Chapter 7: (4/9)

"No! No way!" Aber held his head with two hands while screaming out loud. He did not expect this to happen. He sacrificed his mana pool to take out Kain. Raven was supposed to be able to defeat Merlara. Tomorrow Aber can fight again and he will secure the victory for Flumen in the final. This can't be happening.

Students of Nosh and Professor Biersack rushed down toward the arena exit and waited for Merlara. As Merlara exited, they screamed, "Merlara Selorn! Merlara Selorn!"

Merlara was very happy to see this. She smiled and said, "Thanks, everyone. But it was Kain who took out two members of Flumen. I was able to defeat Raven because she is a Wind Mage and I have advantages against her as a Thunder Mage."

"Merlara, you have won. Kain did his part and so did you. You have done a great job! I didn't expect any of our team to be able to have entered the final. First, it was Sofia and Arthur that have surprised me. And now Merlara Selorn, you have done it too. Let's go eat dinner together. I will pay!"

"Thank you, Professor Biersack!!" All students praised Vincenzo when they heard he would pay for dinner.

Mages' Academies sponsored their Student Mages in this tournament from hotel rooms to breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. However, the sponsored food is kinda… bland. That was why they were so excited when Vincenzo offered to pay for dinner. That means they will be able to enjoy some good food in Flumen city.

Later that evening, Vincenzo took the students of Nosh to a restaurant named 'Running Skeleton'. The group thought it was just a name but when they walked in, they saw a crowd of Skeleton Warriors walking around.

"Welcome to the Running Skeleton restaurant. My name is Rolanda and I will be your host tonight. How many guests do your group have?" The young hostess smiled as she greeted them.

"We have nineteen people. What is going on with those Skeleton Warriors running around?" Vincenzo asked the hostess.

"Ah, this must be the first time you have come to our restaurant. The manager of our restaurant is a Conjurer Mage and she received permission from the Mages Council to use Skeleton Warriors as restaurant servers. This started as a theme to amuse our guests but because the Skeletons did a great job of serving the guests without any complaints. That was why the owner decided to keep them as servers to save money since those Skeletons work for free."

"Huh, this is new to me."

"Anyway, please follow me."

The restaurant is not big and it had an occupancy limit of two hundred. More than a hundred people were eating at that time. Rolanda walked them to a big round table all the way in the back that can sit up to thirty people. After that, she passed out the menus and asked, "What would you like to drink? We have all kinds of beverages."

At this time another hostess escorted the group of four warriors to sit at one of the nearby tables. Vincenzo and the students looked through the menu and were surprised at how expensive the food prices are listed.

"I noticed the food prices are more expensive compared to other restaurants. Shouldn't the prices are cheaper since those Skeletons work for free?" Vincenzo asked.

"Oh yes, but we have to pay more tax money and permit fees to the city to operate our restaurant using Skeletons. That is why the prices are higher. Treat it like the entertainment fees." Rolanda smiled as she answered.

Vincenzo checked his pocket and shook his head. He gave the hand signal for the students to get up with him. Vincenzo then apologized to Rolanda, "I'm sorry, but we will have to go somewhere else. I don't have enough money to pay for nineteen people in this restaurant."

"I understand, let me walk you out."

Someone at the nearby table laughed as they heard Vincenzo doesn't have enough money. He opened his stupid mouth and said, "Beggars shouldn't come here in the first place." Then he and the other idiots at his table laughed out loud.

Vincenzo could tell that man was drunk and he never wanted to get into any kind of argument with the drunk tards. Vincenzo gave the hand signal for his students to follow him out of the restaurant escorted by Rolanda. But then they suddenly heard the man at the nearby table screamed. They turned around and saw that man and his stupid friends were being repeatedly slapped in the face by the group of four warriors.

One of the warrior walked toward Arthur, leaned down, and said, "Young master, High Priest Faringray wanted to-"

"Stop! Tell mother that I will see her after the final battle tomorrow. Leave!" Arthur said in an angry tone.

The warrior nodded as he walked away with three other warriors. Except for Kain, Vincenzo and all other students looked at Arthur with their eyes wide open. Arthur has been hiding his true identity since the day he joined Mages' Academy of Nosh. Kain found out about Arthur's true identity because Lord Clerico told him. Kain promised not to expose Arthur’s true identity so by that way other students can treat Arthur normally like they have always been. Too bad, those warriors exposed his identity tonight just because some drunk idiots referred to him as a 'beggar'.

"My apology. I was-" Arthur was trying to explain but Vincenzo raised his hand up to interrupt him.

"Let's eat here. Arthur will pay as an apology for hiding his true identity from us." Vincenzo said while everyone nodded in agreement.

They had a very good dinner. It's always good when you can eat all you wanted knowing someone else will have to pay for it. No one questioned anything about why Arthur was hiding his identity from them. They could have guessed because Arthur wanted to be treated like any other student. Furthermore, it's none of their business anyway.

While eating dinner, Sofia left the seat and went to the restroom. Jaane took this opportunity and moved over to speak with Kain. She tapped Kain on the shoulder and asked, "Kain, aren't you angry after being defeated by Mister Hardy?"

"Angry? Why would I?” Kain smirked as he answered.

"You have always been so strong. You were undefeated."

"Undefeated? Funny, haha…" Kain burst out laughing.