Chapter 13
Ace eyes were full of fear when he turned to look at Riddle. “Holy crap! Dorm Leader !”
“Awkward…” Roxana said.
Cater cut in to try to distract Riddle. “Oh my, Riddle. You're super crazy cute today~♪”
Distraction… Roxana though.
Riddle did not fall for it. “Hmph. Cater. If you run your mouth anymore, I'll take it off together with your head.”
Not effective. Roxana thought.
Cater panicked. “Hey now, gimme a break!”
Riddle left after what Roxana calls terrorizing their group, some people in Heartslabyul started to panic alongside feeling relieved cause they broke a rule and Riddle didn’t notice.
“The dorm leader wrestled the seat from the previous dorm leader in his first week here. He can be a little harsh, but that's just him trying to make the dorm better. He's got good intentions at heart.” Trey tried to explain.
Roxana gave a soft chuckle. “Oh my~ I can’t believe the awful excuse that just came out of your mouth, honestly, like I said before, people are going to rebel at some point, it’s a matter of when, am leaving you to your things”
Roxana decided to read her book in the Botanical Garden, she saw a lion beastman sleeping there but ignored him and decided to sit in the opposite side behind a bush, but of course the peace and quiet was ruined.
“There's a bunch of fruit! They smell so good!”
Roxana sighed when she heard Grim. “For the love of everything that’s holy…”
“Gh- ow!”
“Eh ?” Grim looked confused as he looked down on what he stepped on.
I can smell the trouble. Roxana sighed.
“Oi. You've got some nerve stepping on someone's tail without saying anything.” Leona glared down at Grim.
Grim’s ears flattened on his head. “Are you the caretaker here? You seem a bit vulgar for that…”
“I was right in the middle of a nice nap, then you go and walk all over my tail. This sucks.”
Roxana sighed. “Can the both of you be quiet ? Some people likes to read in peace !”
“Hah ?” Both Leona and Grim turned to the source of the voice.
Roxana walked up to them while glaring at them.
“I knew that nothing good comes from you” She glared at Grim. “Alright, what did you get yourself into this time Grim ?”
Grim stomped his paw on the floor. “How come you’re relaxing while I am doing the whole work ?!!”
Leona looked at her in surprise and sniffed the air. “A female…”
Roxana picked Grim like a mother cat. “What did you do”
Grim ears flattened on his head. “Errrr…I accidently stepped on his tail…”
“And instead of saying sorry you’re talking back ?” Roxana frowned. “Why are you even here, and what work are you talking about ?”
“Picking chestnuts to make a tart for Riddle” Grim said.
“And why are you doing the work of Heartslabyul dorm ? It’s their problem ! Let them fix it by themselves !” Roxana said. “Honestly, am surrounded by idiots !”
“Leona!” A voice called.
Said beastman turned to look at the source of the voice. “Huh?”
“So you were hiding out here, after all. It's time for your remedial lessons, y'know.” Ruggie said as he stopped in front of Leona.
“And now the annoying one's here.” Leona said under his breath.
Roxana put Grim on the ground. “Let’s leave” She followed the little chimera for a while before she decided to take another route without him.
Grim turned around to see if Roxana was following him only to find out she wasn’t behind him.
“MEROW SHE LEFT ME !!”
***
Roxana ended up in the kitchen of the school.
They should really have read the rules of Heartslabyul “562. One must never bring a chestnut tart to an unbirthday tea party”, oh well, it’s not like am going to tell them, I am here for the drama. Roxana smirked.
The door of the kitchen opened to reveal the trio.
“Welcome back. I see you picked quite a bit.” Trey said as Ace and Deuce put what they brough on the table.
“With this, we can make a huge tart!” Grim said before he turned to look at Roxana who was happily sitting on a green swing which was magically hung in the air. “YOU LEFT ME !”
“And you are still alive” Roxana as she flipped the page of her book.
Grim grumbled under his breath.
“Thanks to that, peeling all of this is going to be a bit of a challenge, no doubt. Better get to work, you three.” Trey smiled.
Deuce looked at Trey. “All of this... There's no end in sight...”
“Proper preparation is key to successful baking.” Trey grinned.
“Yeah, yeah, we heckin’ get it already! I'm so ready to get this over with!” Ace said annoyed.
