"Pulchra? Y-you're not seriously defending this outsider? I thought we agreed that some alienation was in order."
When Spiravit said this to Pulchra his arrogant demeanor immediately disappeared and he stuttered his words a bit.
'Ah, I see. It seems that this punk wasn't immune to a girl's charm. If his love interest were to suddenly show interest in me, I wonder how he would react. That would be fun to watch...? That's weird... I acknowledge that my means aren't by any means, "ethical", but I've never been a sadistic person who enjoyed the suffering of others. I need to get complete control of these reckless emotions quickly, or who knows what I would do.'
I promptly made a decision about my peculiar mental state, all the while Pulchra and Spiravit continued their argument.
"We agreed on not getting buddy-buddy with him, not straight up bullying him. The dean allowed him to be here, so he should have his reasons. It would be best not to take things too far."
She said this with a slightly cold glare as if the man in front of her were impudent trash. Seeing as how she normally conversed with the girls, it seemed she didn't have a good relationship with Spiravit. Ah, no, that's not right. She's giving all the boys the same look. It must be a gender-related issue.
"Tch. I guess I'll call it here. Go on then Quis. Scram, get out of my sight. Still, it must feel bad to be protected by a girl-"
"I don't know what you're talking about. I do not feel a single shred of anguish from being protected by a strong female," I said this with a clear, emotionless voice and a blank face like it was a fact anyone should know. Spiravit, seemingly thrown off by my clear and decisive response, was unable to make a witty retort.
It seemed like everyone else was also shell-shocked by my sudden words. It must've gone against what they thought to be right, Pulchra especially. She looked at me with curiosity in her eyes, though not in a lovely sort of way. It was more like the pure curiosity of a kid.
About 10 seconds passed with everyone's astonished gazes on me. Their stares only came to an end once footsteps echoed throughout the wooden hall. Everyone's mind shook off the previous incident and focused on the new development. A person was walking toward us. It was another man with a coal sash coiled around the familiar red and brown robes.
He was different than Convir though. However, this man had a more relaxed aura and seemed weaker. He had black hair and striking violet eyes, similar to Pulchra's. Just as I was making the connection, I could hear Pulchra call out to the man walking toward us.
"Father? What are you doing here?"
The previous atmosphere changed as Pulchra identified the mysterious man before us. She also changed her demeanor significantly, tilting her head in a questioning manner.
"Pulchra, I asked you to call me by my name while I was working. It's Dartus, D-A-R-T-U-S. You are my daughter, right? Ah, whatever. To answer your question, the dean asked me to take you guys to the Fruit Hall in his stead. He said he had something pressing to take care of. Seriously, what's with that guy!? It's like all he can do is push his responsibilities onto me…"
The man, who originally exuded a slightly dangerous aura, abandoned the act in an instant. He even cursed the person I assumed to be his superior in front of all of us, showing no concern as he continued his rant about his daily inconveniences. A couple of minutes passed as he rambled and it didn't seem like he would stop until someone called out to him.
"Um, Mr. L'Amour… If I'm not wrong... you did say that you are supposed to take us to the Fruit Hall… right?" One of the girls in Pulchra's group of people timidly questioned, breaking the man's rambling.
In response to hearing this question, the man in question closed his seemingly unclosable mouth and placed his fist on his open palm, "Oh yeah, that's right! Sorry, I completely forgot. Alright let's go on to the Fruit Hall, you guys need to choose your first Fruit."
A thought crossed my mind, 'This man might just actually be stupid. Perhaps I could use this to my advantage? No, it's too early to make that judgment. He might be acting this way only because he's near his daughter. In my previous life, I knew someone who behaved similarly...'
As I pondered this matter, I walked behind Dartus along with all the other students. We quickly arrived at our destination, the Fruit Hall. Unlike some other buildings, this one was relatively small, about the size of a small shop.
"Alright, everyone, enter one at a time, choose your preferred fruit, then leave. If you have any questions about specific fruits, feel free to ask the clerk. She's quite knowledgeable and can answer most inquiries. Now, line up," Dartus instructed, herding us into a single-file line. Fortunately, with a powerful individual present, Spiravit couldn't do anything to me despite being placed behind me in the commotion. The line gradually shortened as people entered and left the Fruit Hall. Eventually, it was my turn, and I stepped inside.
Contrary to my expectations of a greenery-filled interior, the place was clean and tidy; It gave off the smell of freshly finished wood, and the air inside gave one a sense of business. It resembled a professional shop. I intended to navigate through the store-like building and find a fruit of my liking when a string of words stopped me.
"Ah, the fruits you're looking for are at the back of the store- no I mean Fruit Hall. Just hurry up and choose your fruit, I don't want to have to do this for much longer. It's such a bother."
The voice was coarse and monotone. I turned to see a woman behind the counter. Her long black hair was unkept and disheveled, and it seemed to get wilder the farther down it went. I could see dark purple half-rings under her black eyes; it seemed like she hadn't slept in days. And her personality seemed to fit her appearance. What was wrong with the people here? I thought everyone would be more serious… I need to figure out what the current situation of this world is.
I silently made this decision as I went to the back of the Fruit Hall. When I got there I saw some interesting choices of Fruits behind small cages.
Among them was the Fireball Fruit, enabling one to shoot fireballs from their palms after consumption. The Fire Breath Fruit, which allowed the ability to breathe fire. There was also the Leaf Blade Fruit and the Root Whip Fruit... Why are all these fruits related to fire or wood? All of a sudden it made sense to me, this was why they called themselves the Wood and Fire Fairy Sect. And although I didn't particularly favor fire or life-related magic in my previous life, I suppose if I had to...
And at that moment, my attention was captured by something peculiar.
It had an odd shape, reminiscent of a pear with a touch of lemon. The main color was brown, adorned with silver arrows arranged in a pattern across the fruit. The stem stood erect, like a spear thrust into the ground, unwavering. It reminded me of an unwavering Holy Knight, not unlike the one that "killed" me.
Seeing as the Fruit gave me a strange sensation when I observed it, I decided to take a look at the label beside the display it stood inside. As my pupils slid down the information, I came to a quick conclusion, 'It appears that I won't have to use those troublesome wood or fire-type Fruits after all.'
The label on the Fruit's display read as follows: "Technology Path, Firearm Branch type Fruit, The Crossbow Bolt Fruit."