Kings On The Horizon (Vol. 4-6) ✓

166 | Troublesome Lord

     "But that's still a very incredible achievement. To be a king is something that you should be proud of. It's a shame that the other white uniforms don't even know about it, yet they tend to look down on you," Max says, and Krist just shrugged his shoulder bec doesn't really matter to him anyway.

     "So, what are you doing here Max? I know you, and you're not the type to visit my base just to talk about the past," Master Joker then says, and Max couldn't help but chuckle.

     "As expected of my first protector," he says before finally removing his hands from his pockets.

     Krist doesn't say anything and waited for Max's request. Knowing Max, the favor could be unexpected, but when he heard what Max has to say, Krist couldn't believe that Max is still able to catch him off guard like that.

     "What do you know about Checkmate?" Max finally asks, and that surprised Krist more than Max's first question.

     "I'm assuming you also heard this from someone who isn't important," Krist says, and Max's silence made it clear that Max wasn't going to explain why he asked such a thing in the first place.

     "Wow, Checkmate. I never expected to hear that name come out of your mouth," Krist says, looking away from Max so he could look back at the view in front of them.

     "When I enrolled in J.S High, they were the princes and Paradox's most trusted ally. But when we defeated Paradox, they fell apart, proving that they were only strong because of Paradox. So in our second year, Checkmate got demoted and became the barons. But despite that, their attitude did not change. Checkmate was still a bunch of assholes," Krist explains, remembering all the things that particular brotherhood has done to him.

     "Thankfully their old leader changed, and most of the members graduated too. They're now in the House of Bishops, and despite our past with their brotherhood, the Checkmate now is much better than the old one. We don't have any sort of bad blood with them," Krist explains, surprising Max.

     "Wait, so you're familiar with their leader? You personally know him?" Max then asks.

     "I don't personally know him, but I know him enough. Brotherhood leaders usually meet up with each other so I get to see him once in a while. I believe you've already seen him too during our first day's opening ceremony. All the brotherhood leaders from the lower houses were invited here," Krist then says.

     Of course, Max remembered the opening ceremony. That was when he first saw all the brotherhoods and found out Viktor was actually alive. It was also the day when he first witnessed a brotherhood battle. It was a battle between Busters and Jokers, which actually started everything.

     He remembered all that, but for some reason, he couldn't really remember the leader of Checkmate. He was probably preoccupied or wasn't interested enough to remember.

     "I don't know why you're looking for him, but his name is Uchdryd Rease. He's a scary-looking fellow, but he's pretty chill compared to the previous leader of Checkmate," Krist reveals, and Max instantly froze.

     Uchdryd Rease...

     Uchdryd Rease...

     Where on earth did he hear that name?

     "Why do I feel like—" Max was trying to think of where he was able to hear that, but out of nowhere, a memory popped inside his head, almost making Max gasp in shock.

     "Uchdryd Rease! I've met him before, at the pub!" Max shouts, remembering their first encounter.