Grit!
Garhan's teeth gritted audibly. His face visibly scrunched as he stared daggers at a brown-haired handsome fellow.
This good-for-nothing ass-kisser! Garhan could feel his blood pressure rising rapidly, and he felt like he aged a hundred years more just due to looking at this useless guy's face.
His eyes then darted toward the red-haired woman. She had a slender figure, her whole body covered in elegant black clothing with golden embroidery. What highlighted her presence wasn't her fair and delicate skin or the obsidian-color sword she carried around but her eyes.
Her beautiful face looked unblemished, her eyes covered in a thick black blindfold covering half her face. Just that was enough to let people's minds wander off, thinking about the mystery behind her blindfold. What lay beneath, and why was she concealing her eyes in the first place?
However, to Garhan, this mysteriously beautiful woman was nothing more than an eyesore. She was the current head of the Redfern household, Sylvi Redfern.
The Redfern house used a katana as its main weapon, well-known for its Delicate Sword Style in the whole Grencefert Continent. Opposing them was the Virendale household, with Garhan Virendale as its current head.
While there was only a year's age gap between Garhan and Sylvi, the latter still retained her youthful appearance, while Garhan looked like an old man, even with all the skin retention and hair loss medicine.
Although the prideful Garhan would never accept his complex and instead always one-sidedly bickered with Sylvi regarding everything. From saying that the Verindale family's two-handed sword method was better than Sylvi's Delicate Sword Style to snatching the loser she bid on for himself. His inferiority complex towards her knew no bounds.
Was she trying to mess with me? Garhan couldn't help but think as he looked at the laughingstock of today, the candidate he has sponsored.
Initially, he planned to get the best candidate from this time's summoning, no matter how much money he had to spend. But he had never imagined that the Vixen, who had never attended a summoning before, decided to show up. Although he wanted to bid badly on the guy with dual legendary stats, he did not go forward with it.
I'll let you see the greatness of Virendales today was what he had thought back then, getting thrilled just imagining the face she'd make when he steals the person she bids on.
What he hadn't expected was for that old Vixen to have gone senile and bet on some random loser. Granted, he was someone who had shown exceptional adaptability, but what mattered the most in this world was inadvertently stats. Everything else was just a bonus, not the main focus. Not to mention, Garhan hated slithery bastards who only knew how to talk the most.
Her directly offering 50,000 Sils a year for such a dud was already suspicious, but Garhan's ego didn't let him back off as he bid more. Even that Jasmine girl was auctioned for 50,000 Sils. How does this dud deserve 50,000 as a starting bid? Garhan held back his displeasure and kept bidding, but the bid surprisingly stopped at 85,000 Sils a year.
For comparison, Roy, the guy with two legendary stats, went for 93,000 Sils a year. At this point, Garhan had thought of backing off. Even though his ego was big, he was still the head of the household, and he needed to keep his ego aside if it would end up harming the household's finances.
But the next bid he kept waiting for never came, and he ended up winning.
This fucking Vixen. Garhan almost puked blood, feeling scammed. At some point, he even considered the possibility that she just wanted to mess with him. But he knew better than anyone else that she wouldn't even bother doing something so childish. This whole rivalry that Garhan had ongoing was as one-sided as a lover's unrequited love.
Why the fuck did she want this… this thing? Garhan disdainfully looked at the brown-haired guy in front of him, who was standing as cool as a cucumber even after all the mockery he was receiving from the others.
Shameless wimp.
That's what he's thinking, isn't he? Luke thought as he calmly looked at the fuming face of Garhan, his sponsor. By now, he could easily read between the lines and guess his current situation.
The old dude kept looking back and forth between him and the blindfolded woman so he could guess that she was the one who bid on him initially, and Garhan had just bid out of spite. He didn't know their relationship but knew he'd eventually find it out.
He threw Garhan at the back of his mind and looked at the blindfolded woman.
I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious about the blindfold. Fortunately, Luke knew how to hide his curiosity well. But the thing that he couldn't hide was his surprise. For others, he could see at least some information like their alignment, title, and class. But for her, the only thing he could see was her name.
Why did she even bid on me? Cause of my face? Luke immediately scratched that narcissistic claim when his eyes inadvertently landed on her blindfold.
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A slight curve appeared on Sylvi's face, and Luke didn't miss it. Shudders ran down his spine as he realized how many types of people he'd now have to deal with, and he'd rarely find people weaker than himself.
An hour later.
The sun was already down, and Luke had now come out with Garhan, who had unpleasantly asked him to follow behind. Garhan told him to wait outside as he had some business to take care of.
Step, step.
As soon as he stepped outside, Luke couldn't help but notice just how bright the night was. Moonlight illuminated the ground, wrapped with a thick sheet of trees. The only building structure he could see was the stadium he had left not long ago.
Inadvertently, Luke's head couldn't help but tilt upwards. His crystalline blue eyes shined with a yellow and blue shine, reflecting the light spread by the two moons hanging close to each other in the night sky.
Both the moons were of two different sizes, comparatively bigger than Earth's moon.
