Gigolo Diaries-Chapter 13: Too Weak To Make Me Draw My Sword

When Eros got back, he was surprised to find all the tents neatly set up. Above that was the sweet smell of meat that wafted around the camp. Flames crackled as a few members of the holy knights sat around the calm flame laughing and eating.

The holy knights were one of the most adored sets of warriors in the entire nation, so it was a strange feeling to see them act so casually. After all, Eros, like most of the people of Elonia, always saw them in a prestigious and distant light. But in the end, they were still humans, like him.

His return attracted attention, and Elaine, who was seated with the others around the campfire waved at him.

She cut a piece from the meat roasting on the fire, still sizzling, and walked towards him. Her face turned red as she approached him remembering the earlier incident, but she quickly tried to suppress the emotions.

"Here," she said, handing Eros the plate with her gaze stuck to the earth.

"Thanks." He took it from her hand and savoured the aroma. The sight of food reminded him of his suppressed hunger as his stomach grumbled.

He still wasn’t powerful enough to ignore the need for food.

"A—About what happened earlier," Elaine started, a bit flustered.

"What about it," Eros retorted, taking a bite from the meat. He couldn’t help but marvel at the skill behind it. A few more years, and the cook may be able to rival Old Man Kodu.

"What do you mean ’what about it’ you know exactly what you did." She pouted, and Eros was filled with an urge to pinch her cheeks.

He leaned forward so that his face was only a few centimetres away from hers.

"Do you want to continue where we left off," he whispered.

Her entire face immediately burned red as she staggered a step back. She was so flustered that it took a bit of stammering for her to form coherent words.

"N—no, no. That was an accident. It’s not happening again." She shook her head vigorously.

"Well, you definitely look like you want it to happen again." Eros’ fingers rubbed against her face, pushing some loose strands of hair back.

Elaine, who was just about to say something, was hit by a sudden realisation as her eyes widened. Her head slowly turned backwards, like a plastic doll in need of oil.

Behind her, everyone around the campfire had their eyes on the two of them. Some fumed, some amused and a few were indifferent.

An intense wave of shame washed over her as she wished for the earth to swallow her. She covered her face with her little hands and scurried away at a hurried pace.

Watching her sprint away, Eros chuckled; like Lain, Elaine hadn’t changed in the slightest. She was still the girl he knew back then.

Gareth had a piece of meat in his mouth as he watched the drama with a strange expression.

"Can’t believe a battle demon like her could ever be so flustered."

"Yeah," a holy knight lady beside him muttered. "She’s a maniac in battle. I never thought I’d get to see this side of her, she’s an entirely different person when she’s with her man—"

"He’s not her man!" A resentful voice cut her off.

The black-haired man said through his teeth.

"Don’t pop out an eye now, Sein. You never stood a chance in the first place, just accept it." The lady replied with a laugh.

Everyone had guessed things would turn out like this; anytime Elaine talked about Eros, there was a certain infatuation in her voice, and even though she always denied there being anything between them, they could pretty much guess that was the case.

"Even if I can’t have the captain, there’s no way I’m going to let this kid continue toying with her. I mean look at him, I bet he won’t be able to stand a single swing from my sword." He stood up and strapped the twin blades lying on the floor to his back.

"Don’t tell me you—"

"Relax, I’m not going to hurt the kid. I just want him to know the difference between us. We’re the holy knights for crying out loud. We can’t have this commoner thinking he’s on our level."

The lady opened her mouth, but no words came forth. If he didn’t plan on harming the boy then she couldn’t explicitly tell him to stop.

Besides, she too wanted to see how this played out.

The others also noticed Sein’s advance, but no one stopped him.

Eros, who was busy filling his stomach while humming to himself, immediately noticed the approaching individual. He knew who this one was; even though he didn’t know his name he had made sure to keep his face in mind.

It didn’t take a genius to guess that he was here to look for trouble.

Eros licked his lips; he wasn’t someone to run away from trouble after all.

"Pull out your sword," Sein said with a sharp expression.

Eros blinked a few times; while he had expected trouble, he didn’t expect the man to be so direct. Normally, he was supposed to find a roundabout method to cause trouble, but this one clearly didn’t care.

"Why?" Eros asked.

"Elaine is our captain, for you to earn the privilege to even touch her then you must prove yourself worthy. What is your cultivation tier?"

Eros ran his eyes over the overzealous man and went back to the dish in front of him.

There was no way he would let such an unimportant person interrupt his meal.

Seeing Eros ignore his presence, Sein snickered and pulled out the two blades from their sheaths. Their hilts both glimmered in the moonlight with a silvery glow.

"Pull out your sword, I won’t repeat myself."

Perhaps if Elaine were the one saying those words he would be much more enthusiastic, but now, not so much.

He eventually dropped his plate and placed his backpack on the floor.

While he could very well refuse to fight, he would not only establish himself as a coward to them, but they would probably try to stop him and Eros from ever meeting again.

The main reason, however, was the need to flex his muscles, something he had not done in a while.

Sein didn’t hide his aura like Eros, so it was easy to tell that he was an adept which was two levels above him. To make matters worse, he looked to be at the peak of the rank, and given another year he’d definitely become an evolver.

To say he was confident in fighting someone like that would be a lie.

He would have to give his all to even keep up.

Eros’ hand went to the handle of his sword as he entered a fighting stance.

Sein nodded at him as he too entered a fighting stance.

"Sein Valour, Upperclass-Adept and holy knight warrior."

After the introduction, there was a short silence before Eros realised he was supposed to introduce himself too.

"Eros Flayer, Upper-class body refiner."

"Body refinement realm?" Sein asked with a frown.

"I’m pretty sure you heard me the first time."

Sein was immediately disoriented, he hadn’t expected his opponent to be that weak, even if he won there would be no glory behind it. He couldn’t help but feel sad for Elaine for even giving this talentless scum face.

"I see, let’s change a few things then," Sein said after some thought. "If you can survive ten seconds of my assault without falling then you win."

Eros smirked inwardly. His physical power was that of a mid-class Awakener at best, so he hadn’t been confident. But with the new condition, he was able to regain his confidence.

"Okay." He nodded and tried to pull out his sword, but the sword didn’t budge.

Eros frowned and tried pulling out the sword again, this time with more force, but it still didn’t budge. Only then did he remember that this was the yin-yang sword and he still wasn’t qualified to use it.

’Shit."

In the end, he pulled out the entire sword with its sheath and pointed it at Sein.

Sein was surprised, but then his blood began boiling with rage. For a mere body refiner to plan to fight him with his sword still in its sheath was the biggest Insult ever.

’I’ll destroy this kid,’ he resolved in his mind.