Chapter 99

Chapter 32. The Arena of Cosmos (10)

“Master! That’s...!”

The moment the guards saw the item that Veradin took out from his coat, their faces turned pale.

Veradin quietly raised his index finger to his lips.

“Quiet. And cover us with the cloak.”

The guards bit their lips and untied the cloak.

Murmurs.

The audience was whispering to each other due to the sudden situation. However, no one dared to shout out what was happening, due to the emblem of Zephir embroidered inside the guards' cloaks.

“Zephir...?”

“That guy is from Zephir?”

“Hey, how did you know? When that Zephir cheered for Jin Gray, he was scolded by Pol Mix.”

“Oh, in that case, I should leave first.”

As soon as the Zephir emblem was revealed, not only the audience but even the pirates became as docile as lambs. Even Cosmos, the organizer, opened his eyes wide and did not interfere with the intrusion.

'Trouble. Could it be that they came to kidnap Pol Mix, knowing he is a Runcandel...!? Damn, if I get caught up in this, my pirate life is over. I need to act carefully!'

Everyone, close your eyes and cover your ears!

Suddenly, Cosmos shouted. The polite and courteous demeanor he had been maintaining was gone, and he was now glaring.

It was a funny sight, but the audience obediently followed his command. However, no one was laughing.

The House of Zephir was a source of awe for the majority of ordinary people.

“That guy has good instincts. I think it would be fine to give him about 100,000 gold coins out of the 300,000 he’s supposed to get.”

The item Veradin took out looked like a kind of gem. At first glance, it seemed like a round ruby, but it was even redder, almost like a clump of blood.

And from this gem, an indescribably strange aura was emanating.

‘This is...?’

Jin had seen something like this before somewhere.

But he couldn’t immediately recall what it was. It was something he had only seen in books during his time as a magic student.

“It’s the blood of Numerus.”

The moment Veradin whispered this, Jin involuntarily opened his mouth wide.

Numerus.

The god of hope, who is said to have been extinguished due to a certain incident just before the Holy Kingdom of Vancella was established.

The legacy left behind by Numerus when he was extinguished was only eight tears and a hundred drops of blood, but humans have written a foolish history of bloodshed for hundreds of years to obtain them.

Numerus' tears were the only items capable of reviving the dead.

Numerus' blood, while not capable of resurrection, could instantly cure any disease.

Four of the eight tears have been used and recorded in history, and the whereabouts of the remaining four are unknown.

The blood also has a record of seventy drops being used, but the rest are unknown. Historians generally believe that most of them have been used, and there has been no recent discovery of Numerus' blood.

Once a major topic of interest, the legacy of the god is now gradually fading and is only passed down as a legend.

One of these is now glowing red right in front of Jin.

“What...? You’re going to give this to Dante...?”

Even though Numerus' blood is a divine item one grade lower than the tears.

It is something that cannot be obtained with any amount of wealth, and the great houses like Runcandel and Zephir are still desperately searching for it.

‘Zephir had one of them!’

It was even more difficult for Jin to accept that it was in the hands of Veradin, who was on a trip, rather than being personally held by the head of the house, Kelliac Zephir.

It was as if the blood was prepared specifically for Veradin by the House of Zephir. And even the great House of Zephir only had two of them.

“Shh, so let’s keep this a secret between the three of us. Me, you, and Dante.”

Jin couldn’t ask why Veradin was using it for Dante.

Rationally, Veradin’s actions are incredibly irrational. Hylan, while smaller in scale than Runcandel, could still be considered a rival to Zephir, and Dante is the next head of the house.

Dante’s death would be the best outcome for Veradin in this situation.

‘But isn’t it the same for me? Even though Dante’s death would benefit Runcandel, I held back my sword at the last moment.’

Veradin smiled.

“I think you would understand why I’m doing this without me having to explain.”

Veradin brought the blood of Numerus to Dante’s lips. Using magic to slightly break the surface, a red aura began to flow into Dante’s mouth like water.

Swoosh...

“And you don’t need to thank me. Losing a worthy opponent is as sad as losing a friend, isn’t it?”

Startled!

As soon as the blood of Numerus entered, Dante showed a reaction. Although it was impossible to see what was happening inside his body, his pale face was quickly regaining its color.

‘Veradin Zephir... I thought he wasn’t just an ordinary fool.’

I never imagined he would have such an unpredictable personality. A person who readily pays such a high price for an almost enemy is not someone who can be easily evaluated.

Amidst the complex feelings.

One emotion was clear.

‘He has a good side.’

Phew!

Dante exhaled roughly, as if emerging from water. The newly awakened Dante seemed to immediately realize that he had cheated death, as he examined his body several times with a surprised expression.

“What... How did this happen...?”

“After the award ceremony, buy us a drink, Dante. Jin, you’ll join us, right? Don’t say no. And from now on, whenever you see me, whether at a banquet or anywhere else, I hope you’ll acknowledge me.”

