NOVEL WEB Chapter 59
“Children’s Day exists in this world too.”
And just like in the original world, it was a national holiday. Hence, Heros Academy was also taking a day off.
I’m not quite sure if we should be calling high school students children, but who cares? Adults get to take a break.
Oh, glorious Mr. Bangjung-hwan, may your radiant light dazzle for eternity.
…Honestly, the concept of a nation was pretty vague. With companies ruling the continent, what did it even mean to have a nation?
Considering that Heros Company was practically running the government, you could say a nation was just one of its departments.
Like the HR department, research division, or accounting unit. You could understand it as the South Korea Operations Division, or something like that.
But putting those annoying and unimportant thoughts aside, let’s talk about what’s actually relevant at the moment.
This parfait is delicious, but it seems like there’s way too much for all the girls to finish.
It would have been more appropriate to order two instead of four and share, but Ageha insisted on ordering four for the sake of money, so here we are!
“Ugh, my head hurts. I’m done eating.”
“Bones, my teeth… it’s all too cold.”
“Ugh, my stomach hurts, I really can’t eat anymore… Sorry, I’m stopping here too…!”
“This, this is why I said we should order less, Ms. Blanca…”
I was in the process of cleaning up the remaining parfaits. Of course, I left out the one with chocolate. I can’t eat that, or I won’t sleep.
“I told you so. I knew we’d have leftovers. Did you think I was being stingy about spending my money on this, Ageha? Oh, wait. My head…”
Mid-sentence, I rubbed my throbbing head like the other girls. The boys went off to a snack bar instead of a dessert place, so we left them behind.
Anyway, at this point, with so much parfait still left, it felt like someone was hammering nails into my skull.
A headache caused by cold food has no remedy, so the only option was to tough it out.
This is so frustrating. If it didn’t taste so good, I could just throw the trash away, but the taste makes that impossible.
As I kept shoveling it into my mouth with a spoon, Ageha apologized for being stubborn about it.
“I get it. Just don’t do it next time. As for my head… Ageha, I can’t eat the chocolate, could you finish this one for me?”
“Sure. By the way, it must be inconvenient that you can’t eat chocolate… It’s so tasty.”
Ageha munched away at the chocolate parfait, asking if it was true that Ains can’t usually eat chocolate.
…Now that I think about it, I haven’t told them about my ability or whether I can eat chocolate.
Honestly, there’s no need to share it. But at the same time, there’s no need to hide it either. After all, my ability will come out eventually.
And more than anything, it’s not really that important. So I decided to just say it.
“It’s not that I can’t eat it. I can eat it. I just avoid it because I can’t sleep afterward. For me, it’s easy to just break down the caffeine in my system, but… I don’t really want to go through that, so I don’t eat it.”
As I chewed on a strawberry, Ageha appeared grateful, saying she learned something new.
“Ah, but what do you mean by not wanting to go that far?”
“What I’m saying is, I don’t want to live by strictly controlling my metabolism.”
“Can I ask why?”
She’s so curious. I hate it when someone digs too deep with prying questions.
But since we’re friends, I guess it’s better to share some information.
“If I go that far in controlling myself, I feel like I’d be less human and more like a puppet controlled by chemicals and electrical impulses.”
That’s the reason. Get it now?
“Oh, I see…? I never thought there’d be a reason like that… you didn’t want to control your metabolism…”
Ageha seemed flustered by the unexpectedly dark reasoning and stammered a bit. I guess it does sound a bit dark.
“Not that I completely avoid controlling myself. I do manage some bodily functions now and then. Like sleep or focus.”
Besides that, I did have other things I control, but I didn’t feel like mentioning them.
“I see… I always think this when I see it, but Ms. Blanca, your ability seems really great. With that kind of ability, you should seriously aim for first place in the sports festival. Plus, you get prize money if you win!”
Ageha praised my ability, but honestly? I really don’t want to come in first.
She probably thinks I’m poor and is trying to motivate me, but I’m not exactly struggling for money.
Most importantly, I didn’t want to draw unnecessary attention. Drinking from my cup of half-melted parfait, I replied nonchalantly.
“First place will probably be taken by either Changwon or Jinhyeon anyway, so why bother?”
“But you’ve defeated Changwon once!”
Ah, that’s why she’s bringing it up. I mean, I did see him lose right next to me… oh. Wait. I fainted and didn’t see that.
Still, I was the closest when I beat him, so she might think it’s doable. It might actually be something worth trying.
