24 Hearts

103====================

Judah opened the door and entered his room. He didn’t know which of the three beds to use because, before he left, he only left Jeanne and Arhil’s luggage. Looking at the room now, it looked like Jeanne was in the center and Arhil had the right. Judah took off his coat and top, went to bed on the far left side, and flung himself to it.

“The fancy hotel is different in every way possible.”

The bed gently received Judah’s weight with the spring’s recoil. The comfort as the mattress bounced felt like the best bed he had ever experienced.

‘No, grandfather’s mansion was nice too.’

He never stayed in Kaseun’s mansion often, but he wouldn’t want to come back home if he stayed there for one night. The fact that his body was comfortable also meant that his fatigue gradually eased. He remained on the bed as his eyes began to drift to slumber until someone knocked on the door.

“I brought the packaged food. Can I go in?”

“It’s open!”

“Excuse me.”

The clerk, who opened the door and entered inside, packed the leftovers in a new bowl and put it on the table. Judah closed his eyes as he bowed his head to watch the cashier go out. When his eyes began to rest, he immediately recalled the face of the man wearing a monocle.

‘Count Genuine de Lava…’

Judah remembered coming up with his back story.

He raised his poor family back to life and was one of the great nobles within the Urun Empire with as much influence as the Duke family. Power, strength, wealth, a beautiful wife, and good looks… He had everything. He was famous for being one of the perfect men on earth. However, it was either because of his talent and efforts or the fifth fragment’s power, Valentine, that he managed to re-establish his family’s status and lead a successful life.

Whatever it was that helped him, it remained unchanged that he was one of the most influential men in Urun, and it will be a great opportunity to get acquainted with such a person. But Judah was troubled with it.

‘I don’t like it, but there’s nothing I can do…’

As long as he had the fragment, he had to be killed one day and find a way to take away the ring. It was an inevitable choice to collect all the twenty-four fragments. Maybe it would be best to take the fragment from him, but which idiot would just hand over a treasure like that. If anybody would do such a thing, they might be unaware that it was a fragment or the fragment had no owner, like how he obtained Altemia.

Judah sighed as his mind mudded. He figured he shouldn’t push through with him if he felt unhappy, but after meeting Count Genuine several times, they had naturally built up a friendship. Like Kain, it was impossible to distance himself. It caused him a great deal of pain, just thinking of the events yet to happen.

‘… Let’s think about that later.’

Now that he thought about it, he couldn’t decide what to do. As he laid down on his face with his eyes closed, he felt someone coming up to the second floor, growing closer by the minute. There were two footsteps, and he didn’t know what they were talking about, but he heard chatting voices. Hearing the faint voices reminded him of Jeanne and Arhil. As the doorknob rotated smoothly and opened silently, Jeanne and Arhil came in as expected.

“You were sleeping, Mr. Judah?”

“No, I wasn’t sleeping.”

Arhil smiled gently.

“If so, thy are there are traces on your forehead…?”

“I was lying down, but I didn’t sleep. Really.”

“Ah. There are clear arm marks on your forehead, and you’re saying you didn’t sleep?”

Judah touched his forehead, but his hand couldn’t confirm it. She laughed at him. He didn’t sleep, did he? Judah reiterated that he wasn’t sleeping, just lying down. He watched them as they took off their coats, and Jeanne, putting hers on a hanger, saw the food served on the table.

“What is this, Judah? Did you eat alone without us?”

“Oh, that’s a lot. Let’s eat together! We didn’t eat anything with you!”

Arhil puffed her cheeks and quickly sat in front of the table.

“That’s what Count Genuine bought, so if you’re hungry, eat it.”

“Count Genuine? Him? Really, is he here?”

Jeanne asked, turning her body around as if the food wasn’t important right now. Arhil didn’t really care. Even if she wasn’t interested or didn’t know, she simply grabbed a tableware, peeled off the plastic covering the bowl, and ate her food indifferently. She chewed the exquisite dish and cooed, relishing the taste, and tried to recommend it to Jeanne as well. Jeanne was sitting on the bed in the middle, looking at Judah.

“Yes, we met by chance. We talked and ate.”

Judah couldn’t look back while lying, so he sat and leaned against the wall as he replied. He almost fell asleep, but now he sat awake with still a little bit of fatigue in his system.

“He said he had a good spot, so we can just go with the Count tomorrow.”

Jeanne’s face brightened, and Arhil, who was eating her food, was watching them both.

“Oh, but who is the Count, and why is he doing good favor for us? I went out to see the market with Jeanne and tried to get a seat for the game the day after tomorrow, but it was sold out, so I couldn’t get it. I was worried about having to get left out… so that’s fortunate.”

