By the ti Kitahara Sota returned to the clubroom, nearly an hour and a half had passed.
Hearing the door open, Tokai Teio was the first to look up, her nose wrinkling slightly in displeasure.
"Trainer-san, you're so slow! What took you so long—wait, what happened to your arm?"
Following Tokai Teio's words, everyone's gazes imdiately settled on his oddly twisted left arm.
"Oh, this? I just tripped on my way back," he said, forcing a smile. He placed the two bags on the floor and was about to continue when suddenly his collar was grabbed.
"Trainer, I want the truth."
Tokai Teio held his collar tightly, her expression frighteningly grim.
"Or do you think an Uma Musu's sense of sll is just for show?"
Aside from the faint scent of washed-off blood emanating from his injured arm, there was also the unmistakable scent of another unfamiliar Uma Musu.
Not only that, Kitahara's appearance was noticeably disheveled. The jacket he wore when leaving was now torn in several places, sared with dirt—far more battered than a simple fall could explain.
Given Kitahara's poor lying skills and his failure to properly hide certain details, even soone as innocent as Special Week could tell he was lying, let alone Tokai Teio.
Kitahara hesitated, throwing a pleading glance toward Eclipse for help.
Only to find her expression even more terrifying than Tokai Teio's. She didn't approach directly, but her icy gaze delivered a single, clear command.
Speak.
Left with no choice, Kitahara had to recount the entire incident truthfully.
Except for the part where he'd defeated his attacker—he instead claid he'd been running away when she accidentally knocked herself out after hitting her head, thus letting him escape.
Apart from Eclipse, none of the others doubted his story.
In their eyes, a human defeating an Uma Musu was about as plausible as an ant biting an elephant to death. Although his explanation was sowhat ridiculous, it was still the most logical scenario.
"What about that Uma Musu?" Tokai Teio asked, her tone noticeably colder than usual, a shadow darkening her features. "Why did she attack you?"
"I have no idea either," Kitahara shook his head helplessly. "Anyway, I handed her over to the Chairwoman. She said she'd handle the rest, so I ca back."
"The Chairwoman can sotis be too lenient. You should've taken her to the Prez instead."
"I wasn't thinking clearly at that mont," Kitahara said hastily. "Besides, I just had a fight with Rudolf-san yesterday—I wasn't exactly eager to see her again."
Rembering Rudolf instantly reminded him of the earlier rumors. He involuntarily shrank his neck, feeling anxious all over again.
"Anyway, it's already over. Don't worry—look, I brought everything back! UNO, Monopoly, even Flying Chess, you na it."
Despite his reassurances, even Special Week no longer felt in the mood for gas after what had happened.
Following Tokai Teio, she and Oguri Cap rushed to ask him anxiously if he was truly alright, if he needed to visit the infirmary, or whether he should rest for the afternoon.
As for Eclipse, she stood silently by the wall, quietly observing. Only after everyone else finished fussing did she finally step forward.
"You've gotten careless recently," she said.
The others didn't understand her words, but Kitahara did. He chuckled bitterly.
"Co on, my opponent was an Uma Musu. When that kick ca at , I thought I was done for—look, she even ripped my suit jacket open."
He pointed to the cheap jacket now ragged from his evasive movents, a helpless expression on his face.
But Eclipse refused to buy it.
"Once you're healed, we're resuming your previous training. In fact, I'm raising the intensity by half."
"Half?" Kitahara blurted out in shock. "Besides, I'm working now! Where would I even find the ti—"
"But you have ti to spend all day scrolling on your phone?"
Kitahara's voice faltered.
"Alright, fine."
He sighed in defeat, about to negotiate with Eclipse about the intensity, when he suddenly felt warmth against his hand.
Surprised, he looked up to see sothing exceedingly rare—an expression of genuine worry on Eclipse's face.
"I… don't want to lose you," she murmured softly, gripping his hand tighter than usual.
"If this isn't safe, let's just go ho. At least there I can—"
"Eclipse."
Kitahara sighed softly, gently touching her cheek.
"I'm fine. She clearly held back a lot and didn't intend to cause serious harm. Besides, the Chairwoman promised she'd quickly investigate the matter thoroughly."
