"Hmm… well, that's a foregone conclusion. So, what do you really intend to ask?"
Keeping the meat in place with a fork, he cut a small portion with a knife.
Max's hands froze.
He had expected an indifferent response, but this was beyond that.
Even if "being rank one" was worthy of a "keep this up", it would've been understandable.
But it being a foregone conclusion?!
The response was far more twisted than what Max could have ever expected.
Tch
Damian clicked his tongue, mildly irritated.
"Spill it already."
Damian ordered, glaring at Max with sharpened eyes.
"M-May I ask why that was a foregone conclusion?"
Max asked, fighting to keep his voice steady.
The head of the house looked directly into Max's eyes and paused for a second.
He took a bite off his fork, chewing in silence before swallowing.
"That was to be expected. For what purpose do you think I told you to finish a subject's syllabus in three days? Surprisingly, you managed it quickly too, so this shouldn't have been that hard."
Max felt his stomach churn.
The logic of the father's words left him with no retort.
He swallowed his anger and sighed quietly.
He raised his head, gazing back into the father's eyes.
"There's a dojo in our sector. I want to train in kendo…"
Max paused briefly before continuing.
"I've been wanting to discuss this with all of you for quite some time."
Out of breath, he grabbed his glass and drank from it.
Putting his glass down, he looked at the father.
Deep in thought, fork and knife still in his hands, he had his eyes closed.
Panicking, Max thought of giving the final push.
Suddenly the mother raised her finger in front of her lips.
Max pursed his lips as he adjusted himself in his chair.
Moments later, the father put down his fork and knife.
He opened his eyes, gazing at Max silently.
No anger, no judgement, no doubts. Just him staring… into Max's very soul.
"I'm not particularly against the idea, but why that dojo? If you want to learn, we can just have the head guard teach you."
Crossing his arms on the table, he leaned a little closer.
"The master of the dojo is exceptionally skilled… I doubt the head guard would be able to best him when it came to skills."
The father's gaze sharpened, as if he'd heard of the impossible.
Max continued speaking.
"There are two other pupils there. I believe I can learn a lot from them too."
Max took a deep breath. He turned to Damian.
"After all, brother did say "Excellence is a thing because there is competition", am I right?"
He turned back to the father.
"I intend to compete in the coming tournament which will be held in four months."
Max glanced at Sylvia for a mere moment before turning his gaze back to the father.
"That's why, I surveyed them carefully before asking you."
Suddenly the father's eyebrow twitched.
"You've surveyed them… you say?"
The father asked, his deep voice drowning Max in fear as he realized what he had disclosed.
Upon looking at Max's quivering frame, the father closed his eyes and sighed.
"I shall take that as a confession of your transgression…"
Pausing briefly, he came back to the topic.
"As for the dojo… Very well! I'll approve, but only on one condition."
Max looked up and then at the father.
"Condition?"
He muttered quietly, a twist forming in his gut.
"You claimed that he's better than our head guard, right?"
A cold sweat ran down Max's back.
"I'll arrange a meeting with the dojo's master. If he defeats our head guard in a duel, I shall allow it."
"And if he can't?"
Max wanted to ask but he swallowed the question before he could.
After all, Max knew better than anyone that Rei couldn't be defeated. Not by mere guards, even if they were the head guard.
So, it was unnecessary to even think about.
As if he'd read Max's mind, the father spoke.
"In the case that he can't, you'll train with the head guard. I was also thinking it was about time you learned some self-defense."
A strange, almost feverish smile touched his lips as his eyes drifted somewhere far beyond the dining room.
"We can never know who's going to attack…"
He coughed lightly, composing himself.
"It will be good for your record if you train under someone rather than in secret… as Damian did under the head guard."
Max's heart burned after hearing the claim.
The food stuck in his throat, constricted by the rage boiling within him.
Still, he endured, forcing himself to eat in silence until his plate was clean.
The first to leave was the father.
The mother rose from her seat and looked at Max.
"Don't cause trouble for the dojo master… if you go that is."
She left the dining hall, leaving Max with her advice.
Max's eyes gleamed as he looked at her slender back.
"That goes without saying."
Max thought as he gulped down the remaining water in his glass and got up from the table.
"Good for you…"
An icy chill grazed Max's ears, Damian rose and brushed past Max, patting his shoulder.
"Do your damn best, lil' bro…"
He snickered as he left from the dining hall.
Max stood in the hall, all by himself.
"Hm? Why're you still here? Go to bed, it's gotten quite late."
Sylvia looked softly in Max's eyes before returning to her chores.
Max snorted lightly, a faint smile curved his lips.
He left the dining hall and headed upstairs.
An hour later…
.
.
.
.
.
"Hm? Where is this? It's dark… I'm tired…"
"-x"
"Shut up… sleep, I need to s-le-ep."
"-ax, Max! wake up!"
A firm shake, someone holding onto his shoulder.
"C'mon, wake up. Just how tired were you? It's only been an hour."
Sylvia sat beside the bed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
She helped Max sit up. Still swaying, half-asleep.
"Max… open your eyes, here—"
She handed him a glass of water as she rubbed his back.
"Listen carefully— you need to call off the arrangement. It's too dangerous."
Max took a sip from the glass, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
"Arrangement? Oh… that? Well, we don't need to do that."
"Huh?! What do you mean? Don't you know how strong our head guard is?"
