I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's kind of a change of pace from the last one.

All’s Well that Ends Well

I laid there, on the cold, dirt ridden ground.

Interwoven among the senses I felt were the pulsating pain from my finger and arm, the ticklish trickling of sweat down my brow, and the sensation of the cool, somewhat refreshing surface I pressed my back against. This peaceful calm after physical activity was always a welcomed experience for me.

As characteristic of my rather absent minded personality, my mind began to idle and wander. I thought about the match.

“....”

I wouldn’t be lying if I said I wasn’t at all bitter. Losing always stings, no matter the circumstance. It revealed weakness. In a real fight, a real battle, losing meant death.

I sighed.

The thing was though, this hadn’t been a real battle. It was at most, a match. And losing didn’t mean I would die. It purely meant there was someone who was capable of beating me. Someone who had more experience fighting logically surpassed me.

And for someone as lazy, and as unconnected with the world as me, losing really shouldn't be that important.

But frankly, it still annoyed me.

I don’t know whether it came from a past trauma when I was young, but losing always stirred up unnaturally negative emotions within me. It was a feeling I hated.

Of course, everyone probably hated losing. I mean, its a natural thing, everyone wants to win. But you know… there can only be so many winners in the world.

I shook my head, trying to clear away the budding mind set of a sore loser I was developing.

Careful as to avoid any excessive movement on my right arm down, I got up and patted away most of the dirt and grime my clothing had accumulated.

I surveyed the crowd ahead. the masses of people were still quite plentiful, but they were surely, gradually thinning. And like with the persistence of people, the tension from the match still remained.

Hollering, ranting, and some “lively discussion” were rampant. From an outsider’s perspective, the crowd of people were split into two types with two differing opinions.

On one aspect of the crowd were the still blood frenzied students who were all still eagerly talking about Professor Kiryat, despite his early departure. They generally raised a fuss about the match’s outcome, and would interject comments about how Professor Kiryat was holding himself back, in regards to me being a new student and all.

They didn’t bother to mention of course, Kiryat’s reputation for not being able to hold back.

On the other side of the spectrum, were the teachers, and more experienced students. They were less outgoing about their own perspective, but going by what little I could hear through the pounding of my ears, they came to the consensus that I was actually quite an amazing person.

Although, the roaring of the inexperienced students generally overpowered the latter group.

Things like, “There’s no way a new student could possess that much strength” or “What type of shitty monster tamer is that strong without his monster?!” were constantly thrown around. This showed that even amongst the avid Kiryat fans, the truth about my strength was still up in the air.

“Was this newbie strong? Was he weak?” Something along these lines.

Strangely, the bickering of the crowd brought a slight smile to myself. Even I’d feel a bit prideful upon recognition.

With the still inflated emotions I possessed, I strolled over to Aleksey, who by now had stopped floating.

“So…” I spoke out as I got closer, “What’s the verdict?”

“...” For a moment the blonde haired, annoying guy looked blankly at me. “Huh?”

Seeing his dumb face, An irritated feeling slowly welled up inside me.

I sighed, before I once again addressed him, this time with a slightly more hostile tone.

“You know, the whole reason I had this stupid fight in the first place? Come on man, I broke my damn pinky! Do I get to stay in Rose Bud or not?”

“Um…” He continued to prattle along without answering my question.

“*sigh* Anytime now Romeo... “

“...”

“Oi, idiot, tell me already! I got to get my arm fixed up, it hurts like hell.” I angrily complained as I scratched the edge of my elbow (a rather poor decision, since it sent jolts of pain throughout my arm).

“O-Okay!” He raised his arms up in a defeated posture. “I’ll go get the president, she’s the one whose evaluating you, not me…”

Just as Aleksey said this, another face approached us.

A fair skinned, short haired, and glasses wearing lady soon stood besides Aleksey.

“Oh perfect timing Ami!” Aleksey excitedly complained. “I was just about to go get Miss Roe in regards to-”

“mhm.” Ami shook her head and interrupted.

“That won’t be necessary. She delegated the rest of these menial tasks to me.”

I don’t think deciding my residence is so menial… I inwardly complained.

“Why isn’t Scleri here?” I outwardly complained.