Truthfully, had his attacker not underestimated him or genuinely wished to harm him, the fight wouldn't have dragged on as it had.
"But…"
"It'll be alright," he assured her earnestly. "From now on, I won't move alone until it's safe—either I'll stay with you all or hang around other trainers. Either way, I won't give anyone another chance."
He t Eclipse's eyes firmly.
"Trust , okay?"
"...Mm."
After a long silence, Eclipse finally nodded, her usual expression gradually returning.
"I understand."
She stepped back, but her eyes now held a trace of cold resolve.
Though their voices were hushed, preventing the others from clearly hearing, everyone still noticed their intimate gestures.
But no one found it strange. They were already aware of the special bond between Eclipse and Kitahara.
If soone as precious as family had nearly been killed, it would be stranger if Eclipse showed no reaction at all.
An attack from an Uma Musu was no laughing matter for humans, especially a clearly malicious assault like this.
Even without intent to kill, one misstep or accident could easily leave a human severely injured or even dead on the spot.
Unaware of what actually transpired, they couldn't know the torn clothes were due to Kitahara's evasive movents, nor that the dirt ca from him dropping his jacket on the ground himself.
All they saw was Kitahara's sorry state, drawing their own conclusions based on the damage and wounds they saw. They assud things were far worse than he'd admitted, fueling their worries further.
Nearby, observing the closeness between Eclipse and Kitahara, Tokai Teio felt a pang of envy. A flicker of unfamiliar emotion stirred briefly within her, quickly suppressed by another thought.
If she got hurt, the Prez would surely worry about her just like this.
The remainder of their break passed with continuous questions and concern for Kitahara.
Later that afternoon, under unanimous insistence, Kitahara was escorted to Tracen's infirmary for examination.
Only after the school doctor repeatedly assured everyone he was fine and simply needed rest did they reluctantly leave, returning to their own activities.
Yet, strangely, Eclipse, who should've returned to class, didn't head toward the school building. Instead, she turned decisively toward the Chairwoman's office.
anwhile, Tokai Teio, who should have been heading toward the training grounds, took the opposite direction—toward the student council office.
Unaware of the movents outside, Kitahara, after everyone left, rolled up his sleeve to examine his injuries carefully.
The four orange drinks he'd consud earlier were recovery potions from his system inventory.
Though labeled as stamina potions, their actual effects included rapid physical healing, particularly effective when applied quickly. Thankfully, he'd promptly treated himself. Despite his arm's still twisted appearance and so frightening external swelling, internally—especially the crucial bones—everything was mostly fine.
However, he refrained from further potions now.
After all, soone was watching, and others had already seen the extent of his injuries.
He couldn't exactly conjure a potion from thin air, instantly heal himself in front of everyone, then casually claim he was just joking around earlier.
Considering this, he opted to recover naturally, taking the opportunity to experience Tracen's dical facilities firsthand.
"You're very lucky. Clearly, she didn't intend to seriously hurt you," the doctor said after examining his arm, reaching for so ointnt. "Your bones aren't broken. I'll apply this ointnt, and if you rest here today to stabilize the injury, it should fully heal within a week."
"Thank you." Kitahara bowed gratefully. As the doctor applied the ointnt, he suddenly rembered sothing.
"Um...will the treatnt here be covered?"
He asked cautiously.
Having only worked four days, he hadn't even gotten his first paycheck. On top of that, he'd just spent a considerable sum buying gas for the girls. He had no extra money for dical bills.
Seeing his cautious expression, the doctor couldn't help but chuckle, replying gently:
"No worries. dical treatnt at Tracen is completely free. Being a trainer is high-risk work, so injuries are common. We have comprehensive dical support, so relax."
"Ah...that's great."
He nodded in relief. After seeing the doctor off, he lay back on the bed, relieved.
Finally, he had another legitimate reason to slack off. Life was good.
He was about to pull out his phone and check the trainers' forum for amusing posts when his expression suddenly froze.
Wait…hadn't he forgotten sothing incredibly important?
Recalling his earlier conversation, Kitahara's face gradually paled, a cold sweat breaking across his forehead.
He…seed to have forgotten to negotiate with Eclipse about that 50% increase in training intensity.
He was dood.
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