SAVCF Chapter 29

The sky was blue. The sunlight coming through the window poured over my head.

“Today… Wouldn’t it be okay to skip training?”

Due to the nature of the southern region, the days were always nice, but today it was particularly dazzling. It felt like God was pushing me to go out and play.

“Okay. I’ve decided I will be absent.”

Hmm. I hummed and threw myself back on the bed.

Was it 20 points deducted for each absence?

That was nothing. It was an acceptable enough penalty.

‘It’s not like they’ll kick me out if it’s negative anyway.’

Agelisk had a point system. Points were given according to a trainee’s attitude, and a positive point was given if he showed a good attitude enough to be an example to others, and a minus point was given if he behaved like an idiot.

For reference, I got deducted ten points for not paying attention during the entrance ceremony on the first day.

And I had failed to recover it leaving it maintained at that score.

‘Leniana already has 80 points.’

As expected, she was a model student.

‘Okay. I should aim for zero points until the completion ceremony.’

Mr. Kiles was a picky teacher, so he didn’t give a positive score. Like Leniana, you had to get up an hour early to train and beat ten classmates in the demonstration match to get points.

‘Later… I should win as many spar matches as I have minus points.’

Finding a solution made me feel more relaxed. I stretched out and buried my face in the pillow.

I should get up around lunch.

It was the moment I was about to fall asleep.

Boom boom.

Someone knocked hard on the dormitory door. If I didn’t open it, I thought it would break.

“…Who is it?”

“Yuria?!”

It was Roziel.

Isn’t it time to train? Why is he here?

I opened the door carefully. Through the gap, I could see his handsome face.

“What’s going on?”

“You were in your room.”

He let out a long sigh as if he was relieved.

“Because you didn’t come to the training. I thought something happened.”

Oh, my. This cute guy. You ran all the way here because you were worried about me.

I was so moved that I grabbed his cheek and stretched it out.

“Huh, hria?!”

He lost his pronunciation because of his stretched cheeks. 

I made an excuse as I touched his plump rice-cake-like cheeks. 

“I was just sleeping in because I was sleepy.”

“…?”

“Because the weather is nice. I thought I shouldn’t train.”

He tilted his head as if he didn’t understand. It would be incomprehensible behavior to Leniana or the next good-hearted model student.

“Sometimes, you need to rest like this to get vitality in your life.”

“R, really?”

“Of course. How can a person work every day?”

I completely forgot that I had enough rest and played over the weekend.

“I see.”

“By the way Roziel, are you skipping training too?”

Roziel’s shoulders stiffened at my words. He didn’t seem to know what he had done now.

“Did you get permission from your teacher?”

“…No.”

“Did you just run out?”

When I reminded him of the reality, his face turned pale. He was about to run right away.

I can’t let him go back.

I should give him a taste of goofing off for the first time.

“There’s nothing we can do. Roziel. You have no choice but to play with me today.”

“Playing, not training?”

“Training? You can do that tomorrow, too. But a good day like today won’t come again.”

It made no sense, but Roziel nodded.

“Here. Follow me.”

I hid my insidious thoughts and guided him.

“You know what, Roziel?”

“What?”

“There are many things you can do with your loved ones other than going out.”

“Really, like what?”

Roziel responded to my every word just like a well-spoken student.

“Let’s eat delicious food together.”

“Delicious food?”

“Yes. We can cook each other’s favorite food and feed each other.”

I took him down to the restaurant.

I wasn’t doing this because I was hungry. I just wanted to eat a delicious meal with Roziel!

Perhaps because it was still before lunch time, the restaurant was empty.

I went into the kitchen and took a peek to see that there was no food prepared.

Yeah. It was only slightly past the morning.

“There is a rubber glove villain living here… Fortunately they’re not here today.”

“What are you going to do here?”

“Well, what do you want to do?”

“…Wouldn’t you eat?”

Although it was the correct answer, it was an answer that lacked creativity.

Whew. Our Roziel was really simple. You’re a child who doesn’t know how to play.

“Why don’t we try cooking?”

“Huh?”

His eyes widened.

“Let’s make Roziel’s favorite food.”

I had five years of experience playing with children. Cooking was an evolved version of playing house.

I sometimes made pancakes with Blandis and it turned out good.

It was fun…But most of all, a man who could cook was attractive.

It was basic knowledge that any popular man should have.

If Roziel fell in love later on, the courteousness that he had learned from now on would definitely be helpful.

“My…my favorite food?”

“How about a cake?”

“Hup!”

He covered his mouth with both hands at my suggestion.

…Are you deeply moved, Roziel?

“I, I really wanted to do that.”

“I thought so.”

