Chapter 38: Tier 1 Gate Raid?
As they trudged toward the main building, shoes scuffing the old tiles by the side path, Lanz’s brain started doing that annoying pinball thing.
He kept flicking glances at Kenji, Hiro, and Leo, each one more suspicious than the last. ’It’s finally time,’ he thought, jaw set. ’They better spill. I wanna know what they think about the eastern district gate challenge, I did my part as Zero, they should do theirs as the glazers.’
He cleared his throat, shoving his bag up higher on his shoulder. "So, how was it?" he asked, trying to sound casual but failing miserably.
Hiro, walking half a step ahead, turned with the world’s dumbest vacant look on his face. "The what?"
Lanz blinked. "You know... the eastern gate challenge thingy."
A long, collective groan slipped out of all three of them like air leaking from sad balloons. "Uhhhhhhhhhh," they droned together, eyes darting everywhere except at Lanz.
Lanz’s eyebrow twitched. "...What? Was it not fun or something?"
Kenji ran a hand through his hair, face scrunching up like he’d just bitten into a lemon rind. "No, no, it was fun! It’s just... uhhhhhhhh."
Leo didn’t even bother looking up. He just mumbled, mouth half-full, "Good for him, I guess."
"Yeah, good for him," Hiro added, but the way he rolled his eyes made Lanz’s suspicion grow MASSIVELY.
"You guys are not making any sense whatsoever," Lanz said, jabbing a finger at each of them in turn. "You’re being cryptic as hell. Who’s ’him’? What happened? Spill or I’m gonna crash ou—"
Kenji slapped a hand on his shoulder, cutting him off. "Let’s talk about it later at the lunch table, alright? Trust me."