Deranged Writer's Afterword

I\'m back home after a very awkward goodbye with Tiana.

" Hey....you\'re back.", Eric welcomed me at the door.

" Where\'s your shirt ?"

Eric was sweating a lot, under the glare of the sun he seemed to be shining.

" I was training..."

I enter the mansion.

It seemed that everybody in the house was training, I went to the backyard to find Lecia in the middle of training as well. She was in the middle of lifting weights when she saw me.

" Woah....you look so cool right now.", I say in encouragement.

" Uh...yeah.", she says avoiding my gaze.

\'Weird\'

I feel like both Lecia and Eric are hiding something from me....

Ahhh.....I\'m sure it\'s nothing.

After greeting Lecia, who behaved strangely I went back to my room.

I jumped on my bed without even changing my clothes and closed my eyes to sleep.

I hadn\'t slept a wink yesterday so I wanted to make up for it today.

~~~~

Four days have passed since my visit to the demon king\'s castle.

These past four days were filled with an ample amount of relaxation and training, I mean it\'s literally vacation so if I didn\'t relax....it would feel wrong.

The strange thing is that I\'ve hardly seen Lecia or Eric these past four days, they were obviously avoiding me....something\'s definitely up...I\'ll find out sooner or later.

I\'ve put micro camera\'s all around the house, I\'m the only one aware of their existence as well. I\'ve been monitoring their movements and till now they haven\'t slipped up but given enough time I\'m sure that one of them is bound to make a mistake.

My house was slowly turning into a strange battlefield.

Aside from that, today was also the day we were all visiting Emilia\'s dojo.

She\'s been messaging us everyday about it and somehow it had turned into a group event.

\'Huffle\'

\'Pufff\'

I gasped for breath laying down on the prickly grass.

I had woken up early to train and had just finished, it felt good to move my body freely, lately I\'ve been feeling a little stiff.

The air was misty and moist, it must\'ve rained during the night. I had designated the backyard as the official training hall of Creed Mansion, even though it wasn\'t much of a hall.

After lying there on the ground for another good minute, I jumped back up and went inside the mansion. Entering the kitchen, where Agnes was quickly working to make everyone their breakfast.

Seeing me Agnes points toward a glass filled with green liquid and says,

" Good morning young master !,your smoothie\'s over there."

I pick my the large glass and gulp down the nutritional smoothie, when Agnes first made it for me, I drank it despite the puke worthy smell and taste but I\'ve strangely gotten used to it ....I actually like it now.

" What\'s for breakfast, Agnes ?", I asked taking my place at the dining table.

" It\'s blueberry pancakes, sir."

Oh....that\'s good.

I wait patiently for Agnes to bring over the food.

When Agnes finally does bring the food over, I couldn\'t help but be confused.

Agnes had bought only a single plate....

" Did they already eat ?", I asked spreading butter over the fluffy pancakes.

" They...asked to serve the food in their own rooms.", Agnes said awkwardly.

" I see...."

I watch as Agnes walked back to the kitchen,

" Hey Agnes.....let\'s eat together then.", I say nonchalantly.

I may act unbothered but oh boy.....I\'m bothered alright...

Why\'re they ghosting me so much ?

Agnes returns with her food and we eat breakfast while talking about this and that.

~~~~

It\'s lunch time.

Agnes woke me up from my mid-day nap and informed me that my friends had arrived and was currently waiting for me.

" I\'ll be down in a second.", I say to Agnes while rushing into the bathroom for a quick shower.

I should have woken up a little early, but there\'s something about keeping a person waiting for you that just makes you feel good.

Hehe.

After the shower, I quickly change into casual wear, which included a plain white t-shirt and grey jeans.

Looking at my thin and delicate figure in the mirror, I couldn\'t help but shake my head disapprovingly...I missed my old lean body.....but oh well, it\'s no use dwelling on such insignificant matters, but I do need to cut my hair sometime soon.

I haven\'t had the chance to to cut it in a long time, it\'s been at least six months since my last hair cut, my hair had grown unbearably long...it almost touched my shoulders-

\'Maybe I should ask Lecia....\'

I think about asking Lecia for a haircut as she had been the one to cut my hair in the orphanage but it took me a minute to remember that she was ghosting me along with beloved Eric.....

\' Stupid Lecia...\', I thought heading down to greet my friends.

~~~~

" Hey, look who finally showed up !", Jennifer pouted while accusing me of making them wait.

" I\'m sorry for being late...", I say raising my hands in surrender.

Lecia and Eric was already with the group when I had arrived, speaking about the group everyone looked different in casual wear, I was used to seeing them all in their uniforms.

" We don\'t have much time....is everybody ready to leave ?", Emilia asked impatiently.

We all nod our heads and start heading out to Emilia\'s dojo which was surprisingly enough, within walking distance from the Creed mansion.

While walking to the dojo, I talk with Jennifer about why Jacob hadn\'t come...he was apparently sick.

During the entire time we walked, I could someone\'s eyes on me....Max had been glaring at me from the moment I saw him..

What\'s up with him ?

This is definitely weird....why is everyone so mad at me ?

I\'m like the nicest guy around here....

" We\'re here !", Emilia proclaimed loudly startling me.

Well...the dojo wasn\'t much to look at...

It had this strange rustic feel to it, I had expected to find some students training inside the dojo but it was completely and utterly empty....other than Emilia\'s grandparents who was apparently cooking us some delicious lunch.

" My grandparents actually live at the dojo as their workplace is close by.", says Emilia as we walked into the dojo.

To my surprise, while saying this... Emilia winks at me.

What\'s the matter with her now ?

Everybody\'s acting so weird today....

~~~~

We were waiting for Emilia\'s grandparents to bring in the food.

Since there weren\'t any tables or chairs, we sat on the ground and waited, to pass the time we played a game of snakes and ladders with the board Emilia brought us.

Emilia sat next to me while we played in two very huge groups, while playing she whispered to me..

" I wanted to thank you.....I mean ever since they got the job, they\'ve been so energetic and happy-"

" Who are you talking about ?", I asked my eyes fixed on the board.

" My grandparents ?", Emilia says confused.

Hearing her, I turned around , just as I was going to ask her what in god\'s name she was talking about-

\' Clatter\'

\'Splatter\'

The sound of plate\'s breaking echoed through the room,

I look up to find a very surprised Martin and Clara....

Wait ?!

Why would Martin and Clara be here ?

.........

Oh no....

\'What have I done ?\', I thought realization sinking in.

~~~~