Aside from Inna, the table only had Galen, Herad, Firo, and Drona now. And unfortunately, the fact that Inna was still there with the high class nobles irritated the hell out of both Galen and Herad.
Galen held a stiff smile as he tried to hide the sneer that was aching to come out as he ate the dessert that was served. As he ate, he felt a small nudge on his toes so he looked at across him only to find Herad staring at him with a smile.
He somehow can already guess what was going on with Herad's mind so he gave him a small indiscernible nod. This made Herod's smile wider and sinister-looking. Then, leaving it all to Herad, Galen pretended like nothing was happening and continued on with properly eating his dessert.
Meanwhile, Inna was on cloud nine as she happily ate the dessert. She didn't expect that they had desserts at all.
Guess it only makes itself known whenever there are feasts, huh.
No wonder the people in this world were mostly skinny ones. They've been deprived of something as good as desserts.
The dessert that was given to them was Frozen Cream that has some sort of nuts in it. It's basically a serving of ice cream with nuts, except that it's a bit bland.
If she were to explain it in her words, she would say that it was like watered down vanilla ice cream with nuts.
She didn't really like ice cream with nuts because she always had this unwarranted fear of the nuts turning out to be a trapped fly or a bug in the ice cream that she's eating. So, back when she was 'herself', she used to always inspect the nuts if they were actually nuts before she eats the spoonful of ice cream.
Also, another thing that bothered her a bit was that the Frozen Cream with nuts isn't formed like a scoop of ice cream which she dearly missed, instead, it was like a solid white block that hid the nuts in its middle. She was almost tricked into thinking that it was plain cream since the nuts were hidden in its center but nevertheless, Inna still liked to eat it.
In fact, back when it was just served, Inna was so excited at the pure sight of it that she immediately took a spoonful. But before the loaded spoon can even enter her mouth, Professor Gnarly smacked her head with the harisen so suddenly that she almost dropped the spoon from shock. Then, feeling the throbbing pain in the top area of her head, Inna was reminded that they were actually in the middle of the test. She ate so satisfyingly in the four-course meal that her mind drifted to the thought that she was just in some sort of themed restaurant.
Ugh, that means she's got three mistakes already while the rest barely has any.
Okay, let's be serious this time. She chanted to herself as she decided to mend her mistake.
Using some of her previous knowledge on the Princess Diaries 2, she realized that taking a spoonful is unbecoming of a high class lady, so she carefully took small amounts and gracefully ate it with a smile.
The rest followed suit. But as Inna carefully ate her frozen cream while desperately praying in her mind that there wouldn't be any trapped insects in it, there was a loud sound that made everyone freeze.
From her convenient location at the center of the table, Inna saw Firo gasp heavily as he leaned his head diagonally on the table. His hand was violently slapping the table while the other was caressing his throat roughly. Everyone tried their best to ignore him but his desperate gasps sounded too grave for them to fully concentrate on their food. The audience's murmurs can also be heard as they tried to figure out what was happening with Firo.
Then, when Inna had a better look on his face, she immediately knew what happened.
Peanut allergies.
His face and eyes were swollen that he looked like his face got stung by a swarm of bees. And it seems like he has trouble breathing as an effect of his allergies.
Professor Gnarly immediately grabbed Firo by the collar and then he dug his hand inside his spatial pouch that he tied by his belt. Then, he pulled out some sort of leaves that was orange in color and placed them by Firo's nose. When Firo tried inhaling, he felt his constricted throat open up and let in some air. And after sniffing the leaves for a few seconds, Firo was finally able to breathe properly.
"Disqualified."
Professor Gnarly announced as he let go of Firo.
Utterly confused, Firo bowed towards Professor Gnarly.
"May this student have the chance to ask Professor Gnarly as to the reason why this student is to be disqualified?"
Professor Gnarly looked at him with annoyance in his eyes. But seeing the trembling form of Firo as he bowed, he relented and decided to answer him.
"You cannot proceed further. I temporarily stopped the symptoms of your sickness through the Relaxant leaves I had but if the effect of those leaves were to wear off, those symptoms will return as worse as before. There is a high chance of death from lack of air if you were to stay and be stubborn. And I cannot give you another dosage of these leaves or else your muscles might relax too much that you'll be immobilized for days."
"Besides, you are from Lotus class, are you not? Get out and go find your prefect. Only those priests and priestesses that had reached the Senior rank can cure the effects of those persistent diseases. Thus, your prefect is more than capable to fully heal those symptoms, not me nor anyone in this sanctuary."
Firo looked up, teary eyed from the missed opportunity he had but he nodded towards Professor Gnarly as he understood what he had to do. So, with heavy shoulders, he walked towards the exit of the testing area while sighing in dismay.
After Firo left, the audience finally calmed down and the test continued.
There were only four people left.
Inna, Galen, Herad, and Drona.
Drona was a silent maiden, and she never seemed to have cared about anything that has been happening on the table. It seemed like all she had in mind was to mind her own business and to simply pass. But feeling that something wrong is going to happen, she couldn't help but finally look towards the other students.
And when she did, she couldn't help but be suspicious of the sudden smile that appeared on Herad's face as he peered at Inna.