Chapter 146 Khrome's Visit
"Hey, Saintess! How ya doing!" Khrome greeted Camille with a bright smile on his face the moment she entered the waiting room.
Camille rubbed her eyes and sighed, "What are you doing here, Khrome?"
"I'm here to see the pipsqueak." He went straight to the point. "I just returned to the city, and when I asked the Adventurers' Guild about him, I heard that he's been promoted to a C-Rank Adventurer. However, I also heard that he hasn't been active for over a month now, so I decided to check up on him."
"How considerate of you. Unfortunately, I don't know where he is right now." Camille quickly said.
"C'mon, Saintess! I know you know where he is! You're his sponsor, after all!"
"And he's being hunted, so he went into temporary hiding." Camille shook her head.
"What?" Khrome immediately frowned upon hearing this news. "He's hunted? By whom? And why?"
"I don't know why but someone had put a hit on him even before he'd finished his first mission, and it's a secret bounty, so we don't know the identity of this individual."
"Unforgivable! Who dares to try and assassinate this Sword King's disciple?!" Khrome gritted his teeth, showing real frustration and anger on his face.
Camille raised her eyebrow and said, "Disciple? Nobody even knows you trained him, and when did he become your disciple?"
"He's the first to fully complete my training course, so I have decided to make him my disciple!"
"He's only your disciple if he agrees to be your disciple, and as far as I am aware, he hasn't done so yet."
As though he'd realized something, a grin appeared on Khrome's face, "Oho? Is this jealousy that I sense? Are you afraid that I might take him from you?"
Camille immediately stared daggers at him, and she spoke in a cold voice, "I see that besides seeing Leon, you also came here for an early death."
"I-I'm just joking, Saintess." Khrome quickly raised his arms in a defeated manner.
And he continued, "Anyways, I just want to see Leon's progress and if he's been keeping up with his training or if he's been slacking."
"..."
Camille pondered for a moment before speaking, "Give me a minute. I'm going to make a phone call."
After leaving the room, Camille pulled out her phone and called Eve.
"Huh? Leo's first teacher is here to see him?" Eve repeated what she heard through the phone out loud while she glanced at Leo, who was lying on the floor beside her and gasping for air, looking like he had ran around the world twice.
"What? Khrome is here?"
When Leo heard this news, he quickly sat up and looked at Eve, who said, "Looks like he wants to see your— Leon's progress. What are you going to do?"
A grin appeared on Leo's face as he said in a clear voice, "I have been waiting for this moment— waiting for the chance to repay the debt!"
Khrome's hellish training was still fresh inside his head, almost as though it'd happened just yesterday, and he's been wanting revenge for a while now.
"You heard him, Camille. We'll meet you guys in the Training Center in half an hour." Eve said.
"Okay."
When she returned to Khrome, Camille said to him, "Follow me. You'll get to fight him in half an hour."
"Half an hour? I guess he lives pretty close from here— or is he a student here?" Khrome asked out of curiosity.
"He's not a student here, and he lives outside." Camille calmly lied with a straight face.
Meanwhile, Leo changed out of his school uniform and wore a casual tracksuit and changed his appearance before making his way to the Training Center.
"I won't go with you since that could expose your identity." Eve said to him before he left.
Once he arrived at the Training Center, Leo could see Camille and Khrome standing outside waiting for him.
When Khrome saw Leo, he quickly smiled and started waving.
"Hey, pipsqu—"
However, Khrome's carefree expression suddenly froze, as did the confident grin on his face.
'This pipsqueak… What the fuck happened to him?'
Khrome almost couldn't believe his eyes. Even without fighting, his experience told him that Leo had become a formidable opponent, not to mention the aura around Leo was much sharper than even many of his A-Rank Adventurer friends.
However, it's only been two months since their last meeting. Even someone with monstrous talents wouldn't be able to grow this fast without some desperate training routine.
'In just two short months, that pipsqueak had somehow turned into a freaking tiger!' Khrome cried inwardly.
"It's been a while, Khrome. What's wrong with your face? You don't seem happy to see me even though you were the one who called me out here." Leo said to him.
"O-Oh… It's been a while, pipsqueak." Khrome snapped out of his daze and returned the greeting, but the nervousness remained on his face.
Camille couldn't help but sneak a smile when she saw Khrome's reaction.
'Though, I'm not surprised. It's only been a week since he started training with Eve and he's almost unrecognizable even for me.'
Sometime later, they entered one of the many training rooms inside the building.
"I was worried that you might be slacking so I came to check up on you, but it appears that wasn't necessary. I looked down on you, and for that I apologize for that." Khrome suddenly said to him, even bowing his head slightly.
Leo smiled and said, "You don't need to apologize, because I will repay the debt by beating you."
Khrome's eyebrow twitched after hearing his words.
"Oh? You think you can beat me because you grew a little stronger, Mister C-Rank Adventurer? Your confidence— I like it!" Khrome lifted his head to show Leo a fierce expression on his face.
"I may only be a C-Rank Adventurer, but I have killed plenty of A-Rank monsters by myself." Leo said.
"What?" Khrome's eyes widened with shock, his face filled with disbelief.