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Chapter 73: Last Night Before the Tournament
Colossia City at night was particularly beautiful. The number of people walking on the street didn’t decrease much compared to in the daytime. The restaurants were full of people talking about the battle tournament that would take place tomorrow.
Sila walked back to the registration desk. The restaurant that Burapha mentioned wasn’t hard to find since it was the largest one next to the Colosseum. Sila went into the place.
Everybody in the restaurant turned their eyes to Sila since no one else except him wore Beginner Clothes in Colossia City. Sila ignored their gazes and told the waiter that he had an appointment with friends. The waiter welcomed him and led him to special room number six.
Once the door opened, Sila was surprised to see that there were three people waiting for him. They were Burapha, Varee, and Zero. Sila was clueless as to why Zero appeared at this place.
“Big Brother Sila, welcome, sit here. We will talk while eating.” Burapha was the first to greet him.
Sila walked to sit next to Burapha and then turned his head to greet Zero, “Mister Zero, why are you here?”
“I’ve a business with Lone Wolf. I happened to run into Varee and remembered that she is your friend so I felt like dropping by to tell you something.”
“Oh, I see. What is it?”
“I heard that you will be participating in the battle tournament. Your odds are even as high as 10 to 1. I just want to warn you to be wary of being cheated.”
“10 to 1? Is that very high?” asked Sila.
“It is, Big Brother. The average odds are only 3-4. 10 to 1 is absurdly high. There’s even a new rule.”
“What is the new rule?”
“The odds are higher than usual, but there will be three rounds in the tournament. One has to win all three rounds to be able to obtain the betting money. You can withdraw from the tournament at the end of each round, but the money you will receive will be significantly lower.”
“So, the bookmakers have a very big advantage, don’t they? There will be only one victor so they only have to pay the bet of that sole person.”
“The bookmakers always have an advantage in every kind of gambling. It’s just too much for the tournament of this month,” Zero added.
“And there are still people willing to bet?”
“A risk is compensated by a higher return. There were complaints but they couldn’t change anything. By the way, the reason for the new rule is due to your participation,” Zero said.
“Due to me? How?”
Varee, who had been silent all the time, opened her mouth. “It is due to you. The gambling business is Royal Armament Guild’s business, not the system’s. The guild hires the NPC to conduct the tournament. The money invested in this business comes from Royal Armament Guild. At the port, Cross wasted hundreds of swords. With how close the war event is coming up, I guess that he is executing every way possible to increase their funds.”
“This is the surprise that I planned to tell you, Big Brother. If we can win in this tournament, in addition to gaining money to pay off your debt, Cross is even the one who has to pay it for you. Big Brother has too many enemies. If we can manage to damage the funding of the Royal Armament Guild, this guild would even collapse on its own. This guild’s structure is supported by influence and benefit anyway.”
Zero suddenly stood up. He put a turban on his head. “My business ends here. I am going.”
“Wait. Mister Zero, will you meet with Mister Lone Wolf? I want to give this item back to him.” Sila was about to take the bottle containing Emperor Qi Pellets out.
“I’m just sightseeing. You better keep it to yourself and personally return it to Lone Wolf later. He will arrive at this city tomorrow.” At the end of Zero’s sentence, he was gone.
Presently, Sila’s ability was significantly higher than before. With Galaxy Eclipse, he could sense that Zero had gone out of the room through the third window. Nevertheless, he could merely sense it but wasn’t able to follow Zero’s movement.
Sila turned his head to the other two in the room. “What about Blue? Where is he?”
“Big Brother Blue said that he has gotten some clues about Big Brother Sila’s teacher. He doesn’t want to leave this clue for long so he is personally investigating it.”
Sila smiled. As expected of Bluebird the newshawk. Sila had thought it would be insanely difficult to get news about his teacher but Bluebird instead had gotten some clues already. Sila inwardly stopped complaining about the bad rumors Bluebird spread. Compared to the clues of his teacher’s whereabouts, these rumors were very trivial.
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Actually, giving how the time was very limited, Bluebird decided to spread bad rumors about Sila. He knew better than anyone that bad rumors always spread faster than good ones.
“Then, what should we talk about? We don’t know how they plan to cheat us anyway, though I will try my best to be wary of it.”
“At the very least, be aware of their food and drinks. You better prepare them yourself or do not eat anything during the tournament,” Varee proposed.
Sila nodded before starting to eat the food in front of him. “Oh, right. I’m not sure, but there is one thing that can possibly become a problem.”
“What is it, Big Brother?”
Sila told them the story between him and Ginny about the dual swords. Varee listened to the story silently as if she wasn’t interested. However, her right hand stopped in midair, holding the spoon.
“A bet? There are many flaws in the proposal. How is that person certain that both of you will encounter each other in the tournament? What if you both lose? At the very least, I think Big Brother needs to add that person into your friend list.”
Sila thought about Ginny’s behavior. “I think that person is not someone who gives attention to every detail.”
“Well, please let me see the sword.”
Sila opened his system window and took the sword out. Once he touched it, it exerted its freezing power out. The Dorolia Sword was colder than any ice. Sila had to fuse the hot element into his hand to be able to place it down on the table. “Be careful. It’s very cold.”
Burapha wore a pair of glasses and stared at it for a while before removing it. “Although it’s an S-grade item, you wouldn’t be able to sell it for high price. A dual item that each of it is one of a kind. Even with them together, their price should be too high for anyone to be able to purchase them.”
