Rich kids must eat golden buns for breakfast! / Only children think the world has just two feelings: dislike and like.

"I don't think a Starting Roster Spot mattered more to her than her own deck."

Crimson Lotus's face beneath her mask shifted slightly. "So something like that happened?"

"But this really had nothing to do with me." Crimson Lotus shook her head in denial. "If you're curious about the reason, why not ask her yourself?"

That was a lie.

The reason Nero had joined Hara Shichi's team was entirely because Crimson Lotus had encouraged her to.

"Then let me ask another question." Hara Shichi continued. "What kind of person do you think Nero is?"

"What kind of person Nero is... is that question important?" Crimson Lotus asked flatly.

"If we're going to be teammates from now on, we should get to know each other, shouldn't we?" Hara Shichi said.

"Then I'm afraid you'll be disappointed." Crimson Lotus said. "I don't know the Nero you're talking about. What I said last night was just something I said casually. You're overthinking it."

"Is that so?" Hara Shichi looked at Crimson Lotus suspiciously.

"That's how it is." Crimson Lotus said softly. "Besides, how can hearsay compare to seeing something with your own eyes?"

"Seeing it with my own eyes?"

"Just go see for yourself what kind of person that Nero is," Crimson Lotus said.

The Masked Girl before him was right.

Rather than agonizing over it here, he might as well go see for himself what kind of duelist Nero Arisa really was.

"Thank you for the advice."

"Are you only going to thank me with words?" Crimson Lotus sneered, pulling out a deck. "Practice with me?"

"Sure." Hara Shichi reached for the card case at his waist.

"Use your real deck—Marincess." Crimson Lotus glanced at the two deck cases at Hara Shichi's waist.

"I'm afraid I have to refuse." Hara Shichi took out his Invasion of the Primordial Dragon hybrid deck. "Unless you use your real deck too."

"Tch, then forget it." Crimson Lotus frowned slightly as she watched a Duel Disk appear on Hara Shichi's arm. "Wait, we're not using Duel Disks."

"Then how are we dueling?" Hara Shichi failed to react at first.

"I brought a pen. Let's draw out the zones on the ground." Crimson Lotus pulled out a black marker.

"...Fine." After hesitating for a moment, Hara Shichi agreed.

"Duel."

"Duel."

And so, on that quiet night, the two of them squatted on the ground and played cards for an hour or two.

Rich Kids Must Eat Gold-Steamed Buns for Breakfast!

Nero Arisa, the youngest daughter of the Arisa Family, was rumored to have skipped every class since the semester began. She was elusive in her daily life, and no one knew where she actually went.

"So... this is why we've been crouching in the bushes outside the girls' dormitory since dawn?" Ai yawned, her cherry-like lips opening and closing as she looked utterly exhausted.

"That's right. No matter where she goes, she still has to return to the girls' dormitory to sleep every night." Hara Shichi explained. After all, oddballs like Sera, who had simply moved her bed into the clubroom, were rare.

At the same time, he looked doubtfully at Ai, who was lying on his back. "By the way, don't gods not need sleep? Why do you still look so tired?"

"But think about it. Wouldn't it be boring if you never slept?" Ai's voice was soft and sweet, like freshly made rice cake, making people want to take a bite. "So I recently tried learning how to sleep, and then my body just went ahead and developed this 'sleep' function on its own."

"I could turn it off, of course, but I found sleeping pretty comfortable, so here we are."

"I see."

The human and the god waited until around seven o'clock before a beautiful figure finally appeared at the dormitory entrance.

"Huh? Yukikaze?" Hara Shichi rubbed his eyes. "Does she get up this early every day?"

"Mmm, mmm, mmm..." Yukikaze muttered incomprehensibly, swaying from side to side in the breeze like a light leaf.

"She clearly hasn't woken up at all." Ai complained.

"Hey, wake up. This is dangerous." Hara Shichi stood in front of Yukikaze and stopped her.