Jin recalled the day he found Veradin annoying at the Runcandel banquet and chuckled.

“I will.”

As Dante slowly got up.

Cosmos quickly assessed the situation and realized it was almost over. He thought about what the three boys needed.

To create an atmosphere as if nothing had happened.

In reality, the audience didn’t know exactly what had happened inside the cloak. They only guessed that Veradin had used magic to heal Dante.

However, everyone was curious why Zephir would heal the Runcandel-affiliated Pol Mix. No one was foolish enough to reveal their curiosity.

“Ladies and gentlemen! It was a thrilling match! The winner is the unknown young swordsman, Jin Gray! Please give them a warm round of applause!”

* * *

The award ceremony began at night.

In the arena where murder and intrigue had been rampant, a rum party was held, and the surviving participants sprinkled alcohol on the ground in memory of the deceased participants whenever they had a chance.

The closing party, one of the highlights of the arena, was usually a place of all kinds of indulgence in addition to alcohol.

But everyone was only drinking, watching Zephir’s reaction.

“Winner, Jin Gray, please come forward!”

Jin moved to the podium made of stacked bottles of alcohol.

In front of him, Cosmos held a trophy made of shark bone and a bag containing a thousand gold coins.

And at Cosmos’s feet was a small treasure box, a choice item.

Jin could choose between the thousand gold coins and the treasure box, whose contents were unknown.

“Then, choose your prize! The gold coins or the treasure box, which will you choose...”

“Give me both.”

As Jin answered irritably, laughter broke out in various places.

While it wasn’t the first time in the history of the arena that a winner demanded both prizes, no one had ever done so with such confidence.

‘For the first few days, I couldn’t even sleep properly, and during the fight with Dante, I almost killed him. It’s frustrating enough to risk my life and get such a reward, and you want me to choose one?’

It was an unacceptable situation.

Thinking about how his heart had raced when Dante was in danger, it felt like he deserved the entire Cosmos pirate crew.

“I understand your desire to have both, but, well, we have our history and traditions, you know?”

“I can also get rid of all that history and tradition from today.”

Cosmos nodded with a gloomy face.

“Alright, you win. Take them all...”

By then, both Cosmos and the audience.

Jin was also suspected to be from a great house, though not as much as Dante or Veradin. Cosmos readily agreed to his demand for that reason.

‘This kid might be from a noble family... Well, from next year, I’ll have to be more thorough in checking the backgrounds of the participants. I need to gather only those who can be controlled by me.’

After the award ceremony.

While everyone continued the drinking party in the center of the arena, Jin and Dante settled in the small, shabby room where they had stayed together.

Veradin, who had left his guards behind, was also there.

“Wow... You two lived in such a place for days? I wouldn’t have lasted a single day. Even the stables of our house are better than this.”

Veradin said as he opened the lid of the finest wine he had his guards bring.

Clunk.

As the wine glasses were filled one by one, Jin handed the bag of gold coins to Dante.

“Is this for me?”

“Yeah, take it.”

“But you won the tournament.”

“Fine, don’t take it then.”

Dante, who had been staring at the bag of gold coins, shook his head.

“No, I’ll take it. While we have a lot of money in the Hylan house... I should frame this and keep it as a memento.”

Dante shook the bag of gold coins, making a jingling sound.

Seeing this, Veradin smacked his lips, looking somewhat disappointed.

“Jin, me too. Give me something to remember. Today was a special day for me too.”

Veradin, with sparkling eyes, held out his hand.

Just remember it yourself.

Under normal circumstances, Jin would have said that, but this time, since Veradin had done something particularly commendable, he thought it was okay to grant a small request.

But he wanted to keep the shark bone trophy with his name on it as a memento.

What was left was the treasure box.

Jin nodded, having a good idea.

“Wait a moment.”

Click!

Jin forced the lock open with his strength and opened the box. It was the first time he had opened it since receiving it from Cosmos.

‘A map?’

Inside the box was a typical treasure map, crudely drawn with an X mark in the middle.

“Hmm? It’s written in ancient script. I’ve never seen these characters before, it’s intriguing. Can I have this map as a memento...”

“No, your memento is this box. Take it.”

“Oh, that’s great too! Thank you!”

‘One wants to frame the gold coins, and the other is grateful for a piece of trash. Are these two both fools?’

Jin suddenly laughed at the thought. As Jin chuckled, the two followed, but when Jin suddenly turned serious, they both cleared their throats awkwardly.

“Hey, Dante Hylan, I have one question.”

“Uh, ahem. What do you want to know?”

“Why didn’t you use your secret technique until the end? I clearly told you not to.”

Dante scratched the back of his head and replied.

“You also... didn’t reveal your hidden power and let me win. So I thought it would be fair to fight without using secret techniques.”