After the group finished eating dessert, they were just about done exploring the shopping district of the academy. The Royal Academy's campus was pretty big, so they couldn't do a full tour around the campus in just one day. By the time the group finished with the tour and bought any living essentials from the shops in the district, it was well into the evening and the sun was beginning to set.
Cecil and the rest first arrived at the girl's dormitory to drop off Lucia and Fina. When Cecil and Ainz were about to go back, Lucia quickly stopped them.
"Hey, Cel, wanna have dinner at our place?"
"M'kay, you cookin', right?" Cecil immediately agreed to Lucia's invitation without hesitation.
"Of course!"
Ainz opened his mouth when he heard that Lucia would be cooking, "Hooh, so the fox brat can cook!"
"What're you still doing here? Go back already, you punk!"
"What's that, you brat?!"
Fina quickly stepped in to try and stop their argument. It hasn't even been a day since they've met, but the two had never ceased bickering.
"L-Lulu! Come on, let's also invite Ainz over..."
"No need! Not like I wa–"
"Tsk, can't take a joke, can ya punk?"
"What's that?!"
Cecil who was looking at them only smiled and walked into the building while carrying the girls' shopping bags.
"Hmph. For a friend, you seriously need to know when to take a joke! Come on, let's go in~" Lucia said and bounced after Cecil.
Fina was surprised and started giggling.
"F-Friend, huh...hmph," Ainz scratched his head and walked after the trio. A hint of a smile was on the corner of his lips.
"I see someone's happy~"
"Shut it, aqua brat."
The four made their way into the building and Lucia went to the receptionist on duty to ask permission for the two boys to enter their dorm apartments and was quickly told that if the guests were also students, then they didn't need to ask for permission as students were allowed to visit each other any time they wanted. Only guests from outside of campus needed to be reported to the dorm staff if there was a visitation.
"So, we can have anyone come and go as we please as long as they're students?"
"Yes, but please remember, since they are your guests, you have to be responsible for them. Do not let people who are not living in the dorm complex wander about without your supervision. The other residents might misunderstand and apprehend them.
"O-Okay! I will surely remember this!"
"Any other questions?"
"No, that's all. Thank you, Miss!"
Lucia and Fina led the boys to their apartment building. Along the way, it was inevitable that they would bump into others, especially when it was already the evening. By now, many other examinees that passed the exams had finally checked into their dorms and the seniors of the academy, who were living in the dorms, were also back from whatever activities they were doing during the day. The place was now much livelier than compared to earlier this morning.
Cecil was silently following behind Lucia, not minding the stares that were being directed at them. After all, 2 girls were already bringing in some boys into their dorm complex on the day before the academy's semester even started. Moreover, they seemed to be heading to the S-class dorm building, so they naturally attracted stares just from this fact alone.
"Oi... Cecil, there sure are a lot of beauties, huh?" Cecil turned to look at Ainz who was next to him with a small hint of shock.
He honestly didn't think that with Ainz's character, he would take the initiative to bring up this topic. Cecil took a look around and saw the other girls at the dormitory complex bustling about. They were either staring curiously at their group or just frolicking in the open area in the middle. He scanned everyone he could see with his senses and Mana Eyes before replying to Ainz's question with disinterest, "...Don't care."
Cecil had just scanned everyone to see if there was someone amongst the gallery of girls that were 'strong'. Since he couldn't find anyone, he was genuinely disinterested in them even if they looked rather pretty and pleasing to the eyes. However, he did pick up a powerful mana source from the girl that was currently standing next to Lucia.
'Heh, I guess she's in the S-class dorms for a reason...' He thought while taking a glance at Aquafina.
Ainz was shocked to hear Cecil's reply and see his genuine disinterest at his question and the girls that were around.
"Hah?! Listen here, Cecil," he strode up next to Cecil and wrapped an arm around him before pulling him close. He then started speaking in a quiet voice and began to silently point out the girls in the area, who in his opinion, had a 'beauty that could and should be appreciated'.
Cecil could only listen since Ainz was practically forcing him to. Also, his 'analysis' was a little bit interesting even though Cecil didn't want to admit it. In the end, he was still a boy after all. However, even though it couldn't be helped, he was inwardly sweating because in front of him, a rakshasa was slowly growing angry.