Hearing this Ami’s eye lid slightly twitched. She composed herself before answering,

“...A certain matter quickly came up, but don’t worry, she made a fair and just evaluation of you before she left…” She hesitated for a moment, “...Also, you should really address her as Miss Roe, or President. Madam, Princess, Highness, or Majesty would also work...”

Quickly interjecting, Aleksey interrupted Ami, who was about ready to mumble a hundred different ways on how I should address Scleri besides Scleri.

“Well enough about that Oniisan.” He shifted his way towards me.

“Huh?” Disgustedly, I backed up a few feet.

Why is this punk calling me Oniisan?

“Say,” He brought his arm around my shoulder. His flowery smelling cologne caused my nose to wrinkle.

“How’s your sister doing?”

“Nanami?” I asked cautiously.

He nodded enthusiastically, before donning on a pseudo serious expression.

“Hmmm, Did she happen to tell you about how she fell in love with me today?” He asked, clearly insane.

“...”

“Normally, I wouldn’t ask this, but considering the fact that Oniisan is so strong-”

“Shut up, don’t call me that. It’s gross” I quickly interjected.

As if I never said anything, Aleksey continued. “...and the fact that my Honey (Nanami of course) clearly holds Oniisan in high regards, I must ask…”

He brought his head dangerously close to mine. I jerked my head back as a response. I exchanged a brief glance towards Ami, who could only dejectedly shake her head in response.

“...Can I date your cute little sister? Oh, Marriage is also an option, if you’d prefer.”

“...”

I held back the rising taste of vomit. I accidentally pictured this sleazy guy hanging out (much less dating) my cute little sister. The image that I couldn’t shake off made me want to punch the guy straight in the face.

So I punched him straight in the face.

He limply fell down, eyes rolled back, while he repulsively muttered things like, “Oooh, I see so many Angel Nanamis, hehehe~”

I sighed before I turned my attention to the rather straight faced girl who stood besides the incoherent idiot.

“I hope you don’t mind that I punched that guy.” I spat in Aleksey’s direction.

“Oh no problem. I do it sometimes as well. It’s a good stress reliever.” Ami confessed.

I sympathetically nodded.

“Well… back to the topic at hand…” I redirected the conversation.

“Oh yeah, right.” Ami continued. “Well, to keep things short, you are permitted to stay in Rose Bud. Your strength was… satisfactory.”

“Oh, that’s great.” I excitedly exclaimed.

“Yes…” Ami dejectedly stated. “It is all due to the President’s good graces.”

“Oooh, well, I sure am lucky that the Prez is soooo kind hearted.” I sarcastically replied.

Ami twitched once more. “You know… you really should hold off such types of remarks. It is unbecoming.” She reprimanded.

I chuckled slightly. Me without sarcasm was like me without internet. Oh wait…

“I’ll stop once you grow out your hair. I think you’d look pretty with long hair.” I randomly blurted out.

“... Please refrain from flirting with me. It is unbecoming.” She stated coldly.

“Ah sorry, I was just practicing. I don’t know how to talk to girls you see.” I replied back with a straight face.

“Hmm…” Unconvinced she nodded.

“Well then, I suggest you heal your arm soon. As for me… I’ll be leaving now.”

She turned around and made her way to the exit, but she abruptly stopped just a few meters in.

She turned towards the still babbling Aleksey, who was uttering something like,

“Big breasted Nanami, Glasses Nanami, Nanami in a naked apron, hehehe~ So many Nanamis~”

I kicked him in the groin. Someone like him would be better for the world sterile.

Ami made a despondent expression before she grabbed onto his leg.

As she walked away, dragging a flailing Aleksey with her, I could hear the quiet mutterings of an unfortunate girl dejectedly curse her luck.

“Why are all the boys in the Student Council all like this…”

I absentmindedly stared at this scene until their small silhouettes left my field of vision.

Sighing, I turned left and right, before looking down at my still broken arm.

I scratched my head inattentively.

“Where can I get this arm casted?” I quietly murmured as I too made my way to the exit.

*****

After about an hour or so, I finally got my arm and pinky casted.

Of course, the task was quite arduous, a true adventure filled with numerous highs and lows.

Considering the fact that strangely enough the resident doctor/nurse the, what I’ve begun calling, “All Purpose, Do it yourself, “infirmary, the one that I happen to find myself in quite often, was missing, it was a difficult task finding an actual person to put a cast on my arm.