"I know… but I also know, from first-hand experience, how strong Master Rei is. It'll be fine. Father may think that he has imposed an impossible condition. Little does he know that he has got the order reversed."
He snickered as he handed the glass to Sylvia and pulled on the blanket.
"If that was all, then good n-i-ght."
He yawned, and within moments his breathing settled into a soft snore.
Sylvia left the room, still worried about the arrangement.
As she descended the stairs, a strange sense of terror mixed with relief welled up inside her.
She placed her hand on her chest, as if calming an internal storm.
"I must be tired…"
Saying that she went to bed, waiting for the rays of a new day to pierce the dark clouds of doubt.
The next day. Date—18 September, 2117.
Late afternoon.
The streets were unusually quiet, most people relaxing in the warmth of their homes.
A public holiday, widely known as the "Day of light".
Loudspeakers throughout the city broadcast messages about dementia and short-term memory loss.
The holiday's name, purpose, and customs felt strangely mismatched.
For a holiday of "light" you'd expect people to put up lamps but they were spreading awareness on a strange condition.
The cause for the holiday being the restoration of the "three cities".
Most people debated on the thoughtlessness of the holiday.
Gossip of officials "throwing in a holiday just because" were common during this day, every year.
But all of that didn't matter much to the "three boys".
Each of them walking to the dojo separately, taking different routes.
They encountered at the intersection near the gates.
Surprisingly, today they were rather quiet and walked together as they stepped inside the dojo instead of running wildly and falling for traps.
A string snagged at their feet, making the bells hanging on the tree ring melodiously.
They slowly freed their feet from the strings and made their way inside the dojo.
They found Rei seated by the door leading to the backyard, his eyes closed.
As the three of them silently tip-toed to the center of the room, Rei rose and quietly slid the door shut.
The four of them sat in the center of the room, silently.
The three boys looked at each other and nodded once.
They took a deep breath in sync and—
"Happy Birthday! Master Rei!"
Rei blinked once in surprise and then smiled softly.
"Thank you."
The words left his mouth as he uttered them silently enough that only the three of them could hear.
He looked in the eyes of the enthusiastic boys, gleaming with excitement.
He clapped once and straightened his back. The boys followed the same.
"Okay. Let's start, from the right."
Seated at the right was Dexter.
He answered immediately.
"Nothing much of significance to report today… looking forward to Kensei's reflection."
He passed the torch to Kensei in the middle.
"I've thought of a way to counter the problem I brought up last time, it's all good now."
Gesturing a thumbs up, he passed the torch to Max, looking hopefully at Max.
Max clenched his jaw and fists silently and took slow and deep breaths before speaking.
"Here…"
He pulled out an envelope from his trousers' pocket and handed it to Rei without saying a word.
Rei opened the envelope and reads it slowly and carefully while mumbling.
The contents of the letter were as follows…
18/09/2117
From Iden household,
To Master Rei Mihara,
To take Maxwell Iden Kraus as a student at your institution, we would like to test your skills before handing him in your care. As for the test of your capabilities, you will be going up against the head guard of the Iden corporate, Konrad Kruger in a duel. We hope that you present yourself to the household in three days' time from where we will take you to the place of the duel. In the instance that you don't arrive to the venue at time, we shall consider you inapt to instruct Max.
Date and time of the duel—21/09/2117, 01:00 hours
Looking forward to meeting you in person.
Regards,
Albrecht Iden Kraus.
Rei's eyes oscillated, from left to right until they didn't.
He rose to his feet and left the training hall with the letter in his hand, his expression unreadable.
The three boys waited there in the meantime.
Kensei tapped twice on the wooden floor below them with his index finger, looking at Max.
"Your family is kinda… how should I say this… eccentric?"
He whispered, taking a short breath before continuing.
"I had to take a trial to train under him. Even you took the trial but this is the first time that Master Rei has to take a trial, that's messed up on so many levels."
As Kensei finished speaking, Rei returned silently and stood behind him. A pen in his hand.
"Hmm… sure, it's the first time I've had to take a trial but I think that's how it should be. After all, what good would it do if the master isn't up to the task?"
He chuckled heartily before sitting on the wooden floor in front of them.
He slapped the letter down on the floor and scribbled on it with the black pen he'd brought earlier.
The three boys glanced over at the letter after Rei had finished and broke into laughter.
Rei had written "Bring it on!" followed by a poorly drawn thumbs up at the bottom of the letter which demanded his signature.
Rei laughed alongside his students.
When they calmed down, Kensei raised his hand.
"Sure. Go ahead…"
Rei permitted, picking off the teardrop from his right eye.
Kensei looked at Rei, seriously.
"While I may have laughed earlier, I still think that this could be dangerous. Please be careful, Master."
Rei patted Kensei's head and ruffled his hair with his big, slightly rugged hands.
"It'll be okay."
He reassured the students that he wouldn't do anything reckless, no matter what.
As the three of them stood by the gate under the pinkish sky, they waved once more before leaving.
Rei waved back to them with a smile on his face.
As soon as their silhouettes disappeared from his sight, he went back inside.
The smile vanished, replaced by stiffened cheeks.
"Damned if you do, damned if you don't… is that it?"
He muttered to himself as he looked at the setting Sun and the rising moon, both hovering near the horizon.
Not sure, what to make of the situation.