016. For Their Future

"And he said I'm horrible. I don't know if he praised me or insulted me," Adam said in the middle of his teammates.

"Hahaha, you are indeed horrible, Adam. You know, when you were engulfed by the fireball, we thought you were done. But then, you exited the flame that was still burning without scars, and maybe you don't know, Frank is an elementalist. So what he would think if he saw someone who was attacked by fireball, but this person wasn't affected at all. By the way, could I ask you something?" Gavin asked.

Adam was a little surprised when he heard Gavin who had never talked with him, said so much, "Yeah?"

"How did you feel when you were engulfed with that fireball?"

Unprepared, he unconsciously said, "Warm?"

"Huh? I didn't hear it. Could you repeat it?" Gavin thought he heard it wrong.

"I mean wounded. It's pretty hurt," Adam said in painful expression, "But because I still had to chase Gero, I ignored it. So everyone saw it differently."

"Hahaha, maybe that was the case," after that they prepared to continue the match.

***

After kick-off, Firering attacked intensely. It looked they couldn't accept the current result. But only a pretty powerful shot in the last minute that was made by Dito that could endanger Solidarity's goal. But Gavin could catch it perfectly.

When the referee blew the whistle three times which was the signal of the ending of the match, the audience's applause reverberated through the underground arena.

After that, the players of the two teams shook hands with each other and said some words. When Adam held out his hand to Gero, he shook Adam's hand and said smilingly, "Thanks for the lesson. Next time I will be better."

"What do you mean?" Adam said. he confused with Gero's reaction. He thought Gero would say something rude.

Listening to Adam's question, Gero tried to understand his meaning. Then he smiled, "Do you think I will hate you for sealing me at the last 15 minutes?"

Adam nodded. He thought it was a normal way the competitors would treat each other.

"Your name Adam right?"

"Yes."

"So Adam, who are we? We are just amateur players. We don't have time to hate players who beat us because our time is limited.

When someone beats me, it means he was better than me at the moment. And I thank you because you taught me what I'm lacking. I'm too reliant on my illusion. When someone like you who can see my tricks appears, I can't do much. I will fix it, so the next time we have a match, I will beat you." After leaving those words, Gero left.

Adam contemplated Gero's words and he has to agree. In this world, many people were stronger than him and better than him. If every time he was beaten, he felt depressed. He just wasted his time.

"Thanks for the lesson. The next time we meet again, I won't lose," he said to Gero who left. Gero just waved his hand without turning his head.

'Why do I feel he is like some side character in Japanese anime? So cliché,' Eve said while giggled.

'That's rude.'

"Adam, Mr. Mike wanted to talk with us after this. Would you like to attend?" Pete said from behind him.

Adam was glad, Pete had already gotten used to calling his name. He turned around, "Sure, but I had to go to the hotel before evening. Or Walker —my steward— will be worried."

"Being a noble must be tiring, ups! sorry~" Cleon grinned.

After that, they exited the field with the rest of Solidarity team.

***

In a restaurant that was not too far from Spear Stadium.

"Thanks for the meal~," Cleon said after finishing the fifth plate.

"Don't you want to order another meal, Cleon?" Mike the captain of solidarity team with a stiff smile asked.

"Thank you for the treat, you are a generous man, Mr. Mike. Just like Sir Adam and Princess Ruby." Cleon grinned innocently.

"Hahaha, so let's continue. I'm really couldn't think, Sir Adam is a noble, and the two of you are the subordinates of Her Highness Princess Ruby. How foolish we are, want to recruit you. So disbanding this team and come back to our previous jobs as adventurers are the only way, hahhh~," Mike smiled bitterly.

"Why do you want to disband this team? You have Gavin and Logan. For the rest, just practice for a while, and you can get better," Pete said.

"You had already seen us. Besides Gavin and now we knew Logan is also good at battle ball, the rest of us just like woods in the field. If it wasn't because of Gavin's efforts in the last game, we were maybe more miserable. Battle ball is just not for us."