Normally, normal people would just find a resident healer, or use their own healing spells to heal wounds or injuries, but obviously, such a convenient luxury is unavailable to me.

In the end, Avril was actually the one who put a cast on my arm. Although I found it quite strange that she actually knew how to, with this age’s medical advancement, even without magic, medical procedures were now much more easier to perform. What I did find strange however was the fact that she didn’t point out why I never went to a healer in the first place.

But nevertheless, my arm was all taken care of, and after a quick sling was slung over my shoulder, together with Nanami, Avril and Quinn, we made our way back to the Rose Bud Manor, my hard earned place of residence.

At Rosebud, we were met with poorly placed decorations and a banner with the hastily scribbled words, “Welcome New Residents!”

Nanami widened her eyes in surprise while Quinn absentmindedly reached out for the strewn decorations.

With droopy eyelids, I turned to the snickering Avril, who was holding onto her very own confetti cannon.

As she popped the object, a cloud of confetti assaulted my face. It stuck to my still sweat streaked forehead and pasty cheeks.

Unaffected, with a deadpan voice, I asked. “What’s all this about?”

“Isn’t it obvious?!” Avril exclaimed. “It’s a welcoming party! You guys are officially tenants of Rosebud! Oh, I guess this can be a party to celebrate your match too Kelp.”

“How wonderful” I spoke under a miasma of heavy sarcasm.

Quinn, who was still comfortably resting on top of my head, was trying hard to imitate my voice. In the end her efforts crumpled in a fit of cute giggling..

Next to me was a giddy Nanami. She fidgeted around excitedly, while restraining the urge to jump out in joy.

“Oh don’t say that~” Avril commented to my sarcasm. “Be more excited! Happy!”

She reached out and with her elegant fingers, forcibly turned my frown upside down, forcing my creased lips to bend upwards.

I swatted her fingers away and sighed dejectedly.

“I’d rather go to sleep. I had a pretty long day today...”

“Muu~” Avril pouted. “With that type of attitude, there’s no way you could ever satisfy a young housewife! You’d be too busy with your work to focus on her and...other night time activities.”

Avril stated with a lecherous smile.

I sighed in return. “There’s no way I’d have such a high maintenance spouse to begin with…”

“Ah that’s enough from you!” Avril exclaimed. “It’s time to turn that frown upside down! Little sister, come! Follow me!”

Avril quickly pushed me across the mansion. Following her was an excited Nanami with glowing chipmunk eyes.

She led me to the dining hall, a rather ordinary looking area from when I first saw it.

Now, it was decorated to the brim, with second hand party supplies. On the walls were obvious, reused paper decorations, while the windows were draped in colorful bedsheets. It looked like a poor rendition of a birthday party. Very hastily done, with obviously no effort placed into the aesthetics.

In the room, there were a total of four people.

Miss Jumblee who stood near the entrance, with a stack of plates in her hand, was the first to notice us.

“Ah!” She called out, “There you three are! What took you so long?”

Avril laughed coyly in response. “Sorry, sorry, it took a while to fix up Kelp’s arm.”

Avril patted my injured shoulder in response. The action caused me to wince in slight pain. I glared back at the beaming young girl, who merely responded with a chorus of hearty laughter.

Miss Jumblee looked over sympathetically. “It was a splendid match, young man.” She spoke out. She had a completely different attitude from when I first entered the Manor.

With a fire in her eyes, she did something unbecoming of an old lady and pumped her fists in the air. She laughed maniacally, before she hollered, “With your abilities, you won’t just be a shame to the Manor! Kukuku…”

“Haha, sorry about this.” The man who stood next to Miss Jumblee spoke apologetically. He was a mellow looking fellow, with sandy blonde hair and a mole directly below his right eye.

“Miss Jumblee can get a bit eccentric sometimes.” He donned on a pretty obvious fake smile as he lightly chuckled and handed out some of the cutlery he happened to hold.

“Ooh Quiet Norm!” She pushed past the student and handed out the stack of plates, one for each person, well two for me, since one of them was for Quinn.

“Now Avril, go move them to the tables. I have to help out Phi with the food.”

With that, Miss Jumblee left, and Avril pushed us along (well pushed me along) to the wide rectangular table, which was stacked high with several different types of food.

