The vegetable porridge was complete. Judging by the savory smell, it seemed no mistakes were made during the cooking stage. Kenji nodded and scooped an appropriate amount of porridge into bowls. Though the bowls were cracked and chipped here and there, they weren't particularly dirty. Probably because they were usually maintained. Fortunately, there was no need for separate dishwashing.
"Here, take it."
He first handed the bowl filled with porridge to Hiyori. The girl, who had been drooling while staring at the porridge bowl, flinched and hurriedly accepted the bowl. When he handed her a spoon as well, she looked back and forth between the bowl and Kenji with uneasy eyes. Kenji chuckled and scooped porridge into other bowls.
"Eat. Don't be hesitant."
"...! Th, then I won't hold back... yum."
Hiyori immediately began shoveling porridge with her spoon. Her face melted ecstatically. At her even more intense reaction compared to when she ate the carrot stick, Kenji giggled and passed the bowl to the next person. It was Misaki. She looked at Kenji with vacant eyes for a moment, then carefully accepted the bowl and spoon with cautious hands.
"..."
Misaki stirred the porridge with her spoon, then finally put one spoonful into her mouth. Her eyebrows rose slightly. Simultaneously, her spooning speed increased. Though she didn't say it directly, it probably meant it was edible. Kenji let a small smile bloom on his face and scooped porridge for the remaining three people in turn.
Azusa took one spoonful of porridge, then opened her eyes wide and continued shoving porridge into her mouth with consistent movements. Not sure if she's chewing properly, but since it's porridge anyway, it probably doesn't matter much.
Saori wasn't much different from Azusa. If anything, her eating speed seemed even faster. Maybe because of her larger build. Whatever. The important thing was that she, who always showed a stern, soldier-like demeanor, acted like a girl her age for the first time.
Atsuko was quite calm compared to the other girls. She occasionally closed her eyes as if savoring the food's taste and gave Kenji faint smiles. Each time, Kenji smiled back. Like a flower blooming in a trash dump, her eyes were filled with more vitality than the other girls'.
"Is it tasty?"
"Yeah. I like it."
Atsuko answered with a bright smile. Kenji also chuckled and took a spoonful of his own portion of porridge.
...He couldn't taste it. While most side effects were overcome by dominating fear, taste was the only sense that didn't return. Since his sense of smell was fine, it seemed like the tongue itself was the problem. No proper solution came to mind. Should I cut it off and make a new tongue? Hmm. That didn't seem like it would help.
'Could Millennium fix it?'
Not sure. I vaguely know Millennium's technology is advanced, but since the five human senses are quite complex, I doubt near-future science and technology could fix it. Well, it's not urgent anyway, so no need to worry about it immediately. Though taste is ruined, other functions work fine, so there's no need to fix it urgently.
'Later.'
When there's time. And after finishing everything, then let's go to Millennium. Thinking that, Kenji slowly swallowed the porridge. Because he couldn't taste anything at all, he only fully felt the sensation of the sticky solid going down his esophagus. Not a very pleasant sensation.
"Eh, eh? Already finished?"
While Kenji was scooping another spoonful, Hiyori muttered while looking down at her completely empty bowl. She had eaten it so cleanly that not a single grain of rice remained in the bowl.
"Bweh..."
Hiyori teared up and set down the bowl. Unfortunately, the porridge was distributed appropriately with no leftovers. Meaning giving another bowl was impossible. The other girls, except Atsuko, were in a similar situation. The four bowls that soon showed their bottoms seemed to mock them, not leaving a single grain. Of course, that was because the four had scraped them clean.
Kenji smiled bitterly and set down his spoon. Then he slid his bowl toward the five gathered closely. The gazes of four people fixed on Kenji. Looking at each of them in turn, Kenji spoke.
"If it's okay, share this. I'm full now and have no room for more."
It wasn't exactly a lie. After his taste was ruined, the very concept of appetite disappeared, naturally reducing the amount he ate, and perhaps because of that, his stomach had shrunk too. Just half a bowl was enough to fill him up, so there was no need to eat breakfast anyway. He usually skipped breakfast in the first place.
"Is, is that really okay?"
"If you don't want it, I'll eat it."
"No! I'll eat it well!"
Hiyori said that and quickly took the bowl. Saori bowed her head as if apologetic, but Kenji just gave a faint smile. Regardless, Hiyori chattered while dividing the contents of the bowl into the empty bowls. The bonus was that her bowl got a slightly larger portion.
"..."
Misaki stared intently at her like that. But she didn't say anything. She just silently ate the divided porridge. While doing so, she glanced sideways at Kenji.
'Is he a good person?'
