Scarlet
After entering the VIP area, I quickly seal it off from those rather annoying stares. Because even if I’ve gotten used to being a celebrity and known all over, it doesn’t change the fact that it can get annoying sometimes.
Or, rather, a lot. Not just sometimes.
“So how’ve you been recently?” Michael asks as I walk up to the group sitting there in the booth, all of whom are the people who were in my old team. Very old team.
I answer with a nod while saying, “Pretty good. You? Are you still getting people complaining about your own personal harem?”
He starts coughing on the drink he was having with the others, including Belle, Arthur, Emily, and Denise.
I glance at Denise while sitting down next to Belle, and she answers for her boyfriend, “He hasn’t had any trouble like that since we started dating and Arthur joined the team.”
Ah, that’s good then.
“Mostly,” Belle mutters, making me glance at her with a raised brow. So she continues while ignoring the glare Michael is sending her, “Let’s just say he ended up in a temporary team that was full of nothing but girls and him during one of his practical exams at Lion Heart. Anymore and I’m afraid he’ll kill me.”
I turn my head to stare at Michael, who is trying very hard to not return my gaze. Then I just tilt my head and utter, “Oh?”
He really has bad luck.
Right when he’s about to respond, I blink, raising one hand to stop them as I close my eyes and send clones out.
Another Void Assault.
I quickly deal with all of the Corrupted Fractures that opened up in the Void Assault, which takes a few moments. Then I open my eyes again and lower my hand, saying, “Alright, Assault dealt with. What were you going to say?”
The others all look briefly surprised before Michael says, “That incident happened a while back, and there hasn’t been anything since.”
“That’s because you graduated already, so you’re not being placed in random teams anymore,” Arthur says without taking his gaze from the arena down below.
I feel the corner of my lips quirking upwards ever so slightly at his comment. Then up even more when Michael begins throwing retorts at him in response, with Arthur just casually deflecting them.
Stolen story; please report.
It’s been a while since I’ve been able to do this.
A very long while.
My attention turns to the side when I hear someone scooting a chair over to me where I find Emily then sitting down on the chair she puts right next to mine. Meanwhile the others just continue their banter.
I focus on the arena again, leaning my cheek against my fist, my elbow on the arm rest.
The past years haven’t given me all that much time to talk with friends. Or any time, really. I’ve spent almost all of my time going from one thing to the next.
And the little time I did get I tended to spend with Aria at home while planning my next moves.
So it’s nice to hear their bantering again after so long.
My attention is once again brought to my side when I feel something leaning on my arm, bringing my gaze to find Emily falling asleep.
Hmm. Guess she’s bored.
I focus on the arena again while watching the new Guardians and the freshmen demons fighting against other demons. And from what I can tell, the new Guardians I heard about on the news are the ones leading the competition in terms of points.
Especially that guy who is hiding his identity while not hiding it along with the magical girl Guardian.
“Hey, Scarlet?” Belle suddenly asks, making me glance at her, my current line of thought coming to a halt.
“Yeah?” I respond. “Something wrong?”
She shakes her head as Michael and Denise talk between themselves and Belle’s boyfriend, Arthur, just continues watching the arena down below. Then she asks, “Do you know when our fae will return?”
Guess she would be worried too.
“No, I don’t know anything about it,” I answer with a frown.
That visibly disappoints her as she looks down and mutters, “Oh… thought the Fae King might’ve told you something, but I guess not…”
“Nope,” I state while returning my attention to the arena again. “The Fae King hasn’t even said anything to Gramps since the fae tournament, much less me. The only thing I’ve been told is what they think the Void Fractures are. Nothing more.”
Which has been rather frustrating. Being left in the dark.
Belle doesn’t say anything after that, leaving the booth in relative silence other than Denise and Michael chatting amongst themselves. And, of course, the noises coming from outside of the booth. Which are plenty, even if they’re muted by the booth and the wall I set up around us.
We all watch the competition going on until the first competition finally comes to a close. Then Black starts his usual commentating.
“And the winner of this year’s Demon Hunt competition iiiiiisss…” Black draws it out right when the disguised dude appears on the pedestal at the front of the stadium floor, the arena itself returning to normal. “The Rifted One! And in second place, the Crimson Thorn! And lastly, third place goes to the Pink Rose! Give them all a round of applause!”
Along with his words, two more smaller pedestals appear next to the first one, each with a person on it. The second highest pedestal having the person who is mimicking my outfit who uses destruction magic, and the lowest pedestal having the magical girl on it.
And immediately after that, the audience breaks out into roaring applause. But I can’t help but raise a brow at the sight of the girl with destruction magic looking right in my direction while waving like crazy. Showing just how much the fan she is.
She found me rather quickly.
I have to say though, the next generation of Guardians is looking rather good.
The hint of a smile forms on my face.
A good generation indeed.