Hah…
He took a proper, relaxed breath for the first time since he came. The air felt like a luxury. It was free of any evident pollution and even carried a faint smell of trees and dirt.
So, it is all real, huh? Luke already knew the answer to that. His rational mind would never confuse reality or dream. But for once, he wanted to feel shocked, alienated even.
"It's calm, isn't it?" A clear, melodiously calm voice brought Luke back out of his thoughts. He recognized the voice. Heck, it'd be weird if he didn't. The voice was so uniquely fascinating that Luke, who was used to sucking up to people, couldn't figure out words to describe or praise it.
Luke didn't turn around immediately towards the voice as he kept staring at the moons, admiring the beauty of the two pearls hovering in the sky.
"It is. I wonder for how long, though," Luke said meaningfully. He knew his life wasn't going to be peaceful. It was the case even when he was on Earth. So he decided to enjoy every quiet moment that he could from now on. Heck, he wasn't even sure how long he'd survive in this world.
The old man looked so pissed at him that it wouldn't be surprising if Luke disappeared from Eldoria before he even reached the said 'Academy' he was sponsored for.
"Garhan isn't a bad man. He isn't the worst you'd see, at least," Sylvi said with a subtle smile. Even if one looked at her face directly, they couldn't discern her true intentions.
"That's reassuring," Luke chuckled at the half-assed attempt at consolation as he turned around, his light brown hair glistening under the bright moonlight, his crystal blue eyes dimmed from his shadow. Any woman would fall for such an effortlessly charming face. Alas, the woman in front of him had her eyes closed. Literally.
"Would you tell me why you bid on me if I asked?" Luke knew the answer, yet he still asked out of genuine curiosity.
Instead of answering his question, she moved slightly towards her left. Moments later, Garhan exited the gate and stared at Sylvi and Luke in annoyance.
It looked like he wanted to say something as his mouth opened and closed a few times, but in the end, he just looked at Luke and said, "Come with me. We are moving."
Moments later, a fancy wooden carriage covered with intricate patterns stopped before Luke. The mane of the two dark brown colored horses was shining like blue radium, making them look majestic. The carriage itself looked like a piece of art and was reasonably big. Even the wheels were beautifully crafted out of some magical metal.
Putting his foot on the metallic step, Luke boarded the carriage after glancing at Sylvi.
And she is gone. He felt a bit empty but didn't let it bother him as he appreciated the craftsmanship of the carriage. The leather seat he sat on was soft and comfortable, the insides of the carriage having some kind of fragrance to them.
"Don't try anything funny," Garhan warned once before walking off towards his carriage, considerably bigger and pulled by four horses.
Heh, don't worry, old man. I'd be sure not to run away and leech off everything I can from you. Running was the last thing that'd plague Luke's mind in this situation. He'd have run away the moment Garhan left him earlier if he wanted to, but he had already decided not to do something so stupid against someone so powerful.
Running away was the last of his worries. How would he survive in this world if he actually ran away or something? He wasn't confident in his survival skills inside a forest as thick as this. Not to mention, till now, no matter how much displeasure Garhan had shown him, it was clear as day that he wasn't a bad person.
Placing his right hand on the window, Luke leaned his head on it as he admired the rapidly passing scenery of this new world.
Not realizing when all the fatigue from the day caught up to him, Luke's heavy eyelids slowly closed on their own, his mind and body too exhausted to even think of fighting back the feeling. The suspension magic installed in the carriage ensured Luke didn't feel the slightest discomfort during his time in the dreamlands.
Virendale Mansion
It took them exactly four hours to reach Virendale City, situated at the extreme west of the Rolhart Kingdom. Luke had woken up an hour ago. As soon as his body got a bare minimum of sleep, it automatically made him wake up on his own. When the carriage stopped, he opened the decorated wooden door and exited.
In front of him was the giant Virendale Mansion, looking like something straight out of a fairy tale.
It was a visually pleasing mansion, lit with yellow and blue lights. Luke couldn't see the mansion's end as the carriage stood right before the inner doors. Garhan was already out of his carriage, and Luke saw him walking off inside the mansion.
"Young sir, please follow me. I'll guide you to your quarters," a middle-aged butler politely asked Luke to follow behind him. Luke nodded and followed behind him, walking inside the grand mansion while appreciating its fashionable beauty.
Walking towards the mansion's second floor, the butler stopped and opened the door for Luke to enter.
"Please rest for tonight. Food will be served in a moment. I'll arrange some clothes appropriate for your size, so take a bath if you feel like it," The butler spared no effort in taking care of Luke before he gently closed the door and left.
The room Luke was offered was something even seven-star hotels on Earth couldn't offer. It was the embodiment of 'luxury' and 'class,' but Luke didn't have the energy to admire it as he threw himself on the overly soft bed, immediately sleeping again while snoring slightly due to his head being stuck in a weird position.
Beside his bed, a slender shadowy figure manifested out of thin air, veiled with a black mask.
Taking out a small vial of golden liquid, it slipped directly into Luke's mouth. Moments later, the figure disappeared while Luke, who had gulped down the golden liquid, peacefully snored.