Ahri didn"t even reply to Caesar"s words before pulling his fallen figure into her embrace. The blood that soaked his clothes started to stain her dress and Caesar could feel a few droplets of tears fall on his shoulders."I never doubted that you"d win, but I had a feeling you would get hurt…" Ahri spoke in a m.u.f.fled manner while gently rubbing the wound on Caesar"s shoulder. Her previous anger seemed to have dissipated and only her concern was left.
Caesar, who was exhausted, wanted to hug Ahri back, however, his muscles were overexerted and wouldn"t listen to him. He could only sit there and let Ahri do whatever she wanted to him. He somewhat understood why she was so angry before, but his pride stopped him from apologizing.
"I"m sorry," Caesar whispered softly, his voice was so quiet that Ahri had to move her face closer to his and ask, "what did you say?"
"I"m sorry," Caesar said louder and wry smile appeared on his lips, knew that Ahri had vaguely heard him before, but just wanted to hear him say it again.
Ahri"s tear-stricken face jerked in shock and she looked into Caesar"s crimson eyes, their noses were practically touching and he could feel Ahri"s warm breath. She stared at him suspiciously for a moment, "what are you apologizing for?" she asked.
Caesar chuckled dryly whilst glancing at the many spectators looking at them curiously, the women were covering their mouths with stars in their eyes, while the men were gnashing their teeth in jealousy.
Caesar cleared his throat, trying to indicate that he didn"t want to speak in front of so many people, alas, Ahri was relentless and pushed Caesar down. She was careful as to not hurt him, however, this was probably the first time she had overpowered him.
He was normally quite a.s.sertive and Ahri never really had a chance to fight back, but now it was his turn. He could only smile wryly while looking at Ahri who was mounting him whilst staring at him suspiciously.
"That was the first time you"ve ever apologized, you know?" She spoke after a few seconds of awkward silence.
Caesar sighed, "I apologize for doing everything myself, for making you worry without explaining anything. Most of all, I"m sorry for making you feel like a burden" Caesar replied solemnly. He knew why she was angry, it was just that he needed to swallow his pride to appease her.
His answer made Ahri"s eyes open wide in shock before a wide smile blossomed on her face, "I"m sorry too… I shouldn"t have chosen such an important time to throw a fit. I know you"re trying your best, and I know that you"re not used to having a partner… it wasn"t fair of me to make you confused like that" Ahri said while moving her head down and resting her forehead against Caesar"s chest.
"Ahem, are you two done?" a deep voice suddenly resounded in both Caesar"s and Ahri"s ears, effectively ruining their moment and causing Ahri to quickly jump up like a frightened rabbit. She scanned her surroundings and a deep blush suddenly appeared on her face as she noticed a few thousand people whistling while looking at her.
Ahri subtly walked towards the podium and sat down in an attempt to hide her face. While she was doing this, Musashi walked toward Caesar and pulled him up.
"Who said you could make her cry?" Musashi asked with furrowed brows, but if one looked closely, you could see a small smile forming on his lips.
"You ask of the impossible, you yourself should know how emotional that la.s.s is…" Caesar replied with an exasperated sigh whilst being helped to stand on his feet. His body was slowly healing and he could just barely stand on his feet now.
Musashi didn"t reply, but instead, chuckled. He patted Caesar on the back and walked back to the podium where Ahri resided. He stood up and slammed the desk heavily, silencing the heavy commotion and garnering everyone"s attention.
The unconscious clan heads", including Faust, woke up and looked over, and even Ebisu, looked at Musashi.
"I ANNOUNCE THE ENDING OF THIS TOURNAMENT, ALL OF THE WARRIORS HAVE FOUGHT VALIANTLY AND SHOWCASED THE FOX-KIN STRENGTH!" His loud announcement paused briefly before he continued.
"HOWEVER, NEW TREES HAVE SPROUTED AND DEFEATED THE OLD AND WITHERED TREES… THUS, THE NEW CLAN HEADS" WILL NOW BE ANNOUNCED"
"Faust, the head of judgment and law"
"Khan, the head of protection"
"Leo, the head of hunting and food"
"Riku, the head of the cavalry"
"Kaito, the head of shield bearers"
"Touma, the head of spear-wielders"
"Haruto, the head of reconnaissance and information"
"Ebisu, the head of rations and welfare"
"Falthor, the head of swordsmen and fighters"
"Hideaki, the head of archers"
"Daichi, the head of architecture"
"Hayao, the head of finance and the treasury"
"Akari, the women"s" representative and the head of training new talented women"
Once Musashi finished his announcement, a loud uproar took place. Akari wasn"t even in the top 13 and she was announced, while one of the previous clan heads and even Caesar were not announced. Not to mention the fact that Falthor and Khan tied, but were now both apart of the council.
But their shock only increased at Musashi"s next words...
"AND AFTER MUCH CONSIDERATION, I HAVE DECIDED TO IMPLEMENT A NEW POSITION… AS THE STRONGEST SOLDIER IN OUR STRONGHOLD, AND THE WINNER OF THE TOURNAMENT. I AM HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE THAT CAESAR WILL BECOME THE GENERAL OF OUR ARMY, AND ANSWER TO NO ONE BUT ME!"
"ON TOP, OF ONE OF THE TWO REWARD I PROMISED" Musashi continued.
Even Caesar couldn"t help but raise an eyebrow at Musashi"s announcement, he didn"t expect there would be much of a problem since it appeared that he gained the citizens" support. However, with this, Caesar wouldn"t need to challenge Musashi, but instead, just take Ahri"s hand in marriage.
"You"re a sly fox too, aren"t you…" Caesar whispered with a subtle smile.