Chapter 156
Chapter 156
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 156
Chapter Title: Athena Hopper (3)
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“So that’s how you and I ended up fighting.”
Demian, who had been eating breakfast in his lodging, heard the utterly unexpected remark.
“No need to drag it out. Let’s meet this evening. Come to the central clearing then.”
Caught off guard by the sudden turn of events, Demian could only stare blankly at Athena Hopper, his food half-chewed in his mouth.
“Oh, and I’ve already taken down all the others. So if you beat me, you win the bet. Not that it’ll happen, of course.”
With that, Athena turned and left.
It was only after she had gone quite a distance that Demian snapped out of it.
“What the hell is going on all of a sudden?”
He had anticipated that after Neil Hopper picked a fight yesterday, the other first-generation Sacred Bloods would challenge him one by one.
But he hadn’t expected Athena to go around knocking them all out.
“She takes after the Mercenary King, alright.”
In her sheer bullheadedness. The Mercenary King had shown up out of nowhere and hired Demian as a free knight, after all.
He was just about to resume his meal when the tent flap lifted, and the Mercenary King entered. Overnight, dark circles had formed heavily under his eyes.
“……Demian Haksen, let’s talk.”
The Mercenary King plopped down in the seat across from him as he spoke.
Demian looked at him and began spooning up his stew.
“Rude brat. An elder shows up, and you don’t even ask if he’s eaten?”
“Have you eaten, sir?”
“Never mind. It’s not like you’re kowtowing or anything.”
The Mercenary King grumbled. Then he glanced sidelong at Demian and muttered.
“What’s so handsome about that face…… It’s driving me insane.”
“So why are you here?”
“Athena was just here, wasn’t she?”
Demian swallowed his food and nodded.
“No long talks. Forfeit the duel.”
Demian looked at the Mercenary King in surprise.
“You’re threatening me like this because if I beat Athena, you’ll lose the bet?”
“What nonsense is that! It’s obvious you’ll lose anyway—why would I threaten you!”
The Mercenary King scowled and snapped.
“Then why are you asking me to do this?”
“Well…… that is…… haa…….”
The Mercenary King let out a deep sigh.
“……Athena’s taken an interest in you.”
Demian nearly spat out the food in his mouth.
“……What did you just say?”
“I didn’t want to say it either! But it’s the truth—what can I do!”
The Mercenary King burst out, then shook his head and sighed in lament.
“Damn it…… Why would that cute kid be interested in a guy like you…….”
“Seems you’ve forgotten. I’m right here listening to all this.”
“The silver lining is it’s just interest for now. Just a bit of attention, nothing more. So don’t get cocky!”
“Don’t worry. I have zero intention of getting full of myself over something like this.”
At those words, the Mercenary King’s eyes widened to twice their size.
“You little…… You just spout whatever comes out of that hole you call a mouth! My daughter shows interest, and you call it ‘something like this’?”
“Just one at a time, please. One thing.”
Demian spoke to the Mercenary King with a weary expression.
“So why are you telling me to forfeit the duel?”
“What if her interest grows during the duel! I want to completely eliminate that risk!”
The Mercenary King shuddered as if the mere thought disgusted him.
“I get the gist of your situation…… But why should I drop the duel? There’s nothing in it for me.”
At Demian’s question, the Mercenary King pulled something out as if he’d been waiting.
It was a booklet made of old paper.
The cover read ‘Azure Water Vitality Method’.
“It’s a mana cultivation method created a hundred years ago. You can practice it alongside other methods without issue. Master it properly, and it’ll even make your body younger.”
The Mercenary King spoke to Demian with a confident expression.
“The spirit elixirs you said you needed are too precious to give away. So I’ll hand over this instead.”
Demian tore his gaze from the Azure Water Vitality Method and looked at the Mercenary King.
“I guarantee it. If you duel, Athena will win. Then you lose the bet and everything with it, don’t you?”
Their conversation continued until Demian’s plate was empty. He set down his spoon on the bare dish.
“So forfeit instead, take this mana cultivation method, and leave. Then…….”
“Let’s pretend this offer never happened.”
Demian cut off the Mercenary King.
“What?”
“You said I’ll lose and forfeit everything, but I think the exact opposite. Backing down now would cost me too much.”
The Mercenary King glared at Demian in disbelief.
“Overconfident? Or just arrogant?”
“Forgot already? I’ve beaten every Sacred Blood I’ve fought so far?”
“Urk.”
