Demonic Rituals..... or Something Like That

“Just the rice please. No curry.”

I said to the server.

“Got it.”

She handed me a plate with rice and a salad on the side.

No way was I trusting this place with mixing food when they can’t even cook a piece of cork.

I grabbed a cup of water and took a seat at one of the empty tables.

I took a deep breath and shoved a spoonful of rice into my mouth.

Oh god I’m going to hurl.

“Tasty, isn’t it?”

Al laughed.

From the bottom of my heart, I had hoped. That they can’t screw up something as simple as rice. That there was no humanly possible way that a cafeteria that has been running for years can do that.

But why is it so mushy… and yet taste so raw? It’s almost a miracle in cooking, how an ingredient can be in an overcooked state in texture and yet retain its flavour as if it was raw.

“You had to eat this?”

“At least twice a week.”

“How did you manage?”

He paused for a bit.

“Ah, I remember now. We developed a method to make it taste better back then. You’ll need the curry, some water and salt and pepper.”

I looked over at the serving area. The line has died down quite a bit by now, but my rice might go cold.

Oh well, I’ll just ask them for more rice as well. I headed over and waited in line.

“Curry and rice please. And can you put the curry in a separate bowl?”

“Okay.”

She handed me a plate of rice and the curry in a bowl like I asked.

I headed back to my seat with the new rice and curry. There was a salt and pepper shaker nearby for me to take.

“Alright, what now.”

“Take a spoonful of curry and draw as big a circle you could in the rice without the sauce touching the plate. Be sure not to take any of the ingredients besides the curry sauce into the spoon. You may use more spoons if necessary.”

“Wait why?”

“Do you want your rice to taste better or not? This is a ri- I mean method that took months to develop, no step can be skipped! It is of utmost importance that you follow the instructions word for word! Doing so w-”

“Okay okay, fine I’ll do it.”

I drew the best circle I could in the rice with the curry.

“Next, take some more curry to make an upside-down star within the circle.”

Umm…………

I was about to question him but that would just continue his rambling.

Well, he seems confident in his method so I’ll go along with it.

I drew the star as he told me to.

“Alright, last step! This is the most important step, so you mustn't skip this, more so than the others: sprinkle 7 shakes of pepper and 7 shakes of salt at the center of the star. And then you must shout “I CALL FOR THEE, LUCIFER!”. Loud enough for the entire room to hear.”

Wait a minute……

“Why am I contacting the devil?”

“Ummmmmm….. No reason?”

“Sure…. so what am I actually supposed to do?”

“Just spread the sauce in the rice and add a bit of salt. The sauce is store bought so it should be edible.”

“Wait, so why all this other stuff?’

I gestured to the water and pepper.

“Ah, that’s just to make it look more complicated.”

Of course it was.

Adding sauce to it did improve the taste, just that the rice feels even more mushy. But I guess I’ll have to deal with it.

A little while after putting away the dishes, the bell rang, so I made my way to the classroom for the variety class.

The layout for this class was the same as last class’s so most of us just sat where we were sitting last class.

As the bell rang, a young woman walked in. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail that barely reaches her shoulders. If she hadn’t taken her place at the teacher’s desk, she probably could have passed herself off as a student, one slightly taller than average.

We were all too tired given how lunch had just ended so most of us were slumped on our desks blankly staring at her. She returned us an equally dead look.

“Hello, welcome to the variety class. In this class, we will be learning some basic information such as mathematics, cooking, cleaning, and other things to prepare for your future. For today though, we’ll be heading out to get your uniforms, so follow me.”

We left our swords behind and followed her out the door and into a big building a few minutes away.

The place was massive, lined with stands upon stands of clothing of all sorts of different sizes.

There were six people standing in front of the shelves, three of them holding measuring tapes.

“These people will take your measurements and assign you an appropriate uniform. If you have any questions or concerns over your uniform, such as the size being too big or small, please ask them. After you’ve received your uniforms, you may head back to class.”

The teacher said nonchalantly and left to head back to the classroom.

The six workers split into three pairs and called us up by student number. One person would take the measurements and tell the other which clothes to bring.

We were all given two sets of uniforms that consist of dark blue pants, shorts, black socks, white collared short sleeved shirts and blue jacket along with a pair of black shoes. Both the jacket and pants had the school’s emblem sewn on the right pockets.

Being student 153, I was one of the first ones to come back.

I walked into the classroom to find Heather and Adam chatting over at our desk. I returned to my spot and joined the conversation.

"What are you talking about?”

“Just what we like and stuff. Oh yeah, Abigail was it? Wanna continue your self introduction now that there’s only us three?”

“There’s not much to tell. All I do is read books in my spare time.”

“What kind of books?”

“Pretty much whatever novels I can get my hands on. I'm reading a romance one right now.”

