Chapter 313: Act 80 – Unexpected Visitor (Fourth Update, Stay Tuned)
Everyone could see Brendel’s hesitation. Juliette and Xi exchanged glances without speaking. The young men appeared tense as well; indeed, the difficulty of each challenge in the Fate Arena was evident to all. Had it not been for the sudden appearance of that woman in the last challenge, everyone knew that the young man would have likely failed by now.
As for the subsequent challenges, no one dared to claim they were certain.
Brendel felt the same way.
Medisa gently tugged at him from behind and whispered, “Lord, none of the cards in the deck are unique. If it comes to the worst, we can give up.”
But Brendel still hesitated. While he spoke those words, Vaunte was vast, with numerous fate cards scattered throughout the world. Although many cards existed, the chance of encountering those specific few was slim.
Brendel had played the game and knew that such rare equipment sometimes appeared only once, depending entirely on luck. Missing out once might mean there would be no second chance.
However, he was not an impulsive person; even a gambler who bets everything does so to grasp that one in a million opportunity. But if he stepped back into the arena, he might not even have a one in a million chance.
He considered shaking his head; just then, a voice interrupted, “Lord, let me try.”
He looked up to see Xi struggling to stand from the cage, her complexion not great, yet she was resolutely frowning and speaking this way: “My lord, I feel my strength has recovered a bit, and I haven’t challenged yet. Can I give it a try—”
Before she could finish, she felt Juliette tugging at her from behind.
The leader of the female mercenary band noticed that Brendel was quite tempted by Kewen’s conditions, and she worried that if Xi took the initiative to ask Brendel, he might actually agree—she didn’t know why, but at that moment, when Juliette saw Xi’s frail back, it felt like seeing her own sister alive and standing right in front of her. She instinctively didn’t want her to take that risk.
“Let me go, Juliette.” Xi pushed Juliette’s hand away.
The leader of the female mercenary band was taken aback.
But Brendel shook his head. “Some?”
The first round of challenges in the arena was the hellhound, a mid-tier silver opponent. Even Juliette would not be its match; what use would it be for the red-haired girl, who had merely regained some strength?
He could tell that at this moment, Xi’s strength was at best at the initial tier of silver.
“No,” Brendel replied without much thought. “I cannot let you take that risk.”
“But—”
Brendel did not intend to listen to Xi’s “but.” No card was worth the lives of those around him. He had yet to adopt the noble habit of disregarding lives for the sake of a gamble.
Moreover, if Xi were to be trapped in the cage again, would he save her or not?
Thus, Brendel shook his head and rejected her proposal. He looked up and glanced at Kewen, regretfully shaking his head in response. Then he turned his attention back to the sky above the arena, ready to respond—
“Eh?”
“Brendel, you’re here!” A voice unexpectedly rang out, causing Brendel’s heart to race—how could she be here? He couldn’t help but instinctively turn his head, and indeed he saw that familiar face—surprise was written all over it.
The Merchant Miss walked in from the other side of the arena, her hands resting on her bag. She was accompanied by a dwarf, whom Brendel recognized—he remembered him as Odum, a descendant of the runic dwarves.
He had seen this person once in the “Trout in the Woods” bar.
But how could Romaine be with this guy? A multitude of doubts flashed through Brendel’s mind.
At that moment, Odum paid little attention to the other people around and gazed at the surroundings in awe, his eyes wide open, mouth agape as if fully immersed in the sight, utterly shocked.
“Brendel—” Unlike him, Romaine’s attention had been solely on Brendel from the beginning, not glancing elsewhere.
The expression of joy on the Business Lady’s face quickly turned into deep concern.
She blinked, her eyelids unusually reddening—this was actually the first time Brendel saw such worry in Romaine’s eyes. “I’m so worried, Brendel! Aunt isn’t here; if something happens to you…”
The softness in her voice startled Brendel, who was about to ask how she ended up here—what about the two angels?—but those words naturally could not escape his lips.
Romaine lowered her head, her feet brushing together, unconsciously tapping her round-toed shoes: “Romaine snuck out, Brendel, are you going to scold me…?”
Though she said that, the quirky Miss was still secretly glancing at Brendel, looking terribly frightened.
Seeing her like this, Brendel could hardly scold her—after all, Romaine had come for his sake. He certainly wanted to teach her a lesson so that this young lady wouldn’t run around carelessly in the future, but not now.
