I woke up to the rays of the sun hitting my face. I groaned as I sat up and stretched. I was slightly sore from yesterday, but there was only so much I could do about it. Yesterday was a productive day for me. I wanted to stay indoors all day, but today, Donkor and Bodil were gonna fight. I should at the very least show up to support them.
I stood up and got ready for the day. I stepped outside of my room, and I saw that Lily was already waiting outside.
"Good morning, Smarus!" She waved at me.
"Mornin,'" I yawned.
I began to walk down the all.
"H-hey! Wait up!" Lily rushed to my side.
I kept on walking. I was still in sleep debt from the previous week, but I was feeling much better today. There were still bags under my eyes though. I rubbed my neck as we walked out of the building.
"You seem even more moody than normal today," Lily looked at me curiously.
"Yeah, I have to wake up to watch this tournament, but I can confidently say that either Donkor or Bodil will win," I sighed.
"Can't you just be a good friend to them and show up without complaining?" Lily shook her head.
"I was a good friend for telling them about the tournament a week in advance."
"You are so self-centered sometimes."
In order to go to the cafe, we had to walk past most of the other dorms. I stopped when I heard someone call my name.
"Smarus!" Luna called me.
I sighed as I looked in her direction. Luna was smiling while she walked towards us, and she was dragging Sonia along with her. She looked like she was having the worst possible time of her life.
"Mornin'," I waved to them.
"Good morning Sonia! Good mornin', Big bo… ah! Luna," Lily corrected herself.
"Morning," Sonia muttered.
"Good morning!" Luna smiled.
"I didn't take you for a social person," I teased Sonia.
"Luna saw me, and she wouldn't leave me alone until I brought her with me to meet up with you guys," She sighed.
I chuckled at the thought of Luna nagging Sonia. The four of us walked the rest of the way to the cafe. I would have preferred if as few people as possible were there, but sadly, that was not the case. More people were in here than when I first came to the academy. Part of me wanted to fake an emergency to get people to evacuate the building, but that wouldn't look good for me. I sighed.
"Heeehhh!" I heard a familiar soft voice. "Please excuse me… excuse me!"
I saw Irene in the crowd trying to get food. Her short stature made her hard to spot, and she spoke softly as it stood already. I guessed it was hard for her to get by without Bodil. I walked over to her and looked at the guy in front of her. I grabbed his shoulder.
"Move," I commanded him.
"Who the hell do you think…" His face grew pale when he recognized me. "S-smarus! My bad, I'll move."
He wasted no time moving out of my way. Wait! What a wasted opportunity. If I checked his stats, he was bound to have a skill worth stealing! I was an idiot!
"Thank you, Smarus," Irene looked up at me.
"Oh, Irene, you're here?" I grabbed a plate of food. "Luckily for you, I didn't want to wait in line," I sighed.
Maybe I was a pathological liar… No, that wasn't it. I lowkey just wanted to act cool.
"Yeah right!" She giggled. "This is the salad bar, and I haven't seen you eat a single one since I met you!"
"I'm in the mood for a salad," I doubled down.
"Sure," She hummed to herself.
Ding! Irene's Character Log Updated!
Just what I wanted to see… What did I do for it to be updated? I sighed. I walked at a slower pace than usual so that she would be able to follow me. It seemed like Lily and the others found a spot to sit at.
"Hey guys," Irene waved at everyone.
Some waved back while others verbally greeted her. Lily was already stuffing her face with food while taking food off of Myra's plate… Wait, Myra?
"Myra, when did you get here?" I asked as I took a seat across from Lily.
"I just got here Lord Smarus!" She smiled. "I was taking a walk since Aurora was busy, and then I got hungry while I was walking. Sooo, I came here and saw Lily. When I sat down next to her, you came!"
"I didn't ask for a whole summary," I muttered. "What was Aurora doing so early in the morning anyway?"
"I dunno," She shrugged. "She said something about Donkor asking for last-minute help or something."
Sonia nodded her head to confirm.
"I saw him earlier this morning. He told me that he was going to prepare for the tournament," Sonia shared.
"I see… And I'm sure Bodil had a similar thought," I smiled to myself. "Maybe this tournament wouldn't be so boring after all!"
