Chapter 60: The Battle for Discipleship, V

The old man blinked in surprise as he unwittingly lost hold of the twins to Louis, who angrily tugged them toward him.

“Hey, you two! What did I tell you? No matter what anyone says about feeding you, never follow strangers!”

At his scolding tone, the twins’ eyes drooped guiltily.

Acknowledging their wrongdoing, they replied dejectedly:

“Yes…”

“That’s right…”

Louis had repeatedly taught the reckless twins caution, emphasizing each time:

“There are many shameless beings out there trying to skin young dragons alive, so don’t blindly follow anyone offering food!”

Despite numerous lessons proving futile, Louis pounded his chest dramatically, feeling like his heart might burst from frustration.

“Oh man, you two drive me crazy! If anything happens because you follow strangers…!”

He was about to add that their furious father might split the continent in half but hastily swallowed those words instead. He glanced at the flustered old man watching them and swiftly snatched the jerky from the twins’ hands. The crestfallen look on their faces made others feel sympathetic, but Louis remained firm.

“If you follow any more strangers, I won’t play with you anymore.”

“I’m sorry…”

“We were wrongnnn…” As they hung their heads low, Louis turned his attention elsewhere.

The old man shuddered as he met the icy glare of the cute yet intimidating child.

Louis stuffed some jerky into the old man’s hand. As the bewildered elder stared down at the saliva-soaked meat, Louis spoke sharply to him.

“What kind of game are you playing, sir? Trying to lure these innocent kids away with this jerky?!”

“No, no, I…”

“You’re asking for trouble, old man!”

“I-I just…”

“That’s enough! Don’t live like this anymore!” The old man could only watch as Louis turned his back on him without giving him a chance to explain.

The twins continued eyeing the jerky longingly until Louis yelled at them.

“Come on, let’s go!”

“But, L-Louis… Can we eat that one last piece?”

“Hurry up!”

“It tastes so good…”

“Stop fussing!”

Louis grabbed each twin by their ear and dragged them away as they hesitated to leave behind the meat jerky. The old man, initially stunned by this unexpected turn of events, snapped back to his senses at the sight.

“H-hold on!” With that shout, he vanished from view.

Had anyone proficient in martial arts witnessed this swift movement, they would have been impressed. In desperation, the old man pushed himself to move quickly enough to block Louis’s path.

However, Louis wasn’t surprised by the sudden appearance of the old man. Instead, he glared at him with half-lidded eyes.

“What now? Since you can’t persuade us, are you resorting to force?”

“No, no… My dear child, I…”

“Oh, bring it on then! We won’t go down without a fight!”

The old man tried desperately to clear the misunderstanding through conversation, but being already labeled as a potential kidnapper made it quite challenging.

“Ugh…”

An involuntary groan escaped from the old man’s mouth.

Look at those purple eyes filled with suspicion. How could he untangle this complicated situation? Despite being on guard against him, Louis was fiercely protective of his younger siblings, pulling them tightly behind himself like a mother cat defensively hissing at a perceived threat. The old man couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

That was his mistake.

”…You’re laughing?” Louis narrowed his eyes even further.

The old man realized too late what he had done and hastily cried out before any more misunderstandings arose.

“W-wait! I have something to say as well! Please hear me out!”

”…Go ahead.”

Louis crossed his arms and glared at the old man.

“T-thank you.” The old man finally got a chance to speak. Relieved that he could now explain himself, he opened his mouth—

“You scoundrel!”

“What’s your problem, you fool?!”

“Get away from my disciple immediately!”

“Leave my disciple alone!”

Loud voices erupted behind them. Louis frowned deeply at the mention of their disciples.

“Oh, I wondered why it had been quiet for a few days.”

From the voices alone, Louis instantly recognized who they were. As expected, Logan and Aiden soon appeared on the scene, landing swiftly behind the old man.

“So where have you been—huh?”

“How did we get tricked again—what?”

The two newcomers paused as they recognized the elderly man standing before Louis, their eyes widening in surprise.

“You’re…the captain of the Black Bison mercenaries, aren’t you?”

“Greg? What brings you here?”

Greg was equally surprised to see them. “Ah, Logan and Aiden?”

Logan and Aiden were the vice tower masters from Dawn Tower and Dusk Tower, respectively, both located on the continent of Autumn. Greg was the captain of the Black Bison Mercenaries, one of the largest mercenary groups on that same continent. As prominent figures within the community, they already knew each other well, but they hadn’t expected to encounter each other aboard this ship, so they were caught off guard.

On the other hand, seeing Greg slightly relieved Logan and Aiden.

“Oh, it’s you! Whew… I thought some creep was hitting on Louis while I wasn’t looking.”

“Heh-heh, no need to worry—wait… Y-you don’t have your eye on him too, do you?”

