Cecil stared at the young black-haired boy a little longer, and she began to frown when she came to realise something. 

In the novel, Haru and the others probably tried to save Shin like that too. 

Half of their manpower went to fight in the tournament, while the other half sneaked into the coliseum to act as a distraction. 

To leave Ephert at a disadvantage in case he tried to do anything with Shin, just like this. 

Her frown grew deeper, and Cecil had an inkling to what happened to them in the original novel.

They...probably did not have a good ending. 

Cecil eventually arrived at the worst conclusion. 

Haru and his crew all died.  

However, Cecil found it strange. 

Haru and his crew weren’t weak in the slightest, and they could put up a real fight. Killing all of them wasn’t an impossible task but there was something Cecil couldn’t quite put her finger on it. 

“Hey, look out!” 

Cecil gasped, looking up and seeing Ryo stepping in the way to change the direction of a morning star aiming at her. 

“Don’t start daydreaming in the middle of the battlefield,” Ryo chastised, bringing his halberd back to his side and yawned. “We can’t lose a comrade now.” 

“...thank you.” 

“Why do you look so shocked?” Ryo blinked in confusion. 

“It’s just...I didn’t expect you to save me so readily, or to call me...”

“A comrade?”  

“Hmmm…” Ryo hummed thoughtfully before he grinned. “The captain likes to partner up with weird people, and I always end up either hating or liking them.” 

Cecil recalled Haru partnering up with Veau, and her expression was a mixture between bewilderment and frustration. 

“I like you guys, so,” Ryo placed his arm around Cecil’s shoulder, grinning wider. “In my eyes, you are comrades! And the strongest ones we’ve had so far!” 

Cecil smiled lightly. “You are pretty likable yourself, Ryo.” 

“Hehehe, of course, of course,” Ryo snickered, nodding as he nuzzled Cecil closer to him. “I’m strong after all!” 

She felt a drop of sweat rolling down her face. 

It all comes down to strength again, huh…

A real battle maniac.

Cecil sighed, looking up at Ephert and she glanced towards Shin in concern. He had recovered from his coughing fit, and he had shuffled further away from Ephert, who thankfully did not handle Shin roughly anymore. 

“Ephert won’t touch him again,” Ryo looked up as well., his voice growing cold. “Not unless he wants his hands to be gone.” 

Cecil wanted to nod when she heard Ryo cry out in pain. 

“Ow, ow ow!” 

Xue was behind them, pinching Ryo’s arm on her shoulder and forcing the man to back away from Cecil. A second later, he flung Ryo’s arm away and replaced his arm with his own, pulling Cecil close just like Ryo did. 

Cecil blinked rapidly, ducking her head down in embarrassment at Xue’s blatant display of possessiveness and jealousy. 

“Tch, you have such a petty lover.” Ryo rubbed at the sore spot on his arm with a pout. 

“Shut up.” 

“For the last time, he’s not my lover.” 

The two of them said at the same time, and Xue flinched. He slowly withdrew from Cecil, lowering his arm without any other word. 

“Yeah, whatever!” Ryo waved it off, before he put his finger in between his lips, whistling loudly. 

That garnered the attention of many opponents aiming at Xue and Cecil. 

“Strong ones! Here!” Ryo waggled his fingers at them, his voice was rather mocking. “Heh, come at me!” 

“What--” 

“Is he looking down on us?!” 

“Get him!” 

Ryo dodged a ball of fire aimed at him, and at the same time, the ground below him shot him up into the air. 

The charming battle maniac only grinned, letting out a small cheer as he flipped in the air, landing on an unfortunate soul and knocking him out cold.  

Cecil finally noticed Xue pulling away from her reluctantly and she blinked in confusion, leaning forward to catch a glimpse of Xue’s face.

He looked as if someone had stabbed him in the gut. 

Seeing such a look on his face, something pricked at her heart. 

It was painful. 

"Xue, I--"

Cecil halted abruptly, her mouth opening and closing and she found herself unable to continue the next few words. 

Xue, I did not mean it that way. 

Even if I say that...what am I actually trying to say?

That he is my lover?

But he isn't. 

That I look at him as my lover?

But...do I?

What is Xue to me?

What...are we?

Xue gazed at Cecil, his expression still as bitter. "What...is it?"

The grip on his spear tightened. 

Cecil opened her mouth, staring back at Xue. 

What do I say?

What should I say to make him feel better?

I don't want to cause him any more pain. 

I don't want to give him any false hope either. 

What do I say?!

What do I…

"Xue, that man just now...was he a soul fragment of yours?" 

Cecil paled upon hearing herself blurt out those words in a panic. 

No!

That is the last thing on my mind right now! 

Why did I--

Just as she expected, the expression on Xue's face became worse. 

This time, Cecil felt her heart throbbing painfully.

"So what if he is? Why are you so concerned over him?" Xue questioned, his voice extremely cold. "Just because he saved you?"

The chilling tone in his voice almost made Cecil flinch. 

