Chapter 274.1

Last chapter for Race Arc

Chapter 274.1. Holy Rice Crackers

-Masatoshi’s POV-

“Are these the rice cakes that Yggdrasil is handing out?”

Masatoshi picked up an unappetizing-looking rice cracker from the plate with a bored expression and asked Mion, who was sitting across the table, leaning on her hand.

He was a fiery red-haired boy, known for being strong, cool, and generous, but also rumored to be a pushover. Masatoshi didn’t need that last bit of information, but the rumors didn’t seem to disappear even after he tried to put them out.

“Yeah, these don’t have any taste. They don’t seem like rice crackers at all.”

“Oh, I see. Holy rice crackers, right? I think they’re used as offerings to the gods or something, to gain forgiveness in the afterlife… Was that it? That’s why they don’t have any flavor.”

Masatoshi explained, tilting his head, but he admitted his memory was a bit fuzzy. His knowledge of sacred rice crackers mostly came from movies or something like that.

“Hmm, if it’s money, I’d prefer the real thing. I tried one, but it wasn’t delicious.”

“I guess not… Wait, you tried one of these?”

Masatoshi suddenly realized the content of his casual remark and stared at Mion in surprise.

Seeing Masatoshi’s astonished expression, Mion became flustered.

“Uh, was it bad? It didn’t taste good, but it’s not poisonous or anything. You can’t expect a well-known religion to distribute poison, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

I had a bad feeling about this. In the original story, there was no mention of a story involving sacred rice cakes. But he had a vague sense of unease about food distribution by enemy organizations.

Having read and watched many anime and novels, I have seen countless situations where things took a turn for the worse in such scenarios.

However, since I didn’t feel ill, I decided he might be overthinking it. Distributing poison would surely cause a major uproar.

However, there are some strange stories. Wondering, I looked at Mion and opened my mouth.

“…Hey, was Yggdrasil really that famous?”

“Well, it’s a religious group that owns an island, and it’s famous because it has a saint.”

“That’s right, but no, it’s true…”

After all, the founder is a saint who uses rare recovery magic, and the cult has one island. There’s no reason they can’t become famous. Moreover, the believers are acting in robes.

Nevertheless, I found it odd. In the original story, Yggdrasil was not so well-known. It was more like a secretive cult of magic users.

Something had changed recently, and it was making me uneasy.

“What’s wrong, Masatoshi? Do you want to have a staring contest? Why do you make a funny face? Why do you even do that?”

“I was making a serious face! What do you mean, funny face? I’m a handsome guy, you know.”

“Like this? Hoooonnnn!”

Mion made a silly face while pressing his cheeks, causing me to glare at him. But then, seeing how much fun Mion was having, I sighed, sat back on my chair, and rested his chin on his hand.

“I’m actually worried, you know, Masatoshi-sama! Lately, you’ve been so busy running away from all the girls who are swarming around you.”

“I’m… running away? From girls?”

“Yeah, they’re like hyenas. And with my rival not in top form lately, they’ve been coming after me even more. It’s the herd mentality, you know? They think it’s not scary if they all come at once.”

I shuddered at the thought of high-ranking noble girls. It was as if they didn’t even acknowledge Sena-san’s presence; they pounced on him regardless.

Some girls even crouched at the corridor’s corner, preparing to start sprinting towards me. Others dropped handkerchiefs in front of me by the dozen.

There were no cute methods like homemade bento. I wished they would stop stuffing invitations into my pockets.

I wondered if they were teasing or bullying me. They seemed to be genuinely considering it. Being teased actually seemed like the better option.

With a serious expression, Masatoshi explained to Mion, who had a gloomy look in her eyes.

“So, it’s unusual for me to worry about things. You should at least be thankful.”

“Hehe, thank you, Masatoshi-sama~”

Mion responded with a smirk, changing his irritated expression to one of gratitude. I couldn’t help but toss one of those mysterious holy rice crackers at her.

“Oops. It’s still food, so don’t throw it, okay? Huh? Wait, did you do something?”

“Huh? I didn’t do anything. What’s wrong?”

“Look at this. The rice cake is crumbling.”

Mion, looking puzzled, placed the sacred rice cracker Masatoshi had thrown onto his palm to show him.

The rice cracker, which should have been hard, was slowly disintegrating before Masatoshi and Mion’s eyes. In an instant, it crumbled like sand, turning into mere powder.

“What’s going on here? …Huh?”

Just before it completely disintegrated, something sparkling caught their eyes. It looked like a shining thread or something…

“What’s the matter?”

“Well… I think I saw a shining thread or something. Am I imagining things?”

I touched the powder on Mion’s palm, trying to trace the faint sensation, but found nothing.

“Hmm, there’s nothing there. Hey, what’s up?”

For some reason, Mion was trembling, and I was puzzled. Why was this girl blushing?

“Uh…”

“Huh?”

“Pervert!”

“Bwah!”

And then, she threw the powder right into my face.

It was so unexpected that I accidentally inhaled some, causing me to cough violently.

“What the hell, you jerk!”

“It felt like you were touching it weirdly! Like a girl’s palm!”

“What? Touching it weirdly. I wasn’t doing that, was I?”

I stammered, feeling flustered by Mion’s unexpectedly suggestive words.

While I was quite popular with girls, his experiences were limited to evading them.

I hadn’t had much experience with intimate touches. Aside from dates with Sena-san or playing around with Mion.

“Uh, sorry. Yeah, I might have overreacted a bit. My bad.”

Considering what would have happened if I had done something like that with girls in my past life, he quickly apologized to Mion.

“Ah, I might have overreacted too… I’m sorry.”

“No, I guess I touched it strangely… It’s just that touching a girl’s palm is…”

“Uh…”

For some reason, they both looked at each other and then averted their gaze. What’s with this atmosphere? I don’t know this kind of atmosphere. It’s strangely embarrassing.