Chapter 164: Zombie (3)

Tania’s tears stained Louis’s shoulder. The sight of this shocked the confessor, and he slowly picked up the fallen bouquet before disappearing as gracefully as possible.

Louis tutted at his sorrowful figure.

Tsuk. That must’ve come as quite a shock.

How could it not be shocking to see the object of his confession being embraced by another man right after confessing? Today was probably the end of his unrequited love.

Meanwhile, Tanya, who had just stabbed a man’s heart, still didn’t want to let go of Louis. Louis, however, comforting her for the first time in a while, gently soothed her. Her tears had dried, and she now grinned cheekily while resting her head on Louis’s shoulder.

Seeing this, Kani grew irritated and yanked Louis’s arm away.

”…?” Tania snapped, her face contorted with anger at having her eleven-year wait for happiness stolen right under her nose by someone so close to her.

“Who are you?” she demanded.

Kani responded with feigned confidence. “Don’t touch him without permission! If you want to touch him, ask for our permission first!”

”…Our?” Tania raised an eyebrow, sensing something amiss. In such situations, shouldn’t it be “my” permission instead of “our”?

Her confusion was resolved by a voice from behind.

“Yes, yes. You must ask for our permission to touch him.”

Khan stood there, his arms crossed, nodding as if this were obvious. As Louis’ twin, he had grown accustomed to claiming sole ownership of the little prince over the years, and Tania’s constant attention had irked him deeply.

The twins versus Tania—a rivalry brewed beneath the surface, ignited by the love of a boy who, unknowing, found himself at the heart of their conflict.

While their nerves continued to clash momentarily,

“Who do you think… we are your toys or something?” Louis interjected, his eyebrow shooting up.

Based on years of experience, the twins instinctively knew that provoking Louis further would make him foam at the mouth, so they subtly changed the subject.

Tania, noticing this, asked, “Oh, Mr. Louis, who are these people?”

“My friends… Wait, shouldn’t you be addressing me properly?”

“Yes, Teacher!” Tania grinned, having sneakily called him ‘brother’ earlier and now correcting herself with a smile.

After this brief commotion, Aaron finally bowed his head awkwardly and said, “It’s been a while.”

“How have you been?”

“Well, I’ve… been doing quite well.” Aaron flashed a timid smile.

Once everyone had gathered as Louis had hoped, he spoke up.

“Let’s all take a seat. I have something to discuss with you.”

As they were about to settle down, a problem arose.

Shhhk.

The twins naturally took positions on either side of Louis. Tanya arrived a step too late, losing out on the spot next to him.

Visions squared off in their eyes.

Just then, oblivious to the tension, Kendrick piped up.

“You know, there’s still someone in this village trying to confess his feelings to you. Although, if you ask me, that sorry excuse just showed up here recently, didn’t he?”

Louis perked up at this.

“Oh? Tanya, you’re quite the hit, aren’t you? Why, you’ve probably turned down every young man in town—haven’t you? Well, I must say, in such a remote village, you certainly don’t lack for beauty.”

“Well, th-thank you, mister…”

Tania’s face flushed at Louis’s unexpected compliment, and she bowed her head shyly.

Kendrick observed his sister’s bashfulness with amusement, shaking his head playfully.

“Teacher, I think there seems to be some misunderstanding.”

“What do you mean?”

“The reason no one in this village has ever confessed to Tania isn’t just because she’s intimidating. It’s also because, ever since she was little, she’s been beating up all the boys around here.”

”…”

“How would any guy who grew up in this village and got whacked by her every day have the courage to confess? Only outsiders who don’t know her true nature fall for her looks and dare to make a move… Argh!”

As Kendrick rambled on, he suddenly doubled over, clutching his sides and letting out a series of involuntary yelps.

Beside him, Tania glared at her brother as if she wanted to kill him on the spot.

“You okay?”

“Your… Your finger contained elemental power, didn’t it? That hurt, you know!”

“I should be grateful I didn’t get my gut sliced open…”

Tanya was about to spit out some harsh words but lowered her gaze when she noticed Louis.

”…I mean… Oh, I mean, elder brother.”

”…Are you crazy?”

“Huh-huh-huh, please be quiet, elder brother. We shouldn’t say some things in front of the teacher.”

“Well, did I say something wrong? You are the one hitting all the kids around!”

“I’m just following your teachings, Louis!”

Louis blinked in surprise at being unexpectedly mentioned.

“I’d heard it from you yourself! ‘There’s no better training than actual combat’!”

Louis gave a small nod. Indeed, he had said something like that before.

“And that’s why I personally took on the kids in real combat!” Louis boasted, his chest puffing up.

Lia’s eyes widened, astonished. “As if our neighborhood kids weren’t tough enough already! And you’re claiming all the credit?”

Hey… but haven’t you heard from the kids’ perspective?

Louis blinked, taken aback.

“Well, I’m just following our teacher’s teachings faithfully, that’s all!” he insisted.

“Huh?” Lia’s eyebrows shot up.

The bickering siblings continued their verbal sparring, leaving Aaron and Lia just shaking their heads in amusement. To them, these daily squabbles were simply par for the course.

Rather, Louis treated them like Lasen, his pet nutcracker, did. It was infuriating.

Louis looked on in disbelief. …How did these kids end up in such a state?

Just then, a voice came from beside Louis.

“Wow… these kids are just like you, Louis.”

“Yeah, I guess they’re your disciples, alright,” the twin mutters.

Louis feels a twinge of conscience at the remark.

In the midst of the commotion, Lia steps in to restore order.

