Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School - Chapter 103

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Rank 0 of the Awakener Special School
Episode 103
‘…Nam Rae-in. It feels like the first time I’ve seen him since that day.’
After that clash near the Chasm, he hadn’t shown his face at the Annex Building.
Well, to be fair, if there were no assignments, there was no reason to gather anyway…….
Even when they occasionally crossed paths in the Hallway or the Dormitory lobby, they exchanged neither greetings nor glances.
So when he approached first, I wondered what was going on─.
“…….”
Nam Rae-in’s gaze quickly left me and shifted away.
Instead, he turned to look at Zeke with a slight sneer.
“You. The teacher’s looking for you. Come on.”
Ah. So it was Zeke he had business with.
“【What’s he saying? How am I supposed to understand if he’s speaking Korean?】”
“Come on.”
Nam Rae-in flicked his hand like he was calling a dog. At that level, even without shared language, there was no choice but to understand.
Zeke scratched his head in irritation.
“【That guy’s been rubbing me the wrong way since earlier.】”
Of all people, why did the teacher have to assign this guy as his guide? If he’d known, he should’ve gone to Class 1 instead.
With a short tsk, Zeke turned toward me and gave a casual wave.
“【See you around then.】”
He followed Nam Rae-in without much enthusiasm.
I could feel Nam Rae-in glancing back at me as he walked ahead.
“…….”
Our eyes met.
Nam Rae-in seemed to have something to say, his lips moving slightly before he turned his head forward again without speaking.
“Ji-u.”
“…….”
“Hey, Ji-u? What are you going to do about that?”
Ah.
At the sound of Rim-sa’s voice beside me, I finally snapped back to attention.
In my hand dangled an enormous envelope.
“…Want to share it?”
“I don’t think the two of us could eat all of that.”
I thought as much……?
“Oh! What if we handed it out to everyone in our class instead?”
“Everyone in the class?”
“Yeah, there’s such a huge amount anyway. If we all share it, won’t it disappear pretty fast?”
Hmm……. My expression stiffened slightly, uncertain about the idea.
Then I paused, and a thought suddenly occurred to me, my eyes blinking.
Right, there is one person in my class.
Someone who’d probably be fine with getting bread.
* * *
At that moment, in the Cafeteria on campus.
Clara and Moon Yu-jin had come down to the Cafeteria together.
Unlike Moon Yu-jin, who started eating in silence, Clara stared at the food on her tray with a frown.
Sautéed sausage and vegetables.
A rolled omelet stuffed with scallions, pickled radish, perilla leaves and bean-paste soup, with seasoned seaweed stems on the side.
…Sigh. Clara swallowed hard and quietly set down her spoon.
She hadn’t even touched the food yet, but the scent of garlic, fermented seafood, and sesame oil seemed to waft from the tray.
Glancing sideways, Moon Yu-jin was wielding his chopsticks just fine.
He didn’t look like he was enjoying it much, but he chewed and swallowed methodically without complaint.
“…….”
Clara turned her gaze back to her tray.
She was alternating between looking at Moon Yu-jin and her tray when she finally seemed to make a decision and gripped her chopsticks—that’s when it happened.
“【Here.】”
Thunk.
Moon Yu-jin pushed something toward her.
“【What’s this?】”
“【Bread.】”
You could tell just by looking.
What Yu-jin handed over was a morning roll wrapped in plastic.
Along with a small container of Strawberry Jam and a cube of Butter.
“【…Where did you get this from?】”
“【It’s stacked by the food service counter.】”
At that, Clara turned her head.
I hadn’t noticed it before, but near the buffet-style serving station… a table stacked with bread suddenly came into view.
It was a space set aside for students with poor appetites, and aside from the regular menu, bread and cereal were often provided separately.
“【You can eat bread, right?】”
Could it be that he’d realized she couldn’t eat the regular meal and deliberately brought this for her?
“【…Aren’t you going to have any?】”
“【I’m not big on bread.】”
“…….”