There were also VIP tickets, but it was too expensive, she added. There seem to be VIP tickets in this world as well. Judah tried to explain to her who Count Genuine was, but Jeanne was ahead of him. Sitting across the bed, she got up and walked towards the table, briefly telling the story. Arhil, listening to her, glanced at Judah and Jeanne.

“So… Will you kill him and take away his fragment?”

Judah was embarrassed by her bluntness, and Jeanne, who had stabbed her fork on the food, widened her eyes. Arhil, who saw their reaction, realized what she just said. She dropped a bomb like it was okay. Judah was as shocked as she was.

“Someone could’ve heard you. That’s too bold.”

As a result of using Shadow Justice, no one could listen to the conversation, but it was necessary to be careful about talking about it in a place like this. Like the saying that a bird listens at the end of the day and a mouse listens at the end of the night, no one knows where and who could overhear things. Seeing Judah using his magic, Arhil spoke with her tableware in her mouth.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. That’s a normal reaction. But I didn’t know that the intention of killing others would come out so easily from a priest’s mouth.”

Arhil reached for the food again and tilted her head.

“Well- that’s because I’m a bit weird. Other priests say that people under the Holy King, whether humans or intelligent beings, should be valued and protected, but I don’t think so. In my case, you only do that for the weak. I think it’s okay. Because the powerful have already killed many people before and have established their positions. Is there a need to have a reluctance to kill such people? If you killed others, you should be prepared for yourself to die.”

Unexpectedly, Judah and Jeanne stared at Arhil blankly.

“Am I wrong?”

She shook her head as she asked, tilting her head as she looked at them innocently. However, her idea of life and death was appropriate in modern times. In a world where assassinations occur frequently, killing others is natural to save one’s life. He liked it because she was different from other priests. Judah shrugged.

“No. But I would like you to be as careful or metaphorical as possible when saying that you are killing someone because no one knows who could hear it in a place like this. And our skills right now are not enough to kill him. Before we can even step closer and raise our swords, we’ll die by his magic in a heartbeat.”

“…Is that so.”

At least for now, it was all she could say.

Later into the story, it was set that Count Genuine would be abandoned by his fragment so that his magic cannot be activated, and his level falls to something just a little higher than the player. At that time, the player will attack Count Genuine with Kain and other high magic-resistance companions, and for nearly 200 years, as all owners of -Valentine- did, he will face a miserable death. However, Kain won’t be the one to take the fragment, but Judah will, who will appear out of nowhere. That was how the story should go. The point is that Count Genuine was now being chosen by the fragment but will be abandoned in the future.

Arhil turned to him as the sound of her eating filled in the awkward silence.

“Ah! That’s right. Did you go to the market?”

“No?”

“Then, let’s all go out tomorrow! The tournament starts the day after tomorrow anyway, right?”

Jeanne chimed into the conversation.

“That’s a good idea. Let’s go to the parts we haven’t gotten to. What do you say, Judah?”

To see the market… That would be great too. When Judah eagerly replied, they were happy to talk about what they saw and what happened in the market today. And as soon as the day was over, Judah, Jeanne, and Arhil left the lodge early in the morning when the market opened.

They went out almost every morning until the Green Flagstaff contest was held and returned in the evening to see Aslan. Aslan looked like a fortress carved out of a mountain, but the land was flat. It felt like one big building. The stairs connected to the castle gates were used only when going up from the first floor to the second floor.

Many people came to see the Flagstaff, so the market was selling more than usual, and visiting merchants from other places sold their goods. They enjoy shopping. Whether they were people-watching, or just walking around and eating, Jeanne and Arhil’s favorability rose a little.

It was a good time. He was lucky to get the chance to enter the tower named -Hall of Fame-, where statues and paintings of the winners of the Black Flagstaff and objects they used were displayed. Admission was expensive, so there were no adventurers or mercenaries, and most of them were nobles from other countries.

Inside the tower, knights were standing upright like golems in heavy armor standing exactly 3m away from each other, monitoring without moving. They had to guard the winners’ items being kept as treasures.

One might feel uncomfortable as they felt them watch their every move, but none of the viewers had complained about it. Arhil felt a little bored, but she adored that Jeanne and Judah couldn’t hide their awe as they checked the items’ information.

Most of them were of the only grade, some of them were of ancient grade, and even legendary items were stored on the top floor of the tower. Just reading the description of the items and checking their stories brought them joy. Like a field trip, their time in Aslan was splendid.

They ate delicious food, enjoyed great sights, laughed, and chatted as if they were on dates. The gold coins they achieved from Count Jinmu’s story gave them a chance to live lavishly.

And finally, the day for the Green Flagstaff opened.