If There's an Underling, Watch Out for a Boss! (1)

Together with my annoying but thoughtful friend, we headed for the cafeteria for lunch. Most, if not all, students take their lunch there. After all, the food was free and extremely delicious.

By the way, our school had no name. It's something that was built to take in young people like us and train us to become better at using the awakened system. Normal classes? What use would we have for that now that the entire world is in tatters?

"Hey, look... That's the guy who confessed to the QUEEN."

"Uwaah, isn't he quite good-looking? Why did she refuse? Isn't it a waste?"

"No, not that one. The one beside him!"

"That scrub? He should know his limits."

"Right~? I thought so too."

"Yes, of course! Even dreaming big should have its limits."

"Really, he thinks too highly of himself."

"By the way, who's that pretty boy beside him?"

"Back off, b*tch! He's already mine!"

As we walked across the wide hallways, the students we passed by were still talking about me and my failed confession. Honestly, I don't care much since my reputation has no way to get any lower. However, what scrub?! I'm at least confident enough to say that I'm average-looking at worst!

Turning to Kyouya, he was just walking forward without any care about what others were talking about. Well, it's not like he's getting insulted or something. But still, I'm getting jealous of how the attention we get is completely opposite each other.

Inside the cafeteria, where the less than a thousand or so students of the entire school gather during lunch, the stares that the two of us got were getting a bit more prickly.

I just picked a random menu and passed it to the old lady manning the server's counter. After a few seconds, a tray filled with spicy-looking food was given to me. I don't really eat spicy food, but asking for a replacement would take up time, and I don't want to stand out even more.

I sighed as I crossed the floor and went to a vacant table, reserving the seat opposite me for Kyouya, who was still ordering his food. I looked at the red soup-like thing before me and decided to leave it alone, only eating the rice and the other sides to fill my growling stomach.

As I was waiting for him, a commotion began near the entrance to the cafeteria. I turned to look but quickly glanced away. It was because the person under attention was none other than the woman who turned me down yesterday.

But damn, doesn't she look beautiful today too?

From the corner of my eyes, I could still see her figure. Standing prim and proper, she had her long black hair tied into a half-crown and continued in a braid down her back. Her characteristic sharp blue eyes looked ahead as if she didn't even see the mob gathering before her.

"Yo, it looks like QUEEN is in a bad mood today. Better stay out of sight."

As I was wondering why her angry frown looked different today, Kyouya sat down in front of me with his ramen. "Bad mood? Why, what happened?"

Turning to gossip mode, I lowered my stance and asked in a whisper. Kyouya smiled and did the same, pointing a finger at someone behind her.

"You see that tall guy? He's the son of the principal. She's currently being bothered by him. Yesterday, if you didn't call her to confess, then she might've been forced to go with him to dinner or something."

"The principal? You mean, the General?"

As the school wasn't really a school anymore but a training facility for future fighters, the faculty also included members of the Military. For example, Sir Andrew was a previous lieutenant, but due to a severe injury, he was transferred to be a teacher instead.

"Yep. He's even using that fact to pressure the QUEEN. I guess we'll be seeing something interesting in a few more days."

"Is that so... But why start chasing her right now?"

The school had already been up and running for a month. It was a bit too late to say that he just got to know her, as the QUEEN was also the one who gave the welcoming speech during the entrance ceremony.

"It's because he just transferred in three days ago. Weren't you listening when Andrew mentioned it?"

Kyouya stared at me as if looking at trash. I just shrugged my shoulders at that. After all, I didn't care much about anything else other than increasing my badges. The information from the "lessons" was all something I already read on the internet, so there was no use in listening to it again.

"That's all I wanted to ask, anyway. Let's just eat."

I muttered before taking a sip of the soup. Only to quickly grab the glass of water beside me to quench my flaming tongue. This soup is too spicy to be edible!

As I was trying to grab the glass of water from Kyouya, I realized that someone was gazing at me. Looking around, I quickly noticed that it was the same tall man that Kyouya pointed at before. His gaze was pretty intense, like he wanted to kill me or something.

I acted as if I didn't notice it, of course. It's better not to provoke a pampered brat like him.

---

School finishes around 3 p.m. to provide the students with time to hunt and level up while the sun is still up. After all, hunting at night is pretty dangerous.

Today was Friday, so tomorrow there are no classes. I can hunt the whole day for tomorrow, but I still feel like it's a waste to miss the few hours I have for today.

"I'm back!"

As soon as I reached home, I called from the door and took off my shoes before running up the stairs and dumping my bag randomly on top of the bed.

Then, I took off my uniform and wore something more flexible to ensure my range of movement. In the end, I decided to wear the PE uniform that our school issued. It was just a plain white shirt with a jacket and jogging pants in a sky-blue color.

After I finished changing, I quickly ran back out and towards the garage, picking up a sledgehammer that was usually used to break down walls. It had a meter-long handle, and the head was about 2 kilograms. It's pretty easy to wield, but doing so for an extended period would make my arms hurt.

"Mahiro? Where are you going?"

Just as I was about to head out of the gates again, I heard Mother's voice from behind. Looking back, I saw her peeking out the door with a worried expression. Her brown hair, tied into a ponytail, gently hung over her shoulders as she peeked.

"I'm going hunting! Don't worry, I'll be back before dinner!"

But since I'm short on time, with sunset being about three to four hours away, I just hollered to her while running away.

"Hunting...? My son finally—!"

I could still hear her emotional words as I ran, so I felt a little awkward. Well, she didn't question me or force me when I decided to wait for two months before starting, after all. Although I know she's worried for me more than anyone else, I still couldn't tell her about my plans. I'm thankful that she trusts me, honestly.

I ran for a short distance along the main road before turning to the right and heading east to where the nearby forest was. It's something that the neighborhood used to visit for hunting. However, since the monsters there were pretty low-level, only the military would visit it every now and then to trim down their numbers.

After about ten minutes, I finally reached the edge of the forest. To be specific, I reached the border, protected by a sturdy-looking gate and guarded by two strong-looking men with guns held askew.

I quickly moved closer, showed them my ID, and asked. "Can I access this area for hunting?"

As per the rules, I set my level display to the public once again. When the two soldiers saw my "Student Lv. 1" display, they immediately showed an awkward smile.

"Yes, of course. Although the forest is full of weak monsters, be careful out there."

The guard to the left said this as he swiped my ID over his portable terminal. With just that, my visit to this hunting ground was recorded.

"We'll be staying here until 6 p.m. If you're not back before then, then sorry, but we'll leave you here."

The other guy opened the gate and muttered grumpily. Well, I know that they're going to leave later. I also know that the next guard duty was slated for 4 a.m., which was tomorrow.

I showed a bright smile as I headed out, passing through the tall gates. Before me, the large forest spread. I looked behind me and saw the guard closing the gate again. This means that if I didn't come back before 6 p.m., I'd be stuck in here the entire night.

I grabbed the sledgehammer hanging from my back and swung it a few times.

"Then... Let's start grinding!"

I ran into the forest, searching for my first victim.