"It's really rare to get vacation days like this…"
Karte leaned back in his narrow chair, stretching his arms until his joints popped. The ceiling above him was low and it was stained from years of steam and smoke.
Today for once, it felt comforting rather than oppressive. There were no trays to carry, no impatient students who were snapping their fingers, and no supervisors who were barking orders from the kitchen doorway.
It was a rare day off since the yesterday had been anything but peaceful.
The past memory crept back in fragments. It was panic first before the loud sound of chaos. It was not an explosion like the ones that was described in adventure stories and it was not a roar from a thunderous crash.
It had been worse like a tearing sensation and a pressure that made the air feel suffocated. It was a moment where everyone nearby had frozen since their instincts were screaming without words.
The moment the sound came from the rear passage of the cafeteria, the students had scattered like startled birds.
The trays clattered to the floor and the benches had been overturned. No one cared about their dignity or manner since everyone including the nobles, the merchants, and the commoners ran for their own safety.
Karte had been behind the counter at the time and he was halfway through wiping a cup.
His first instinct had been to duck and his second one had been to pray when the impact of explosion rushed over.
In the moments immediately after, Karte remembered standing frozen behind the counter.
His fingers still wrapped around the damp cloth. The noise had faded but the silence that followed was worse. It pressed down on his ears until he could hear his own breathing.
By then, he saw the chaotic scene from several students that had stumbled out into the open courtyard.
Some were crying, some were laughing hysterically, and others were staring blankly as if their minds had not yet accepted that they were still alive.
A noble girl had vomited onto the marble tiles, shaking so badly that she couldn't wipe her mouth.
A merchant boy sat on the ground, clutching his head and muttering prayers that he probably hadn't used since childhood.
Karte himself hadn't moved for a long while. He was afraid that if he did, the time might resume and everything soon vanished from the sight.
When several academy teachers finally arrived, they moved with practiced speed. But even then, they kept glancing toward the rear passage with unease. The mana residue still clung to the air like ash after a fire.
Karte couldn't see it the way the wizards did but he felt it. It crawled across his skin and it was hot plus destructive as if something had torn a hole on his body.
Thankfully, the cafeteria itself remained mostly intact.
The main hall had barely been touched but the rear passage where the staff stored many supplies had been nearly erased.
If anyone had been standing directly in the path of that blast, the death would have been instantaneous. Luckily, there were no dead bodies at the time.
There was no blood and no injured screaming.
When the teachers and the staffs examined thoroughly, the devastation left them momentarily speechless.
The walls were scorched white and the protective wards had shattered like a glass. Just by looking at such destruction, many people would be thinking about the casualties.
They should have been pulling several corpses from the rubble. Instead, they found a trembling group of students. They were shaken but they were alive.
The words spread quickly until the most important one came about a noble girl that actually had blocked the explosion. That was the version Karte heard first and it was the version he believed because it made sense.
Only nobles who carried that kind of protection, consisting of the defensive artifacts and the emergency magic items. It must be surely passed down through the generations just to protect the heir of their family. In this case, the magic item had become the strongest safeguard for certain situation.
A commoner wouldn't have survived that blast and a poor student wouldn't even have known what hit them.
As for the merchants, they were somewhere in between because some of them could afford decent protection while most couldn't.
For the nobles, they always had something hidden between their thick luxury clothes.
Eventually, when the rumors pointed to Alicia, one of the academy's most prominent noble students, Karte nodded along with everyone else. Just hearing her name, people had already expected something greater.
Anyway, the academy treated the incident seriously.
Several investigators were called in from outside and several specialists who didn't belong to the teaching staff began exploring the scene. They were consisted of men and women with cold eyes and quiet authority.
Karte was just a waiter so no one asked him anything. Still, he knew enough to understand that the explosions like that didn't happen by accident.
Someone had intended for people to die and the same person had failed. That knowledge lingered like a bad taste in his mouth as he spent his unexpected free day wandering the town streets.
His thoughts drifted as they often did to a certain fat boy.
From the first time Karte had noticed him, Baston hadn't fit toward any current treatment.
He dressed like a commoner and he ate like the one too. It was done quickly, without ceremony, and always mindful of the portions and leftovers. He avoided the attention instinctively with hunched shoulders and lowered gaze.
And yet, Panto treated him specially. That alone would have been noteworthy.
Panto was from a merchant family. He wasn't a noble but he was wealthy enough to command the respect. In fact, the merchants didn't bow to the commoners. They certainly didn't defer to them.
As for Alicia, that was what truly unsettled Karte.
Alicia wasn't just a simple noble. She was a high noble from great family. The kind whose the family crest carried weight even outside the academy.
She had admirers everywhere which were the sons of influential houses, the promising heirs, and the ambitious young men who believed on their value.
And yet, she also ordered food for Baston.
Once might have been a coincidence but twice raised his eyebrows. By the third time, Karte had nearly dropped the tray in shock.
At first, he had assumed the romance. After all, it was the easiest explanation and the one that most people would jump to.
A noble girl who was falling for a poor boy was scandalous, dramatic, and dangerous. It was the kind of thing that sparked the fights and whispered the threats in dark corners.
However, the more he watched, the less the theory held since Alicia didn't act like a girl with a crush. There was no shyness, no teasing, and no lingering glances. What she showed instead was the reverence.
It was the same expression that Panto wore. It was the same careful tone and the same instinctive deference. They weren't courting Baston, but instead, they were serving him.
Karte had spent years watching the people eat. Their hunger stripped the pretense faster than any interrogation ever could.
