Chapter 35: Glutton

"Glad you could join us, Glynne. " Mei greeted as the the three of them meet up with him at the school gates.

"Mhm" Bronya nodded as she agrees to what her Big sister said. However the group was surprised when she suddenly held the boy's hands. "With this, you won't be able to get lost."

"What are you, my mother?" Glynne retorted as he smiled wryly. He tries wriggling his hand free but he can't do so as the small girl seems to be hiding quite a lot of strength despite the small hands.

The girls giggle, they realized that Bronya was only teasing the boy. They were amused at the sight of him being flustered as he struggles to get his hands free.

"C'mon, there's food waiting for us!" Kiana shouted and begun pushing Glynne on his back. The boy look back to back at the girls as he was quite confused to what to do. He has no time to think and just decided to go with the flow.

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As time passes, Glynne's face continue to heat up. Being surrounded by three cute girls, any man would surely be happy. However he can't really enjoy the moment as his embarrassment is quickly taking over. Though, it isn't like he can even get out of this situation, his hand are literally held in an iron grip. He just look over at the distance to distract himself from these three.

"Hm, that's...." Glynne muttered as he noticed something familiar.

Being someone who is closest to the boy, Bronya noticed him seemingly in a dazed state. "Something's wrong, Glynne?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing..." he replied, snapping back into reality and continued walking.

No, there is definitely something's wrong. — Bronya concluded in her head as she noticed how Glynne seems to be not bothered by her holding his hands anymore. She looked back to try to identify the cause, however she doesn't notice anything out of the ordinary.

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It was not long before they reach the restaurant. Glynne was amazed as he look around at the large variety of food that is prepared. Fried, barbecue, seafood, soup, drinks, dessert, all kinds of different meal are lined up. Even if it was his first time in this kind of restaurant, or any restaurant in this regard, he can tell that they were quite thriving.

The delicious aroma wafting through the air made him subconsciously gulped as a drool went down on from his mouth. Glynne quickly snapped back to reality and managed to wipe the it off before the girls could notice. He clears his throat as he tries to play it cool for now.

"Welcome Ms. Kaslana. Hope you enjoy your stay for today. " a brown haired girl, dressed in a maid outfit, said. Her words seems to suggest that Kiana was quite a patron here.

"C'mon Glynne, what are you waiting for?!"

"W-wait!" Glynne haven't really recovered that much calm yet as he was suddenly dragged by Kiana on the their table. She quickly snatched his bag and put them down on the chairs. Once again, she held his hands and dragged him to the food station.

"Wait a minute Kiana, aren't you a bit too excited!?" Glynne asked as he was dumbfounded by the quick series of events.

"Aren't you also?" Kiana point her index finger at Glynne, to be specific his mouth. "You're drooling a lot this whole time. Not to mention, your stomach has been growling since awhile ago."

Glynne flushed red as he wipe his mouth of the drool again. The food laid out in front of him is just that appetizing. To avoid himself from further embarrassment, he decided to stay quiet and grab himself a plate.

"Hmhmhm~" As Glynne is browsing what to eat first, he noticed Kiana humming. Eating is undoubtedly her one of her favorite hobby. He knew how she always tries to hold back when they ate at the dorm, but now that she doesn't need to worry about ever running out, it was understandable she was in a good mood.

He smiled wryly as the food on her plate begun to stockpile in a quick pace. Perhaps not wanting to beaten or maybe because he was simply feeling famished, he also begun putting food on his plate in a similar manner.

Whispers can be heard in the surroundings. Their topic is mostly about the star of the place, the white-haired with a bottomless stomach. However some of the attention was shifted to the black haired boy that she brought with her.

"Hey, hey, is that the one?"

"I'm not sure yet. However he does fit the description. "

"If that's the case then, is the rumors true?!"

"Shhh, they may hear you..."

Too late..., Mei has a bitter smile on her face as she was been eavesdropping since a while ago. Seems like there is a strange rumor about them running around lately.

"Glynne, Bronya greatly recommend you try this one." Perhaps also hearing about the whispers, Bronya got near the boy to try to dispel the misunderstanding.

"Eh?! Even Bronya too!?"

"H-he's t-two timing.... "

However it got worse instead as Bronya is oddly clingy to him for some reason.

"W-wait, don't tell me.... D-did Mei also got snared..... "

"Idiot, as if that's possible."

"No, it's seems plausible. I saw them at the mall the other day."

"Ah! You damn bastard! Just go and you explode!"

And then..... It snowballed from there. Well, it was quite understandable though. Kiana, Bronya, and Mei are quite known in the city. Each of them has their own individual charm that would attract a lot of attention. It is not wrong to consider them a local idol at this point.

That is why people knew that they have never interacted willingly with a person of the opposite sex, much less someone of the same age. If there is such a case, they are only treated as an acquaintance at most.

This is the reason why it came as a surprise when the Trio are acting friendly towards the mysterious boy. They did shrugged it off first at the initial sightings, however his existence cannot be ignored as more and more people are often times saw them together.

