Hotel Arya, Boy's Public Bath, Night.
"Hmm, this place is quite huge..." (Liam)
Liam glanced at the huge bath and was amazed at its size. Even the Aldif mansion didn't have such a huge bath.
"Moreover those high-quality mana stones embedded in the walls and the faint herbal scent from the bath's water.... This place is specifically made for awakeners!" (Liam)
Hearing Liam's surprised voice, Zach puffed up his chest in pride and said with a smirk:
"Of course! This bath is the reason why our hotel is so famous in the whole Oaklum! Don't forget that we are in a five-star hotel!" (Zach)
"My grandfather specifically invited high-rank alchemists and mages to build this place! If someone wants to stay here, they have to pay an extremely high amount!" (Zach)
"But as you are all my dear juniors, I have personally asked Grandpa to open this place for you all!" (Zach)
Hearing Zach's remarks, Liam nodded his head and praised:
"You are indeed amazing Senpai!" (Liam)
"hehe of course!" (Zach)
Zach was quite happy to be respected and praised by his juniors. He will remember this day as one of his most fond memories.
Just when Zach was smirking in happiness, Link and Liam both looked into each other's eyes and signaled something.
An evil smile appeared on their faces.
They seem to have already come to a decision about 'something mischievous' without even communicating with each other.
"Uh, Senpai..." (Liam)
Liam and Link both put a hand on Zach's shoulder and both of them gave him a thumbs-up.
A confused look appeared on Zach's face, but before he could say anything, Liam shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Zach Senpai is peeking at the girl's bath!" (Liam)
Zach was caught off guard by that sudden shout and before he could say anything else, a soap came flying from the other side of the bath and landed right on Zach's face.
"What!?" (Zach)
Before Zach could understand the situation, Link and Liam pushed him into the bath and he fell into that hot water instantly.
"its hooottttt!!!" (Zach)
"HAHAHAHHHAAHAHA" (Link)
"Hahahahaha" (Liam)
Seeing this scene, Link and Liam both laughed at Zach, at the top of their lungs.
The whole bath became lively from their laughter.
Meanwhile, Rio who was showering in the corner, glanced at the two of them who laughing like idiots, and shook his head helplessly.
'These two really have a screw loose...' (Rio)
Then Rio's eyes landed on Fade who was about to shower beside him, his eyes shined and he immediately kicked Fade into the bath.
"Go away!" (Rio)
Being caught off-guard Fade fell into the hot bath water and before he could say anything another soap came flying and landed on his face directly.
"F*ck!" (Fade)
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA" (Link and Liam)
Seeing this, Link and Liam both laughed so much that their eyes started to become moist.
"Ah my hahaha my stomach hahaha hurts from laughing too much.. hahahahaha stop ahahaha-" (Link)
To avoid listening to their maniacal laughter, Rio sneaked behind them and kicked them both from behind and they also fell into the water.
*gruggle*
Since they both were laughing, water entered their mouth and air bubbles rose in the water for a while.
After being kicked, finally, they both calmed down.
Just as they were about to sit down, they had to run for their life.
Zach looked at his two juniors with anger on his face and chased them both for revenge.
"Oh he got angry run! hahaha" (Link)
"You can't catch us with your tiny legs senpai! bahahaha!" (Liam)
For a while the three of them ran all over the bath and caused so much chaos that the hotel staff members had to personally come and ask them to stop.
Only then did the three of them stop and decide to calm down.
...
After getting scolded by the hotel staff, they finally sat down beside Rio and soaked themselves in the bath too. (They all kicked away Fade and thus he was sitting in a different corner, alone...)
*Shroom*
Just then, a bright magic barrier rose and isolated the boys' and girl's baths.
Zach glanced at the barrier and explained.
"Ah, that's an A rank barrier, it can stop anyone from peeking, moreover it can also stop detection-type skills and it's soundproof... now even if we scream here, they won't be able to hear us on the other side..." (Zach)
"Riko must have asked the staff to deploy the barrier... they all must have been annoyed by the chaos we caused earlier, sigh~" (Zach)
A depressed look appeared on Zach's face and he sighed again and again:
"I thought I had created a perfect plan, but now you guys shouted that I was 'peeking'..." (Zach)
"Riko must be thinking that I am a perv now! Sigh~ my love story ended before it even started sigh~" (Zach)
Hearing Zach's depressed tone, Rio patted him on the back:
"Don't worry, some girls also like 'Perv' type of guys... you have scope, don't lose hope, learn more about 'Perv' techniques from that guy over there, his name is Fade..." (Rio)
Black lines appeared all over Zach's face after hearing Rio's advice.
