Chapter 328: Familial Pressure and Resolution
"It doesn't matter what secrets Belo is hiding or why he so desperately wishes to become stronger. As his teammates, we must support him."
Ayrin glanced at Belo, who was far off in the distance by himself, and then turned and looked towards Minlur as he said, "Teacher Minlur, I hope that you too can help by thinking up some kind of new special training for him."
"His previous special training was already one which forced him to put his life on the line." A look of awkwardness emerged on Minlur's face as he hesitantly nodded and said, "Alright, I'll talk to Carter and the others and see what I can do."
"Hahahaha!" Immediately afterwards, Minlur boisterously laughed as he thought to himself, "Just what kind of monsters were these children standing before him? And how did they all manage to enter Holy Dawn Academy at the same time? It seemed like Holy Dawn Academy was definitely going to become a name which would incite fear just by being mentioned in the future."
"Even the teacher acts like this… It seems like everyone from Holy Dawn Academy is abnormal," Audrey and the others thought as they watched Minlur cackling for what seemed like no apparent reason.
"Ayrin!" At this moment, Morgan suddenly turned towards Ayrin and took a step forward.
"What is it?" Ayrin asked as he smiled towards Morgan.
Fighting intent surged forth within Morgan's pupils as he asked, "Why don't we also have a match?"
"What?"
An awkward atmosphere suddenly descended across the entire area. It was unheard of for Morgan to actively reach out and challenge the member of another team. He was always the one being challenged.
Yet right now, he had actively asked Ayrin for a match.
"Even Morgan's fighting intent has been aroused by this fellow. Is he perhaps afraid that Ayrin is about to catch up and surpass him?" Rinloran thought as he intently gazed at Morgan and then let out a deep sigh.
Although Morgan had always been mentioned alongside Rinsyi and other celebrity fighters, almost all of them tacitly agreed that Morgan on another level compared to them.
Jean Camus saw Morgan as the strongest genius amongst all the geniuses of the Kingdom of Eiche as well.
If Ayrin managed to defeat Morgan, it would mean that there were no more opponents for him in the national tournament.
"Another match? Morgan, are you trying to take advantage of the situation here and fight him after he has already fought?" Stingham whined.
Being the innate battlemaster that he was, everyone present was already expecting Ayrin to accept Morgan's proposal. They waited for him to wave his fist towards Morgan and excitedly shout out, "Come! Brave warrior Morgan!"
But contrary to their expectations, Ayrin immediately shook his head and straightforwardly replied, "No. I will not fight against you."
"You won't fight me?"
Morgan almost keeled over in shock as he asked, "Why not? Are you looking down on me?"
"I just don't wish to fight you here. I want to save our fight for the national tournament when we are atop the arena." Ayrin's gaze swept across the crowd and fixated upon Chris as he continued, "The national tournament is still going on, after all. And I promised Chris that I will help her defeat you and your team and become the national champions!"
Afterwards, Ayrin turned towards Minlur and said, "Teacher Minlur, you now know it all. So you must make sure to help us convince the Office of Special Affairs to continue the tournament and allow us to fight the matches which still have not been fought!"
"Naturally!"
Minlur vigorously waved his fist, causing the air to whistle around him as he replied, "The Hegemonical Cup of Starry Skies Braves has nurtured you youths and allowed for you all to have such excellent performances during this war. Of course it cannot stop before all the matches are complete. It shall continue until there is a single victor."
"Then let's save our fight until the national tournament, brother Morgan! After all, if we fight here, will you still have the desire to fight next time?" Ayrin said calmly as he looked at Morgan with an ardent expression.
"Chris… this goddess like girl also has a unique story behind her?" Morgan thought as he gazed at Chris, and then Ayrin, and saw the expressions contained within their eyes.
"Alright then!"
Morgan extended his fist towards Ayrin, "So be it. We will save our fight for when we meet in the national tournament!"
"Brother Morgan is indeed a good person! We have a deal!"
Ayrin fist bumped Morgan.
"When we meet in the competition… why is it that I don't have the slightest bit of confidence in defeating these guys?" Gaskin couldn't help but quietly mutter beside Audrey.