"Huh?" Yukikaze tilted her adorable little head. Her narrowed eyes opened slightly, then she suddenly cried, "Ah!" and fell backward with a flushed face.

"H-H-H-Hara Shichi?!" Yukikaze lightly patted her fair cheeks, immediately waking herself up. "Why are you here?"

Hara Shichi explained the situation to Yukikaze, though he did not mention the Masked Girl.

"I see. I think that's a good idea too." Yukikaze stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Nero does return to the first-year girls' dormitory every night, but... if you keep waiting, you might miss your morning classes."

"That? I took leave." Hara Shichi waved his hand.

"You took leave?! What reason did you use?" Yukikaze asked in surprise.

"The teacher agreed before I even got to give the reason I had prepared," Hara Shichi said.

That was right. Duelist Academy was actually quite tolerant of its students.

Otherwise, there would not be people like Sera and Nero, who did not attend class at all.

Though Hara Shichi himself had not attended very many classes either.

"Alright, then..." Yukikaze lowered her head dejectedly. "I'll go to class first."

"Yeah, go ahead." Hara Shichi continued his stakeout.

As batch after batch of girls in black uniforms passed by, Hara Shichi began to feel sleepy too.

"Could she really be like Sera and sleep at the Crimson Lotus Society?" Hara Shichi could not help guessing.

"Then she must be a spy sent by the Crimson Lotus Society." Ai said.

Just as Hara Shichi was considering whether to give up, Nero slowly emerged from the dormitory building.

"She's here, she's here." Ai said. "Should we just go talk to her?"

"No, let's see what she does first." Hara Shichi decided to follow the girl for the time being and see what she did every day instead of attending class.

Nero first paused at a fork in the road, then walked toward the cafeteria on her short legs.

"The cafeteria? Is she getting breakfast?" Hara Shichi stroked his chin. Fine, getting to know someone could start with learning what they liked to eat.

Nero arrived at the cafeteria. Aside from a few cafeteria ladies, there was no one else inside. She walked to the counter and looked up at the menu. After a while, she bought four large meat buns and slowly sat down on a chair.

"F-four?!" Hara Shichi could not help breaking into a cold sweat. He had not expected little Nero to have such a huge appetite.

"She's probably still growing." Ai said uncertainly. "Aren't children like that? Their stomachs are bottomless pits."

"Even so..."

As the two whispered to each other, Hara Shichi suddenly felt someone poke his back.

"Who is it...?" Hara Shichi turned around curiously, and then... he saw Nero's expressionless little face.

"..."

"Want one?" Nero held up a meat bun.

"When did you notice us?" Hara Shichi forced a smile. What was with her? Could she teleport?!

"From the beginning." Nero said flatly. "I bought too many buns. Want one?"

"...Thanks."

And so, under the strange stares of the cafeteria ladies, the two sat facing each other and began eating breakfast.

You two first-years, is it really okay to be eating here instead of going to class?

"Do you like meat buns?" Hara Shichi asked curiously. Nero was the child of a great family, after all. Surely she ate...

Hiss. Having never been wealthy himself, Hara Shichi suddenly could not imagine what children from great families ate for breakfast.

Buns made of gold?

"Mm, because they're delicious." Nero took small bites of her bun, but she was not slow. Before Hara Shichi had even finished half of his, Nero was preparing to eat her second.

"Crimson Lotus promised to let me take Kiritani Aki's place and participate in the National Higher Academy Tournament." Nero suddenly said. "But she broke her promise."

"Is that the reason?" Hara Shichi asked.

"Mm, that's the reason." Nero nodded.

"Who came up with that for you?" Hara Shichi continued.

"What did you want from me?" Nero tactfully declined to answer.

Hara Shichi's expression turned strange.

He could not exactly say that everyone suspected she was a spy sent by the Crimson Lotus Society, so he had come specifically to investigate her.

So he changed the subject. "I thought you joined the team rather late, so you might feel unfamiliar around the others. That's why I'm taking you to meet each of them today, so you can get acquainted."

