Chapter 177: A fancy meal

I’ll expand this to 1200 words while keeping your exact opening and closing lines intact.

The next morning, Jelo, Atlas, and Mira met with Tongen as usual.

They expected another harsh training session.

Instead, Tongen simply looked at them and said, “Get in the car.”

The three of them exchanged confused looks but obeyed.

A short while later, the car stopped in front of a large, fancy restaurant.

Jelo blinked.

Atlas looked up at the building.

Mira frowned.

None of them understood what was happening.

Tongen stepped out of the car calmly and walked inside as if nothing was strange.

The three quickly followed him.

When they sat down, Tongen handed them the menu.

“Order whatever you want,” he said casually. “I’ll pay.”

For a moment, the table went silent.

It was eight in the morning, and their strict trainer had suddenly brought them to a luxury restaurant.

The kind of place that had cloth napkins folded into shapes and waiters who refilled your water before you even realized it was low.

Jelo slowly looked at Atlas.

Atlas looked back at him.

Then both of them immediately started reading the menu.

“Well…” Atlas said. “If he’s paying…”

“I’m not complaining,” Jelo replied.

Mira stared at the two of them in disbelief.

She looked down at the menu in her hands, then back at Tongen, who was seated at the head of the table browsing his own menu with complete calm, as if this were any ordinary morning.

She opened her mouth.

Closed it again.

There wasn’t a single question she could think to ask that wouldn’t sound strange out loud.

They quickly ordered several dishes, and the food arrived soon after.

The plates came out one by one — warm bread, thick cuts of meat, eggs prepared three different ways, sliced fruit arranged neatly on the side. Atlas had ordered enough for two people and didn’t seem embarrassed about it at all. Jelo ate at a steady pace, unhurried, like someone who had learned not to waste food or leave it unappreciated.

Mira ate too, even if her eyes kept drifting back to Tongen.

He ate simply. One plate. Small portions. He wasn’t here for the food.

For the next few minutes, the table was quiet except for the sound of eating.

After they finished, Tongen stood up.

“Come to my house at three in the afternoon,” he said calmly.

The three looked up.

“We will repeat the same task as last time.”

He paused.

“Take the red ball from my hand.”

With that, he turned and walked out of the restaurant without another word.

No explanation. No hint. Just the instruction, and then he was gone — coat settling behind him as he pushed through the front door and disappeared into the morning street.

The three students sat there in silence for a moment.

The waiter came by and quietly cleared the last of the plates.

Mira finally spoke.

“…That still doesn’t explain why he brought us here.”

Jelo leaned back in his chair, completely relaxed.

“As long as I get to eat this much food,” he said lazily, “I honestly don’t care why he brought us here.”

Atlas nodded immediately.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Mira stared at them.

She couldn’t believe how simple these two were.

Didn’t they think it was strange?

Their strict trainer had suddenly taken them to an expensive restaurant and even given them time to relax until three in the afternoon.

It made no sense.

Something about it felt unnecessary.

The training sessions had always been demanding. Tongen wasn’t the type who handed out breaks or soft mornings. He was measured, direct, difficult to read. Every session so far had been designed to push them somewhere uncomfortable.

So why this?

Why now?

Why would he do this? Mira wondered.

Meanwhile, Tongen was already walking away from the restaurant.

The truth was simple.

He had brought them there on purpose.

After becoming their instructor, he realized something.

He hadn’t done anything nice for them.

It wasn’t necessarily his responsibility, but he understood something important about training students.

Training wasn’t only about physical strength.

It also involved psychology.

A student who feared their instructor would hold back. They would hide their weaknesses, mask their struggles, push through pain they should have reported. Fear made them rigid. Rigid students had ceilings.

But a student who trusted their instructor — genuinely trusted them — was different.

They performed better under pressure. They asked better questions. They were willing to be honest about what they didn’t understand.

If they trusted him…

If they felt he cared about them…

They would be more open with him.

They would tell him their problems.

They would come to him when they needed help.

And that would make training them far easier.

So this small gesture — taking them out to eat — was intentional.

A simple psychological move.

One meal. A few hours of rest. Nothing that cost him much.

But to students his age had been — students who trained hard and were rarely shown anything resembling warmth from someone above them — it would land differently. It would sit with them. They would remember it.

Now that they had eaten well and had time to rest, they would probably even brag about him.

After all, he was certain no other teacher in the academy would do something like this.

And as expensive as the food looked…

For him, it meant nothing.

Back at the restaurant, Atlas leaned back in his chair and exhaled deeply.

“That food really hit the spot,” he said, rubbing his stomach.

“You bet,” Jelo replied, taking a sip of water.

The restaurant had thinned out a little since Tongen left. A couple near the window were finishing their coffee. A family with a young child sat two tables over. The morning light came in wide and pale through the front glass.

It was a strange kind of peace, Jelo thought. The good kind — the kind you didn’t expect and so couldn’t be disappointed by.

Mira sat quietly across from them.

She was still thinking.

Something about this situation didn’t sit right with her.

She was certain Tongen was planning something.

What bothered her the most was how relaxed Jelo and Atlas were.

Jelo was usually someone who thought deeply about things others ignored. He noticed angles. He caught details. She’d seen it more than once — the way he’d go quiet mid-conversation, like something had clicked into place in his head that no one else had caught yet.

But this time, he didn’t seem to care at all.

Still…

She knew Jelo wasn’t always like that.

Most of the time he was just a simple guy, like everyone else.

So maybe it wasn’t that surprising.

But even so…

The two of them sitting there peacefully after being suddenly treated to a fancy meal by their strict trainer felt absurd.

Mira folded her arms.

Something is definitely going on…

She just couldn’t figure out what.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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