Talks

The Hide and Seek test ended in the victory of Team B and loss of Team A.

After the test was over and the injured were escorted out, Winston could not help but notice the slightly despondent feeling everyone held on their faces, especially the bloodied boy, the 25th Bam.

Winston shook his head, not understanding the source of their sadness.

"..." Winston looked on as Hoh was carried off, and remembered the list the Scouts were given.

His eyes narrowed slightly.

Then, he smiled.

I suppose he was really so naive to take everyone as his friend... Winston's mind was suddenly filled with images of Amon, Zarhan and the other regulars he had spent time with on the test floor. He could not help but let his thoughts wander, thinking up the various possibilities the future may hold.

Then, he closed his eyes and sighed. He felt the progress of his potion digestion, and finally his mood elevated to a certain extent.

It seems even lying to the ranker about knowing reverse flow control was fine for the swindler potion to trigger digestion...

Amid every single member of the B team, Winston was the only one that held a smile on his face.

~~~

Winston struggled in his bed, rolling about the covers as the sunlight filtered through the partially closed curtains. He blinked for a few seconds before stretching and getting out of bed.

Then, he suddenly heard a voice echo through the room.

"Mic test! Mic test! One two three!

"Attention all regulars! This is Lero ro!

Congratulations for making your way through the previous test! I'm sure all of you are very tired by taking the position test, but make sure not to stay in bed all day and have your meals!

"Because the tests are now over, the meals in the cafeteria are now free, so those that didn't eat as well to save points can let themselves loose!

However, I will say, the food here isn't that great."

As Lero ro continued to speak, Winston got up and stretched his slightly stiff joints. Then, he practiced some rough cogitation to focus his spirituality and materialized two baangs around him amid the announcement.

The baangs floated around him in a circle, speeding up gradually. Winston closed his eyes and say down cross-legged on the ground.

"Now to tell you the reason the announcement is being made, the results for the positioning test will be revealed today at 6 pm in the main hall. Kindly be present on time! Enjoy!"

With that, the announcement ended.

Winston kept his eyes closed, not letting his thoughts wander.

The two baangs around him sped up more and more, spinning around rapidly, even making a slight breeze in the room.

Slowly but surely, a third baang also began to form around him, joining the other two.

The third was noticanly smaller than the other two at first, but it rapidly grew in size to match the other two.

Hooooo~

Winston breathed out. With a small mental command, the baangs around him stopped immediately.

Then, he got up and headed for the bathroom.

~~~

Winston sat on the tables of the cafeteria, with Amon and Zarhan to his sides.

They all had lavish food plates on their table, eating without a care in the world. All three had full confidence for passing the test without trouble.

Winston not only performed well, but had the highest number if points among the fishermen; not to mention Hex who seemed to favor him. Amon, being the top 3 in the Scout rankings for the test floor, along with performing well in the test against Quant, his position teacher.

As for Zarhan... he had already passed early. And he has made all the effort to rub it in both Winston and Amon's faces.

Winston chewed on the eel meat, his eyes wandering about the room, spotting Endorsi and Khun who were heading for the empty seats diagonally across from them.

Winston quietly chose to eat his food, not bothering to call out to them.

As both of them seated, they began to talk.

"I didn't know you were so ruthless. Destroying all of your fellow fishermen like them." Khun droned with a chuckle.

"Weren't you the one who proposed that you will help me with my 'business?'" Endorsi raised an eyebrow.

"I was. Didn't you promise to keep Bam from meeting Rachel?" Khun took another bite from the rice. Winston's ears perked up hearing this.

So they did make a deal... so, in exchange for keeping Bam with her, Khun would help her in a 'business?' Going up the next floor I assume? Winston mused.

"I did. But I couldn't stop him." Endorsi chortled.

Hearing her words, Khun got up immediately.

"You ruined everything." He said and went in his way, taking his food along with him.

"That was a disaster.." Zarhan said suddenly.

Endorsi perked up, looking at the three of them.

"Were you listening around?!" Endorsi yelled at them.

"You aren't exactly subtle with how you talk." Amon said, taking a bite out of the eel meat. "If anything, it seems like you just don't care who listens in. I'm surprised you didn't notice us." He said.

