Chapter 407: Got Company!

Words : 1210 Updated : Oct 13th, 2025

Chapter 407 "So..." Ray’s voice suddenly cut through the tense silence that had lingered in the carriage for several minutes. They had left the Cromwells’ residence about thirty minutes ago and were now steadily making their way through town, heading toward the town’s border. "Since we’re going to be sticking together during our time at the academy, I feel like we should get to know each other a bit more, right?" Ray asked, glancing between the others. "Don’t you already know me? Why do we need an introduction again?" Finral asked, turning to glare at Ray with visible irritation. "I wasn’t even speaking to you in the first place," Ray replied calmly, returning the glare with equal intensity. Finral scoffed in response and looked away. "I’m Grey. That’s all you need to know about me," Grey said simply, turning toward the window and gazing outside, his tone making it clear he didn’t want to talk further. "Sheesh! And I thought Finral was cold," Ray muttered, dragging his palm down his face. His comment earned him another sharp glare from Finral. "Anyway, what warrior stage are you in?" Ray asked, now directing his attention back to Grey. He watched as Grey lazily waved his hand in the air. "Stage 1." "Huh? Stage 1? That... that means you’re the weakest among us," Ray said as he gave Grey a full-body scan, from top to bottom. "Which means we’d probably have to protect you from harm." "Protecting?" Finral repeated with a raised brow before breaking into short, amused laughter. He turned away, shaking his head. "What’s so funny?" Ray asked, his brow arching. "I’m a stage 2 warrior, right on the cusp of breaking through to stage 3. You’re also stage 2, with no sign of advancement anytime soon. But he... he’s still at stage 1. Don’t you think it’s our duty to protect hi—" ZZZZ SNRRR ZZZZ RRRR The sudden, loud sound of snoring filled the carriage, cutting Ray off mid-sentence. Both he and Finral turned toward the source, only to find Grey fast asleep. His head was tilted backward, his face aimed at the roof of the carriage, eyes shut tight as his thunderous snore echoed around them. "Th... this snore is annoying," Finral growled, his teeth clenched as he stared daggers at Grey. The carriage hit a bump, throwing everyone slightly upward in their seats, yet Grey remained undisturbed. He continued snoring, completely unfazed by the jolt, as though it had never happened. The only sound in the carriage now was his obnoxiously loud breathing, and it was enough to make Finral’s veins bulge with frustration. Ray, on the other hand, simply crossed his legs calmly and began meditating, ignoring the snoring as if it didn’t exist. He slipped into focus with practiced ease, shutting out the world around him. Yet, as he meditated, the faint sound of rustling leaves gradually reached his ears. His eyes snapped open. Peeking out the window, Ray saw that they were passing through a thick forest. Towering trees lined both sides of the path, and the gentle rustling of leaves echoed all around. The carriage rolled forward along a narrow, shaded route, and something about it made him frown. "Hold on a moment. Why are we passing through the forest?" Ray asked the driver. The driver didn’t turn around or acknowledge them. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on the road and answered in a low voice without breaking stride. "To get to Aetherian’s capital where the assessment would be taking place, we need to pass through about two forests. We’ve long passed your town’s border and will need to go through those two forests, then cross another two borders before we finally reach the capital. Estimated time of arrival: about an hour, max." "Oh! Cool," Ray replied as he went back to his seat, then turned to see Finral glaring at Grey, his hands twitching as if he might attack at a moment’s notice. "What’s your deal with him?" "My deal is that he keeps snoring like a fool," Finral snapped in anger. "No! I can see that—that’s not the reason. I’ve never seen you act up like this. Even when I joined your dad’s dojo and he trained us together, I kept surpassing you, yet you never acted this way before. Something else is up. What’s wrong?" Ray asked, raising an eyebrow. A small sigh escaped from Finral’s mouth as he turned his gaze away from Grey and back to Ray. "It’s just that I don’t like him one bit. Ever since he came into our family, everybody’s attention has been solely on him. From Mum catering to him like he’s a baby, to Millie crawling over him, to Dad personally training him and forgetting the rest of us even exist. He draws problems to our family constantly. All of this has annoyed me to no end." "Oh! So that’s the issue," Ray chuckled as he leaned back into his seat. "What?" Finral raised an eyebrow, frowning at Ray. "You probably don’t know this, but I can read people. Just from a first glance, I know when someone isn’t right for me to associate with. When I first met you, I already knew the type of person you were. But jealousy? I didn’t think of that. Look, I just saw him today for the first time, and I could see it in his eyes. I’m sure your family did too, which is why they’ve been treating him kindly. He looks lost—like really lost. No idea who he is or what his purpose in life might be. His eyes look like they’re crying for help." "Yeah, he kinda lost his memories and doesn’t know who he is," Finral replied with a small sigh. "See... that is the problem. He doesn’t know who he is, and he’s trying to find his purpose and value in this world. Your parents didn’t forget you, no! They’re just trying to help someone who’s lost. I can guarantee that without your family, he would’ve died a long time ago. Situations like this breed depression. I’m sure his mood always brightens whenever he’s around your family, right?" Ray asked. "Come to think of it, the first few days after he regained consciousness, he was moody. Always brooding and sad. But after a few more days of my family bringing him closer to themselves, his mood slowly brightened, and he began to feel better. He rarely broods nowadays," Finral muttered as he stroked his chin. "See? So why do you want to be the obstacle that hinders your family from doing a good deed? Try to be more accepting of him. Let go of any ill intention, because I assure you—he’s destined for great things." Ray smiled as he finished his words. "How do you know so much from just seeing him once, and on the very first day?" Finral asked, raising an eyebrow. "Let’s just say... sixth sense," Ray chuckled. When— SCREECH! BUMP! The carriage suddenly came to a halt, bouncing up a few times and throwing Grey up and down, jolting him out of his sleep. "What the hell was that for?" Grey shouted in anger. "We got company," the driver replied, his voice filled with dread.

Chapter 407: Got Company!

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