It was a plan that required careful consideration and a generous amount of patience. Against an opponent like that, even a small inconvenience could be considered a dent.
And while one guild was quietly scheming about how to thin out the competition, other guilds that were fortunate enough to have better information were already tearing up their earlier strategies and starting over.
So plans were no longer just risky.
They were suicidal.
Leah Azren leaned back in her seat and rubbed her temple before rolling her eyes so hard it was a miracle they did not get stuck that way.
"How many tis do I have to tell you?" she said, voice sharp with exhaustion. "I lost to him twice. Twice."
"Yes, but—," the current figurehead of the Crimson Foxes began stubbornly.
"But what?" Leah snapped, sitting up straighter.
"Well," Senior Nate Trent pressed on, "your cha has improved trendously since then. After that upgrade, I truly believe you can tip the outco of the battle."
Leah stared at him.
Then she laughed.
Not kindly.
"Senior Nate," she said flatly, "you lost to fifteen out of the fifteen tis we sparred. I lost to him twice out of the two tis we fought. And that was fighting him seriously."
She tapped the table for emphasis.
"Yes, my cha has improved by leaps and bounds. And yes, I cannot wait to face Ian Zorath to test it out. But did you sohow miss the part where they showed up with chas we have never even seen before?"
Silence followed.
Leo Azren cleared his throat.
"Senior Nate, my sister is right," he said calmly. "More importantly, even our House’s Master chanic has expressed interest in what House Kyros is doing."
That got Nate’s attention.
Leo continued, his tone asured but firm. "He asked to befriend them. If that old and stern geezer was willing to spare even a few words to say sothing like that, then I strongly suggest we stay neutral until the actual Cup."
Nate Trent’s jaw tightened.
He was not pleased.
As a senior facing his final Astral Cup, he had every reason to be anxious. He had led the Crimson Foxes for years, fully aware that he was only holding the position until the Duke’s children entered the Academy. He was not a Caius. He did not have family prestige to fall back on.
What he did have was effort.
Years of it.
And his future prospects would rise or fall based on how they perford this year.
So hearing the twins suggest waiting it out rubbed him the wrong way.
Since when did these people hesitate?
Just what was stopping those normally blood-thirsty twins?
Well, that would have to be the sa information known to the other dukes: that DG had really participated in the battle of Zone Four.
The dukes didn’t even need to pull logs to confirm it. One look at the soldiers who had returned from Zone Four told the entire story.
Apparently, that level of respect couldn’t be gained by simply paying anyone off. And just by visiting the military headquarters at Planet Nova, anyone would be able to co to the sa conclusion.
Their participation had to be that instruntal.
However, that wasn’t really the main issue. It wasn’t like such participation was so unheard of when it had happened several tis throughout history. The highest ranking leaders mostly did the sa back then when they were still cadets and that was how they propelled their careers to such heights.
But the bigger thing in this case was the true scale of the threat DG faced.
It wasn’t your run-of-the-mill battle, not even close.
And with that in mind, clearly they had to readjust their tactics when dealing with such an unpredictable guild.
__
The Zoraths were very much of the sa mind.
If anything, Ivan Zorath found the situation quietly satisfying.
He leaned back, arms crossed, eyes flicking over the scrolling data on his tablet before he let out a low hum.
"Master Allan already warned us," Ivan said calmly. "And for soone who normally would not bother with things like this, that alone is already a massive favor."
Ian raised a brow but did not interrupt.
Ivan continued, tone thoughtful rather than dismissive. "Honestly, it shouldn’t be too bad. With the number of slots available this year, we can proceed as usual."
He tapped the edge of the tablet once.
"The only difference is where everyone’s attention goes."
Ian tilted his head slightly.
"Instead of dealing with the entire field coming straight for us like usual," Ivan went on, "they would probably be busy trying to deal with DG."
There was a pause.
"Oh?" Ian said slowly. "So you are thinking of turning them into a distraction?"
Ivan did not even bother to deny it.
"Ha! We don’t have to do anything at all," he replied easily. "They’re already distracting the entire Empire just by existing."
He turned the tablet so Ian could see.
The projection was chaotic. Headlines. Clips. Forum screenshots. Live viewer counts that kept climbing even as they watched.
Ivan added dryly, "With this blowing up everywhere, do you really think we need to step in?"
Ian leaned forward.
Then he whistled.
Then he hissed softly, like he had just brushed his hand against sothing dangerously hot.
"Yeah," he admitted. "You’re right."
He leaned back again, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I guess we just watch."
Because with the Empire already in an uproar, there was no reason for anyone sensible to volunteer to stand directly in the line of fire.
Especially not when soone else was already drawing it all.
Then again, what was one supposed to do when the guild in question loved fire a little too much?
__
Back at the booth of said guild, one guild leader was actually having the ti of his life.
It was definitely busy. There were so many people, and Luca had been dealing with questions left and right, as well as fervent gazes from everywhere, but contrary to what one might expect, the golden-eyed cadet was actually having so much fun.
Who would’ve known that at one point in ti, people would be swarming to talk to him in public?
And when they left the stall he was manning, they had such joy on their faces.
Well, there were also a lot of tears. But his brother had reassured him that it was because they were too happy with the food or too devastated about not winning. But in the end, they were all reacting that way because they liked what they were offering.
Luca couldn’t have been happier about the expo! No wonder people back in Tesseris liked having all sorts of school events and festivals.
Who wouldn’t want such a thing when it was so fun?
Not to ntion how great it felt every ti he scanned soone’s terminal for their lemonade purchase!
Since Luca had started manning his booth, he’d been able to sell a lemonade to each custor and even D-29 was rather proud of their achievent!
But what do you know, just when he thought he was already having so much fun, the bouncing cadet almost popped in joy when the first of them arrived.
And who might that be?
Well, who else but family and friends!
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