A C-Rank Magic Student Who Deludes Himself into Thinking He Is SSS-Rank - Chapter 30: A C-Class Magic Student's Afternoon

After the third period, Shion headed to the school cafeteria for lunch.

Since the peak of the cafeteria crowd was after the second period’s lunch break, the post-third-period time slot had plenty of open seats.

Shion picked up his meal from the counter on the first floor and headed to his usual spot on the second floor.

There were significantly fewer students on the second floor, only about a dozen or so.

As Shion sat down at a seat somewhat distanced from other students and was about to start his meal…

Suddenly, tragedy struck.

Loud explosions and violent tremors came from the floor below.

The calm afternoon was shattered, and the second-floor cafeteria of the magic academy was enveloped in commotion.

Students looked around in confusion, muttering, “What’s happening?” “What’s that noise?” A student near the stairs to the first floor went to check the situation.

Returning quickly, the student whispered in a pale-faced horror.

“A dragon…”

“What…?”

While his acquaintances reacted in disbelief, the student shouted, “A dragon has appeared! Everyone, run!”

Following this, another loud explosion resonated from below.

Amidst the screams, the student who checked the first floor immediately ran towards the connecting corridor to the adjacent building.

“Hey, wait!”

His acquaintances called out, but he didn’t stop, fleeing towards the next building. “Ahhh! It’s a dragon!”

Another student, who had also gone to check the first floor, ran after the first in fear.

Once again, an extraordinary explosion and strong tremors came from below.

“Is it a dragon?!”

“We need to get out of here too!”

The atmosphere of confusion quickly turned to one of fear, and students began to flee.

Amidst explosions, impacts, and screams, furniture and dishes are scattered everywhere.

Amidst this chaos, one student, seemingly indifferent to the emergency, continued eating silently.

“(This is cool… I look like a big shot right now…)”

It was none other than Shion Kurosaki.

While continuing his meal expressionlessly, his inner thoughts buzzed with excitement, acting unruffled in the face of the emergency.

From the first explosion, he didn’t show any signs of distress. The more the surrounding chaos escalated, the more excited he became about his meal.

An abnormal person of the same caliber as the emergency of a dragon attacking the school cafeteria was a man named Shion.

“(Ah…! This is great…!)”

Even as the chairs and tables shook from the impact below, he found dining in such conditions “comfortable” – something only an abnormal person like him would think.

As Shion continued eating amidst the ongoing noise, the floor near his seat suddenly burst open, and a student tumbled beside him.

“(Whoa…!)”

While feeling quite shaken inside, Shion outwardly maintained his composure as he observed the student who had fallen to the ground.

This male student, known for his beautiful blond hair and azure eyes, was familiar even to Shion, who generally kept his distance from the school’s celebrities.

Alphonse Freed.

A descendant of the great hero Siegfried, who had dragon blood, Alphonse was a second-year student at Crawford Magic Academy, ranked second and one of only two S-class magic students.

“Ugh… ah…”

Despite his ragged appearance, Alphonse Freed stood up, gathering his strength as he lay on the floor.

When he raised his head and saw Shion, Alphonse involuntarily let out a sound of surprise.

“Wha, eh, …eh?”

With his eyes wide as if unable to comprehend the situation, he questioned Shion.

“What are you… doing here?”

Shion, seemingly unfazed, responded as if it was the most natural thing. “What does it look like? I’m having lunch.”

“…Eh?”

Alphonse looked even more bewildered, but Shion continued his meal without paying him any mind.

“(Hehe…),” Shion thought, clearly pleased that Alphonse had engaged with him despite his outwardly indifferent demeanor.

Unaware of Shion’s true feelings, Alphonse was speechless at the surreal scene but soon remembered the dire situation and addressed Shion.

“This isn’t the time for that!”

Everything eventually ends, and the same was true for Shion Kurosaki’s lunch that day.

Intending to savor his “time acting like a big shot,” Shion ate slowly, chewing carefully. However, the inevitable conclusion of finishing his meal was unavoidable.

After swallowing the last bite, Shion stood quietly, and it seemed he was finally about to leave the cafeteria.

But then…

“Alright, seconds it is.”

Lunch continued—.

Despite the ongoing impacts from the lower floor, Shion, reluctant to end his meal, went for seconds.

Although there was no kitchen on the second floor of the cafeteria, there was a self-service area with bread and soup. Shion headed there. Most of the soup had spilled from the pot, and much of the bread in the basket was on the floor and dirty, but he took some bread that remained in the basket and resumed his meal at his seat.

“(That interaction just now was pretty good… Hehe.)”

Alphonse Freed explained the situation to Shion and urged him to evacuate before jumping to the lower floor himself.

Shion indulged in the memory of acting like a strong person unfazed by the dragon’s attack.

“(Eating as if nothing’s happening while the world’s strongest dragon, Schwaldius, the Black Dragon of Demise, is rampaging right below me… Isn’t that just too cool?)”

“Wait a minute…”

Amid his trembling excitement, Shion suddenly came to his senses.

“Schwaldius, the Black Dragon of Demise… Is this for real?”

Finally, he realized the gravity of the situation.

Shion, who had enjoyed hero tales since childhood and read the story of Siegfried multiple times, knew well the immense power of the Black Dragon.

The dragon was believed to have been eradicated four hundred years ago but was sealed. It was hard to believe. But if the descendant of that great hero was the one speaking the truth, it likely was.

It seemed that Siegfried’s lineage, or a limited number of people worldwide, had been guarding the seal to avoid public panic.

However, if Schwaldius had broken free, it was a global crisis.

Only now did Shion fully grasp this.

“This isn’t the time for leisurely meals.”

As the explosions and impacts intensified, Shion finally stood up, ready to act in a situation where the entire school cafeteria, or even the school itself, could be obliterated at any moment.

Rapid evacuation was the only course of action for a C-class magic student like him, who had no power to fight the dragon.

Shion should have headed for the connecting corridor to the next building to escape, then used a magic broom for flight and fled as far as possible.

But Shion didn’t head towards the corridor. Instead, he made his way to the staircase leading to the first floor of the cafeteria.

“Schwaldius, the Black Dragon of Demise, huh…”

With a fearless smile, he muttered to himself.

“Let’s see what you’re made of.”

Without stopping, he continued towards the staircase.

In this extraordinary situation, he, too, was an extraordinary individual…