18 Romeo and Julie (1/2)
The second day of the entry exam's final round was about to begin. Lars and Julia were scheduled to be tested on this day, but the examiners ran into a problem.
”My, how bothersome.” Ellen ran her fingers along her hair. ”And I begged you so much to not get me involved in this.”
”Believe me, I didn't want you to take part in this either.” Aron said. ”But, Howard is staying home today and you're the only replacement we have.”
”My, he's skipping school? What a bad bad boy.” Ellen giggled.
”He said he's feeling under the weather, probably a cold.”
”Poor Wardy. That's what happens when you push people too hard, you evil slave driver you.”
”Hmph.” Aron shrugged. ”If he wants to be the captain next year, he must be able to deal with this much. Besides, I'm pretty sure it's not due to overwork.”
”Hmm~? You know something?”
”... not really.”
”My, how suspicious~ I heard people complained about his performance yesterday, I wonder if that's related.”
”Ask him yourself.” Aron cleared his throat. ”Anyway, let's get down to business. I won't ask you to do much during the exams, just play the game... casually.”
”Sugarcoating doesn't suit you, darling.” Ellen giggled. ”Just say it straight: you're afraid I'll break our promising rookies.”
”As long as you understand.”
”No worries, Ronron. I'll be a good girl and only toy with the rest of you.” Ellen smiled like an angel. ”You went out of your way to drag me here, on a day I didn't even plan visiting the club. So don't worry, I'll make sure you all have a f~u~n time today~”
”... great.” Aron sighed. ”Anyway, here's the briefing of the first match. The rookie on your side is Lars, a Carry player.”
”Like I care.” Ellen shrugged. ”Just tell me who's the poor guy on the other team, so I won't bully him.”
”The rookie on my team is Julia, playing Mid.”
”Oh, my!” Ellen covered her mouth. ”Julia? A girl?”
”I don't know about you, but I've never met a boy named Julia. Yes, it's a girl.”
”My, a girl actually survived the first two rounds? So, it means she isn't a chub and she knows a thing or two about Classmancers., what a delightful surprise~ Wait, don't tell me there are even more girls who made it?”
”No, she's the only one. There were three more girls initially, but they were eliminated in the earlier rounds.”
”How tragic.” Ellen shook her head. ”This entry exam is so mean to us girls. Most girls only start playing Classmancers around my age, no way they can pass this Spartan exam on the first year. And. I don't even want to touch on how they must physically compete against boys in the first round. Did you ever see what PE lessons girls get? It's like they're designed for 80 year old hags.”
”You're welcome to become the next captain and change the rules as you see fit.”
”Nah, I'll leave that hassle to Wardy.” Ellen crossed her arms. ”Alright, I decided. Let me on girl's team, I'll examine her.”
”Excuse me?” Aron raised an eyebrow.
”My, suffering from hearing loss at your age? I said I'll test the girl.”
”What game are you trying to play here?” Aron frowned. ”Plan to cheat her through the exam?”
”Heh, as if.” Ellen smirked. ”Honesty, I do think you could just let the gal join after she've come this far. But, I'm not gonna bother working for that, I'm not that sweet of a person.”
”Then what's your interest?”
”I just wanna check her out, as a fellow girl who went through this circus you call 'exam'. You've already dragged me into this nonsense, so the least you can do is let me have some fun.”
”Sorry, can't do.” Aron declared. ”I've been adjusting the teams the whole day due to Howard's absence. The lineups finally look balanced, so I'm not changing them.”
”My, how deligent you are, cap.” Ellen clapped her hands and smiled. ”But, please change it. Like, right now. Or, maybe I'll also feel 'under the weather', teehee~”
”You're insufferable sometimes, you know that?”
”You know you love it, sweetie.”
”You really put me on the spot here.” Aron sighed deeply as he checked his notes. ”Hrm, maybe I can trade you for Trever and have you play Carry on the girl's team.”
”Nope, rejected.” Ellen crossed her arms. ”I told you already, I don't wanna play Carry if Wardy isn't supporting. Keep me a Jungler, ok thanks.”
”You're sure making this difficult.”
”A difficult woman is a good woman, remember that.” Ellen smiled. ”Also, I like it how you're fine trading me for someone like Trever, but you won't trade places with me yourself. You're playing Jungler on that team, aren't you?”
”That I do.”
”So what, that's your way of saying I'm not your match as a fellow Jungler?”
”There's a reason I'm the team's Jungler, you know.”
”Yeah, of course there is.” Ellen nodded. ”It's because you're the captain and decide everything. Oh, and because all our Carries are trash, so I'm stuck playing Carry to make up for it.”
”Hey now.” Aron frowned. ”Trever is a better Carry than you when he's at his best.”
”Yeah, sure. And he's worse than a Bronze V at his worst, please Ronron.” Ellen shook her head. ”Oh, now I get it! You're abusing your authority to hit on younger girls, aren't you? That's why you want to play on the girl's team so badly, how shrewd~”
”I have no interest in that...” Aron started developing a headache.
”Right, of course you don't. For a serious guy like you, about the only girlfriend you'd ever have is Trever.”
”Sorry to disappoint, but I don't swing that way.” Aron sighed deeply. ”Alright already, I'll switch places with you.”
”My, aren't you a charmer. Thanks, darling~” Ellen blew him a kiss.
”You better take this seriously, the girl's fate is in your hands now.”
”Yes, sir.” Ellen saluted . With this, it was decided Ellen and Trever were going to supervise Julia, whereas Aron and Gilbert were going to supervise Lars.
A short while later, Lars and Julia learned their exams were scheduled for the exact same time. To be more precise: they were going to face each other as enemies!
”What we gonna do? This is the worst.” Julia hung her head.
”Nah, don't worry, dude.” Lars shrugged. ”According to Yuel, it's not about winning. We just gotta do our best and it gonna be A-okay!”
”I sure hope so.” Julia bit her nails. How could this happen? Of all the opponents that were left, they just had to pit her against Lars. How could she play her best now? If she were to get in Lars's way during the match, it might result in him failing the exam. He'd never forgive her for that, it'd be the end! Game over! AGH!
”My, what's going on here? Enemies exchanging information? Suspicious~”
”E-Eh!?”
”Whoa! Where did ya come from!?”
Lars and Julia jumped when a girl popped up beside them.
”My, treating me like a ghost? How rude.” The girl made an offended face, but quickly switched to a playful smile. ”July? I can call you July, right?”
”Um, sure.” Julia instinctively took a step back. [What's with this girl?]
”Nice to meet you, I'm Ellen.” The girl, Ellen, grabbed Julia's hand and shook it, Julia didn't even have a chance to resist. ”I'm in charge of your exam, so let's get along~”
”Oh, o-okay.” Julia nodded like a robot. It was hard to believe this weirdo was gonna be the examiner, but Julia tensed up regardless. She had no idea what was going on, but for now she had to stay on Ellen's good side.
”Sorry, but I'll be stealing your girlfriend for a while~” Ellen winked at Lars as she casually placed a hand on Julia's shoulder.
”A-Ah, w-w-we aren't really d-dating or anything.” Julia trembled and her cheeks burned.
”Is that so? My bad, teehee.” Ellen playfully stuck out her tongue.