Hilda looked at Britney, her lips slightly parted in surprise—it was quite the coincidence.

  But she quickly composed herself and laughed openly. “Of course not! But he is a friend of mine. This dress? He gave it to me.”

  “Oh, you little rascal!” Britney tugged at Hilda’s cheeks with mock anger. “He’s buying you dresses and you’re telling me he’s not your boyfriend?!”

  Only close friends could joke and act this familiarly.

  Hilda giggled. “Seriously, he’s not! He’s a mercenary—and a blacksmith too. He bought the dress as a reference to craft women’s light armor.”

  Britney eyed her suspiciously. “Really? And what about the other dress?”

  “I have no idea about that one,” Hilda said, then paused to think. “Maybe he kept it to dismantle... for armor-making, I guess?”

  “WHAT?!” Britney gasped. “He’s going to tear apart my dress?!”

  “Where is he? Let me teach him a lesson!”

  With that, Britney puffed up like a storm cloud, ready to charge off and confront Caius.

  Hilda quickly grabbed her arm. “He probably did it to prepare for the Bloody Lands.”

  “The Bloody Lands?” Britney blinked.

  So Hilda gave her a quick summary of the situation.

  “That’s why he’s rushing to make equipment. In a place like that, good gear could mean a second life. You understand, right, Sister Britney?”

  Seeing the hope in Hilda’s eyes, Britney let out a long sigh and eventually smiled. “All right, if that’s the case, I’ll forgive him.”

  “Besides, he did save your life. I’m not about to throw a tantrum at him. He already paid for the dress anyway.”

  “Hehe, thank you, Britney~” Hilda beamed with delight.

  Britney raised a brow at her.

  A male friend... Hilda had never had one of those. After all, every man who tried to get close to her only had one thing in mind.

  Despite her kindness, Hilda was clever—she always kept those types at arm’s length. None of them even counted as friends.

  But now she had a real male friend. Britney couldn’t help but overthink it.

  Still, she didn’t say anything. It was clear Hilda just had a good impression of Caius, nothing more. Not yet, anyway.

  But the seed had been planted—and Britney had firmly committed Caius’s name to memory.

  Before long, the two girls arrived at the entrance of East Street, just off the grand plaza of Grilla City.

  “Let’s wait here,” Hilda said. “He should be here any minute.”

  “Got it.” Britney nodded, her sharp gaze sweeping the crowd, searching for the “big guy” Hilda had described.

  It didn’t take long for her to lock onto someone approaching them.

  And when she saw him, Britney raised an eyebrow.

  The guy had broad, powerful shoulders—and perched right on top of them was an adorable little Catgirl.

  It was Caius and Kiki.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  They had just arrived when they spotted Hilda—and the elegant girl beside her.

  The second girl looked a bit older than Hilda, maybe twenty or so, and everything about her—from her posture to her attire—screamed highborn.

  Still, Caius didn’t flinch. Hands in his pockets, he walked over casually and greeted them with a warm smile.

  “Good evening, ladies.”

  Britney crossed her arms and didn’t respond. Hilda quickly stepped forward to introduce them.

  “Caius, this is my good friend, Sister Britney.”

  “Britney, this is Caius. And this is his mercenary partner, Kiki.”

  “Nice to meet you, meow~” Kiki waved enthusiastically.

  Britney offered a faint smile. “Nice to meet you both.”

  She turned her gaze back to Caius, quietly taking his measure.

  He was a big guy.

  Over two meters tall, with a solid, well-proportioned frame, and a good-natured grin—he definitely stood out from the crowd.

  While Britney was sizing him up, Caius was doing the same.

  Something about the name "Britney" felt familiar… then it hit him.

  Wasn’t that the name of the clothing store?

  Coincidence?

  Who names a shop after themselves? That’d be peak narcissism.

  Even he wouldn’t call his group something ridiculous like "Caius Mercenary Squad."

  “The party’s about to start. Let’s head in,” Hilda said.

  “Here’s your admission ticket, Caius.”

  “And one for Kiki too. I made sure to get her one as well.”

