyra stuck her tongue out at the door.
"Julius, you idiot." She humphed before turning around and going back to cutting the vegetables.
Ruby who had watched it all unfold, stayed quiet.
'So she likes him but he's not aware of it… haven't they been living together for ten years? He's rather dense…'
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"Mm~! This both looks and smells amazing!" Julius drooled at the mouthwatering dishes in front of him.
They were all seated at the kitchen table. Their bags were finally packed and the food was ready.
Two large platters of roasted chicken and beef with eggs and salad on the side. As well as another two large platters of both buttery seasoned rice and cheese pasta.
To top it off there was tomato soup with breadsticks as a starter.
"You two really went all out." Ava muttered.
"Yeah well today is our last day here so I used up all the ingredients we had. I also did it to celebrate everything having worked out in the end, I felt like we all deserved it." Said Lyra.
"That's good, but..." Ava continued. "Will you be able to eat this, Ruby? Don't Vampires live off blood?"
Both Julius and Lyra froze. Again, Ava's bad habit of being overly direct and failing to read the mood had surfaced.
"Hm? Ah- true, our bodies need to consume blood to survive but we high-ranked vampires like me can eat about the same things as humans can. Food actually helps suppress the urge a little… especially when it's delicious." Ruby explained with a proud smile. "Impressive, right?"
As it turned out, Ruby hadn't been offended by the question.
"With that out of the way, allow me to serve all of you." Said Lyra as she smiled.
Julius excitedly nodded as he handed her his plate.
-
"Um… Lyra…?" Julius called out to her.
"Yes?" Lyra responded, smiling coldly.
"Isn't this a bit too little?" Julius asked as he started at the amount of food on his plate.
It was a very tiny portion compared to the amount Lyra had served the others. While Ava had already started eating, Ruby looked away, pretending she didn't notice.
"It looks like the perfect size for me?" Lyra asked as she handed him the plate before sitting back down.
Julius smiled nervously at the plate.
'Ah, fuck. She's pouting, she's definitely mad at me. What did I do this time?' Julius wondered as she scrambled his brain for answers.
After a few seconds he gave up and dug in.
'I'll worry about it later. The food is too distracting.'
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"Ha… that was good." Julius muttered as he patted his round belly.
"Ha… You can say that again." Ava added as she too let out a satisfied sigh.
The plates in the table were wiped cleaned.
"Lyra, I can't believe we were able to create something like this with what we had." Said Ruby.
"Haha, stop it you guys, it wasn't that good." Lyra responded, blushing as she quickly did the dishes.
Slowly, Julius got up from his chair, grasping his suitcase beside him.
"Well, it's about time we get going."
The others nodded in agreement as they too got up with their belongings. They already had everything prepared.
With everything ready, they made their ways to the entrance only to stop and look down the corridor one last time.
"I'll miss this house."
"What's going to happen to it?"
"Who knows, it's a part of the settlement, we've been renting it so someone else will probably rent it."
"That makes sense, by the way Julius."
"What's up?"
"When does enrollment end?"
"January the 8th, why?"
Lyra, Julius and Ava froze whereas Ruby looked confused.
"Today's the 7th."
The moment Ava said those words, the group burst out into a sprint.