As expected, it wasn't too interesting a topic, so Adam asked:

“Why did you come to Eden?”

“Just wanted to secure myself a job. I heard the military paid pretty well.”

“Alright then…”

And so, they continued talking. Soon enough, a forth person came in and joined the conversation with me.

Well, I didn’t really join in, more like I say stuff like “I see” or “mhm” every now and then as they go along.

As the class began to fill back up, more people joined their conversation until I was eventually pushed out.

I put my head in my arms and slumped onto the table.

“Not the most social person, huh.”

“Well, I tried to join in.”

I said softly.

“As successful a try as your ritual to contact Lucifer.”

“Hey, that was your idea. All I asked for was good food.”

“But you went along with it.”

“Because you didn’t tell me the devil himself was going to be involved.”

“Don’t sweat such fickle details like that.”

“But it’s kind of important, though.”

“I have no idea what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t.”

“See? You believe me!”

I sighed. No use arguing with him.

“Anyways, go on, why not try joining in again?”

“It would feel too awkward. And besides, I have nothing to contribute. You saw how I was in there.”

“Come on, you’ll be fiiiiine. You need friends to make it through graduation, don’t you?”

“I have you to keep me company already.”

“Are you seriously going to pick a sword over actual humans?”

“Fine…..”

I looked over at them and tried to pay attention.

Adam was telling a story from his childhood about something he did with his family. I honestly couldn’t care less, so I returned my head to my lap.

“Well, I gave it a second try. Guess I’m better off being alone.”

“You didn’t even try to talk to them!”

“There wasn’t anything for me to say.”

“Oh come on!”

After everyone was back in the classroom, the teacher handed us a guidebook for the uniforms and explained the contents of it.

Basically, we should wash it every night and dry it the next day while wearing the spare. It would probably get dirty a lot given how we’ll be training every day.

Oh, and we have to wear these everywhere during school hours.

The bell soon rang after she showed us how to wash the uniforms.

“Alright, that’s it for today. I didn’t get much time to teach because they had to give you your uniforms so we’ll continue tomorrow. You don’t have to put them on today.”

Before archery starts, I ran back to the dorms to drop off the uniform and Al.

“Hey! Don’t just leave me here!”

“I don’t need you for archery, so might as well get rid of some extra weight.”

“Who are you calling extra weight!?”

I didn’t have time to argue so I left him behind and hurried back.

I just barely made it to the archery range by the time the bell rang for the nth time as I gasped for air. I might have gone a bit too fast in my hurry.

Many of the other students seems to have also dropped off their uniforms but somehow they don't seem nearly as tired as I was.

Like the training grounds, this place also felt like a low-budget version of what should have been in place for an archery range.

It was just a bunch of targets a fair distance away from lines marking said distance, with a few benches on the side and a roof over it all.

If there’s one thing about the school that’s been passed down since its prestigious days, it would be its vast amounts of land.

I guess the original equipment that stood on this land back in the day either decayed or replaced with cheaper ones that are more suitable for being used by many students at once.

I hurried to take a seat at one of the benches as the instructor began talking.

I was still too winded to hear him properly as he introduced himself and explained the class.

From what I gather, the bows that were supposed to be already prepared and delivered yesterday were running late.

Because we don’t have our own bows, all we could do was watch the instructor show off how he holds his bow and explain the parts.

That made it a really slow class as he had all the students try and grip his bow, but it's the best he could do out of this class. 

I should probably have kept Al with me.

The last bell rang and I headed back to my room and collapsed on the bed.

What a long first day that was…

I just want to sit on my bed and rest… maybe read a book.

“Why are you back? Isn’t it dinner time?”

I checked the clock: 17:00.

Ah, that last bell was also the one for dinner. No wonder nobody else was behind me when I made my way back into the dorms.

“Dang it.”

I dragged myself to the cafeteria to see the massive line that awaits me. I guess that’s what I get for being a few minutes late.

The menu was the same as before, so I could probably use the “ritual” that Al taught me to get through it.

Should I head back and grab Al for some company as I wait?

I thought back to how long archery class felt and sighed.

Ah, fine, I’ll take him. There were a lot of students still with their swords on them, so it won’t be that unusual this time.

I walked back and grabbed Al.

“Huh? Back already?”

“The line’s long. Might as well grab some company as I wait.”

“Ah, so I’m nothing but a time killer huh.”

“Hey, you’re more than that. You’re a person, aren’t you?”

“Weren’t you the one who called me ‘extra weight’ not too long ago?”

“Don’t sweat over such fickle details now.”

“You can’t just use my own line against me! And I can’t even sweat!”

Author's note: I gotta say, with every chapter I feel like my writing gets worse. or maybe that's just me and my absurdly low level of confidence when comparing my work to others. Well, whatever. What happens happens. If this is shit, it's shit. If it's not, I pat myself on the back. Either way, thank you very much for reading.