Rise of the Crusader

Chapter 37: Talk With Serena

A few minutes had passed since both Raphael and Serena left the classroom.

The both of them said nothing and continued to stroll around the school, however, after a while, Serena paused. She stared at Raphael, then took a step closer to him.

“Y-You...” Serena’s voice rang out as the instant she took that one step closer to him, Raphael took two steps backward. Raphael glared at her as if telling her not to pull off any stunt again.

“Sigh...” Suddenly, Serena heaved a deep breath, “Are you really not going to talk to me because of what happened? You can’t still be pissed about it, right, Raphael?” Serena inquired.

She was, however, greeted by a scornful look from Raphael, before he then said, “Is this what you want to tell me!” Raphael spoke in a displeased voice.

“No!”

Serena folded her hand across her chest, “I heard you have been assigned your first mission, and you would be heading out very soon, so I came to wish you good luck.” Said Serena.

.....

“Okay” Raphael responded, he continued to stare at Serena with a nonchalant look on his face.

“In case you are wondering how I know that fast, I’m also a member of the student council,” As Raphael began to move, Serena hurried forward as well. “I’m also thinking of inviting you to become a member of the student council, what do you think,” Serena said.

Raphael had only taken a couple of steps when he heard Serena, and then he stopped. Turning towards her, a smirk appeared on Raphael’s face, and he said, “Why don’t you just cut to the chase Serena, if this is what you came here for, then I’m going to have to leave. like I said, I have other things to do.”

“Fine!” Serena replied.

“I heard Glenn paid you a visit a few days ago,” Serena paused, she seemed to be thinking that Raphael was going to speak, but when no words came from him, her voice rang out. “And I also heard that he asked you to join the murderer division.”

“You turned him down, which is very good, but Raphael, I want you to know that Glenn isn’t someone you should befriend. He isn’t even someone you should familiarize yourself with, or have anything to do with.” Serena said.

Suddenly, a chuckle escaped Raphael’s mouth, “I don’t think you are the one to give me this sort of advice, Serena,” Raphael exclaimed.

“Raphael, listen to...” Serena was about to speak when Raphael waved his hand at her, “Even if Glenn is as bad as you say he is, so far so good, he hasn’t done anything that gave me that opinion of him. And instead, he got rid of someone, you place, to haunt me.” Raphael’s voice turned cold immediately.

“Not this again! Richard is dead isn’t he, tell me what else do you want!!!!” Serena exclaimed. “You are really going to quit talking to me because of someone who is already dead.”

“Ain’t I still talking to you,” Raphael said, then sneered at Serena.

“You know what I mean!” Serena frowned when she saw the look on his face, “Raphael, is what I did so wrong that you are willing to let it destroy the relationship between the both of us?” Serena inquired.

And in response, Raphael shrugged his shoulder, before then saying, “For a matter of fact, it is.”

“Okay, Raphael. Let me ask If you were in my situation, what would you have done, Raphael!” Serena paused, “If it was my sister who was in that position would you have allowed someone to kill her just because the person believes, she was going to come to hunt them at some point?!”

Raphael’s eyebrows furrowed when he heard Serena, “How is this related to what happened back there,”

“Yes, it’s the same... Vincent is like a brother to me, he has already lost one brother, I couldn’t see him lose another in the hands of the same person.” Serena said.

“I would have done the same thing if it were someone related to you that was in that same situation.”

“And again the person who started all this is already dead, I have also informed Vincent to back the hell away from you, so why don’t we put an end to all this, and let’s bury the hatches,” Serena said.

Serena extended her hand for a handshake with a smile on her elegant face.

With one of his hands placed into his pocket, Raphael stared at Serena for a few seconds before saying, “I will let you know if I’m able to bury the hatchet, Serena,”

Serena took her hand back, for some reason she wasn’t upset that he refused her handshake, and instead a wide smile could be seen on her face.

“I’m sorry, okay. So, how was life without me, I’m certain it was boring since I wasn’t around. But, not to worry, now that I’m back, everything is going to get back on the right track.”

As Raphael and Serena continued to walk around the hallway, Raphael couldn’t help but wonder if Serena was capable of keeping quiet. She kept going on and on about everything that happened in the past few days to her, and when Raphael couldn’t bear it anymore, he stopped walking.