"Smarus, you're doing that creepy smiling thing again," Lily muttered.
She swallowed her food and shivered when she looked at me. She was used to it though, so she continued eating.
"We should hurry then, the tournament will start soon," Luna informed us.
I looked at the salad I grabbed and sighed. I stood up.
"This isn't gonna fill me. I'll be back," I walked away.
I heard Irene giggle as I walked away. I grabbed an actual meal this time around, which consisted of eggs, potatoes, bacon, and bread. Once I sat back down, I quickly ate my meal. I was curious as to what Bodil and Donkor had in mind. I barely tasted my meal as my curiosity overtook my thoughts.
"I'm done, let's go," I stood up.
"None of us are even done eating!" Luna protested.
The rest of the girls also protested. I crossed my arms and sighed.
"Well pick up the pace, we have a tournament to watch," I was getting impatient.
"I'm excited too!" Irene stood up. "I want to cheer Big Sis on. Smarus, we can go get some seats while we wait for them."
"Fair enough," I nodded my head.
Upon seeing this, Lily began to eat fast which caused her to choke. I chuckled as Myra patted her back and got her water.
"Lily, I'll save a seat for you next to me. See you then," I turned around and walked with Irene.
"Why are you so nice to her?" Luna complained under her breath.
I decided to ignore her and kept walking. On the way to the coliseum, Irene was humming to herself. I looked at her and wondered why she was in such a good mood.
"What's up with you today?" I raised my eyebrow.
"Oh, nothing!" It was clear it was something. "I heard you were banished from your clan," She looked up at me.
"That's a terrible conversation starter," I sighed. "Yeah, my father banished me after my Awakening."
"Yet, Aurora and Myra still call you lord… how curious. Even Big Sis seems to respect you more than most people," She continued humming.
"What are you getting at?"
"Nothing… yet. I'm just curious about you. You're a jerk and you're mean to most people, but you are also oddly nice to all of your friends. In your own way that is."
"You're point?"
"I see how you look at Lily," She stepped in front of me. She put her hands behind her back and leaned forward. "You are really protective over her. Could it be you L-I-K-E her?" She winked at me.
I stopped and stared at her for a moment. She was smaller than me so I picked her up and moved her out the way.
"You're on something, Irene," I sighed.
She giggled as she began walking again. We entered the coliseum. It was surprisingly empty, so it was easy to find seats.
"I always wondered how multiple women could be married to one man, even if he was a noble… But I think I might be able to understand now," Irene said aloud as we took our seats.
I crossed my arms and said nothing. I wanted to make the silence as long and awkward as possible. I wanted her to think about what she just said.
"This is awkward," I mumbled.
"I'm sorry," She looked down, blushing.
I planned on saying nothing more, but an annoying ball of socializing came.
"Hey heyy! If it isn't my best friend, Smarus!" Arlo waved as he scooted towards us.
"Hello, Sir Smarus," Vida politely bowed. She was much more formal now than when she requested me to beat Arlo.
"Hey there Sma… ahem… Sir Smarus," Gricelda greeted me. It looked like that was the last thing she wanted to do.
"Greetings," I mumbled. "Why are you here so early?"
"I can ask the same to you," Arlo laughed.
He was about to take the seat next to me, but I glared at him.
"That seat is taken."
"Hm? But no one is here…" He tilted his head.
"I said it's taken."
We locked eyes for a long moment. After a minute or two, Arlo smiled and sat one seat away from me.
"Okayy!" Arlo laughed.
"Milord, you shouldn't back down so easily," Vida looked concern.
"Smarus is my best friend, so it's ok," he gave her a thumbs up.
"When did I become your best friend?" I sighed.
Irene giggled as she witness our interaction for some reason.
"Who do you think will win?" Arlo changed the subject.
"Donkor," I said without hesitation.
"Hey! Big Sis will definitely win!" Irene pouted.
Arlo laughed at this. It was clear that he didn't care about the fights, but he was enjoying conversing with us. He was strong, so he was someone I wanted to keep close to me, but at the same time he was so damned annoying. He never stops talking! Even now, he was chatting his wives' ears off. I sighed.
"I suppose we will find out soon enough."