'Ainz... please, just please shut up! I'm going to be killed!'
Lucia had started walking close to them at some point and she was basically overhearing everything that Ainz was saying even though he was speaking softly. What she heard wasn't something she liked, especially since Cecil was in on it. Fina, who was next to Lucia, started giggling at Ainz's nonsense, but then she heard Lucia mumble something dangerous.
"Poison? Yeah... I'll poison him... Cerella flower added with Lo'pulla vine solution and the hipocotus herb can cause paralysis and hallucination... I'll also add a little demurus leaves and dried basilisk meat that'll cause diarrhea...hehehehe...keep on talking, you little punk... this'll be your last supper, hehehe."
Fina turned pale hearing Lucia speak about paralyzing and poisoning, she quickly turned back and stomped on Ainz's foot before going back to pacify the evil rakshasa who was about to concoct a dangerous meal for him.
"OUCH! What's your problem, aqua brat?!"
"Hey, Lulu, just make something simple, okay?! Okay?!"
"I'm only going to make soup later~"
"Soup?!"
Fina quickly imagined the possibility of Lucia pouring in something 'extra' into Ainz's soup and quickly tried to change the menu.
"Nonono~ let's just roast meat or something, okay? Yes, let's just do that! We only had some light meals today, so we should all be starving! At times like this, meat should always be the way!"
"Hmmm? Okay then, if you want meat then let's eat meat for dinner~"
Fina sighed in relief and glared back at Ainz and mouthed, 'Shut your stupid mouth, idiot!'
Ainz was puzzled since he didn't quite catch what Fina mouthed. Cecil, on the other hand, immediately started thanking Fina. He placed a hand on his chest and lightly bowed to her. Ainz could only stare at him feeling quite puzzled.
'Thank god we have an angel in our midst... I almost died, he almost died. Thank you, Guardian Angel Fina.'
Fina, who was in front of them, sneezed cutely. Lucia looked at her and asked.
"You cold, Fina?"
"Not really, just had to sneeze all of a sudden."
After their comedic exchange on the road, the group of four finally arrived at building S01.
"So you're in building S01, huh brat?"
"...Hurry up and come in," Lucia was too tired to return an insult, so she just quickly ushered them in to the building.
They led them to their apartment and after walking inside, Lucia went towards her room to put away Shirayuki and change her clothes. Cecil quickly followed after her and this rather surprised both Ainz and Fina.
"Cel, can you get me that please?"
"M'kay."
"Brush my hair and tails later before you go back, okay?"
"Yes, yes. Now, where should I put these though?"
The door wasn't closed off entirely, so Ainz and Fina could hear the exchange that the two had inside of Lucia's room. They looked at each other and had knowing looks on their faces. It was quite obvious that those two were a couple. Being engaged at the ripe young age of 14 or 15 wasn't uncommon in their nation, so they stopped worrying about the two, and Fina finally realized why Lucia was always jealous if Cecil so much as looked in the direction of another girl.
This was obviously a misunderstanding on their part. Cecil and Lucia weren't like that. The two of them were still just friends and not in an intimate relationship at all, but they had basically lost all sense of shame towards each other because they had gotten so used to each others' presence during their journey, plus the two of them have already seen what needs to be seen from each other's bodies.
Most curious teenagers would act in a 'certain' way, especially the boys, if they were allowed to be in such a situation, but unfortunately for Lucia, not Cecil. He was an enigma that had a very weird kind of thought process.
Since he was always only thinking about training, whenever Cecil saw Lucia's body, he only ever focused on her arm and leg muscles along with the muscles in the areas that she needed to improve and develop, like in her abdomen, back, and waist, that could enhance her fighting capabilities. Thanks to this mindset of his, Cecil never had any lewd thoughts towards Lucia, especially since he viewed her as someone that he was training, a disciple of sorts.
After setting down the bags that held the clothes and other things that Lucia bought, Cecil left her room and went to the kitchen. Over there, Ainz was already organizing the groceries that they had bought today though he was struggling a bit. Seeing him doing it all alone and somewhat failing, Cecil quickly walked over to help.
"Fina?"
"She went to go change... Anyway, where the heck does this thing go?"
