### Chapter 175: Bamboo House and Alwen

The bamboo forest wasn’t too vast; it only spread about six or seven times the size of the bamboo house, clearly man-made.

But these green bamboos… quite interesting. Not only were they lush and straight, but their heights far exceeded the limits of ordinary bamboo, with some particularly old individuals appearing especially stout, reaching sizes typically born only from ancient trees.

Miss Priestess couldn’t help but grumble inwardly.

Can something with a diameter that requires one or even two people to embrace still be called “bamboo”?

Watching Miss White Fox and the little loli, who was just a head shorter than her, curiously looking around at the entrance, the Holy Knight couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Pretty nice here, isn’t it? Although it’s nominally a canteen open to everyone, the boss intentionally raised the spending level quite high, and with many additional rules to follow, plus it being far from the main student dormitory and teaching area, there are actually very few people who come here to eat. I’ve loved the quiet atmosphere here since I was little!”

“Eh? Is it… really expensive? Then should we not…”

“…”

Seeing Eudora suddenly startled and hurriedly grabbing Miss White Fox’s skirt, seeming to want to turn and leave, Edwina lowered her head and secretly gazed at her for a moment, before a thicker smile bloomed on her face.

“It’s okay, it’s okay! It’s just a bit expensive for ordinary students. It’s just a meal; I can afford this little expense! Just say what you want to eat, no need to be polite~!”

“Ah? But…”

As if completely unaware of the slightly unusual look from the Holy Knight earlier, Miss White Fox just smiled and patted the pink-haired loli’s head, nodding.

“Since Edwina said so, you shouldn’t worry about the cost. Don’t be fooled by her appearance; this gal is from a very, very wealthy family, you could say she’s rich enough to rival a country~”

“Ahahaha… it’s not that exaggerated…”

While casually joking, the blonde girl lifted the hanging curtain and led the two girls into the bamboo house.

The interior decor also looked as serene and elegant as the exterior. Although it was a canteen within a school with thousands of students and staff, there were only a dozen or so sets of tables and chairs, with merely a counter, and it lacked any high-end expensive decorations. Even the tables and chairs seemed mostly woven from bamboo.

It truly pushed the element of “bamboo” to its extreme.

As the three girls entered the Bamboo House, there were no customers dining inside yet; the hall was quite empty, with only a young woman with bluish-green hair, reminiscent of bamboo, leaning against the wall inside the counter, yawning out of boredom.

She was the only person active in this bamboo house besides Miss Vilyric.

Though she noticed the guests entering, the girl didn’t react overly excited, merely glancing at the three with a raised eyebrow before focusing her attention on the leading blonde girl.

It seemed Edwina was already familiar with her, immediately stepping forward to greet her.

“Hi hi, Alwen! Long time no see, you’re still so leisurely~”

“Hmm… oh, it’s you.”

The girl, who had been resting with her eyes closed against the wall, finally acknowledged the voice lazily, turning to behold the three girls led by the Holy Knight.

“Ah, the little bookworm from the Holy Academy, hehe~ it’s indeed been a while, and the little girl seems to have changed quite a bit… So, you finally thought of coming to see me?”

“Oh dear… Alwen, stop calling me little bookworm, there’s a friend here…”

Hearing this obviously intimate nickname given in private, even Edwina’s gentle disposition couldn’t help but turn a bit red as she hurriedly tried to change the subject.

“Alwen, let me introduce you… Miss Xī, and Eudora, they’re tourists who came from outside to visit, having heard of the Holy Academy’s reputation, specially coming here to check it out.”

“You know the academy’s rules, hehe… It just so happens it’s meal time, so I thought to bring them here to solve that and let them get to know you~”

After saying this, the Holy Knight turned to the little figure next to her, who was only half a head taller than the counter, from Alwen’s viewpoint, she could probably only see the white fox mask and the cluster of pink hair beside her.

“This is Alwen, the boss of the Bamboo House, also a good friend I’ve known for many years. I often came here to eat when I was at the academy.”

“Hello.”

“Hello, hello~”

“Hello, Alwen!”

After some unnutritious greetings and pleasantries, the boss named Alwen lifted her neck and began sizing up the two new customers who were hard to observe from the counter, her expression suddenly enlightened.

“Oh… so it’s that you brought them here because the academy regulations prohibit external personnel from dining in the internal canteen? Little bookworm, you really haven’t forgotten the rules, but it seems you’ve become much smoother than before, knowing how to find loopholes.”

“Ah, Alwen!!”

With that comment pinning down the Holy Knight’s thoughts, the latter’s body stiffened slightly, her face flushed awkwardly as she stuttered in defense while Alwen nonchalantly pulled out a bamboo board from beneath the table and tossed it onto the counter.

“Well, look at what you want to eat; everything we can make is up there. You order, and I’ll cook it fresh, it’s all very clean food. But don’t expect any luxurious gourmet dishes from this small place; please reserve any complaints to yourself.”

Wow, this really is… completely unconcerned for the business volume, no wonder the environment is nice, yet hardly anyone comes to eat.

They might as well hang a sign saying “Love it or Leave it.”

However, since Edwina was here, and Vilyric was not the type to fuss over small matters, she didn’t say much, only picked up the bamboo board filled with dense writing and began to scan it quickly.

Soon, she discovered a problem.

“Mushroom and winter bamboo shoot soup, braised bamboo shoots, stir-fried fresh bamboo shoots, bamboo leaf sauce… um, why is everything bamboo and shoots?”

Alwen, who was just finishing tying her apron, rolled her eyes.

“Who said that? There are other things behind! Besides, if my Bamboo House didn’t focus on bamboo-themed dishes, how could we still call it the Bamboo House?”

That actually has a point…?

As Alwen said, overall, about half of the dishes were indeed bamboo products, but those other items… to be honest, they were more or less related to bamboo as they were basically its symbiotic or similar products, and there were hardly any meat dishes.

Considering the environment of the bamboo forest outside, could it be that all the food in this Bamboo House was sourced from the immediate surroundings?

Seeing the little fox girl seemingly lost in thought, Edwina, who had just recovered from the awkward moment, quickly tried to smooth things over.

“Well! The food here might indeed be a bit bland… but I recall Miss Xī prefers this kind of flavor, right? Don’t be fooled by the plain appearance; Alwen’s cooking skills are really quite good! How about… let’s try it first?”

   

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