The two did not return to the auditorium. Instead, Arc pulled Yue in another direction. Because most of the day was devoted to moving in, the two were free until noon. At that time, the homeroom classes would have a meet and greet, which was a chaotic affair involving blood, sweets, and tea. They would need to prepare. 

“Aren’t we going back to orientation?"

“Nope.” Arc pulled the confused Yue away. “We are playing truant.” 

“...I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Listen… this is phase one of Operation Girlfriend.” Arc gave him a wink. “You know what women love?”

“I’m afraid to answer your question.” 

Arc smacked him and feigned spitting on the floor. “Are you doubting me?”

“No… but I’m aware that your methods are not conventional.”

“Tsk. You're not supposed to be smart.” Arc frowned and mumbled aloud, “Who taught him common sense? It couldn’t have been Elaine.”

“I’m sorry?”

Arc waved his hand but didn’t bother to hide his suspicious gaze. “Whatever. This is a foolproof plan. Get it. Even you can do it.”

“I’m going to regret this.” Yue sighed. “So, what is it that women love?”

“Sweets.”

A deadpan response came out of Yue's mouth. “Not all women like sweets, Arc.”

Arc spit at the floor and raised his fist, but he stopped. He knew that simple violence wouldn’t work now that Yue entered his rebellious phase. He had to explain such simple things to this muscle-brained fool. 

“Yue.”

“Yes?”

“It’s just a phrase… we are not trying to seduce every woman at the academy.” Arc gave a virtuous look. 

“I see…”

Arc retained a sage-like pose, with a sense of righteous enlightenment he continued, “Just every woman that likes sweets! That is more than enough.” 

“Yes… wait no… I’m fine with just…” Yue was overheating. It was a matter of overusing his small brain capacity. Well, embarrassment could also have been a factor.

“Fool! Did you think I meant a harem?” Arc spit on the ground twice. “No such thing is not needed!  Yet, that doesn’t mean you can’t be the hero in a woman's heart.” Arc struck his fist towards the heavens, “For you must aim to impress all those around your target. Their family. Their friends. Their rivals. Their seniors. Humans seek validation from others, so winning the heart of the target is only half the battle!”

Yue had an apologetic and piteous look. “Arc.” 

“Yes? Why do you—” 

A gauntlet pulled on Arc’s ears. “Aww… aww… big sis why are you here?” Arc cursed Elaine’s unnatural ability to somehow always find him at the most random of locations and times. 

‘How does she do it, though?’

“Hmph. Womanizer, what are you teaching Yue?” Her helmet was gone, and her pursed lips were visible. “I dumped the workload on the Vice Commander and raced over to make sure everything was settled with your move into the dorms… and what do I hear the second I—”

Arc squirmed in Elaine’s hard grip but managed to turn around to face her. “Big sis. You wrong me. Also, let’s not switch topics to avoid the issue of you ignoring your work and coming up with an excuse so you could sleep more… aahh… gentle… gentle…” 

“Are you sure mom and you aren’t a thing?”

Arc had a look of horror on his face. ‘This fool is trying to sentence me to death.’ 

Arc, not daring to look at Elaine, placed his hands forward and pulled out a bag of popcorn. “Here?”

“I don’t want your popcorn, Arc.” Her voice was cold.

“It’s kettle corn…”

“...”

“Munch. Munch. Munch.” The demonic brute of a woman had been appeased, and with it Arc escaped Elaine’s grasp.  

He brushed off his clothes. “See Yue. This is the power of sweets—”

While eating popcorn with one hand, a metal fist grabbed Arc by the back of his neck. He was lifted into the air like a naughty puppy. Elaine was still munching on the popcorn with her other hand. She would flick it with one hand and catch it with her mouth. 

“Is this how it feels to see your parents fighting amongst one another.” Yue sighed as if such a sight was normal. 

‘This fool will truly be the death of me.’ Arc couldn’t help but think this again as he squirmed. He snapped his fingers and the two, himself and Yue, disappeared before Elaine’s retaliation could grow. Yet, when he looked up, Elaine was still there. There was a dark expression on her face.

“Why? How? No, I mean… I, I wasn’t trying to run away.” 

Elaine took a step towards him. 

Arc bowed deeply to the point his head touched the floor. “I’m sorry.”

Elaine sighed. “Hmph. That is all you had to say.”

Arc looked up and saw Elaine take another step forward. She was wearing her helmet for some reason. She then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. The heavy gauntlets weren’t pleasant, and her grip became tight. 

Before he knew it, Yue was there too. It was a small family hug. 

“Things didn’t go as planned… anyways I just wanted to wish you both well… you will visit, right?” Her voice sounded strained. 

‘If you came for that then why did you try to beat me up first!’ Arc wanted to complain but he decided against it. Elaine stayed for a bit, exchanging a few more words with the boys. She said things like don’t cause trouble, study well, and make sure to go to bed on time. Yue, of course, nodded and promised to do as such. 

Arc watched Elaine’s back as she began to walk away, only to see her stop and turn around. Without looking at Arc, her hand moved towards him. 