The young man shook his head with a wry smile, all complaints blowing away with the wind.
However, a new problem arose: logically, anyone who entered this place had to face a challenge. With Romaine’s power, passing a challenge was impossible, so who would save her out?
Brendel couldn’t help but feel his scalp tingle. The sixth challenge?
Yet sometimes, the more one worries about something, the faster it comes—the moment his thoughts spiraled, that voice in the air unexpectedly echoed again:
“New challenger, will you accept the challenge?”
“Eh?” Romaine looked up in confusion, turning her head left and right as if searching for the source of that voice.
“Little Romaine, give up,” Brendel gritted his teeth and reminded her; no matter what, he could not leave her here alone. This girl was the first person he met upon arriving in this world and was his partner in life and death from the very start, meaning more to him than anyone else.
Perhaps even more important than the Valkyrie in his heart—
If Erluin’s revival and the fate of the Valkyrie represented a dream in his heart, then this Merchant Miss held an even more concrete meaning for him—he had always seen her as a bond between him and this world, and even that feeling was deeper than his relationship with Brendel’s own family—the two souls in his body rendered the word “family” both familiar and distant, as if all that remained was the clear visage of his aged grandfather.
This was also why, until now, Brendel had not considered returning to “his” home to visit; subconsciously, he felt he could not face it.
But Romaine was different.
He had promised to protect her, to be her knight.
So Brendel touched his sword; he had to fulfill his promise as a man. If he couldn’t win, he would turn to stone with Romaine here; although he felt some reluctance in that thought, he held no regrets.
“Lord?”
As his summoned creature, Medisa keenly sensed his thoughts.
“This is my choice,” Brendel shook his head and smiled. “I just might be a burden on you, Medisa, remaining here for a while—perhaps a long while, until the next master finds you.”
“Then whoever is summoned would not be Medisa.” The silver elf girl looked at him quietly, her voice gentle. “Medisa belongs only to you, just like Charles. Every traveling mage has their own rules and worlds; though the cards are the same, they do not represent the same person—”
Brendel felt something stir within him.
Medisa glanced outside the arena, her voice soft: “I’m sure Miss Xi feels the same way.”
“What do you mean?”
The Silver Elf Princess raised her head to look at him, her light silver eyes carrying a tranquility that seemed to see through everything, as if all the turmoil of the world was cleansed in those serene, ethereal eyes.
“Since the dissolution of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Band, you have become Miss Xi’s only support, haven’t you noticed?” she asked softly.
“How can that be?” Brendel was stunned. “Aren’t the other members of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Band still around? And that Aike, if I’m not mistaken, Miss Xi should like him, right—”
“Autn’s mi da’tt do kares—” Medisa replied in a celestial voice.
“People need each other…” Brendel interpreted the ancient saying of the Silver Elf.
The silver elf girl nodded: “Because they are valued, they will value the one who values them. There are not many who can truly become your friends in this world, which is why we cherish this hard-earned mutual understanding.”
“What Miss Xi can feel, Medisa can feel too,” the Silver Elf Princess smiled slightly. “I may only be a lowly illegitimate child—but by your side, I can feel that genuine respect and courtesy; it’s a pleasure that comes from the heart, and I cherish it greatly.”
She smiled and nodded: “Thank you, Lord! So please don’t feel guilty!”
Brendel nodded. He looked at Romaine, who clearly still hadn’t grasped the current situation—she stared blankly at the now serious Brendel: “What’s wrong, Brendel? Did Romaine do something wrong?”
“No.” Brendel shook his head. “Compared to doing bad things with good intentions, I find doing good things with bad intentions to be much more lovable.” He said, “Because the former can only become worse, while the latter can become better, right?”
He drew his sword.
Silence enveloped the surroundings, and Kewen, pondering, pulled back the items in his hand—having experienced it once, everyone knew the rules here, and they clearly understood the predicament Brendel was now facing.
That young lady was unmistakably the one he loved.
So how would he choose?
As for whether they themselves would be saved, Kewen suddenly felt that it was no longer important at this moment. Because if Brendel wanted to save them, it would require his seventh challenge, which was obviously impossible.
Without hope, it didn’t seem so desperate.
……
(PS: How many updates can you all read in a few days? The encouragement and support in the review section brought me to tears.) (To Be Continued, for more chapters, please log in, support the author, and support genuine reading!)
