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When Joshua returned to the waiting room, Cain and Icarus were waiting for him, just as he had expected.
“It was a great fight, Master,” Icarus said.
“Hm.” Joshua nodded.
“We only have a group battle left,” Icarus continued. She glanced behind Joshua.
Cazes seemed to feel her eyes and came forward and bowed.
“It’s an honor to meet you,” he said to her. “I’m Cazes Marahas, the subordinate of Captain Sanders.”
“Yo-you’re too polite,” came Icarus’s surprised reply, hastily followed by a bow in return.
Just like Icarus said, Cazes was definitely too polite in some ways. A knight was considered the equal of a baronet. On top of that, the Imperial Knights, the highest knights in the Empire, were practically the same rank as barons, placing them above baronets. Despite all that, he was the first one to bow at Icarus, who was basically a commoner…
Cazes smiled lightly. “You’re Icarus-nim, aren’t you? I heard a lot about you. I feel like the moment the Captain happily talked about how he recruited a great strategist was yesterday… but three years have already passed since then.”
“Ma-master talked about me?” Icarus raised her head upon hearing an unexpected story, her eyes filled with curiosity. “What did he say…?”
Cazes’s smile deepened
“He said that his strategist was very talented and was able to see the bigger picture in detail,” he kindly explained, as if he were speaking to his sister.
Icarus eagerly waited on his every word, but no matter how long she waited, Cazes didn’t say anything else.
“Is that all?” she asked, unable to hide her disappointment.
“Pardon?” Cazes tilted his head.
“Well, uh… Did he talk about any other characteristics…?” Icarus was flustered for some reason.
Cazes noticed and smiled knowingly.
“There is one natural-born swordsman in a hundred, but there is only one natural-born strategist in a ten thousand, so that title alone is extraordinary.”
“Yo-you’re right. I must have put you on the spot with my useless question…” Icarus timidly said.
“And…” Cazes continued, stepping closer so he could whisper to her, “You’re more beautiful than most women of the Empire, but you pretended to be a man, although you were really bad at it. So he was quite impressed…”
“Wait!” Icarus’s eyes widened. She instinctively turned her head to look at Cain.
“What?” Cain asked, tilting his head in confusion. “Do you have anything to say to me?
“No-no.” When Icarus saw Cain’s reaction, she repeatedly shook her head and turned back to Cazes. “How in the world…?”
“Why don’t you two stop whispering between yourselves now?” Cain finally got fed up and decided that it was the right time to interrupt the two. “Do you two know each other?”
“We don’t!” Icarus yelled with a reddened face.
“You can just say no. Why are you yelling…?” Cain turned his head to look at Cazes.“Hey, why don’t we introduce ourselves?
“You’re the Black Lion Cain de Harry, am I correct?” Cazes smiled.
“Do you know me?” Cain tilted his head in confusion.
Cazes shrugged. “Who wouldn’t know the Superhuman that is famous all around the continent?”
“Woah?” Cain exclaimed.
“On top of that, I’ve heard a lot about you, although it’s my first time meeting you.” Cazes chuckled.
It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“You mean you heard a lot from my master, right?”
“Yes,” Cazes said, nodding, “that’s correct.”
That was when Cain loosened up a bit.
“I was also quite touched when I watched the battle just now,” Cain complimented Cazes. “Although so many powerful figures were watching your fight, you had the guts to speak up with confidence.”
“It’s nothing compared to your accomplishments, Sir Cain.”
Feeling the confidence rising inside him, Cain slightly raised his chin.
“You know a thing or two, huh?”
“Even a child knows that.” Cazes shrugged.
“I feel like we’ll get along great—unlike someone.” Cain glanced sideways.
Cazes noted where Cain was looking and smiled.
“It’s an honor you think of me that way.”
“But…” Cain said.
Cazes waited for Cain to finish speaking.
“I know I’m being nosy, but are you married?”
“Here he goes again.” Icarus just shook her head because she wasn’t even surprised anymore.
“I also have two children,” Cazes replied.
“Oh, no…” Cain smacked his lips as if he was truly sad to hear that, but he was secretly relieved. “Well, no one is perfect aside from my master…”
Cazes wasn’t sure what to say.
“Then are you living with your wife here in Arcadia?”
A bitter smile spread across Cazes’s face.
“She’s dead.”
Cain and Icarus’s eyes widened.
“She was born weak, and it happened shortly after she gave birth to our second child… But I didn’t get to stay by her deathbed because I was away on a long business trip,” Cazes bitterly explained.
“I-I’m sorry for making you recall painful memories…” Cain apologized.
Cazes shook his head. “Don’t worry. It’s in the past.”
“Phew…” Icarus had been watching their conversation and ended up sighing. “Why did you have to ask such a question…?”
“How about you?!” Cain snapped.
“I’m not your honey[1], Sir Cain!”
“You’re the worst. How could you joke in a situation like this?” Cain grumbled.
Icarus crossed her arms.
“Can’t you see our master agonizing over the upcoming group battle, Sir Cain?”
“Huh?” Cain turned to the aforementioned master, but Joshua just shrugged. Cain snorted. “Agonize, my ass.”
“What?”
“Do you think that’s really the right word to describe our master? Since he’s been reinstated as the Captain of the Auxiliary Battalion of the Imperial Knights, it’s safe to say that he’s already won the group battle. Even if they’re going up against the Imperial Knights, our master will be able to take out all of them alone in thirty minutes.”
