Instead of taking Black Dragon Coat, Raon stared at Ogram.
“Can you tell me what kind of bet you made with my head of house?”
“It’s not a difficult request.”
Ogram put the Black Dragon Coat on his shoulders and nodded. Raon noticed once more that his personality was so straightforward that it was almost disconcerting.
“I was the one who started it. I said that you were a kid with nothing but good looks going for you, then sneered that you would be eliminated from the tournament quickly.”
Since it wasn’t a strange opinion coming from the Beast Union, which valued strength, Raon simply nodded.
“And that’s when your old man butted in. He said that the other kids from Zieghart, not just you, wouldn’t lose to the Union kids.”
“Ah…”
Raon’s lips parted as he looked at Glenn. He thought he wouldn’t care at all about such a provocation, and that was why his reaction was unexpected.
“Ahem.”
Glenn cleared his throat, pretending he wasn’t interested in their conversation, and averted his gaze to drink his wine.
“That’s how we came up with this bet. I bet the Four Cloud Elixirs that I gave you and your old man…”
Ogram raised his finger and pointed at Heavenly Tremor, which was hanging around Glenn’s waist.
“He bet that sword.”
“He bet Heavenly Tremor?”
Raon’s jaw dropped upon noticing that Ogram’s finger was pointing at Heavenly Tremor.
‘He even bet his sword…’
Heavenly Tremor was pretty much Glenn Zieghart’s symbol. Raon couldn’t believe that he had actually wagered his sword over such a small tournament—and it was for the whole Light Wind squad, not just for Raon.
“My lord…”
“You even bet your Heavenly Tremor for our sake…”
Burren and Martha put their hands together while looking up at Glenn.
“Thank you!”
“My lord! Thank you for believing in us!”
The other Light Wind swordsmen also bowed to Glenn. Their teary eyes suggested that they would start crying at the smallest impact.
“Thank you.”
Raon also straightened his back and shoulder before he bowed politely to Glenn.
“It was a simple sideshow.”
Glenn shook his hand without showing any emotion and scoffed it off as nothing.
‘He must’ve begun to trust us now.’
Even though he called it a sideshow, a swordsman would never bet their sword unless they were sure of their victory. Raon’s heart pounded violently upon realizing that the group called Light Wind Squad must’ve earned his trust.
How about you stop betraying the King of Essence’s trust?
Wrath floated into the air and shoved his face into him. He frowned while pointing at his skinny cheek.
He’s starving right now!
‘I’ll let you eat to your heart’s content later. Please stay out of this for now!’
Argh!
Raon pushed Wrath away with the back of his hand and looked at Ogram.
“Please continue.”
“Since he bet his favorite weapon, I also had to act accordingly. I swore to give the Four Cloud Elixirs to every single one of you and bet this Black Dragon Coat on top of that.”
Ogram continued. His lighthearted speech sounded like it wasn’t a big deal.
“And as a result, that slightly crazy girl won the Expert division, and you won the Master division. I was thoroughly defeated with no room for any excuses.”
His cheerful smile didn’t disappear from his face even though he was talking about his defeat.
“I’ll give the elixirs to all of you, and I’d like to give Black Dragon Coat to you since I took a liking to you, and there was no mention of who I should give it to.”
Ogram picked up the Black Dragon Coat on his shoulder once again and offered it.
“The Black Dragon Coat is made from black dragon scales. Are you sure it’s okay to give it away?”
Unlike armor made from a pseudo-dragon or a hatchling’s scales, Black Dragon Coat was made from real dragon scales. It looked like an ordinary black coat, but it was an extremely precious treasure made entirely from dragon scales.
“A promise must be kept. The beast tribe doesn’t go back on their word.”
He nodded and said it was only natural to do so. He waved his hand to urge him to take it.
“Hmm…”
Raon looked at Glenn instead of taking the coat right away. Glenn nodded at him, implying that he should do as he wished.
“Well, I’m giving it to you, but you won’t be able to use it right away.”
“What? What does that mean…?”
“I made this with that crazy woman over there. That’s why it chooses its master.”
Ogram frowned and looked up at the platform. Chamber was eating chocolates, her fingers turned black, and she waved her hand with a smile.
“It’s rather picky, and you will need to surpass the wall before being able to handle it.”
Ogram walked up to him and personally put the coat over Raon’s formal suit.
‘It’s a bit too long…’
Raon was relatively tall, but the coat was dragging on the ground because the previous owner, Ogram, was almost two meters and thirty centimeters tall.
