Chapter 51
Chapter 51
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Special Discount Store (3)
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‘Oh...’
Gulp, gulp.
The sound of someone swallowing hard hit his eardrums, snapping Yuri back to his senses.
‘H-Hopefully, they didn’t hear that?’
Fortunately, the sound seemed to have reached only his ears.
The couple, who looked like lovers, were still lost in their kiss.
No, perhaps the fire had only now truly ignited, as they explored each other’s lips even more passionately than before.
It was far too stimulating a sight for a boy on the cusp of turning sixteen, in the throes of puberty.
But that lasted only a moment.
Smack, smack.
At the peripheral-nerve-tingling sounds, Yuri stared blankly up at the sky.
His eyes took on a wise glint, as if he’d gained some enlightenment.
‘...The mercenary uncle was right.’
The man, a senior in the ways of life, had said as much.
Even in the midst of war, children are still born.
‘If kids can be conceived amid all that chaos, then it’d be weirder if no romantic vibes stirred in a place packed with hot-blooded youths.’
Young, fit, and brimming with youthful vigor.
Not to mention from wealthy families, both men and women crammed together in one spot.
Even if they were slashing at each other with “Die, you bastard!” one could fall for each other with an “Ow! That’s a new kind of stab wound!” and no one would bat an eye.
‘That’s the true order of nature, isn’t it?’
Yuri’s eyes deepened with some inexplicable enlightenment.
Smack, smack, smack.
The stimulating sounds continued after that, and just as he began worrying, ‘At this rate, won’t their lips be shredded?’, the two finally pulled apart.
“Haa...”
“...”
There was no conversation between the lovers.
Just low breaths and tender gazes exchanged.
After staring at each other for a long while, they clasped hands and walked off.
Once they were gone.
Thud.
Yuri dropped down from the tree, staring in the direction the couple had gone with a lecherous grin.
“...That was a good show.”
He rubbed his nose sheepishly with his index finger, then quickly wiped the grin away and tensed up again.
“Time to go.”
He didn’t have much time left until dawn.
He needed to move as much as possible by then and secure a hideout.
And so, Yuri hustled his legs busily.
Not long after, the sun rose in the direction he was heading.
* * *
December 31st, 17:30.
Fifteen hours earlier, Yuri had moved toward the rising sun; now, he had his back to it.
He paused to turn and gaze silently at the slowly setting sun.
Finally, as the sun vanished completely and darkness fell, he stretched.
“Time to get moving again?”
Yuri had taken a break upon seeing dawn break.
Because of that, he still hadn’t left the third-year zone.
The silver lining was that no one had spotted him yet.
‘About six hours left? It’s tight, but... I think I can make it.’
According to Jerry, the northern zone where the first- and second-years lived was the largest.
It took hours by carriage from the northernmost point to the central zone.
The other senior cohorts’ zones were smaller, so at Yuri’s pace, accounting for unfamiliar terrain, the timing seemed feasible.
‘Of course, I can’t take it for granted, so I need to hustle.’
Who knew what could happen where.
If he wasted time on something trivial, all his efforts so far could go down the drain, so Yuri grew cautious.
He dashed through the forest, senses on high alert.
Leaping over rocks and streams.
Sometimes swinging on vines to climb cliffs and trees.
Paths impassable to horses or carriages posed no issue for Yuri.
And his speed was several times faster than a normal person sprinting across flat ground.
Thus, Yuri blazed straight northeast, the shortest path.
His movement halted abruptly.
‘People.’
He quickly scanned the surroundings and climbed a massive nearby tree.
Crouching on a branch, Yuri held his breath.
Soon after, two people appeared.
A pair of man and woman holding hands affectionately.
‘...Huh?’
The moment Yuri sensed something off and tilted his head.
Thud.
The man yanked the woman’s wrist hard, shoving her against a tree.
And of all places, it was the very tree Yuri was perched on!
Watching the scene unfold below, Yuri’s expression shifted by the second.
The man leaned one arm against the tree, tilting the woman’s chin up aggressively to claim her lips.
‘Huh?’
The woman, who seemed slightly startled at first, soon embraced the kiss actively, wrapping both arms around his neck.
‘Huh?’
Yuri’s facial muscles slackened in a daze as he took in the whole process.
‘What is this... déjà vu?’
From the couple’s appearance to the kiss.
Didn’t I just see this a while ago?
As he stared down vacantly, Yuri’s eyes twitched.
‘Wait, that guy...?’
For a split second, Yuri thought he’d misseen.
But his eyesight was fine.
‘That purple head looking like it’s bruised!’
If he wasn’t mistaken, the guy smooching away right now was definitely the same bastard from a few hours back.
Though his face wasn’t clear, the green epaulet and slightly curly purple hair were unmistakable.
But one problem arose here.
‘The girl’s different?’
The partner he was kissing had changed.
The woman from a few hours ago had definitely been brunette.
But the one now passionately locking lips with Purple Bruise-head was a pale blonde.
‘Did she dye her hair in the meantime?’
Yuri knew better than anyone how ridiculous that was.
The brunette and the blonde were clearly different people.
‘Their epaulets are different too.’
The brunette had a green epaulet.
The blonde had a blue one.
‘Green is third-years, 48th Cohort; blue is fourth-years, 47th Cohort...’
So the conclusion was singular.
‘Two-timing!’
The guy was seeing two women at once.
A same-cohort girl and a one-year senior, no less.
Smack, smack, smack.
Yuri shook his head at the passionate sounds right beneath his feet.
A moment later.
“Haa...”
“...”
The man and woman exchanged tender gazes, clasped hands again, and left.
