Today is the school's anniversary.
Even though there was no business at school, Kizen held extra classes, as if to say that even holidays couldn't be skipped.
It was a supplementary class taught by an assistant teacher without a professor. Students who performed poorly were required to attend, and the rest of the class was free to choose.
"Kizen and the students are the same… They've all gone crazy."
Rick grumbled as he sat at his desk, writing down another discovery.
"Curse and Poison Alchemy are full. Honestly, you should take a break during the school anniversary."
Simon chuckled and asked,
"Do you have any classes you have to take?"
"I just need to accept the Curse."
"Too bad."
Simon had no mandatory classes, having dropped the weakest subject of Necromancy. Both relieved and exhausted, Simon began to stretch his tired fingers.
"In addition, I am pleased with the delivery evaluation."
"Me too!"
As he did so, Simon also made his own suggestions.
"Don't you think we'll need some essentials if we're going to neutral territory? Why don't we go shopping in Rochest with Meilyn and Cami?"
At that moment, Rick froze.
"What is wrong?"
"Ahh, y-you know…"
Rick, who was always sly and easygoing, scratched his head in embarrassment and put on a shy expression.
"I don't think I'll be able to join you guys in this shipment evaluation."
Simon stopped.
"Oh, really?"
"Sorry. I already made plans with my friends in Class G, so I'll be with them."
"Oh… What a shame."
"Sorry, sorry. You should go see Meilyn. She said she'll be in the library all day today."
They have until tomorrow to report their groups.
It would be a group of four, so the empty spots would have to be filled quickly.
Simon nodded and quickly changed into his uniform.
* * *
He arrived at the library.
Meilyn was easy to spot, her light blue hair standing out anywhere. She seemed to be taking a break from her studies, as she chatted with other students outside the reading room.
Simon walked over and called out,
"Meilyn!"
Meilyn also noticed Simon and turned around. Simon continued hurriedly,
Meilyn.Have you heard? Rick is—!
"Wait, Simon. I'm talking about something important."
"Ah, okay."
He was in such a hurry that he barged into the ongoing conversation. Simon nodded in understanding and took a step back to wait.
Soon after, the two girls started chatting again.
He unconsciously listened, but they were just talking about other people's love lives. Well, it was just the same story over and over again like how this person started dating this person but the guy cheated on her, yet he shamelessly showed no sign of remorse while the girl cried.
Hearing the story, Meilyn was very angry.
"Isn't he crazy?"
"I know!?"
The two girls' conversation continued without stopping. Simon had never felt so far away from Meilyn, and he awkwardly kept his distance.
20 minutes later, Meilyn's students who were chatting waved and disappeared.
That's when Meilyn confronted Simon.
"What is it?"
"Oh, it's about the delivery evaluation."
Finally, he could move on to the main issue.
"Rick said he would conduct a delivery evaluation with people from other classes. Shouldn't our group immediately replace the empty spots?"
"Our group?"
Hearing that, Meilyn burst out laughing.
"What do you mean by 'we'?"
"Hmm?"
"Are you planning to go with me?"
"…A-Are you not?"
Since they had spent the entire day yesterday talking about neutral areas together, Simon had come to the simple conclusion that they would go together.
"Gosh. Who would send out evaluations to their classmates? We're going to be the laughing stock of the class."
He had to take a moment to catch his breath. Trying to talk while laughing didn't give him much room to breathe.
"Plus, we've been hanging out together all this time. You should try to get to know people in other classes and use this as an opportunity. I'll go with the girl you saw earlier and two people from Class H."
"I-Is that so?"
Is it a trend to do delivery evaluations with people from other classes?
Simon was a little taken aback, but Rick and Meilyn acted as if this was an obvious conclusion.
"You haven't gone to Cami, have you?"
Meilyn asked.
"I will. Do you know where he is?"
"Don't you remember? He signed up for extra classes in Hemomancy. He's probably within range of the magic bullets."
* * *
Simon immediately went to the shooting range.
