Chapter 199: Reaping What You Sow (2)

༺ Delinquent Saintess (2) ༻

After the lectures and a few of the extracurricular activities were over, the students would all head back to their dormitories.

The dormitories were divided up depending on gender and departments, but apart from those, there was also the Special Dormitory, built for a very small number of students.

It was built on the top of a hill to be at the summit of nature and absorb the natural aura of a mountain and, therefore, required a fair bit of walking to get to. It wasn't in an accessible location like the other dormitories, but that added to its uniqueness.

At the start, this two-story mansion was built to isolate the risk brought by Hua Ran after her misdeeds in the Far East, but the number of tenants kept going up.

Inside the sunroom that was recently cleaned up alongside the garden were three people... Marie, Hua Ran, and Ren were studying for the upcoming exam in pure silence.

"..."

"..."

Scribble scribble.

Pencils were the only sources of sound inside the sunroom.

"..."

"..."

Scribble scribble.

I, I can't breathe.

Ren, who had come to the sunroom to study for her exam, wanted to get away from this horrifying place but couldn't come up with a valid reason.

It was all because of that Lady of Autumn thing.

Ever since it was decided that both Marie and Hua Ran were going to attend that same contest, there had been a strange atmosphere around the two of them.

Their competitiveness for one man... was making them stay silent without saying a single word to their rival. If they really didn't want to speak to one another, why didn't they just study by themselves inside their own rooms?

Apparently, that wasn't an option for them; probably because they thought the one giving up first was the loser.

Ren was the first one here, so she felt it was very unfair that she had to study in this kind of atmosphere.

Ron... Hurry up and take me away...!

She sincerely begged for her twin brother to create a reason for her to leave, but he was still wandering around the entrance, not daring to take a step inside.

Quick...!

I, I don't think I should go in. My instincts are telling me not to...

How could you...!

These days, he was refusing to listen to more and more of her words, just because he grew up first!

Did you forget the grace of your sister who bravely fought against the restaurant owner, protected you from thugs, and scavenged through garbage for food?!

All she could do now, however, was underline words in her textbook. Like a person living with carnivorous beasts, she remained vigilant against the potential strife that could burst out at any given moment.

-Kow kow!

That was when the sound of a cuckoo broke the silence. The cuckoo of the clock leaving its nest at noon and 7 pm sounded like a delightful song in her ears.

"...Looks like no one else is back home," said Ran, who was studying instead of Hua who had already given up.

Normally, someone else or Professor Josephine would have gathered everyone to the dining room but it seemed that no one else was here for dinner.

"I studied so, yes. You do it, Hua."

As soon as she said that to herself, her hair started to faintly change colors and her eyes began to flicker in red.

"I will cook."

"...You're cooking, Hua?"

Marie lifted her head and asked, finding it quite surprising.

"I'll help you," she offered.

"No. I'm practicing. So I will do it by myself."

Hua walked out of the sunroom without even waiting for her to reply. Marie tried to stop her but Hua was already gone.

"Mhmm..."

It would be weird for her to go all the way to the kitchen after Hua already refused her help.

"Hua... cooking?"

But on one hand, she was intrigued by the dish that Hua would make.

"Are you done studying, Ren?"

"Ah, yes...! I, I mean no! Not yet..."

"I see... I will help you until the meal is ready."

"Y, you don't have to..."

"Ron. Come on in as well."

The girl with water-colored hair called in Ron, as if she was long aware of his presence. Her eyes alone were enough to pressure the two golden wolves into politely sitting down.

"You know."

"...Yes, what is it? Marie-unni."

Marie was usually very compassionate and pleasant. Ren liked her, but certainly not on a day like today.

"Who do you think Korin will give his ribbon to?"

Ahh... I knew it.

"...I'm not sure."

"Hmm..."

Marie had been feeling blue the whole day.

Recently, there has been an increase in physical contact between Korin and Estelle. Since Marie had previously been the only one in the "Noona" position, she felt endangered by the new rival who was obviously fond of Korin and was an unstoppable force on top of that.

Besides, Estelle even declared that she would compete for the "Lady of Autumn" and forced Korin to give her a ribbon against his will! As a senior and noona of Korin, Marie couldn't let it go and counter-attacked.