Thud.
Yuri dropped to where they’d stood, clicking his tongue as he recalled Purple Bruise-head.
“Tch... playboy bastard.”
With a brief tongue-click, Yuri resumed moving.
Whether others cheated or not.
What mattered to Yuri now was reaching the central zone by midnight.
And so, he dashed off again.
* * *
Clop, clop.
Yuri’s legs, pounding through the thick darkness, gradually slowed.
After hours of intense movement, his breathing was quite ragged.
Huff— huff—
Calming his breath, Yuri stared straight ahead.
Dense undergrowth and thick forest path.
Beyond that, a faint white light.
Yuri’s face brightened.
‘Made it without being late.’
No need to check his watch.
His internal clock told him.
Time wasn’t up yet.
Slowly walking out of the exhausting forest he’d traversed.
The sight before him made Yuri’s eyes widen.
“...My god.”
He’d asked Jerry once.
How to find the circular arena in the central zone.
Jerry had chuckled.
[How? You don’t even need to look. If you’re nearby and miss it, you might as well be blind. You’ll feel it the moment you see it. Like, ‘Ah, that’s why they call it the Dragon’s Cradle.’]
It was true.
‘Yeah... missing that would be like being blind with eyes wide open.’
Yuri knew what a circular arena was.
A blood-soaked battleground for gladiators.
The one he’d briefly worked at could hold thousands and was among the continent’s largest.
But the ‘circular arena’ before him was on another level.
Its pristine white stone exterior screamed luxury at a glance.
The height alone looked over 50 meters.
The full size was too vast to take in at once.
This could seat not thousands, but tens of thousands—or more.
It was the most colossal structure Yuri had ever laid eyes on.
And what astonished him most.
‘That’s... all glowstone?’
The precious glowstones were embedded in the outer walls every few meters.
As if they’d jammed every glowstone in the world into it.
The arena’s surroundings glowed white, like moonlight had descended.
‘No wonder everyone calls it the Dragon’s Cradle.’
He’d known the Dragon’s Cradle was an artificial island made of gold.
But so what?
Hearing they’d used gold like water to build it didn’t make its scale sink in.
But this structure was different.
How much premium stone went into that behemoth?
How many glowstones studded it?
Estimating that finally made the Cradle’s wealth tangible.
Yuri could only stare at the circular arena in a trance, mesmerized.
That was when.
‘...?!’
Sensing presences approaching, Yuri snapped to.
His head turned right.
Hundreds of meters away, under the glowstone light of the arena, a few people appeared.
Yuri’s eyes gleamed.
‘All green epaulets... 48th Cohort.’
They milled about near the arena briefly before entering.
The implication was clear.
‘Midnight’s approaching.’
They’d likely gathered to use the special sale too.
Yuri’s movements grew hurried.
‘There was a clock tower above the passage those 48th Cohort guys entered. If that’s the west one... then mine’s this way.’
Jerry’s voice echoed in his mind.
[First- and second-year shops are only through the north entrance. Clock towers at all four cardinal directions, with entrances right below—easy to spot.]
[What? What if you enter another? Hell if I know. I don’t even consider that crazy idea. Shit, if you mess up and go east or west and run into 48th or 49th Cohort... who knows what they’ll do? Best not to go near.]
[...How’s the clock tower look? Stop asking already! Figure that minor crap out yourself later... Gah! F-Fine, I’ll tell you! Just get that damn anthill away!]
Per Jerry, first- and second-year shops were only via the north clock tower.
‘North... north clock tower.’
Muttering north to himself, Yuri skirted the arena’s outer wall northward.
After some time, finally.
“...Here it is.”
A jutting clock tower came into view.
The first one he encountered coming up from the west.
Definitely the north clock tower.
Unlike the west one where people were gathering, the north entrance was deserted, unused.
Confirming no presences nearby, Yuri looked up at the clock tower.
22:56.
‘That was close.’
Even hustling, he’d arrived with just an hour left.
One mishap, and he’d have missed it.
Relieved at making it safely, Yuri entered the entrance promptly.
Soon, the path split in two.
[Right after the entrance, it forks. For first-year shops, probably left. Second-years use the right now.]
Recalling Jerry’s advice, Yuri took the left without hesitation.
Just as he emerged from the left path, tension easing at “Almost there.”
Yuri’s figure froze.
A trembling voice escaped simultaneously.
“...Holy shit.”
His pupils shook as much as his voice.
He muttered in a deflated tone.
“Jerry, you never mentioned this...”
With those words, Yuri’s head slowly tilted from bottom to top.
0°.
30°.
45°.
60°.
90°.
His line of sight angled upward, head craning back, but the spiraling staircase’s end evaded view.
Finally bending backward fully, Yuri barely glimpsed the ceiling.
His gaze then descended slowly.
En route, black entrances at intervals on the stairs caught his eye.
Unmistakably, stairs and entrances to each floor.
Yuri quickly counted.
‘Even roughly, over ten?’
Meaning the circular arena had at least ten floors.
And...
“The shop I need is somewhere up there. Haha... hahaha!”
Yuri laughed in resignation.
The laughter soon turned to a sigh.
“Haaaa... damn it.”
Sighing deeply, Yuri tightened the loosened strap on his point box.
And.
Grit.
“Alright, let’s do this!”
Clenching his teeth, he charged forward.
‘No backing out now that I’m here.’
Then move.
No time for complaints.
Better to search one more floor!
“Hyah!”
With a short shout, Yuri dove into the nearest first-floor entrance.
One hour left until midnight.
At least ten floors to check.
Yuri’s desperate struggle began.