Chapter 5: Who is the Fool?

The crowd dispersed with sighs, and the wandering poet packed up his things and headed towards the fountain square where the church was located. Only Roy and Tom were left, staring at each other in silence.

The fat dog Oliver squatted on the ground, his head nodding as he drooled, already fast asleep.

"Hey, what should we do now?" Tom picked up a stick and idly drew lines on the ground, seemingly bored.

Roy shook his head foolishly and said, "Nowhere to go."

"Or, how about we find a place, and you can teach me some combat techniques? I've been feeling that some of my moves are off lately..." Tom's eyes lit up, and he spoke quickly.

But as soon as he looked up, he saw Roy grinning at him with a sly look.

Tom immediately laughed awkwardly, his face turning red.

In the city of Polabel, everyone thought Roy was a fool. But to Tom, anyone who thought Roy was a fool was the real fool! One day, they might be sold by this big head and not even know it!

Although over the years, Roy always had that silly, confused look on his face, whether in front of others or Tom, Tom knew better than anyone that the big head's mind was full of schemes. His cunning was ten times that of the most cunning old fox!

Tom remembered that five years ago, when the big head first came to Polabel, he was just a ten-year-old boy.

At the time, he worked at a fruit stand across from the blacksmith's shop. Because of his cute and innocent appearance, he was often grabbed by women who would playfully ruffle his hair, pinch his cheeks, and kiss him. The big head seemed reluctant on the surface, but Tom clearly saw that whenever he was held by a pretty woman, his head would always end up against her chest.

Later, the women made teasing the big head a fun activity, grabbing him whenever they passed by the fruit stand. Every time someone came to grab him, the big head would run.

However, he ran very fast when other women tried to grab him. But when it came to Xiao Rou from the front street, Xiao Lan from the flower street, and a few other pretty women, he would always slow down subtly, then be caught reluctantly, and let them pinch his cheeks, his face turning red as he rested his head on their chests.

Women loved to hold him in their arms, and damn it, Tom was willing to bet that the big head enjoyed it too!

He was secretly perverted!

From then on, Tom started paying attention to the big head. They became friends when Roy started working at the blacksmith's shop.

That year, Tom, unable to be selected to study at the castle due to his commoner status, learned combat techniques for a month from a destitute knight who had wandered to Polabel.

When the knight left a month later, he told Tom that if he had any questions about combat techniques, he should ask the big head who always liked to watch from the side.

Tom didn't understand at the time. After all, it was no secret in the entire city of Polabel that Roy couldn't cultivate combat techniques.

But as they spent more time together and Tom repeatedly stood up for Roy when other children bullied him, they quickly became close friends, like brothers.

It was then that Tom learned about Roy's past before coming to Polabel and discovered that although Roy was physically weak and had little strength, he had an astonishing ability—any knight's combat technique, after watching it twice, he could perform it flawlessly, analyzing the key points clearly, leaving nothing hidden from his eyes.

Don't look at those knight apprentices in the training ground who all seemed impressive, but in terms of insight and vision, they weren't even worthy of tying Roy's shoes! Every time those guys learned a new move and were still making a mess of it in the training ground, Tom had already mastered it under Roy's guidance.

Now, Tom's combat techniques had reached the sixth level. In terms of combat skills, Tom was confident that none of the apprentices in the lord's mansion could match him!

Of course, Tom didn't tell anyone about Roy. The big head was his best brother, his best friend. As long as the big head was happy living this way, he would just watch from the side.

To make up for the regret that the big head couldn't cultivate combat techniques and become a knight, Tom swore to become the greatest knight in the world, ensuring that the big head would never be bullied again!

"Alright!" Seeing Tom's eager look, Roy lowered his voice and said, "I just learned the 'Whirlwind Sweep' today."

"Whirl...wind..." Tom almost jumped up, but quickly covered his mouth, his face showing only two eyes that were almost bulging out of their sockets.

The two boys looked at each other, their faces sly and triumphant. However, they didn't notice that two unfriendly-looking teenagers were already walking towards them from the training ground. They also didn't notice that from the eaves of a nearby small building, two pairs of beautiful, captivating eyes were watching them with a hint of surprise.

Just as Roy and Tom stood up, a tall, muscular figure blocked their path.

"Fool Roy, you're slacking off again!"

Roy looked up. In the bright sunlight, his archenemy Andrew was staring down at him with a look of disdain.