“I wonder who’s fault is that and the whole reason why you’re doing all this” Roxana said without looking away from her book.
“Don’t start” Ace pouted.
*Some Hours Later*
“God, we're finally done puréeing them all!” Ace sighed.
Deuce sat down on a chair. “My arms are aching...”
Trey laughed. “Haha. Good job. Your hard work will make it tastier.”
“I'm already full-from the smell” Grim said while sniffing the aroma.
“Next, we need to mix butter and sugar into the chestnut paste, then add the secret ingredient: oyster sauce.” Trey smiled.
“Oyster sauce!?” A-Deuce asked surprised.
“Yep. The umami of the oysters adds a deep richness to the cream. Specifically, I use this Walrus Approved Young Oyster Sauce. Famous patisserie all use this in their tarts.” Trey explained.
“Seriously...? It tastes pretty salty.” Deuce said.
“Then again, people even put chocolate in curry… Yo, maybe this'll taste all right.” Ace shrugged.
Roxana sighed. “You guys fall for the simplest things; Trey was only messing with you”
Trey busted out laughing. “...Pfft. Ahaha! Of course it wouldn't ! Like Roxana said. Who would put oyster sauce in dessert?”
Ace groaned. “Screw you! I was actually starting to take you seriously there.”
“Haha! If you took a second to think about it, you'd realize something was up. Don't just accept things without a healthy amount of skepticism. Consider this a lesson from me.” Trey said.
“I am sure they will forget about like pretty fast they have the memory of a goldfish” Roxana said.
“HEY !” Ace blushed in embarrassment at that comment.
“This guy looks nice, but he really can tell lies like they're nothing…” Grim deadpanned.
“Now we take some cream and… Oh!” Trey paused.
Ace looked at him. “Something up?”
“You all gathered so many chestnuts that I got ahead of myself and made too much marron paste. We don't have enough cream to mix into it.” Trey explained.
“I can go out and buy some. Is it sold at the school store?” Deuce asked.
“Should be. You can find practically anything there. Mind if I ask you to pick up a few other things while you're there? Two cartons of milk, a dozen eggs, some aluminum baking cups, and about five cans of fruit…” Trey listed.
“I don't think I can carry all that alone. Would you mind coming with me, Roxana ?” Deuce asked.
“Since you asked politely, sure I don’t mind” Roxana said as she put down her book.
Grim jumped down from the counter. “I'm going, too! I'm so tired of just endlessly mixing flour.”
*Mr. S’s Mystery Shop*
“Pardon us. ...Wow, this place is amazing. There's a crystal skull, grimoires... What kind of taxidermy is this?” Deuce said while looking around.
“Pardon ? Did you just say grimoires ?” Roxana looked where Deuce was looking at. “Curious, how didn’t I notice that before ?”
“Woah. Do they really sell cream here?” Grim asked.
“Hey, my lost little imps! How goes it? Welcome to Mr. S’s Mystery Shop. What can I do for you today? A charm for uncharted lands? Mummy of an ancient king? Or how about some cursed tarot cards?” Sam appeared out of the shadows.
“Ffgna! You scared me!” Grim screamed.
“Sam, hello, it’s nice to see you again, I am interested in the tarot cards if you can give me every different type of decks I would be grateful, mixing different type of tarot cards gives a better and more accurate reading” Roxana said.
“Oh~ you’re an expert !” Sam said as he put what she asked for on the counter.
“You can say…that I have a talent when it comes to the third eye” Roxana smiled.
“Oh also we would like the things written here.” Deuce said.
Grim jumped in. “And some cans of tuna!”
“No! We don't need any tuna!” Deuce firmly said.
“Let's see what we have here. Some cream, eggs… What a tantalizingly sweet line-up. OK! Coming right up.” Sam said before going to the back of the shop.
Deuce blinked in surprise. “Wow. He really does have all of it….”
“He reminds me of Diagon Alley but in one single shop” Roxana said.
“What’s Diagon Alley ?” Deuce asked.
“It’s a place with every shops you think about and imagine from where I come from” Roxana said.
Sam came back some minutes later. “Sorry 'bout the wait. It's a bit heavy. You got it? If you order now, you can get a 1/100 scale floating platter to carry your purchases for 30% off.”