"So, why did you stop become adventurers? I think it is a decent job. Escorts a merchant caravan, hunting magical beast, or doing quests from adventurer union. They are more honorable than competing rewards from city tournament," Pete continued to ask.

"We were used to be 12 Mages team. Like you said, becoming adventurers gave us a decent life. But the risk of these jobs is pretty big. Moreover, in these few months, the frequency of robbery cases are soaring. We heard, soldiers from the kingdom have already destroyed dozens of robber gangs, but new gangs would appear every time. They are like pests, even if you destroy them, new ones would appear.

Last Fall, we got a mission to escort a merchant caravan. When we were passing around the Valco forest, dozens of robbers attacked us. After fighting for half an hour, we could drive them away, but with sacrificing five of our brothers.

Haa~, I know it is the risk of our jobs. But, if the risk was bigger than the result we would get, we prefer to found another job. You know, I used to know some pretty big adventurer teams. But now they have been disbanded. It's all because of the emergence of many robber gangs. Our Kingdom used to be a peaceful place. How can so many robbers emergence at the same time? What are the soldiers do?" Mike clenched his fist.

Mike's story reminded Adam of a piece of memory from the former Adam. He and his father Viscount Ryan Elbaz had talked about robbers' emergence before he went to Greylion City. His father told him to be careful and avoid any issues about this case. He thought this problem was bigger than it looked. Adam could only nod back then.

"May I give you an opinion?" Suddenly they heard Adam's voice.

Everyone's attention was directed to him.

"Yes, please Sir!" Mike said respectfully.

"I know it was a difficult time for you. The robbers' emergence also a headache for us, noble. As you said, they are like pests, even if we could eradicate some gangs, other gangs would emergence. We thought it was a conspiracy from another country, so our intelligence has been working days and nights to trace the source. So for some time, I advise you to take rest from adventure activity."

"For how long, months, years? We can't wait that long, Sir," one of the Solidarity team's members asked.

"I can just tell you what I know, the decision is fully yours. Actually, there are many jobs in the city that you can do. Like becoming a guard. When you brakethrough to level 5 mage, you can become a knight of Duke Silverpool. Under the noble, you don't have to wander from one city to another city. I know for someone who used to be free will be difficult for him to adapts as a guard who has a responsibility to his lord. But, don't all people feel weary at some point when they become an adventurer? And having a stable life is not as bad as you think," Adam patiently tried to convince them.

Their tables' atmosphere was silent for a while. Some of them looked were pondering Adam's words. Looking at them, Adam sighed and lifted his cup to drink his chocolate which had already cooler to drink.

"Well, that was our Adam's wisdom. Sometimes he could become wiser that doesn't match his age. Please get used to it when you talk with him," The only one, that dared to say some jokes about Adam was of course Eve. She was sitting on Adam's shoulder while munching a small piece of biscuit.

*Gag*

Adam almost choked after listening to Eve's words, "You little devil!"

Adam tried to catch her, but she avoided his palm agilely and flew distancing Adam while laughing, "Catch me if you can. Hahaha."

Everyone couldn't hold their laughter after looking at the two's interaction.

"Hahaha, okay Sir, we will think about it. But we are more than willing to be your subordinates if you need us. Do you agree

guys?" Mike asked everyone.

"Yeah," they answered together while still laughing.

Pete and Cleon also nodded. They understood what they thought. Adam was kind and friendly. Becoming subordinates of suck noble was not a bad idea.

"Thank you for your trust, I will inform you if my family needs some help," Adam couldn't promise, but when he saw their willingness, he couldn't help himself from being enticed to recruit these experienced adventurers. But he must consult his father as the real decision maker.

Mike was glad and grateful for Adam. Although he didn't accept his offer immediately, he said clearly would inform his family about them.

"Then, it's your turn, Gavin, Logan," Mike expression become solemn, after looking at the two friends of his that would take a different path than the rest, he sighed. After that, he turned to Pete and Cleon.

Slightly bow his head, he said emotionally, "Please help their dream comes true, Pete, Cleon."

***