"...Let me do it, Ainz."
"Y-Yeah, okay... just tell me what to do and I'll help out. The aqua brat entrusted me with this after all, so I can't just leave it to you..."
"Alright."
The two of them worked fast and quickly got the job done. All of the items were neatly arranged in the cupboards while the perishables that they bought were stored in the magic cooling device that was in the kitchen. This device was basically this world's refrigerator. Cecil found it quite interesting how this world had some similar aspects with Earth.
Once they were all done, Ainz went to the living room and sat down on one of the couches. Cecil remained in the kitchen and was polishing some of the dishes and cups they bought. The girls came out of their rooms dressed in casual wear a moment later and Lucia quickly ran up to Cecil and hugged his arm. She was wearing a plain, light yellow one piece while Fina came out wearing a t-shirt with overalls.
Lucia's eyes immediately brightened and she quickly went over to hug Fina.
"You're soooo~ cute Fina~"
Fina could only let the fox girl hug her while she giggled in her embrace. Lucia quickly let go of Fina and headed back towards the kitchen to rejoin Cecil who was already getting things ready for her. Ainz only took a short glance at the girls and turned his gaze outside the window. It was almost dark and the light rocks were now being turned on by the campus staff.
Lucia quickly began to get busy, preparing all the necessary ingredients for their dinner. Cecil was helping her out and was mincing the boar meat that they purchased earlier. After receiving the finely minced meat, she quickly packed and mixed them together with the things she prepared, mashed fernions–the planet's onions– along with salt and other grounded down herbs.
She molded the meat mixture into a thick disk-like shape before setting it aside and doing it a few more times until all of the ground boar meat was gone. Basically what she made was a meat patty, something she learned to make from using her knowledge about Earth's foods.
Ainz and Fina were observing as the two were working together to make their dinner and Fina couldn't help but ask, "...They're more than just engaged, right?"
"...I...don't know?"
Ainz honestly couldn't tell what those two's relationship was. Being engaged at 14 or 15 was normal, but being married? Now that was something strange. Instead of paying attention to such an odd detail, he was more interested in the food that the two were making. It seemed a little...odd.
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"The food's a bit unusual don't you think?"
"Uhuh... but..."
"It smells good!" the two said in unison.
----------------------------------------------
"Thanks for the meal!" Ainz and Fina said together, feeling very satisfied with the food they just ate.
The dinner they had was otherworldly, both figuratively and literally. The meat patties that Lucia made weren't the typical kind of food that the people of Alterna normally ate. It was either whole meat or chopped meat here. The patty looked strange when it was served, but the smell that came off of it was something Ainz and Fina couldn't resist. The spices mixed in with the patty were good that one didn't need any other condiments to go with it.
When they took a bite of the patty, a cacophony of deliciousness burst in their mouth as the meat melted into their taste buds and stimulated their senses. Cecil liked eating spicy foods, so the meat patty that Lucia made had some spiciness to it. To replicate the spicy flavor, Lucia had to combine a lot of different herbs before she finally found it.
Cecil couldn't find any kind of ingredient out there that resembled the spices that could be found on Earth, so Lucia had to make it herself. However, because she used various different herbs, the spicy flavor also came with this unique herby flavor. It wasn't the same kind of spiciness as back from Earth, but it was still something Cecil could enjoy.
It was that 'weird', but delicious taste that hooked Ainz and Fina. It was a unique taste that they've never tasted before so they wanted to have a little more of it. Thankfully, Lucia made a lot so Ainz and Fina were able to have their fill.
The 3 of them had already finished with their meal, but there was still someone eating. Naturally, that was the last person with them, Cecil. He was eating a lot of meat patties, and by a lot, it was a whole mountain of them. When Lucia served the food, she made 2 big plates that was stacked with them, but one of the plates had a far larger stack than the other.
Ainz and Fina were wondering why she was serving so much food, but quickly found out that one of the big plates was exclusively only for Cecil to consume. Lucia informed them with a smile that Cecil always ate a lot, but the 'a lot' she mentioned was just absurd. What Cecil was eating wasn't just 'a lot', it was too much! They couldn't wrap their heads around how a small statured boy like him could eat so much food in one sitting. It was like there was a blackhole in his belly or something.
