Volume 3 Chapter 42 Golden Ball Bra I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
”Everyone gets old, and fixing things gets hard. You wouldn’t just stop using your sword if someone told you to, right? That’s what I mean.”
”What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
Kian had cut off his talk with Demete and was now on the first floor of the casino, next to the exchange counter.
In front of him stood a red-haired young man, looking serious as he tried to say something important.
”It’s about your father. Lord Umar still looks down on you. He knows he did wrong, but whenever he sees you, he says, ‘I shouldn’t have banished you.’”
”So, my father is old and emotional?”
”Not old, but he knows──he has nothing left. No people, no money, no land… He’s now nearly kept prisoner by Jibril. I can’t even visit him much anymore, even though our lands are next to each other.”
Abbas took a deep breath and continued.
”He was once a brilliant young man who reached the Twelve Divine Generals. He has pride and self-respect. Otherwise, how could he be in that position for 20 or 30 years? He doesn’t say it out loud, but he knows he’s been weakened by Jibril and is like a bird in a cage. He’s come to the point where he should ask for help, but his pride stops him. That’s why he writes you those superior-sounding letters; he doesn’t want to show you his weakness.”
”Who is left around Umar? It can’t just be Demete, right?”
”I’m here! I’m not his age-mate, but I won’t give up on him!”
”Besides Sir Abbas?”
”There are some officials you don’t even know about… and some teams Demete organized.”
”Oh, I see.”
Abbas continued, “But…”
”Think about it. A sick old man lost his status and wealth, and a genius named Jibril is feared everywhere. Anyone with common sense would join Jibril. The only ones left are those who know the old Lord Umar was clever. They believe that Umar can turn things around, even against Jibril. I don’t know much about the old Lord Umar, but the power of the former Twelve Divine Generals is real, I guess.”
”I see that Umar has some strong allies. But from what I hear, they seem weak. I’ve heard the Nakash family has fallen apart. Have you tried to bring their followers to your side?”
”Of course, Demete tried to meet Lord Shajar while he was alive. But during the meeting, they were attacked by some forces… Lord Shajar died, and Demete barely escaped.”
”So you haven’t contacted the Nakash family since then? Are there no main vassals left?”
When Kian asked this, Abbas shook his head.
”I think Lord Shajar’s main wife, Lady Talarene, is still alive. But she seems to have taken her remaining vassals and disappeared from the country. She was seen crossing the border into Shin. The Nakash family is destroyed, and the capable ones have joined other families. The others probably hide in small oases… but those folks likely live like bandits. Bringing them into our camp would be more trouble than it’s worth.”
”I see. From what you say, even if I return with Demete now, I don’t see a good outcome. We need to build our strength here first, or we’ll just end up killed as traitors.”
”So, you really can’t go back…”
”Passion alone can’t do anything. I’m saying we need to prepare. It wouldn’t make sense to be killed the moment we land back for Umar, right?”
”I won’t let that happen!”
”That’s good to hear. But if Jibril finds me and sends an army right away, Sir Abbas will have to fight all the Twelve Divine Generals. If you can win like that, then I will go back with you. But that seems impossible, right?”
When Kian asked, Abbas nodded honestly.
It was strange to think that the old Abbas would have said, “No problem! I can take down a thousand by myself!” But now he had grown enough to have a proper conversation.
After all, he was already in his thirties.
”That’s all for now. Let’s go back upstairs.”
”Hmm…”
The red-haired young man nodded with his shoulders slumped.
Even though he was bigger than Kian, he suddenly seemed smaller.
They climbed the stairs together and passed by Zayn and Katyusha into the tavern space.
While Priscilla swirled her glass, Demete quickly stood up from his seat.
Now that he thought about it, he hadn’t had any food or drink.
He was a man who only did what he thought was truly needed.
”Looks like it failed.”
Demete looked at Abbas’s face and calmly confirmed this.
”Yeah, I’m sorry for being weak.”
”It can’t be helped. Sir Kian’s life in Franz was much more human than we expected. Now we know we need to have a more attractive card to negotiate next time. It was a bit… too high a price for this lesson.”
”Demete, let me say one thing. Can’t you say it better? Saying his life was much more human is too rude to Lord Kian.”
”But you agreed on the ship. You thought it was unlikely he was living well here. You even wondered if the story of defeating the ‘Knights of the Sun’ was questionable.”
”…!”
When Kian was silent, the dark elf looked up at him with murky eyes.
”You have been a low-rank adventurer for almost 15 years. You just became a low-rank recently… But your body and magic power show that something changed for you in the last few months. If I had talked to you 6 months ago, things might have been different.”
”――――.”
He thought it was strange to say such things out loud.
Kian before meeting ‘glasses’ might have jumped at this chance.
Living in a place where he struggled to eat, he was given a chance to change everything.
If he was going to die anyway, it would be better to take a risk and die trying.
Thinking about that made him understand Umar’s actions and Demete’s attitude.
You can’t train a wild dog by being nice from the start.
You need to show who is in charge with a strong attitude.
(However, Demete, who couldn’t adapt due to his looks and attitude, clearly wasn’t good enough.)
The dark elf snapped the clasp of his cloak shut.
”I seem to be so down that I think about silly things like going back in time to persuade you first. The cost I paid to that witch was really a loss. But if I can ask how you became so strong, we might balance things out.”
”Even if there was something besides training, do you think I would tell you, Demete?”
”If I offer the right price, can you tell me? I feel that knowing this could greatly help Sir Umar.”
”Before that, I have to tell my father to choose the negotiator carefully. I don’t believe using you is the right choice.”
”Is the talk over?”
Priscilla placed her glass down and stood up.
”We will step out for now.”
”Sorry for the rush, but we have another meeting, Ms. Priscilla. The talk ended faster than we thought, but it doesn’t feel right to keep going. I wanted to enjoy some drinks and catch up.”
Abbas says this, but Kian thinks none of them really had any old friendships to revive.
He wasn’t sure if he should pretend to feel sad about it since there was nothing to talk about.
”Sir Kian, see you again.”
”I hope you don’t come back. I can’t promise to talk again next time.”
”Oh, what a hassle…”
Demete walks past Abbas, sighing, and heads quickly downstairs.
Abbas nods and turns to leave.
”Take care!” “See you later!”
Zayn and Katyusha also head down.
Their footsteps fade away.
Soon, the 4 of them mix with the crowd below and disappear.
(They came all the way from Azrael, and they’re leaving just like that?)
’They said they had other business in Châtillon, maybe that’s why?’
(Still, Priscilla said they prioritized meeting me, so that’s unlikely.)
’That dark elf said they would come again.’
(As long as I’m in Châtillon, I won’t see them. They’ll probably go back to Azrael to check on Umar first.)
They must be gathering cards to negotiate with Kian then.
It doesn’t matter what they offer, he won’t join Demete’s plan.
”So! Should we drink again? Or should we go pick up your familiars?”
Priscilla asks with a smile.
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
Leave a Reply