“My eye?”

“You’re not thinking of taking our Louis as your disciple, are you?”

Greg looked puzzled at Logan and Aiden’s suspicious glances. He soon caught on, though, noticing how they kept sneaking peeks at the white-haired boy.

Hmm… Is his name Louis?

At that moment, Greg recalled the rumor floating around the ship.

“What was it again…? I heard some famous vice tower masters from different towers keep clashing daily over this one kid they want as their disciple.”

Were those two them?

Greg initially dismissed the rumor as absurd. As renowned vice tower masters, they could easily recruit talented disciples. Parents would line up to have their children apprenticed under such influential figures, so why would they fight over just one child? It sounded too far-fetched to be true.

However, seeing how intensely these two were eyeing Louis made Greg realize there might be some truth to the gossip.

Feeling awkward under their fierce gazes, Greg waved his hand with an uneasy smile. “Ha-ha! Don’t worry about me. While I’m indeed looking for a new apprentice, it’s not him.”

“What? What do you mean by that?”

“The ones I wish to take on as my apprentices are these two.”

Greg gestured toward the twins and decided to clear up any misunderstanding while he was at it. It seemed like securing permission from the white-haired boy would be crucial if Greg wanted to take on the twins as his disciples.

“So…your name is Louis, right?”

“Yes, why?”

“There seems to have been some confusion earlier. I wasn’t planning to take them anywhere; I just thought they could accompany me around the deck. Besides, where exactly could I possibly go with them in this vast ocean?”

Despite Greg’s explanation, Louis continued to eye him suspiciously, his voice sounding gruff.

“I don’t know about that. You could’ve taken our kids to an empty cabin no one knows about or thrown them overboard.”

“N-no way! I only wanted to impress them because I desired them as my disciples!”

“Because this world is so cruel?” Louis nonchalantly countered with a sly look on his face.

Greg was taken aback by Louis’s detailed and mature rebuttal that belied his young age. Logan and Aiden, however, wore proud smiles at their son’s performance.

“Heh-heh, just like our Louis.”

“How eloquently he speaks!”

Eloquent? Sure, but Greg couldn’t agree with calling it pretty. Seeing Greg flustered, Louis continued.

“In any case, what you’re trying to say is that you want both of these children as your disciples, right?”

“Y-yes, exactly!” Greg brightened, thinking they were finally getting somewhere.

Greg brightened, thinking he was finally getting through to Louis. Little did Greg know how naive his assumption was.

Louis turned toward the twins. “Khan, Kani, listen carefully.”

“Yes?”

“Hmm?”

“There might be someone who approaches you as potential disciples like that old man earlier. What should you do then?”

The twins confidently answered him.

“You said not to go with people we don’t know!”

“You warned us they could harm us!”

“That’s right! Good job!” Louis praised them.

The twins beamed at his compliment.

However, there was one person who couldn’t bring himself to smile upon witnessing this exchange.

“…Huh.” It was like hitting an impenetrable wall. Greg was rendered speechless by Louis’s unwavering vigilance.

Louis grabbed each twin’s hand, mesmerizing Greg even more.

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll race you!”

“Yes!”

“Race!”

Louis led the way as the twins eagerly followed behind him. Still in shock, Greg could only stare at them blankly from afar.

Suddenly, hands rested on both his shoulders. Aiden and Logan looked at Greg with empathetic eyes.

“…It always starts like this.”

“Heh-heh, Louis is quite exceptional for his age.”

The two patted Greg’s shoulders before casually strolling away, leaving Greg alone.

“What…just happened?”

Greg stared blankly at the sky, bewildered by this turn of events. After some time, he chuckled to himself.

“Heh-heh, what a cheeky brat!”

Despite his young age, Louis was no pushover, as evidenced by Greg’s recent encounter with him. Greg wanted both twins as his disciples, but it seemed like it wouldn’t be easy due to Louis’s involvement.

However, Greg couldn’t give up that easily.

The twins possess exceptional talent, far superior to any children I’ve ever seen.

Talent this rare appeared once every hundred—or even thousand—years, and here were two such prodigies standing right before him. How could he possibly let them slip away?

His determination burned fiercely.

“Heh-heh, if I want those two as my disciples, it looks like I’ll have to deal with him first…” Greg rubbed his chin thoughtfully before reaching a conclusion. “I’ll need time and patience to persuade them.” With that, he left the room.

Little did Greg know, Logan and Aiden had already tried this approach on Louis but were unsuccessful. Whenever Greg attempted to find the twins afterward, Louis thwarted his plans, forcing Greg to retreat multiple times.

This battle of wits between the master seeking apprentices and the one trying to prevent it lasted for about two weeks.

“W-w-weee’re hhhheeeeere!” Pablo’s excited whoop announced their arrival at the entrance of the fall continent.