“This is it,” Alnea said, brushing his hand over the doors, while glancing at the building it was guarding. “Thank you for all the care you have given us for the past few months. And may you continue giving care to others for all the time to come.”
“…It is just a mansion,” Norren mumbled. “What is there to be so sentimental about it?”
“It is not just a mansion,” Alnea said, with his lips curving upwards slightly, whilst still looking at the building in front of him. “This is the place where we have built our memories. The place where we came together as a team.”
“That was the other mansion though. This is our second mansion.”
“…What I meant to say is that we may not be coming back here anymore, but in our Hearts, this will always be our home.”
“…Is Captain finally breaking under pressure?”
“You think so too?”
“…It is not just us. Look at the Wanderers around us. They are all looking at Captain as if he has gone crazy.”
“Honestly, it is so embarrassing.”
“…We should not have put so much pressure on him.”
“Poor Captain. He—
“Shut up, you Optah tongued bastards,” Alnea said, turning around to glare at his teammates. “If it was not for the Final Trial, I would have challenged all of you in the Arena.”
“…How can you challenge your own teammates, Captain?”
“You rascals do not deserve any sympathy,” Alnea said, taking one last glance at their mansion, before turning back to face his teammates. “Go, let’s go to the Blood Hall.”
“Finally…”
After checking their belongings one last time, making sure that they had not forgotten anything, the Star Seekers began heading straight towards the Blood Hall. A walk that should have barely taken them a sixth of an hour. Roughly around ten minutes or so. It was exactly to make travelling to the Blood Hall more convenient that they had chosen to live in a place so close to the Blood Hall. But what did that have to do with the other Wanderers?
“…It is them…”
“…The Star Seekers…”
“…The Final Trial…”
“…is it today?”
“…I heard….”
Alnea did not mind other Wanderers talking about him. And neither did the rest of his teammates. And even if they did, it was not as if they could do anything about it. As such, after living in the city for so long, they had already gotten accustomed to such whispers. And if those Wanderers had just stuck to gossiping, then he would not even have bothered to give them a second glance. The problem came when those Wanderers, emboldened by the new rules, began approaching his team.
“Huh?” said a Wanderer in tattered green robe, walking up to the Star Seekers, as if he was seeking a fight. “What are you looking at? Do you have a problem with me?”
“…Is he an idiot?” Cecilia said, not even bothering to look at the man.
“Probably,” Vestia said solemnly. “It may not be his fault though.”
“Did you just call me an idiot?”
“…I think he may just be sick.”
“Sick?”
“I have heard of rumours… of people being bitten by some special Oren Beasts developing similar symptoms…”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“Is there really such an Oren Beast in the world?”
“…Are you ignoring me?”
“Anything is possible in the world… You do not have to worry though. Apparently, the beast’s bite does not work for people who are already stupid.”
“…Did you call me stupid?”
“I did not say anything like that.”
“Tsk. I get it now.”
“You just called me stupid, right?”
“…There is no need for you to prove it twice.”
“That’s it. Forget the Final Trial. We are having a fight right now.”
“Just like the rumors say. Cowards who dared not even take a step out of the city…”
Both Cecilia and Vestia paused their fight, and turned towards the man with the rest of the Star Seekers.
“What did you just say?”
“What? Did I say anything wrong? Is it not true that you have not gone out into the desert for the past three months?”
“…Do you know who we are?”
“The cowards of the Lost City. Everyone knows about you.”
“…He is indeed sick,” Vestia said, narrowing her eyes, as she glared at the man. “Just not with stupidity.”
“…It does not matter,” Cecilia said, clenching her fist. “He will be dead in a moment anyway.”
“You want to kill me?” the man said, before bursting out into a laugh. “I am standing right here. Come on, hit me. I dare you. Hit me.”
“Maybe putting him out of his misery would be the greatest mercy we can show to him…”
While Cecilia cracked her knuckles, ready to teach the man a lesson, Alnea stared at the Wanderer in front of him, before glancing around at the rest of the Wanderers. Some of them seemed excited, some disappointed with themselves, while the others just seemed amused. As if they were ready to watch a show. A show…?
Alnea quickly stepped forward, and held Cecilia by her waist, dragging her back, while urging his teammates to hurry to the Blood Hall, reminding them of the similar cases that had happened in the past few days. Of Wanderers exploiting the new rules to earn some Blood Coins as compensation for getting beaten. It was best to stay as far away from such Wanderers as they could. Yet, the more they walked, the more they met with such ignorant Wanderers blocking their way.
“What? Are you running away? Cowards!”
“Look at those cowards!”
“Is this all that the most talented Wanderer in the city is capable of?”
“Most talented my foot. I think, it would be better to call them cowardly.”
“Coward Seekers…”
It was not until they had stepped into the Blood Hall that the Wanderers around them finally became more sensible. Or maybe they just did not dare to be too obvious in their provocation within the walls of the Blood Hall. Regardless, his team finally got to breathe a sigh of relief.
“These bastards,” Cecilia grumbled. “Did blood coins flood their head? Are they not afraid that we might really kill them?”
“…They were betting that we would not dare,” Yuri said. “Beating someone and killing them are two different concepts. Especially after the new rules are implemented. For the first, the city would just fine us with some blood coins. If we killed them though, the city would not let us go.”
“…They are playing with their lives.”
“Playing with their lives is the only way they know to turn their Fortunes around,” Alnea said. “They really were a little too brave this time though. Maybe earning blood coins was never their focus…”
“…What do you mean?”
“…Seeking compensation was only a part of their plan. Their main aim was probably to make us commit mistakes, and have us punished, thus earning the favour of the higher ups of the city, and the clans that have been targeting us. It would have been like hitting three targets with one stone. Who would not want such an easy deal?”
“…Scrambling around, trying to earn favour of others… Do they have no shame at all?”
“You would be surprised at what people can do once they have given up their bottom lines,” Vestia said, sighing a little, before quickly putting on a smile. “Look at the bright side. At least, we will never have to deal with them again.”
“…That’s quite a bright side you are looking at,” Karl mumbled, prompting everyone to break out into a smile.
“Vestia is right,” Alnea said. “There is no need to waste our time, and disrupt our Serenity for those ignorant Wanderers. Let’s just forget about them, and focus on what we have to deal with next.”
“The Final Trial…”
The Star Seekers turned towards the counter of the Final Trial in unison. Unlike the other counters of the Blood Hall, which usually had some people queuing up in front of them, the counter of the Final Trial only had a crowd of Wanderers lurking around it. And though some seemed to be there just for fun, some were genuinely gathering information about the Trial.
Understandable, given how it had not even been a week since the Final Trial was introduced to the city. It was only natural for Wanderers to gather as much information as possible before challenging the Trial. Had he not been forced to become one of the first Trialists to enter the Final World, Alnea might have been doing something similar himself. And he probably would have asked his teammates to do the same.
After all, this was the Final Trial. Facing it meant either clearing the Trial and entering the inner city, or failing it and being forced to leave the city. If they were still in the condition to leave at that time, that is. Regardless, there could be no other options. Thus, its name, the Final Trial.
