"...."
Rualan is stunned by Callum's words.
From a delivery man to her assistant.
Catch monsters for her, that's all until Alaine said things about her research that made her doubt everything she has done up until now.
Rualan considered Alaine as a sort of rival despite the difference in their field of research, seeing an underclassman declaring she will beat her in the competition made her look forward to the day they can compete together.
But those words she said about her research made her doubt if she remembered her challenge from when they were in high school, she technically ran away instead of confronting her about it.
However, that helper who was supposed to hunt monsters hunted her down and said all sorts of things to her on that rainy day, wild and crazy she thought but it lifted her mood up.
Even when she wasn't sure what his intentions were for saying those things, she couldn't help but feel happy to have someone right then and there as she was by herself, cold and numb.
That helper soon became her assistant and from that day on it became hectic, to say the least, monsters began filling up the previous empty and dusty cages, and the room that used to be quiet was filled with ferocious wild monster noises that she could listen to or test on.
It became lively compared to the previously cold, quiet, and lonely lab room she shared with Alaine, though they barely talked to each other.
When he became stuck on one target he would come to ask for her help and would leave to try and catch it, only to come back again with dirt all over the body. After that he got help from someone, spending less time with her to train to capture Speedy which somehow made her feel bothered by it a lot more than she admits.
Serina appeared one day after she learns about the identity of her assistant's helper and couldn't help but feel insecure around her, the daughter of a swordmaster known in the Far East nation and also around the world along with the fact that the two seem to be comfortable around each other with Serina offering a lap pillow to Callum when he fainted even going as far as to sit on the ground to let him rest on her thighs.
The thighs that are plump from going through intense training plus the fat around it making it wide and soft to lie on.
And now here they are, him giving encouragement to her.
".....I couldn't have ask for a better assistant other than you, Callum"
"Oh, well, I'm sure--"
"Really, the best" she emphasize those words to him.
"Okay"
"I might not win, but I will give it my all"
"Yeah"
"Thanks for the apple, but I don't think I can risk dirtying my hands right now"
"Oh...darn"
"But I have a solution"
"? Which is?"
Rualan smiled, once again making Callum wonder what she is going to do now to make his heart race.
Grabbing his wrist, she gently guided it upward toward her face where she bent down and took a bit of the apple.
A crisp sound rang out softly as she bit off a bit of the apple and gazed upward to his eyes.
"....."
Licking her lips with her tongue out, just enough to wipe the juice off her mouth before smiling.
"How do you like it~?"
"...."
"Thanks for the snack", saying just that, Rualan headed off to the stage as her name is called.
The cages are automatically set out from the backstage appearing from the ground.
Rualan now ready turn to face the crowd, her expression relaxed, her eyes are firm yet welcoming.
"Hello, my name is Rualan Mavik, my research topic is Monster Taming"
And so her presentation begins.