Seeing the blessed sight, my stomach rumbled, an outcome of natural reaction. My mouth moistened, as drool began to sloppily flow out of my mouth.

“Eew, Kelp, that’s gross…” Avril pointed out, as she took a nearby napkin and lightly patted away the growing saliva fountain.

Despite Avril’s gesture, I hastily wiped my mouth with my uninjured arm before I gulped and once again stared fixedly on the food.

“I-it’s not like I can help it. I haven’t eaten in hours… Plus, fighting consumes a lot of energy…” I reasoned.

“Still,” Avril spoke, “Don’t drool like that. It’s gross.”

She then looked around the table.

“You too Alec! Stop it!” She turned towards a guy, who was also drooling over the food, while she patted the saliva off my own face.

The man in question turned his head towards us, and squinted at the scene before him.

Alec was a medium sized guy with a decent arm definition. he had short, curly black hair and wore a sleeveless t-shirt. He had on a constant pathetic face that probably came from years of inexperience with the opposite sex.

“Muu~, I’ll stop if you wipe away the drool from my mouth too.” He stated, with a hint (hahah) of jealousy.

Avril ignored him as she wiped away the last of the clear liquid from my face and took a seat adjacent to mine.

Alec, in response, sighed dejectedly as he slumped back into his seat.

He was seated next to another person, whose gender I couldn’t quite make out.

The person was hunched over on the table, with a curtain of hair that masked their face. Going by the length of her glistening purple hair, the person was probably female and looked like she had fallen asleep on the table.

This girl looked familiar, but I couldn’t quite place where I saw her from.

As we cozied ourselves into our seats, Miss Jumblee came out from the kitchen entrance.

On her tail, was another person, presumably this Phi fellow she was talking about before.

Phi was a female. She had a dark tan, which surprisingly matched the shade of her reddish blonde hair. She walked in a cute pink apron, which accentuated her “dynamic” figure quite greatly.

Phi held a plate of Roast beef, which she quickly set down on an open spot on the table.

She smiled brightly as she turned her attention to us. She looked over Nanami, Quinn (who was still persistently on top of my head) and me.

Finally, after much quiet evaluation.

She made a lewd smile.

“Heh~ The gloomy looking fellow over there looks pretty scary~”

“Oi,” I lethargically responded. “I can hear you, you know.”

“Hmm, well, at least you seem somewhat manly.” She replied back while giggling rather lewdly.

She looked above my head. “But I guess, you can’t all be that bad if a little cutie like this is clinging on to you desperately!”

She exclaimed while reaching out the Quinn. Quinn, in response, jerked around in on my head, desperately clutching and tugging at my hair, which felt like they were separating from the follicles.

I winced in pain. Luckily, Phi stopped trying to get a hold of Quinn, which calmed her down considerably.

It seems like Quinn’s most preferred spot is on top of my head, and it was going to be difficult to remove her anytime soon.

“Well!” Miss Jumblee clapped her hands to draw our attention. “Since we are all here, well, at least since everyone who's going to show up is here, let’s begin the Welcoming Party!”

At this, everyone excitedly clapped, well, except for me.

“First of, let’s start with some introductions.” Miss Jumblee motioned to the sandy haired guy.

He nodded and introduced himself. “Hello, I’m a third year, and my name is Normal Nikolai. I have a weird name, so please just call me Norm.”

He bowed politely.

Reflexively, I bowed as well. I had a feeling of connection with this guy, as a fellow member of the weird names club.

The next person to introduce themselves was Phi.

“Hey~ I’m Phi Baron. I’m a second year.”

She winked seductively at both of us, indicating her strike zone was quite wide.

“Then I’m next.” The other male student spoke out.

He stood up straight and with a loud yell, introduced himself.

“Heyo! I am Alec Alba! 16 years old, 134 pounds, 6 ft 8 inches, 8 percent body fat! I am second year and I am currently looking for a girlfriend!”

He looked hopefully at Nanami, only to be shot down with an uninterested expression.

After Alec’s introduction came a brief moment of silence, as we all awkwardly waited for the next person to introduce herself. Unfortunately, this person was asleep.

The silence was interrupted by Miss Jumblee who lightly shook the purple haired girl awake.

After a moment, she lazily got up, surveyed her surroundings and wiped the accumulated drool from her mouth.

