"Hehe!"Suddenly, from the seat on the other side of the table, precisely in front of Hei, a young man laughed at the sincere comments of the three in front of him.
"Is there anything funny in our comments?" Leon asked resentfully. Evidently, he didn"t like that he had been made fun of in front of the two new arrivals. Or was it because that person was laughing at Hei and Lian as well as at him?
The young man, still with a smile printed on his face, said no with his head. He had blond hair long up until his shoulders, parted in the center with a hairstyle towards the sides. In the front, a fringe protruded, which descended downwards, reaching just above the eyebrows. He had light-blue eyes similar to the color of the sky, and like the sky itself had a peculiar clarity in his gaze. He was tall, although not like Hei or Leon, he was rather slender, which accentuated that feeling of clarity.
Beside him, there was another young man. He had short orange hair that wasn"t combed but ruffled as if he had just woken up. His orange eyes, which were almost entirely half-closed, also seemed to convey that sensation. It appeared as if he was looking at something very distant rather than reality before him. And it was the latter who answered for his blond-haired companion.
"You must excuse him. It wasn"t his intention to offend you or make fun of you." The orange-haired young man"s voice was sweet and bright as if he was whispering into the ears of those who were listening. Yet he had used a low tone of voice that was barely noticeable.
This pair of young martial artists alerted Hei. Since they were sitting at the table with them on the ground floor, they had to be first-year students, that is, future fellow students of Hei and Lian.
"It"s like he says, sorry. It"s just that I got excited when I heard your compliments. You must know that it was I who prepared that spaghetti while another made the broth. I introduce myself, my name is Omura Haruno, but you can call me just with Haruno. I"m a martial artist chef."
Omura Haruno, this was the name of the young man who laughed at Hei and the others" comments. Unexpectedly it was the martial artist chef who had cooked the spaghetti in the soup that Hei and Lian had tasted. It was, therefore, reasonable that he had felt amused by such positive comments. After all, who wouldn"t have been happy to hear praise for the fruit of their work?
"My name is Ige Mareo instead, but you can call me Mareo. I am a martial artist musician." Haruno"s companion, who had defended him earlier, introduced himself. Ige Mareo, this was his name.
Upon hearing this, Hei was amazed. He didn"t expect to immediately meet someone who was part of those types of martial artists. Since they didn"t seem to have any bad intentions, Hei made introductions for him and Lian.
"My name is Hei while she is Lian. We just signed up today." Hei replied. The young blue-haired woman bowed her head as a sign of greeting to the two martial artists on the other side of the table.
"My name is Leon, nice to meet you, Haruno, Mareo." Leon"s initial annoyance seemed to have subsided, so he returned to his usual friendly att.i.tude.
After that brief exchange of introductions, the five of them returned to focus on their meal. There was a bit of embarra.s.sment in the air since they didn"t know how to start a conversation between them. So they were silent for some time when suddenly there was a noise of something being broken. Turning their heads, they could see in the table behind them a young man with short fire red hair standing while at his feet, there was a ceramic bowl with food inside. It was the soup Hei and Lian had tasted.
"Who the f.u.c.k is that prepared this? It sucks. The soup is good, but with this spaghetti, it is inedible. Who is that trash who prepared them?"
The voice of that young man with fiery red hair and very light complexion echoed on the first floor of the canteen. However, n.o.body seemed to give us much importance. Even those on the upper floors weren"t interested and didn"t look at what was going on. However, not everyone remained impa.s.sive. Haruno, as he was the martial artist chef who had cooked that spaghetti, couldn"t help but stand up. For a martial artist chef, what they cooked was the sublimation of their efforts. Each of the dishes they prepared carried with them the pride of the chef who had cooked it.
"It was I who prepared it. You said the spaghetti are inedible. I would like to know what makes you think so."
Haruno"s voice was calm, but you could see the anger contained in seeing his creation thrown on the ground like garbage. At his side, Mareo seemed to have intentions to calm him down but refrained from doing so. As a musician, he could understand the frustration of seeing his efforts and dedication treated like waste paper.
The fire red-haired young man turned his head to look at Haruno, and when he saw him, he seemed to recognize him. Then he made a malicious grin as if he had found something fun to play with.
