"Finally! Lunch!"
Vicius had forgotten how painfully slow classes crawled by. His summer vacation was swift in comparison to even a single hour of the mindless droning of the alchemy teacher. But his favourite part of the day had arrived, surpassing even home time.
A scrumptious aroma of umami filled his nostrils, tugging him toward the line where he picked out a lunch set filled to the brim with fish.
"Besides lunch being free, you are also entitled to free toppings!! This is heaven." He spoke aloud for once, not caring if his mask would be revealed.
But no one paid any attention to him. How could they when the Luminary had entered the cafeteria?
An aura of gold and emeralds drew all light toward her, in turn drawing more attention from more students. Not only was she the highest-ranked first-year student, but she also hailed from the duchy of Von Reese.
Without giving it much thought, he moved to the back of the cafeteria. Dealing with her antics today after opposing the nobles earlier could only bring him more trouble. He did truly want to form connections with nobility; status mattered plenty in the Empire, but power was the true indicator of wealth.
The Empirial Family had several members who sat at the pinnacle of power, in the S-Class. There was no rule on how high they could ascend, but choosing to climb the ladder of power would one day force the empire to put a leash on anyone they deemed important.
"Heyyy~ would you mind sparing me a few minutes?"
Vicius didn't have to look up; he already knew who that voice belonged to. A slight sliver of bloodlust imbued with her words.
"Silence, wind of the shepherd which places his sheep to slumber."
A dome of wind formed around the two. All external sound ceased. No more student chatter, overly loud AC units or even the distant construction noise.
"It's you, isn't it?" She crossed her arms, maintaining the smile carefully crafted for the masses. Of course, she kept it up; the barrier only stopped noise, not vision.
"You will have to be more specific about who I am."
Vicius had a faint idea of what she meant, but asking a few more questions wouldn't hurt. Information from a duchy is important. But information about the private life of a duke's daughter could gain some blackmail material.
"You know....Vic134..."
'Ah, so she must be Dimmy then. I guess we hold the power to ruin each other.'
Vicius had been under the impression that Delilah actually cared for the persona he had built for himself.
"So you are Dimmy. I had my suspicions, but you confirmed it now."
Her face grew pale, and any hope that she was wrong. That there was a small chance she was wrong was gone.
Delilah's hands trembled, her knuckles grew white.
"So what do you want? Money? Sorry...I can't give you any of that at the moment."
Her unusually chipper tone was missing.
And there was no longer an air of superiority.
In this moment. She was a girl like any other. A girl with a fear of being unmasked.
Several moments passed by. At the sight of her unease, Vicius opted to drop his mask too. A small smile tugged at his lips.
"I have only two demands."
She braced herself, eyes shut fiercely.
"The first is for you to continue streaming as Dimmy."
Delilah's ears perked up.
"And the second is for you to maintain the top spot for as long as you can."
She leapt forward. Her hands were wrapped around Vicius's collar, tightening by the second.
"What the hell is your problem?! What are you scheming??"
His smile softened.
"There is no scheme. If I beat you, I want to beat you at your best. Not using some underhanded tactic."
Vicius ripped her grip off. Fixing his uniform before pointing at the crowd of students.
"And you should practise not losing your composure here in public." He chuckled at her slightly reddened face.
A flurry of emotions mixed in Delilah's heart, the most notable of which was...respect.
His hand shot through the wind barrier, removing the spell. He cast his head over his shoulder with a devious grin.
"I understand your point. I won't openly show my hostility to nobles anymore! Thank you for taking the time out of your busy day for this!"
And he strode off, his hands resting in his pockets as he left the cafeteria.
Murmurs spread through the cafeteria, most directed at no other than Delilah herself.
"She stood up for her fellow nobility?"
"Kyaa~ how cool! You think she would want to be my friend?"
"She definetly the serves the title of Luminary!"
The crowd roared her name, bunching around her like sheep around a shepherd.
A smile that had faded previously returned, brighter and more genuine than ever.
'That bastard...he has a way with words, doesn't he?'
=====
'Damn, why does everything I do have to be interrupted by everyone?'
His head drooped low, nearly bumping into his white-haired beauty.
"Is something the matter?"
'And can't she at least act like we are close? She is my best friend after all...'
"Nothing in particular, Evie. Just didn't get to eat lunch."
From her bag, she pulled a box decorated with red and black dots across a white surface.
"I always come prepared with two servings in case you want to eat together."
A slight blush coloured her face, the mask quivering.
'Of course she does. I am starting to think that this girl actually likes me.'
"I'll take you up on that offer. Lead the way, fiery princess."
Many steps led to the empty rooftop. Of course, there was no reason for students to dine up here when the cafeteria was vast enough to house ten thousand people.
They sat down on one of the many benches, unpacking the lunch and revealing a delicious spread of rolled omelettes, rice, fried chicken chunks and some watery vegetables.
"I don't want to pry, but were these cooked by you?"
Evie nodded enthusiastically with the same blank expression as ever.
Vicius leaned to take one of the boxes, but she pulled it away. Instead of offering an identical box.
"Uhm, Evie."
"Yes."
"Why didn't you let me take the first one?"
She paused for a moment.
"I made it specially for you."
"Figured..."
'The apothecary is trying to drug me...'