"Are you feeling the pressure? Regardless of whether you are being chased, or you are the one chasing, your speed of improvement will still improve." Morgan smiled as he gently patted Gaskin's shoulder and continued, "It seems like we too will need to train as if our lives depend on it. Otherwise, we might get left in the dust."
"Ayrin. What a fellow. Not only does he influence the growth of his teammates, but also the geniuses around him…"
As Minlur silently watched Ayrin, Morgan, and the others, his wild eyes became filled with excitement.
……
Morgan and his group of people returned to the area they were responsible for guarding.
As a whole, Fallen Shadow Valley would likely be secured like this for a while longer. Afterwards, independent arcane teams and treasure seeking arcane teams would likely flood the area and scour the area, which had already been scoured by those who had participated within the war, once more like goblins.
This was because so many of the beasts and monsters which presided within the Southam Demon Forest had been killed by the stronger arcane teams during the war, making it much safer for these lower level profit seeking teams to come in and explore.
"Ayrin, there is something I would like to speak to you privately about."
Upon seeing Morgan and his team take their leave, Charlotte finally drummed up the courage to speak to Ayrin.
"Yes!" Ayrin readily replied.
"Can I listen too?" Stingham asked as his head popped in between them.
"You are truly a complete idiot!" Rinloran shouted as his face filled with black lines.
"Let's go. It's not good to disturb them when they are off in their own world," Wilde said as he grabbed Stingham by his neck and dragged him off. "Why don't you tell us the story of what happened in the Abyss of Evil?"
"Alright! We encountered a pair of brothers, one super tall and one super short. The two of them were super strong… but I am most handsome!" Stingham said super elatedly to Wilde and the others.
Meanwhile, Ayrin and Charlotte walked alongside the walls of the huts which made up Witch Hat Town. Charlotte slightly blushed as she thought back to when they had walked beside the wall around Divine Shield Academy.
After passing by several huts, Charlotte, who had been looking down and fixatedly staring at her and Ayrin's feet opened her mouth and softly said, "Ayrin, these last few days, an arcane team from my father's territory passed through here and brought me a message from my father."
"An arcane team from your father's territory?" Ayrin asked.
Charlotte nodded as she explained, "My father used to be the head of the Lannister Family's Western Corps. Now, he is the Lord of Teuton Forest."
After a short pause, she added, "Although it is not too large of a territory. It only contains three towns."
"What was the message that they brought?" Ayrin asked as he scratched the back of his head. He had already guessed that Charlotte had not called him out to simply ask about his adventures in the Abyss of Evil."
"He wants me to marry Rincero," Charlotte said as she raised her head and looked at Ayrin.
"What?"
Ayrin trembled, his eyes widening as he stared at Charlotte and asked, "Who's Rincero?"
"He is the cousin of Rinsyi, and a former member of the Golden Stag Academy team. Only, he doesn't have the pure Storm's Eye bloodline," Charlotte responded. Afterwards, a determined looked emerged in her eyes as she said, "But I have already refused my father."
"You have already refused your father?" Ayrin didn't relax at all as he furrowed his brows and asked, "Is this sudden proposal due to what happened to Rinsyi?"
Charlotte nodded as she explained, "House Baratheon almost never marries outside of their own, including branches who are not part of the main family. Furthermore, we have never ever been in contact with Rincero's branch of the family before."
"So House Baratheon is doing this on purpose?" Anger surfaced within his eyes as he asked, "Your father, just what is he thinking? Why does he want you to marry Rincero?"
"I don't know…" Hints of melancholy emerged atop Charlotte's face as she said, "But sometimes, one person is sacrificed for the good of the family."
"I will absolutely not allow this to happen!" Ayrin immediately shouted. " I will protect you, and will absolutely not allow you to be forced into a marriage which you do not want!"
"You fool…" Charlotte gazed deeply at Ayrin as a bitter smile emerged on her face, "Even I will not allow something like this to happen."
"Charlotte!"
Ayrin abruptly grabbed Charlotte's hand, causing her to tremble and become flushed.
"You make me stronger… and have given me something to fight for," Ayrin said seriously as he gazed deeply into her eyes.