...She only realized that something was going wrong when Hua Ran and Alicia joined the fray.

One rival was tough enough already, and yet, now there were three of them.

But it was okay. It shouldn't be a problem - Korin will choose me. Marie told herself to remain firm and trust Korin.

She was sure that the amount of devotion, love, and affection that she poured onto him... did not fall short of what anyone else did but...

"I, it will be me, right? It has to be me. Yes?"

"E, even if you ask me..."

She was anxious.

There were four people - which meant a 25% chance of being picked. What if he didn't pick her?

She would definitely be disappointed.

In fact, she might even bawl her eyes out.

Despite realizing that she was forcing Korin to make a difficult decision, there was a part of her that sincerely wished for him to pick her.

"Ugh..."

This was Korin's fault if anything.

One blink of an eye and there would be more girls around him, but Marie was tolerant with the girls that Korin was simply playing with. He didn't have any ulterior motives after all and was just trying to make friends.

However, she couldn't do the same against the girls who liked Korin as much as herself.

Hua Ran... Ran was especially a long-time rival for Marie since her love had been going on for a year.

『 Unni, you don't like me, do you? 』

She still remembered that bold statement of that girl. She clearly saw her as an enemy, and Marie therefore had the same outlook on her.

I definitely won't lose.

Marie told herself.

She was Marie Dunareff - one who could obtain anything she wished for, even if that was love. She could not let a foreigner from the Far East steal Korin away from her.

Wake up, Marie Dunareff!

Marie was adding fuel to her fighting spirit again when Hua pushed a food wagon through the entrance of the sunroom.

"I'm done."

The dish she brought was...

"Huh?"

"Uhkk...? Cough cough!"

The wolf siblings had indescribable looks on their faces after a single sniff. Inside the bowls was a darkish-red soup that was still boiling.

"Huh? This is...?"

Objectively speaking, Ran was a good cook. She had been cooking consistently ever since she first came to this dormitory, and always cooked with love and affection so her food was always nice to eat.

As for Hua? She found every delicate activity tedious. That was why Marie didn't even have high expectations of her - she hoped it would be okay as long as they didn't have to throw away the ingredients but...

"What, is this?"

Even Marie was struck speechless.

"An udon?"

Hua replied, albeit with a question mark despite being the cook herself. She then placed the cutleries and the dish onto the table with speed.

Udon.

Right.

Kimchi udon - it sometimes came out in the cafeteria as a special menu item.

It was a dish combining the udon and kimchi of the East; it was quite popular and it was understandable that Hua would pick it as someone coming from the East.

However, there was a fundamental difference between the cafeteria and Hua's dish.

An udon was not supposed to boil like lava.

The soup wasn't supposed to stick onto the ladle, nor should it be deep-red like fresh magma scooped up from a volcano.

Even the noodles looked like tentacles thrashing around in the depths of a volcano than normal noodles.

"This is... udon, right?"

"...Yes. Korin said he likes fried noodles."

This was clearly not a normal udon, nor was it fried noodles which were supposed to have no soup. This dish was something sitting in the middle... and it was an insult to categorize this as udon.

"Have some."

Was this perhaps an attempt to poison her foe?

Marie picked up a fork with her trembling hands and pushed it through the so-called fried udon.

-Chiiik!

"Hiik...!"

This was not it. This was clearly not right. An udon was not supposed to sound like that!

"Uweek..."

"I, I can't... Ren."

The wolf siblings, due to their sensitive noses, could not breathe from the Scoville units soaring up from the surface of the udon.

"Korin likes it."

"Korin does?!"

There was no falsehood in her words.

It was true that Korin liked kimchi udon, and he also ate it without leaving a single scrape behind. However, that wasn't because he liked the flavor of this specific dish that Hua made, but because his pride as a "spicy-loving Korean" kept him going.

"Ugh... R, really?"

If Korin liked it... then Marie could even jump into a pit of flames with straws of hay.

Ahh, how brilliant was the power of love?

Despite wearing a deep frown, she carried the fork over to her mouth just to enjoy the same dish that Korin did. And—

—SO SPICYYYYY!!