Glynne flinched as he has a sudden chill. He can feel a lot of stares being directed at him, it was as if his every move are being watched. However he has no time to deal with that, he just let it be as he judge his plate has enough for now and go towards their table.

"That's quite a lot, Glynne." Mei remarked as she smiled wryly at the huge stack of food on his plate.

"You think so, I feel like this is just an appetizer though." Glynne just casually said as he tilted his head at the surprised face of Mei.

Well, Glynne is still a growing boy, not to mention his regenerative powers has been constantly active this past few days. Although it works by constantly absorbing honkai energy on the air, he was trying to hold this particular trait back as some people, with similar sensitivity as his, might get suspicious. Though in return for doing this, his regeneration is consuming his stamina as a substitute.

However due to it being used a lot lately, the conversation is at the point that a simple meal and a good sleep doesn't seem to be enough to replenish it. As such he was quite grateful he was invited into this kind of place where he can eat a lot.

After hearing Glynne's words, some of the staff are becoming restless. Kiana is already enough to almost eat all of the prepared food. If another person came with the same appetite as her, they don't know if their supplies at the back is enough if they would decide to cook more to accommodate him. Though they might get the bragging rights as their restaurant would technically be the first to get out of stock, it's questionable if they can financially jump back from it.

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"Ah~ that hit the mark." Glynne let out a sigh of relief as he was satisfied with the amount that he ate.

"I'm amazed you could eat that much." Mei commented as she was quite concerned at the restaurant for having to serve basically two Kiana's.

"Hey Mei, there's a store selling crepe there!" as for the other culprit, it seems like she wasn't full yet. She held Mei's hand and then dragged her away, leaving Glynne and Bronya behind.

"Seems like they would be gone for a while." remarked Glynne as he notice the store that Kiana is heading has a quite a number of people in queue. "Should we find somewhere to sit?"

"Agreed" Bronya nodded with the boy's suggestion. Luckily a park is nearby so they didn't take a lot of time finding one.

"By the way, I noticed you've been clinging to me quite a lot today..." Glynne started a conversation as soon as they sat down. "Is there something bothering you?"

"...." Bronya didn't reply and only stared at the boy for a while. Being subjected to this kind of situation, a sweat run down on his forehead. The silver haired girl let out a sigh, well from the looks of it, and hang her head down while she tighten her grip on her skirt.

"Uhm.... Bronya?" Glynne tries called out her name as he is concerned at her current state.

"Bronya has been monitoring Glynne's status. Bronya noticed that the nutrient levels on your body is rapidly decreasing." Glynne was quite taken back, he thought he was doing a good job hiding his fatigue from everyone else. "By doing some calculations, if Bronya let it be, it would go to dangerous levels in just 2-3 days."

"Wait, that fast!?" Glynne was surprised by the fact. Actually, this was his first time using something other than honkai energy as a source for his regenerative powers. However he seems to have a miscalculation as he didn't expect that the conversion would be this much inefficient.

If the first place, the honkai energy is considered the most efficient energy among the those that are commonly use in daily life, such as fossil fuels, coal, wind, etc. The quantity to quality ratio is just tremendous that almost all of the strongest military weaponry are dubbed STRONGEST is because of this. One possible example is that they could make powerful weapon like a railgun that is similar to a size of a pistol.

This miscalculation almost caused the end of Glynne's life. He got quiet and begun to reevaluate if the risk of being discovered is outweighed by being in constant danger of getting malnourished. However before that, he has a sudden realization. The timing of going to an eat all you can restaurant is a bit too suspicious to be coincidental. He look at Bronya to see her nod, seemingly knowing what was inside his head.

The girl got near him and begun clinging into his arm. Her grip was unlike before as it was tightening to a degree that it feels like a normal person would have their bones break in any seconds. "Bronya doesn't want to lose another precious friend."

Glynne could feel her hands trembling. Bronya was someone who has a hard time expressing emotions, but there are times when they would truly show. However from what he could conclude, those that would surface are those that is hard to held, such as trauma.

"Never again... Never again Bronya will allow a friend to disappear within Bronya's sight." Glynne can clearly feel the fear being transmitted to him.

Bronya was fellow child who was experimented on, that is the only thing that he knows about her. However that is enough for him to speculate what happened to her.

Did someone like us, that is close to her died? — It was the question that is running inside his head. It seems like Bronya was reflecting that friend of hers into him. However he quickly shake that though off as there is something much more important to prioritize.

"Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere that soon." Glynne whispered on Bronya's ear as he held one of her trembling hands. She seems to be calming down and she leaned her head on his arm.

This made him remember about those two that he was tasked to save back then. Just like them, those two are also children are have been experimented on. Glynne look over at the distance wondering how those two are doing right now.

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Alright~ another chapter finished. This took quite some time to write. For some reason, I've been revising quite a lot lately.

Anyway, thanks for reading!!!