She opened and closed her hand as if to gesture something. 

Arc tilted his head.

“The kettle corn… is gone…” 

“Ah yes. Here take some more.”

Elaine moved her helmet so she could snack on them. He could barely see the redness around her eyes. 

‘So that’s why…’

Arc, unsure of what to do, ended up handing her armful of snacks. She gladly took them and left with her arm full of various treats. It was bitter sweet to say the least. 

Yue looked like he was about to say something so Arc frowned and interrupted him. “Don’t say anything. Let us just finish phase one before you get me killed.”

“...”

Arc had already brought Yue and himself to the dormitory’s kitchen. He rummaged through some cabinets and threw an apron at Yue after putting one on himself. While the aprons would prevent their uniforms from getting dirty, the real reason Arc decided on using them was because it was a mood setter.

Arc pretty much controlled the entire kitchen. Bowls and utensils were scattered everywhere. Multiple ovens and stovetops were going off.  He continued moving back and forth managing it all as he prepared a mountain of snacks. 

At the same time, he would occasionally help Yue with his singular patch of chocolate. 

“Add a lot of salt.” Arc said this while multitasking. He was decorating a cake while trays of cookies were flying in and out of the ovens around them via telekinetic powers.

“Then it won’t taste good.”

“Exactly. It is supposed to taste bad.”

“...”

“Make sure the shape is also crude.”

“...”

“Trust. Sweets are a battlefield of blood and tears.”

“Isn’t that just you and mother playing around?”

“...”

Arc clicked his tongue and ignored him. Giving rebellious kids attention would only spoil them. With that logic, Arc silently finished things at his end. Yue finished around the same time. His singular patch of chocolate was perfectly bad. 

 “Just one last thing.” Arc smiled and started wrapping bandages around Yue’s fingers. 

“Trust.” Like a magical chant, Arc continued to repeat this word at Yue’s doubtful expression. He then put Yue’s chocolates into a heart shaped container. 

Arc cleaned the kitchen with a simple snap of his finger. They still had time to the meet and greet so the two loitered around for a bit before making their way to the training grounds, the location of the event. 

***

The two were early, yet over a hundred students were already present. There were five first year classes, each composed of one hundred students. Even if only half showed then there would be over two hundred and fifty students. 

Yue’s gaze scanned the surroundings, causing his mouth to go wide. He held a heart shaped box of chocolates in his hands with trembling fingers. 

“Ugh. I feel out of place.”

‘That is because we are.’ Arc didn’t tell him this though. They both were still wearing their aprons and were attracting a lot of gazes.

Arc just patted him on the back. “Don’t think about it too much. You just need to hand it over to Luna. You don’t even need to say anything and just go spar with the other students.”

“I’m feeling sick… maybe I should—”

“I’ll drag you. You know I will.”

“...”

They were silent the rest of the way, and the sound of the other students filled that silence. 

Weapons whistling in the air, the sound of metal clashing, the roar of spells, the shouts of the combatants, and the applause of the observers could all be heard.   

Most of the students were off to the side of the training ground, while a fourth or so were active on the fields. 

The majority of the non-combatants had set up tables and were pouring each other tea while eating various pastries. These were mostly nobles accompanied by their servants. The larger noble houses could also be seen giving words of advice to their retainers and knights before sending them off to spar.

It was a good opportunity to brag and network to their fellow aristocratic peers. 

“I don’t envy you.” Yue said as his eyes fell onto the elegant tables covered with sweets, pastries, and tea cups. Even he could see the mock laughter, the sugar coated words, and feigned smiles. He shuddered. 

“Hmm. Leave it to me.” 

Arc carried several boxes in his hand with many more in his pocket dimension. He planned to use them all. Arc had no ill conceived notion that he was some kind of suave and charming genius. He was insanely handsome, sure, but he felt he leaned on the socially awkward side.

Confidence did not mean inherent success, but it would enable him to utilize the power of sweets. He would bludgeon his way through this event head on! Arc was positive his sweets were top notch. The rough edges of any first impression would fizzle away as soon as the sweets were consumed. 

Assured of his success, Arc found his first target. The jacket of Sera’s uniform fluttered as she exited one of the dueling rings with a man and maid at her side. The man’s name was Cassius and his position was subordinate to her. Although he served the ice-cold beauty, they were also childhood friends. Both of them approached Yue; Cassius gave an apologetic nod.

“What are you wearing?” Sera was deadpan as usual. Arc might have thought her facial muscles were simply non-existent if he didn’t have memories that spoke otherwise. 

Arc had found out about a year ago that Sera would sometimes reveal her emotions when she thought she was alone. Even her close friends hadn’t seen what Arc had, and thus through experience, Arc concluded that Sera was probably laughing at Yue.  

Yue looked down and realized he was still wearing an apron. “Uh…”

“And what are you holding…”

Yue frowned and was about to take the apron off, but Arc stopped him. He whispered in his ears and gestured towards the girl named Luna. Yue blushed but nodded and went on his way while Arc stopped Sera.

“I made these for you.”

Sera gave her version of a frown, a very mild twitch of the lips, and turned to Arc, just noticing him. “And you are?”