“Yeah, I did beat him once. But that one time was probably the last win I could ever get against that guy.”
But I doubt I’d ever get a chance like that again.
Even if that guy is arrogant, he’s not dumb. He’s not going to fall for the same trick again.
And besides, the sports festival is held in the stadium, so the plan of suffocating him with a nitrogen gas trap is pretty much a no-go.
Using poison gas or otherwise killing people during the festival is out of the question, and using a gas that has a strong effect in small amounts is also completely impossible.
When I explained those reasons, even Ageha, who usually was pretty stubborn, seemed to agree tacitly.
“But you never know until you give it a shot, right? Let’s work hard together, Blanca!”
If Yeonhwa was only now recovering from her brain freeze, she stopped slumping over the table and urged us not to be too pessimistic, offering a bit of optimism.
Of course, I’ll give it my all, but I’m not going to settle for less than what I’m capable of.
“I’m definitely going to give it my all. I’m not planning to slack off. But I have to acknowledge the truth.”
“I, I hope that, um, I won’t feel embarrassed for my mom and grandma’s names… that’d be great… I’m cold…”
Lapiz still trembled as if her metal teeth and bones were freezing, yet she expressed her aspirations.
Thinking she should be able to handle it just fine, I encouraged her a bit, and she seemed relieved and happy that I said that.
“We may not all win, but let’s do our best to go as far as we can. I need to go to the bathroom. I have to clean up some blood.”
“B-blood?! Where is the blood… ah… okay, um… please take care…”
Ageha looked surprised, wondering where Seolhwa was bleeding from, but soon her gaze dropped to her belly, and she blushed, as if she understood right away.
“S-so today is Seolhwa’s magic day… it was such a surprise because you didn’t seem different at all…”
“Hmm? Then does Ageha change when it’s a day for fairies to come?”
Yeonhwa’s eyes lit up as soon as she heard Ageha’s words, seemingly getting a grip on a juicy detail.
“Eh? Um, sorta… just a little bit, I guess? I might become a bit sensitive because I’m in pain…”
“You feel pain too? There were so many kids in middle school who claimed they didn’t feel pain at all. Heheh, it’s kind of nice to see someone I relate with. How about you, Lapiz?”
“I, I lay eggs.”
Since I already knew about that, it wasn’t a shock. In the original story, Lapiz used to make omelets and fried eggs for Minho.
Of course, she kept the source of those eggs a total secret.
“Eh?”
“Huh…?”
But it seems that it was quite shocking for Yeonhwa and Ageha.
The two, astonished by the revelation, quickly apologized, insisting they didn’t mean to be judgmental, but asked if she really laid eggs.
“Y-yeah. It hurts a bit when they come out. But, um, it’s okay… they taste… good…”
Lapiz seemed to know something was amiss but couldn’t quite pinpoint it, and she made her explosive revelation timidly.
The other girls seemed unsure of how to react, awkwardly giggling and saying, “Oh, I see, I see.”
“W-what about you, Blanca? Do you feel any pain?”
“Well, I don’t have periods.”
I responded as casually as if it were the most obvious statement, and the other girls just stared at me.
Ageha looked absolutely horrified.
Hmm. Maybe they think that my family situation is so shabby that something must have gone wrong. Or perhaps they think I’m hiding some sinister secret?
“I-if you need help, Ms. Blanca… I-I can…”
It was hard to gauge if she was saying that because she meant it or just out of worry.
Ah, this is entertaining. But if I tease them more, they might actually cry, so I decided to come clean.
“Nah, it’s not like that at all. I said it before, didn’t I? I don’t completely avoid control. My periods are one of the few things I do control.”
“If it was that, you should have said it earlier! You surprised me!”
“Sorry, sorry. That was misleading. To finish it up… it’s a simple reason.”
It feels like someone is trying to claw my insides out. Plus, the pre-menstrual symptoms just add to the double trouble.
When I explained that, the girls visibly relaxed, yet one word seemed to catch on for them.
“Pre-menstrual symptoms?”
“Yep, it’s what you think. So don’t bother asking. I’m embarrassed to say it myself.”
The girls were horrified in a different way than when they found out I didn’t have my period.
“Blanca engaging in… cuteness?”
“That can’t be true.”
“I can’t even imagine…”
Wow, really? Just how do you see me?
Do they think I’m some emotionless machine? I just don’t act this way around them.
That’s what I muttered in my head.
It was Children’s Day.