Chapter 80: Leo Wins a Bet
LEO
"Where are we going, Mister?" I asked Mathias nervously as we walked together with his arm around me.
"You can call me Mathias. We are by ourselves now, aren’t we? Make yourself feel comfortable," he said, his voice warm and kind again—very different from how he was talking to the Lieutenant and Sergeant earlier, which, to be honest, was making me a little nervous at the time.
"Okay, Mathias..."
With that, we walked toward the festival square. Once we arrived, I saw that it was still busy and people were seemingly still having a good time. The only thing that had really changed was that there were now some Royal Knights in the area, their numbers particularly large around the Grand Salvani circus tent we’d visited earlier, before things went weird.
"How does it feel to experience a festival again, Leo?" Mathias asked me.
"I like it. It reminds me of home. But... it’s also very different from home," I said.
"How so?"
"There were so many rules... Sergeant Becker told us to watch out for anyone breaking those rules. It all felt a bit too strict for me," I said honestly because it was Mathias I was talking to.
"I see. And having all these Royal Knights could feel a little intimidating when there are so many rules you shouldn’t break, I suppose?"
"Yeah, you are right, Mister. It’s like being at school and having so many teachers around—I’d feel worried that I might do something wrong and get told off," I said, remembering Mr. Mantz from my school in Erdville, who was a very strict teacher.
"Would you feel more comfortable if people didn’t have to see so many Royal Knights around?" Mathias said with a little squeeze on my shoulder. Then he stopped walking, turned me around, and looked deep into my eyes.
His eyes were very soothing and encouraging.
"Yeah, for sure."
"Close your eyes and take a deep breath," he said.
I did as I was told.
Then, with my eyes still closed, I heard Mathias let out an involuntary "Oh..." and clap his hands once.
"Open your eyes again," Mathias told me.
I opened my eyes and saw Mathias smiling brighter than ever before. His eyes were trembling, and for a moment I even felt like they were a little teary.
"Look around, Leo. The Royal Knights have gone away," Mathias whispered, and when I looked around, I realized that he was right. Except for the ones guarding the circus tent, I didn’t see the Knights in the festival square anymore.
"Did you... tell them to go away? How?" I asked.
"I just gave a signal. That’s all," Mathias said, his voice filled with joy for a reason I could not understand.
"Well, the festival looks a little more relaxed now, heh," I said as I also felt more relaxed myself.
"That is wonderful, isn’t it? Now, Leo. What would make this festival even better?"
"I didn’t see any stall selling candy fruits yet. You know? Those that are glazed and coated with sugar on the outside. We always had them in Erdville," I said, remembering the good times.
Then Mathias’s jaw dropped, and he pointed in a direction behind me, his finger trembling just a tiny bit.
"Look over there, Leo. They actually do have a candy fruit stall."
"Really?!" I turned to look in the direction he pointed, and wow—there really was a candy fruit stall.
"Can I buy one?" I asked immediately.
"I’m sorry, but not now, Leo. Let’s play a little game first," he said, patting my head once.
"Okay, what are we going to play?"
"That street over there." He pointed at a street entrance not so far from where we stood, which curved so that we couldn’t see the end of it.
"Do you want to make a bet? We can’t see the end of the street. Do you think it leads to another street, or is it a closed road?"
"Hm, I have no idea," I said, shrugging.
"In that case, I’ll bet it’s a closed road. I win if we go there and it’s a cul-de-sac. If it’s open and leads to another street, then you win."
I thought about it. It was a fifty-fifty chance, like a coin flip. It didn’t matter which one I chose. It would be based on luck anyway, so I said,
"Okay. I will take it. The road is open at the end."
Nevertheless, pure luck or not, I still wanted to win.
"Then let’s go and check it out," Mathias said, and we walked over. When we turned the corner and peeked inside, we saw that the curved street led to a small opening at the end.
"Aw, it seems you’ve won, Leo!" Mathias exclaimed.
Why was he so happy to lose...?
Or maybe he was happy I won?
He was kind like that, I supposed.
"Heh, yes, Mister. What do I get now?" I asked.
"How about a candy fruit? It will be my treat."
"Thank you!"
Then we walked out of the street and went back to the festival square.
"Stand here and give me a moment, please," Mathias said and walked over to the circus tent. He talked to two Royal Knights, and they ran toward the street we’d just checked out, disappearing beyond the curve.
Mathias then came back to me in quick strides, unusually in a rush, and said to me,
"Look, Leo, the Royal Knights are back everywhere now."
That made me look around, and indeed, I saw them at every corner of the square, as well as groups of them patrolling around.
"And I’m afraid the candy fruit stall is gone. That must be really disappointing," he added.
I looked over, and indeed, the stall was gone too.
"Oh, this is bad—what’s going on, Mister?"
"I’m sorry this happened. I will get you something nice later. You won the bet after all, right? For now, let’s move out of this square. I just remembered I forgot to do something. Silly me, eh?"
That made me laugh—that the meticulously dressed gentleman with his well-groomed hair was being forgetful as if he were a klutz like me.
"You are funny, Mister."
"Haha, yes. And Leo—"
"Yes?"
"You are wonderful," he said.
I didn’t know what it was for, but—
Receiving praise was wonderful.