He replied in an angry tone:
"No way! I am not a perv! I am a gentleman! I don't want to be seen as a perv by Riko!" (Zach)
Link also nodded his head and said:
"Senpai, you should work on your muscles first I think, no girl will like you if you stay so thin, people will mistake you for a girl if you wear girly clothes!" (Link)
Liam also nodded his head in agreement:
"But there's demand for feminine boys too… cough! You can try it I guess cough!!" (Liam)
Several veins appeared on Zach's face as he gave death glares to Link and Liam.
"F*ck you both! I don't wanna hear your advice!" (Zach)
Zach raised his head and roared at the ceiling:
"All couples should die in hell! f*ck this sh*tty world! I want a girlfriend!!" (Zach)
While Zach lamented his sorrows, the others rolled their eyes at Zach's statement. They all had a girlfriend and thus technically Zach was telling them to burn in hell too.
But since they had already angered Zach too much, they all remained silent and didn't say anything else.
(Jokes are supposed to be said in a limit… if they continue to joke and insult Zach any more than this, their friendship with Zach will be affected… as they say 'Everything must have a limit'…)
...
After a while, Zach finally calmed down and started to explain.
"Uh, well you see, Riko and I are childhood friends, we used to study in the same schools in the capital city, and she has visited Oaklum with me many times now…" (Zach)
"But the problem is, she is too stern, she always remains poker-faced, I have been trying to impress her for years, but she doesn't budge at all…" (Zach)
A depressed look appeared on Zach's face again.
"Perhaps you guys are right after all, I am too short and don't look manly at all… perhaps that's why she doesn't like me…. Sigh~" (Zach)
This time no one laughed, they all knew that Zach was serious and this was no laughing matter either.
"Uh, I have experience in this,… if she doesn't like you, you should move on senpai… it won't do you any good to be hanging around someone who clearly doesn't have feelings for you…" (Liam)
Liam narrowed his eyes as he explained:
"I also used to like a girl you see, I loved her for years, but she didn't accept my feelings till the end…." (Liam)
"In the end, I moved on, and I think that the best decision I made in my life…" (Liam)
Hearing Liam's story, Zach nodded his head but he was still unconvinced, he didn't want to let go of his years of affection so easily. That would mean that his love was too fickle and worthless.
"Sigh~ in the end, were all my efforts worthless after all…" (Zach)
'Yes they were…' (Rio)
'Because the girl you are trying to impress is a harem member of the protagonist, and you are but a mere extra in this story!' (Rio)
Rio wanted to say all this right at Zach's face, but he held back and didn't say this. He didn't want to break Zach's heart so mercilessly.
Indeed as Rio said, Riko is one of the 'heroines' who later became Fade's harem member.
Riko is that 'cold from the outside and warm from the inside' type of heroine who falls for the protagonist when he helps her in dangerous situations.
She merely thinks of Zach as her friend, nothing more.
'The only difference is, she has appeared ahead of time right now…' (Rio)
In the original novel, Riko appeared after the 'meeting of gods' and she was accompanied by a nameless extra who was in love with her but got killed by Fade for plotting against him.
'That unfortunate nameless extra must be Zach himself…' (Rio)
Aside from Rio, there were obviously many 'extra' characters in the original story, most of them had no name at all and they all died a meaningless death.
Only Rio is an 'anomaly' among these extra characters that have changed his fate.
Rio shook his head silently.
He knew that Zach's feelings were meaningless at this point.
'Riko only thinks of him as a friend, and she doesn't give a sh*t about his feelings, if things remain the same, he will end up regretting his whole life when he finds out the truth…' (Rio)
After deciding in his mind, Rio nodded his head and said in his usual emotionless tone:
"Liam is right, you should move on before it becomes too late, one-sided love often ends up in self-harm…" (Rio)
Link was surprised to hear that, even Rio was agreeing with Liam.
"Well, if even Rio is saying that, then I will also advise you to move on, don't self-doubt yourself Senpai…" (Link)
Hearing the advice from his juniors, Zach couldn't say anything back and could only sigh in regret endlessly.
He has been pursuing Riko since childhood, and suddenly telling him to 'move on' is like asking him to not breathe all of a sudden. It's too difficult a task for him.
'Was it all meaningless after all?' (Zach)
…
…
Author's Notes.
Yo! It's your beloved author here! It seems that Zach's love story is coming to an uneventful end before it even starts… perhaps this is what they call the strangeness of life is…
Question of the day.
Do you think Zach will be able to move on?
1.Yes (If Liam can do it, then why not him!)
2.No (Once affected by the spell of love, you can't escape its clutches no matter what…)
3.Other (Tell me in the comments.)
By the way, don't forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.