"Crieek~!"
"Yeah, yeah, are you happy now?"
"Criek, criek~!"
"That's good to hear."
In the end, I decided to bring Seraphina along with me.
She was perched on top of my shoulder using her talons, chirping merrily as if she were extremely happy.
Actually, I didn't really decide anything – I just didn't have a choice. She was really not letting me go.
I tried to wrestle with her, trying to get her to leave me, but she was relentless! I feared that she would find a way to fly out of the apartment and follow me if I left her like that.
So in the end, using my Edit Pen, I created an appearance-altering potion and let Sera drink it, which did its job.
Now, her bright red feathers had completely turned to black, and her silver shade had been replaced with white.
Her radiant glow had also subsided, and even her eye color turned black. She looked like an ordinary species of bird, just a little bigger in size.
Oh, yes, Sera has grown quite a lot again.
Her body was now as big as my arm, and her wingspan was even bigger. Phoenixes do grow at an alarming rate, huh?
It's fine, though. If someone asks, I can just say she's my tamed beast. Having tamed beasts with you is not against the rules of the academy, after all.
Ding–
Right when I was about to enter the academy gates, deep in thought, a notification bell shook me out of my daze.
It was a text message.
I checked it and confirmed that it was from Kai. He alerted me that he and his team have come back to the academy.
But I wonder, though, how did they travel?
I mean, it's not like so many people can use the Teleportation Gate of the Academy.
Apart from it not being very secretive, it's also not feasible, as the Cadet Council would soon notice so many people using the Gate and put a stop to it.
Well, I will ask him about it when I see him next time.
"Lucaas! Lucaaaas! Lucaaaaaas! Brooooo!"
"Hmm?" Frowning, I spun around as I heard someone shouting my name at the top of their lungs.
Only then did I see a young elven man with the lightest shade of blue hair and azure eyes.
He usually had a rather handsome face, but right now it was contorted as he ran toward me with tears streaming down his cheeks and a running nose.
Ahh, right.
In the past few days, Kent tried to reach out to me, but I completely forgot to call him back.
I may or may not have also ignored all his texts.
Hey! In my defense, I was really busy! Besides, Leo gave me zero time to waste in the past few days!
Thak—!
"Ouch!"
I couldn't help but let out a pained and startled scream as Kent's body slammed into mine, trapping me in a tight hug.
Ahh, well, I can't run away from him now, can I?
†
After consoling Kent and calming him down, we set off together toward the academy. Somewhere along the way, we were joined by an unexpected guest.
"By the way, bro! I didn't get to say this earlier, but your performance during the Flag Game was great!" Kent exclaimed with clear excitement in his voice.
"Thanks," I replied, trying not to let a smug smile creep onto my face.
At that moment, the third person walking with us spoke up.
"And I didn't get to say this earlier, but thanks, Lucas. Not only did you keep your promise, but you also led us to victory."
It was Amelia.
I turned towards her and nonchalantly waved my hand in a dismissive manner.
"I told you already, I was just returning the favor, so there's no need to thank me for it," I said, offering a polite smile.
I hadn't had the chance to meet Amelia and Kent after the game ended on the first day.
Our team had interviews scheduled, so Kent couldn't join us during that time.
As for Amelia, the Academy thought it best not to be seen together to avoid any further controversies, so her award ceremonies and interviews were held separately.
After the game, I did catch a glimpse of Amelia in the medical room, but we had no opportunity to talk as Nero spoiled my mood first and I headed home.
After that, Master dragged me to perform vigorous training with him, leaving me little time to even catch a breath let alone talk to people.
Amelia shook her head, insisting, "No, I still need to thank you for other things."
An enigmatic expression crossed my face as I inquired, "What other things?"
Amelia hesitated for a moment before averting her gaze. "I don't want to tell."
Huh? What? I swear to God, I don't understand her at all!
I couldn't help but be puzzled.
Before I could probe further, Kent jumped in, changing the topic, "By the way, bro! We heard that you and Kai fought! What happened?!"