“That person already has the other one, though.”
“Big Brother, if you don’t plan to use it, you should sell it. You wouldn’t like to buy the other one anyway, would you?”
Sila shook his head, indicating that he didn’t plan to buy it at all.
“Do you want to give it to that person for free, Sila?” Varee asked.
“I don’t plan to use it anyway. Why should I keep it?”
“Ginny, is this person a woman or a man?”
“The name is Ginny so, of course, she is a woman. Why does her gender matter anyway?” Sila asked back.
Varee sucked up the water from the straw. “No, I’m just curious whether your decision to give it to her is related to her being a woman.”
Sila was about to say that it wasn’t like that. However, talking about items made him remember something. He took out the Godly Oceanic Armor and Oceanic Trishula that he had obtained from the Water Dragon. He had unsealed them long ago.
“I planned to give them to you long ago but I forgot.” Sila placed the items on the table, next to the Dorolia Sword, before he continued eating.
The blue light armor and the trishula that was decorated with aquamarine were placed on the table. Burapha took out his previous glasses to inspect them. His eyes were enlarged. “Wow. Both of them are very good items. Do you really want to give them to me, Big Brother Sila?”
Sila didn’t stop eating. He just nodded. “You don’t need to pay for them. Think of them as my thanks for all you have done for me.”
“Thank you, Big Brother Sila.” Burapha already knew Sila’s nature so he didn’t importune Sila. “By the way, I also have one item for you.”
Burapha handed Sila a small box.
Sila took and opened it. Inside, there was a blue heart-shape hairpin decorated with several tiny diamonds. It looked very expensive.
“It’s a finished product of the Jewel of the Sea that you gave me before.”
“Doesn’t this belong to Varee? Why don’t you directly give it to her?” Sila asked.
“Erm… I just think that it would be better if I gave it to you, Big Brother Sila,” Burapha mumblingly said.
Sila didn’t give it much thought. He took it from Burapha and gave it to Varee. However, Varee didn’t take it. She just looked at it without saying anything.
Sila placed it on the table in front of Varee while asking Burapha, “By the way, why did you choose to craft a hairpin?”
“Ah, about that, since it’s an accessory for Big Sister Varee, I thought that I should craft one suitable for her. I didn’t choose a ring since she already has one. Also, a necklace or a bracelet would be hard to see with how Big Sister Varee tends to wear a kimono. In the end, I decide that it had to be a hairpin.”
“Hey, Varee, why haven’t you taken it already? Why are you just looking at it?” Sila asked.
“Sila, do you always give a gift to every woman you meet?” Varee asked.
Sila didn’t understand Varee’s intention for asking such an unrelated question. “No, I don’t. Why do you ask? Won’t you wear it?”
Varee pouted at Sila.
“I don’t have a mirror.”
“Is that so? I thought all women always carry one. I don’t have one either. Burapha, do you have one?”
Burapha was about to say that a mirror wasn’t needed at all, just saying the word ‘equip’ was enough. However, he noticed Varees face reddened despite her expressionless face. Burapha inwardly grinned and answered, “I don’t have one, Big Brother.”
Sila sighed. “Then, Varee, you just have to keep it and put it on later in your room.”
“Big Brother, why don’t you help her put it on?” Burapha suggested, trying to hide his smile.
“Should I? But I have never done this kind of thing before. Burapha, can you do it?”
Why was his Big Brother so dense? Burapha hurriedly declined, “I have never done it too. By the way, it’s getting dark. I need to get up early tomorrow so I need to go now. Excuse me.”
Burapha quickly said goodbye to both Sila and Varee and went out of the room.
Sila was confused by Burapha’s behavior. It was just 9 PM. In any case, he thought that Burapha might have some more business to do, so he didn’t interrupt him.
“Well… I will try to put it on you.” Sila took the hairpin from the box.
Varee obediently leaned her head toward Sila. The process of putting on the hairpin wasn’t something complicated. He just had to remove her old hairpin before putting the new one in.
Afterward, Varee took a mirror from her inventory to look at her new appearance. She was smiling mildly. Meanwhile, Sila was agape at her honest smile to the point that he totally forgot to ask her about the mirror that she supposedly didn’t have.
“It looks okay. I’ll forgive you for all the things you have done in return.”
“All the things I have done? Forgive? What have I done to upset you again? Oh, right, about our bet, I remember I have finished all the three promises you gave to me. Why did you tell me that there’s still one remained?”
“That’s because you didn’t keep your first promise about telling me and my dad about your playing time. So, that promise is invalid. In conclusion, there is one promise left that you need to comply.”
“Ah? I really didn’t intend to break the promise though. I planned to briefly enter the game, but something unexpected happened.”
“No worries. I’m in a good mood today. We can call it even and cancel the remaining promise.” Varee smiled.
“Ah? Umm… okay. What’s wrong with you? Why are you suddenly in a good mood?”
“Nothing in particular. It’s getting dark already. The tournament starts in the morning so we should go to rest now. By the way, where do you plan to stay?”
“Oh, in a nearby hotel, of course,” Sila indistinctly answered.
“Hmph. I will let you off the hook this time. See you tomorrow, then. I will watch you from the VIP seating.”
Afterward, Varee went out of the restaurant with a smile on her face.
Sila scratched his head. He then returned to the Mansion of Secrets to prepare himself for tomorrow’s battles.