42 Failsafe

Arlo and I snuck out the same way we snuck in. We were lucky since just as we were leaving, we saw a few guards escorting a repairman. I sighed in relief as we went back to the roof.

"We should head back before everyone starts to worry," I said.

"So you do care about your friends!" Arlo poked my cheek.

"Don't touch me," I slapped his hand away.

"So, how do you plan to deal with this 'Yang Li' problem?" His seriousness caught me off guard.

"I don't know yet… But I'll have a plan by the time the finals come," I told the truth.

Arlo had a worried expression on his face, but he could tell that there wasn't much that we could do. We snuck away from the building and made our way back to the Coliseum. By the time we came back, everyone was on break. The stalls were filled with customers, and everyone was talking about the matches they saw. Based on their conversations, I assumed that they found the fights entertaining. Not like it was hard to please the crowd here. I sighed.

"Oh! Hey, it's Smarus!" Lily pointed me out. "Smarus! Over here!"

I looked in her direction and saw that they were having a picnic in an open area. Donkor and Bodil were also there enjoying a meal. Aurora and Myra stood up.

"Welcome back, Lord Smarus," They bowed.

Vida and Gricelda also stood up to greet Arlo.

"Greetings, Milord," They also bowed.

"It's good to be back!" Arlo laughed as he walked over to them.

I walked towards the group. I took a deep breath to make sure I didn't look or sound worried.

"Hello Aurora, Myra. Hello everyone," I greeted them. "Did Bodil lose yet?"

"You punk!" Bodil stood up. "Why would I lose? I haven't fought anyone strong yet," She was a little too close to my face.

"I take that as a no," I pat her shoulder as I took a seat.

They were sitting on a blanket. I took a seat next to Lily and Aurora, and Luna crossed her arms.

"Why are you always sitting next to Lily?" She pouted.

"It's cause she's my assistant," I sighed. "Why are you always in danger?"

"You're a jerk," She avoided the question.

"Smarus is a scumbag! What did you expect?" Bodil was now eating out of anger. I could tell I pushed her buttons.

"You just came here, Smarus. Why must you cause trouble?" Donkor shook his head. "And what were you doing with Arlo?"

"It's a secret," I yawned. "Something that we nobles had to handle," I smirked.

"You are unbearable as usual," He commented.

I chuckled as I took a plate of food from Aurora. Apparently, she grabbed extra food in case I would come back in time for lunch. How thoughtful. I began to eat my meal as Donkor spoke up.

"Smarus, have you heard of the rumors that are going around?"

I stopped eating and looked up from my plate.

"No. What rumors?" I felt a single drop of sweat run down my forehead.

"The Board of Education will have a huge reward for the winner of the tournament," He shared.

"I've heard of that too. Supposedly, a celebration would be held in honor of the winner," Aurora tilted her head in thought.

I was sure those rumors held some truth. The only issue was, did the Board mean the winner of this tournament or Yang Li? If they truly do release her as a final boss, then she is bound to be the winner. My mind raced to find a way to counter this.

"What a pain. I'll just forfeit after I beat Donkor or Bodil," I tried my best to behave as normal as possible.

"Your sharp tongue will come back to bite you, Smarus," Donkor frowned.

"I can't wait to make you handicapped in that ring!" Bodil punched the palm of her hand.

"I've been tolerant of you guys being casual with Lord Smarus, but I will not tolerate threats. After all, the celebration will surely be held in honor of him. He defeated the hero before, so he will again!" Aurora said proudly.

"Hey, I just said I planned to forfeit," I looked at her.

"You guys should be thanking Lord Smarus. If it wasn't for him, you two wouldn't have been prepared for this tournament!" Myra chimed in.

"You guys aren't listening…" I sighed.

The four of them began to argue while Irene giggled. For some reason, she was enjoying this. She looked in my direction and smiled.

"You guys don't get it. Big Sis is going to win this tournament!" She only added fuel to the flame.

"Atta girl! See! Irene gets it," Bodil patted her back.

This was hopeless. Why couldn't they just enjoy their meals? I saw Lily trying to stealthily take food off of my plate. When she saw that I noticed, she tried to play it off, but I handed her the plate. I wasn't hungry anymore. I looked up and saw that Luna was staring at me. It wasn't of jealousy this time but of worry. I stood up.

"Luna, can we talk?" I motioned her to follow me.

Everyone suddenly stopped talking and was surprised. Luna shot right up.

"Y-yeah, we can," She tried to play it off in vain.

We walked until we were out of earshot. I noticed that everyone, Arlo and his wives included, were all looking at us. I walked a few more feet away in case they were using any magic. I turned to Luna.

"Luna…"

"I accept!" She puffed her chest out and held her hand out.

I stared at her until it was uncomfortable. She slowly lowered her head.

"I jumped the gun, didn't I?"

"You did, but I did have a request," I sighed.

"Really!?" She was excited. "Well… you did seem worried about something when you came back. Even Sir Arlo was a bit serious when you both returned."

"That's because this tournament isn't what it seemed to be. It's a ploy," I gave her a brief insider.

"H-how would you know?" She was shocked. "This wasn't just to get people to join the academy?"

"They already accepted the people they wanted in, but instead, this tournament was just to show off their power," I explained. "As for my request…"

She looked at me. I just realized that she was slightly taller than me. I still remembered her as a helpless, pitiful girl, but I guessed she grew… to some degree. I chuckled at how far we've come.

"On the day of the finals, I need you to protect Ace," I requested.

"Huh!?" She made a face of disgust. "That sleezebag! The womanizer! You know he's breaking a new heart with every passing day," She crossed her arms. "I have better things to do!"

"I know, I know… but he still is a friend. Or a shadow of one. He will change in due time…" I paused for a moment. "Actually, this might be a bad idea. Just help him escape the coliseum," I changed my request.

"Still, no!" She shook her head. 

"Fine, I won't beg," I started to walk past her.

"But I will do it for a reward!" She tried to stop me.

I stopped, turned around, and looked at her. I took a deep breath.

"What?"

"You have to take me on a date," She crossed her arms.

Almost instinctively, I almost turned around and ignored her request. However, if there was a chance that she would become an enemy, I did not want to be the cause of that. I rubbed the back of my neck and sighed.

"Fine… Fine," I shrugged. 

Luna's face lit up and she was practically jumping with excitement. I could tell that she wasn't focused on having to protect Ace. After a moment, she stops to think for a moment.

"Wait, what am I protecting Ace from?" She tilted her head.

"There's gonna be four matches during the finals. The final match I plan to take care of it, so that's when you need to protect Ace," I explained to her.

She didn't fully understand, but she nodded her head. I was sure that she was able to put together my request and the reason why I looked worried. Of course, this request was just a fail-safe in case my plan came to ruin. I doubted that would happen, but it would be stupid if I didn't have any backup plans. Hopefully Ace will turn over a new leaf at some point in the future. The announcer's voice rang through the field.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Get back to your seats for this tournament is about to reach its climax!"

A wave of excitement filled the air as everyone began to move back to the Coliseum. I looked around and saw the guys that were mocking Bodil from before. I took a look at their stats.

"Luna, I'll meet up with you guys later. I have some business to take care of," I told her.

"R-right. I'll tell the others then," She walked back to the group.

I turned to the three students and began to walk in their direction. One of them was a thief, one was a knight, and another was a mage. I was sure I would be able to take something useful from all of them. I supposed there was only one way to find out.