The Gourmet Young Lady, Qingliya Whitewing

Boom!!!

A huge blast sounded!

Naiye was very familiar with that sound.

It was a bomb!

Why would a bomb go off in the core territory of the Skywing Knight Family?

Could it be a sudden terrorist attack?

Someone actually dared attack one of the Four Great Knight Families?!

No one could have imagined this; it’s not the joy of successful sabotage, but how you’ll face the overwhelming onslaught of the fierce female knights afterward!

In over three thousand years, aside from attacks by other knight families, any other assaults hardly counted as real enemies.

So far the most likely cause would be a Fire Element explosion from an Elemental Knight.

Because Fire Lina and Nia Skywing are famed rivals; for three years they led their respective knight brigades and families in constant clashes.

They knew each other’s nemeses better than anyone else!

But Young Master Naiye was certain it wasn’t a Fire Element, he was far too familiar with bombs.

The distinctive energy of a Fire Element was obvious to Naiye; he could sense it instantly.

If it were a bomb set by robots from the Caesar Federation, Naiye wouldn’t even need to inspect it, he could deal with it right away!

So this bomb was completely unfamiliar to Naiye.

“What’s going on?”

Young Master Naiye looked over in puzzlement; in the white sky above, black smoke from the explosion and burning stood out.

But that direction seemed oddly familiar?

It seemed to be the direction of the dining hall?

Why would a terrorist attack blow up a restaurant?

What could be worth destroying in a place like that?

Whoosh!

Just as Naiye stared at the billowing smoke, Nia, the family head and commander of the knight order, made a surprising move!

She took advantage of Naiye’s inattention and launched a sneak attack from behind!

She grabbed Naiye from behind, her healthy, well-proportioned body containing impressive strength!

She effortlessly pinned Naiye down on the cool bluestone!

“Ah! Wait, you…”

Taken completely by surprise, Naiye could only feel golden energy filling his whole body.

The soft, gentle touch almost overwhelmed all of his sensations!

This overly gentle, sweet sensation gave Naiye unparalleled pleasure both physically and mentally.

It even kept teasing Naiye’s emotions, making him increasingly reactive without his realizing it.

Importantly, they were outside with no one around, just Naiye and Nia alone here.

Yet such a natural setting felt unexpectedly exciting!

This isn’t right, there was just an explosion! What are we even doing now?!

Fortunately, Nia didn’t really force herself on Young Master Naiye; after an intense moment she kissed him once and then let go.

She tidied her clothes with practiced ease, brushed her dazzling golden hair, helped Naiye fix his appearance, and then, as if nothing had happened, began to introduce matters properly.

“Don’t worry, that was just something a prankster did. You don’t know her, she’s always like that, we’re used to it.”

Nia was utterly calm and paid no mind to the explosion.

“What happened?”

“Qingliya Whitewing—our renowned young miss. She’s not a knight, but many of her actions are over the top; that explosion was just part of her routine.

“Whitewing is her hereditary surname. Strictly speaking, the primary surname for all young ladies with wings is Skywing.

“They usually don’t make a special point of explaining that.”

“And that routine? An explosion is just part of her daily life? Is this young miss one of those extremely spoiled heiresses?”

“She’s nearly on the Auriel Knight Academy’s blacklist! Her explosions don’t care about anything, she blows things up on a whim!”

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard of her.”

“She’s as low-key as you, and for the Academy this isn’t really a big deal.”

After all, the Academy students practice with blades and lances every day, it’s truly nothing.

What surprised Young Master Naiye was mainly that the sabotage occurred in the core district.

“Liking explosions might be one of her two defining traits, and also…”

“……”

Nia’s golden eyes looked at Young Master Naiye.

“Naiye, prosthetic limbs in magical technology have been developing, right?”

“Yes. In recent years, thanks to Dr. Emira’s involvement, prosthetic limbs have progressed greatly; of course, due to the war they haven’t been widely adopted in the Academy.”

Hearing Young Master Naiye’s calm reply, Nia nodded happily and smoothed her golden hair.

“That’s great. Go meet this young miss—you won’t regret it.”

“Does she need my magical technology?”

Naiye immediately went to the point; this was even the first time Nia had intentionally encouraged him to meet another girl.

Even if there was an ulterior motive, it was far too obvious.

“Not only that, your shared hobby will surely deepen your bond! She’s a famed gourmet here; her philosophy is ‘Pursue the true essence of cuisine!’ That’s what she’s most famous for.”

“But her reputation among the chefs is different from yours—she’s very polarizing!”

A polarizing reputation?

Wait—so that explosion was in the dining hall.

In other words—she blows up food she finds bad?!

Although Young Master Naiye had heard the phrase ‘art is an explosion.’

But Naiye was no bomb expert and didn’t understand what that meant.

“A gourmet who loves explosions that much?”

