Chapter 81: Ducking & Dodging

Solomon knew when he was being avoided.

At the end of last night, Solomon believed that he and the women he’d slept with were in good places.

When he woke up in bed with the two of them, he admired the sight for a bit before heading out to train with his group.

Raizel knew something was amiss when he returned after being out all night, but Solomon did not tell him anything.

After their training ended, Solomon went back to his room to shower before visiting the gymnasium.

It was his hope that he would be able to lay eyes on Jiaoying as she floated about the gymnasium like normal.

However, she wasn’t there.

After checking out more of the spots she frequented and finding her in none of them, Solomon could no longer ignore the obvious.

She was avoiding him like the plague.

“Why is the first instance of you coming into the cafeteria the time when you seem to be in your worst mood ever?”

Solomon blinks slowly as his eyes readjust to the world around him.

The mess hall is buzzing with the idle chatter of cadets sharing meals. It is a virtual hub for gossip, seduction, intimidation, and casual team bonding.

All of Solomon’s teammates sat around him at a circular table, unfinished food sitting on their trays.

“What are you talking about? I’ve been in here before, and I’m not in a bad mood.”

All three of his teammates turn their thumbs downward.

“I’m not!”

They turned their other thumbs down.

“Also, saying that you’ve been in here before is sort of a lie.” Nila points her fork at him. “The last time you came in here, you turned into a giant rage monster and tried to kill me and fly-boy.”

“I have already apologized!” Solomon sighs.

Everett stares at Solomon like he’s a living idol. “Don’t worry about it, boss! I know you get a little… colorful at times. No sweat.”

“…Colorful?!”

“I’m just going to ask…” Nila lifted up her juicebox and stabbed it with a straw. “Are you some kinda half-orc or something?”

“What? No, why would you think that?”

Nila began listing reasons on her fingers. “Big as shit, unnecessarily durable, unnecessarily strong, occasional rage monster-”

“I am not a rage monster.”

Nila ignored him and kept going. “Gifted sense of combat, decent tracking skills, you sleep like a log-”

“But he is fairly intelligent, though.” Dakota chimed in as she attempted to feed Bansha a carrot stick. “All the half-orcs I’ve ever seen have diminished intelligence and pointy teeth. He has neither.”

“His teeth are a little pointy when he does that minotaur thing.” Everett sticks two forks in his mouth to mimic fangs.

Nila’s ears perked up. “Oh, indeed. What is the deal with that transformation anyway? Per chance, is that like your natural body, and what we’re seeing right now is just a disguise?”

“No, you little fool.” Solomon rolled his eyes. “Just think of it like a party trick.”

Everett looks both ways before leaning in. “Do you ever use that body to…. you know… Do the do..?”

Solomon started to slam his friend’s face into his mashed potatoes.

“He doesn’t have anybody to do that with anyway.” Nila begins helping herself to the hunk of bread Everett has left untouched. “I watched him get like five confession letters last week, and he didn’t open a single one.”

Everett frowns at his plate when he notices his now missing bread.

“You know…” Nila begins. “I started to think that you liked men at a certain point. But then I asked Raizel, and he told me you only like older women who are mean to everyone else but you.”

Solomon starts to open his mouth, but nothing comes out. That was almost his type to a tee.

“…Older women?” Everett blinks. “You were serious about that..?”

“Something to say?”

“C-Course not, boss… How old are we talking, though? Are you someone’s step fathe-”

Solomon cannot resist finally dropping his fist on top of Everett’s head.

“Lady Xu’s age, obviously.”

Everyone at the table pauses and stares at Dakota.

The girl in hiding slowly looks up from the cerberus in her lap. “…What?”

“What do you mean ’what’?! Why would you think he likes Miss Jiaoying!?” Everett leans in.

Dakota reflexively backs away, her cheeks discreetly turning red. “I thought everyone knew… He is not a very subtle individual. He stares at Lady Xu quite often. Specifically, her butt and thigh-”

Solomon ripped Nila’s bread out of her hands and shoved it into Dakota’s mouth.

But by then, it was too late.

Everett and Nila slowly turn to him, their mouths almost touching the table, and their eyes bulging and annoying.

“…Not one wor-”

“”You like Lady X-“”

Solomon lashes out and covers both of their mouths.

“Look, you little idiots. I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer not to have my business shouted out in a damned mess hall.”

Everett and Nila nodded slowly.

“…You get two questions each. If they’re stupid, you get hit.”

He lets their mouths go, and the questions fly.

Everett leans in too close for comfort, his wings bristling with excitement. “Is it the abs?? It’s her abs, isn’t it?”

Solomon slowly pushes him away by his face. “…It’s everything. But yes, her form is very captivating.”

“”Awww…!”” Everett and Nila say in infuriating uison.