“Um… I’m Lacie Collias… 2nd year.” The droopy eyed, sleepy expressing girl who I recognized introduced herself.

“Huh? Miss Coll? I thought you were a teacher?” I called out to my Mu class instructor.

She looked blankly at me for a second before her eyes slightly widened. “Ah...you are...Moss?”

“It’s Kelp.”

“Ah….”

“...”

“...”

The conversation abruptly ended, partly due to the fact that Miss Coll put in no effort on her part to maintain it.

I sighed, and overcome with curiosity, I reluctantly spoke.

“Sooo...why are you here? I didn’t think you were a student.”

Miss Coll made a motion of opening her mouth as if to respond before she abruptly closed it. Like a child unwilling to speak, she motioned to Miss Jumblee, who reluctantly explained.

“Ah you see, Lacie is what you’d call a prodigy. She looks rather young, right?”

Miss Coll grunted to this statement while I nodded.

“Well,” Miss Jumblee continued. “That’s because she is 16 years old. A little bit young for her age, but due to her intensive knowledge on Lemuria, and her first hand experience at the continent, she was allowed to hold lessons, despite being a 2nd year herself.”

“Ah…” I nodded understandingly. “By the way what’s a Lemuria?”

Before Miss Jumblee could respond, surprisingly, Miss Coll replied.

“Lemuria is the full name for the usually abbreviated “Mu”. It is derived from the “mu” in Le[Mu]ria. Of course, there are also several other renditions of Mu. For example, sometimes can be called Kumari Kandam or Atlantis….although Atlantis may not be a proper term.

All these names were coined from old 19th century titles for hypothesized names so rather than thinking up a new one, they just reused the old ones…”

She flew off and prattled on a string of various trivia regarding her special expertise.

After she finished, she opened her mouth then abruptly closed it. She slumped over the table once more. After a while, a quiet mumbling could be heard from where her head was.

“Also, call me Lacie. Since we live in the same house, it would be weird to call me using a name so stiffly.”

I nodded. In a voice that she could hear loud enough, I said, “Okay then, Lacie.”

The slouching purple mass of hair did not respond back for a while, but after some time, she spoke again.

“Actually, call me Miss Coll when we’re in class. It would be rude otherwise.”

I sighed in response.

Miss Jumblee once again clapped her arms.

“Now, aside from these four young people, we have two more, making the residents total 9, 10 if you include the green haired child.” She motioned towards Quinn.

“The other two though couldn’t make it. One of them is the 4th ranked students, so he is away with the other high rankers, while the other one…”

Miss Jumblee flashed a concerned look.

“Well...they won’t leave their room…”

“Ah…” I eyes widened in recognition.

“So they’re a NEET huh...how envious…” I sighed.

After all this physical exercise, what I’d give to just lay in my room all day and not do anything.

“Well, something like that.” Miss Jumblee stated, “but now, you two, introduce yourselves.”

Nanami, who had kept quiet the whole time finally piped up and was the first to introduce herself to her new border mates.

“I-I am Nanami Kusanagi! Puh-p-please to meech you!”

She stuttered badly.

Next up, I introduced myself. With a yawn reminiscent of Lacie, I lethargically spoke.

“Uh… I’m her brother, Kelp.”

“...”

“....”

“...”

My quick and rather short intro, brought on a momentary silence. This silence was broken by Miss Jumblee, who clapped her hands and declared that we could eat now.

I sighed contentedly and dug into the rows of good food offered before me, ignoring all attempts at conversation from those around.

****

After meal time had came and went, Miss Jumblee, along with Nanami and Phi helped to clean up the table, which for all the food that was on there, was surprisingly sparse.

The trio went to the kitchen, leaving an unconscious Lacie, a contented looking Avril, and sick faced Alec, and a neutral expressioned Norm alone with me.

After some time, Alec came up to me.

He brought a mini coffee table, and set in directly between us as he pulled a chair and sat on the other side.

He slammed his elbow down on the table, arm bent and palms open.

“Now… COME!” He declared.

I looked blankly at the idiot for a second.

“Huh?” I dumbly responded.

“Isn’t it obvious! It’s arm wrestling! Arm Wrestling! We have to bond over something if you’re going to live here, and you didn’t speak at all during dinner!” He whined.

“... You… you’re seriously challenging someone with a broken arm to arm wrestle?” I asked dumbfounded.