Whir!
When Raon was contemplating whether he should cut it to make it shorter, the Black Dragon Coat shivered and shrunk like fabric absorbing water to turn into the perfect length for his height. Its shape also changed from a rough shape that looked like a windbreaker into a noble and elegant appearance befitting his formal suit.
‘I feel like it fits my body perfectly.’
He couldn’t feel any inconvenience at all, as if he were wearing a custom-made coat. He couldn’t even notice that he was wearing the Black Dragon Coat over his formal suit.
“This is unexpected.”
Ogram stroked his beard while watching him.
“It didn’t accept you as master yet, but it acknowledged you.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It’s ready to serve you in the future.”
He patted Raon’s shoulder, saying that it was an incredible feat.
“Does the Black Dragon Coat actually have its own will?”
“It’s not as grandiose as that.”
Ogram shook his head.
“It can just decide whether it acknowledges its master and lends its power or not.”
He stared at the Black Dragon Coat with an ambiguous look in his eyes before taking another step toward Raon.
“It lends its power…”
Raon had the feeling that the Black Dragon Coat would have a special power, like the Blade of Requiem.
“Let’s stop talking about the Black Dragon Coat. I was curious, are you married already?”
Ogram shoved his face forward while standing right in front of Raon. His gaze felt like it was examining all over Raon’s body.
“Err…”
Raon’s jaw dropped.
‘Is that all?’
Ogram just gave him the Black Dragon Coat, which was famous all over the continent, yet he didn’t even boast about it. He was almost dumbfounded by how cool his personality was.
“…No.”
It was an unexpected question, but Raon immediately shook his head.
“Are you going out with anyone?”
“I’m not.”
“Perfect!”
Ogram laughed cheerfully and patted Raon on the shoulder.
“In that case, how about dating my daughter? She’s a cute and small girl.”
“About that…”
He was troubled by the ‘small’ part for some reason.
“Mona is small indeed.”
Raon turned his head upon hearing the deep voice from behind him. Garona was near him with a broad smile on his face.
“This was roughly her height the last time I saw her.”
Garona raised his hand to point at his own chin.
‘Are you calling that small? She must be over 190cm tall!’
Garona’s size was no less than Ogram’s. Since his chin was higher than the top of Raon’s head, she must’ve been at least 190cm tall.
He believed that height didn’t really matter for a woman, but he couldn’t accept that 190cm was small.
“We will become real brothers once you get married to Mona! Our brotherhood is already real though!”
“Yes, he is already your brother! You will be a perfect couple as long as Mona consents to it.”
Garona and Ogram blocked Raon’s way from front and back and laughed so loudly that his ears started to hurt.
“Hmm…”
The pressure coming from those giants that far surpassed two meters in height was intense, but he had to say his piece. He had no intention of getting married yet because he had a goal that he intended to risk his life to achieve.
“I have no intention to get married ye—”
“Woah, woah! How dare you take the initiative!”
When Raon was about to refuse, Chamber appeared from the thin air.
“We also have nice girls!”
She waved her staff slightly, and Princess Jayna appeared right in front of Raon even though she’d been far away from him.
“Kyah!”
Jayna dropped the fork she was holding and screamed.
“Our Jayna has a pretty face, a great background, and skills. Her personality is slightly…very slightly…touchy, but that’s actually a part of her charm.”
Chamber complimented Jayna regardless of her panic even though it didn’t exactly sound like praise.
“Ugh…”
Jayna blushed and hurriedly turned her head away upon meeting Raon’s eyes.
Raon chuckled upon noticing the mixture of anger and shame in Jayna’s expression.
“Ohh?”
Chamber’s lips parted as she looked back and forth between Jayna and Raon.
“What’s going on? What is this? Did the two of you already do it?”
“Not at all.”
Raon immediately shook his hand since she was completely mistaken.
Others might fall for her, but there was no way Raon would be on good terms with Jayna because he knew her real personality.
‘There’s no way I would go out with that bitch even if the whole world came to an end.’
You bitch! Start eating already!
* * *
* * *
“He’s turning out to be even more interesting.”
King Lecross smiled gently as he watched Raon say his piece with Ogram and Chamber on both sides of him.
“He’s the type of person who isn’t afraid of the strong but cares for the weak. It’s a rare personality nowadays. I can understand why such a young boy earned such an honorable name.”