"Now, I understand. So it was you. Well, I"m not surprised that a s.h.i.+tty h.o.m.os.e.xual like you produced s.h.i.+tty food. Next time refrain from cooking your lousy s.h.i.+t. If you really want to cook, I guess your boyfriend is willing to eat that stuff. You can also invite your other gay friends. Don"t you like to get together to have orgies like dogs in heat?"
When listening to the words of the fiery red-haired young man, Haruno"s face darkened as he clenched his fists with force. His spirit power seemed on the verge of being activated when Mareo reached out to grab Haruno"s. He said no with his head and invited him to sit down. However, Hei could see Mareo"s other hand clenched in a fist while visibly trembling with anger. The "boyfriend" the young red-haired boy spoke of was none other than Mareo himself.
"What"s up? Are you so embarra.s.sed about revealing your secret to everyone that you have lost your tongue? Your boyfriend is right, sit down and don"t say a word. I don"t even understand how they could accept you two. Those of your race are just a disease and disgust for the eyes."
As these offensive words continued, the people around had been slowly conquered by curiosity. Some shared the stance of the fire red-haired young man and didn"t see well these relations.h.i.+ps, both romantic and s.e.xual, between members of the same gender. Many people regarded these relations.h.i.+ps as a kind of disease that needed to be eradicated. But these people were just a minority of the empire inhabitants and the people on the canteen"s ground floor.
However, the rest of the students, despite not sharing this line of thought, certainly wouldn"t have come forward to protect that poor unfortunate couple. This was a society made up of martial artists; the one who had the strength was also the one who had the last word. If something wasn"t right for you, you had to use your fists and beat your opponent until he gave up.
Haruno certainly wanted to come forward, but he was a martial artist chef. His fighting skills were minimal despite being a spirit soldier. He certainly couldn"t compete with an attacking martial artist. The same was true of Mareo, but there was another reason why he had stopped Haruno from attacking.
"What does being h.o.m.os.e.xual have to do with belonging to another race? Aren"t they human? Don"t they have two hands, two eyes, a heart? How should they be different from you?"
While the fire red-haired young man was enjoying that moment, a voice interrupted the strange silence that dwelled in the canteen. All the various spectators, who thought the show was over, looked amazed in the direction of the voice. So they noticed a young man with brown skin and pitch-black hair sitting right in front of the accused couple. The person who spoke was Hei.
"Eh?! What the f.u.c.k? Did I correctly hear what you said? How dare you compare me to garbage like them? Turn around and have the courage to say it to my face."
The fire red-haired young man ordered Hei to turn as he made more and more noise. His grin vanished from his face as a disgruntled expression formed on his face. Hei didn"t reply immediately but finished taking a sip of water and wiping his mouth. Then he stood up. He motioned for Lian and Leon to stay there and advanced towards the fire red-haired young man. Once he arrived in front of him, he knelt down.
The fire red-haired young man thought Hei wanted to fight, but when he saw him kneeling, he laughed heartily. "Yes, good. I see you have common sense. You"d better apologize properly, or it will be bad for you."
At that threat, a group of four people near him stood up. Apparently, he wasn"t alone, but he had henchmen. They were rubbing their hands as if to signal that they would give Hei a lesson if he refused. But Hei wasn"t taking them into consideration at all. His gaze was fixed on the ground.
Grab! Slurp!
With an unexpected gesture, he reached out and started eating the spaghetti that had fallen on the ground. This scene caused a wave of contempt for Hei, and many thought he was crazy. He was eating food that had fallen on the ground in a place where thousands and thousands of people pa.s.sed. Hei paid no attention and continued to eat until the last spaghetti. Then he got up and said to the fire red-haired young man.
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"Food shouldn"t be wasted. You should thank those who prepare you to eat, not to mention that the spaghetti was delicious. Don"t blame others for your messed up sense of taste."
Once that was said, Hei turned around and started walking back to his place. What he said left all spectators dumbfounded; they didn"t expect such words. Haruno and Mareo had wide eyes. They couldn"t believe that Hei, who they had met only moments ago, had come forward to protect them. Lian had an impa.s.sive look, but her eyes were bright, and inside her, she fully shared what Hei had previously said. Leon also looked astonished, but he had a smile on his face as he didn"t like the statements made by the young fire red-haired man too.
"How dare you turn your back on me and treat me like that? Do you know who I am?" the fire red-haired young man had a red face as if he could explode with anger at any moment. He wasn"t used to being made fun of in front of so many people.
