Pets

The Saint Tias cafeteria is located in the leisure district of the eastern campus.

As one of the highest-specification institutions in the Empire, the chefs hired here are not merely qualified by having a few signature dishes.

In fact, their external identities are almost exclusively executive chefs of grand hotels; their work at the academy is merely a part-time gig.

Yet, not one of them complains.

Thanks to this, the students of this academy can taste specialty cuisines and services from all over the world.

Of course, the prerequisite is that you are sufficiently wealthy.

Though called a “cafeteria,” it is more like an “eating district” comprised of several buildings. Here, the status of students is subconsciously divided into various ranks, mirroring the social classes they represent.

The powerful and influential naturally do not dine with “lower-class” students; the meals they enjoy are exclusive and personalized, and the floors they occupy are higher, which inevitably triggers a chain of vanity and disdain among the student body.

However…

There is a special type of person who is completely unbound by these class concepts.

“One egg-skin meat floss bun and a carton of skim milk.”

Lilo V. Watch stood before the retail window, stating his request to the clerk.

For Lilo, who had surrendered his room and board card at the start of the term, the cafeteria was a forbidden zone—a greedy hell that would suck every last cent from his pockets.

Low-end?

As long as it’s edible.

Cheap?

As long as it’s filling.

After all, he was a “pauper student” who would drink tap water from a pipe when thirsty.

Although joining the Student Council had solved his tuition crisis, it had not changed his dire lack of pocket money.

“I didn’t expect the Vice President to have such… rustic tastes?”

The clerk handed the items to Lilo, assuming this was some peculiar quirk of his.

Well…

He was the Vice President of the Student Council, after all.

He couldn’t possibly be buying these things because he was broke, right? No way, no way.

“…”

But when Lilo pulled the hemispherical bun from the plastic bag, he froze for a moment.

Even through the packaging, his hand could feel the soft texture. A perfect size to be held entirely within one’s palm—and such a strikingly similar tactile sensation.

“Excuse me, I’d like to exchange this for a square cream bun.”

Lilo V. Watch, this noon, spent one dollar and fifty cents more than usual.

It was heart-wrenching…

Saint Tias Academy, Western Activity District, Occult Research Club Room.

Lilo had recently taken to resolving his lunch and nap here.

The cafeteria was a forbidden zone, and in the classroom, his time and space would be forcibly occupied by the “Headless Girl.”

As for the Student Council… to be honest, he still didn’t know how to face President Livia. Thus, this was the optimal location.

At least the President here was quiet and wouldn’t cause trouble.

For some reason, the Club President always arrived at the activity room before him. Unlike Lilo, she brought her own bento box—one that was staggeringly extravagant in both contents and appearance.

He figured she must be a young miss from a wealthy family as well.

Chewing on the bread he had bought with his “heavy investment,” Lilo broke the silence in the room out of basic etiquette as a club member.

“President, please mind your image…”

“You’re putting the food into your nostril.”

The emerald-haired elf sitting across from Lilo was the President of the Occult Research Club, a senior with a gentle and refined appearance.

However, she was somewhat different from the universal perception of an elf.

“?”

The Elf President held her spoon in her left hand like a three-year-old child.

Her sleepy eyes were dazed and innocent; for a moment, she didn’t even seem to realize Lilo was reminding her.

“Ah, right…”

Her voice sounded soft and weak. If Lilo looked like he was sleep-deprived, she gave off the feeling that she could never get enough sleep.

“Food goes in the mouth. I forgot again.”

Truly an eccentric…

Lilo had thought so since their first meeting.

Once, she had tried to find a book, accidentally tripped over volumes scattered on the floor, and caused a bookshelf to collapse and bury her.

After finally crawling out, she “dived” back in just to keep looking for that same book.

Incidentally…

Lilo eventually discovered the book was titled Encyclopedia, and furthermore, it was the “Early Childhood Education” edition.

While Lilo was privately called a freak by his class, this senior was the genuine article.

“Here, a tissue…”

“Mmm, my hands are full.”

“But your right hand is empty, President.”

“Left hand… right hand… Ah, right. I’m eating with my left hand now.”

Helpless, Lilo had to personally wipe the food residue from the tip of the Elf President’s nose.

To be perfectly honest…

He was starting to question if joining this club had been the right choice.

He had joined specifically for peace and leisure.

But as it turned out, in this so-called Occult Research Club, the most “occult” thing that needed researching was the President herself.

How on earth did she get through final exams without repeating a grade? And in his memory, weren’t elves supposed to be an intelligent and graceful race?

“Is your work at the Student Council going smoothly?”

The President suddenly asked out of the blue.

“…”

At the mention of Student Council work, Lilo couldn’t help but recall what had happened between him and the President that day.

They… actually did it.

Lilo never imagined the way he would lose his virginity would be so bizarre, though he didn’t particularly care about losing his purity.

He just didn’t understand.

Back then, why did President Livia debase herself like that? To make him—someone who had no physiological response even to a naked body—arouse himself, she had resorted to such shameless actions. What was her reason?

And what did she mean by wanting to “destroy” him?

Livia’s fallen, lightless gaze still haunted Lilo’s mind.

‘After all, even if a person like me is left alone, sooner or later…’

Thump!

Suddenly, taking advantage of Lilo’s daze, someone leaned forward and cradled his head.

“…President?”

“If you have troubles, don’t keep them bottled up. You can tell me. After all… I am the President.”

The Elf President patted the back of Lilo’s head gently, like a mother soothing a child.

“Taking care of club members is also one of my duties as President…”

“Pochi.”

“President, my name is Watch.”

“I like calling you Pochi.”

“That sounds like a pet’s name.”

“I like pets, too.”

So it wasn’t mother to child, but master to pet?

Fine…

Lilo had completely given up on understanding his President. Was the “Occult Research Club” really meant for normal people?

After finishing lunch, Lilo prepared to bid farewell to the eccentric President and return to class.

As he passed the Student Council building, Lilo paused for a moment.

“Hell… is it?”

An outsider couldn’t glimpse his thoughts from his stagnant, dark eyes, but for some reason, when he mentioned the word “Hell,” it felt as though he had poured something into the term.

Something heavy…

“Vice President?”

Coincidentally, one of the Student Council members—the athletic girl serving as the Disciplinary Committee Chair—approached him while biting an popsicle.

Lilo didn’t remember her name.

His only vivid impressions were her tanned skin, the horns on her head, and… her towering chest that far exceeded her peers.

“Have you been to the Student Council room yet?”

“…No, not yet. I haven’t been assigned any work.”

When he said this, the horned girl’s eyes narrowed slightly.

‘I see. In that case…’

She suddenly circled around to Lilo’s side and threw an arm around his shoulder like a close brother, suggesting breezily:

“Then this is perfect!”

“Come with me to the Student Council room!”

Because…

‘It’s time you fulfilled your duties as Vice President.’