“【If you’re not going to eat it, then never mind.】”
“【Who said I’m not eating?】”
Clara snatched the bread Moon Yu-jin offered like she was stealing it.
For cafeteria bread, the quality wasn’t bad. It was a decent size and still faintly warm.
…Though it couldn’t compare to the bread baked by her family’s personal pastry chef.
Crackle─
As she peeled away the plastic wrapping, a rich buttery aroma wafted out. Clara bit into it without a word.
“【…It’s dry.】”
It tasted as bland as expected.
Yet Clara ended up finishing the entire bread.
The whole time, Moon Yu-jin sat across from her, patiently waiting for her to finish eating.
“【I’m done.】”
Clara wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin and spoke. She looked up as if to say let’s go, but Moon Yu-jin was looking elsewhere.
“……?”
What was he looking at? Clara slowly turned her head to follow his gaze.
Far off, a female student caught her eye.
‘That’s her from before.’
It was the girl, Ji-u, who had given up her seat for Clara.
The girl glanced this way briefly, then began walking toward them with large strides.
“Want some of this?”
Ji-u suddenly held out bread to Yu-jin.
It wasn’t the cafeteria kind, but looked like it had been bought from the school store.
“…Where did this come from?”
“I received it. But there’s quite a bit, so Rim-sa and I are sharing, and there’s still a lot left.”
These things from Zeke were honestly a problem to deal with. The quantity should have been more reasonable.
Since I couldn’t give up the sautéed sausage and vegetables, I’d come down to the Cafeteria and happened to spot Yu-jin.
Meanwhile, Clara was staring intently at the scene.
‘It’s no different even here.’
When Moon Yu-jin attended Leonhardt Middle School,
she’d often witnessed students bringing him bread and drinks.
Every time, Yu-jin had flatly refused. He wasn’t the type to snack anyway, and if he accepted every little thing like that, it would never end.
So she’d expected him to do the same this time.
“…I’ll eat it gratefully.”
The moment Moon Yu-jin accepted the bread, Clara’s eyes wavered for an instant.
“Okay.”
Once Yu-jin took the bread, Ji-u left as if her business was done.
Yu-jin held the bread Ji-u had given him and gazed down at it with an oddly contemplative look.
“【…Are you actually going to eat that?】”
Clara asked.
“【I received it, so I should eat it.】”
“【But you said bread wasn’t your thing?】”
“…….”
Moon Yu-jin gave no answer.
He simply gazed at the bread he’d received moments before.
The instant Clara saw the faint smile lingering at his lips—
“…….”
Her own lips twisted slightly.
* * *
The next day.
The entrance to the High School Building was in an uproar from morning.
“They’re here…! They’ve arrived!”
“Really? Where? Falke?”
Students began stopping in their tracks near the Main Gate.
The murmuring spread like wildfire. From around the Main Gate, through the first-floor Hallway of the building, up the stairs to the classrooms.
Faces popped out from the windows of the second and third-floor classrooms. All to catch a glimpse of Falke’s arrival.
“I can’t see well… where are they?”
“There, look. Don’t you see?”
One student pointed with their index finger into the crowd.
Between the clusters of students gathered like clouds, a different uniform from Gaon’s became visible.
Falke—an elite select unit from a German sister school.
They certainly had a different presence.
Model-like height.
Impeccable posture.
Crisp, military-style uniforms.
Despite merely arriving at school, they walked in perfect formation, led by their leader, Julian Brandt.
“Wow… the real thing is crazy.”
“That light-blue hair—is that the leader?”
“Yeah. He’s the one who faced off against senior Ga-yeong at the Exchange Event last year.”
“Who’s that girl at the very back? How is someone that pretty even here?”
At some point, all the students’ eyes focused on one place.
A girl with radiant blonde hair and a distinctly noble air.
As they gazed at her, the Gaon students’ voices grew hushed.
“She’s been assigned to second-year, Class 2. Her name is… Clara, I think? You know, there were rumors that she’s dating Yu-jin.”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————