The Perfect Knight and the Illusionist (BL)
Chapter 18: Not Funny

Chapter 18: Not Funny

LEO

Mario Boy was in danger. I knew nothing about sword fighting, but to me it was clear that he was feeling confused and tense. It wasn’t as if I’d known him for a long time, but he didn’t have the same confident vibe he always had, nor did he look scary right now.

Not that Mario looked helpless, though. He just looked very cautious and out of ideas.

Then I looked at this Dorian guy. He stood still, not moving an inch, his expression completely neutral and calm. I remembered that the first time I saw him being kind of confrontational with Mario and his gang, he gave off bad energy. But right now, he just looked so harmless.

Finally, Mario Boy made his move. He launched himself forward with the wooden sword pointing directly at Dorian, at a speed that felt like he could go right through him. But before he reached him, for some reason, Mario stopped abruptly and took a step away. I looked around and it wasn’t just me who was surprised. It seemed none of my classmates knew why Mario had stopped his move either. Then Mario started to circle Dorian, shifting his sword and balance from one side to the other, looking like a lion finding a moment to pounce. But every time he did pounce, Dorian did not flinch, and Mario stopped himself short and took a step back.

"What... is happening? Why doesn’t Mario attack?" I whispered, asking Thomas, who was standing next to me.

"I probably would be like Mario too. Dorian is a very tricky opponent," Thomas answered.

"I can’t tell what’s going on...," I said.

"It is a trap. An obvious trap. He’s got something up his sleeve and I don’t think anybody here can tell what it is," Thomas whispered.

But Instructor Knox seemed pleased with the "fight" for some reason. Then, in a very, very casual manner, Dorian finally moved and took a step toward Mario. Mario tensed up, getting ready for whatever attack Dorian might be planning, but Dorian just kept on strolling toward Mario, who was now retreating and sidestepping to keep his distance.

And then everyone gasped, including me. I didn’t know if I had blinked or anything, but suddenly Dorian’s sword almost grazed Mario’s throat, so close that I gasped thinking it might cut him—silly me, considering that it was just a wooden sword—and Mario only managed to avoid contact thanks to the incredible reflexes of a cat.

"Excellent. You may stop now," Instructor Knox announced, ending the match.

"Now, who could tell me how Marius won against Dimitri?" he asked the class.

Alexis raised his hand and, once Instructor Knox gave him a nod, said, "It’s because Marius surprised Dimitri by matching his strength directly. Dimitri then lost his head—as expected—and turned it into a contest of strength. Marius used that chance to remind him that this was a fight, not a sport."

"Accurate read, Alexis," Instructor Knox said, then asked the class, "and who could tell me what happened in the match between Dorian and Marius?"

"I lost," Mario said, surprising everyone.

"No. It was my loss. He survived," Dorian said, shrugging, surprising everyone too.

"And what happened in this match?" Instructor Knox suddenly pointed at me and asked.

"I... me?"

"Yes, you, Leo. What did you think of their match?"

"I... I don’t know. I’m sorry. It was like nothing was happening, then it all happened so fast..."

"Anybody else?" Instructor Knox asked the class again.

Nobody had an answer.

"It is Dorian’s win then," Instructor Knox announced, leaving us all confused.

I had a feeling that if Mario had won, everybody would have clapped and cheered. But nobody cheered for Dorian, and that didn’t seem to bother him at all.

After Dorian and Mario returned to the group, Instructor Knox told us to pair up and start stretching. I paired up with Thomas, sat on the floor, and stretched my upper body to touch my toes as everyone else was doing. This seemed to be some regular routine known to everyone. I grabbed my toes pretty easily without needing Thomas to push me down. Then it was Thomas’s turn, and he groaned and struggled to get his fingers anywhere close to his toes.

As we went through the routine, I saw that Mario paired with Dimitri. It seemed Dimitri’s calf hurt from getting kicked earlier. I shuddered as I thought about how much it’d hurt to be kicked by Mario. But then I saw Mario help massage Dimitri’s calf, just as he’d done for me last night.

I remembered Mario’s face in the moonlight, and how surprisingly gentle he was as he helped loosen my muscles. I remembered watching Mario swing his wooden sword endlessly outside, and how watching him repeat the same movement again and again somehow felt so soothing, making me doze off. And I remembered stupidly asking him about the berries from the South, realizing how silly I must have sounded, and running back to my room.

Something in my heart felt heavy. It wasn’t quite about being embarrassed, and it wasn’t because my groin hurt as Thomas was pushing my legs apart to help—or, more like, force—my legs to stretch sideways.

"What’s wrong, Leo?" Thomas asked me.

I was startled, feeling like I had just been shaken awake from a dream, but I managed not to yelp.

"I’m okay...," I lied.

’But... why was I not okay?’ I tried to ask myself.

"Are you worried Dimitri’s hurt? Don’t worry about it. He should be alright," Thomas said, probably having noticed that I kept looking over at where Mario and Dimitri were.

"Is it... normal to massage legs like that?"

"Yeah, we learn this in training guilds. Sometimes you get cramps, dead legs, bruises, whatever. You want a massage?"

"No."

"Are you hurt? Am I pushing you too hard?"

"No."

"Then what’s wrong?"

"I... just didn’t know."

"No biggie. Now you know."

"And... I don’t know. I just don’t like it."

"Eh?"

"Er... sorry. Forget what I said. I’m just being an idiot."

"Haha, you are funny, Leo."

I laughed too.

But I didn’t find it funny.