“But still,” Icarus insisted, but she couldn’t continue.
“I’ll bet on twenty minutes,” Cazes quietly said.
“Then I’ll bet on ten minutes!” Cain shouted with a wide grin.
“There’s nothing better than wagers to get closer to somebody,” Cazes said with a little chuckle.
“Shall we have a wager then?” Cain suggested.
“You’re on,” Cazes said. “What will you bet?”
“I happened to have ten gold right now… so I’ll bet all of it,” Cain proclaimed, his grin stretching even wider.
“Aren’t you a bit reckless with your money just because you’re single?” Cazes joked.
“Just don’t change your mind later,” Cain warned him. “I’m not going to let you off the hook even if you beg me to return the money later because you don’t have the money to buy snacks for your babies.”
Icarus watched their conversation go on, dumbfounded.
“It’s not a simple matter!” Icarus shrieked.
“…My eardrums are going to blow out,” Joshua mumbled.
“Master!” Icarus shouted.
“…Huh?” Joshua flinched as he was dragged into the crossfire.
“You know the other princes won’t just stay still, right?” Icarus growled with blazing eyes.
“Well…” Joshua shrugged.
“They’ll throw obstacles in our way by any means possible. Worst-case scenario, they might make your old colleagues fight against you.”
“Why do you care what happens to those traitors?” Cain said dismissively.
“Do you still not understand our master?” Icarus glared at Cain. “He must have a different opinion.”
Joshua’s expression changed a bit, as if to affirm Icarus’s assertion.
Cain frowned. “No way.”
“Captain.” After Cain, Cazes came forward with a serious face. “They didn’t make that choice because they wanted to.”
“What are you talking about?” Cain grumbled. “I know everyone does something for a reason, but their choices were surely—”
“Most of the current members of the Auxiliary Battalion are single,” Cazes interrupted.
Cain flinched. “You mean…?”
“Yes, most of them are single or lost their partners. Half of the knights that left the Battalion have wives, children, and old parents, so they have mouths to feed—and those mouths won’t be able to survive without the knights,“ Cazes bitterly continued. “If anything happens to them, their families don’t have anyone to protect them, so their futures are obvious—”
“Aren’t most of the Imperial Knights from prestigious noble families?” Icarus interjected. “How bad can it be—?”
“Most of the knights in the Auxiliary Battalion used to be wanderers, so no one comes from the prestigious noble families that you’re talking about. They were mercenaries or free knights that deserted their families for personal reasons,” Cazes explained.
“I didn’t know that…” Icarus trailed off into an awkward silence that weighed down on the room like a heavy blanket.
“Hey, hey.” Cain was unable to withstand the silence and thus quickly changed the topic. “By the way, didn’t you forget something, Icarus?”
“I forgot something?” Icarus tilted her head in confusion.
“Since the man right before me is our real master, then what happened to the person—no, the bastard that was going to be our master’s stand-in?”
“Oh, yeah!” Icarus clapped after she finally recalled. “Master, did you meet them, by the way?”
“‘Them’?” Joshua repeated.
“She means your doppelganger and that fucking spear,” Cain explained.
“…What?” Joshua flinched and visibly stiffened. “He’s here?”
“…Master?” Cain was perplexed. Joshua’s uncharacteristic nervousness contrasted worryingly with his usual unflappable composure.
“No, no way…” Joshua mumbled.
Cain stayed silent.
“Cain,” Joshua called.
“Ye-yes, sir?” Cain replied.
“Where did he go?”
“Ac-actually…” Cain stuttered, “I asked because I also don’t know…”
Joshua shut his mouth and began to think. If Cain was right about him being here, then Joshua had an idea about his location, because there was only one location he would go to in the Avalon Empire.
‘We took different routes—no, he must have moved beforehand since he could sense me, then…’ Joshua narrowed his eyes.
At that moment, someone loudly shouted from the outside of the waiting room, bringing Joshua back to reality.
“Mr. Joshua Sanders! You have been ordered by the Emperor to come to the first-class seat of the colosseum before the group battle starts!”
“Is it…?” Icarus tensed up when the event she had expected actually came true.
“Why would he say it's an order from the Emperor when there isn’t one right now?” Cain pouted.
“Let’s go.” Joshua headed to the door without hesitation.
Cain hesitated for a moment.
“Master, wouldn’t it be better to summon the other knights of the Auxiliary Battalion and say hi…?!”
“I think the same,” Cazes chimed in. “They’ll come running if you summon them right now. Since we don’t know what kind of schemes the princes are up to, it would be better to move after you meet the knights—”
“No, I don’t have the time.“ Joshua even looked anxious, so Cazes no longer said anything. “Cain.”
“Yes, master,” Cain replied.
“Is it okay if I join in on the wager you guys talked about?” Joshua asked out of the blue.
Cain gaped. “…Pardon? When you talk about wager, you mean…?”
“One minute,” Joshua said.
Cain boggled at him.
“I’ll make all the knights and other Captains that attack me kneel within a minute. If I win, I want you to do me a favor without complaining,” Joshua told Cain.
Then he immediately exited the room.
Icarus, Cain, and Cazes gaped at the door that Joshua had gone through, dumbfounded.
“Did he say ‘one minute’…?” they mumbled.
1. It’s… Korean wordplay. The raw was “자기는…” and “전 카인 경 자기가 아니거든요?“ 자기 means honey (as the term of endearment, not the actual honey.) in Korean. ☜