Sitting in the same corner of the dining room as yesterday, I drink down the rest of the half-boiled eggs in my plate. I've never seen or tasted anything like this before...
"It tastes so good..."
"Yeah! I can never get tired of having half-boiled eggs for breakfast!"
"..."
Well... Somehow, Sebas and Lance ended up joining me for breakfast today. They sit across the table, from where I'm sitting.
It's a simple breakfast, with bread and half-boiled eggs served to everyone.
I get that it tastes really good, but I'd want Lance to just shut up now... I'm just trying to enjoy my meal here! Can't you keep quiet like Sebas is doing now!?
I only found out that it's called half-boiled eggs, because Lance keeps on talking about it. He's probably exaggerating, when he keeps going on forever, about his love for half-boiled eggs.
How long the eggs should be boiled for, why they should never be eaten cold, the differences between half-boiled and soft-boiled eggs, why he prefers half-boiled eggs, the softness and creaminess of the egg yolk, his opinions on adding soy sauce and pepper... And so on. I can't even remember half of what he's talking about.
And here I am, only appreciating the taste of the half-boiled eggs. At least, I'm trying to, when Lance started talking...
Sebas simply looks at me with pity in his eyes. Don't just sit there and look at me, help me out here! You can do something about this, right?
"Come on, Lance. We both get your point already. We have other stuff to do after this, so hurry up and finish your eggs."
"Oh, right! Sen's class is right after breakfast."
...Eh? What's Sen going to be teaching later? I doubt that he knows anything other than fighting.
"That reminds me. I was going to ask you about this, Mimin. Wanna join us later?"
"Yeah, sure."
Even Lance is inviting me to go along. I guess it doesn't hurt to check it out for a bit. I'm already done with my breakfast, so I wait for them to finish the rest of their half-boiled eggs.
...I'll go get myself some water to drink, so I don't have to watch them.
----------
"Hurry up, you two! The class is about to start!"
"...You were the one who spent so long talking about eggs, though."
With Lance and Sebas bantering with each other, we ran out the back door of the dining room, which leads to a large open space. In the near distance, about 100 m away, a group of, I think, around 30 kids, are standing next to Sen, doing some warm-up exercises.
It took a while to join the group, with their slow running speed, but we got there in less than a minute. I can run this distance in less than 10 seconds, though.
"Oh, it's you, Mimin. What brings you here?"
...What's with that reaction? And why is everyone staring at me now?
"We decided to bring Mimin along, since she's interested."
While answering his question for me, Sebas shifts in front of me, blocking everyone's stares. Thank you, Sebas.
"Is that so? Well, I don't mind if she doesn't mind. You two go ahead, I want to talk to Mimin for a bit."
Lance, who seems oblivious to the attention that I'm attracting, pulls Sebas along with him to join everyone else. Great, now I'm back to being stared at again.
"Oh, everyone. Once you're done, start with sparring against one another first. Since I'll be talking to Mimin for a while."
...If I had to guess, it seems like Sen is going to be teaching these kids about stuff related to combat. If that's the case, I shouldn't have come along in the first place. I'm not that interested.
"So, Mimin, why are you here again?"
"I'm just curious, that's all. Am I not welcome here, or something?"
"No, that's not it. I just didn't expect you to show up. I thought this would be too boring for you."
"Eh, I didn't know this is supposed to be combat training either. Lance and Sebas didn't say anything."
...Why do I feel some bloodlust now? It's really weak, but it's definitely bloodlust coming from some of the kids. There's also some whispering among them as well.
"She's even getting the attention of Sen..."
"That's three people now..."
What is this, jealousy? But that intensity of bloodlust is pathetic. I'm more wary of the amount of staring that I'm still getting. I'll just ignore them for now.
"Well, anyway, to summarize what this is about. I'm here to teach these kids about close combat. They're the only ones who are interested in this. As for why I'm teaching this, it's so that they can protect themselves if needed."
"...Is that it?"
"Yeah. That's it. Are you expecting something else?"
"No, not really. If that's all, then, I'll take my leave. Now that I know this is combat training, I'm not that interested."
It's also because I hate being stared at constantly. So, I'll just leave this place before the mood gets more uncomfortable.
"What are you guys doing? Are you going to start sparring, or are you going to just stand there?"
Behind me, I hear Sen say something along those lines. Really? He only just noticed that they weren't doing any sparring?
Well, it doesn't concern me anyway. Let's just go back indoors.
----------
"Haah... I'm exhausted."
It's still only morning, though. Why am I tired already? Well, it's fine. I'll just lie down on the bed again...
For now, I feel the most comfortable, and safe, in this room. Or maybe it's because Mina isn't around, that I don't feel safe? I don't really know either.
I don't want to think that I've become dependent on her, but... I guess she's been really nice to me. Selena's also being nice to me now, but, thinking about what happened, I'm not so sure.
...Maybe I'll be able to forgive Selena in the future. It's not like I hate her now, or anything like that.
"Haah..."
Unknowingly, I sighed. I only just came to the orphanage, and there's already a few things I need to keep track of.
Firstly, I have to find out what happened to the Silverwolves and the White Foxes. What were those huge explosions I saw, during that day? Who's involved in this? How did they manage to win? No matter what, I refuse to believe that, the Silverwolves and the White Foxes, were that easy to just... get rid of.
Secondly, I want to find out more about what happened eight years ago. The incident about many humans being converted to beastkin. Is it related to me, somehow? If I was one of them, then why don't I have human ears? I know that Mina's one of them, and she has both human ears and animals ears. So, maybe it's not related to me, after all...?
Thirdly, about that weak bloodlust I felt just now. Clearly, someone wasn't happy with me, for some reason. Well, it's not enough to threaten me, and this is probably the least important, of the things I want to do. But still, I don't want to be on bad terms with the other kids, if I can help it. Maybe I want to do something about this first?
"..."
...Ah, whatever! Why do I keep thinking about such difficult things... I should just relax for now! More importantly, this bed feels extremely comfy right now...
Maybe I'll deal with everything later. I'll just relax and wait for Mina to return.