Indeed, Roziel loved it so much that he ate all eight pieces of cake on the spot.

“I, I couldn’t eat at home… and nobody made it… I always had to go out and eat secretly…”

He grabbed me and complained, perhaps because he was sad about it.

“It’s okay, Roziel. From now on, you can use the dormitory’s kitchen secretly!”

I remember back in the day small mini cakes were served for dessert. So, there must have been cake ingredients here.

“Yuria. You’re really…”

He looked at me with moist puppy dog eyes. I was a little afraid of the words that would come out of his mouth.

“You’re a Black Knight.”

“…”

My face turned red for no reason.

I was the hero to save the world, but I couldn’t be a knight in his life.

“…You say those words only when the two of us are together, right?”

“Why?”

“If you do it in front of others… uh, that’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Being a Black Knight?”

“Being a Black Knight is a role you only play when you have a special relationship with each other. If anyone finds out about the two of us, they’ll be jealous.”

“A special relationship…”

It was true. If others find out that I was close with him. If… whoa. I didn’t want to imagine it.

“I see,” He said shyly.

“Now, then, for the sake of us being together…Well, shall we make a cake for a delicious lunch?”

“Yes!”

In my previous life, I had a history of making cakes as a gift for a senior I had a crush on. Thanks to this, I was confident enough to bake.

“Where I used to live, I had a cake on a special day.”

It was a story from my previous life.

“Special day?”

“Mainly when something worth celebrating or commemorating happened. Cakes are not only delicious desserts, but they also serve as a medium to send feelings to others.”

I took ingredients such as flour, eggs, and sugar out of the refrigerator.

“So, I hope that Roziel will learn hard and become a person who can convey an honest heart.”

“Yes,” He answered kindly. 

Yes, what a wonderful lesson this was! If you become a person who can think of others, you will surely take a step further from the path of villain.

I made fresh cream with a proud heart.

After kneading and baking the bread, I put the chocolate cream in a piping bag and handed it over to him.

“The life of a cake is its decoration. I’ll leave this important part to Roziel.”

He looked very nervous.

“Just squeeze it as you wish. It’s all right if it’s a mess.”

“B, but still.” 

“Just draw what Roziel likes most. You can draw a cute little thing.”

Whatever it is, all that is important is that it’s heartfelt. As I added, he clenched his fists and responded vigorously.

“Yes!”

He worked hard to decorate the cake while I cleaned up the kitchen in the meantime. It was the perfect crime.

At lunchtime, the auntie chef and employees would come down.

If we are caught being absent from training and even using the kitchen secretly, we will receive a huge deduction of points.

‘I can’t let that happen.’ 

After cleaning the kitchen without leaving a trace, I approached Roziel.

“Roziel, are you done?”

“Mmm.”

He worked so hard that his hands and face were covered with cream.

Did he have a fight with the piping bag? Why did he have cream all over his face?

“Here. Look at this.”

He held out the cake to me, looking proud of himself.

“…It’s a very abstract drawing. What did you express?”

Did he draw dragon poop?

Chocolate cream was drawn on the cake like a magic circle.

“Isn’t it pretty?”

“Uh… yeah.”

With my lack of insight, I couldn’t figure out what the drawing was expressing.

Still, he kept glancing at me, proudly.

Oh. Why do I feel so uneasy?

His face was one asking for praise. I had to come up with something plausible to say.

“I didn’t know that Roziel was someone who expressed his feelings and philosophy in this way. Really… you have…talent.”

“Really…?”

He coughed and tried to get rid of his twitching cheeks.

But it didn’t work. The white glutinous rice cake shook up and down like a willful creature.

“You’re… You’re good at everything….”

“Ah. I see.”

Surprisingly, I thought Roziel’s father might be a praise bot.

Roziel pushed the cake towards me.

“It’s a cake to celebrate today. I’ll give it to Yuria.”

“You’re giving me this?”

“Yes. I want to convey my feelings to someone special.”

What a beautiful thing to say. In the end, I couldn’t stand it and stroked Roziel, who was taller than me, on the head.

He smiled cutely with his messy hair.

“In return, you’ll skip training with me in the future, right?” 

“Okay.” 

I guess he really liked his first time goofing off.

Well. It wasn’t bad.

“But what did you draw on the cake?”

“Huh? Can’t you just tell when you see it?”

I can’t.

He smiled shyly at me and threw knife-like words.

“I painted Yuria’s face.”

“….My face?”

“Yes!”

“…”

When he had such a bright smile, I couldn’t find anything to say.

“And the little thing next to your face is Cutie.”

I would have been disappointed if it was only me.

“Especially this part of the eye. It took me a long time to draw. I drew it well, right?

It was like a lump of mud. I felt a little depressed.