Just as he was about to leave for town, he heard someone call his name from somewhere.
『Novaaaa! Wait upppp!』
He turned around, but couldn't find the source of the voice anywhere.
He ended up shouting back to try and locate the person.
『...Where are you?』[Nova]
『Oooover heeeere!』
Nova had finally traced the voice to the owner, finding Jack jumping and shouting at him.
『...Jack! It's been a while, buddy!』[Nova]
Jack ran over, completely out of breath.
『...I've been hanging out on campus all week, man. I saw you the first time since break, and you were going off somewhere!』[Jack]
『I was gonna go shopping. For my dog- I mean, familiar.』[Nova]
『A familiar?! You have one?!』[Jack]
Nova nodded, pretty proud of his glorified puppy.
『...Man. Our class went to try and get partner creatures, but it ended up flopping. For some reason, most of the creatures didn't synergize with our class.』[Jack]
Nova's eyes widened a bit with surprise.
『...Really? Most of my class managed to find something. I think the only people who couldn't find someone were… Thomas… Anastasia… and Jenny?』[Nova]
『...Not even Anastasia Soryl herself managed to find a partner?』[Jack]
Nova suddenly realized the bar that was set with her included.
『Oh. Uh… Okay, I guess you're right.』[Nova]
They both remained silent for a bit.
『...Did you want to go shopping with me?』[Nova]
Jack nodded.
『My room is running out of snacks. Let's go!』[Jack]
…..
Once they were going, Nova had started a conversation on weapons.
『...Hey, Jack. You said that you come from a House full of smiths, right? Like weapons and armor?』[Nova]
Jack seemed to be a little iffy on that for some reason.
『Well, they do make those… but our things are more akin to artifacts than that… The normal weapons and armor are playthings until a Rayber becomes 16. Once they can control mana, they create their first artifact under the supervision of their parents, adding it to the family heirloom vault.』[Jack]
『...Woah! That sounds… amazing! So, that means you've made an artifact before?』[Nova]
Suddenly, Jack stopped in his tracks.
『...Nova.』[Jack]
Nova looked back with a curious look on his face.
『...Yeah, Jack?』[Nova]
『...Please stay the hell away from my business.』[Jack]
Nova was taken aback, not expecting an answer like that at all.
Jack quickly walked past Nova, pushing him aside a bit.
『...J..ack?』[Nova]
He stopped in place for a moment and turned back, not facing Nova's eyes.
『...Sorry about that. It's a touchy topic. I'm not comfortable talking about it.』[Jack]
Nova took a deep breath and tried to change the topic.
『...It's fine. I'm sorry I asked. Anyways, what snacks are you getting?』[Nova]
They both walked side by side, without any conversation.
『...Butter-soy sauce squid with wasabi powder.』[Jack]
『...What?』[Nova]
『....My favorite.』[Jack]
…..
Nova was more speechless about the squid comment than anything else that had occurred.
They stayed silent until they finally reached the supermarket, a huge market near Genesis named Priceoff.
He got a cart and started to wheel it around, with Jack following him.
『...I'm just saying, aren't there better options than that flavor of squid?』[Nova]
『...Nope. It's the ultimate flavor.』[Jack]
Nova rolled the shopping cart over to the vegetable section.
『...Vegetables...』[Nova]
『...Are you going to get some, or not?』[Jack]
Nova had a look of disgust on his face.
『...Not only do they not keep you full, they're ridiculously expensive for what they are...』[Nova]
He picked up a tomato and stared at it.
『...This one is grown organically without any harmful substances, but it costs 4 credits per tomato...』[Nova]
『...Nova? Didn't you get the credit card that lets you purchase food and living necessities for free? You know, courtesy of Genesis to all students?』[Jack]
He stared at the tomato, filled with spite.
『...It's not about whether I could, It's about the principle...』[Nova]
He slowly put the tomato down, picking up a bell pepper instead.
『...What about the bell pepper?』[Jack]
『Oh. I'll eat this. Nobody likes bell peppers, so I can get a big one for a little less than two credits, then stir fry it. I like bell peppers.』[Nova]
『...You sicko.』[Jack]
Nova stared at Jack with a strange look.
『...It's about the principle.』[Nova]
He threw the bell peppers in the cart, intending to cook them in the kitchen.
After grabbing a few other things, he finally was looking at the meat section.
『...Can I really buy this…?』[Nova]
He was looking at a super expensive cut of meat that looked like it would have melted in his mouth.
『...Dude, are you going to buy it, or nah?』[Jack]
Nova grabbed the cut of meat, throwing it into his shopping cart as fast as possible.
『...Of course I'm gonna buy it!』[Nova]
Reischneid began shouting in Nova's mind too.
「Hey! Get some of that, too! And that! You said you wanted to build some muscles, right?!」[Reischneid]
「Will do!」[Nova]
….
Once Nova was at checkout, he and Jack stood there nervously.
『...Why the hell did you get so much food?』[Jack]
『...I went too far...』[Nova]
After getting a few dirty looks from the person working at the cash register, he apologized and exited the store with Jack.
『...I don't know if I can ever go there ever again...』[Nova]
『...It's the only one nearby… The ones further out are under reconstruction… Did you hear what happened to the city?』[Jack]
Nova raised an eyebrow, putting his stuff into his storage ring.
『...Well, some massive earthquake happened, causing the residents of the area you lived in to have to evacuate, or something. I heard some buildings got massively damaged, so they ended up not letting people back. They should be done with the renovations soon, though.』[Jack]
Nova blinked a few times, knowing exactly what he was referring to.
『...I see. Well, it should be okay.』[Nova]
He handed Jack the bags of snacks that he bought, but Jack shook his head, not picking up the bag.
『...You know what, can you follow me to my dorm room? I have something I want to show you.』[Jack]
『...Sure.』[Nova]