A thought that suddenly surfaced. She immediately erased it. What kind of people were the instructors or executives she'd met until now? They were all strict and didn't hesitate to use violence. Would this man be different? He might be pretending to be a good person now, but there's a good chance his true nature is violent and dirty.
So what? Can I do anything about it? Was I hit because I didn't know that until now?
Misaki absentmindedly scratched her neck with her fingernails. The thickly wrapped bandages crumpled here and there under her nails.
Her breathing seemed to quicken slightly. Her heart also beat faster, and bizarre thoughts began to cloud her mind.
Anyway.
It seemed she needed to do her 'work' today.
*
After breakfast, the six including Kenji headed to the training ground. Though called a training ground, it was just an uninhabited town area. It was quite a large place, but no signs of life could be felt. Only the sound of insects buzzing and stone fragments rolling with the wind filled the space.
It was a poor environment, but Kenji felt familiarity here. Probably because the mental world he lived in for 3 years was similar to this place. He inhaled the murky, dusty air with a *sip* and glanced back. The squad, each having brought their armaments, was staring straight at him.
'What training should we do?'
Receiving their gazes, Kenji thought.
What else would be the reason for coming to the training ground? Obviously for training. But he wasn't sure what training to do. He never took on the instructor role even when he was in the military, and he didn't have much experience teaching anyone. Beatrice told him to conduct combat-related training however he saw fit... but the only training that immediately came to mind was physical conditioning or shooting.
"...Hmm."
He pondered repeatedly, but no proper solution came to mind. Ultimately, he had no choice but to ask the experienced ones.
"What training do you usually do?"
"We sometimes run on the parade ground, do shooting, or create environments similar to real combat for urban warfare. Occasionally, we form teams for sparring matches."
"Sparring matches?"
Kenji asked back. Saori nodded while fidgeting with her steel mask.
"Usually, we perform sparring matches divided into a defense team holding out inside a building, and an attack team demolishing the building and retrieving the objective. The composition generally changes each time, and sometimes every three months, we do it with other squads."
"Hmm..."
Kenji, who had been quietly listening, closed his eyes and stroked his chin. Since he seemed to be pondering, Saori took a step back and waited until he opened his mouth. Actually, no matter what training he proposed, she had no right to refuse. A strict hierarchical society. Saori—no, students—must not disobey the words of instructors, executives, and Madam.
*Whoosh- whoosh-*
Atsuko standing beside suddenly passed a hand signal. Asking what they should do. Saori thought for a moment, then answered to wait for now. Atsuko gave a small nod and adjusted her posture.
Meanwhile, Kenji opened his closed eyes. His pupils had settled coldly.
"Today's afternoon training will be combined with evening training."
"Wa, wah! Then you'll make dinner for us too?!"
Hiyori asked with sparkling eyes. Kenji chuckled and nodded.
"Yeah, I'll make it for you."
"Wow!"
"Well, not sure if you'll have the energy to eat it though."
At the following words, Hiyori's movements stopped dead. Misaki slightly furrowed her brow, and Azusa, who had been standing at attention until now, tilted her head.
"What kind of training is it?"
"Simple. You're the hunters, and I'm the prey. Training where you catch me."
A brief explanation. As he said, the training was extremely simple. But Saori felt an inexplicable unease. A sensation as if a giant snake was constricting her entire body. Breathing was difficult, and all her muscles tensed up completely.
It wasn't just Saori. The faces of Misaki and Azusa, who had maintained expressionless looks, twisted violently, and Hiyori had tears welling in her eyes. Atsuko was sweating cold sweat while releasing the safety on her gun.
Reacting to the murderous intent. Kenji grinned fiercely and wrapped the bandage he brought around his arm. It was a flimsy bandage that would tear if someone grabbed it forcefully.
"If you tear or damage this, it's your victory. Conversely, if I endure for 2 hours, or all of you become combat ineffective, it's my victory. Simple, right?"
"...Even so, aren't the conditions too unfavorable for you?"
Misaki muttered while lowering her mask. Instead of answering, Kenji positioned himself across from the squad with a building between them. *Kwarrr.* Fear condensed in his grasp. The pure embodiment of violence without any transformation. He brought his blackened hand *tap* against the building and spat out.
"If you win, I'll grant one wish each."
"...And if we lose?"
"You make and eat dinner yourselves tonight."
He giggled and detonated the condensed fear.
*Kwaaaaang!*
With a tremendous roar, the derelict building collapsed. Dust rose thickly, and when it cleared, no one was in the place where Kenji had stood. Instead, footprints remained on the ground. No matter how you looked at it, they were intentionally left.
"...Should we track him?"
Azusa asked. Saori slightly adjusted the position of her pulled-down hat and answered with a hardened expression.
"...Begin the hunt."
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