Ever since the day he killed someone, Garen had been waiting for the other person’s next move . He remained near the proximity of his home and mindlessly wandered around the school . After he had become completely familiar with the surrounding area, he increased his vigilance . He didn’t know when that pair of crimson eyes would appear once again .
After all, no master would let the murder of their men be without consequence .
Ding .
The crisp chime signaling the end of class shook Garen out of his daydreaming .
He sat at his desk, stretching his neck, and looked around .
Most of his classmates sat in place and stretched, some of them walked around the room, and some began to yell at people to purchase items .
The entire class had become raucous immediately after class .
"Are you going to the competition? Garen?" With a brown blazer, Kalidor sat in front of Garen’s seat . He pushed a slim boy to the side . "Sorry, let me squeeze in a little bit . "
The youth mumbled a bit but didn’t say much .
Garen looked at him, speechless .
"It’s the archery and sword art competition right? I don’t have any plans to compete right now, but my sister will be part of the archery contest . I will be there to cheer her on . Where did Fayne and Jack go?"
"I don’t know . Those two were acting pretty suspicious right after class . Who knows where they went?" Kalidor shrugged . Because of his peculiar taste in fashion and carelessness in appearance, not a lot of people enjoyed his company . In a similar vein, due to Garen’s low-income family background and cold personality, only someone as bold as Kalidor got along with Garen .
Therefore, the two had a closer relationship compared to Fayne and Jack . Including Ai Fei, they were a five-man gang . The closeness in their relationships, however, differed .
"I will only be there for the archery competition . " Garen didn’t give it too much thought . He felt quite distant from the contest at school because of how dull it usually was . Maybe it was because he had already fought someone to the death, but to him, the competitions were as boring as it could get .
Kalidor pouted as he displayed an expression that said ‘I knew you were going to say that’ .
"Since you have time right now, I need you to help me with something . " He looked around and dragged the studying Ai Fei look to the side .
"What are you doing?? I’m studying . "
"You’ll know once we get there . "
The three gathered together and Kalidor began explaining the situation .
Because a friend of his was back in town, he wanted to bring the two of them to their reunion .
Garen and Ai Fei were his close friends at school, so he wanted them to be there . Since Fayne and Jack’s girlfriends needed to be at Xu Xiao’s competition, they could not attend due to the conflict in their schedules .
"All my best friends are attending the gathering . My big brother, whom I respect the most, is hosting it . You guys have to come this time! Just treat it as a favor for me . "
"Why do you need us to be there at the gathering?" Ai Fei was puzzled .
"My family found me a girl that I am supposed to get engaged to . I want you guys to give me some opinions at this gathering…" Kalidor said in a shy tone .
"Engaged…" Ai Fei and Garen wereas shocked at the news .
"How old are you, to be getting engaged now…" Garen had a peculiar expression .
"16 years old, is there a rule that says I can’t be engaged at 16?" Kalidor asked defiantly .
Garen paused for a moment .
He wanted to ask Old Man Gregor to see the book again . But the old man had become increasingly stubborn for some reason, so his answer was always no . The Dojo was about to pay out its student allowance as well as host an internal competition to finalize the standings . He also needed to keep his guard up against the man with the bloody eyes . After all, he did kill someone of theirs .
[The good thing is that there’s no news related to the murder that day yet . After the police took care of the crime scene, the detective couldn’t find anything useful . The technology is too behind in this world . If it happened on earth, they could easily use surveillance to identify me as a prime suspect . ]
Garen was glad that chaos filled this barely industrial world .
[Even on earth, there are still plenty of people who committed murder but still remained free . Without the assistance of technology, who knows how many truths are still hidden in the darkness . No wonder a detective like Dale Quicksilver can have such a renowned reputation here . ]
He was not afraid that they would find his family . It was dark that day, so it was hard to recognize his face . Nobody knew that he went to the dojo through that desolated street either . Without a name as their lead, it would be impossible to identify someone in Huais Shan City out of the tens of thousands of people that lived there . It would be as difficult as searching for a needle in the vast sea . There was no way they could trace any of this back to his family .
After giving it a thought, he felt it was necessary to relax for a bit . A gathering of his friends would be an excellent choice . If he continued to suppress himself, he would go insane before the enemy even showed up .
"The competition starts in a couple of days . Let me be clear, I only have time for the archery competition . "
"It’s only for a few days, don’t worry, we won’t miss your sister’s competition . " Kalidor gave Garen an "I understand" look .
