Tenn's mother was a sweet woman who was simply overly excited at hearing every single thing about her son from his friend's mouth.
Ning made sure to say every good thing about Tenn without ever mentioning a single bad one so the woman would be nothing but overjoyed.
Even Kaleb who was barely friends with Tenn made sure to say what he could think was good about Tenn.
Tenn was embarrassed the entire time, but that didn't stop the others from talking about him. After a while, a servant came to let them know that their rooms were ready.
Tenn quickly dragged the two of them away under the excuse that they needed to return back to the arena early tomorrow morning to meet with the academy.
"I'm sorry. She likes talking a lot," Tenn said once they were alone.
"It's alright," Ning chuckled a bit. "She's your mother and is proud of you. Nothing wrong with that."
Kaleb agreed.
Tenn gave an awkward smile in the end. "Right, you guys can take a bath or go directly to sleep. I'm so sorry we couldn't go visit the city though. If not for Uncle, we could've stayed out until late midnight."
"That's alright," Ning said. "I didn't really want to visit the city that much."
"We still have quite a few days, don't we?" Kaleb asked. "We can visit whenever we want to."
"I suppose you're right," Tenn said. "Then, I guess you guys can—"
A guard came rushing into the mansion screaming, "Young master! Young master, where are you?"
Tenn was surprised to hear someone calling him, so he quickly called back. "I'm here, what's wrong?" he asked.
"Young master!" the guard came up to him. "Young lord Nalen is here for you."
"Huh?" Tenn's eyes narrowed in surprise. "Cousin Nalen is here? This late? How does he even know I'm home? I didn't stop to talk to anyone."
"I do not know, young master, but he is calling for you and these two friends of yours," the guard said.
Tenn was even more surprised. "Why does he want to—"
"TENN!" a man slightly taller than Ning, with long blond hair, wearing a magnificent white set of robes walked into the mansion. He had come in without the guard's approval at all.
"Cousin Nalen," Tenn quickly walked up to him. "What are you doing here this late?"
"I'm here to see my favorite cousin," Nalen said. "I saw your matches today. Congrats on almost winning."
"Thank you, cousin," Tenn said. He found it slightly weird how Nalen worded the congratulations but didn't give much thought to it. "Have you eaten, cousin? I can have the servants prepare some light meals if you haven't."
"No, I'm not here to eat," the man quickly said while eying both Ning and Kaleb.
Tenn noticed that too and quickly spoke up. "Ah, these are my friends from the academy. This is Ning from the Frolane empire and this is Kaleb from the Hass family of the Greendove region."
"Hass?" Nalen's eyes narrowed a bit when he heard those words. The ruling family of the Greendove region was no joke after all. "Do you have any relation to the direct line of the Hass family?"
"I can fight for the position of the ruler in the future if that's what you're asking," Kaleb said without hesitation, surprised Nalen. Ning was surprised too since he hadn't known that about Kaleb, but then again, he hadn't been friends with the guy before the last few days.
"I see, it's good to see you then," Nalen said, almost sounding sincere. Then, he turned toward Ning. "Are you from any big families in the Frolane Empire?"
"Nope, mine is as small as it comes," Ning said. His fake background did have a small noble house in it, but he wanted to see how this man acted when not dealing with a noble. Tenn's uncle had made some implications that this person wasn't a good person at all, so Ning wanted to see that for himself.
"Huh?" he turned to look at Tenn. "Why are you friends with a peasant?"
"Huh? No, brother Ning—"
"So what?" Ning asked. "Do nobles only have to be friends with other nobles?"
"Heh," Nalen gave half a smile. "You can talk back huh? At least you're not a coward. I can feel good doing business with you then."
That caught Ning off guard. "Business? What sort?" he asked.
"I want to buy your sword," Nalen said. "Tell me the price."
"My sword?" Ning looked at the man. "Which sword are you talking about exactly?"
"The one you left back with the guards," Nalen said. "I want to buy it."
"Is that so?" Ning smiled a little as he looked at Nalen. "May I ask how exactly do you know about that sword? Do the guards of the Foreman family have a tendency to talk about what their guests have or don't have with their masters?"
"Maybe," Nalen said, not getting offended at all. "I've advised the guards to let me know whenever something interesting happens, and they mentioned your sword. So, I am here to buy it from you."
"Cousin Nalen, that might not be a good idea," Tenn said. "It's brother Ning's sword. You shouldn't take it from him."
"Take it? You make it sound like I'm stealing his sword," Nalen said while clicking his tongue. "You can't make me look bad like that little cousin."
Ning placed a hand on Tenn's shoulder. "It's fine, I don't mind," he said.
"See?" Nalen was more than ecstatic to hear Ning say those words. "You don't have to worry, Tenn. Just stay back."
He then turned around to Ning and said, "I won't beat around the bush. Sell me the sword and I'll pay you whatever you want for it."
"Is that so," Ning said. "You sure sound generous."
"I am generous," Nalen said.
"Well, in that case, I am generous too," Ning said. "You don't have to pay anything for my sword at all. You can take it for free."