It has been a while since he had spoken to her in such a cold manner. 

"No, Xue, I--"

Xue sighed, he could see the fear in her clear eyes and his hand covered his eyes. "I'm sorry, it's not you I'm angry at, it's..."

Cecil bit on her lower lip.

I am such an idiot! 

What have I done?

Cecil hurried to clear up the misunderstanding, wanting nothing more than to take back her words. 

"Xue, that's not it. I'm sorry, I did not--"

Alas, they were still in the middle of the tournament. The participants who had targeted Ryo had now gone back to targeting them. 

Xue lowered his hand and he raised it towards Cecil, an irritated expression on his face. 

"Having a chat here? Where the hell do you think you guys are?!" 

Someone barked out, and the spear in Xue's hand swung out. It collided with a wooden club, and the owner of the voice almost squeaked in fear when his wooden club shattered into pieces. 

At the same time, Cecil spun around, preparing to defend herself against the backstabber. However, the backstabber was almost burned by a ball of fox fire that headed his way. 

"Get lost." Xue muttered darkly, a murderous look on his face.

The attackers realised their sneak attack had not worked, and they were horrified. 

They turned to look at Xue, flinching back in fear when there was an ominous aura drifting out from him. 

If they did not get lost at this moment, they had a feeling they would receive an agonising death. 

They scampered away without another word. 

The other participants nearby who wanted to take advantage of the chaos backed away slowly. 

Scary.

So scary!

Too scary!

Cecil turned back to look at Xue, and she saw his hand reaching out to her until he paused. 

"Let's talk later."

Xue withdrew his hand. 

"But--"

"This isn't the right time."

Xue forced a small, gentle smile on his face, before he spun around and charged into the crowd. 

[ Previous impression points: 88
Remaining impression points: 88
Xue is hurt. ]

[ No change in points...simply because he doesn't want to be angry at you. ]

"..."

"...you don't have to tell me that, I...already know."

Cecil exhaled shakily, her forehead on her palm.

"AI500…"

[ Yes, Cecil Lan? ]

"You must think I am an idiot."

[ A clueless idiot. ]

"...indeed, I am."

[ You are still lovable. ]

Even the rare compliment from AI500 did not ease the hurt within Cecil. 

However, Cecil knew she had no one to blame but herself. 

"When all of this is over, I...need to talk to Xue, properly."

[ Of course~
You do not want your impression points to start dropping again, don't you? ]

"..."

For the first time in a while, Cecil wanted to cough up actual blood.

***

“...and that’s all that we know.” 

The mercenary finished speaking, looking at Hana and K’xug. Hana did not know what expression to show, only blinking her eyes curiously at K’xug. 

Meanwhile, K’xug furrowed his eyebrows and stared at the mercenary in askance. 

They were all currently tied up and the owner of the inn had woken up. He had barred any entry from the public after assessing the situation. 

“You do not believe me,” the mercenary said, nodding his head. “It is not surprising.” 

K’xug did not show them any sympathy. 

In fact, he was still against Hana unfreezing their limbs that she froze from using her ice arrows. Their injuries were still bleeding, and it was a ghastly side to look at. 

Thankfully, Hana was able to bear the sight now. 

“Do you know what kind of person Ephert is?” 

Hana and K’xug shook their heads. 

“He is...the worst scum of them all. We mercenaries, we do not earn much money, we are fighters for hire and that’s only what we are good for, we have nothing else to offer,” he began to explain, the hatred he held for Ephert was evident in his voice. “We do have our own morales and motto, but Ephert, that bastard, he monopolised the entire mercenary market here. We either serve him, or let our family starve to death.” 

The mercenary looked at K’xug, laughing bitterly. 

“You should go see for yourself, for I swear upon my entire life I am not lying,” he continued his words. “Ephert possessed some strange enchanted equipment and gave them to his subordinates that he sent to the fighting tournament.” 

Hana looked at K’xug, tugging at his sleeve of his kimono. 

“K’xug, I am worried for them. We...should really check on them, there is no harm, right?” 

K’xug furrowed his eyebrows, not feeling safe leaving these mercenaries here even though they were bound up. 

“Go to your friends and young master Haru’s side,” the owner of the inn spoke to K’xug. “Don’t worry, this time, we will not let my guard down.”

The owner of the inn stepped in front of the mercenaries, rolling up his sleeves and one could see the numerous battle scars on him. At the same time, the staff from the inn started to come out one by one, carrying weapons of their own. 

It seemed like they were no ordinary people that simply worked at an inn. 

Hana glanced at K’xug once again, and K’xug nodded at her. 

It was time for them to go. 

***

Meanwhile, somewhere in the coliseum, the three musketeers were running amuck as along the way after splitting up, they joined up. Yun and Haru were combining their powers to create wind blades made of fire, whereas Kiyae wasn’t stepping in the slightest. 

Any enemy who came close towards her met the wrath of her nunchucks. 

“It’s here.” 

“Oh!” 

“Thanks Yun.” 

The three of them stuck to the wall of the coliseum. 