"No... fine, whatever." Nero had just been about to refuse when she suddenly remembered Crimson Lotus's instructions and hurriedly changed her answer.

"Alright. Yukikaze is probably in class right now, and Sera might still be sleeping in. Let's go find Julie." Hara Shichi thought for a moment.

"Julie? Where is she?" Nero had some impression of her, since they had once belonged to the same club.

"The library." Hara Shichi answered without hesitation. "Honestly, I don't think reading those strange books all day will improve her dueling skills, but she insists it's useful."

"I see." Nero nodded.

"Oh, and don't tell Julie I said that."

"Mm, I understand."

Only Children Think There Are Only Two Emotions in the World: Hate and Love

Unlike first-year students, Duelist Academy's second-year students had major and elective courses. This meant students could freely choose the courses they needed and make full, reasonable use of their spare time.

Julie's choice was to spend her days reading in the library.

As the oldest academy on the continent, Duelist Academy's library covered 38,277 square meters, had five floors, and housed 1.1232 million books. It was the library with the largest collection on the continent. Yet whenever Julie stood before the shelves choosing a book and saw the rusted nails embedded in them, she often worried that the shelf in front of her would collapse with a crash, its heavy books and solid wood falling onto her and smashing her head open.

The library was too old. The sparse, chilly number of people inside seemed to hint that it had entered its twilight years. When Hara Shichi brought Sera to the library, aside from the librarian, Julie was the only person on the first floor, sitting in a corner with a book in her hands and quietly turning its pages.

"What are you reading this time?" Hara Shichi pulled out a chair and sat across from Julie.

"A Quick Introduction to Synchro Summon." Julie raised the book and showed its cover to Hara Shichi.

It had to be said that the authors of this world had rather simple tastes. A plain white cover with black text and an author's name was enough. They were unlike the authors in Hara Shichi's original world, who used gaudy covers to attract readers and even came up with long titles.

That's right, I'm talking about you—Robinson Crusoe!

Of course, novels and textbooks could not be treated as the same thing. It was just a pointless association.

"You have a Synchro monster?" Hara Shichi asked in surprise.

"Preparing for the future. Besides, I've been able to control Synchro Particles for a while now. I'm just still somewhat unskilled." As Julie spoke, she glanced at the silent Nero, then at Hara Shichi, seeming to ask what was going on.

"Well... wasn't it too late yesterday? Nero had just joined us, and we disbanded before she had a chance to properly introduce herself to everyone. So I brought her here today to formally meet you all."

"I see. But you already knew each other, didn't you?" Julie closed her book. Nero's petite figure was reflected in her dark red eyes. "Back when you were in the Crimson Lotus Society."

"Yes, Julie and I have known each other for a long time." Nero nodded.

"But only to the extent that you know each other's names, right?" Hara Shichi said noncommittally.

"Mm, that's true." Julie agreed with Hara Shichi and handed him the book. "In that case, Hara Shichi, could you help me put this book back where it belongs?"

"You're done reading it?" Hara Shichi took the book and stood up. Every book had a number on its spine. This one was numbered 1033204071209, meaning it belonged on the fourth floor, shelf 07, row 12, position 09.

"I more or less understand it now. All that remains is to practice the steps."

After casually sending Hara Shichi away, Julie's previously calm gaze sharpened. She looked at Nero and said, "Now that it's just the two of us, can you tell me why you joined us?"

"The board refused to give me Kiritani Aki's spot. I joined for the Starting Roster Spot..." Nero repeated the same explanation, but Julie, who sat across from her, clearly did not buy it.

"You can fool yourself with those words, but you can't fool me." Julie said flatly. "You and Crimson Lotus are close, aren't you?"

"You don't lack rare cards, and you rarely interact with others. If it weren't for Crimson Lotus, you wouldn't have stayed in a place like that at all."

"How could someone like you possibly stand against Crimson Lotus over a so-called Starting Roster Spot?"

Nero fell silent for a moment before speaking. "In that case, are you going to drive me away?"