“…I guess he’s always been different ever since his childhood.”
Glenn turned his eyes slightly to look at King Lecross and nodded.
“It must’ve been fun to watch him grow.”
“Not really. I wasn’t exactly interested in him.”
He shook his hand, pretending he didn’t know much about him.
“Is that so? What a shame.”
King Lecross lowered the corners of his lips as he said that it was regrettable that he couldn’t hear the stories of Raon’s childhood.
“Ahem.”
After a few seconds of silence, Glenn cleared his throat and opened his mouth.
“The first time he held distinction was when he was a temporary trainee. He used to suffer from a bad constitution, but he kept running until the end without collapsing during his first training…”
Sheryl’s jaw dropped as Glenn started to talk about Raon.
‘Is he really starting with that?’
He was starting with the stories of the temporary trainee period instead of after he grew up a bit more. Glenn must’ve been planning to tell the story of Raon’s entire life.
Sherly wanted to tell him to start with what Raon did after he grew up a bit more, but she was unable to stop him.
‘He looks so happy.’
Glenn looked like he was having so much fun talking about Raon’s childhood, and Sheryl couldn’t stop him from doing it.
‘Moreover…’
King Lecross also looked interested in that story, probably because he had a great impression of Raon.
“…That’s how Raon won the first duel he ever had.”
“Ooh, so he’s been distinguished ever since his childhood. I guess I should've expected it since my third son also praised Raon after he visited Zieghart.”
“I have more stories to tell. After he was finally approved as a trainee and started his real training, Martha…”
As Glenn was moving onto the stories of Raon’s trainee period, Derus slowly came up to the platform.
“Hmm…”
Glenn stopped the tale and called out to Derus.
“How is the Blade of Shattering Wave doing?”
“The diagnosis remains the same. It looks like he will be suffering from some aftereffects.”
Derus lowered his brows slightly and shook his head.
“Hmm…”
King Lecross frowned.
“We can’t sit here doing nothing since it happened in our country. We will do anything we can to help…”
“It’s alright.”
Derus shook his head gently.
“We are all aware that Cadis was the first one to harm his opponent. He’s reaping what he sowed.”
“Are you really fine with that?”
Glenn narrowed his eyes while looking at Derus. His serene eyes were telling him that he would help if necessary.
“You don’t need to worry about it. I have a few ideas about how to heal him. I’m satisfied with this outcome, as Cadis must have learned his lesson from this incident.”
Derus smiled faintly, saying that he was going to leave the next day in order to heal Cadis’s arm.
“You haven’t changed.”
“What a kind father.”
Glenn and King Lecross exclaimed in admiration for how much Derus cherished his son.
“Wow…”
“That’s the Sir Derus I know!”
“His kindness is unmatched.”
“He’s the reason the South is so peaceful.”
The other people in the banquet hall watched him with sparkling eyes upon hearing their conversation.
“Let’s stop talking about sad matters.”
Derus clapped his hands and picked up the wine glass.
“Since this is a rare occurrence where all of us have gathered, let’s have a toast.”
He raised his glass, and Glenn and King Lecross also raised theirs.
“Ah, let me join!”
Chamber was there before they knew it and made her juice cup float in the air.
“Are you trying to have fun without me?”
Ogram also jumped onto the platform and raised his beer glass.
The five glasses clinked, and the eyes of the Six Kings’ leaders were reflected on them. Everyone looked peaceful, except for Derus, whose eyes were as dark as a bottomless abyss.
“Woaaah!”
“Long live the Six Kings!”
“Let’s be together forever!”
No one inside the banquet hall noticed that fact and cheered for them with a round of applause, but there was one person who noticed Derus’s mental state.
Raon smiled while watching Derus wave his hand in response to people’s cheers.
‘He’s so angry. He’s extremely angry.’
Not only did his plan with Cadis end up in a failure, but Zieghart’s reputation was increased to reach the sky and Cadis was even handicapped. It was truly the worst outcome for him.
Despite his peaceful appearance, he was probably so angry that he wanted to rampage around.
‘Derus Robert… You are really an amazing man.’
He was still giving such a gentle smile despite his wrath. Raon had to admit that monstrous ability despite being an enemy. His patience was incomparable to Cadis’.
‘However… You won’t be able to stay patient with what comes next.’
Crimson sparks appeared in Raon’s eyes as he watched Derus.
‘Because the submarine dungeon treasures that you care so much about are going to disappear.’