Cassius whispered to her.

“Ah. Did he have a friend like that?”

“We have met several times, miss.”

“You want me to accept these?”

“Yes, I seek to court you.”

Sera mouth opened slightly and stayed open. It was sort of cute. Cassius looked at this and he gave an uncertain smile, but ultimately he gave Arc a nod.

“I see…I see…” Sera turned to her maid. It was the same innocent woman that Arc had seen in her carriage. The maid nodded and did a gesture that signaled her lips were sealed. She was in Class A with Sera. 

This placement required an exception. Servants were kept out of their master’s class when it came to homeroom. Homeroom was supposed to be the intermingling of various kinds of people and it would defeat that purpose if nobles just came along with their servants. The exception existed if a master and their servant planned to create a party together. Both had to pass a combat oriented test to verify the integrity of such an arrangement. 

Arc made sure to adhere to such rules when he manipulated the arrangements. This meant that Sera’s maid was skilled enough to explore dungeons and adventure out in the wilds. Arc wasn’t sure if that was hot or scary. 

Still, Arc made sure his eyes didn’t linger on the maid. 

Sera took a step forward after composing herself. Her eyes drifted about but she tried to keep her gaze on Arc.

“Alright I remember you now. It is the least I can do before my father kills you.” Her voice was cold and smooth, but Arc noticed the small details: her eyes that couldn’t meet his, the shaking of her fingers, a very mild red tinge to her otherwise expressionless face.

Sera was someone that hid her emotions, but Arc knew that she was highly emotional because he had seen it over the last two years. The image of when she first lost to Yue in a duel was engraved in his mind. In a place where no one around she had collapsed to her knees. She had cried, but no tears fell. 

Yet, she got up. He watched how she pushed herself to become stronger. Of course, Arc did this with the intention of judging her worth as Yue’s rival.

“Arc.” He replied only with a smile and his name.

“Arc…” Sera muttered his name back to him. 

Yue returned before the ensuing silence could become awkward. He had a red face and didn’t seem to know what to do with his own appendages because the girl he had a crush on, Luna, was next to him. She wore a sly, knowing smile. 

Luna’s two fox ears were twitching at the top of her head, indicating she was happy. Her red hair was done in two braids that swayed above her humble chest. 

Arc could admire the innocent, shy appearance she gave off and the way it juxtaposed her playful nature that showcased itself in her subtle movements. It was like a wolf hiding her fangs and living among the sheep. The sheep happened to be Yue.

But it is not like she would take Yue’s pants off and wear them herself. No, she would stealthily pull them off and Yue would never know he was walking around without pants. 

Arc felt like this was the type of woman who would be best suited for his friend. 

She took a bite of chocolate and laughed. “They are terrible.”

“You don’t have to eat it…” Yue twiddled with his fingers, embarrassed but happy. 

She pinched Yue’s face. “You made them for me… so, of course, I’ll eat them.” She feigned a shy expression. Her eyes had a hidden affection tone as her eyes fell on his bandaged hands. 

Sera coughed. “I’ll be going… then…”

Arc pushed the chocolates he made forward. Sera stopped and looked at them. It took a moment but she accepted them. She quickly turned around and was about to speed off with them when Arc patted Yue’s back. “Actually there is something else.”

Sera looked over her shoulder. “Yes?”

Arc pushed Yue forward. “Why don’t you spar for a bit?”

Sera’s shoulders loosened, revealing a more relaxed posture. “That sounds good.”

Yue looked towards Luna, but Arc merely pushed him forward and he relented and followed Sera into a circular arena. The maid and Cassius stayed behind.

“Sorry about this, Luna.”

“I don’t mind.” Luna gave a coy smile. “Arc, was it your idea to make the sweets, no?” She laughed and continued. “It’s a rhetorical question. It is obvious, but I appreciate it. I don’t know how long things would take if it was just me and that dense man.”

Luna smiled and continued, “And… the bandages? The saltiness that made no sense. Those were nice touches. It felt like it was a romantic fantasy.” 

Her eyes were filled with affection as they stared at Yue’s departing figure. 

“You can always just ask him out, you know?” 

“I’m fine with how things are now. When the timing is right… and I know that my presence will be beneficial to his growth.”

Luna was the type of woman that wanted to stand behind her man and empower them. 

Arc nodded knowing his friend was in good hands.  “Well, I’m going to go and seduce some other women.” 

“You do that.” Luna laughed. 

Cassius, who had remained behind, frowned. “Sera can take care of herself, so I’ll just warn you that if you're insincere in your actions then she will know. She is used to this kind of thing…”

“I’m a womanizer.” Arc shrugged. “But you already knew that, didn't you? So I wonder why you didn’t stop me.”

Cassius scratched his neck in embarrassment as he walked away. He left with one line, “A womanizer is better than the typical leeches.” 

‘Psh. Look at this guy. Does he think he is cool?’ Arc looked at the floor and debated spitting. His face was red and he was jealous. ‘How could he say all that and not cringe… isn’t that kind of badass? Shit!’’