His confusion?

In an extravagantly decorated room which by furniture looked like a dining space sat four people in an arranged order around the table as they ate their respective breakfast in silence.

This was the mansion belonging to the father, who some days ago broke every contact and erased every relationship with his blood-related son, Austin.

Sitting with his sturdy built facing his family, Vincent Wright elegantly slid his knife across the perfect stewed meat before forking it from the middle and landing the piece inside his mouth.

Sat beside his right was the only wife of the Count, Sophia Wright, as she also gracefully ate food while watching over her children's worrying table manners once in a while.

The sibling was sitting opposite their mother as they feasted on their pancakes without minding the stares from their mother and enjoyed their time without any kind of regret of knowing that the chair beside them had been abandoned forever.

It was not only them, but even Sophia, who had carried Austin for nine months in her womb and shared the same blood as him,  didn't have much trouble after she found out that her son had been disowned. 

Wright's family was moving at their usual pace with or without Austin's presence, as they always knew this change would arrive one day.

'Hmm?'

Suddenly the patriarch of the Wright family sensed something before he stood up with his sword pointed in the direction where he felt something approaching.

"Ah!"

"F-Father?!"

"Dear...what happened?"

Along with the servants, the three other family members become flustered upon seeing the big man pointing his sword in the open air without anything in front as a target.

But soon, they realized why such measures Vincent took, as a magic formation formed some inches ahead of the place where Vincent's blade tip was hanging.

Soon a bright purple light appeared in the corner of the dining hall as a magic circle of 2 ft in diameter formed instantly and soon disappeared too, with a small object hovering parallel to the blade.

The thing was flapping its wind like a bat before it approached Vincent, as the latter mentioned also withdrew his sword and raised his hand to catch the thing.

'Mana Mail..who could it be..?'

Since using such an advanced spell to send immediate emergency messages were rare, Vincent frowned slightly. The last time he received a mana mail, he detached a person from his family, so this time it didn't ring a good siren when such a mail arrived.

"What is it, Dear?"

Watching his back didn't turn for some seconds, Sophia rose from her seat before she walked toward the man only to get flustered when he suddenly turned around.

Vincent held the letter forward toward the middle-aged beauty making the latter baffled. Nevertheless, she took the note, which some seconds ago was flying like a creature, before she started to read the content, only to get her eyes wide in shock.

Vincent looked at his two children with a stern gaze making the teenagers shudder slightly before they heard the patriarch saying something, which made the whole room heavier than it already was.

"Prepare you both. Tomorrow would be the last day you would be able to see the person whom once you called your brother."

____________________________

[One day later]

[Real Time]

The news about Charles visiting the Eden Academy and still not running havoc spread like wildfire, and adding the announcement of the confrontation between Austin and Charles, made the piece of news even more noteworthy.

The letter for the brawl between two men, one a veteran War god and another just a school brat, flew around the empire, and the important figures were invited to witness it. 

Since the court magician's letter wasn't something to scoff about, every invitation was taken as utmost importance, including the highest-ranked nobles.

Naturally, the news arrived at the royal palace too, which gave another round of headaches to the already occupied emperor. But since he couldn't control all his pieces altogether, there was no stopping this exhibition from happening.

The arena where the brawl would take place was built in the south-eastern jungle, where the most diminutive monster populace existed.

Since two superhumans would be involved in the fight, it was given, that the arena couldn't be made of standard bricks and stones.

Alex was in charge of supplying the materials and helping the engineers to build the arena in the span of two nights, pushing every magic builder to their worst.

The look the engineers and workers gave to Alex, was equivalent to the whips of a Snyther, which could kill without practically touching its prey.

But nothing worked on the freak Court Magician as he mercilessly threw work time after time on the poor souls.

Currently, the slave driver was standing in the stands while gawking at the stage beneath, which was destined to get destroyed even though he used almost 30% of his mana to enhance the material.

A sigh leaked his lips as he imagined the scenario which would be taking place in some hours before suddenly his eyes contracted like a needle as he heard a voice from some meter back.

"Why did you do this?"

Alex jumped on his toes before he faced the person who, without even leaving a single presence, approached Alex, and not only that, the said person was able to get on his back which practically was the most vulnerable part of any being.

