Chapter 29: My First Companion
Klaus and Trina dried themselves with the towels and sat in the chairs placed by the wall.
Both of their minds kept drifting to the words that she had said under the rain.
Klaus was pleasantly surprised by them because the only time she had ever acted this way was due to the effect of his emotional layer.
The revelation brought both joy and relief.
Joy because he was now sure that Trina would never forget him, and relief from the fact that she had chosen to say those words on her own.
’Getting drenched wasn’t that bad of an idea, huh?’ he remarked inwardly and looked at Trina from the corner of his eye.
However, to his surprise, Trina was already looking at him. In fact, she was staring at him like he was her prey.
At the moment, his wet shirt clung tightly to his body, leaving little to the imagination, and yet she showed no shame in ogling him! This wasn’t the Trina he had come to know in the past few days.
"What are you doing?" He asked without looking at her.
She flinched and instinctively tried to look away, but before her head could turn completely, she stopped and brought it back to its previous position. Even though she was embarrassed and shy about what she was doing, she was stubborn about stopping.
’I need to stop acting shy like a little girl and be bolder just like Sarin told me to.’
"I am checking you out. Do you have a problem with that?" She muttered.
"Oh...?" His head stopped working for a few moments, and then he too turned his head toward her. "I don’t."
He leaned back on his chair with his arms open wide and stared at her with a smile.
She felt his gaze on her, her heartbeat rising.
She slightly shifted in her chair and remarked inwardly, ’I don’t think she wanted me to be bold this way... I sound like a pervert.’
Trina didn’t actually know if she wanted to be romantic with Klaus. They’d only known each other for a few days after all. But whenever she was with him, she felt different.
His strength, discipline, and looks also played a big role in that.
If someone were to ask her what her type was, she’d readily answer Klaus. But because she had never dated or felt anything like this before, she didn’t know if it was actually something romantic.
Even so, she knew this wasn’t love. It was more of a point where she wanted to be more than just friends but not lovers.
Maybe best friends or besties? Then again, those relations didn’t give her much consolation either.
’She should be coming back in a few days,’ she mumbled inwardly.
Sarin – her best friend – had left Golden City after her graduation three years ago to chase her dream of becoming an idol.
An excited smile appeared on her face.
Klaus watched her with a curious gaze and remarked inwardly, ’I wonder what she is thinking.’
[I cannot help you with reading others’ thoughts.]
’I never asked you.’
[I am only making myself clear.]
’You don’t have to. You being useful in these situations is the last thing I would think of.’
"Why didn’t you take cover?" Trina asked curiously.
Klaus shrugged. "I don’t know."
"There has to be some reason, no?"
He thought about it for a while and then said slowly, "Maybe I wanted to take a quick wash."
"...seriously?"
"Haha. Why else would I do that?"
"I think you were crying and hiding your tears with rain."
He frowned. "Why would I cry?"
She shrugged and added with a grin. "I don’t know. Maybe you got fired or something? You give most of your time to this place after all."
’What the hell?’
A surprised look appeared on his face.
She smiled, her lips trembling. "W-What?"
Although she tried to show no reaction, in the end she couldn’t completely hide her shy self.
"How did you guess that?" He asked.
She blinked. "Huh? You actually got fired?"
He shook his head. "Nah. I quit my job."
A dumbfounded look appeared on her face. "Why would you do that?"
He smiled widely and met her gaze. "Because I want to follow my dream."
Feeling his confidence and determination, she felt goosebumps rising all over her body, and then she asked, "What is your dream?"
"I want to rule the world."
He chuckled and added, "Childish, no?"
She blinked a few times, and then she laughed. "Haha. It definitely is childish. But does that matter? I have a similar dream. I want to be the best athlete in terms of combat."
"Makes sense." He nodded and then asked in a confused tone, "Then why aren’t you following it?"
She frowned. "I am...?"
He furrowed his brows. "The way you are going, you’d probably become the best taekwondo athlete, not the best combat athlete. You do know there are combat styles other than taekwondo, right?"
Her expression turned somber, and she mumbled, "I do. But I cannot waste my time doing that."
Klaus stayed silent for a while, wondering whether to say what was on his mind or not.
After a few moments, he decided to just go with it.
"Is it because of money?"
Her expression darkened, and she lowered her head.
"I remember what Dustin had said back then. Are you worried about your mother?"
Her shoulders trembled slightly, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"What about a deal?" He asked.
She rubbed the tears off her eyes and looked at him with a deeply confused expression. "A deal?"
"Yeah."
He offered his hand to her and said, "I will help you reach your dream, and you will help me reach mine. What do you say?"
Still confused, she mumbled, "Are you saying that you would become my patron?"
"No," he stated flatly. "When I say I will help, I mean I will make sure that you reach your dream. So no, I am not looking to sponsor you."
"What do you want from me then?"
"I need you to be my knight, Trina Frost."
"You do know how absurd you sound right now, right?"
"I do." He took a pause and added, "Would you believe me if I told you that in a few years the world we know would become completely different?"
"...you sound like a madman."
"I don’t sound like one; I am a madman. What matters is whether you are ready to take advantage of this madman to reach your dream or not."
She stared at his hand for a long while, and then she grabbed it.
"I don’t even know why I did this," she muttered with a wry smile.
"You must’ve fallen for my charms," he responded and shook her hand.
[Host has gained a companion!]
[Host has leveled up!]
[New normal mission added!]
[Gain another companion.]