The Third Uncle's Summons
The maze escape match, which had grown somewhat perilous with Chris's appearance, finally concluded. What awaited the exhausted Arina was Marily's fierce embrace—so tight it nearly stole her breath.
"You little rascal, you little rascal, you little rascal, you little rascal, you little rascal, you little rascal……!"
Clinging to Arina like a monkey hanging from a tree, Marily roughly ruffled her hair. When the vigorous strokes began to sting Arina's scalp and she started feeling burdened by the relentless affection, Marily suddenly thrust her face right in front of hers.
"Do you have any idea how anxious I was at the end? Why did you win in such a nerve-wracking way!"
Despite having won, Arina found herself being scolded for the strangest reason. Anyone else might have frowned and asked what nonsense she was spouting, but Arina instead wore an apologetic expression as she replied.
"I'm sorry. I didn't expect my opponent to be that strong."
She had heard that even a single star's difference among ability users was significant, but she hadn't realized the gap could be this vast. After all, Arina's only real combat experience was fighting the zombies summoned by a dark mage at the Grant Department Store earlier that year, back when she was still an inexperienced mage.
"No, you should be bragging! You did great! You did amazing! You really did well! That was the best performance!"
At Arina's words, Marily shook her head vigorously and pulled her into another tight hug, beaming brightly.
"……."
From behind them, Jeon watched the scene in silence. His gaze toward Marily was filled with envy. It was the look of someone thinking, If I were a girl too, at least I could hug her freely like that, even if I couldn't date her anyway. But the moment he realized he had entertained such vulgar thoughts about Arina, guilt washed over him and he hung his head low.
What the hell am I thinking……
I'm not even human. To have such filthy thoughts about someone I like…… Even if Arina could read his mind and despised him for it, he wouldn't have any excuse.
"Hyung, why's your face like that?"
Togun approached the shamefaced Jeon, who couldn't bring himself to look up, and tilted his head in confusion. After all, Jeon looked less like someone who had just returned victorious from a match and more like a defeated soldier who had been thoroughly beaten in a fight.
"No, it's nothing."
At Togun's question, Jeon quickly composed his expression and shook his head nonchalantly. It's fine. No one knows what I was just thinking.
"……."
The moment he turned his head with that thought, his eyes accidentally met Marily's—she was still hugging Arina. Startled, Jeon flinched, and Marily looked at him with a meaningful smile.
Jealous?
Her eyes seemed to say exactly that. There was no doubt—she had figured it out. She knew precisely what indecent thought had just crossed his mind……!
Damn royalty.
A brat who's only gotten sharper at reading people from hanging around noble society. Why does she have to read someone else's expression so freely? No, that wasn't it.
She did it on purpose.
While she was surely happy about the victory, it was obvious she had hugged Arina with the added intention of stirring up jealousy in him. His own noble-honed instincts told him as much.
Arina's going to be in trouble if she finds out~
A smile spread across Marily's face as she looked at Jeon. It was the grin of a demon reveling in human suffering—far too vulgar and base for a princess of a nation.
"Hmph."
Jeon sharply turned his head away, as if ignoring Marily's silent mouthing. But it seemed she had no intention of stopping her teasing. Releasing Arina from her embrace, she slowly approached him and whispered softly.
"It's fine. What's the problem? It's only natural for a man to have all sorts of fantasies about the girl he likes."
Was this really something coming from a princess's mouth? No—forget her status, it was absolutely not something a twelve-year-old should be saying.
There's definitely a man over thirty living inside this kid's head.
At Jeon's cold, exasperated look, displeasure crept onto Marily's previously playful face.
"What? What's with that pathetic look?"
She really was sharp. To read his thoughts so accurately. But Jeon had no intention of answering and simply turned his back on her.
"Are you sulking?"
He seemed thoroughly offended. She really couldn't afford to joke around so carelessly. He got sulky far too easily.
"Arina~! Jeon~!"
Just as Marily clicked her tongue and shook her head, a very familiar voice called out to them from afar. At the sound, Arina's body trembled. Then, instinctively, she quickly sidestepped.
"Kuek!"
Professor Karlsen, who had charged forward with the clear intent of sweeping Arina into a hug, went sprawling spectacularly onto the floor with the same momentum. He slid across the ground face-first before jerking his head up, blood streaming from his nose, and shouted at Arina with a look of utter betrayal.
"That's too much! Dodging like that!"
He had been so moved that he'd rushed straight here the moment he saw her victory! Was it really necessary to avoid him so coldly?
"I'm sorry."
Seeing the blood dripping from Professor Karlsen's nose, Arina felt an inexplicable pang of guilt. But his momentum had been so terrifying that she simply couldn't help dodging.
"No, it's fine. Now that I think about it, every single person I've tried to hug has freaked out and run away from me."
That was… a rather sad thing to say. In other words, it meant he had never hugged anyone before. Arina's guilt doubled at his words.
"……."