Alex wasn't self-obsessed, but he was pretty confident in his mana detection, which has helped him escape various fatal situations until now. 

But here, a kid less than half of his age was able to sneak up to him successfully, without even being proud about it at all.

"You scared the shit out of me."

Covering his chest in exaggeration, Alex complained as he saw Austin sneering at the sight.

Soon the blond youth walked forward before standing beside the court magician, with his eyes focused on the arena.

"What will you gain from this fight? You are well aware that in battle, I will also showcase my real might, which is far beyond what others know. But I can't figure out what would benefit you from all this?"

Being questioned like that, Alex stared at their side profile of Austin while contemplating something which was far from what Austin could ever conclude.

Soon, Alex retracted his gaze to the front before; unlike his typical flowery pitch, he spoke somewhat with seriousness blended with a hazy tone filling his voice.

"You will see when the time comes."

___________________________ 

At the same time, in the particular room inside the school premise, a group of three beautiful women and a single youthful man gathered.

These four undoubtedly were the member of Hero's party who had come to their meeting place regarding the matter, which was the most heated topic these days.

Kyouki, along with others, were sipping on tea as they asked Venessa about what was going on with Captain Charles and why he allowed such a brutal exhibition to take place.

"From what papa said, it's highly likely that he would be testing Austin first and, if not worthy enough, which, of course, Austin isn't, papa would ultimately kill that bastard in the battleground."

Unintentionally a sigh leaked Venessa's lips as she remembered what kind of standards her papa carries whenever he gets interested in someone.

Even though she wasn't sure why her father took notice of such a weakling, she was convinced that after the first blow between the person she admires the most and despises the most, the result would conclude with the end for one of them.

(A/N:- Flag?)

Sicily was silent on the matter as she contemplated something else, taking the future prospectus into account.

The most anxious and full of complications was Lilia, who wasn't sure what to think about the situation. She wasn't sure why she felt so much stuffed in her heart.

She wasn't certain why despite carrying so much hatred toward Austin, she couldn't let go of this feeling which attached her to him.

She wanted him to live so she could hate him as she knew if he dies, she would painfully regret something that she wasn't ready to accept.

However, whatever she thought, there was no way of stopping the brawl which would be happening in some hours from now. So she just left things flow as they were.

Kyouki was silent until now, but soon his voice echoed in everyone's senses as the hero rose from his seat while he stated confidently.

"What will happen between Sir Charles and Austin is not something we can or should interfere with now. What we can do is to ensure the safety of the audience and take measures so nothing like what happened in our first Expenditure would happen again."

Upon hearing his remark, everyone nodded, and after some quick reminders, the hero party started to depart for the arena.

Suddenly Sicily asked for some alone time with Kyouki, to which the other two women agreed after seeing the frown on the all-time cheery mage's face.

After Lilia and Venessa left the meeting room, Sicily brought the thing she had been thinking about for more than a week now.

Looking at her serious expression, Kyouki became attentive too, before he heard her asking.

"Kyou-kun....at the end of this month, we have to start venturing high-tier lairs to gain experience, you remember, right?"

Without thinking much, the raven-haired youth nodded as this was pre-planned how they would be challenging the lairs so they could prepare themselves for the upcoming dangers.

But being asked like that all of a sudden ringed a dark bell inside Kyouki's mind as he somehow understood what Sicily was going to ask.

And indeed, his fear became a reality.

"Since you are aware of my healing capabilities, I won't ask you to trust me in that field. And since Luna isn't a member of our party anymore, we might have to recruit someo-"

Before her words could have concluded, Kyouki interrupted her with a heavy voice with, his expression darkening for a mere blink.

"She hasn't left me."

Sicily's eyes widened as she heard Kyouki's unusual tone, which gave a shiver down her spine. She subconsciously held her breath as she hardly resisted herself from falling on her butt.

But soon, Kyouki's expression returned to normal as, with a dry smile, he assured Sicily and...

"I will bring Luna back Sicily-san. Don't worry, in some days I will complete our team as it was before. So don't think needlessly, and let's go."

.....himself too.

__________________________ 

A/N:- I will surely commence the fight in next chapter. Sorry for the delay. 

Anyway, if you are hyped for the next chapter, then let me know~