Surprised by his question, I raised an eyebrow. "The news has already spread?"
Amelia scoffed and tapped on her smart bracelet, saying, "The news? There's a video going around the internet showing you stomping Kai's head into the ground. Some people are even claiming that you both fell down from a building, can you believe it?"
As she said that, a holographic screen popped up in front of us, displaying a video in which I was indeed seen stomping Kai's head into the concrete.
Damn, I know how to deliver a curb stomp.
After the video ended, Kent quickly spoke up, "When I heard the news that the Cadet Council was punishing you, I rushed to the academy to meet you. But by that time, we were informed that you had already left with Leo sensei."
"We?" I furrowed my brow, curious about Kent's words.
Amelia's ears perked up, and her face momentarily paled as Kent continued, "Yeah, after arriving at the Academy, I found Amelia was also there."
I turned my gaze to Amelia, and she simply shrugged in response.
"I was nearby, so I decided to check up on you. You know, I still needed to thank you and all," she explained.
Then, she gave me a curious glance and asked, "So why did you two fight?"
I hesitated for a moment before replying, "It was an ego fight."
"An ego fight?" Kent raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, you know, when two guys can't stand each other, they just duke it out," I clarified.
"I know what an ego fight is," Kent interjected, "And you had a fair reason to get into a fight with him after how he targeted you that day."
"Targeted him?" Amelia looked at Kent with a questioning expression.
Kent proceeded to tell her about the incident when Kai confronted me, causing a frown to form on Amelia's face.
"I see," she said, "But still, didn't you guys go a little too extreme on each other?"
"It's fine, it's fine," I waved my hand dismissively. "We're perfectly fine now."
"I also heard his group got involved too," Kent added.
"Yeah, but they didn't fight," I clarified.
Well, to be precise, they couldn't put up a fight.
Kai was the only person there who could have defeated me, and he even came close to doing so despite all the stat boosts I had.
If not for the fact that he had fought Quinn just moments before my arrival—
No, actually, now that I think about it, I could've defeated him even in his top condition since it wouldn't have made much of a difference.
"And what was the punishment you got?" Amelia inquired, raising her eyebrows.
After a moment of contemplation, I replied, "Uh, nothing drastic. The Vice President just made us pay for the damages, and the President asked us to participate in a training drill for martial discipline. My own martial discipline will last for two days after the King's Tournament."
"Right, and I suppose paying such a lowly amount wouldn't have even made a dent in your Highness' wallet, right?" Amelia commented playfully with a smirk.
"Haa! Now you understand my greatness! Good, good!" I retorted with the same energy.
With that banter, the three of us continued walking while chatting about various things.
Amelia mentioned that my popularity had suddenly skyrocketed, as had Kai's.
Both of us were the individuals that no one expected to deliver such a remarkable performance in the game.
It was shocking for almost everyone at the Academy, and our duel became the most interesting part of the Flag Game.
In fact, the Flag Game ended up being the second most captivating match-up in this year's King's Tournament—a surprising achievement considering it's usually very easy to surpass the hype generated by the main event on the first day.
But in our case, none of the matches, except one, came close to the level of entertainment we provided.
Moreover, after the snippet of our little fight went viral, our popularity only kept increasing.
Even people from outside the Academy were hyped to see us clash again in the main event of the King's Tournament.
Heh, poor souls.
Anyway, Kent also asked me about the bird perched on top of my shoulder. I simply told him she was my parrot that he had seen earlier.
Kent insisted that the parrot he saw was red, but Amelia and I playfully gaslighted him until the poor soul had no choice but to believe us.
As we indulged in such topics, we finally reached the Academy.
The cadets who were in the top 200 academic rankings were asked to head toward the western or eastern pavilion.
Those who had tickets to watch the match – yes, this match wasn't free to watch even for the academy cadets – were directed to their seats in the stadium.
Waving his tickets, Kent parted ways, saying, "I guess it's my cue. I'll cheer for you both, so you better win!"
Waving him back, Amelia and I headed for the western pavilion.