Goro and his comrades were chasing them down for the past hour, and he panted heavily. 

“Da-damnit, they are doing it again! Catch them!”

Kiyae winked towards Goro, raising her hands up. 

He was once again a step too late in stopping the trio. The three of them combined had perfect coordination. 

Kiyae made a flipping motion, and the wall flipped, bringing them over to the other side of the wall. Goro groaned, his hands on his knees. 

“Why the hell is there not a single earth element user among us here?” 

“Bo-boss--” 

“Where the hell is the earth user I called you guys to bring over moments ago?!” Goro barked out at his subordinates in frustration. 

They flinched, not knowing how to answer their superior. 

After all, the person that dashed off moments ago to find an earth user was nowhere to be found. 

Alas, if only they knew...the person itself has been knocked out a minute ago by the trio. 

It happened to the previous messenger too. 

They had their best strategist with them, Yun. The handsome man with glasses had long memorised the entire map of the coliseum, along with the various spots they had secretly marked with the help of their lord. 

“Send out another one!” 

“Ye-yes sir!” 

“If they want to play a game of endurance, fine,” Goro growled in annoyance. “Let’s see how long they can last.” 

Meanwhile, the trio that were flipped over to the other side were right at the railings of the coliseum that led to the outside. They were running down the corridor and Haru glanced back, grinning to himself. 

“They still haven’t found an earth user.” 

“Stop, Kiyae, we need to conserve as much energy as possible.” 

Kiyae was the one they were most reliant on, and she nodded. The three of them halted, leaning against the wall and panting slightly. 

“I wonder how long they will take to win the tournament?” 

“Hmmm, with that crazy strong Xue there and our battle maniac,” Haru wondered before laughing loudly. “Wouldn’t it be really quick?” 

“It should be,” Yun nodded his head. “According to my calculation, we would have to hold on for another twenty minutes or less.” 

“Good,” Kiyae groaned out. “I don’t know for how much longer I can continue flipping us through wall by wall.” 

All of a sudden, the three of them caught a familiar glimpse of a red-haired woman and a copper-brown haired man jogging past them outside the coliseum. 

“Isn’t that--” 

“Hana and K’xug!” Kiyae hollered their names. 

Hana and K’xug heard their names being called from the inside, and they paused, turning to look. They noticed three familiar faces approaching the railings that separated them from the coliseum and the outside. 

“Haru, Kiyae and Yun!” Hana chirped. “What are you doing here?” 

“What about you?” 

“Ah…” Hana bit on her lower lip, looking at K’xug. 

K’xug nodded at her. 

“That...I woke up not too long ago, and then I went down to find the inn owner and…” 

Hana began to explain the situation to them, and what the mercenary said to them. The most important point was how some of Ephert’s men were disguised as fighters in the tournament, and that they possessed enhanced weapons that Ephert somehow obtained. 

The mercenary did not know where Ephert had obtained them from, but he knew they were powerful weapons. 

Yun furrowed his eyebrows deeply, troubled by the newfound information. 

“This isn’t good.” 

Haru snapped his head towards Yun. “If even you are saying that…” 

“We do not know if Xue, Ryo or Cecil are capable of fighting against enhanced weapons,” Yun stated, crossing his arms. “The strength of those enhanced weapons at this current moment...is unknown.” 

“Tsk, the unknown is dangerous,” Kiyae tapped her nunchucks against the stone wall. “They might be in danger.” 

“Captain…” Yun looked towards Haru. 

Haru wore a solemn look on his face, unbefitting of his usual cheeky behaviour. 

“We will help them from behind the scenes, but first,” Haru looked at all of them. “We need to get Goro out of the way or out of commission.” 

“Finally,” Kiyae sighed in relief. “I have been holding back this entire time from punching that annoying red hair guy.” 

Yun nodded, adjusting his glasses as he agreed with the change of plans from his captain. 

“And second,” Haru pointed to K’xug and Hana. “We need to get the two of you inside here with us--” 

K’xug reached out to the railings, pushing it apart like it was a tree branch blocking his way in the forest. 

The trio gaped openly at K’xug’s strength to push apart the metal railings effortlessly. 

***

《 start 》

What was I expecting? 

Am I an idiot? 

Foolishly, I started to hope.

Foolishly, I placed some expectations on your response. 

Foolishly, I hurt myself because of all these. 

What right do I have to be angry at you? 

The one that I should be angry at...is myself. 

With how I treated you when I first met you, to the point where I thought of killing you...

Expecting you to return my feelings…

I am a complete fool. 

And yet, a part of me yearns for it. 

It yearns for everything about you, even your heart. 

《 stop 》

***

Author's Note: The feeling when you want to say something right to fit the situation, and what comes out from your mouth is something along the lines of "hey, did you know birds fly?".

And then all you hear is "..."
And the entire mini you inside your mind just did a gazillion face palm.

And you stand there smiling or with a  blank stare, and you probably died a little on the inside.

Lmao, I have been there and done it too many times ._.