“Yes. If she encounters careless or poorly prepared food she’ll despise it and then explode, but if the chef truly put care into the dish, even if it’s not tasty, she’ll eat it respectfully.

“Of course, that’s just the style of our dining hall. I heard she isn’t like that with street vendors outside.”

That sounds more than just a spoiled heiress’ attitude—it’s exaggerated,

“……”

“And her status is quite high. Even though she’s not a knight, her family is very wealthy, she’s truly an heiress among heiresses!”

Wow, Nia’s evaluation of Qingliya Whitewing was unexpectedly high.

Young Master Naiye was indeed a bit interested.

Although she had some bad habits, in the Auriel Knight Academy they weren’t even a big deal.

“And you’re definitely going.”

“Why?”

Nia’s statement was very clear—one could say she made the choice for Naiye—but it puzzled him further, since he didn’t think he knew this gourmet young miss.

“You absolutely know her mother—the lady who sponsored your father’s civilian magical technology! She’s also the one who introduced magical technology to the Skywing Knight Family!”

“Alright! Then I must go meet this gourmet young miss.”

His crimson spider lily-like eyes widened slightly; what had been a bit of hesitation quickly turned into resolve.

Since that lady was his father’s benefactor, Young Master Naiye had to meet her daughter.

Naiye’s private motive was also to see what her prosthetic limb was like.

It wasn’t surprising that the Skywing Knight Family used magical technology.

Their friendship with the Lycoris family dated back to when his father first developed civilian technology; his father had made many efforts to ease people’s hostility toward magical technology.

But because of the Caesar Federation’s mechanical wars, everyone in the Auriel Kingdom became very hostile to magical technology!

The Elemental Knight Family were the first to oppose it!

But the Skywing Knight Family was the first to support and help his father.

Thus the Skywing Knight Family was the only family to adopt magical technology.

Naiye remembered clearly his father’s words—treat the Skywing Knight Family well.

“If they hadn’t supported me back then, I would have had a hard time taking the first step. The first step in anything is the hardest; only afterward was I recognized by Queen Auriel, and only then did people truly forgive our Lycoris family!”

However, unlike the Dragon Knight Family,

the two families didn’t establish formal diplomatic ties; they simply had a good private relationship with his father.

Currently Nia and Young Master Naiye had a similar kind of relationship.

“Then you go. I’m going to work—I’ll come find you later~~”

With a gentle smile, Nia gracefully waved farewell as Naiye left.

Young Master Naiye went in that direction alone.

The explosion’s smoke and the dining hall’s damage were repaired and cleaned at an astonishing speed.

It was obvious the Skywing Knight Family had grown somewhat accustomed to such explosions, though the busy workers looked mostly exasperated!

That’s normal, being used to explosions doesn’t mean you can fully accept them.

Who could stand it if this happened every day!

Still, in the Auriel Knight Academy this was nothing.

Even though to ordinary people such behavior clearly looks like dangerous terrorist actions…

This young miss Qingliya Whitewing really was astonishing.

Young Master Naiye quickly found his target.

The young miss was having a somewhat late lunch in a pavilion on the other side.

She had a pair of beautiful, pure white wings on her back, and two people behind her, likely her personal guards.

They were a female knight guard and a personal maid, respectively.

After spotting the target, Young Master Naiye walked toward her without hesitation.

Naturally, he was immediately stopped.

Clack!

The female knight sprang from her position with lightning speed, expertly drawing her sword.

Her sharp eyes glared viciously at Naiye!

“Who are you, man?! How dare you approach Miss Qingliya!”

Naiye had stopped before she finished speaking; the blade was still a bit from his neck, though it remained deadly.

Facing this guard knight’s excessive ferocity and rudeness,

Young Master Naiye didn’t care at all.

On the contrary, he rather liked the guard knight’s actions.

Because this guard knight was the archetypal clumsy female knight in his mind—upright and earnest, rigid and harsh, loyal to the point of recklessness for her mistress, yet too dull to adapt.

She should have just stopped Naiye earlier, not point a weapon at Young Master Naiye so dangerously.

Young Master Naiye looked at Miss Qingliya behind her; she had already lowered her knife and fork.

“Spring, put your sword down, you’re being too rude. This is Young Master Naiye Lycoris!”

“I-I’m terribly sorry! Please forgive my impudence!”

A completely predictable sequence.

Upon realizing her mistake, Spring the female knight panicked, sheathed her sword, and apologized.

She bowed a full, proper ninety degrees, so forcefully that her neat black ponytail nearly whipped into Naiye’s face.

Not only that, but she clearly displayed her well-trained waist and ample bosom to Young Master Naiye.

She was flustered and thought she had gone too far!

She was, one could say, the very image of the well-known clumsy female knight.

Young Master Naiye actually quite liked this type—she reminded him of that clumsy girl Ice Tina and her earnest nature.