While Cecil was still eating, everyone else had began talking about random things. Eventually, Ainz brought up a topic that neither Cecil nor Lucia understood.
"Factions?"
"Yeah, Lulu... you didn't know that?" Fina asked, feeling rather surprised her friend didn't already know about this.
"What're those?"
"Haha, brat! I can't believe you don't know of such a simple thing! What're you, stupid?"
"Oi, punk, want me to scorch that pretty face of yours?"
A crimson magic circle had already appeared on top of Lucia's hands right after she said her words. Ainz panicked and immediately waved his arms at her.
"OIOI! I'm just kidding, dammit! And here you said that I'm the one who can't take a joke!"
Lucia laughed and said, "And I'm only joking as well! So... you gonna tell me about these factions or what?"
"Damn... your jokes are way too dangerous! Seriously! Who the heck casts chantless tier-3 magic as a 'joke'???"
"Hmph, get used to it because you're looking at the person herself," Lucia scoffed and took a sip of her tea before giving Ainz a glance, "Well?"
"There are 10 factions in the academy, Lulu," Fina spoke up and answered Lucia's inquiry. "They are the Student Council Faction, Warrior Faction, Spell Caster Faction, Royal Fox Faction, High Dragon Faction, Dark Moon Faction, Alchemy Faction, Magical Research Faction, World Tree Faction, and the Ironforger Faction."
"Okay... so what?" Lucia asked, puzzled.
Ainz, who was on the side, spoke up in a serious tone.
"What I'm asking is, what faction will you be joining, Lucia? You too, Cecil. Which one will you two be joining?"
It was the first time that Ainz called out to both Cecil and Lucia with their proper names instead of 'brat' or something else. Since he was speaking so seriously right now, Lucia frowned because she didn't know why it was so important to join a faction. She didn't quite understand the power dynamics of the academy and how the factions would affect her school life.
After all, Lucia didn't come here to play politics or anything. She came to the academy with Cecil only to learn more about magic and spells in order to strengthen herself, so that she could continue staying alongside Cecil. The boy in question had a goal that was more or less the same as Lucia's, so he didn't care at all when he heard Ainz and Fina talk about the factions.
Cecil didn't stop moving his hands or his mouth which caused Ainz and Fina to smile wryly at him. They could already tell that he didn't seem to care at all. The same went for Lucia, but still, they'd have to join one sooner or later, so they wanted to know where the two of them would be headed. It was obvious that these two came and went in a pair, so whichever faction one of them chose, the other one would readily follow.
"Well? Which one?"
"Yeah, Lulu... have you decided? Joining a faction could very much alternate your course of life while you're here in the academy..." Fina said worriedly.
Knowing about her friend's talent, any of the 10 factions would surely vie for her. She then turned towards Cecil and saw that the fox boy was still eating.
'Even Cecil would be greatly valued by the 10.'
"Hey, Cecil, what about you? Which faction you joinin'?"
Cecil stopped for a moment and looked up since Ainz was directly addressing him. He turned towards Lucia and saw that even she was eager to hear about which faction he was willing to join. He gulped down the food in his mouth and asked, "What's a faction?"
"..."
"..."
While Ainz and Fina remained speechless, Lucia only giggled at his response, and then she began telling him about the 10 factions.
"Oh... what're they for?" Cecil asked curiously while stuffing another patty into his mouth.
Ainz was happy to respond to his question, so he began explaining, "The factions are there to regulate the academy, keep the economy moving, protect the students, research magic, concoct potions, forge and research equipment, and many other things! You could say that they're the lifeblood, the brains, the brawn, and the soul of this academy!"
"Just as Ainz said, the factions are there to basically operate the school," Fina added.
"What about the teachers?"
"The teachers, professors, and instructors are only there to teach us about magic, research, and combat. Everything else, like running the academy and what not, are all done by the students who are in the factions."
"Hooh... so these factions are important to the academy, huh?"
"Exactly! And joining a faction is a privilege and honor! Not just anyone can join a faction!" Ainz said with vigor. It could be clearly seen that he really wanted to join one of these factions.
Cecil then turned towards Fina and asked, "... so what about the students who aren't a part of the factions?"
"They just go about their merry way, following all the rules and regulations set by the factions and continuing on with their normal academy life."