“You’ve got another arm, dontcha!”

“...” I could not respond to this type of person.

“Eh~” Avril who was attracted to all the ruckus Alec was making walked over.

“Kelp could beat you regardless of a broken arm.” She declared.

“Avril, stay out of this! This is a man’s battle now.” He looked fiercely at me, apparently rattled by Avril’s comment.

“Oi,” I looked helplessly over at Avril. “Stop trying to rile him up.”

Avril responded with a fit of giggling.

Seeing the expectant look in her eyes, and Alec’s own fiery determination, I couldn’t help but sigh.

“Fine, whatever.”

I went and grasped Alec’s hand with my uninjured arm and rested my elbow on the table.

“Good, good.” Alec declared. “Now the rules are absolutely no magic! Got it.”

I nodded lazily.

“NO MAGIC!”

“I said I got it.”

It’s not like I’d be able to use magic in the first place.

“No magic! I’ll know right away if you cheat!”

“Okay! Damn…” I sighed.

“Okay, just to make sure… Absolutely, no mag- GO!!!”

During the middle of his rant, he abruptly began adding force into his arm.

This unexpected early start was actually quite useless.

My arm didn’t budge even an inch, Which I expected. Due to the constant exposure to [Physical Enhance] I was naturally as strong as a person with a buff spell activated.

Unchangingly, Alec continued to struggle against my arm. His face began to turn red as he panted heavily.

After a while, he looked over at me dumbly and declared, “Oi! I said no magic!”

“I didn’t use magic.” I answered truthfully.

“Y-you liar!”

“I didn’t use magic.” I repeated.

“....”

“....”

“... If you’re going to use magic, then so will I!”

“...Cheater.”

“....”

In the next instant, Alec wordlessly mumbled a silent spell, as his entire left arm glowed a luminescent blue.

I could feel the surge of strength coursing through Alec’s arm, as he pushed my hand close to the table’s surface.

“H-how do you like that!” He panted through labored breath. “I call this my special Arm Wrestling Physical Enhance. Specifically meant for Arm wrestling. As you can see, I’ve focused all my power into my right arm, and right arm only. I’ve infused this sole limb with enough mana to power an industrial Magic generator!”

Slightly irked that this guy was cheating, and still feeling a bit bitter from my earlier loss, I smirked.

“Hoh~ Indeed you seem to have gotten SLIGHTLY stronger, but you know…” I changed my stance a little. I tightened my fist and repositioned my feet.

“Arm wrestling isn’t just about the arms, it involves your whole body!”

From my legs, I pushed off and generated enough force to put my whole body into the push. I reversed the situation instantly, forcibly making our arms travel a complete arc, as the back of Alec’s hand immediately made contact with the table’s surface.

I heard Alec utter out a soft Eep! as I heard a cracking noise.

Apparently, I put in a little bit too much effort. Under our combined weight, and my sudden rise in strength, I snapped the table in half, completely splintering the furniture while I accidentally threw Alec to the ground.

He limply held on to his arm, while all I could do was scratch my cheek in awkwardness.

If it weren’t for his earlier physical enhance, there was no doubt that Alec’s arm would have been just as broken as mine.

“Oops…” I weakly stated.

“Oops my ass!” Alec angrily shouted from the ground.”You broke Miss Jumblee’s table! She’s going to get really mad!”

As if on cue, Miss Jumblee walked back from the kitchen. Her eyes blazed fury as her complexion paled.

“M-m-my table! That was a family heirloom!”

Miss Jumblee glared at the two of us contemptuously while Avril’s hearty laughter resonated throughout the dining hall.

Before Miss Jumblee could explode in a rage, Norm came up and patted her back reassuringly.

“Don’t worry Miss Jumblee.” He spoke while breaking his neutral expression with a slight smile. “I can fix it.”

He walked up to the mass of splintered wood, and brought his left hand over it. After some silent incantations, a crude image of the outlines of a clock appeared from the ground, and a moment later, the pieces of wood reassembled themselves to reveal a perfectly intact coffee table.

He smiled reassuringly at Miss Jumblee, to which she replied with a thankful nod.

“Hoh~” I sighed, impressed. “That was quite amazing, what did you do?”

Norm turned towards me. “Oh not much. I just used my ability is all. I can do slight temporal regeneration. I just merely brought the object back into its previous state, before you two broke it.”

