The Heroine Died!? Did The Plot Armor Fail? (Hiatus)

6) Acceptance

Leo groaned as he laid his head on he table. Two months went by fast. His steady progress in standard Zefna is better than expected. If standard Rugica was considered beautiful, then Zefna's a powerful style. Funny thing, his swordsmanship got better AFTER he picked fights with some noble children.

Did it chain grudges? Hell yeah. But what was he supposed to do when those pushovers tried to single out Yule? Ever since they met, Leo treated him as a brother. That stoic face of his never failed to get Leo to remember the past. Whenever Yule cried, he had a cute habit of clinging onto either him or Nadia. Hard to believe 4 years was enough to change that.

Beside that, finding a job was hard. Most stores that needed extra hands turned him down. Leo hated the age requirement, he had to be at least 13 to work. That was the legal way to go about. It's not entirely correct, but if he looked hard enough, he could find...something to work with. It wasn't just bandits, once in a while mercenaries would be covered in dark rumors. The Etern Knights despised them yet couldn't move without evidence. It'd be a different story if the monarchy ordered it.

A hand poked Leo. "It won't be that bad."

"Damn them all, I wish they didn't spread that nickname!" Leo turned his head the other way.

"Grasten's 'Just Badger' rumored to bite anyone."

"That can't be helped if he's short tempered." Another voice chimed in.

"Not you too Raine..."

No, it really was a coincidence. He fought them off when they used to target Yule. Nowadays, those self-entitled kids picked on anyone weaker than them. Leo just happened to be there when it happens. The other knights still teased him about it.

He snapped the book shut and set it aside. Daily Magic written on the front cover.

"You should practice your swordsmanship instead." Raine looked at the book.

"It's not like I can't do both at the same time. Magic is fun!"

"You're the last person to say that Leo. Let's not repeat what happened last time." Yule sighed.

"That was once!" Leo cringed.

"Hold on, what are you two going on about?" Raine glanced at them.

Leo's face tinted a bit red. His memory of that time wasn't a good experience. That was two years ago when he went hunting with Yule for the first time. Thanks to his father, he set up a magic trap on his own. It worked, a little too well. His second spell in the trap snagged him when he got too close. He couldn't figure out how to undo it and had to ask for help. Back then, his pride made him foolish.

"Can you please stop asking?" Leo stood up.

He ran a hand on his hair in frustration. At the same time, the book he read put itself back on the shelf. It was a waste of magic but he didn't feel like doing it manually. Not far from this small library, he heard loud footsteps and some chattering.

"That's strange, I thought Lord Lucele came this way."

"The young master always disappears after morning."

"Enough talk, we have to make sure he's not seeing someone!"

Talk among the girls went like this as they passed through the hall. After a few moments, it was quiet. Sorry girls, Raine doesn't like to deal with his fans. Well, it was more like his fans was a little too much for him to handle. Celebrities sure have it tough.

"You should give a bit of your time with them Raine." Yule advised.

"Speak for yourself, you too have admirers. How do you keep them distant?"