The dining hall was located north of the auditorium. Practically, the auditorium is the center of the whole academy and the place where most of the paths to the important places of the academy converge. After a while walking, I arrived at the dining room, a fairly large place where about 100 people can easily fit, with large wooden tables and chairs of the same material. The interior is white, and in an outside part there are tables and chairs with large umbrellas to protect those who are there from the sun, over a small garden.
"The best thing about this place is that they always have delicious food. When Haruki and I didn't want to prepare food for ourselves or didn't have time, we would come to this place."
I enter the dining room and see that there are already a few people inside. I decide to line up for the food, which is not very long. To eat at this place and to buy pretty much everything within Thrace, we cadets have a card given to us at the beginning, which has "credits" on it. These credits are renewed every month, and the amount you receive depends on the class you are in. You can also buy credits with Empire money.
"Being from the worst class, I only get 5,000 credits a month. For some, that may not be much, but for me, who barely earned half of that a month when I was working, it's quite a luxury. Besides, my sister passed on half of her credits to me a few weeks ago, she was given 100,000 credits. That's one of the privileges that those in class A have."
Slowly, the line moved forward until it was my turn. I approach the bar, and the cook Otto, a muscular, tall, balding, middle-aged man, spotted me. He knew my sister and me well, from all the times we had been here these past few months.
— Oh boy, what a miracle you come here, I haven't seen you for a few weeks, how are you, where's your sister? I thought you were always together.
— She doesn't have time to come to lunch with me, she's busy with her classes, Otto.
— Well, boy, that's the academy, you have to work hard too, but most importantly, what will you ask for today? -he asks with a smile.
- I'd like the smoked meat with mashed potatoes, please, Otto -I tell him smiling foolishly while a little saliva drips out of my mouth just thinking about how delicious the meat is.
"That meat is the best there is, and ever since I tried it with mashed potatoes, it became my favorite dish."
— Hahaha, something told me you were going to order that. You just can't resist my food, can you? I'll bring it to you right away, kid. You can go pay my wife," he said pointing to the side.
His wife knew us too. She was a brown-haired woman wearing an apron. Her name was Aina, and she was always smiling. As I approached to pay, she greeted me while smiling.
— Oh, hello Hikaru, how nice to see you here.
— Hello. The truth is, I couldn't stand the urge to eat the old man's food, hahaha.
— Hahaha, you're right, his food is delicious, and that's why I fell in love with him -she said while smiling and touching her cheek with one hand.
— Here you go," I held out the card for him to take.
As he charged me, the card glowed a little as a sign that the payment had been approved. After charging me, he handed the card back to me. At that moment Otto came out of the kitchen with a large plate of smoked meat and mash. I could only look at it with admiring, beady eyes.
— Here you go, kid," he set the plate on the counter and raised his thumb. I added extra because I know you appreciate my food more than anyone.
— Thanks a lot, man, you're the best.
— Enjoy, kid.
Before I left, Aina spoke to me with her trademark smile.
— Say hi to your sister for us.
— Sure, I will," I mentioned cheerfully.
After that nice chat with them, I happily left in search of a place to sit.
"Great, it looks very tasty. I just have to find a place; it doesn't look that crowded, but I'm looking forward to sitting near the window to watch the sky take off today."
I spotted a nice, completely empty spot off to the side, and walked over.
"Great, that place looks good, and the best part is that there are no people."
I arrived at the place and proceeded to sit down, arranging my tray of food, but I noticed something.
"I forgot to go get water. I'll leave my plate here so no one sits down. I don't think anyone here steals. I'll go quickly and come back."
I quickly went to the beverage area and poured myself some water in a glass. After that, I cheerfully returned to my table, but it had already been occupied. A black-haired girl was sitting there.
"Shit, one can't be careless for a moment anymore because one's place is stolen. Although the dining room is now a bit crowded, there are still more tables available. Maybe I should just ignore her, after all it's not that uncommon to share a table."
As I continued to approach, I noticed that she was wearing the Class A uniform. Once in front of the table, with my glass of water in hand, I sat down across from her and looked at her.
"I feel like I've seen her somewhere before, but where?"
— So we meet again," she said with a formal but nonchalant attitude, as if she didn't care about my presence.
"That way of talking, now I remember her. If I'm not mistaken, she's the girl at the ceremony. Just my bad luck. But now I can get a good look at her, and I must say she's quite pretty, with long hair totally black if you see her from the back, but from the front, her hair is deep red, with crimson eyes and slightly oval irises! Could she be from the Phoenix clan? Although her hair doesn't match... I mustn't mess up with someone like her, I must tread carefully."
— Y-you're right, if I remember correctly, your name was Seraphine.
— And you are Hikaru.
After that, she didn't say anything else and continued eating her noodle soup in a way that made her look delicate and sophisticated.
"This is a bit annoying, but I guess I have no choice. I must avoid looking at her. I'll concentrate on eating this exquisite meat dish."
Pulling my plate closer, I began to eat it happily, thinking about how tasty it was. After a silent and delicious while, she had finished eating and was only looking at me with a serious and somewhat expressionless expression, as if she were watching an exhibition. Courageously, I stopped eating for a moment to talk to her.