“What's that?! It sounds cool!” Grim eyes sparkled.
“W-We're okay, thanks! Time to go, Grim!” Deuce politely refused.
“Boooo! I wanna hang out more!” Grim pouted.
Sam smiled. “Okay, okay. Make sure to come by again, my little imps! Bye!”
*Main Street*
“That store was crazy.” Deuce said.
“Nothing I didn’t see before” Roxana said while the groceries floated besides her.
“Tch. Stingy Deuce.” Grim huffed.
“Who are you calling stingy?” Deuce glared at the chimera before he changed his expression. “Ahem. Roxana, how are those bag of cans floating like that ?”
“A simple floating spell nothing complicated” Roxana smiled at him.
“Wow, you must be a genius in magic if this is simple for you” Deuce looked a bit down from that.
“Deuce I come from a different world with different magic, so don’t put yourself down, you just need to work hard to achieve your dreams” Roxana said softly.
This seemed to lighten his mood. “Right ! Ow !” The eggs in the bag cracked when they fell on the floor.
“Aaah! The eggs!” Grim cried.
“Shit, a whole pack of the eggs is completely destroyed! It's all over the bag!” Deuce panicked at it.
“Hey! Watch where you're... Hang on... Ain't you the pieces of crap that wrecked the egg in my carbonara earlier?!” Delinquent A said.
Delinquent B glared at them. “Again? Can't stay out of trouble for one day!”
Roxana took a deep breath. Don’t throw a crucio, don’t throw a crucio, it’s alright.
Deuce stayed silent for a moment. “………… You were the ones who jumped out from behind the corner. Even at lunch, it wasn't as if you couldn't eat the egg anymore, and yet you still tried to pick a fight with us. You do realize you just ruined a whole pack of our eggs, don't you?”
Grim nodded. “Yeah, yeah!”
“And? You saying it's our fault?” A screamed at them.
“Yes. Please pay for the eggs. And please apologize to the chickens, too !” Deuce said.
Roxana was taken aback by that.
Chickens … why ?
“Huh? They're just eggs. Why you getting' so worked up, huh?” B said.
“...Excuse me?” Deuce did not look amused.
Delinquent A smirked. “They ain't on the ground, so you can still eat 'em. Don't sweat the small stuff.”
Delinquent B followed him. “We saved you the trouble of breaking them!”
Both of them laughed.
Deuce hands were in a fist, and they were trembling from anger. “...a laughing matter.”
Both boys stopped laughing. “Huh?”
“I said this ain't a laughing matter, you assholes! You listening to me?! What makes you think you get to decide what matters to us?! See those eggs? They were gonna become a delicious tart to make up for not getting to hatch into chicks! That making sense to your thick heads or what?! Huh?!” Deuce screamed at them in rage.
Roxana raised her eyebrow in amusement. Oh my~
“Eek! W-What's this dude's problem all of a sudden!?”
“If you don't wanna pay back those six eggs that you broke…I hope you're ready to get your face punched in that same amount!” Deuce cracked his knuckles.
“Whaaaa!?” The delinquent looked at him in fear.
Deuce raised his fist. “Square up, you pieces of shit!”
Roxana watched the one side beat down the idiots received from Deuce.
“T-This guy's insane! That wasn't six hits, you liar!”
“We need to get the hell outta here! I beg all chickens for their forgiveneeeessssss!”
“You better be apologizing a hundred times over the next time you eat eggs! Dumbasses!” Deuce screamed at them while they run.
“That’s a way to do it, I was thinking of something crueler, but a beat down was enough” Roxana said.
“Huff, huff... Oh no!” Deuce eyes widened in horror.
Grim looked at him. “What now?!”
“I-I screwed up... I vowed that I'd definitely, definitely be an honors student this time for sure…!” Deuce looked disappointed at himself.
“Hmm…honor student or not, some people just ask for a beat down that they need to get, so don't be harsh on yourself they deserved it because they were asking for it” Roxana paused for a moment. “By the way Deuce…”
“Yes ?”
“About the eggs…let me tell you the wonders of baby making” Roxana smiled.
“Oh no” Grim ears flattened on his head he did not like that smile.
*Ten Minutes Later*
“SAY WHAT ????!!!!” Deuce screamed face red from embarrassment.
Roxana chuckled. I love doing this.