Hei had sensed that he could have come from a distinguished family and had refrained from attacking. Only with his gestures and his words, he wanted to diverge the attention from Haruno and Mareo on him. He usually wasn"t a guy who acted instinctively for someone who barely knew. But the discrimination Haruno and Mareo suffered was similar to the way some people viewed spirit beasts - like a plague to be eradicated and erased from the world. At that point, he couldn"t stop himself from coming forward.
"I am Feng Gengxin. I am part of one of the Eight Big Families, the Feng Family. How dare a n.o.body like you to show such impertinence. Give him a lesson."
Hearing the name of one of the Eight Big Families, those who hadn"t paid any attention to the incident so far, quickly turned their heads. Even those on the upper floors leaned over to look at what was going on. Many even stepped on the air and stopped in midair to watch the spectacle. Only by this reaction, it was possible to understand the influence and weight that the name of the Eight Big Families had. It was also for this reason that Mareo had prevented Haruno from reacting; it wasn"t wise to make someone with a similar background an enemy. However, Hei"s reaction had been too fast for Mareo to stop him.
Feng Gengxin"s four henchmen advanced and activated their spirit power. Although killing or seriously injuring other students were prohibited, as long as they respected these two rules, there would be no problem with their actions. Fights between members of the younger generation were a regular thing.
Noticing their movements, Hei activated his spirit power, and a strong murderous intent rose into the air. Almost all the martial artists there had killed in their life. But even then, Hei"s murderous intent density was so high that the four a.s.sailants stopped their run. They could instinctively perceive that the young man in front of them wasn"t someone to be taken lightly. But while they hesitated, Lian and Leon advanced and stopped beside Hei.
Lian had untied the knot of her ribbons, and they were swaying in the air. Leon, instead, had a two-meter-long metal greatsword. The length of this weapon added even more grandeur to his figure. Hei, after glancing at the two, pulled out his spear and grabbed it with both hands.
The four henchmen were undecided about how to act and looked to Feng Gengxin for orders. This time it seemed that the fish they wanted to catch was bigger than expected.
"What are you waiting for? We are five against three. Attack." Feng Gengxin ordered his men to advance, but someone else answered him.
Mareo had started singing. His melodious voice had a bright tone as he recited words in an unknown language. He had activated his spirit power, and his internal flow was growing. Suddenly Hei, Lian, and Leon felt their spirit power flow faster and easier and were surprised. It was as if it was no longer their body but had instead been improved.
"A martial artist musician. And what"s more, a singer. It"s rare to meet one."
"Yeah, usually most people use an instrument instead of vocals. Even if it isn"t a real weapon, they can use it as such if they want to."
"Rather, the one by his side is a martial artist chef, isn"t he? He has talent. I tasted the soup, but the spaghetti was the best part. "
"You say? What was the amplification effect like?"
"The child of the Feng Family seems rather deficient to be part of one of the Eight Big Families."
"Yes, I expected better. I bet he is just one of the many children of some ordinary members. If it weren"t for his last name, he wouldn"t be anything special.
From various parts of the canteen, whether it was the ground floor or the upper floors, people were murmuring to each other. They were all openly discussing what was happening, careless about whether or not they were heard. After all, it was difficult to understand who said what in that sea of people.
Feng Gengxin, who heard negative comments against him, became even more p.i.s.sed. He activated his spirit power and drew his weapon - a standard length sword with a scarlet red blade.
"You will now learn the power of the Eight Big Families on your skin. Phoenix Bloodline-"
Peng!
A metallic noise rang in the air, stopping the activation of Feng Gengxin"s bloodline. Everyone looked away and noticed a group of five not far from where the battle was about to happen. One of them had dropped his metal tray on the ground.
"Ah ... it slipped. I apologize for the clumsiness, boss."
The one who had dropped the metal tray was apologizing to a young man in the middle of the group. From how he addressed that person, the latter was to be the leader of that group.
The boss raised his hand and told his subordinate not to worry. He didn"t seem disturbed at all. After that, as soon as his subordinate picked up the metal tray from the ground, the boss continued to guide his four subordinates forward between the s.p.a.ce that separated Hei"s group from Feng Gengxin"s. But it didn"t seem as if he intended to intervene. His eyes were looking forward with no interest, not even looking at that clash that was about to explode.
However, his actions weren"t ignored because Feng Gengxin"s face turned white as his lips p.r.o.nounced the words, "Imperial Prince, Long Tian..."