Leaving Arina's remorse behind, Professor Karlsen's gaze now turned to Jeon. Blood still trickling down his displeased face, his sparkling, expectant eyes were so repulsive they nearly made the onlooker gag.
"I'm sorry. I know you're not a bad person, but I still have a strong aversion to dark mages."
"Ah, I must have touched on your trauma. I'm sorry about that, Jeon."
Though he said it was fine, his disappointment was written plainly across his face—so obvious that even without noble-honed instincts, anyone could tell.
Thank goodness the dark mage excuse worked.
Jeon let out a silent sigh of relief as he looked at the disappointed professor. Completely oblivious to his thoughts, Professor Karlsen turned away with a bright smile.
"Everyone, you all worked hard today. Let's go grab a meal together as a way of saying let's do our best again tomorrow!"
"Does that mean you're treating us, Professor?"
"……."
At Marily's question, Professor Karlsen froze for a moment. Blood continued to drip from his nose due to gravity. With each drop that fell, countless thoughts raced through his mind. He considered his party members. Among them were a princess of an entire kingdom and the niece of the underworld's ruler. Both were far wealthier than he could ever hope to be. No, there was no need to even compare them to those two. Jeon was a direct descendant of the Raydel family, and Togun was the legitimate heir of the Masao family, which maintained close ties with the Magic Tower in experimental fields. Both could easily spend more money than him if they wanted to. In other words, there wasn't a single person here who had less money than Professor Karlsen. Even though they were all much younger than him.
"Why are you like that? Don't tell me you're expecting us to pay?"
Right. The problem was that he was the oldest. On top of that, not only was his social status the highest here, but he was also the only working adult present.
Marily…… Why must you put me through this trial……
Where had the flexing gone—the one where she used to swipe her card nonstop at the peace restaurant? Of course, she wasn't saying this because she genuinely minded spending money. She just enjoyed watching him suffer. Knowing Marily's mischievous personality well, Professor Karlsen finally gave up and spoke weakly.
"Yes, of course I'll be treating."
"That's great. Sir Filodein and the others have been waiting outside and must be starving by now."
"……."
Ah, so they were all included too? He had lost so much blood—maybe he was starting to get anemic. Professor Karlsen's face turned twice as pale as usual.
Wait a second? If the guardians are all included too……?
Professor Karlsen's gaze shifted to Arina. Right—the Death King was here too. He had seen him in the stands earlier, so that was a fact. If all the guardians were coming, wouldn't the Death King come as well?
A chance to treat the Death King to a meal……?
A chance to spend his entire fortune dining with his favorite person. He absolutely couldn't miss this.
"Of course, tell the guardians waiting in the stands to come as well!"
Following the excited pounding of his heart, his nosebleed started gushing again. Watching him with his black clothes now soaked through, Marily—who had started the teasing—trembled and took a step back.
"Now then! Let's get going! Does anyone know a good restaurant nearby? There are so many people, we might need to make a reservation in advance."
"I know a few fine dining places."
"Please, anything but that, Marily."
No matter how desperate he was for a meal with the Death King, no matter how willing his spirit was, his bank account had its limits.
"Well, if not, we can just search on our smartphones."
With that, Professor Karlsen began walking ahead. The group followed him out of the arena and into the corridor. Perhaps because guardians were now allowed entry, it was common to see students chatting with various people. But among them, the most eye-catching group was the one approaching them. Lucian Filodein of the Royal Mage Corps had somehow appeared and stood behind Marily, while her maids wiped her sweat and offered drinks to everyone.
"Ah, thank you."
Accepting the drink from the pretty maid, Arina bowed her head politely. The maid smiled back bashfully, seemingly finding the gesture cute, before quietly stepping away.
Arina watched Marily sipping the drink she had been given while chatting with those around her. Then, suddenly, she turned her head this way and that, as if looking for someone.
"Huh?"
Arina's body stiffened and her movements halted. Her eyes met those of a familiar yet unfamiliar man walking straight toward her with clear intent.
"Little Uncle?"
Not from her mother's side, but from her father's. Unlike Kain, he was actual blood relative. It was Humon Grant, the third son of the Grant Trading Company. At his sharp gaze, Arina instinctively shrank back and carefully studied his expression.
"It's been a while."
"Yes."
"Come with me for a moment. I have something to say."
At Humon Grant's words, Arina's eyes wavered greatly. Her gaze instinctively turned back. Sensing her anxiety, Marily and Jeon were the first to fix their eyes on her. Arina nodded reassuringly at them before turning back to Humon.
"Will the conversation take long? If so, I should ask the others for understanding."
"Not really. I don't particularly want to talk for long either."
With someone like you.
The unspoken words were hidden behind Humon's statement. And Arina noticed them. Because of Marily Raymond—because she seemed close to Arina—her little uncle was being cautious and wanted to keep his distance so their conversation wouldn't be overheard. After all, compared to how he used to treat her, his words were much more softened now.
"Then that's fine."
"Follow me."
At Humon's words, Arina waved at the group once more to signal she was okay, but her lips were pressed tightly together in anxiety as she carefully followed behind him.