Even the Mercenary King had no retort to that.
“Hmph. Don’t come regretting it later.”
The Mercenary King tucked the Azure Water Vitality Method back into his bosom and left.
“He should’ve brought something worthwhile.”
Once the Mercenary King was gone, Demian muttered in dissatisfaction.
Right now, Demian had no need for some youth-restoring mana cultivation method.
He needed a foundational mana cultivation method to ascend to Master Class.
“Guess the Mercenary King really does dote on Athena Hopper.”
He’d heard it from the mercenaries yesterday, but hadn’t quite believed it. It was so different from what he knew.
“I heard she was disowned once in my past life.”
When the Pafnir Mercenary Corps split, Athena Hopper had chosen to oppose the Mercenary King, leading to her disownment.
Even after the infighting ended, they’d gone their separate ways for a while with no contact, until various interests entangled and they barely reconciled.
“Maybe because Pandemonium hasn’t started scheming yet?”
The split in the Pafnir Mercenary Corps had been due to the schemes of Pandemonium’s black mages.
Ever since arriving at the corps, Demian had been tracking signs of Pandemonium.
But he’d found none anywhere. It seemed Pandemonium hadn’t made a move yet.
“Better to catch them early if possible.”
Demian was stroking his chin in regret when the tent flap opened again. Someone entered—a familiar yet unfamiliar face.
It was Maxwell Hopper, one of the first-generation Sacred Bloods.
“Demian Haksen, come with me.”
Maxwell Hopper spoke with a face mixed with anger and irritation.
“Great Aunt wants to meet you.”
* * *
According to the information Demian had gathered from the mercenaries, the Pafnir Mercenary Corps had several factions.
The core of every faction was one of the Mercenary King’s lovers. They banded together to form factions and check each other.
The largest among them was the one Maxwell Hopper belonged to.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Clea Fowler.”
A middle-aged woman greeted Demian.
Clea Fowler.
The Mercenary King’s first woman, and the mother of his first son.
And the leader of the largest faction in the corps.
“Have a seat first. Can’t leave a precious guest standing.”
Demian sat and observed Clea Fowler.
On the surface, she appeared to be a very kind middle-aged woman.
“I’m not sure if I’m allowed in here.”
The place Clea Fowler had invited Demian to was where the Mercenary King’s lovers resided.
He had entered the men-forbidden zone.
“It’s only forbidden to enter without permission. Invited guests are fine. Of course, being alone with one isn’t.”
The tent wasn’t just Clea Fowler and Demian. Maxwell Hopper and another woman were there too.
The woman glared at Demian with extreme displeasure.
‘Master Class.’
She wasn’t hiding her presence, so it was immediately clear. That woman was undoubtedly Master Class.
“Why did you want to see me?”
“Straight to the point, I see. Shall we get down to business then?”
Clea Fowler gestured. The woman Master Class tossed a pouch in front of Demian.
Demian opened it and checked the contents. Three black spirit pills were inside.
“Special spirit elixirs made by the Elixir Refining Sect. Just one will greatly boost your mana.”
Demian examined the spirit pills and asked.
“Why give these to me?”
“I want you to crush Athena.”
Demian looked up at Clea Fowler. She still wore a gentle smile.
“From what I’ve heard, you’re very interested in the corps. You know the general situation, right?”
“I heard the factions are competing for the successor position.”
“You know the details.”
Clea Fowler sighed as she spoke.
“Already so many rivals, and now the Mercenary King’s suddenly protecting that child? I don’t need to tell you how unpleasant that is.”
Demian didn’t bother replying. Clea Fowler didn’t seem to expect one.
“So I want to see that child get a proper thrashing this time…… But apparently, she knocked out Maxwell in one go?”
“Great Aunt, that was…….”
“Shut your mouth.”
Clea Fowler’s voice sharpened. Maxwell Hopper clamped his lips shut.
“You lost like an idiot—where do you get off butting in?”
Her previously kind face seemed a lie; her eyes gleamed cold and venomous like a serpent’s.
“Ah, sorry. Back to it…… Athena’s talent is even greater than I thought. But I want you to win, no matter what.”
“So you’re giving me these?”
Demian looked at the spirit pills as he spoke. Clea Fowler nodded with a smile.
“I like things certain. Consider it a pure gesture of goodwill—no need to feel burdened.”
Demian let out a hollow chuckle at her words.
As if there’d be no burden.
These spirit pills had been made with black magic, after all.