Chapter 68: Chapter 68 : Saint Eren

I looked at her face.

Totally confused.

It carried nothing. Not a single expression. Those green eyes held the emotional depth of a glass window. Beautiful, sure. But hollow. Unreadable.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

She didn’t respond immediately. Her gaze swept across my features. Slowly. Deliberately. Scanning every inch as though reading fine print.

Then she spoke. “Why did you lose on purpose?”

’Straight to the throat, huh.’

“What do you mean?” I tilted my head with practiced ignorance. “I just lost because I underestimated my opponent. That’s it.”

Her expression didn’t shift. Not even a millimeter.

“Do you think I am some kind of fool?”

Tssk.

I clicked my tongue and matched her stare.

“Even if I lost on purpose, that’s none of your business.” My eyes dropped to her leg still blocking my path. “So move the way before I cut the damn thing off myself with this axe.”

She smiled.

Barely. The tiniest curl at the corner of her lips. So faint that blinking would have erased it.

“How is it not my business?” Her voice was silk wrapped around steel. “Well, you don’t know me. Otherwise, you’d be kissing those very legs you just swore to cut off.”

She let the weight of her words settle.

“But leave it here. If I wanted to expose you, you would have spent the rest of your life rotting in the prison tower. Right away.”

’Who the fuck is this woman?’

I buried the unease beneath my usual armor.

“Then what is it that you need?” I looked her up and down. “Do you have one of those fetishes? Tempting men with your legs?”

I scratched my chin.

“If so, then sorry. I don’t get charmed by those.” I shrugged. “Now, if it were the feet, then definitely my resolve would have shaken.”

She didn’t even flinch. Not a muscle. Her expression remained a fortress I couldn’t breach. But somewhere behind those emerald walls, my sarcasm was not appreciated.

She lowered her leg.

’Finally.’

I took that as my signal to leave and so I did. One step. Two steps. Three steps toward freedom and—

TAP.

A hand landed on my shoulder. Firm. Commanding. Making me stop again.

I sighed. Looked at her.

“You sure have quite a vile mouth.” Her tone was flat. Almost bored. “But I will let this slide for once. Just once. Next time, you won’t have that smug face of yours.”

I responded with the same expression. “As if I would see your face again.”

And then it happened.

A grin.

An actual grin spread across her face. The first real expression I had witnessed on this woman since she cracked the wall with her heel.

“Oh, dear.” Her voice dripped with a certainty that made my skin crawl. “You will have to see it every single day.”

I was confused. “What?”

“After all,” she was already turning away, her white hair swaying behind her like a ghost fading into the corridor, “I have adopted you.”

My brain short-circuited.

“Wait!” I called out. “Explain yourself!”

But she just walked off. Didn’t turn. Didn’t slow. Didn’t even acknowledge my existence.

Gone.

I stood there. Hissing through my teeth. Fists clenching and unclenching at my sides.

’Why do I have to deal with these types of maniacs?’

I mean, how can someone just say that with a straight face? Like I was some pet she found wandering the streets? And that certainty on her face. That absolute, unshakable confidence that I was already hers.

Huff.

I feel like I need to bring my arrogant and rude era back. Seriously. People are taking me way too granted in my nice era.

The rest of the day passed with me plotting my next steps. I needed Gooning Points. Badly. And for that exact purpose, I had already devised a solution.

—

Next morning.

I was standing with the three girls.

Farewell time.

Thalia was leaving. She never wanted the academy. She had entered this tournament for one reason alone.

To show both sides of her family, the elves who despised her and the humans who ignored her, that she was not the same broken girl they had all taken her for.

But she also knew the truth. She was far from being strong enough. Nowhere near having the power to take her revenge. To make them pay. To save her mother.

So she chose the route of a solo adventurer. Walking her own path. Building her own strength on her own terms.

Everyone had already said their piece. Freya told her to reconsider, offered her support, promised to help. Thalia refused without hesitation.

“This is my fight.”

Celestine was a mess. Sobbing as her sister prepared to leave. Thalia pulled her close and consoled her gently.

And after all those stupid emotional scenes, every pair of eyes landed on me.

Expecting something. Nice words. A heartfelt goodbye. Some grand declaration of brotherhood.

I sighed.

Then thought about Thalia. Genuinely.

My hand reached into my coin coffer. Fingers sifted past thousands of gold coins until they found exactly what I was looking for.

Three coins.

Out of more than six thousand I had managed to accumulate through the betting.

I took her hand. Placed them into her palm. Closed her fingers around them.

“Take this as a token of our friendship.” I looked her in the eyes. “And remember, you can count on me if you’re ever in trouble.”

I scratched my chin. “Of course, if that is manageable.”

Silence.

They all made that face.

Thalia looked at her palm. Then at the coins. Then at me. Freya looked at the coins. Then at me. Then back at the coins. Even Celestine had stopped crying long enough to stare.

It felt like I did something wrong.

Even though I was being nothing but truthful and caring. This was genuine emotion from real Zarix. A rare and valuable commodity.

Freya sighed. “It’s Eren we’re talking about. Of course he would do something like this.” She turned to Thalia with the driest expression I had ever seen. “And Thalia, you should be happy that he gave you those huge amount of three coins.”

I couldn’t tell if that was sarcasm.

Actually, I could. It absolutely was.

“I mean,” Freya continued, “you should feel honored that this greedy bastard even gave his money.”

Thalia smiled. Warm. Genuine. More gratitude in that expression than my three coins could ever deserve.

“Thank you for everything, Eren.”

She picked up her small luggage and began walking away.

“Hey!” I shouted after her.

She paused.

“One more thing.” I pointed at her retreating figure. “Don’t you dare destroy my mother’s side of the family over there. I’ll deal with them myself later.”

I grinned.

“While you can wreck every single elf bastard who crosses your path.”

She smiled. Nodded once.

And then she was gone.

I turned to the remaining two girls. It was my time for farewell as well.

I had my own things to do. My own path to a pool of Gooning Points.

For Celestine, after Freya’s final match today, she would leave with her. And who knew when we would cross paths again.

As for Freya, I had already told her yesterday why I lost.

The answer was simple. My victory against her was uncertain. Even if I had somehow pulled off Amelia at full power, the outcome remained a coin flip.

Before the match even started, I instructed Celestine to place the bet on Freya the moment I gave the signal.

The signal being the moment I shifted the spectators’ perception by showing dominance, making the odds against Freya climb as high as possible.

And it paid off. More than three times my investment.

It was just a tournament. I was fairly certain both my quests would be completed regardless. There was no reason to waste time on an uncertain fight.

I also wasn’t confident nerfed Amelia could defeat Ashen. Bringing that golden knight down was borderline impossible according to every rumor. His rank, his skill, his centuries of battle experience.

And one more important thing was that Freya didn’t have only one summon. She had other too which she would have eventually bought out.

And if I had gone all out with Amelia and she had lost her sanity? What would that have added with my victory?

So I took no risk. And continued with my plans.

As they say, a true gambler knows the bravest bet is letting go of his ego.

After those farewells, I left the girls behind and sneaked my way inside the real academy grounds. Past the outskirts.

It had cost me a hundred gold coins last evening. Corrupting a guard whose moral backbone crumbled faster than Marcus in a tornado.

But it was worth every coin. Because I was certain a particular place inside these walls would recover my losses several times over.

I had two things to take care of now.

First, fuck as many ladies as possible with the remaining money and stack those precious points.

And second, buy a sex slave from the night market. Someone who would serve in terms of both urges and maid duty during my time as a student.

Two birds. One very perverted stone.

’Let the academy era begin.’

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