Last Gun Alchemist

”Wow.”

Lenny slowly turned around in a completely excited state, his eyes moving from one side of the Mix Arena to the other as though he did not know where to look first.

Outside the Lunar Inventors Club booth, several miniature vehicles had been placed on display. Their small mechanical bodies moved across specially prepared tracks, drawing the attention of guests and students passing by. Other clubs related to craftsmanship had also placed their own inventions outside, with different machines, tools, and creations displayed beneath the open light.

Lenny stared at them for a moment.

Then he turned to the right.

His eyes landed on the food.

Several club booths had been arranged like miniature restaurants, each one serving different meals to the visitors attending the tournament.

Guests moved in and out of them, while parents and siblings of Royal Academy students entered together to enjoy meals with their children.

The air was filled with the smell of different foods.

Something sweet drifted from one restaurant, while the scent of roasted meat came from another.

Lenny’s stomach growled.

”Mr. Lenny... Ha... haha.”

Lucy laughed softly.

She couldn’t help smiling at the excited expression on Lenny’s face. He had been looking around the Mix Arena like a child who had suddenly been given permission to enter a room filled with everything he liked.

”Don’t laugh at me.”

Lenny said, looking embarrassed.

”And since when did I become Mr.?”

He frowned slightly at Lucy.

Lucy was taken aback by his reaction.

She quickly nodded, acknowledging what she had done, before turning her attention toward the busy life of the Mix Arena.

”Academy life looks bright, Lenny.”

Lucy said softly.

”I know, right?”

Lenny replied.

He wiped a small bit of saliva from the corner of his mouth.

His hunger was beginning to get the better of him.

”I don’t even know which restaurant we should go to first.”

He said with a serious expression.

Lucy looked around.

”I feel the same way.”

She also suddenly became serious.

”All these restaurants are giving off the smell of amazing food.”

She added, stroking her chin as though the matter before them was truly difficult.

”This... this is troublesome, really troublesome.”

Lenny moved half a step back.

He looked left.

Then right.

The decision of which restaurant to visit first had somehow become more difficult than he expected.

Both Lenny and Lucy continued glancing between the different restaurants around them.

”Lenny, we can do it like this.”

Lucy looked toward him, her expression still serious.

”We can eat one normal meal at one restaurant, then go to another one for dessert. After that, we can visit another place for their special drinks, and finally go to the last restaurant and eat everything together. By then...”

She began counting on her fingers.

”We would have already gone to one... two... three... and four.”

Lucy raised four fingers in front of him.

”Ohhhhh.”

Lenny’s eyes widened.

He reacted as though eating at four different restaurants was some great achievement that had never occurred to anyone before.

”You are a genius, Lucy.”

He said excitedly.

”I guess so. Hehehe.”

Lucy smiled in slight embarrassment at his sudden praise.

She rolled a strand of hair around her index finger.

”Alright... Aunty Rena gave me a lot of allowance, so we can eat to our hearts’ content.”

Lenny raised his right hand.

”I’ll also add to the payment.”

Lucy said with a soft smile as she followed Lenny toward the first restaurant.

However...

The two suddenly paused.

And it wasn’t only them.

The nearby crowd, including people who had been busy with their own activities, turned toward a rowdy movement spreading through the open area.

”Let’s go!”

A student hurried past them.

”What’s going on?”

One of the rushing students asked his friend with a confused expression.

He did not understand why so many students were leaving their club booths and moving toward the same direction.

”I just heard that Lady Vera Ashenlocke and Ezra Ashenlocke are going around the Mix Arena on what looks like a date!”

An excited female student shouted as she rushed past with her own group.

”Seriously?!”

”Lady Vera Ashenlocke and Ezra Ashenlocke together?”

”Oh, my Scholars, I’ve got to see this!”

One student actually left her family following the rushing crowd.

”Are you sure that’s a good sign?”

”Let’s just go and see!”

Voices overlapped.

Students began moving faster.

Lenny and Lucy stood where they were and watched the scene unfold before them.

They could hear excited voices mixed with envy and jealousy, while others simply could not believe the rumor until they saw Ezra and Vera with their own eyes.

”Will Ezra and Big Sis Vera be alright?”

Lenny asked, looking worriedly toward Lucy.

Lucy waved her hand.

”They’ll be fine.”

Her expression remained relaxed.

”Oh, then that’s cool.”

Lenny said before turning back toward the restaurant they had been heading to.

His worried expression had changed quickly to an excited expression.

Eating good food with Lucy was only what he could think of in his mind.

Lucy remained where she was for a brief moment.

Her eyes followed the direction of the rushing crowd.

Something about the memory of Vera taking Ezra’s hand and pulling him away from them earlier felt strange to her.

Lucy slowly raised a hand to her chest.

Her fingers tightened slightly against her clothes.

I’ve never held Master’s hand like that before.

The thought appeared in her mind.

”Lucy, let’s go.”

Lenny called her name.

Lucy turned back toward him.

”I’m coming.”

She replied calmly before walking toward the restaurant.

She pushed the uncomfortable thought away.

Right now, it was time to enjoy the luxurious meals the Mix Arena Club Tournament had to offer.

Behind them, the people who had been distracted by the rushing crowd gradually returned to what they had been doing before.

But the rumor had already begun spreading.

It wasn’t going to disappear that easily.

In a farther area of the Mix Arena...

”Cameras flashing, people rushing, rumors building...”

Vera paused.

”I might have just caught you, my Dazzle.”

She said as she glanced toward Ezra with her dull black eyes.

Ezra turned his plain black eyes toward her.

”People tend to believe what they see and interpret what they see based on their own understanding.”

He replied.

”At the end of the day, I only have to show them that nothing is going on, and I won’t be troubled too much by their wild imaginations.”

He said as plainly as ever.

Vera looked at him for a moment.

”And you think it’s that simple?”

Her words came out in her usual quick manner.

”It’s obvious you’ll be the one getting the worst out of this, but I also know you should be able to handle it because you’re my Dazzle, and as my Dazzle, getting pressured isn’t in the contract.”

She finished speaking before turning fully toward him.

Ezra narrowed his eyes.

”And I wonder whose fault all of this is.”

”Time!”

A male student’s voice echoed.

Both Ezra and Vera’s eyes sharply turned toward the spinning target board.

It rotated at high speed.

The two of them had been holding a bow and arrow while talking, their attention shifting back toward the target the moment the student’s voice reached them.

They drew.

Their fingers released the strings.

Vera’s arrow shot through the air.

It struck the bullseye.

Thud!

Ezra’s arrow followed.

It pierced directly through Vera’s arrow and landed in the exact same spot.

For a moment, the people standing around the booth simply stared.

Then several students reacted at once.

”What?!”

The spinning board continued turning, but the two arrows remained lodged at its center.

Vera looked toward Ezra.

Ezra looked toward Vera.

Neither of them appeared surprised.

”Looks like we won.”

Ezra said plainly.

Vera’s dull black eyes remained on him.

”Of course.”

She replied.

A faint smile appeared at the corner of her lips.

”After all, this is our date.”

Ezra’s eyes narrowed again.

And around them, the cameras of students Paras and Starlixs continued flashing.