A deafening scream echoed across the dormitory.

"...Did I do it wrong?"

Hmm... You know the 10,000 SHU that Korin-oppa was talking about... is that really something people can eat?

Eating the noodles that she herself made, Hua licked her lips and tilted her head.

***

That night, I had dinner with my friends at the cafeteria.

"I'm fucked."

"Yeah. Damn right, you're fucked."

"That's why I asked you if you can handle it."

Four people were competing for the Lady of Autumn position; Estelle, Marie, Alicia, and Hua Ran.

Four people!

Those four people were telling me to give them a ribbon. A big problem here was that there was only one me!

"Simple. Just pick one and give them a ribbon," Jaeger suggested.

"No. I can't do that. The rest will be disappointed..."

"What if they were all drowning in the ocean and you could only save one person? You have to make a decision."

"I will save all of them without letting anyone die!"

"Yep. Ain't happening here."

Jaeger and Lark were grinning like it was fun. Such terrible friends!

"T, there has to be a way..."

That was when I spotted Master walking from far away.

"Korin~!"

She greeted me before asking the usual questions with sparkling eyes.

"Have you had dinner? How are you feeling? Are you having a rough time because of the upcoming exams?"

"I'm fine."

"Clara prepared some healthy dishes so why don't we... Oh. Student Jaeger and Student Lark."

Master was so focused on me that she belatedly noticed their presence. She praised them for their work and gave them a tap on their shoulders.

"You both got promoted before the summer holiday, didn't you? Excellent work. Keep it up."

"Ah, yes... T, thank you!"

"Gulp...! T, thank you."

Jaeger and Lark were evidently nervous from how beautiful she was. She turned her head towards me straight away and that was when I saw the golden line around her neck.

"You're wearing your necklace today."

"Ah? Yes... Considering who gave it to me, of course I would."

"It's pretty. You've been wasting your beauty for far too long."

"Uht... Seriously. This disciple of mine..."

Master said with a smile but she suddenly slurred the end of her sentence while looking somewhat awkward.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Ah... The thing is, there has been some trouble at the staff meeting."

"What do you mean?"

Was it happening already? It should be impossible but considering how different this iteration was compared to the previous one, anything could happen.

"The thing is..."

"Please tell me what it's about. I will help you no matter what it is."

"A, aht... It's very reassuring to hear that. Actually... It's been decided that I will be attending the Lady of Autumn contest this year."

"...Pardon?"

"It's a custom for one of the staff to attend the Lady of Autumn contest every year. Everyone else was either experienced or turned it down so... Kuhum! What a childish thing to do at my age."

Seeing her shake her head in embarrassment made both my face and mind turn white.

"Oh right. What contest are you planning to join, Korin? I know you are a wonderful boy who will receive a ribbon no matter the contest, and I am wondering who you are going to give that to."

Umm...

"Ah! I'm not telling you to give it to me... Ahaha, it would be immature of me to become a Lady of Autumn at my age. I just need one ribbon from someone."

Without noticing the pale look on my face, Master continued with a wide smile.

"Then...! Let's have some food together later today! Good luck with your studies!"

My body shivered as I looked at her walking away with featherweight feet. Jaeger and Lark shook their heads while looking at me.

"It's fine dude. It just went up from four to five."

"Aiya~ this is gonna be an interesting sight to behold. Who are you giving it to?"

Marie, Alicia, Hua Ran, Estelle, and even Master...

I couldn't pick any one of them. If I chose one person to give the ribbon to... that would make everyone else terribly sad.

"There's only one way out."

Lark shook his head and said, which sparked Jaeger's curiosity.

"Is there a way out of this?"

"Suicide. That's the only option."

"Hoh. I second that. That's the only option indeed."

These useless friends. However, there definitely is a method where everyone wins.

"At this point... there's no other option but to give all five of them a ribbon."

"What!"

"Is that even possible?"

It was possible.

Theoretically.

"I just have to attend five contests in the Harvest Festival and win all five of them. Huhuhu... Huhahahahaha...!"

""...Good luck.""

There was compassion and pity in their eyes.

Stop! Don't look at me like that!