That was the truth. In actuality, Winston even suspected that Khun purposefully chose the seat diagonally across from them because he wanted them to hear their conversation; for reasons unknown to Winston. As for why that could potentially be the case, he could not say. But there was one thing he knew for sure, it was the fact that Khun wasn't so immature or careless to have just anyone listen in to his conversation.

Winston smiled, pleased at the cunning of the blur haired young man.

"Are you alright, princess?" Winston chuckled.

Endorsi raised an eyebrow.

"Ha! What could be wrong with me? A princess of Jahad!?" She asked boisterously.

"Ye seem sad. You even have dark circles under your eyes." Zarhan spoke nonchalantly from the side.

Endorsi suddenly froze.

"What the hell are you saying?! Did you say I have dark circles?! I'll have you know I take great care of my sleep routine!" Endorsi yelled in a blinded rage.

Winston sighed, and so did Amon.

Endorsi was too easily riled up. One had to comment only on her appearance or age.

"I don't know about the dark circles, but you do seem slightly despondent." Winston took a bite. "You should smile more. Being all sad isn't gonna get you anywhere." He commented.

Amon nodded at the side. "That's right! At least with a smile, one can gain strength to face the challenges!"

Endorsi scoffed.

"Smiling in front of a challenge? Instead of that, I prefer to eat up whatever is bothering me." She shook her head and got up, picking up her plate alongside her.

Then, she walked away from the table.

"She's definitely feeling off." Amon commented.

"Yep." Zarhan expressed his agreement.

With that, they continued to eat their food in silence and a bit of idle chatter.

~~~

Winston sat in his room by himself, lost in thought.

He looked at the time.

5:32 pm. It was not too long before the test results would be out.

With the test results out and Rachel being injured, wouldn't she be declared unfit for climbing and therefore fail the test? He mused. Then, he shook his head.

Whatever happens between her and Bam, that is now their own concern. He concluded. He had made the effort to save Rachel because they were taking a test and she was his teammate. There was no other reason involved whatsoever. Or at least any that he was willing to name.

He sighed.

I'm hungry... he thought.

Just then, a knock was heard on his door.

He got off the bed and spoke.

"Come in!"

The door opened with a strange hum, revealing a young man with bright blue hair and dark blue eyes, adorning a plain white shirt and khakhi coloured pants.

Winston raised an eyebrow.

"Khun?" He asked.

Khun nodded.

"May I come in?"

Winston nodded and invited him in. Winston sat cross legged on the bed while Khun .ade himself comfortable on the chair in front of it.

"So? What brings you here?" Winston asked with a smile.

"Nothing in particular. Can't I just feel like seeing a friend?" Khun smiled back.

Winston chuckled.

"I might have believed you if it were any other time during the one month stay here." Winston gazed at him. "But not after the small display you put up for us earlier today. You're here for something. You need something from me." He said.

Khun didn't object.

"Then, I'll get straight to the point." He said, his eyes suddenly gaining a strange pierce.

"I want you to train Bam and aid us in something we will do." Winston raised an eyebrow at Khun's request.

"Train Bam? Aid you? How so? And more importantly, what do I get in return?" Winston smiled, pleased at having the opportunity to swindle Khun again. Aside from Quant, Khun was the ideal person to swindle, solely because of his sharp mind. The greater the difficulty of swindling someone, the greater the feedback.

Khun smiled mysteriously.

"The request is exactly as it sounds like. I want you to train Bam. As for the second part, its a bit complicated." For a few seconds, Khun explained their next course of action that they had decided upon, and how he was to play a role in that.

After the explanation was done, a short silence followed.

"And what do I get in return?" Winston asked, the same smile never leaving his face.

With a shrug Khun chuckled.

"How does... a needle from Khun Eduan's personal treasury sound like?" And along came his voice like the devil's whisper.

Winston was stunned for a moment, his eyes widening imperceptibly. He was silent for a moment.

Then, he smiled.

"That's a bit too less, don't you think?" It seems even the devil has demons he's plagued by.

~~~

A/N: A shorter chapter than normal.

After the first volume is done, I will take a short time off from this to prepare for the next volume and stack up some chapters.

Cheers~~

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