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—---------------
/Creak…/
The door slowly opened, letting a bit of fresh air flow inside the room, blowing back Fray's clothes slightly as the chilly wind blew past his neck.
"Hm?"
He turned his face to the side, trying to see who was interfering with his plans…
But his expression turned sour almost instantly.
'Well, shit.'
/Thud.../
"... So you were here brat, I looked everywhere for you!"
The humongous old man, bending his head to pass through the door, stepped inside the room, immediately noticing Fray who was looking around for an escape route.
Zaw also noticed Yumi, who was turning around to see him, and upon noticing her tired and troubled expression, he immediately felt the urge to punch Fray.
This wasn't the first time he had seen such a look, back in the big cities, he would often see Guild clerks giving him this look as well.
Just because Fray was handsome and knew how to talk, that didn't mean he always succeed, or that he could even if he were to put in the effort.
People are different from each other, and some girls just want to be left alone.
It always made him feel so embarrassed... To have to step up like this...
"Apologies for the sudden intrusion miss, would you mind if I took this troublemaker with me outside?"
"!"
For the first time in a while, Yumi smiled brightly.
"By all means… Oh, Uncle, you're here too!"
'This tall old man must be his teacher... The head of the inspection team.'
'I shouldn't judge him based on his student... Especially when he is such good friends with Uncle.'
'Besides, I believe we did meet once many years ago... But I don't quite remember.'
"How are you doing, little girl… Hm?"
Misgurd stopped, turning around as he noticed that something was missing...
He let out a dry laugh once he saw what he was trying to do.
"Come on in Dale, are you going to stay outside after coming all the way here?"
"Dale?"
'H-He's here!'
"!"
'Truly... Such great timing.'
"..."
Scratching his head, Dale turned around the corner, getting inside the room, much to Fray's and Yumi's surprise.
Dale was indeed rather tall, and with his armor, he had to bend his head to get inside the room.
The sight of the knight entering the room while bending his head was quite magical.
Yumi became a bit flustered as she saw him arrive.
Normally she wouldn't become like this upon seeing him, but now out of all times, the person she wanted to see the most was Dale.
After spending a few weeks with him, they've become really close, and apart from some people in the Village, he is one of the closest people to her, and definitely by far, the closest man her age...
Well... Close enough.
And now that he appeared at the right time when she most needed him, the impact was a bit too much for her.
He was indeed her savior right now.
[Yumi's intimacy has increased]
"..."
As for Fray, this wasn't the first time he saw him, but it was indeed his first time seeing his face since right now, Dale had removed his helmet.
Previously, he removed his armor due to how 'stuffy' it felt and also because he needed to apply some medicine to some bruises around his skin.
But since he came all the way here to 'fight', he decided to put on his armor, albeit he took his helmet off because, once again, it felt uncomfortable to wear it all the time.
As for Fray, their first encounter had been all the way outside when he saw Dale descend from the sky, killing the bandits as he crashed against the golden-yellow sand.
Honestly, he felt that he was pretty cool at that time, but it was nothing he hadn't seen before, albeit a bit rare, he did see a mage or two during his travels together with Zaw, together with a few Masters every once in a blue moon.
His teacher was considered a Master, albeit he didn't know if that was true or not as he couldn't remember the last time he saw him fight with his all, if ever.
As such, Dale's actions, from his perspective, weren't that impressive in the least and he felt that these Villagers were simply overexaggerating since they didn't know how to differentiate one from two.
Still, that wasn't enough for him to draw his contempt and anger, Fray was too 'occupied' to even care about it...
After all, these Villagers could believe whatever they wanted, it wasn't for him to but in and neither was he interested in doing so.
In the first place, he didn't even want to be here, his teacher brought him together since he wasn't comfortable with leaving him alone all the way in the North.
Something that greatly contributed to his overall displeasure with this place.
If things had gone as they used to, he would've likely arrived, goofed around a bit before departing, the usual...,
But as time passed, Fray started to feel estranged due to the way how everyone saw this man…
Dale this, Dale that, Dale...
Still, why should he care?...
Well... The tipping point was when some of the guards he used to hold in high regard, his companions from the Guild, including his master, started to compare him to Dale.
Better disposition, stronger, smarter, everything...
He felt betrayed.
That was the very cause of this, a wounded pride.
And upon meeting Yumi, getting an interest in her, only to be shot down due to her feelings for Dale, a stubborn desire to win took root, despite Dale never having done anything against him at all.
He didn't want to be recognized, he never really did.
He just felt like doing so.
"Good morning Yu." Dale said with a small smile as he stopped beside Misgurd
'This old man, I wanted to wait for them to drag the guy outside for us to deal with him in a more controlled environment...'
'Now he's pulling me straight into the fire? Does he really want to mix oil with water?'
'I can't say it's like that though, never saw the boy before... But I can tell Yumi is bothered by this guy's presence.'
'And uh... Not trying to make this personal, but I'm starting to get a bit upset.'
'It feels childish to greet him with such a blatant provocation though...'
Dale's expression was serious, but inside, he smiled.
Misgurd however, smiled widely, knowing full well what Dale was trying to achieve.
"!"
"Yu?..."
Yumi didn't expect him to call her that, no one called her that apart from some of the aunties and the grandmas around the Village.