“Young man, what is this behavior in front of your teacher?!”

The bickering Flame siblings finally fall silent and turn their attention towards her.

Lia, wearing an awkward smile, apologizes to Louis. “I’m so sorry… They’ve grown up to be quite unruly, you see.”

“No, it’s alright…”

If anything, I should be the one feeling sorry, Louis thinks to himself.

His sense of guilt doubles instantly.

Unaware of his thoughts, Lia smiles and asks, “By the way, you mentioned you had something important to discuss with us earlier?”

“Ah… right.”

The original purpose of his visit, which had been lost amid the Flame siblings’ bickering, finally comes to mind.

He answered with a serious expression. “I will soon leave the spring continent.”

”…?” Everyone questioned this unexpected statement.

Only Tanya, sitting in front of him, asked in surprise, her eyes wide. “A-again? When will you return this time?”

“I don’t know. There is no set time.”

”…?!” Tanya’s face turned pale from shock.

However, Louis’s next words brought a smile back to her face. “This time, I am considering taking you all along.”

When Kenrick heard the word “all”, he swallowed hard and asked, “Do you mean… ‘all’?”

“What do you mean by asking? Are there any others you think I might mean besides you and Tanya?”

At this, the Flame siblings shot to their feet.

Startled, Aaron cried out, “W-where are you going?”

“To pack my stuff!”

“For a trip! We’re going on a trip!”

Kendrick was now 23, a grown man. Life in this quiet mountain village was peaceful, but for someone so full of energy, it had become too monotonous. He would often wander the Mac Mountains, hunting monsters, just to alleviate his restlessness. He regularly traveled to the cities as well, hoping to soothe his agitated heart even a little.

Louis’s proposal was something Kendrick had been dreaming of for a long time.

And Tania… “You’re really coming with us, right? Isn’t that right?!”

What more needed to be said? Tania seemed ready to bolt in an instant, no matter where they were headed, just because Louis was going to bring her along. But then Louis threw a bucket of cold water on their enthusiasm.

“Sit down. I said I might take you away, didn’t I? I never told you when.”

The Flame siblings froze at Louis’s calm voice. He ignored them and looked at Lia and Aaron.

“What do you two think?”

”…”

Lia and Aaron watched their children silently for a moment.

The Flame siblings tensed up under their parents’ gaze.

As if reading their children’s desperate plea of ‘Mom, Dad, please!’, both parents answered at the same time.

“We’re fine with it.”

“Louis, we… approve.”

Their answers were immediate, as if they had already discussed this long ago.

They know well how exceptional these children’s talents are, Louis mused. Too exceptional to be bound by this remote village…

He had anticipated this moment: the day when the children would outgrow his embrace. In that light, Louis’s proposal wasn’t unwelcome to Lia and Ron—it was actually something they’d hoped for.

If Louis joins us, he’ll surely guide the children well.

We can trust our brother with them.

Of course, if they suspected their children’s skewed personalities were a result of their teacher’s influence, they wouldn’t be so inclined…

With their parents’ approval, the Flame siblings’ tense faces visibly softened. They turned their eager gaze towards Louis.

Louis snorted at their pleading gazes, as if they expected him to take them away right then and there.

“Well, if your parents are okay with it…”

“So? Are you taking us?”

“Nope. I’m still undecided.”

“…?!”

“What now?!”

The Flame siblings erupted, indignant at Louis’s fickle nature.

“I’ll tell you what. You still need to finish your evaluation.”

“Evaluation?”

“I told you before, remember? I’d be checking on your progress once you returned.”

“Oh! Right…” Kendrick nodded.

Tania agreed, having heard about this from her brother earlier.

“I’ll decide whether to take you or not after we do the evaluation.”

The Flame siblings responded cheerfully to Louis’s question.

“Of course!”

“Let’s start now!”

Louis’s eyes gleamed at their confident response.

Well… they certainly have reason to be confident.

He scanned Kendrick’s physique, feeling the elemental power resonating within his sturdy frame. The fierce, blazing energy emanating from him was proof of his having reached the second tier.

Reaching the second tier at age twenty-three… by human standards, that’s truly astonishing.

This Ha is far superior to the original Sword Saint.

In fact, the original Sword Saint would have been nothing more than a young man from the mountains during this time period.

As Louis continued observing Kendrick, his gaze shifted to someone beside him.

There stood Tanya, possessing an even stronger presence than Kendrick.

She’s remarkable.

Tanya was only twenty-one years old, yet she had already attained a high level within the second tier.

If they continued training here a bit longer, they could easily aim for the highest ranks soon. Maybe they’d even reach tier 1 before turning twenty-five. There was probably no one among their peers on the Spring Continent—no, any of the four continents—who was stronger than this brother-and-sister pair.

At least, not by human standards.

And oh, their noses are certainly stuck up high.

In that case, wasn’t it a teacher’s role to gently bring those disciples’ egos back down to earth?

Louis’s eyes twinkled as he signaled to the twins.

“Khan, Kani.”

“What?”

“Hmm?”

The twins, already on their fourth cup of tea, turned to Louis.

“You should give them a hand.”

“With what?”

“Check their homework assignments.”

“Ah, okay!”

The twins nodded at Louis’s suggestion.

“What should we do? Just give them a gentle reminder?” Kani asked.

Louis shrugged his shoulders in response.

“Well, moderately… You figure it out.”

As Kani nodded…

Louis’s message flew into the twins’ ears.

The twins responded with brilliant smiles.

“Right!”

“It’s easy!”