Chapter 10: A Guest
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" Natasha asked the two while sitting on a very old stool. "I don't know. That depends on him." Corn referred to Zed, who is baring his fangs at Natasha. The latter who doesn't know what made him behave like that wonders what she had done wrong aside from eavesdropping.
"You are both Artists, isn't that a great thing? Our country will have more great warriors. Seeing how competent you both are even at a young age, I'm sure you will both grow up to be even more promising." She tried to give them lip service, but none of them seem to buy it.
Natasha bit her lip and turns away from Zed the moment her lip service did not work.
"Look here, Natasha. I get it that you are one of the most beautiful girl here in town, but what gives you the right to do everything that you want without asking for our consent? Is that how celebrities should act?" Zed let out his anger and left the two confused.
"Zed. What in the world are you talking about? She just eavesdropped on us, that's it. I don't think you need to say those harsh words at all!" Zed stares at his friend and sees that he had been captured by her beauty, just like the rest of his friends are.
"Really. This guy. This is supposed to be a private discussion, we are not even relatively close to her in the first place. So what does this mean?"
"Then, there are other reasons why she followed us here. Let's ask her about that first before we can say anything else." Corn suggested. Zed turns to Natasha to give them the reason for tailing them as Corn suggested, but Zed staring at her only made her remember the time she visited his house and how she humiliated herself. Hence, she can't think of a good excuse.
"I-ah. How can –"
The two barely made anything out of what she said and stares at her intently, pressuring her even more. Corn finds it odd that she hesitates to even look Zed in the eyes, and wonders for a moment. His eyes widened when he realized the reason why Natasha followed them. "Impossible! No way- how can the goddess fall in love with this bastard?!" Corn felt his soul leave his body for a moment and composed himself.
"Oi- Natasha. Corn gave you a chance to explain yourself. Don't you think you should at least be grateful to him and give us an excuse?" Zed still insists on asking for an excuse, though Corn doesn't seem to insist on the same thing, since he already has an idea of what is happening and just keeps his mouth shut.
"Zed. I don't think you should be getting angry with a girl. Let's just forget about it and forgive her." Corn suggested, as he pities her for falling in love with someone as dense as Zed.
Back on Earth, Karl who is now Zed has lived a life stuck inside their house with nothing but games to entertain him. Some people would find it boring, but to him, that is all that he needs. Hence, he is unaware of other people's feelings toward him.
Zed still insisted on her excuse for a few minutes, but when he saw that Natasha is on the verge of tears, he stops. In the end, he is still human with that much awareness after all.
"Tch! Fine. I won't ask for an excuse. Since Corn is insisting that we forget about this, then that's what I'll do. But don't think that I will ever forget what you did in the past. I'll just forget this incident." Zed said with a grumpy tone.
Corn somehow felt relieved that Zed decides not to pursue the matter any longer. "Well? What should we do? She is now aware that we are Artists? If this spreads, my plan to lie low until I reach a certain age and strength will be ruined."
Natasha raised her hand with a determined look on her face. Unlike what she was showing earlier, her current expression is much better. "Why do you want to hide something incredible from everyone?" Corn also turned to Zed as he is curious about his reason as well.
"That's right Zed. I want to know, too." Zed stares at them with a completely disappointed expression and eventually hides his face with his palms. "These guys- they unaware of the truth of the world, huh? Well, what did I expect from kids my age? They are only aware of things to an extent." He said to himself as he faced them with a stern expression.
"Let's see. Where should I start first? Right. The first reason is the world is wide. If we introduce ourselves as special to other people. Not only that it will be troublesome, but it will also make other people jealous. Not even in the history of our town to have a single Artist, let alone an Artist and a Mage at the same time. We will be a target to those people who are trying to take every special individual, which could also end up without families being involved."
Corn immediately understood what Zed meant by those words, Natasha on the other hand thinks that there are a lot of ways they can avoid the scenarios that Zed suggested.
"Second reason, if we flaunt our strengths when we did not even polish our skills, we will only be a laughingstock to all the people of the entire country. Don't you want to surprise your opponent by showing how strong you are compared to them? Imagine that they talk you down without knowing how strong you are, don't you want to slap them with their own words? I don't know about you, but, to me, that is something that I want to happen."
Corn is then reminded of what happened to Zed upon the departure of the royal Prince and Princess, he immediately understood what Zed met.
"And the last reason, if we announce that we are Artists, then I would just be betraying myself. The promise to protect everyone that I love will immediately be broken. There are a lot of variables and accidents that could happen without our knowledge. I don't want to lose my family over something that I can live without." Corn pat Zed's shoulder as understands why he doesn't want to be known as an Artist so early in their age and supports his friend's idea.
"That made a lot of sense. I also don't want to lose my family over something that I can live without as well. They are far more precious to me to lose." Corn added. "With that in mind. Natasha, can you stay silent about this?"
She looks at them with a smile now she understands their concerns and nods her head. "I get it. I'll keep quiet about this. It's not like I'll gain anything by announcing it to everyone, after all." Corn expresses his thankfulness and bows his head.
"Thank you very much!"
Zed on the other hand just stares at her and extends his hand. "What?"
"What do you mean what? You need to pay me for the pie the other day. You left without saying anything, and that was my prized pie. I gave you my share that day, so I did not get to eat any."
The two stare at him blankly and realized that it must have been the reason why he is so angry toward her. "So it was about a pie, huh? I should have expected it. Auntie's pie is delicious, so I understand Zed's sentiment-" As Corn shakes his head with a smile after hearing Zed's reason, his eyes almost popped out when he realized what happened. "Wait- what?!" he exclaimed out of nowhere.
"Natasha came to your house?!" Zed nods his head. "How else could I have served her pie then? That should be obvious from the start, right?"
Corn collapsed after Zed confirms it himself. "The goddess visited him at their house! The goddess visited him at their house! The goddess visited him at their house! The goddess visited him at their house! He is a traitor!" Corn wants to yell at Zed but, he knows that he will not understand the reason behind it and will only make himself look bad in front of her.
"Curse this world. It's so unfair!" Corn started crying, knowing that they have already lost the race and the winner has already been decided.
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