But she didn't stop him from doing so, she liked it even…
[Yumi's intimacy has slightly increased]
While Fray became a bit angry, this couldn't have been a coincidence, he had tried to call her that a bit earlier, but she shot him down immediately, and then, this guy comes up and does the same?
Worse, she looked glad and even a bit embarrassed?
Such different reactions… It tucked at his heart.
/Grasp.../
While he was in deep thought and self-reflection, Zaw approached him by the side, grabbing one of his shoulders with his massive and thick hand.
"I hope you had enough bothering these Villagers."
"Follow me brat, I've gotten enough of your foolery for today."
Perhaps feeling that the atmosphere wasn't one of the best, Zaw decided that it would be best to leave as soon as possible before his student said or did something he would regret later on.
One thing was to spar outside, and the other was for a fight to start right here, right now.
Zaw knew that the moment his student lifted his hand, something would end up broken even if he stepped up, but most importantly, the shame of causing trouble in someone else's house, one he came to visit for the first time wouldn't be easy to wash away.
Zaw didn't want to ask for forgiveness on his very first day and after a few weeks on the road, he just wanted to relax without having to worry about his disciple…
/Push away.../
"Old Zaw… I'm not causing trouble." Fray dismissed as he slapped his hand away
"Brat! You have the guts to say that to me after what you did in the last few weeks with that guard?! Do you know how embarrassed I am whenever I meet…"
"ZAW!"
Fray's eyes went red as he exclaimed, gritting his teeth.
Out of everything he could've said, he had to mention one of his past failed conquers in front of the girl he's trying to get?...
He immediately went ballistic with his forehead turning red.
"You... You dare raise your voice to me after I told you to rest in your room?..." Zaw asked slowly, but his tone was heavy and solemn
He was trying his best to not scream and cause a scene.
"Stop making a clown of yourself and follow me back to our quarters, you need to cool that empty head of yours for a while."
"The time on the road has been rough, go to your quarters and we'll talk more tomorrow."
"..."
But Fray wasn't listening anymore.
He looked to the side, but Yumi wasn't paying attention to him at all, instead, she was having some small talk with Dale on the side.
In order to diminish the tension and to learn more about what was happening, one of the first things Dale did was to pull Yumi to a corner and ask her a few simple questions.
"..."
And for a moment, Dale looked at him, but he had no discernable expression, he merely nodded to him before going back to Yumi, smiling slightly as he said something to her.
"..."
Seeing her complete 180 in how she talked made Fray feel like trash.
Hearing her sweet chuckles and body expressions, things he was so used to yet they weren't being directed at him…
He didn't mind seeing other couples get together, but he did feel like a rock kicked aside after seeing his target throwing him away for another man.
So ignoring his master's words, he approached Dale…
"Fray? Are you listening to..."
'Oh no, you wouldn't…'
Zaw immediately went after him, just in case he caused some trouble, while old man Misgurd smiled mischievously on the side, preparing to watch a show.
When he made a bet with Zaw, he knew he was going to win, and now, he just had to wait for his friend's disciple to make a fool of himself.
"You must be him, right? The youngest Elder?" Fray said, cutting the small talk and going directly to business
Dale slowly turned to meet face-to-face with him while Yumi did the same, going into deep thought:
"..."
'What does he want now? Wasn't he about to leave with his teacher?'
'He's as bothersome to deal with as...'
Had Fray been a player, he would've been able to see that Yumi's intimacy with him had once again decreased, going well beyond the negatives now…
"Hm?... That would be me indeed, but who are you?" Dale asked as he looked at Fray
"? I..."
Dale didn't give him the chance to talk.
He merely smiled.
"You must be Fray, your teacher was looking for you for quite a while, nice meeting you."
He gave him his hand for a handshake, something that shocked everyone.
Misgurd raised an eyebrow, no way Dale would be this nice…
Zaw let out a sigh, this is how a proper man should behave…
Yumi couldn't help but nod, Dale was indeed a gentleman…
And Fray smiled in mockery, did he perhaps overthink and this man was denser than he thought?
But the truth for this was rather simple, Dale always gave anyone a chance, and despite the clear hostility Fray is showing him, he was willing to befriend him.
For Misgurd's and the Old man's sake.
And for the sake of Quests too...
"I can't say the same." Fray replied as he grabbed his hand
/Clench!/
Immediately after grabbing onto his hand, Fray tried his best to crush it, looking directly at Dale's eyes, ready to see him show some signs…
"..."
But Dale did not change, he looked at him with a small smile, the same as before.
And after a few seconds, he opened his hand, pulling it away from the stunned Fray, who couldn't believe what had just happened.
However… Fray didn't know that he had just lost his last chance.
Dale smiled even more now, looking at Zaw, he said:
"Is this your student? I can see why you took him in, he's quite… Decent..."
"I must say... He has quite the spirit!"
"#!!"
Fray's expression turned completely dark, while the others shook their head.
Both Yumi and Misgurd knew that Dale had just lost his patience, but the same couldn't be said for Zaw, who took his words for what they meant.
Albeit he did feel that something was wrong...
As for Fray, the meaning of his words were clear.
Dale wasn't saying that Fray was strong, in fact, he cut himself in the middle as if reconsidering that.
He simply said that he had spirit and was decent as if everything else was…
Meaningless and unimportant of being mentioned.
"Son of a…"
"Fray!"
And this finally made Fray snap.
Zaw tried to stop him but...
/Fwoosh!/
/BAM!/
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Notes
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