  “Wow, thank you, Sister Hilda, meow~” Kiki exclaimed joyfully as she accepted the gift. Adorable little Catgirls always managed to win hearts.

  Caius chuckled. As expected, Hilda had a thoughtful heart and hadn’t forgotten Kiki.

  Otherwise, he would’ve had to leave Kiki waiting outside—which he would’ve hated to do.

  The group then headed toward the plaza.

  By now, the plaza had already been cordoned off. Only those with entry tickets could pass through the gate.

  Hilda and Britney walked ahead arm in arm, chatting affectionately. Caius followed behind the two of them.

  A faint envy stirred in Caius.

  When would Little Swan be the one holding his arm?

  He believed it wouldn’t be too far off.

  That thought had barely settled when he noticed several gazes landing on him.

  Turning his head, he saw a group trailing behind them.

  Judging by their uniforms, they were clearly students from Hydis—each one standing tall, with strong presence.

  Caius noticed that their badges looked quite similar to his. It was obvious—they were all part of the same organization: the Student Council Guard.

  But their badges… didn’t look as good as his~

  After all, he was the captain of the Guard.

  And up until now, he hadn’t even met the other members of the Student Council Guard.

  With that thought, Caius slowed his pace until he was walking alongside the group of guards.

  “Hey there, I’m the new Guard Captain,” Caius greeted with a smile.

  “Hello.” The one in front, a handsome young man, looked at Caius and returned the smile.

  The rest of the students glanced at him with curiosity.

  “So you're the new captain, huh? You're huge—bet you're pretty strong too?” a curly-haired youth asked.

  Caius looked at him.

  Damn, curly hair. Was this one going to be an enemy too?

  No, no—can’t judge a man by his curls.

  Caius grinned and nodded. “That’s right. I can’t promise much about the rest, but when it comes to strength, I’m pretty confident.”

  “Is that so? Then you must be pretty tough, huh?” The curly-haired guy sounded excited, as if itching for a challenge.

  Caius let out a short laugh. A battle junkie, this one.

  “Of course,” he replied with a nod.

  “Then we should have a match sometime. You know the Student Council Guard doesn’t take in weaklings. If you beat me, I’ll acknowledge you!” the curly one declared.

  Caius found himself liking this guy already.

  Straightforward personality. Not bad!

  Heaven had finally sent him a good curly-haired one.

  Caius nodded. “Sure. Just don’t cry when you lose.”

  “You won’t go too hard, right?” The curly-haired youth bared his teeth in a grin—half sheepish, half bold, an amusing contradiction.

  “Of course not. Just a friendly spar,” Caius replied.

  “Then we’re good. Just—don’t hit the face!” the curly-haired guy chuckled, stretching out his hand toward Caius. “Name’s Michael. And you?”

  “Caius.” He shook his hand firmly.

  Then, the handsome youth from earlier spoke with a smile. “Michael, you’re really going to spar with him?”

  “Why not?” Michael looked genuinely confused.

  “Do you remember a few days ago, when the President got beaten by some big guy?” the youth said, chuckling.

  “Of course! I heard all about it. That guy…” Michael suddenly widened his eyes. “Wait a minute…”

  Caius just smiled, and the young man also extended his hand. “I’m Klein, Vice-Captain of the Guard. Nice to meet you. When the sparring happens, count me in.”

  “I’m not entirely convinced either.”

  “After all, that Captain title… was supposed to be mine.”

  “Hahaha, then let’s have a proper match when the time comes,” Caius laughed heartily and gave his hand a shake.

  Turns out, not all students were hot-headed fools like Fenton.

  So far, Caius had a pretty good impression of this Guard team.

  “Hello, I’m Germain.”

  “Hey there, I’m Carmelo.”

  “Hi, I’m Jennifer.”

  One by one, all twelve members of the Guard introduced themselves to Caius.

  And finally, Kiki raised her little hand.

  “I’m Kiki, meow!”

  The adorable little Catgirl made everyone burst into laughter. The atmosphere turned warm and harmonious.