Breakfast with Consequences

It was a letter from Yuna.

Lord Kaiser quickly opened the letter and read it alongside Atsuo.

She began with congratulating them on the victory in the tournament, saying that everyone in Brimor was already notified, and that a new trophy was added to the shelves.

It’s presence alone, made Atsuo think that Razos owes them a favor after the benefits it was certain to have on the school’s reputation in the future.

Yuna then mentioned people from the association arriving at the academy to interrogate the students and staff on the Boundless Forest.

This raised some concerns in Atsuo as he thought about the perpetrator behind his curse becoming aware of the situation and the enclosing danger.

It was sure to scare them off and make them lay low for a while, he thought.

‘What the hell is Deimos thinking?’

Continuing with the letter, Yuna spoke about how the atmosphere changed after the students were made aware of Lord Kaiser and Atsuo’s achievements abroad.

Reyn and Dart were proud and were not surprised, she said, while other students have found new respect for them.

She herself was doing fine, even though she found Reyn, Dart, and Taru tailing her sometimes she said.

‘Those idiots…’ Lord Kaiser thought to himself.

Lastly, she wished them health and safety, whilst awaiting their return.

Unfortunately, Lord Kaiser’s last letter did not mention anything about them staying at Drezore to pursue ‘further studies.’

“I’ll have to send her another letter once we get back from breakfast” Lord Kaiser said resolutely.

Atsuo nodded and they got up, ready to head over and join their friends to eat.

“What are you going to do with all those letters?” Atsuo asked nodding towards the pile of envelopes from all the fanatics.

“I’ll figure it out later…” Lord Kaiser said, swiping all of them to the side.

He didn’t want to throw them out in case there was something other than a written confession in there.

He locked his door, and they went downstairs.

***

When they got to the cafeteria, it was already more packed than before.

The both of them scoured the dining hall from the entrance, heavily relying on Crod’s bald head, but there were too many people.

They started walking along the center walkway, looking in both directions.

They felt some unpleasant gazes on them as they moved along, but decided to ignore them.

After a harsh five minutes of empty searching, Rivia spotted them and got up to wave them over.

“Did everyone skip dinner last night, or what is happening?” Lord Kaiser said, pushing his chair in towards the table.

“It is quite busy…” Eskasa said, smiling.

“Have you guys decided on what you’re ordering?” Atsuo asked, sitting down.

“Yeah, we are all having Taigoren crepes” Rivia said cheerfully.

“Huh? Taigoren crepes?” Lord Kaiser asked, looking down the menu, “okay, I’ll have them too.”

“So will I, I guess…” Atsuo said, not even bothering to look at the menu.

Surprisingly, the service was still smooth and efficient. The friends got their delicious looking desserts and started trying them.

“It’s a little too sweet for breakfast…” Lord Kaiser said, sipping his sugarless tea.

The friends agreed.

“Should we get something on the side?” Eskasa asked.

“Maybe,” Lord Kaiser replied, “perhaps an omelette or sausage… or both…”

The friends chuckled and quickly ordered more.

It became a very hearty meal, as the friends filled their appetites and energy.

However, what was a comforting meal, soon came to an end.

“Is that the clown who was running around here yesterday?”

The friends twitched, looking at each other.

“You can tell just by looking at him”

“How did someone like him even get in here…”

“Should we move?”

“I heard he didn’t even show up to the award ceremony…”

“Really? What a weirdo. If only he got expelled”

Atsuo ignored the comments and continued eating, until he couldn’t.

“Can’t he do us all a favour and just kill himself?”

Atsuo flinched, stopping with his fork halfway to his mouth.

“Yeah, he should’ve died back at the forest”

“Too bad he could start over”

Atsuo eyes widened.

‘Huh?’ he thought to himself, staring down at his plate, ‘how?’

‘How do they know?’

He began to tremble.

Seeing this, Rivia could no longer watch.

“WHAT’S WRONG WITH ALL OF YOU?” she bellowed, getting up from her chair.

“YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHAT HE’S GOING THROUGH…”

“DO YOU–”

“I told you it’s him…”

That was the last straw.

Lord Kaiser shot up from his chair, walking straight towards the source. It was a thin guy who was sitting not ten meters away from them, grinning.

“Wha– What are you doing…?” he squealed as Lord Kaiser lifted him from his seat by the collar.

“E– Eboro…” he begged, looking around at the other end of the table.

Lord Kaiser, who was prepared to wipe the grin off his face, turned his head towards the table.

Eboro sat across the table, eating his breakfast without even batting an eye.

“…Not with me…” Eboro said, continuing to eat.

Lord Kaiser, turned back around to the whimpering student, glaring right into his eyes.

“Laughing at others at their lowest… I’ll teach you some empathy…” Lord Kaiser snarled and hit him in the jaw.

“…so that you never grin like a fucking moron ever again…” he continued, hitting him again.

“Kaiser…” Crod said, standing near him, “I know how you feel, but it’s not worth it…”

“Plus, I think he learned his lesson” he added, looking at the traumatized expression on the student’s face.

Lord Kaiser looked at the guy, clicked his tongue and released him.

The whole experience seemed to leave him paralyzed as he fell from the seat to the floor.

The other people at the table helped him up, while Crod and Lord Kaiser returned to finish their breakfast. Not without glaring at the other students around them first.

“You okay?” Lord Kaiser asked Atsuo, worryingly.

“I’m fine…” he replied, still in a state of shock, “…sorry…”

Lord Kaiser slammed the table, making everyone jump.

“Way to ruin the fucking mood…” he growled, looking around.

“You guys want to eat outside?” he proposed, with a disgusted look on his face.

The friends nodded in agreement.

They took the food to go, and made their way out of the academy, to one of the benches around the campus grounds.