There he saw a teaching assistant giving a lecture with such enthusiasm that flecks of saliva kept coming out of his mouth.
Simon could also easily spot Camibarez, especially since he was the only student there with bat wings.
His wings flapped as he took notes, and his ears perked up whenever an important statement was made. Oddly enough, watching him was addictive.
"Well, that's all for the extra lecture. For students who registered for the afternoon lecture as well, see you in two hours from now."
"Thank You!"
The hemomancy assistant teacher left, and the students rushed out of the lecture hall.
Simon leaned against the wall so that other students could pass quickly.
Towards the end, he saw Camibarez leaving the room, holding his textbook close to his chest.
"We!"
"Oh, Simon!!"
He ran towards Simon with a big smile. Seemingly in a good mood, his wings flapped quickly.
"What brings you all the way here?"
"Oh, you see..."
Simon was about to say that Rick and Meilyn would be going with the others for the delivery evaluation, and we had to recruit two more people…
But this time he broached the topic with caution.
"Cami, did you perhaps go with the others for the delivery evaluation?"
"…Ah."
Camibarez's eyes trembled at the question. His face turned pale, and his mouth moved as if he didn't know what to do. Finally, he looked down at his feet and remained silent.
Simon tried his best to smile and reassure her,
"It's okay, it's not a big deal."
"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry! I actually promised the Saddam club members that I would go with them, so..."
"Is that so? Then what can I do?"
Simon realized too late that there was a fire burning beneath his bottom.
He had to find a complete group tomorrow.
* * *
* * *
After that, Simon frantically went around looking for his group mates.
"Ah, I appreciate the offer, but we originally planned to stay the same group from the start. Sorry."
He first goes to his classmate, Toto, but it turns out he already has a group.
"What? Are you looking for a group mate?"
Next, he meets Jamie Victoria, the president of Class A.
Hearing Simon was left alone, he shook his shoulder.
"Did you guys fight or something? What happened? I never worried about Group 7 because you guys got along so well!"
"No, we didn't fight."
Simon explained, and he was very confused.
"What do you mean by that?! Of course, you should be doing a delivery evaluation with your group members!"
"I-Is that so?"
"Do you think the delivery evaluation is some kind of casual picnic? The professors clearly designed it so that you would be with the same group of people you have been working with for half a year! How are you going to work in harmony, plan tactics, and coordinate with people from other classes?"
"…"
Simon looked stunned. He hadn't thought that far ahead.
"That's why I asked if you guys had a fight."
Jame took a deep breath and continued,
"Unless there's a serious fight, everyone tends to choose the same group. The same goes for my group."
"…I understand. Thank you for telling me."
"I won't interfere, but I want you to let me know if anything happens to Group 7, okay?"
"We really don't fight."
Who is telling the truth?
Simon wondered as he walked away. This time, he headed to Claudia after hearing where Jamie came from. He had become quite close to her lately after everything that had happened.
"No, that's not true! Isn't that an exaggeration?"
Hearing Simon's story, Claudia became angry as if she was the one who was abandoned.
"Like the class president said, you should have gone with your group mates. And! If they were going with someone from another class, the least they could have done was tell you! Meilyn, that bitch… I didn't expect this from Cami either!"
"I appreciate you being angry for me, but…"
Simon continued with a smile.
"I don't really like it when you badmouth my group mates in front of me."
"Ah, i-is that so? Sorry…!"
Claudia immediately lowered her head to apologize. However, as soon as she raised her head once again, fire burned in her eyes.
"But still, what's not right is not right! This is a matter that you will definitely have to apologize for in the future!"
"…"
No matter how hard he searched, Simon still couldn't find his group mates. They were all more or less in the same group.
As he walked down the hall, he saw a group of four people sitting in an empty lecture hall, talking hoarsely.
'…Looks like they're having fun.'
He felt a little lonely.
This was the first time he had felt something like this since coming to Kizen.
Simon trudged along. There seemed to be a group of four students everywhere he went. Seeing them all happy made him feel even more empty.
