Chapter 161: Sorting things out~1!
One of the pieces to open the gates of the ancient treasure was currently clutched in the hands of the Protagonist.
Arata's face was all bruised up, clothes were tattered like he was dragged on the path by nails and thorns and countless wounds inflicted at various corners of his body. Nothing seemed lethal, but Seth couldn't be sure whether one of those wounds was incurred with anything poisonous.
Arata's eyes remained drawn toward the ground without an ounce of movement detectable from the man. From Seth's perception, the protagonist has grown strong, once again, and this time it seems not only his physical aspect has just developed.
But those weren't the things that made Seth perplexed about this situation.
To attain the piece of the key to the treasure that Arata had in his possession, was hard to attain since the place this rune stone could be found was not just a regular public park or Seth would have obtained it long ago.
"Since you have this rune stone, it means...the Viper Claw organization..."
"....is annihilated... " A hoarse voice from Arata finished the trailed-off words which made it clear how Arata was able to obtain something that the criminal organization regarded as their prized possession.
Raven Viper's group of criminals weren't prominently strong or resourceful as the other leading groups with whom the nobilities have made some truce. Viper group was rather involved in black marketing and the auction department which surely kept them rather less resourceful when it comes to manpower but in terms of wealth, they could rival a Count-ranked noble as well.
However, even though Viper's gang was small compared to the ruling organization like the Black Cobras, they still had enough warriors to take down a small town all on their own without any external support.
In the novel, they had a great role in elevating the Protagonist's strength when Arata nearly lost Laila in the battle, his second step of awakening was unleashed and after a long-fought battle, Arata finally came out victorious.
That was the reason, Seth was thinking of assembling four of his shadow warriors at once and landing a full-blown assault with a limited amount of troops by his side to ensure that he gets the prize at the end of the chaos.
However, the work he thought of worth bringing elites alongside him, was actually done by a single person who evidently was weaker than Seth?
Indeed he had all the right to be astonished.
"Why are you giving me this? And why did you put your life to obtain the runestone?" Seth asked in a plain tone to which Arata answered something which Seth already expected.
"We...both know that...I can't die...the thing inside of me....it won't let me die so easily...so I thought why not be a little greedy?"
The Thunder Emperor inside Arata would also vanish alongside him so it was given that to protect Arata, the said Emperor would take charge of Arata's body and run havoc to eliminate any and every kind of danger surrounding him.
'So this was what he has been doing recently... '
During the period when Arata pretended to be in isolation after the Competition, he actually was planning and preparing to ambush the hideout and claim the runestone.
When everyone thought that Arata had drowned in the remorse of the failure he faced during the competition, he actually was betting his life on the line to obtain...it sounds baffling more than amazing.
"I am giving you this because I know you would obtain the other two pieces more efficiently than me...and truth be told I am not quite good with mind games...so you should take this."
It was true that the other two pieces couldn't have been acquired through brute force but if Arata would have hid the runestone after snatching it from the Vipers then it surely would have been a lot more difficult for Seth to locate the stone.
"And what do you need in return?" Seth asked. He was content with taking the stone from Arata but he need to know whether he could compensate the guy in return or not.
The thought of Arata asking Maydeath in return didn't seem implausible but Seth had no thought of using a person as his bargaining chip.
However, "I just need you to keep Maydeath out of danger and that would be enough for me to continue this journey from here on. "
Throwing the stone toward Seth, Arata turned on his heels and made his way out of the student council office where only these two were present after the schooling hours.
A sigh leaked from his lips as Seth rubbed his thumb over the runestone while thinking about Arata and his devotion toward Maydeath.
'Well...he's strange but who cares... ' Packing the stone in his dimensional storage and collecting all the files in his bag, Seth cleaned up his working table before he got up to leave.
'Hmm?' Not even ten steps into the lobby and Seth sensed someone hiding at the far end of the corridor, watching him.
Not only their soul energy but their mind was cluttered with so much thought that it became pretty naked for Seth to catch the person without even trying.
"Three seconds. Come out or headache and nausea would be the least of things you would have to worry about." Seth limited his threat to the level where he wouldn't break any rule of the academy since who knows that maybe some professor was trying to spy on him.
'Huh?' Seth blinked in surprise. Even though he expected that some teacher might be hiding from him, he looked astounded upon actually finding one walking out of the shadows in pure embarrassment.
Her face was matching the glow of the setting sun as with her hand crossed behind her back, the woman in her early twenties, finally parted her lips to state her request, "C-Can we chat...a bit?"
It has been so long that Seth felt Haruka would never talk to him ever again but right now she was here. No thought-influencing spell and no alcohol could have made her do things she might regret afterward.
Seth didn't think much before he nodded and walked along with Haruka toward her office.
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A/N: - Sorry for the short chapter. The following one would be long, fluffy, and hot. Drop a comment if you are excited~