The Enemy of My Enemy is a Friend

To prevent unnecessary shock, Solomon and Cherry explained the full situation behind Horace’s arrival and everything they’d learned from him to the rest of the residents before they met him in person, much to their surprise anyway. As the sun rose, as the early birds chirped, and as the cool, morning breeze welcomed themselves through the living room's windows, the rest of the youths stared at the latest guest in astonishment.

“Well damn, you’re actually here,” said Theodore, waving a hand. “Good morning, Horace.”

“Haha, good morning, Theodore,” said Horace. “How have you been?”

“Doing fantastic.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

Penelope peeked behind Eloi, curiously reading his expressions.

“I’m glad to see you as well, Penelope,” said Horace. “I’d like to extend my gratitude for those gadgets you made for me. They helped us out more than we expected.”

She widened her eyes. “You… still have them?”

He stretched his smile. “Every single one of them. I’m sorry I asked you to stop. My room was getting too cramped.”

Her eyes glowed, and she returned a soft smile and an understanding nod.

Horace turned to Eloi and Charlie next and formally bowed. “I believe this is the first time we’ve properly engaged in a conversation. It’s truly a pleasure to finally talk to you two.”

Charlie awkwardly cleared his throat. “Erm, th-the pleasure’s ours…”

“Haha, you can be honest with me. I understand I have caused you plenty of suffering these past few months.”

Charlie immediately dropped his friendly mask and scowled fiercely. “You’re goddamn right,” he grumbled. “I still find it hard to forgive you.”

“I expected as much. I will not ask you for forgiveness, but I hope we can still work together.”

He sighed and slumped his shoulders. “Now that we learned about Ren’s whole plan, we all have a common enemy to worry about. For now, I guess I can settle for a truce.”

“Same idea,” said Eloi.

Horace stretched his smile and nodded. “Then a truce it shall be. I appreciate it, you two.”

The boys reluctantly returned the gesture while Cherry smiled and elbowed her brother with approval.

“I admit, Ren truly had us all fooled,” said Solomon, “but thanks to him, we managed to buy enough time to fully recover from The Star-Crushing Tragedy. Now that we’re back in action, it’s only a matter of time until Monty makes his next move.”

“Except, we still have one more problem left,” said Theodore. “Clover is still going through his villain phase.”

“Can’t you phrase that better?” asked Charlie.

“He’s not wrong though,” said Eloi.

“You’re right,” Horace muttered. “I was relying on Ren to watch over him, but since he hasn’t returned to report his progress to me, I can only assume he must be facing some problems of his own. Not to mention, Clover is not yet aware that I’m here.”

Penelope rubbed her chin and stared at the windows. “We can… let the horse go,” she murmured. “It can find him for us.”

Cherry widened her eyes. “Your mechanical horse can do that?!”

She shyly nodded. “It can remember routes and faces it saw before.”

“That’s amazing…”

“Ah, that bronze horse, was it?” asked Horace. “If what you say is true, then it can certainly find its way to my headquarters. I’ve seen it plenty of times with Clover.”

“Very well,” said Solomon. “Then, we’ll let you handle the horse, Penelope.”

She nodded.

“So, everyone else is coming back home, huh?” Eloi crossed his arms and gazed at the window. “I don’t know if I’m prepared to see Clover so soon.”

Horace turned to Eloi and bowed at him again. “That reminds me—I wish to apologize to you, Eloi. I didn’t realize Solomon kept you alive this whole time, and I’m sorry you endured so much torment. Clover never knew about your situation either, and he never intended to make you suffer, so I hope you can forgive him. You may not believe me, but I truly am happy to see you back.”

Eloi glanced at Penelope, who reassured him with a nod. He sighed and scratched his head. “Good grief,” he murmured. “I’ve been dying to beat your ass for months, but now, I don’t want to anymore.”

“Haha, I’m glad we didn’t have to come to that.” Horace turned to Solomon last, making the rest of the youths hold their breaths with unease. Tension stretched in the air as the two exchanged a quiet discussion through their stoic gazes.

Solomon cleared his throat and said, “I understand that your grudges against me are too great to disappear overnight, but I hope we can still conclude our disputes without any more fighting.”

“Hmph.” Horace folded his arms. “These brats will stop us anyway.”

“Haha, that is certainly true.” Solomon extended a hand toward him.

Horace blinked at his hand and frowned.

He retracted his hand. “Ah, please excuse me. I understand if you don’t want a handshake.”

“No, that’s not it.” Horace pointed at his sleeves. “You’re utterly filthy.”

Solomon blinked at his dirt-caked hands.