"I don’t have any problems, let me know when we leave . " Ai Fei concurred without hesitation .
"Okay, oh Ai Fei, can I borrow your physics homework?"
"Why don’t you ask Garen?"
"His handwriting is horrendous . "
"Go screw yourself! Your writing is uglier than mine, yet you don’t see me complaining!"
Not only Kalidor, Garen himself also regularly copied homework off of Ai Fei . He didn’t know every subject, especially in Foreign Languages . They were learning the renowned ancient Mengdiyan language . The language was incredibly difficult to pronounce with its tongue-twisting syllables . The abrupt tone combined with the peculiar sound made it impossible to memorize .
After attempting multiple times yet still only managing to achieve a score of 30 on his tests, he ultimately gave up on the language altogether . She was the only girl in the gang of five, and was also gorgeous to boot . Ai Fei was the catalyst and core to their desire to study . She could solve any problem they had .
*****************************
Three days later .
In nightfall, Garen and Ai Fei followed Kalidor to a hotel in the downtown of Huai sShan City .
"We are here," Kalidor said as he led the way . Behind him, Garen was in a black shirt, and Ai Fei was dressed up in a light pink dress .
Above the hotel, a sign named: Mila’s Night Star hung in the night sky . Below the name hung ten incandescent light bulbs . Light bulbs were not too common in this world due to the rarity of thin wiring and cost . Only the wealthy families could afford them .
A continuous wave of cars stopped in front of the luxurious rectangular door as they dropped customers off .
"My brother is a great guy; I’ll introduce you guys once he is here . " Kalidor looked excited . "He created a business by himself in the Eastern Sea province!"
"Look how happy you are . It sounds like you’re going to meet your believed . " Garen responded as he followed . Ai Fei giggled beside him .
"Can you say something nice for once in your life?"
A waiter greeted them as they walked through the door . After politely asking for their names, he led them to a grand hall on the second floor .
As they approached the hall, Kalidor waved at the teenagers in the hall . He looked quite popular amongst them .
"Why don’t you go and say hi? We’ll make ourselves comfortable here . " Ai Fei saw that Kalidor was struggling to keep up with all the conversations and understandingly offered .
"Okay, I’ll be back in a moment . There are drinks on the table, make yourself comfortable…" Before he finished his sentence, Kalidor was dragged away by a short-haired man .
Garen shrugged . He started to think as he watched the group of people inside the hall . As soon as Kalidor entered the room, he became the center of attention . His background was not as simple as he had claimed before .
"Let’s walk around . It looks great in here . "
"Mhmm . "
A graceful man was standing at the corner . His flawless skin and athletic figure almost resembled a woman’s . The fit white suit made him look appear extremely delicate and elegant . He casually chatted with the people surrounding him .
"Kalidor, we haven’t seen each other for a while . Why are you not saying hi? Who was the person that consistently yelled ‘brother, brother’ behind me?" The man saw the three of them approach and gave Kalidor a light punch .
His friends around him also giggled along .
"Brother Weimar, I am here . I came as soon as I saw your telegram . I didn’t dare stop for even a second," Kalidor said with a sour face .
"Okay, stop acting . I know you too well for your tricks to work! Let me introduce you . " Weimar said to the group of friends around him, "Noble Stallone’s only child, Kalidor . The rest are old friends, but let us introduce ourselves to the two new friends here today . "
He pointed at the blond boy and the girl with yellow pupils .
"William; his father, General William, is extremely close with Uncle Stallone . She is Jessie; the Kaifei International Hotel Chain is owned by her family . "
When he introduced Jessie, he winked at Kalidor . Kalidor immediately knew that she was the girl that his family found .
"Since you guys are Brother Weimar’s friend, you guys are my friends as well . If you guys ever need anything in Huais Shan, don’t hesitate to find me . " With a forthright statement, Kalidor pumped his chest .
William nodded without saying a word .
"Then I’ll have to count on you here . " Jessie smiled at him as she returned a wink .
"No problem . "
"Why don’t you introduce your friends to us?" Jessie looked at Garen and Ai Fei in the not-far-off distance .
"They are all my friends from school . The person with purple hair is called…"
"That’s okay, let’s grab something to eat . I’ll have to meet some other friends . You guys keep chatting . "
Weimar interrupted him . Then, with a smile, he walked into the crowd with a blue-colored martini .
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