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[ Woods Behind Campus ]
がかヅ ⬩ "Waaaah! There's so many chestnuts all over the place! It's a forest of all you can eat, mont blanc... Guugh. Let's get picking... Oww, ow!" Grim lifted his paw in the air, a thorn pricked his paw. "Ffgna!! The thorns pricked my paw!" [ Y/n ] sighed as she shook her head, kneeling down on the ground. Her fingers gently grabbed the thorn and pulled it out.
"We can't pick them up with bare hands. It'll also be good to get a basket or something to put them all in." Deuce stated, Ace decided to speak up, "The botanical garden probably has whatever we need inside." Catching the attention of [ Y/n ]. "Let's take a look." Deuce responded.
[ Botanical Garden - Temperate Zone ]
As they entered the garden, "Wow, it's bigger in here than I thought." Ace said with awe. "There should be a caretaker of this place. We should split up and find them." Deuce ordered, "I'll go right." Ace pointed to the right. "And I'll head left. Grim and Supervisor. You guys can go straight to the back." Deuce spoke. [ Y/n ] nodded as she picked Grim up, "Alright."
"Hey, hey, look at this. There's a bunch of fruit! They smell so good!" Grim drooled with sparkles appearing over his eyes. "There's a bunch of fruit I've never seen."[ Y/n ] awed as she looked around the garden. Without any attention on where she stepped, [ Y/n ] felt something soft and squishy, "Oof!"
The sound made [ Y/n ] and Grim confused, "Grim, did your voice get deeper?" Asked [ Y/n ], Grim shook his head, "Oi. You've got some nerve stepping on someone's tail without saying anything." A deep voice announced. "Are you the caretaker here? You seem like an impolite guy..." Grim exclaimed to the lion male. "I was right in the middle of a nice nap, then you go and walk all over my tail. This sucks." He said.
"I'm so sorry!" [ Y/n ] bowed as she bit her bottom lip. "You... Aren't you that herbivore that the mirror said can't use magic? Hmmm..." He smirked as the lion male leaned in and started to sniff her. 'Eeek... H-he's smelling me!' [ Y/n ] thought with sweat appearing. "... Ha. I really don't smell a speck of magic on you. I don't feel like taking on an opponent that can't resist."
"Man, being scrutinized by this guy is making my fur stand on end." Grim cried, the lion male stood straight up and sighed, shaking his head. "Too bad that I can't hit you." Tilting his head to the side. "Hurry, let's get outta here!" Grim insisted on your shoulder now. "Leona!" A voice called out from behind him.
A hyena walked behind him, "Huh?" Leona turned around, spotting the hyena. "Ah, there you are. It's time for your remedial lessons, y'know."
"Ugghh... The annoying one's here." Leona rolled his eyes, "It's cause you keep failing, Leona. If you keep getting held back, we're gonna be classmates." The hyena responded to the lion's complaint. "Knock it off already. I don't need lectures from you." He stated, "I don't enjoy nagging you! You'd have no prob if you just tried. Whatever, let's go!" The hyena exclaimed.
"Tsk... Watch out next time you come onto my terf, Herbivores." Leona glared at you and Grim. He turned around and left with the hyena behind him. Grim let out a sigh, "... Ffgnaa!! I'm sweating bullets! What's with that intimidating caretaker!?" [ Y/n ] frowned as she shook her head, "I don't think he's the caretaker..."
"We found a basket and tongs over there!" Ace called out from behind, Deuce next to him, noticing the expression on Grim and [ Y/n ]. "... Did something happen to you two?" He asked, concerned. "Ah, that's right! The chestnuts! Our tart will get smaller if we don't get a bunch. We'll talk about our encounter with the caretaker while we work." Grim hopped off from [ Y/n's ] shoulder.
[ Woods Behind Campus ]
"... That's what happened." Grim finishes off the story of their encounter, "There is absolutely no way that was the caretaker." Ace commented, "That's what I said..." She muttered, picking off the chestnuts. "If I think back now that I've calmed down, that guy was wearing a yellow vest, so he must be from the Banana Dorm." Grim stated.
"Banana... Does he mean Savanaclaw?" Deuce questioned, "Is it just me, or are there a lot of delinquents at Night Raven College?" He asked, cupping his chin. "Our chestnut pile is pretty big. Let's get them back to Trey!" Ace happily exclaimed. "Nyaha! This tart is gonna be awesome!" Grim happily pumping his paw in the air.
[ Kitchen ]
The first years entered the kitchen with baskets of chestnuts, "Welcome back. You picked quite a bit." Trey acknowledge the trio + Grim. "With this, we can make a huge tart!" He cheered, "Peeling all this is going to be a challenge, but... Let's get to it." Trey said.
"All of this... There's no end in sight..." Deuce muttered, [ Y/n ] smiled as she picked one up. "Making sweets is all about preparation." Trey smiled, Ace rolled his eyes, "Yeah yeah, we get it! I'm so ready to get this over with!"
