Max finally returned to his apartment. It was already night and the traffic on the street had declined drastically, but still, it was capital. Max could see quite a few people out.

After a few more minutes, Max finally reached near his apartment. He scanned his surroundings and seeing that there was no one around, he removed his mask and cloak before walking towards his apartment.

As soon as he opened the door, a sweet aroma wafted his nose. Someone had done some cooking here.

Max walked into the hall and saw the dining table laid with several dishes from the corner. A frown emerged on Max's face, 'Did she call someone?'

Max didn't want any unnecessary trouble, well it wouldn't matter actually as there would be several more troublesome things in future which could completely coincide it. But, still…it was better if he didn't invite it…

As Max further walked in, a person sitting at the corner end of the table entered his eyes and much to his surprise, he found the person very familiar.

It was Lear and he was gorging on the food like a wolf on its prey. No proper table manners were being followed. Noble was the last thing which could come into anyone's mind looking at this person.

"Oh! You are here. Welcome back!" Lear said as he suddenly noticed Max.

"Welcome back my a*s!" Max scolded with a scowl on his face.

Lear looked at him but the spoon in his hands didn't stop at all.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in?" Max asked with a frown.

«Lear: Doors can't stop me.»

The guy was so busy eating that he didn't even want to waste his time speaking.

"You b*stard!" Max raised his hand forming a fist when Lear stretched his hands towards Max. There was a note in his hands.

Max grabbed it and gave it a loom, "Thanks for looking after me when I fainted."

It was a message from Aria, even though she was suspicious of Max. It still didn't change the fact that he had helped her. Besides, after giving it a bit more of a thought, Aria realized that things might not be as she was imagining.

When Lear came in, he indeed said that Max was fired from work and he was here to settle some deal since he was his personal servant. This made a lot of sense. Personal servants knew a lot about their master and hence it was no surprise that Lear came on his own. Secondly, it made sense that Max told her that he had left his job. He must have been embarrassed to admit that he was fired. After all, who would be foolish enough to quit such a job. This relieved most of her doubts.

Hence, she thought that it would be a good idea to treat him to a meal to thank him and to have a conversation later if possible. She wanted to know a bit more about Max to end the last bit of her doubts.

"You! This was for me, wasn't it?" Max asked with an ugly face.

Lear gulped the water in his mouth and put the glass down. He released a barp and looked at Max with an extremely satisfied smile.

"Do you have your name written anywhere on it?" Lear said as he pulled the paper from Max's hand and turned it around, "See...not at a single place…"

Max shook his head, he was pissed.

"This is my place you idiot….everything here should belong to me…. Do I need to have your permission? Why the hell do I need to give proof to you? You are the one illegally trespassing and breaking into people's houses.." Max caught Lear by his collar and dragged him out of the chair putting him into submission.

"Give me the money for dinner. That was a lot of food." Max said with a grim face.

"Ah! Let me go! Did you forget? You were going to bear my expenses in capital? Just take it as the food expenses…." Lear said in pain.

"First of all, I never said yes…..even if I did, it doesn't count now...you have got everything for free in the Academy...go and eat there…." Max said as he tightened his grip and Lear began to struggle even more, "Take it out…."

"Y-You ungrateful b*stard, did you forget the time when I treated you when you visited my House back in Ishtar…"

The words spoken in desperation by Lear seemed to have worked. Max's grip loosened a bit and Lear used the opportunity to break free from it.

"Damn, that was close!" Lear said with a heavy breath. He was out of breath.

"Where were you this entire time?" Max asked as he got up, letting it go. He couldn't make him puke the food back and even if he managed to do it, he would only increase his work of cleaning.

"Tsk...I had a bad day...but I am sure someone had a nice time…." Lear said with snort.

"Shut your trap...it was all a misunderstanding…." Max explained everything to Lear. How the baldy messed things up and how they ended up in the bathtub and how Aria fainted.

"You saw the paper too….it's clearly written there.." Max further added and pointed at the note in Lear's hands.

Lear gave Max a look, still finding it hard to believe. But when he thought about it, he was indeed satisfied. This proved that his method of picking girls was right and Max's was wrong.

Max saw Lear with an evil grin on his face. Only God knew what was going through his head.

"When did you come? Did you say anything to her?" Max asked, he hoped that he didn't say anything unnecessary.

"Umn…." Lear began to hesitate and Max felt his face sinking, "I said that I fired you."

"I didn't have a choice. You hadn't even responded to my last message, what was the use of sending a message again… I thought you were busy." He further added.

Max sighed.

"I had responded to it….anyway, it's not bad….it shouldn't be problematic…" He added.

"Oh! You did… I didn't see it." Lear said as he checked it.

"Why did you need information on Wilson?" Max asked as he remembered the message.

"Don't ask me…It was a hard day...I met Wilson's Sis…." Lear said as he explained his entire day to Max.

...

"How strong do you think she was?" Max asked in curiosity. She was going to be his opponent after all in the competitions.

"The Scarlet flames are no joke...it was terrifying…." Lear replied as his face turned calm. He remembered it clearly even in that terrifying coldness, the flames were capable of melting anything.

"I see…" Max replied with a calm voice and stood up, "Let's get out a bit…."

Lear looked at Max and realizing the serious expression on his face, he followed behind and the duo left the apartment.

Max had taken Lear out to update him about their plan. He also wanted to discuss with Lear about any prospects whom Max could look out for as his follower. As for why they were out? Well, they needed to have some privacy.

Max knew a lot of people from the trial and had heard even more. But it wasn't a good idea to judge their character solely on that.

….

In the moonlight, two shadows could be seen on the roof of a building.

"...I want you to join the mercenary group, go out and train from time to time and also help to build the group's reputation….."

"Hmmn...sounds interesting…" Lear said with a calm look before turning to look at Max, "You wanted to look for followed....hmmmn

.. Just wait and keep your eyes out for now….All Academy Competitions is a good way….there seem to be a few exhibition matches in between as well and there should be some kind of leader boards in Academy as well all the Arena around capital… we need to go on hunting people, I guess…"