Adrian, understandably, was frustrated. Even though he took down two members of the opposing team with his Treeants, they had failed because they weren't able to protect their flag. Beside him, Melina looked just as unhappy. Her swordsmans.h.i.+p had improved, and she subdued two of her opponents, but both Adrian and Melina were too distracted by their opponents that they failed to realize the opposing team's strategy until it was too late.

While I had emphasized to them the importance of knowing the enemy and developing the appropriate countermeasures, it appeared that the other team did exactly just that. Realizing that they were no match for Adrian and Melina in terms of combat, they reconsidered their strategy. The victory condition, after all, was not just to defeat all the enemies on the battlefield, but to capture the flag by the end of fifteen minutes.

To that end, they played toward the mission objective and made use of their superior numbers to buy as much time as possible, sacrificing the majority of the team just so their final member could seize the flag.

With just two members in their team, Adrian and Melina was facing insurmountable odds. For them to progress this far despite such an overwhelming disadvantage that would have crippled any other pair against numerically superior teams was already a miracle in itself.

"You guys did a great job," I a.s.sured the both of them. "It doesn't matter even if you aren't the champions. You've done more than enough to make me proud. Excellent work, guys!"

"Ugh…"

"Geez…"

Neither of them looked convinced. I understood their frustration somewhat. For them to get so close, yet lose…yeah, it was a feeling that n.o.body wanted to experience. Especially since they knew that in terms of combat, they were more skilled than the other team. To lose on a technicality rather than because they were outmatched in battle was just…unsettling.

I knew how they felt and I empathized. After all, my team lost in the semifinals of the national tournament. Of course, my personal experience was slightly different because I had been compeltly outcla.s.sed and defeated by a superior foe. Charles Lacroix was the strongest opponent I had ever faced in my generation, and I accepted my defeat with good grace.

What, were you expecting me to be the typical Chinese cultivation story protagonist who was G.o.d mode and never lost a single battle? You're reading the wrong story, bro.

"You guys did well." I ruffled their hair again, grinning proudly. "Come on, let's go celebrate. Dinner is on me."

"About that…Amelia already has something arranged tonight." Melina was checking a holographic window. She glanced up, somewhat forlornly. "She wants us to return home early today. Tells us not to eat anything before then."

"Got it." Oh, that saved me money then. I didn't mind – Amelia and the maids working in Melina's manor were great cooks. I was actually looking forward to eating their stuff. Speaking of which, I still had the arrangement with Nan Gong Zhao Yan – if I remembered correctly, she planned to treat me to a homecooked meal on Sunday.

For now, we should just go home. Pus.h.i.+ng my charges gently, I shepherded them toward the direction of Melina's manor. While we walked, I received a call.

"Dad?" I swiped the green b.u.t.ton the moment I saw who was calling. Dad's grizzled face appeared in the window and he grinned before waving.

"Richie! Oh, I just watched the Saint Teresa Academy middle school tournament. You were teaching a couple of kids there, weren't you? I remember Adrian, and…"

"Melina." I waved them over. The two kids peered curiously at my dad, and Adrian waved when he recognized him.

"Sir."

"Hey, Adrian. And…uh, Melina, right? Congratulations to you two for making this far! I watched your matches, you guys put on an excellent display!"

"Thank you, sir."

"T…thank you."

Adrian beamed in delight while Melina lowered her head shyly.

Dad then turned to me, grinning. He looked like he wanted to smack my shoulder, but unfortunately he was physically not present. He could only curl his fingers into a fist and resist the temptation of fatherly intimacy, but I knew he was on the verge of leaping out of the video screen and wrapping me in a bear hug.

"You did the Miyamoto dojo proud, son," he declared. "Now everyone will recognize what sort of disciples we are training."

He then turned to grin at Adrian and Melina, placing his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out proudly.

"The both of you too…you helped us make a name for our Miyamoto dojo! I don't care what families or clans you're from – the moment you stepped through our doors and trained here under one of our people, you've become a member of the Miyamoto dojo. And with your performance, you have increased our reputation. Good work!"

"We should return to Jing Tian City and have dinner together sometime, to celebrate as the Miyamoto dojo," I suggested with a smile. Dad nodded excitedly.

"I'll be waiting!"

And with that, I said my goodbyes and hung up, promising to keep in touch. I usually called my dad about once or twice a week, so it wasn't too bad. Turning back to Adrian and Melina, who looked a little better than before, I gestured.

"All right, let's go home! Amelia is waiting for us…as is the food."

Adrian almost fell over at that. "That's what you're looking forward to?!"

"Hey, all men need to eat. Good food is what I live for."

*

The weekend finally arrived, and as usual I spent the Sat.u.r.day with Adrian, playing Warhammer 40,000 at Dreamers. Let's pretend the whole Corvid19 didn't happen, we weren't in lockdown, and life was continuing as usual. Hopefully by the time this chapter was published, the worst of the pandemic would be over. Funny how things in the present could affect things 1,000 years into the future.