"Now that sounds much better! Better to stay away from them than to join em, sounds like those rotten political parties that my grandpa always talked about."
"Huh?" Fina dumbly responded after hearing Cecil's lackadaisical reply.
"Y-you're not going to join any of them?"
Cecil began moving his hands and mouth again while talking, "Well *gulp* yeah. I mean, it sounds like a lot of trouble and stuff."
Seeing as Cecil was resuming his dinner, Fina spoke out again, "It's not just about managing the school, Cecil! Keep this in mind. The school holds an annual tournament where one is tested by the instructors and fight against other students of the academy. By winning this tournament, you would then have the privilege to use the academy's time magic formation to train for 1 month's time! The top ten would get this privilege, but only the winner would get 1 month's time! The second to ninth place would only get 3 weeks all the way down to 3 days' worth of time to use this important formation! These 10 spots are what every faction vies for and not one of them would want to lose that spot!"
Fina finished saying all that in one go and took a pause to breathe before continuing, "If a person was a part of the faction and they placed in the top 10, every member of the faction that the person represented would gain access to the time formation where time is accelerated inside of it. You can spend an entire week inside of the formation, but only 24 hours would've passed outside of it! It's a really incredible place!"
Cecil was immediately intrigued hearing about this time magic formation. It seemed that the formation accelerated the time passed inside of it once activated. He wanted to get stronger than he already was, but what he lacked was time. Technique and other practical knowledge he already had. Combat techniques from his family and the magical knowledge from Lucia's family. All he needed was the time to digest and make these techniques and knowledge his.
To perfect and hone his technique, what he needed to do was train and training required time. Using the formation that caused one month to turn into more than half a year was something that was very much tempting for him. Better yet, he could use it every year if he won the annual tournaments consecutively. Cecil didn't stop eating, but he smirked and glanced at Lucia.
Lucia immediately knew what was on his mind, so she quickly turned towards Fina and asked, "So, how much time do we get inside of the formation if we win this tournament?"
"Uh, if I recall correctly, I think we get a month inside of it?"
"A month? So that would be 28-30 weeks, right?"
"Yeah."
"That's... a little over half a year!" Lucia exclaimed in shock. There was an excited look on her face and she turned towards Cecil and the boy just smiled back at her. "Heh, we'll win without joining a faction! We're definitely not going to pass up on this! Factions seem troublesome, and by what you said, I'd have to be shouldering a ton of responsibilities if I joined one of those factions and responsibilities means that our attention would have to be turned somewhere else that's not our training. That's bad since we'd have less time to train!"
"But Lulu, for the past couple of decades, only members of those factions have ever made it into the top 10."
"Oh? Why's that?"
"That's because... the tournament isn't meant for individuals... I mean, of course you could individually enter the tournament, but the tests and obstacles of the tournament wasn't meant for one person to overcome. Only the last segment of the tournament, which is the fighting competition, would be an individual event."
"What?" Lucia exclaimed and frowned after hearing this, "So, what're the other segments?"
"Actually, this tournament is set to start at the beginning of next month! The tournament is divided into 5 segments. With the first segment begins at the start of the curriculum, the segment is called Adventure. During this segment, which lasts for 2 months, the participant, which is every student in the academy, is required to go out and do adventure quests issued by the campus' adventurer guild. Depending on the quest's rank, you would earn different amount of points and at the end of the 2 month period, every successful quest will be tallied and the scores will be shown at the center monument of the academy."
"That sounds easy," Lucia said care freely. She was a gold ranked adventurer that was on the verge of becoming platinum. The amount of quests that she's cleared was a lot so clearing quests for 2 months was not much for her.
"No, Lucia. You don't get it. I said EVERY successful quest will be tallied, that means for a faction, which consists of a whole bunch of students, if all of their results were to be tallied together, then the amount would be many times more than what a sole individual could possibly do."
"What?! That's no fair!"
"Well, that's the advantage of being in a faction."
"Awww, come on."
Ainz who was silently listening to Fina, sneered and spoke up to mock Lucia, who was now deflated hearing Fina's explanation.
"Give it up brat, we all have no choice but to join one if we don't want to miss out on the once in a year opportunity!"