“Shut up. Next.”

“Is the reason you’ve been so annoyed the last few hours because you haven’t seen her today?” Nila tilts her head.

“…No.” He lied.

“Oh, that sucks. Because she’s right over there, and I was hoping seeing her would fix your mood.”

Solomon’s head whirls around so fast that he nearly breaks his neck.

Sure enough, Jiaoying is looming over the icebox, picking out one of the variety of beverages inside.

Solomon stands up instantly without thinking and starts to walk away.

“Hey! We still have an extra question!” Nila yells after him.

“I’ll answer it later.” Solomon pauses.

Slowly, he turns around with a rather large smile on his face.

“And by the way… since my brother is so keen on telling my business, I feel you should know that he has quite the crush on you. Be right back.”

Nila’s entire body goes stiff as she drops her juice into her soup.

Solomon moves normally through the cafeteria so as to attract no attention.

When he arrives at the icebox, he sees Jiaoying stiffen from sensing him.

He lowers his head respectfully in greeting before he stands beside her.

His eyes never leave the juice blends sitting inside of the ice. He stares as if he is making one of the toughest decisions of his life.

“…Are you avoiding me?”

Jiaoying picks up bottles and begins reading what is written on them. “What would make you think that..?”

“Haven’t seen you all day.”

“I was trying to recuperate in my room…You weren’t exactly gentle with me, you know?”

Solomon discreetly glanced at Jiaoying out of the corner of his eye.

Her body was completely covered by her clothing from her neck down. Likely to conceal the multitude of differently shaped bite marks that dotted her body.

“…Apologies. I just feared that you would-”

“Start avoiding you because I’m a monster..? I thought about it.” She admits. “But you took an honest leap of faith with me, and… it would be shameful for me to repay that by avoiding you.”

Jiaoying picks up another bottle and acts as if she’s comparing the two.

“But I also don’t want you to start getting your hopes up that we’re some kind of thing now. We had sex. It was good. Really good, even, but that’s it. I can’t be in a relationship with you or Yari.”

“Is this about outside voices again..?” Solomon discreetly gets closer.

“…No. It’s about the fact that you still have four more years here, and Yari… she has never known a life outside of this island. She wouldn’t leave it if I dragged her away, and I cannot stay.”

Jiaoying puts one of the bottles down as if she has made her choice.

“It’s best we stop here. You don’t know much about me, and I don’t know much about you. It’s easier to chalk last night up to a drunken attraction and end things at that.” Jiaoying’s eyes darken. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to hurt either of you, but-”

“Hurt me..? I think you’re mistaken. I believe I would have liked you and Yari less if you were easy to obtain.”

Solomon picks up his own juice and stuffs it into his pocket before brushing past Jiaoying to get to the fruit bowl.

“I won’t lie, there are obstacles. But I do not see them as significant enough to keep me away from you. So, if either of you wants to reject me, I suggest you find another much stronger way to do it. Otherwise, I will chase you to the ends of this realm… and the next.”

Solomon backs away, apple in hand, and starts to turn around.

“I’m only going to get more insufferable from here. I hope you both are prepared for that.”

As he departs, Jiaoying is greatly conflicted. Her eyes never leave the icebox.

That is, until a lunch lady comes over with an annoyed look in her eyes.

“Ma’am, you can just take two if you want. You’re letting all the cool air out.”

The lady picks up one of the earlier bottles Jiaoying touched and slams the lid closed before walking away.

Blinking, Jiaoying stares down at the two bottles in her hand.

She shakes her head as a dry chuckle escapes her lips.

“This place… I wonder if there was this much drama when I was actually enrolled.”

–

Solomon had gotten a chance to talk to Jiaoying. And now that it was later in the day, he was more excited to go and speak to Yari.

However, it seemed that he had misjudged which of his flings would actually avoid him.

Self-Study.

The term was written in white chalk on Yari’s blackboard. Solomon stared dryly at the familiar writing.

“…Of course.” He sighed.

The classroom was completely empty. Other students arrived, saw that Yari wasn’t here to teach, and left almost instantly.

Solomon couldn’t explain why he felt compelled to stay, but he did.

He sat at his desk like normal, flipping through the pages of a textbook while his mind was filled with thoughts of the future.

His solitude lasted until it was dark outside. Something he only noticed when reading became harder.

Solomon rubs his eyes sleepily as he stands up and prepares to depart.

However, he senses movement at the door.

Believing it to be Yari, he looks up with a half smile that is slowly erased.

The figure that opens the door is hooded with their face covered. Judging from the build, it is a man, not an elven woman.

Solomon tenses as he feels his instincts scream at him. “Who-”

His consciousness goes dark before his body even hits the ground. Slowly, he is drug out of the classroom by the cloaked figure.

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