Chapter 297

After burning the wooden s.h.i.+p where Lyner"s body was, the members of the Mercenary club gathered in a nearby restaurant . There were a lot of people inside the restaurant, most of them were people that came to Lyner"s funeral .

Yet even in this kind of situation the Mercenary Club still drew attention . The people who were there during Lyner"s funeral knew that the former students in the so called Mercenary Club were people who were close to the dead hero . They saw most of these kids near the stage, and couldn"t forgot Niel who spoke with a lot of charisma .

They were supposedly Lyner"s favorite students . So with their current reputation plus their looks everyone"s attention was currently on them . Still the members of the club didn"t mind the looks they were getting . Even Kei who was usually the most meek among them was unusually calm .

Niel seeing the changes in his companions smiled his usual smile . The usual radiant aura of Niel"s hasn"t changed even though he has been to the battlefield . In the face of his juniors he wish to remain the perfect senior that they knew .

"It"s been a while everyone . I see that all of you are doing well . . . Also, what"s wrong with you two?" Niel was talking about how Emily had Kei in a chokehold . She wasn"t tightening the chokehold too much, but just enough so that Kei couldn"t escape . Hearing Niel"s question Emily started to pout .

"This fool has been avoiding me for a year now! He keeps on hiding from me . I"m getting sick of playing hide and seek! So this time I"m making sure he won"t be able to escape . "

Kei kept on tapping on Emily"s hand while he answered .

"I wasn"t doing that because I was trying to run away from you . I was going around evading the surveillance of other people due to my radio show . Also I was gathering information and needed to move a lot . I promise I wasn"t doing this to avoid you . " Kei tried to explain himself, even though everything he just said was only half truths .

"I hope she doesn"t notice . " Kei felt Emily"s grip got lighter, which made him feel relieve for but a moment, then the chokehold on him got a even tighter than before .

"Who are you trying to fool! The way you avoided my detection, and the way you changed location the moment I found you makes it clear you were trying to hide from me!"

The others were watching the two and smiled . It would seem like even after a year the good relations.h.i.+p of the two remained the same . Rachel on the other hand was quite curious about their situation .

"Are you two dating?" When Emily and Kei heard Rachel"s question they both tilted their heads .

" . . . " Kei started contemplating after hearing that question . He looked at the girl who stopped her chokehold and was now thinking as well . "Now that I think about it, what exactly is our relations.h.i.+p? More than friends but less than lovers?"

" . . . " Emily was also thinking about the question Rachel asked . She looked at Kei and started to think . "Do I actually like this guy? Well if someone asked if I like or hate him, then I would answer that I like him, but . . . Is that enough to date someone? True he doesn"t have the look that I like . Still I am fond of him and his ways . . . Hmm . . . "

Seeing the two went silent and in deep thought made the others a bit confused . Kei was one thing, but Emily would usually answer without hesitation . After a few seconds of thinking Emily tapped on Kei"s head .

"Hey, do you want to be my boyfriend?" Everyone was stunned by what Emily said all except for Kei who was still thinking about something .

"Well I guess that"s the natural progression from where we are now . I guess that"s fine . " Everyone was shocked in how easily Kei answered the question . It would seem that in the past year, Kei has blossomed out of his meek self and turned a bit . . . really confident .

"So does that mean we"re girlfriend and boyfriend now?" Emily finally let go of Kei and pointed at herself then at him when she asked her question .

"Well, yeah I guess so . We"re now officially dating, does that answer your question Rachel . " Niel, Rachel, and Evangeline were looking at the two who became an item and were stunned by the sudden event . Everything happened so fast that they it took them a moment to fully digest the event .

"What the h.e.l.l!" Rachel suddenly screamed .

"Congratulations you two . " Niel simply showed his best smile and gave a thumbs up to his two juniors .

"Hahaha . " Evangeline on the other hand started laughing . It has been a long time since she last laughed . Being with these people truly made her feel that there was no war going on . It made her feel nostalgic, like they were all back in that clubroom of theirs . Even though she wasn"t technically a part of the Mercenary Club, but to them to her she was already a part of it a long time ago .

"Why are you suddenly laughing Eva? Do you find this funny?" Rachel looked at Evangeline seeing this once cool beauty act like this made her feel a bit weird .

"It"s nothing, its just that . . . We might have all changed over the past year, but for some reason we still remained the same . I don"t know how to explain it properly, but that"s what I feel . Seeing you guys here doing these kind of things as usual made me remember the old times . "

Hearing what Evangeline said the other four smiled as well .

"Yeah it"s like we"re back in that clubroom of ours . Where Sir Lyner is still sleeping, Sayaka is messing with Oliver while he is talking about our next event . Alex would stay beside me quietly watching . Niel would like he is now, be smiling at us . Kei would be taking down notes, while Emily would be messing around on her laptop . Then you would drop by to join in the fun . . . Yeah, those were the days . "

Rachel couldn"t help but smile while tears flow down her face . The other who were listening to what she said also started to tear up .

"Yet now . . . Alex has been kidnapped by his grandfather . Oliver is gone and we have no idea where he is . I haven"t heard anything from Sayaka either, but I did hear rumors that Sayaka"s dad has died, and she would most probably take his position . . . . Also now . . . Now, Sir Lyner is gone . . . "

The group suddenly turned gloomy when they remember those events . While the group was now sinking into depression as their heads were lowered they suddenly heard a familiar voice . It was the voice of someone who shouldn"t exist anymore .

"What the h.e.l.l are you brats doing sulking like that . Your friends have been captured, are missing, and some might be heading towards their deaths, sulking wont help you there . So instead of feeling sorry for yourselves, how about you brats go out and find them yourselves . "

When the club members heard what the familiar voice said they all raised their heads . Was it possible, was there teacher actually alive . Was he able to actually fool everyone . It was surely possible if it was him . The group then started to look around trying to find where the voice came from . Yet they saw no one resembling Lyner, instead they saw Niel touching his throat .

"Where you the one who did that?" Rachel asked Niel, who responded by showing a vicious smile that was similar to Lyner and answered in his normal voice .

"Yeah I was the one who did that, I was the one who was talking in Sir Lyner"s voice . Don"t blame me for doing that, it"s because you guys made faces the look like the end of the world was coming . If Sir Lyner was here I"m sure he would have said the same thing . "

Hearing what Niel said the others wiped the tears from their faces . Niel was right if Lyner was here, he would most probably say the same thing . Seeing the others finally perking up, Niel spoke to Rachel .

"Rachel now that Oliver and Alex aren"t here, you are the only one left of the original starting members . I guess leaders.h.i.+p should fall under you . So leader what should we do?"

Everyone was now looking at Rachel . Feeling everyone"s gaze on her, Rachel closed her eyes and sighed . She then looked back at her fellow club members and smiled confidently as she announced .

"Isn"t it obvious what we"re going to do next . Of course we the Mercenary Club are going out, to save our friends!"