Chapter 138: In the End, He Sacrificed His Pride

"So you'll be staying here with me...?"

Rowan blinked, completely caught off guard that Alexis would even bring up such a request.

This was practically moving-in-together territory, wasn't it?

"Of course, if you think it's too much trouble, then never mind..."

Seeing Rowan's surprised reaction, Alexis assumed he wasn't keen on the idea, and a flicker of disappointment crossed her face as she started to speak.

But before she could finish, she saw Rowan already snap back to attention, nodding seriously as though he'd genuinely mulled it over.

"If it's you, Alexis, then of course there's no problem at all."

If it had been that hotblooded idiot Jaden, or that goofball Chazz asking, Rowan definitely wouldn't have agreed.

But with Alexis, honestly, he wouldn't even mind if she just moved straight into his own bedroom.

He'd happily give up half the space for her.

"Uh...?"

Alexis was momentarily thrown off by his sudden shift in tone.

Then, blushing slightly, she said, "What kind of weird thing is that to say, that's basically a harassment violation!"

"Anyway, since you've agreed, I'll head back to the dorm first and grab some of the things I'll need!"

Alexis immediately turned on her heel and walked off. On the surface, she looked flustered, as though a little embarrassed by Rowan's teasing, but underneath it, her mood had clearly taken a noticeable turn for the better.

"That girl seems to like you, huh... ahem!"

Watching Alexis's retreating figure, Camula, standing behind Rowan, said with an oddly complicated expression.

She suddenly had a bad feeling about all this. If that girl really did end up living in this house too, she had the sneaking suspicion she was about to be constantly blinded by some kind of unbearably saccharine "sourness" radiating off the two of them.

"I don't need you to tell me that."

Rowan, in an equally good mood, waved a hand dismissively, humming a little tune as he flopped back onto the sofa, pulling up the map on his communicator to look over.

He didn't even bother calling Camula out for nearly slipping up and calling him "brat" again just now.

Only, when it came to bossing around Camula the vampire maid afterward, he found himself, for some reason, being just a touch more demanding than usual.

"That sneaky little...!"

Camula felt thoroughly wronged, but could only curse him silently in her head.

Then she obediently went about her maid duties, heading out to buy a luxury boxed lunch from the academy's convenience store.

She didn't even dare sneak off to secretly contact the other Seven Stars Shadow Duelists, or tamper with the food in any way.

By the time evening rolled around, Rowan soon spotted Alexis making her way back to the luxurious cabin, a small travel bag held in both hands.

And at the door, trailing behind her, wasn't just her alone either.

Besides Alexis's two friends, even Bastion and Chazz, that pair of goofballs, had tagged along too.

"Hold on, what are you two even doing here...?" Rowan's eyebrow twitched, a whole head full of exasperation as he watched Bastion and Chazz stroll in like they owned the place.

He could understand Alexis's two friends tagging along well enough. But Bastion and Chazz?

There was absolutely no need for that.

"We just heard that Alexis was planning to stay here temporarily, to avoid any hostage situations if the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists came knocking again. So we figured we'd come along too, and talk over strategy for what comes next."

Bastion said with an earnest, honest-sounding smile. Except this time, on that broad-browed, sincere-looking face of his, Rowan couldn't spot a single trace of the honest Bastion he knew.

This was clearly someone who'd shown up specifically to play third wheel for a bit.

"That's right, and considering how much money you've already won off me, might as well take the chance to mooch off whatever fancy welcome feast you're definitely planning to throw for Alexis moving in!"

Chazz, having shed every last trace of shame, declared his true intentions with unabashed enthusiasm.

Since beating Rowan in a duel any time soon seemed pretty much impossible, he figured he might as well make up for it on this front instead.

The corner of Rowan's mouth twitched. He could barely bring himself to watch Chazz anymore.

Sure enough, this guy's whole comedic goofball nature had finally, fully awakened, apparently at the cost of every shred of dignity he had left.

Still, since they'd already shown up, Rowan obviously wasn't about to actually kick anyone out.

And besides, the matter of the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists genuinely was worth discussing.

"At this point, the three Spirit Keys belonging to Jaden, Kaiser Zane, and Professor Crowler have all had their corresponding seals broken. That leaves just the four keys still in our hands."

Once Camula had set out the luxury boxed lunches on the soft cloth spread across the living room floor, Alexis sat down nearby, holding up her own key pendant as she spoke.

"We'll need to be even more careful going forward, if we run into any more of the Seven Stars Shadow Duelists."

"Exactly. After all, there are still five Shadow Duelists left on their side, while we're already down to just four."

Bastion said seriously, arms crossed.

"Which means they can afford one more loss than we can!"

"Doesn't matter how many more of them there are, I'll take them all on myself! I'm The Chazz! They're all just weaklings who can't even land a single hit!"

Chazz declared between mouthfuls, cramming food into his mouth with one hand while gesturing wildly with the other, clearly determined to squeeze at least a little bit of value out of Rowan's wallet, even if it meant eating him out of house and home.

Even if he single-handedly demolished the entire luxury feast by himself, it still wouldn't add up to all that much money in the grand scheme of things.

Watching all this unfold, Rowan genuinely felt the urge to stuff this goofball into a sack and toss him straight out the door.