I Became a Tentacle Monster Blooming in the Academy Garden 58

## Chapter 58 – The Girl Meets a Connection

Another day dawns, vibrant and blue, at the Plancina Academy.

The special assessment had concluded, the semester was drawing to a close, and students were granted a two-month vacation.

During this time, students would recuperate from the damage they sustained during the special assessment and dedicate themselves to personal training, preparing for the next academic year.

In that sense, the academy was open to all students, as it always had been. Students, almost out of habit, came to the academy in their uniforms to spend time alone or with others.

They were waiting for the final announcements regarding the vacation and the final grades.

And now, among the bored students with no particular plans, the topic of conversation was the special assessment that had taken place just yesterday.

The special assessment, a topic kept secret to maintain confidentiality for the freshmen.

Once that veil was lifted, the students were like wild horses let loose.

“Hey, you got wrecked.”

“Still, I took down two Braxis. You didn’t get anything, you loser.”

“You got one-shotted by the Arachnella, right? Not even a one-shot, more like a one-hit KO?”

“More than that, it was my first time seeing an Arachnella in person… We all got taken down without even being able to lift a finger… How are you supposed to catch something like that in good conscience…”

As the immature chatter of the first-year students flowed, one student with quick access to information casually brought up what they had heard, drawing the attention of the other students.

“I heard someone caught it. Senior Lucia was saying?”

“Senior Lucia? The one from the Borgia family? As expected of a senior…!! Absolutely amazing…!! Beautiful and skilled with a sword…!!”

“No, I heard she didn’t catch it?”

“Huh…? Then who caught it…?”

As the students’ eyes filled with doubt, as if the unfolding events were not what they had expected,

“You know, that kid. From the Alchemy Department…!! The freshman…”

“A freshman…? From the Alchemy Department…?”

The difficulty of this special assessment was notorious, with bizarre rumors circulating even among the upperclassmen.

Although it was a fact known only to those in the know, the meat shield beastmen that were originally supposed to appear were absent, and the Arachnella had the unique characteristic of moving beyond the agreed-upon boundaries.

In that sense, the rumors about the person who somehow managed to overcome that bizarre special assessment spread far and wide, and eventually, an unexpected beneficiary became an overnight star within the academy.

Carla, the freshman from the Alchemy Department, was surrounded by her friends, telling her heroic tale to those who asked.

From the feeling of encountering the Arachnella to the idea of creating a plasma bomb using reagents.

Having received a guarantee from Lucia Borgia that she hadn’t done anything special, she had somehow become the final victor of the special assessment, having caught the Arachnella without even realizing it.

As a result, not only did she receive the highest score, but her teammates, who had inadvertently hitched a ride on the group project express bus, were also quite friendly to her.

Since all the members except Yui were seniors, it could be said that Carla’s school life had completely blossomed.

But perhaps the most important thing was that she was able to receive the praises of her best friend, her invincible roommate, Yui.

“I knew it…!! I believed in Carla… Jen… Ahem… Anyway, good job, Carla!!”

“Pet me more…!! Ehehet!! I couldn’t have done anything without Yui… If I had been a little more aware, Yui would have… Sorry…”

“Not just anyone can do what Carla did, you know? Shall we go to the bakery today? I’ll treat!!”

“Yay!! I love you, Yui!!”

And so, the friendship between the girls deepened.

But the important thing was that, while the girls’ friendship was all well and good, the concern about what to do with the falling crumbs was still valid.

While sitting in the bakery, forking into a soft cake, Yui was staring intently at Carla with a knowing look.

Carla, feeling uneasy about that gaze, sent a questioning look at Yui’s question.

“So, what are you planning to do, Carla?”

“Do about what?”

As Carla answered blankly, Yui clutched the back of her neck with a “Ugh…”

She then reached out with both hands and gently pinched Carla’s soft cheeks, and before long, as if intoxicated by the sensation, she began to knead Carla’s cheeks like she was playing with rice cake.

“There’s a reward for the special assessment…!!”

“Owowow…!! I fowgot!!”

“Really… The seniors gave up all their rights to the reward to you, didn’t they? Then you should think about getting the best thing possible!!”

“Hehe… Even so…
I can’t think of anything yet…”

Carla, who caught the Arachnella and led the group to victory.

Having achieved the highest score in the special assessment by catching the Arachnella, the top-ranked group received not only the highest score in the assessment but also an additional reward.

That was…

“The St. Plancina Academy’s supply room!!
From medicines with unreleased recipes to various specialized tools and rare ingredients…!!
You know the rumor that whatever it is, it’s definitely in the supply room, right?”

The supply room. It was a huge warehouse where all the supplies needed for the academy’s operations were stored.

As expected of St. Plancina Academy, which had the best education and training curriculum, the supply room contained everything intended for use in education.

So, all sorts of expensive reagents and high-quality rare ingredients in the field of alchemy that Carla would be interested in were gathered there, making it an offer that any self-respecting alchemist couldn’t resist.

The only condition the academy set was that they could only take five items, regardless of type.

Originally, this was supposed to be five items in total, with each of the five members of the top-ranked group taking one item each,

So even Carla, who was listening to Yui’s words, couldn’t help but be excited.

“The supply room…”

Should she get rare ingredients that she hadn’t even touched before and experiment with them?

If she got a high-performance testing tool set and further developed her workshop?

The problem was that she wanted to do so many things that she couldn’t even choose.

“Hehet… I’m a little worried…?
Is there anything you want, Yui?”

“Well, I don’t know? There’s nothing I want right now?
That’s why I gave up my rights to Carla, you know?
The medical department only needs knowledge, and medicines aren’t even that expensive.
But alchemy is a very expensive field, isn’t it?
I heard that the reagent you used this time was very expensive?”

“Huuu… It was something I was saving…”

Originally, she had brought it in advance to use it for her graduation experiment or an important project experiment, but who knew that she would end up using the Plazina reagent like this.

“But I used it for a good cause…!!
It’s okay!! It was a meaningful expenditure!!”

“Plazina… was it?
I think that’s probably in the supply room too?”

“Eek…!!”

The supply room had everything that was even remotely related to the academy’s curriculum, so how could it not have just one Plazina reagent?

But Yui’s eyes, watching Carla’s cute appearance as she sparkled her eyes as if she had found a small bone, began to be filled with a feeling as if she was looking at a tiny puppy.

“Carla is so cute… Hehe…
I want to bite her and swallow her whole!!”

“Kyaaak!! No way…!! Kyahak!! Yui!!”

In the end, the time of the two girls, Yui, who hugged Carla while eating cake, and Carla, who twisted her body from the tickling, passed by together.

At the same time, Carla, who suddenly remembered the spider she had locked in her desk drawer at Yui’s words, gave an awkward smile with a sense of urgency.

‘Ah… I haven’t been feeding him…’

She didn’t know how he got out of the desk drawer, but it was no coincidence that he encountered her in the dungeon and even helped save Yui, who was seriously injured, with his friends.

‘Sorry… I’ll definitely give you food when I get back today…’

Carla, who even had a secret friend, was having a truly happy and enjoyable time in her youth.

As the main character of her life, she was in full bloom, and it seemed that another change was taking place in Carla’s life, which was blooming with fresh floral scents.

Just then, a man opened the door of the bakery and his eyes met hers.

“Carla, I meet you here?”

“Eh… Lucas…? Ah.. Hello…!!”

Lucas Proden, a neat and handsome young man with neatly styled gray hair, was giving Carla a warm smile.

And only Yui’s eyes, reading the subtle pink atmosphere flowing between them, were narrowing slightly.