Chapter 14 - Gift
The crowd cheered; they had seen a good fight.
The blonde-haired girl put her sword down and extended her hand to help Irene up.
"That was a good fight, Irene!"
"Hah, I still couldn't beat you though Audrey."
Irene took Audrey's hand and got up.
"How'd you move so fluently at the end there though?"
"I think it's just because we've fought before, if you caught me by surprise at the end I would've for sure lost, haha."
"Hmm, I don't think so, you're very strong and I haven't beaten you once yet."
"You flatter me. Oh, looks like we drew a big crowd."
Audrey began to wave to the crowd.
"Yeah-"
Irene looked at the crowd before she set her eyes on me.
"Kai! You were here?"
I nodded my head.
"You know him, Irene?"
Irene and Audrey came up to me.
"Yup! He's my brother."
"Oh! Nice to meet you, my names Audrey."
She extended her hand.
"I'm Kai, nice to meet you."
I shook her hand.
"Are you also going to the Knight Academy?"
I nodded my head.
"Ah, Kai doesn't really talk much."
"Oh, that's fine. Is he strong?"
Irene hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"Yes. Very."
What? I haven't won against her once, nor anyone actually. Now that I think about it, I've only gotten my ass kicked since I've come here...
"Oo, another rival?"
I shook my head.
"I'm not that strong."
The three of us went to an isolated area before Irene began to speak.
"Did you want to train today, Kai?"
I shook my head and spoke
"I brought you a gift."
"W-what!? You did!?"
She was shocked
"Where!?"
I pulled the necklace out of my pocket and gave it to her; she seemed happy as she put it on.
"How does it look?" she asked with a curious gaze.
(pic in comments)
"Irene! That looks good on you!" Audrey exclaimed.
Irene began to smile.
"Does it?"
"Yeah! It matches your hair!"
"Thank you!"
"And thanks for the gift, Kai!"
I nodded my head. I planned on getting Percy one too when I had more money.
---
After that we all went to go get some food, they'd been training all day, so they were hungry. Audrey said she knew a good place, so after they got dressed, we followed her.
After a little bit of walking, we arrived at the bar I went to yesterday.
"We're here!"
"This place has the best food in the capital!"
"Does it?"
"Yep!"
I nodded my head, this place definitely had good soup.
"Huh? You've been here before Kai?"
"Yesterday."
"Hmm?"
The three of us headed inside, it was as packed as it was yesterday. Everyone inside seemed to be having a good time.
"Hmm, it'll probably be hard to get a table..."
"Kai! You're here again?"
It was a familiar voice, it was Olly, he was at a table with Aster and Lily again.
"Yeah."
"Are those your friends? Here, come take a seat."
They were sitting at a fairly big table for the three of them, so it made sense for us to join them.
"You know them, Kai?"
"Yeah."
We all sat down, and Olly began to speak.
"I didn't expect to see you here again, Kai."
"The food was delicious."
"That's for sure!"
Olly looked at Irene and Audrey before introducing himself.
"Nice to meet you two! My name is Oliver, but you can call me Olly."
"Nice to meet you, my name is Irene, I'm Kai's sister."
"I'm Audrey, nice to meet you."
"An elf?"
Aster said as she looked at Audrey
Elf? What's an elf? I had no idea.
Pulling her hood down, Aster revealed her pointy ears.
"You're an elf as well?"
Lily stared at Irene and Audrey for a little.
"My name's Aster."
"And this one over here is called Lily!"
---
After a few minutes everyone eased into the mood. And we all ordered some food.
"So, we're all going to the academy?"
"Yeah."
"Hahaha! What a coincidence, it's a small world."
The waiter brought us the food we ordered, Olly and I had got soup while the others ordered some steak.
"Eh, you're still eating soup Kai?"
Irene asked
"I like it."
I often ate soup a lot, I had good memories of eating soup.
Olly had immediately started to drink the soup like he did yesterday, and I followed.
"Eh! You both eat soup like that!?"
"Kai! Your manners!"
"Olly! Your manners!"
Irene and Aster had both shouted at us before sighing
"That was good!"
"Yeah, it was great."
"You have to deal with this too, Aster?"
"Yeah... Sadly..."
It seemed like Irene and Aster shared a moment together.
Lily and Audrey were hitting it off as well. Everyone at the table complimented each other well I thought.
"The academy really starts tomorrow, huh?"
"Yeah, and we'll be there for 2 years."
"Is anyone nervous?"
No one shook their heads or said no.
"No one? I'm all alone here?"
Olly asked around
"Maybe a little, I wonder what they'll have us do."
Irene responded
"Well, I'm sure it won't be too hard."
Aster said in hopes of them losing their nervousness.
"You all are going to the academy, right?"
A man asked as he came up to our table, it was the man from when Audrey and Irene sparred.
"That's correct, who are you?" Audrey spoke first.
"Hmm, I'll be there as well, good luck." The man whose hair covered his eyes said.
"Are you also a student?" Irene asked
"Yeah, you look a bit old." Aster followed
"Hahaha, a bit old. Maybe." With those words said, he left.
He didn't seem suspicious, but I couldn't see his eyes, so I had no way to be sure.
"He was a bit suspicious don't you guys think?"
"I think so too."
"He did have that kind of vibe."
"Maybe."
I shrugged my shoulders and Lily didn't answer.
After that everything went smoothly, we ordered a few more things and paid for our meals and then we met outside.
"It was fun meeting you all!"
"I agree, it was enjoyable."
Everyone said similar words.
"Well, I wish good luck to everyone tomorrow!"
"Good luck!"
After we all wished each other luck, we all went our separate ways, Irene and I headed to the inn.
"Sleep well, we'll have to be up early tomorrow."
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
And with that, we went into our rooms and went to sleep.