Horace turned to the others and squinted. “As a matter of fact, all of you smell foul. Have you all been exercising in those rags? How uncouth!”

The youths looked down at their clothes and sniffed their sleeves.

With a stern glare, Horace clapped his hands and pointed at the door. “All of you. Give me any sets of fresh clothes or fabric you have available. I will sew the appropriate attire for all of you at once.”

“Eh? That’s… that’s not necessary—”

“Be quiet, Solomon. You go and set up the kitchen. I will prepare breakfast as well.”

“Oh my stars, Horace is going to cook for us?!” Theodore cried. “Hell yeah! I missed your food!”

“To achieve the best results from your training, you must create the best environment,” said Horace. “That means you must wear the proper clothes and eat the right meals. Now enough talking. Get to it!”

As ordered by the ex-butler, the residents dispersed and gathered all the fabric and tools he needed while he cooked breakfast. Meanwhile, Penelope released her mechanical horse along with a letter Horace also wrote for credibility, promptly sending it away at high speed.

Now that they finished their preparations, they regrouped back in the kitchen. No matter how many times Horace insisted on working on their clothes while they ate, Cherry, in the end, dragged him along to join them for breakfast, claiming that he was no longer a butler but a guest.

She almost regretted it by the time they started eating. The awkward tension between Solomon and Horace made it rather hard to eat, but thanks to Theodore’s whims, they managed to bring up some idle chatter to lighten the mood.

After they finished eating and cleaning up, Solomon suggested having a progress report before Horace began his work. Horace allowed it and watched from the sidelines as the trainees presented their abilities.

Pridefully, Cherry opened her hands and sprinkled golden stars—far bigger than last night—in front of everyone. Meanwhile, Theodore manifested flat, geometric blue slabs, and Penelope molded a few silver cogwheels that spun and clicked with each other.

“Absolutely incredible,” said Solomon, widening his eyes. “You all made so much progress in these past few days.”

“I’d be more surprised if we didn’t,” Theodore muttered, messaging his shoulders. “We’ve been exercising nonstop for days. Thank god all of that paid off.”

Penelope turned to Cherry. “Yours is beautiful,” she breathed.

“Aww, thanks,” said Cherry, beaming away. “Yours is amazing too!”

“Indeed, you’ve all clearly presented impressive results,” said Solomon, rubbing his chin. “Now that I see you’ve built up a sufficient amount of Crimoire, I believe we can move on from our exercises and start our real training.”

The three youths exchanged glances. “Real… training?” they nervously asked.

Solomon turned to Horace. “Rather than sewing clothes for exercise, can you make them suitable for combat?”

“Combat?!”

“Especially for Cherry and Penelope, if you can.”

Horace rubbed his chin as he analyzed Cherry’s and Penelope’s dresses, where their trimmed hems still collected dirt by their knees. “I can most certainly do that,” he said.

“Thank you, Horace.” Solomon turned to the rest of the group next. “Head to the front yard once you’re ready, and we’ll start your training right away.”

✦☆✦

After Horace took everyone’s measurements, he left for Penelope’s workshop. The trainees mustered up their willpower to endure another round of hardship, but even as they made their way to the designated training ground, everyone’s pace slowed down with each step. When they showed signs of stopping and turning back around, Charlie ended up forcibly dragging them all for the remainder of their trip.

“Goodness,” said Solomon, staring at the trainees huddled on the porch. "I understand that combat training will be far more painful than normal exercise, but there’s nothing to be afraid of.”

“No, they have every right to be,” said Charlie. “I still remember all the times you’ve broken my bones.”

Just that mention of that alone made the others shudder with dread.

“But were it not for that training, you wouldn’t be standing today, Charlie. I’ve had you struggle with hardships so you can survive genuine life-or-death situations.” He rubbed his chin as he observed the other rookies’ anxious gazes and at the mansion, briefly pondering to himself. “But since the rest of you have little to no experience on the battlefield, we’ll start with something light.”

He pulled out a white cloth and tucked it on the side of his pants.

“For your first training, all of you will try to snatch this handkerchief away from me,” he said. “You may face me individually or all at once, and anything goes. Your training begins the moment you step down that porch.”

The trainees exchanged nervous glances. Surely, combat training could be too much, but to skip his training would certainly mean facing their sudden, unexpected demise once they confront someone like Monty again. Cherry, out of everyone there, personally learned that risk. She took a deep breath and stepped onto the grass first.

With a prideful smirk, her brother stepped forward next and stood beside her. Eloi moved next, followed by Theodore, and finally Penelope.

“Good, I see you’ve all made your decisions.” Solomon extended his arms. “Now, treat this as a real battle, and show me your best efforts!”