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Akemi’s lips touched my cheek.
Beyond my hazy vision, the men were frantically gathering mushrooms.
Like worker ants devoted entirely to their queen.
“Akemi-san! Look, I gathered a lot!”
“No, no, I picked bigger mushrooms!”
The moment they lifted their faces, they dropped the mushrooms in their hands with wet thuds.
“N-no… way…”
“Why is Akemi-san kissing that trash guy…!?”
“W-we’ve never even gotten her to hold our hands…!?”
“Th-that’s an illusion! It’s the mushrooms—she’s making us see things!”
The men began clutching their heads and shouting.
Akemi finally pulled away from me.
“Hehe. They say kisses from my bloodline bring good fortune. May fortune be with you, Leopin-kun… see you later.”
She gave a mischievous smile, then turned and walked away.
Her entourage chased after her with arms full of mushrooms, crying, “Please wait, Akemi-saaaan!”
Still not understanding what had just happened, I pressed a hand to the cheek that still held her warmth.
Then I noticed my body was being wrapped in light.
“No way… I leveled up from being kissed… If what she said is true, that really might’ve been a lucky kiss…”
After that, I returned home and decided to cook the mushrooms I’d harvested.
Since I was at it, I figured I’d build a cooking area next to the house.
I changed into the newly unlocked class.
Before I started stone crafting, I decided to make work tools first.
Using Gisu lumber and a fairly large stone near my house, I crafted two items.
Comparing the two finished items, I realized something.
“The material levels are completely different. Makes sense—this is a forest, so the wood is high quality, but the stone quality is pretty bad. Maybe I should source stone from somewhere else…”
That gave me one new goal for tomorrow’s exploration.
For today, I’d just make do with this foreststone.
Using my fresh tools, I carved the large rock sitting beside my house and made cooking equipment.
“Good, good. Now I can make delicious grilled mushrooms.”
I stuffed dry leaves and branches I’d gathered into the stove and lit them.
Once it caught, I lined up mushrooms skewered on sticks and roasted them.
They sizzled, browning nicely—then I sprinkled a quick shake of the salt Akemi had given me.
That rich, toasty mushroom aroma spread through the air.
My stomach finally started growling hard, and I couldn’t take it anymore—I shoved the freshly grilled mushrooms into my mouth.
“Hah…! Hff…! Hoh…! Nng… so goooood…! Are freshly picked mushrooms really this tasty!? I could eat this every day!”
I devoured all the mushrooms I’d gathered in no time.
It had been a while since I’d felt this kind of happy fullness.
Rubbing my swollen belly and savoring the moment…
I saw the principal and vice principal come sprinting from the direction of the academy, faces pale and frantic.
“T-trash…! N-no, Leopin-kun!”
“You found Tatsumake—is that true!?”
In my foggy, satisfied state, I asked back,
“How do you know about that?”
“As I said at the entrance ceremony, zansu! Your academy life is being broadcast to the entire world through a magical device, zansu!”
“We’re being flooded with inquiries from sponsors who saw Leopin-kun eating Tatsumake on that broadcast!”
“If it’s true, hand over the Tatsumake right now, zansu!”
“And just this once, with my authority, I’ll take you out of the Special Training Class and place you into another class!”
“Yes! It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape the trash heap, zansu!”
“If you let this slip, you’ll spend your whole life in the trash heap!”
“Uh-huh. But I already ate it all.”
“K-kyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
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