Yuel’s Share of the Blame

"Yo July, what's up?" Lars spoke up. "Ya got a moment? I got something super important to discuss with ya." 

"O-Of course!" Julia jumped. H-He isn't going to confess, is he!? Oh god, oh god!

"So, basically," Lars continued. "Our club is hella small, right?" 

"Um, yeah…?" Julia's excitement died off almost instantly. So, it's about Mancers. Figured...

"So, there's our Mid player, right?"

"You mean Beat?"

"Yeah," Lars said. "She's super strong and stuff, so we don't have anybody who can play Mid at her level."

"Hah. Sounds rough." Not sure how any of it is my problem, though.

"Also, she's actually almost at my level in Duel."

"S-Seriously?" Julia's phone nearly slipped out of her hand. She knew how strong Lars was in 1v1s, so it was shocking that somebody from Stratus came even remotely close.

"I'm still stronger, of course," Lars quickly added. "At least, I'm stronger when I'm picking marksmen. But, if I pick a mage against her and we try to simulate a Mid Lane kinda situation, then it's hella rough, dude."

"Well, she IS your Mid Laner, so she better be good in these fights," Julia said. Though, it's still impressive. I wonder if I can beat Lars in a mage vs. mage duel? I want to say yes, but...

Lars was a mechanical prodigy. He was undoubtedly the single strongest player in the region, at least until that wack Apprentece guy came out of nowhere.

Still, I bet Lars is stronger than him with Shooter and Slinger. Julia thought. But, that's not the topic right now. I feel like I kinda zoned out for a moment there, so what was he saying, again?

"Basically, she needs a better training partner who is strong with mages," Lars said. "So, my first thought was you. Ya fit the bill like a glove, yo!"

"I see, so I'm the first who came to your mind, hehe…" Julia shyly scratched her cheek. "Ahem. I mean, yes, you're right. I AM a strong Mid, so it's only natural."

"So, what do you say?" Lars asked. "Wanna give it a shot? Let's see who comes on top! It gonna be gud!"

"Sure, we can do a few games."

"Heck yeah, lessgo!" Lars pumped a fist. "And, it would be awesome if you stick around for more than just 'a few games', but that's up to you."

"Hmm. We'll see." Julia shrugged. "Club practice is already tiring enough. I can't be playing Mancers all day long, you know?"

"Yeah, understandable." 

"A few games is fine, though," Julia said. "We can do a best-of-three, or maybe even a best-of-five."

"Awesome! I'm gonna tell her right away!"

"Wait," Julia said. "Not today. I prefer to do it on the weekend. Club practice has been too draining lately after that last scrim."

"Haha, is Howard working ya dudes to the bone?"

"You wouldn't believe it," Julia ranted. "We stay in the club at least two hours longer than usual. TWO HOURS, would you believe that!?"

"Dang, sounds rough."

"You have no idea…" Julia sighed. "Anyway, I'm not going to be in the best shape after practice, so the weekend works better."

"Okay, gotcha!" Lars said. "I'mma send you her number so you can arrange the best time for it."

"Sure…" Tch, he's got her number? Who is that girl, anyway? I sure hope she doesn't have her eyes on him, or else she's dead meat. Though, I'm sure Lars wouldn't even glance in her direction after I'm done beating her to a pulp.

When in doubt, just crush the competition before it even has the chance to act. That was the surefire way to win.

And so, the arrangement was finalized. "You see?" Lars turned to Yuel. "Ez."

"You can be pretty scary sometimes, you know that?"

"Hm? How do you mean?"

"The way you coaxed Julia into playing was impressive," Yuel said. "You elegantly sidestepped the fact Kai needs a training partner. I didn't expect you to be this crafty."

"Not sure whatcha talking about, dude." Lars shrugged. "I only told her how it is. Kai pretty much owns me in duels when it's mage vs. mage, so she needs a stronger training partner for that matchup."

"But, that's not the real reason Kai signed up for this 'special training'," Yuel reminded. "She's doing this to get better playing against female opponents, remember?"

"Oh, right!" Lars smacked his head as if he realized that just now. "Totally forgot about that part, haha!"

"... how did you manage to forget literally the entire point of this whole thing?" Yuel had no words. This goof was just something else. So, he wasn't crafty at all, he just forgot. I feel stupid for being impressed with him for even a moment there!

"I mean, I dunno about all that 'Softhearted' stuff Vince keeps mentioning." Lars shrugged. "Like, yeah she's not doing too hot against Nia in duels, and there was that part in the Leo scrim where she wasn't pushing much against Theorist. But, that's like only two examples, right?"

"True, the amount of evidence is laughable at best," Yuel agreed. "At first, I didn't take Vincent's analysis too seriously. But, the way Kai was overly defensive about it made me think."

"I mean, I'd also be mad if someone accused me of not doing my best. I'm always giving 200%, yo!"

"True, it can come across as insulting," Yuel agreed. "But, I didn't like her responses. Her explanations didn't make much sense to me. Besides, Vincent's analysis is rarely ever wrong about these things."

"Yep, dude got 200% accuracy, for real."

"So, I decided to side with him on this one," Yuel summarized. "I'm not 100% sure he's right, but there's definitely a problem there. If we can solve it by pitting Kai against more female opponents, then I'm all for it."

"That makes sense."

"I also think of this as a sample-gathering process," Yuel explained. "The more samples we have of Kai playing against female opponents, the easier it becomes to prove or disprove Vincent's hypothesis."

"Yep." Lars nodded. "That's why I forgot about this topic halfway through. Because it doesn't matter, yo! It's all speculation and stuff for now. The main point here is that Kai gotta fight some dudes, so we're gonna have an epic showdown of Stratus' Mid vs. Storm's Mid.!"

"I see." Yuel smiled wryly. Trying to look profound by thinking less. Only this guy would ever get away with nonsense like that.

To couple with that, Lars was the type to always wear his heart on his sleeve. That's why his words were so good at swaying people. He genuinely believed everything he said without harboring any secretive ulterior motives.

And, it worked for him this time as well. Yuel thought. He managed to convince Julia to cooperate with barely any effort. Meanwhile, I wasted a lot of mental juice trying to think up a good way to trick her. I feel stupid now.

Maybe Lars was right with his accusations. Perhaps Yuel did contribute to the bad blood between him and Julia. If he had maintained a more straightforward and friendly attitude, they might've overcome their differences. Alas, he missed that train by a long shot. There was no going back now.

Anyway, with Lars's help, Kai's "special training" will go on smoothly. Similarly, Ben's personalized training for cooperating with Junglers was also showing steady progress.

This left Nia and Luke as the two biggest projects for Yuel to work on. Especially, Luke's situation required immediate attention. Everybody in the club tried to act like nothing was wrong, but Luke's frequent absence definitely created a negative atmosphere in the clubroom.

Somebody must talk to him. Yuel thought. Should I do it? No, I don't think that's a good idea. Luke sees me as a meta slave, which is like the "ultimate evil" in his eyes. There's no way anything I say will reach him. Besides, I'm not good at these types of conversations in the first place.

So, once more, somebody else will have to carry out the job. But, who? Lars again?

Vincent could do it too. Yuel thought. He and Luke seem to be on good terms, so I bet he can make Luke listen. Or, maybe I should send both Vincent and Lars at once to double their forces? Yeah, that sounds like a good attack plan.

And so, the plan was set in motion. Yuel himself didn't have the ability to sway Luke, but at least he could forge a strategy to resolve the problem. Hopefully, one of the goofs will be able to talk some sense into the memer…