“Is something wrong?” Seeing how Raphael had stopped abruptly, Serena also paused.

“I have to go, it’s already late!” Raphael stated.

The instant he said those words, Raphael didn’t wait for Serena to respond to him, and he immediately began to walk towards the exit door.

Serena had a smile on her face, but a few seconds after Raphael began walking towards the door, the smile which was on her face vanished, and instead it was replaced by an expression full of worry.

“What impression could you have given Glenn that could make the cabal want to have you become one of their members.” Serena heaved a deep breath afterward.

Serena then flicked her finger and disappeared from the hallway.

“The both of them are gone!” About a minute after Raphael and Serena left the hallway, a soft feminine voice rang out.

It was after the voice rang out that three females who were putting on casual clothes appeared in the hallway.

“Elisa, you should be happy... With the conversation, both of them had, I don’t think there is anything between them, so Aiden must have been bluffing in the classroom. That scumbag!!!” Becky said, seemingly displeased.

“Yes, Elisa, it also seems like they aren’t on good terms with one another.” It was Melinda that spoke.

To not make the class suspicious, a couple of minutes after Raphael and Serena left the classroom, Melinda and Becky pulled Elisa out as well. And ever since then, they eavesdrop on the conversation between Raphael and Serena.

“This is your best chance, Elisa, I say you go tell him how you feel!”

While Elisa remained quiet, Becky and Melinda continued to encourage Elisa to go shoot her shot at Raphael, but after a brief moment, Elisa’s voice sounded. “When we return from the Bass mansion, I will give it a try,” Elisa said.

A look of approval appeared on the faces of Becky and Melinda, “There is no way he is going to reject you, I’m certain of that.”

The girls continued to discuss among themselves, and as for Raphael, whether it was coincidental or not, the moment he pushed the exit door open, he was met by the sight of Devon, Aiden, and Bane.

“There you are... We have been waiting for you!” Aiden exclaimed the moment Raphael stepped out.

“How did it go?”

Raphael glanced at Bane who had just spoken before he then shook his head and said, “Not bad”

“That’s good, now let’s go, it’s already late!” Devon said, with his eyes fixed on Aiden. Aiden flashed a light smile before he then created a portal and the four of them walked into it.

.....

As the portal appeared in Raphael and Devon’s room, and the four of them stepped out of it, Devon folded his hand across his chest and glared at Bane viciously.

“Come on, Devon!” Bane said, he then turned towards Aiden and said, “Aiden, will you talk to him for me!”

Aiden, however, shrugged his shoulder, “I’m not going to interfere, but to be fair, what you did is quite horrible.” Aiden said.

Bane’s eyebrows furrowed, when he heard Aiden. He was about when the voice of the person beside him rang out.

“Good night, guys.” It was Raphael that spoke and with that said, he walked into his room. And a few seconds after Raphael went in, Bane left the room shortly.

As for Aiden, he sat comfortably on the couch reading the comic book in his hand.

“But, Devon, are you really going to stay angry at him forever? The prank was weeks ago, and only a handful of students is still talking about it.” Aiden muttered, with his eyes still glued to the book.

Devon stared at the door before he sat on the couch.

Meanwhile, Raphael stood inside his room with his hand placed inside his pocket. He stared at the room for a couple of seconds, before then raising his left hand slightly, and triple tapping the wristwatch he had on.

“I have to be prepared!” Raphael mumbled in a low voice.

Raphael then moved towards his working area, and without any delay, he began to clear out the room. The construction table, the appliance, he moved everything away, and about twenty to thirty minutes later, it was only his bed and a couple of other things that were left.

When Raphael began to clear out the room, he removed the top that he had on and was only putting on his pant.

After his working area was taken care of, Raphael clenched his left hand into a fist and stretched it forward. And a few seconds after he made that movement, all sort of equipment began to appear in the room.

Staring at the workout equipment which was in the room, a smile appeared on Raphael’s face, and very quickly he moved toward one of them. As he sat on the weight bench, Raphael took hold of one of the dumbbells on the floor.

“1”

“2”

“3”