“Wow, that’s a rather convenient ability…”

I sighed enviously. Unlike my own abilities, it doesn’t seem like his had any foreseeable drawbacks.

He shrugged carelessly. “It does come in handy sometimes.”

“Oh!” I thought up a useful idea. “Does it work on living things?”

Norm hesitated for a moment. “I...um haven’t tried it yet, so I wouldn’t know, and I’m not planning to anytime soon. I don’t know what may happen you see.”

He looked over apologetically at my arm. “So sadly, I cannot heal you.”

I waved of his concerns with my free hand.

It’s not like it would have worked on me in the first place…

Just as we finished our conversation, Nanami and Phi walked back into the dining hall.

Nanami was slightly red in the face as she walked with a gait. She carried with her an empty glass and what looked like a board game as she hiccuped her way to the seat next to me.

“Oniishhhhaann~” She slurred as she leaned over me.

I backed away. “O-oi, Nanam? Are you drunk?”

“Dunk? I donsh no how to play basket brawl Oniishan~ *hiccup*”

“...You are definitely drunk.”

“heheee~”

I leaned back as I shifted my attention to who I presumed was the mastermind on getting my little sister intoxicated.

Phi in question, was drowning Miss Jumblee with an excess amount of alcohol. Miss Jumblee hiccuped as she attempted to walk out the dining hall on shaky legs before she passed out mid walk and collapsed on the floor.

Before I had realized, the whole situation had turned into a drunken mess. Avril was happily chugging away, while Norm was passively sipping on a tea cup filled with Vodka. Alec in question was in a hazy state between flat out drunk to sensible miscreant.

He hiccuped while moving his hand to grab another bottle of wine, which was one of several that Phi had brought from the kitchen.

She smiled lewdly at me, while she poured another cup. Her complexion was slightly tinged with red, but aside from that, she looked as normal as ever.

“Come on Kelp! Have some fun!” She hollered in a clearly sober voice.

“...I don’t think minors should be drinking.”

“Eh~ What’s with that surprisingly straight laced attitude? Loosen up a little, we are celebrating your Welcoming Party as well as your “Not getting Kicked out Party”!”

“... So you’ve heard of that, huh?” I spoke monotonically.

“Yup!” She exclaimed. “That’s why it’s even more important to drink and let loose!”

She attempted to hand me a bottle of wine which I completely rejected.

“I don’t like alcohol.” I lamely made an excuse.

“Pffft! What’s with that! Come on, you have to drink something in order to participate in Drunken Monopoly!”

Phi motioned to Nanami, who was clumsily setting up the board game incorrectly.

“....” I stared blankly at her.

“Come on Kelp~ I’ll give you a smooch for every beer you can chug down~” Seductively she puckered her lips while drowning another glass rather sloppily.

A bit of vodka rolled down her chin and onto her shirt, which was by now, almost see through.

I gulped at this temptation. I looked over at the chaotic scene before me before I once again turned back at the girl who was currently tempting me with eroticism.

“I-I won’t be tempted by your peer pressure!” I weakly stated. I was obviously faltering.

“Come on~ It. Will. Be. Fun~” She emphasized each words as she playfully outlined the rim of the glass with her finger.

“Guh…” I wavered. The virgin in me was running rampant at such an allure, but the rational side in me was….well, he too was also tempted by the vixen in front.

If it weren’t for the nagging thought in my head, I would have surely fallen for this witch’s trap.

I got up quickly, knocking down my chair in my haste.

I mechanically strode across the dining hall. I didn’t turn back as I heard the disappointed voice of Phi and the drunken slurred words of my little sister as she yelled “Monopory! Nomopory!”

The aching tiredness in my compelled me to ignore the drunken mishaps that were currently going on in the dining hall as I made my way upstairs and into my new room.

I abruptly shut the door, and drowned in my own tiredness.

That night, I drifted off to sleep, with the chorus of drunken laughter and broken objects as my background while I parted with my last thought before I completely passed out from all the aches and creaks my body produced.

“Maybe Avril was right. Maybe I should change my attitude…”

*****

Author's Note: In this chapter, I truly tested whether or not I had what it took to do a slice of life. Hopefully I didn't completely mess up.

Chapter 13

Chapter 15