Chapter 230: Meeting the team

Chloe and Vlad had only entered the cafeteria when all the eyes began shifting towards them. Students sitting around the tables and those waiting in line to get their food all stopped in their tracks, their mouths falling open and eyes widening as they stared at Vlad.

Following the brief silence, the hall was filled with hushed murmurs about Vlad.

"I’m not hungry anymore," Chloe muttered, clearly annoyed. Couldn’t these people just mind their own business? "Let’s go—"

She tried to move back, but Vlad’s grip only tightened around her hand. "I’m eating meat today. And the dinner is on you," Vlad declared, seeming completely unbothered by the gossip.

Chloe looked at Vlad’s face for a brief moment. "Unh. Desserts are on you then," she replied as the duo walked in, paving their way through the students.

"I won’t pay for desserts either," Vlad shook his head. "Remember, I don’t have my phone with me."

"Oh right," Chloe remembered. "But no worries."

She rubbed her face against his arm as she continued, "All my money is yours anyway. And yours is mine."

She said the last sentence in a low tone, but Vlad still heard her clearly. He merely chuckled, patting her head with his other hand. "Of course they are."

They had only grabbed their plates when a surprised voice came from one of the tables.

"Vlad!?"

His eyes followed the source of the familiar voice. It belonged to Hugo, who was sitting with Raphael and Alisha, having their dinner.

The trio rose from their seats, their lips parted and irises trembling as they looked at Vlad.

Hugo and Alisha sprinted towards him. Chloe stepped aside, knowing what was about to follow next.

Both Hugo and Alisha hugged him from either side.

"Thank goodness," Alisha whimpered, her voice slightly breaking.

"You really scared us there, junior," Hugo added, a sense of relief evident in his voice.

"I’m glad that we all made it back safely," Vlad replied, patting both of their backs.

When they parted, Raphael had also arrived before him. His eyes were lowered in shame, his blonde hair, which was always perfectly combed, completely dishevelled.

"Vlad, I..."

Vlad knew what was troubling him and what he wanted to say.

"There’s no need to feel guilty, Senior," Vlad said, lightly fist-bumping him. "If you had let your emotions get the better of you, not all of us might have made it back."

Raphael’s eyes widened, a bridge of tears forming along his eyelids. He had been blaming himself for teleporting without Vlad ever since he had woken up. The weight of sacrificing a party member had been pressing heavily upon him.

Hearing these words from Vlad finally lifted some of the weight of guilt from his shoulders.

"Th-thank you, Vlad. Thank you so much..." he murmured through his tears.

Vlad tapped his shoulder to calm him down.

"Let’s take a seat," Hugo declared, wiping the moisture from the corner of his eye. "We have a lot to catch up on."

Vlad looked at Chloe beside him. She gave a slight nod.

Vlad and Chloe filled their plates at the reception and sat with the group of seniors.

They were obviously curious about how Vlad had made it back, not to mention completely unscathed on top of that. He had been the most injured among them, after all.

Vlad told them the same story he had told Lucas and Seraphina.

"Incredible... The Pyro Tyrant himself went to search for you," Hugo gasped, having a hard time believing it. The others also wore similarly flabbergasted expressions.

But again, considering how close he was with Seraphina, it somehow did not seem all that absurd.

But if the Pyro Tyrant had personally made a move, didn’t that mean he acknowledged Vlad and Seraphina’s relationship?

The whole trio was looking at him with newfound respect. Vlad’s future seemed boundless now, and their inner noble instincts were screaming that they must maintain a good relationship with him.

Alisha’s black eyes narrowed at the striking girl sitting beside Vlad, gobbling down her food without a care in the world. It was difficult not to notice her, considering her serene face and how close she seemed with Vlad. The duo had even entered the cafeteria holding hands.

"Who is this young lady?" Alisha asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"She is my family, Chloe," Vlad introduced her.

Chloe merely nodded before turning her focus back to her plate.

Hugo and Alisha exchanged glances. "Does Lady Seraphina know about this family of yours?" Alisha probed further.

"Of course. They are good friends now."

"We aren’t," Chloe declared... and turned her focus back to her food.

"..."

An awkward silence fell over the table. Alisha and Hugo decided to stay out of whatever was going on between them.

---

After dinner, as the group rose from the table, Alisha, Hugo, and Raphael stood before Vlad, side by side.

Suddenly, they bent their backs in a deep bow and declared,

"Thank you for saving our lives, Sir Vlad!"

A ripple of gasps spread through the hall. The geniuses of the second years, with two of them ranking among the top five in the Arena Rankings, were actually bowing to a junior who had only recently become a knight.

"So Vlad sacrificing himself to save the team wasn’t just a rumour?"

"Call him Sir Vlad, you idiot. If even Sir Hugo is paying his respects to him, he must already be a Marshal Knight."

"Marshal Knight!? What a terrifying talent!"

"Being sponsored by House Cendral speaks volumes about his talent. We should try to form a connection with him."

While the whole cafeteria was filled with murmurs, with Vlad once again becoming the centre of attention, the man in question seemed a bit flustered.

"S-seniors, we all did what we could to survive," Vlad blurted, lifting their heads one by one by their shoulders. "Let’s not get all formal. It’s awkward."

They merely laughed at their flustered junior. It was rare to see this calm junior of theirs behaving like this.

"Let’s someday fight together again, Sir Vlad," Hugo said as he extended his fist towards Vlad.

Raphael and Alisha also extended their fists.

A smile formed on Vlad’s face as he moved his fist forward, bumping it against theirs. "Sure."

---

Vlad and Chloe parted from the group after leaving the cafeteria.

When they reached the open campus outside the Main Building, the moon was already dominating the bone-chilling night sky.

"Soon it will be New Year," Vlad murmured, looking at the glittering stars. "It might snow in a day or two."

He drew a thick coat from his storage ring and wrapped it around Chloe’s shoulders, as she was only wearing a pair of trousers and a skin-tight shirt.

They strolled in slow steps, hand in hand. Vlad told her about the new sword moves that he had learned, while Chloe revealed her experience in the State of Enlightenment. They stopped at a convenience store midway to grab some ice cream.

They didn’t even realise when they reached the girls’ dormitories. Once Chloe went inside the building, Vlad’s eyes shifted towards the building a few blocks away.

"I guess it’s time to meet Sera."