Anyway, Sunday came and I was practically shooed out of the house by Adrian and Melina, who somehow caught wind of the information that I was supposed to "have a date with" Zhao Yan. Inwardly, I suspected they were taking revenge on me for this morning's brutal training, and wanted to escape any extra training I could get, but…whatever.

"You can't make a lady wait, Sensei!" Melina insisted, pus.h.i.+ng me.

"Yeah! This is a great chance for you, Brother Richard!" Adrian added, causing me to glare at him.

"What do you mean by great chance? Chance for what?"

"Uh…nothing. To get out of the house and socialize, I mean…"

I continued to stare intently at him, but Melina gave me an insistent shove.

"Hurry up, Sensei! Or you're going to be late! You should be going there early and wait for her, not allow her to wait for you!"

"All right, all right, I'm going…"

Despite Melina's efforts, as it turned out, Zhao Yan was already waiting outside Chao Café when I finally made it there. d.a.m.n, but she was early.

"I'm sorry for calling you over, but I just need to buy something from the café, if you don't mind."

"No, not at all."

I did my best not to ogle her. It was a refres.h.i.+ng sight to see her in a simple but pretty dress that accentuated her beauty by not being overly decorative with frills and all that nonsense.

"Eh? What about your sister?"

I frowned when I didn't see Ji Yan, despite looking around. My gla.s.ses didn't register her presence in the vicinity at all, despite its hi-tech sensors, which further confirmed my suspicions that she was absent. Well, that was fine. That girl was annoying, so I would be happier to not have to deal with her company.

"Ji Yan is not coming," Zhao Yan replied simply. Then she grimaced. "There was a mix-up in the practical exam, it seems. I heard that you faced her…��

"Oh, right." I chuckled. Shortly after the examination, Teacher Einsberg had contacted me through email, informing me that there was a mistake in the practical examination. Both Zhao Yan and I had gotten the wrong opponents. I was originally scheduled to face Nan Gong Zhao Yan, not Ji Yan, but because they were twins, the administrative in charge carelessly swapped them and I ended up facing the wrong sister.

Consequently, both Zhao Yan and I scored overwhelming victories, while Ji Yan and the other poor fella were…crushed. Fortunately, they were able to reschedule the exam on Friday, and the two of them were able to get fairer scores during the retest.

"Even so, Ji Yan was in a bad mood. I think she plans to blow off steam by going on a shopping spree today."

"Oh, okay."

"Do you mind waiting for a bit? I know I should have bought the stuff before you arrived, but you showed up earlier than I expected."

That explained why Zhao Yan was so early. I chuckled, amused, when I remembered how stubborn Melina was in forcing me to show up early.

"No, not at all. I had a couple of siblings who sort of chased me out of the house, otherwise I wouldn't be here so early either."

Zhao Yan returned the smile, and then turned around. I followed her into Chao Café. Incidentally, Saint Teresa Academy was located in Cardinal District, which was home to a couple of high-cla.s.s cafes such as this one, but I had never visited any of them during my time here. Honestly, I didn't have to. After all, Amelia and the maids in the private Franklin manor provided all my meals for essentially free (well, technically I worked for them, given that I was hired as a private tutor…). In any event, Chao Café was evidently popular with the girls, and I could see many of the dining here. A few of them I recognized as daughters of reputable, wealthy families.

Zhao Yan purchased a box of strawberry short cakes, requesting the lady at the counter to wrap it up for her. As I offered to carry the box, I must have shown an inquisitive expression because she didn't hesitate to give an explanation.

"The strawberry short cakes are for my sister."

"Sister? Huh? I thought you said Ji Yan isn't coming?"

"Oh…no, not Ji Yan. We have a third sister. Yue Jian doesn't go to our school, so I was thinking of buying these cakes for her."

"Third sister?" That was news to me, but I supposed that it wasn't too unusual. "I see. I didn't know that."

"We're actually triplets," Zhao Yan revealed as we left the café. I almost dropped her box of strawberry short cakes in astonishment.

"W…what?! Triplets?!"

All this time, I (and the rest of the school) was under the mistaken impression that Zhao Yan and Ji Yan were twins. I never knew they were part of triplets that included a third sister who didn't enroll in Saint Teresa Academy.

"Yes, you'll meet her when we get home. I'm sure she'll be happy to get a chance to talk to someone else her age, other than Ji Yan and me. Because of her circ.u.mstances, she isn't able to get out much and socialize."

"I see." I nodded thoughtfully, but I couldn't imagine how Yue Jian would look like. Probably identical to Zhao Yan and Ji Yan, except for the hairstyle. Considering that Zhao Yan tied her hair into a ponytail, and Ji Yan styled her hair into twin-tails, I supposed that Yue Jian probably let her hair down loosely. Most likely that was the case, given that she was stuck at home and didn't have any reason to doll up her appearance.

"All right, let's go." Zhao Yan led the way to the train station. She glanced at me, a little concerned. "I forgot to ask you, but I hope you don't mind…the trip home might take about an hour. We are quite far from the academy."

"That's okay." I grinned at her before retrieving a Kindle with my free hand. "I brought something to read, so I'll be fine."

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