F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 292: For Efficiency and Privacy

"Hahaha! Clean work!"

"He won! Haha!! He really won!"

Two young men celebrated in the VIP seats, finding themselves in an unexpectedly crisp dap up.

It was way too good for Cody’s preference.

He soon realized and let go of Caleb’s hand, clearing his throat awkwardly.

A few dozen centimeters away from them, a fairy was lost in the moon, staring dumbfoundedly at the main stage, muttering:

"No way...He really defeated an S-ranker..."

The possibilities flashed in Elune’s mind.

An utter pity!

Had Daru been given at least an S-tier Soulbound Sword, how much stronger would he be?

How unfair the gods and goddesses are!

But then, her thoughts suddenly drifted to a matter she had been thinking about since way earlier in the competition.

Daru...his skills were eerily similar to those of the psychopath of the Sunblade Savannah, Okuni — the one who took a life off Alopecion.

Elune even thought about meeting the mysterious Bladeborn in this competition.

Unfortunately, the guy was truly gone, his notorious name a fleeting breeze nowadays.

But he was real for sure. She saw him.

Others did, too.

Her thoughts couldn’t linger on the mad dog’s memories for long, though. Daru had already descended and was heading their way.

Apparently, there was an entire hour of break this time before the final match.

There was still a lot of time, after all, and a longer break would only serve all parties well.

The finalists would be given time to recover to peak condition — both physically and mentally; the bettors would be given one last chance to place odd-adjusted bets for the finals, and the sponsors would get their money’s worth through more advertisements.

It was also quite the blessing that Cody and Caleb did not have time to continue their "talk". At least not without Daru.

"Hey, Daru, great win!" Caleb congratulated casually, smiling quite widely as he offered a fist.

Daru was already familiar with this, so he proudly touched fists with the older SS-ranker.

Cody could not believe what he was seeing.

"Brother Daru!" he interjected boldly, a forced smile on his face as he abruptly broke the bro fist by positioning his body in between. "That was amazing, really. Since you have an hour, how about we talk about your strategy for the finals, yeah?"

Daru was a bit caught off guard by Cody, but he didn’t think much about it. Perhaps what he did was just normal in social circles?

"I’m a bit hungry, though...how about we eat?"

The three froze at the bizarre suggestion.

A one-hour break might be generous, but it wasn’t if one was going to use it to have lunch.

The corners of Caleb’s mouth twitched.

"D-Daru, what did you say?"

"Lunch. Let’s have lunch."

The young lovebirds finally could not bear his inappropriate nonchalance.

"B-Brother Daru, what are you saying?! Wouldn’t it be best if you took a quick Barberry or Meat Jerky snack for now, so we can discuss what we know about Skylar? Let’s brainstorm!"

"D-Daru! How can you be so relaxed?! Your next opponent is THE Skylar Ashwind, you know?! The Sky Prince!"

Daru’s brows rose.

"Well, I already took note of what he can do. He can fly, and he can use that seven slash counter skill. There’s no use brainstorming about skills we don’t know, is there?"

Caleb was about to reprimand him when a voice sounded from behind Cody and Elune.

"Can I join, please? I-I’m a bit hungry, too. Maybe we can brainstorm while eating?"

It was a brilliant and sensible idea that wasn’t so difficult yet had somehow eluded the mouths of the four youngsters.

Everyone turned to look.

A heavily surprised expression appeared on the faces of Caleb, Cody, and Elune. None of them could reply.

Daru was quite surprised, too.

"Hey, Iris. These guys don’t seem to like the idea of eating, though...but I’ll eat regardless. Would you like to join me?"

The three were tongue-tied. That was not what they meant at all.

However, they did not dare clarify right now, as they were frozen by the fear of being labeled insensitive.

Everyone saw what happened earlier, after all.

In the end, it was Caleb — the oldest of the three — who got his wits about him first.

"A-Ah! Hahaha! I’m still full, so you two go ahead. I’ll be waiting here. I don’t have much to contribute to that brainstorming, anyway!"

Cody, on the other hand, was snapped awake by the rival’s response, feeling victorious inwardly.

"Ahh, then let’s g–"

Before he could finish his words, however, a fragrant hand covered his nose and mouth — the scent of a fairy borne of moonlight.

"Hahaha! We would like to join you two, but unfortunately, we’re going to make a fortune. Come, Cody, let’s bed...bet! I meant bet. Haha...Hahahaha..."

Before the two could make sense of what was going on, Elune had already pulled Cody away.

To Daru’s surprise, Caleb decided to go with them.

He was a bit envious.

However, he at least knew now that it would be rude to suddenly change plans and refuse Iris’ offered company, plus he wanted to have a few words with her, too.

"Shall we go?"

Iris was quite dense, but she was not as dense as Daru. She felt a bit embarrassed. The three certainly misunderstood her intentions, but that was fine.

Having Daru to herself would be better...

’F-For efficiency and privacy’s sake!’ She clarified to herself while nodding.

Daru turned and began walking to the restaurant, except...

"D-Daru, the exit is this way."

He stopped and turned calmly, not a hint of panic or embarrassment on his face.

"Ah, now that I think about it. I don’t know where the good restaurants are located in this city, so you lead the way."

Iris found his actions quite strange but didn’t linger.

"I-I see, I know two, and they’re also close, so you won’t be late for your match."

She could not allow him to be disqualified, after all. In fact, she was probably more anxious about the time than Daru was.

So, without further delay, she immediately turned and headed towards the exit. Daru unhesitatingly followed her.

Someone in the crowd soon noticed, and the word spread. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

"H-Hey, look! Those two are going somewhere together again!"

"Crazy! Are they doing this to deliberately anger Skylar? Do they not value their lives?!"

"Fool, the Sky Prince naturally would not hurt his dear...probably, but Omaru...Even if he won here, would he still be alive for long enough to enjoy the fruits of his victory?"

"Why the hell are you idiots even so invested, though?! Come, let’s invest in betting tickets, instead!"