Chapter 11: A Confession?
Natasha explained everything to Zed as good as she could without revealing her feelings towards him while Corn bitterly pretends to not hear everything, and the three spent their time planning their training.
A few days later, the old stable remained the place where they met. They kept it from the others until they are ready to reveal everything about their strengths.
"I can't do this, anymore thinking, and I think my head will explode." Natasha hangs her head on the table that they brought while they are there.
"All this thinking made me nauseous! I can't believe I can't think of something so easy! Considering all the variables, I don't think this is a proper place to train our arts at all!" Natasha agrees and points out the noise that they would make that will attract the attention of many people.
Corn stared at Natasha and let out a deep sigh. "What is it, Corn?" the latter shook his head lazily. "I know what's going on. You don't usually hang out with our group, maybe because we are all boys, but you ended up at Zed's place last time. You are not particularly close to Zed to come to his house uninvited as well."
Natasha's heart raced the instant Corn spouted those facts, and after a single glance, she saw that Corn is serious and confident about what he is saying. "What are you talking about? Even if you are not close to someone, you might still be able to go to their house, can't you?" she defended hastily.
Her careless gestures made Corn even sure of his suspicion. "You like Zed, right?"
"OF COURSE NOT! WHY IN THE WORLD WILL I LIKE SOMEONE LIKE HIM!?" She blurted out in an instant. "Really, why would I like someone like him?" she added with a now calmer tone.
Corn continues to look at her, and after each passing second, his eyes would widen. "What's the matter?-!" she asked as she turns around and finds Zed standing right behind her, and it looks like he heard everything that she said.
"There you are, Zed-!" Zed did nothing but stare at her as if he despised her completely. Without saying a word. Zed places a parchment on the table where he wrote everything that he had planned during their training.
Stunned by what she just said, the two just stared into space as Zed explains everything to them.
"Hey- are you both listening?" Zed asked.
"What should I do? I blatantly denied that I don't like him! What if he gets angry over that?!" Natasha bit her nails in frustration and wants to kill herself for what she had just done.
"I heard you loud and clear earlier, but that doesn't mean that you should not listen to me," Zed said with a cold tone. Making Natasha even more worried that it will be hard to confess to him in the future. "What should I do?!"
Without anything to say, the two just listened to Zed as he explains everything that he wants to do. They are both surprised when Zed tells them that they will have a place to train properly. "What are you planning, Zed? Don't tell me that you are planning to do something outrageous." Corn tells him ahead of time.
"What outrageous are you talking about? When have I ever done something like that? Anyway, there are still a lot of things to take care of before that happens, so fingers crossed. Is the rest clear?" Zed asked.
"All I need to do is, nothing?" Natasha asked. "Yeah. You are not the one doing all the training, so what are you going to do aside from nothing? I just ask that you stay silent about this, you can visit us in the place that I will prepare, though you are not allowed to bring anyone while we are training."
After that, Zed showed Corn the things that they are going to do. Since his art is entirely different from Zed's , they are going to do some experiments to further understand their arts.
"I did not expect that a kid like you will be able to think this through. Are you even human?" Corned mumbled the moment Zed explained everything to him. "I'm as human as you are. There are a lot of things that are not known about your art. If anti-magic is the only thing that you have then that's easy to understand since magic is useless in your presence. The only problem is, how are you indestructible at the same time? Isn't that an overkill?"
Corn raised his nose confidently, trying to make Zed jealous of him. The latter just gave him a smirk and then proceeds to tell Corn about what he thought of his art. "That's what I think as well. I guess, there is still more to this than just on the surface, right?"
"I think so as well. I want to understand everything about my art as well. My magic is already at a good level, so this is the only thing that I want to focus on right now."
After talking about their suggestions, their meeting for the day ended.
They all went home except for Zed who went to the old stable to meet old man Yshka who had already been waiting for him. "I thought you are not going to arrive, so I was planning to leave just now. Fortunately, you are even manly compared to most adults here in town." Old man Yshka praises Zed and hands him a paper.
"Are you sure about this? This is all the money that you have saved, you know?" Zed nods his head while reading the contents of the paper. "Yes. There is something that I want to do. Well, not just me, but Corn as well. That's why we are going to quit working here." Old man Yshka is saddened by the news and Zed noticed it.
"But don't worry, I can still come here to help you with the things that you require my help, just as I promised." In an instant, the old man smiles and asks him if everything is alright. "By the way, why do you want to keep a written sale? Is that necessary?"
"Yes, we can't just trust people on their verbal promises. This is an assurance that he will not go back on his word." Old man Yshka got the gist of it and doesn't ask anything else, since it is something that he finds troublesome.
"Well, if there is anything else that you want. You can, just tell me. I will do my best to help." Zed shook his hand, it is an uncomfortable situation since it is the first time that the old man shook a kid's hand after closing a deal. Zed is the first person, the first kid, that he sees as more of an adult than most grown-ups in the entire town.
"Old man Yshka, are you not going to ask me why I am buying that land?" the old man shook his head. "You have helped me a lot of times and even elevated my way of living. I would be ungrateful if I were to ask about something like this. Especially to the one person that believed in me and help me change my life? Compared to that, this is nothing." He responded and left.
"He is a good man, after all. He is just not that good at expressing his emotions, maybe because he is despised by most people in the past. Well, I guess that is a bonus for me." Zed said to himself with a smile.
At the same time, in a faraway land,
A group of people is throwing away tens of bodies in a river and left after erasing any traces they left.
"The ritual is a failure once again. This makes the fifth time of unsuccessful ritual. The kings of the other countries have already ordered our capture. If this goes on, I don't think we can continue doing this in the shadows." A man in a hood said with a worried tone.
"I know that much, you bastard. There is no need to tell me about it. But if it's for our Lord, even if I have to be revealed to the world, then I would gladly do so."
Weekly Power Status
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