The members of the Stark Brotherhood talked to each other excitedly as they traveled back to Starkhold.
The chances were high that they would become the new Four-Weapons Guild!
Sure, their biggest rival still had to enter the competition, but beating the Stark Brotherhood's score would be insanely difficult.
Everything returned to normal, except that the members were more excited and anxious.
What if their rival actually managed to perform miracles?
What if they somehow managed to cheat?
Their rival would come last.
In three days, they would know.
Two more teams finished the next two days.
152 and 238 points.
Nothing special.
Then, the third day came.
Today, their biggest rival would fight.
Kyle left early in the morning to watch the competition as the Stark Brotherhood's representative.
The members were nervously awaiting Kyle's return.
The day seemed to drag on for an eternity.
Then, during the night, Kyle returned.
Almost every single member of the Stark Brotherhood had gathered in the cafeteria, which was filled to the brim.
Noah had to bring order to the cafeteria more than once.
As Kyle stepped through the door, everything became quiet.
Kyle looked around.
"253," he shouted.
Nobody cheered.
They were just confused and shocked.
253?
That was… a bit above average.
"Are you serious?" Wyveria asked. "This is not the time for jokes."
Kyle just smirked. "They didn't even try," he said. "They just went through the motions. They didn't even have a single death. I'm pretty sure they didn't even try to win. Our score must have intimidated them, and they just gave up."
Slowly, the mood changed from shocked and skeptical to excited.
"To the Stark Brotherhood!" a random Fighter shouted, lifting up an alcoholic drink.
Very quickly, more and more answered with their own shouts, and soon enough, everything became loud again.
People were partying and celebrating.
They would become a Four-Weapons Guild!
They were part of a Four-Weapons Guild!
When Kyle saw everyone celebrating, he just smiled and went to the door.
He didn't have time to party.
He needed to work on his Methods.
"Wait."
Kyle stopped and looked at Wyveria, who was looking at him with furrowed brows.
"Yeah?" Kyle asked.
"How did we get all of these points?" she asked.
"Ah, that," Kyle answered. "Yeah, that's because of the Chief. He has an Aristocrat's Body and is pretty fucking powerful. "
The noise level in the cafeteria dropped significantly.
Fighters had strong hearing, and Kyle hadn't even whispered.
Noah glanced at Kyle before sighing.
That was a bit too casual for a guild-wide announcement.
Naturally, the Chief had already told Noah and Kyle that they didn't have to keep his identity secret anymore.
Of course, since Noah was so thorough and professional, he still decided against making it public knowledge.
Not needing to keep secrets and actually publicly announcing something were two different things.
The Chief wasn't really talking to anyone.
And Kyle simply hadn't been asked.
Because of that, the secret had persisted for a couple of days more than necessary.
Kyle just wanted to get back to his gigantic mountain of work, and he just casually answered the question.
Meanwhile, everyone looked at Kyle in shock.
Their Chief had an Aristocrat's Body?
Wyveria was just as shocked.
That explained why the Chief felt so powerful all the time.
"If you have any additional questions, go ask Noah," Kyle said. "I gotta get back to work."
Noah's expression didn't change, but he felt quite annoyed as almost every single member in the cafeteria focused on him.
After dropping such a bombshell, Kyle left the resulting fallout of questions for Noah to deal with.
Naturally, just as expected, Noah was assaulted by questions as soon as Kyle left.
How powerful was their Chief?
What enemy had he fought?
What was his background?
And the worst part was that Noah could only answer a minority of questions.
He didn't know the Chief's background.
Noah himself had heard about the Chief's Aristocrat's Body only recently.
Just a couple of weeks ago.
The Chief didn't tell Noah about his background or power.
And regarding the Chief's target during the tournament, Kyle was the only one who knew.
How was he supposed to answer all of these questions?
After leaving, Kyle visited the Chief in his office.
What greeted him was a young man with grey hair and steely eyebrows.
"Your secret's out," Kyle said.
The Chief just nodded.
The Chief had also stopped using his disguise, and in the following days, many misunderstandings would happen.
Who was this new guy?
However, that was not Kyle's problem.
"Anyway, gotta go," he said.
"What target did you choose?" the Chief suddenly asked, stopping Kyle from closing the door with his question.
"Me? " Kyle asked despite knowing that there was nobody else the Chief could have referred to. "Eater of Mountains."
The Chief glanced at Kyle.
"Was it a difficult fight?" he asked.
"Eh, it was okay," Kyle said.
The Chief just looked at Kyle for a while.
"Anyway, back to work," Kyle said, closing-
"You shouldn't advance yet," the Chief said, stopping the door once again.
"Okay?" Kyle answered awkwardly. "Thanks?"
Silence.
Kyle closed the door-
"You need enemies," the Chief said, stopping the door yet again.
Kyle glanced at the door without answering.
Then, he slowly closed-
"I don't have many enemies anymore," the Chief said, while Kyle looked at the door.
'Whenever I am about to close the door, he says something,' Kyle thought.
"Yeah, I know," Kyle answered casually, more focused on the magical door that made the Chief talk.
Some seconds of silence passed.
Then, Kyle moved the door-
"Your Momentum is more important than you think," the Chief added.
"You're fucking with me," Kyle said.
The Chief remained silent.
Then, he looked at Kyle.
They looked at each other.
A moment later, a suppressed smile slowly appeared on the Chief's face.
"Aaaaah, you're fucking with me!" Kyle shouted, pointing at the Chief.
"I can also make some jokes," the Chief said as his stony demeanor returned.
"Good one," Kyle said with a grin.
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