'Still. It's too early to give up.'
He planned to ask a few more people from Class A, and if that didn't work, Kajann, Lorain, Fitzgerald, and even Serene. He was afraid of what kind of strange requests he would make, but beggars couldn't be choosers.
"I don't have much time left."
Simon went up to the third floor, as Claudia had told him that Cindy Vivace—also from Class A—was studying in an empty lecture room on that floor. Room 302.
'But I'm sure he went with the same group…'
Still, there was no harm in trying. Even if Cindy had been taken away, he might be able to get some other information there.
Arriving at the door of lecture room 302, Simon knocked softly.
"Who is there?"
Cindy's voice was heard from behind the door.
"It's me, Simon. Can I come in for a moment?"
"Sure, come in!"
Simon pushed the door open.
appear!
appear!
Out of nowhere, confetti shot out from everywhere.
"Happy birthday, Simon!!"
Woooooo!!
Cheers of enthusiasm were heard throughout the room. Confetti and flower petals fell from the ceiling. In front of him was a large cake.
'…??'
Simon looked around confused.
Inside the lecture hall, he saw Rick in a party hat holding confetti, Meilyn smiling and clapping, and Camibarez beaming while holding a cake.
Behind them were Jamie, Claudia, and Cindy.
What is this all about?
Birthday?
My birthday?
"Don't tell me, that's it then..."
"What do you think it is? This is all shocking!!"
Meilyn exclaimed while laughing.
Holding the cake in both hands, Camibarez approached and said,
"Blow out the candles, Simon!"
Cheers erupted again as Simon blew out the candles with a stunned face.
Rick takes out all the remaining confetti.
"…Hahaha."
Her disappointed emotions melted like snow, leaving only a warm feeling in her heart.
Covered in confetti and flower petals, Simon put his hand to his chest and finally smiled, letting out a sigh.
"…You guys really took me there."
Rick giggled and put his arms around Simon's neck.
"Buddy, you shouldn't have doubted us! Do you really think we'll ditch you and go to another group!"
"Sorry we tricked you, Simon!"
It was a surprise from the start. Jamie, Claudia, and Cindy had also been bribed with cake.
Simon, the main character of the day, cut the cake and put it on a plate. The cake was so big that, even though everyone took a piece, more than half was still left over.
"By the way, guys, I have a confession…"
Hearing Simon's words, it was the other three members of Group 7's turn to be unmoved.
"W-What is that?"
Asked, Camibarez.
"Hey! Don't tell me you left us in no time and got another group!!"
Meilyn said anxiously.
Simon shook his head, and continued sheepishly,
"It's not my birthday today."
"…"
There was an awkward silence that filled the lecture hall.
Soon, all eyes were on Rick.
"You idiot! You said today was Simon's birthday!!"
Meilyn shouted.
Rick looked at Simon in confusion, stammering,
"You marked it with a circle on your dorm room calendar! You wrote the word birthday there…!"
"Oh, it's my mother's birthday."
Silence fell again.
Then, Meilyn and Simon exchanged furtive glances. Meilyn lunged at the half-finished cake, and…
Ouch!
He slammed it right into Rick's face.
"Hahahahahaha!"
"Serves you right!"
Everyone cheered and laughed along. Rick, whose face was covered in cake, laughed happily.
"Ah… Ahh! I can't see!"
Rick lunged at Meilyn to wipe her face with his school uniform.
"Waaah! Hey! Don't come near me!"
"Revenge!!"
While everyone was laughing, chatting and having fun, Camibarez came to Simon's side and said,
"I'm counting on you for this shipment evaluation, Simon!"
Simon smiled back.
"I'm counting on you too."
His heart warmed.
Even though it wasn't his actual birthday, he felt like he would never forget the party everyone threw for him today.
"Ah… I'm a bit jealous. I wish my group was like this too."
Claudia muttered as Meilyn ran over and smeared cake on her cheek. The two started fighting.