He knew how the nobles looked when they indulged themselves, how the merchants calculated the value with every bite, and how the commoners learned to swallow embarrassment along with their food.
What he saw in Alicia and Panto was none of that because they watched Baston like the way the guards watched a gate they could not afford to let fall. It was not openly and not obviously but it was always with the awareness.
Their conversations with him were brief, careful, and restrained as if they feared saying too much would disturb the fat boy. Even their generosity carried such hesitation as each meal was both an offering and a test.
Karte began to notice smaller things from the way Alicia never asked Baston the questions that might corner him and the way Panto reacted instantly whenever Baston showed the slightest discomfort.
Neither of them spoke over him and neither of them dismissed his words no matter how trivial.
The respect like that did not come from affection since it came from the recognition. That realization had disturbed Karte far more than the gossip ever could.
Day by day, their food orders turned into a silent competition.
Panto would place an order early in the morning and Alicia would follow not long after. Both of them insisted on discretion and both of them warned him politely and firmly not to let Baston know who paid.
Karte didn't have a choice but to obey since he wasn't foolish enough to test the boundaries of people like them. Sometimes, he wondered why Alicia didn't simply order from the noble kitchens.
The food there was leagues above what the commoners received. It was filled with rich sauces, enchanted preservation, and rare ingredients. Even though the delicacy existed, she never did and Karte understood why after pondering for a long time.
If a luxury meal was delivered to a commoner dormitory, the rumors would explode faster than any other news. Baston would become a target overnight.
Considering such possibility, Alicia must be quite careful.
Karte had learned long ago that careful people were often the most dangerous. It was not because they acted boldly but because they waited for a certain time.
Alicia's restraint wasn't a hesitation because it was a calculation. She understood the consequences, understood how quickly such admiration could turn into the resentment, and understood how easily such attention could become a blade.
That meant Baston wasn't merely someone she liked since he was someone worth protecting.
Her protection implied value and the value implied risk. As for the risk, it always attracted the predators in a place like the academy.
If Baston truly stood at the center of something unseen, then this quiet generosity was only the surface of much deeper currents.
"No wonder she kept ordering common food…" Karte murmured to himself as he walked.
Eventually, Alicia fell behind because her responsibilities at the academy piled up. In this case, Panto seized the opportunity without hesitation. One afternoon, he ordered a single massive dish for
Baston before giving Karte a coupon.
"Give this to him…" Panto had said quietly, "Tell him it's nothing special…"
The restaurant wasn't noble-class but it was good.
Karte knew it well since the place was small, quiet, and tucked away from the main roads. It was the kind of place the commoners frequented when they wanted to treat themselves without drawing attention.
When Karte spotted Baston in the town that afternoon, the fat boy stood at a street corner, frowning at the coupon in his hand. His action alone confirmed something important that Baston didn't know the surrounding area.
A true commoner would have recognized the address immediately. Only nobles or those raised far above the streets hesitated like that.
Karte felt a chill crawl up his spine.
He approached carefully, "Hello, student. It's nice to see you out here."
Baston startled, "You are… The waiter?"
"Yes… My name is Karte. It's our first time meeting outside the academy."
Baston nodded awkwardly, "My name is Baston. Thank you for your care after all this time."
Karte waved it off with pounding heart, "I'm just doing my job."
That was a lie and both of them knew it. However, they didn't want to further explain the matter.
After all, people had their own means and secret.
"Are you looking for something?" Karte asked, "I can help you."
Baston hesitated then showed him the coupon, "I'm looking for this place but I don't know the area well."
"I know it," Karte said immediately, "Let me guide you."
As they walked, Karte's thoughts raced, "If Baston truly was hiding his noble origins…"
Then, this thing could not be missed since this was a rare opportunity.
The commoners dreamed of attaching themselves to the powerful patrons. It was not through the charity but through the loyalty, describing the usefulness that he could bring to someone.
Karte wasn't ambitious by nature but he wasn't blind either.
If Baston stood at the center of Panto and Alicia's respect, then one day, the others would gather too. Choosing a side early mattered, but still, Karte knew better than to push.
It was not the right time to rush ahead. By then, after guiding Baston into the restaurant, he excused himself politely.
"There will be other chances…" he told himself.
After the servant left, Baston entered alone.
The restaurant was modest but warm with soft lighting, clean tables, and calm atmosphere. When he hesitantly presented the coupon, the waiter's reaction was immediate.
The man was becoming respectful suddenly, "Of course, venerable guest..."
Baston stiffened at the title and he began worried about something else. After all, he had no money on his wallet. The only one who could give a courage to him was just this small coupon.
He asked the only question that mattered, "Do I need to pay extra?"
The explanation left the man stunned.
The coupon itself could be used for unlimited food. There was no need for the additional cost and the customer just needed to eat.
For the first time in a long while, Baston soon ate without counting the cost in his head, without worrying about the leftovers, and without thinking about tomorrow's meal. He ate until he was full.
When he tried to leave, another coupon was presented into his hand. It was for dinner and it was free for him.
Baston then left with measured steps and his heart was racing with happiness that he didn't dare to show. After all, having something to eat was his only target at the moment.
As he hummed softly to himself on the way back, he was unaware of the watching eyes from the shadows.
The kindness and his careless moment had a price. In a dark narrow alley, a rough hand struck his wrist. The coupon then quickly vanished just like his good dream of being well-fed.
"Damn it!" Baston shouted, spinning around too late, "Someone stole my dinner!"
The thief nearby only laughed, dashing into somewhere that he believed it would be safe to check for the treasure.