Maybe, the defeat took a toll on her mind or maybe, there's another reason by pure coincidence. But, the next day, Estella wasn't seen in the academy. She took leave for ten days and even disappeared from Aclein City, probably returning to her home.
However, for the students of the academy, Estella was embarrassed to show her face in the public and ran away from the academy. When she didn't show up for three days in a row, the rumor became strong.
Meanwhile, Claire was on high clouds. The outcome was more than what she expected. Naturally, she enjoyed the days peacefully. Not only her but the others who were the victims of Estella's torture also felt relieved. Except for Gideon, no one cared about her absence.
Sunday arrived and it's time for the trip to Arcana world. It is also the last day Azzy formally mentor Flora. According to the curriculum, starting in the month of June, students of the advanced program from various academies will get an opportunity to serve their internship to mentor the Class Zero of every branch of the Eternal institutions.
Azzy and Flora, Claire, and Glenn formed up a team like just every time as they ventured into the mountains region of Stymphita. Usually, a team should be separate but Azzy and Claire don't get time to spend with each other during normal days. So, they had to choose this way.
Azzy and Claire were comfortably trekking the mountain with locking their arms and chatting with each other while Flora and Glenn are walking in the front.
The two had the same missions. The first is to hunt down three Perighan beasts, which look a lot like brown bears. Their mentors aka Azzy and Claire had the mission to collect their eyes.
The second is to bring back at least two stalks of Yicru root, which look off-white in color and had a similar shape to that of ginseng. They only grow at 12000ft altitude. So, trekking is necessary. The mentors, on the other hand, had an important mission. That is to find a rare flower known as ruby blossom. It is a type of red lotus that glows all the time. The specialty of this flower is that it purifies one's bloodline and improves the quality of soul energy, although it is only useful for kids below the age of 8.
The major issue here is that its location is random and there's only one such flower, blooms every decade. That means not only it will be difficult to find but there will be huge competition and is likely to be found by someone already. Even though they accepted the mission, Azzy and Claire didn't have any intentions to search for it and waste the time.
After trekking for several hours, the team of four found a tiny lake formed because of a crater. Claire pulled a huge tent out of her storage and they set it up on even ground as if they came for camping.
"Let's have lunch. We'll continue after taking a rest for a while." She then started to take out the dishes, which she brought from Azzy's home. Although Affea did the most cooking, Claire helped her out.
Everyone sat comfortably as more than ten dishes were spread out all over the table.
"Rael, Try this Pilaf." Claire enthusiastically opened a dish and put it forth before Azzy. "I made this especially for you."
As soon as his eyes fell on it, Azzy was taken aback in surprise and looked at it in disbelief. "You made this, for real?"
Pilaf was supposed to be a saffron rice dish that features dried fruits and prunes, onions and herbs, and meat such as lamb or chicken. The rich people will add the meat of high-ranked beasts. The most expensive one at the world's only 9-star hotel will serve dragon meat in it but that's another story.
And this version of Pilaf made by Claire looked so good in appearance. It's as if it was bought from some high-class restaurant.
"Okay, let's see." Azzy take out a big scoop of rice and served himself.
The two girls on the side looked at him in envy for they were offered every other dish except for this.
"Um, Azrael, it's better to not eat it for your safety." Just as he was about to put the spoon in his mouth, a voice of concern echoed in his head.
Azzy was frozen for a second, "what does that mean, Chronos?"
"Your girlfriend doesn't possess the talent for cooking. I already told you that. It's impossible that she can make even a normal food, much less an excellent one. Don't go by appearances. If you don't want to worsen your taste buds, you better stay away." The Reaper warned him.
Azzy quickly put down the spoon full of rice back to the bowl.
Claire was taken aback by his actions, "what happened, Rael?"
"Nothing," Azzy awkwardly replied. "I think for some reason, I'm not hungry."
"Eh? But, you haven't eaten breakfast, either." Claire looked at him in worry. "Are you alright?"
"You bet, I'm," Azzy replied in a confident tone. He quickly thought of an excuse and said, "Maybe, it's due to the technique I'm lately training."
"But, I made it especially for you." Claire became crestfallen. She looked at her food in disappointment.
It was then Flora spoke, "if Senior Azrael doesn't want to eat it, you can give it to me."
"Alright," Claire picked up the dish and was about to hand it over to the kid before Azzy suddenly snatched it with a scream, "No…"
The three girls flinched by Azzy's sudden action. "You worked so hard on it for me. I'll eat it."
Flora glared at this mentor of his as if her favorite toy was taken away.
Meanwhile, Azzy put the spoon in his mouth and took the first bite. His eyes widened, "damn, my mouth is burning. What did she add to the recipe? And there's too much of salt."
Azzy felt the urge to cough but swallowed everything without bothering to chew on it.
"How is it?" Claire asked him with expectations.
"It's di… damn good." Azzy forced himself to give her a comment while his body shivered for a second.
"Really?" Claire thought that Azzy shivered in excitement. She was high clouds, "I didn't expect that you liked it so much."
While she was in her own world, Azzy quickly ate all the rice at super speed.
"Oh, Poor thing." The Reaper looked at Azzy in pity.
Azzy then sat in a lotus position and closed his eyes, giving the others an excuse that he needed to meditate to improve the rate of digestion.
As they continued to eat, Azzy appeared in mindscape and stood at the edge of the cliff. There are the familiar skeletal beasts roaming on the endless barren land. There was a peaceful sky above his head. There was a specter standing not so far away from him.
All of a sudden, Azzy screamed on top of his lungs and coughed crazily, complaining how disgusting that food is. The beasts down below flinched in surprise while the Reaper and his wolf shook their heads.
"Phew…"
Ten seconds later, Azzy took a deep breath and calmed down. "Okay, let's keep Claire away from cooking."
Soon, he returned to reality and found that they were still eating. So, he decided to use this time to observe the things in the surroundings through Aura sensing.
Three powerful human auras were detected in the sky, about half a mile away.
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