Chapter 40, Third Choice
In the Golden Palace, Seraph stared at the young woman sitting opposite him. [Another newcomer? It's only been a few days, why are there already four children here? His face is covered in wounds, but he just received medicine, so he can't give them anything. So why are they here?]
The Queen sat in her chair, her face still expressionless, staring at Seraph with a calm expression.
Seraph stared with sadness. [He's the type of person whose expression is unpredictable, as if he's standing in front of a wall, unsure of what to do. He didn't know what to do because he was so empty. He didn't show any fear at all.]
"What do you want? This is the Organization of Fate. We're gathered because of fate. To put it simply, it's about resisting fate. We're gathered here because our current fate isn't good, so we want to resist the fate we're facing. My name is Mr. Zero. What do you desire? What do you seek? What do you want to change? What help do you need?" You can tell me about it.
[That would be nice. Because of this, I can understand the meaning of the people who come here. Everyone was seriously injured by something terrible. They wanted to change something, so they came here. At least tell me a little bit so I'll know why they came.]
Queen looked around. "I need money. To heal my friends. I'm willing to trade anything, so please help my friends."
"Sure, money." [Where's the money going to come from? I just paid for the medical bills at Barrier. Where's the money going to come from? But if it's a magical item, it's probably there. I'd call Mr. One to give me medicine, but I don't know when he'll come. I don't know how to summon him. Let's put it this way. Selling a treasure would bring a good price. But what would I give? I have only a few things.
Each item is useful to me. How about the cloak I got from Mr. Two? At least that man's item could be exchanged for my Cloak of Light. I'd be able to sell it.] Seraph reached out and grabbed something from the One Hundred Percent Luck system.
Seraph pulled out a blue cloak and placed it on the table. "This is a cloak. Please take it and sell it. It'll probably be expensive, since it's a level five cloak. You'll have to find your own skills. This cloak could be very valuable if you think it's better to sell it." [Because I've never used it myself, and the person who gave it to me doesn't know anything about it.]
Queen bowed her head in thanks. "Thank you very much."
Seraph looked at the young woman's face. [At such a young age, seeing such a cruel incident is irritating.] Queen walked over and took the cloak as Seraph had instructed. Seraph warned her, "Don't tell anyone about this. You understand, right?" Queen bowed her head in thanks and disappeared. Whoosh!
Seraph returned to his original spot, preparing to train. His gaze fell on Serin's face, who was standing there looking at his child. [He almost looked so shocked he thought it was a ghost. Standing there at night like this is heartbreaking.] "Good night." Seraph placed the energy stone down and began to sleep.
At Symphonium, Queen warped back with a blue cloak.
Olion ran in and saw Queen waiting for her with the cloak. "Where did you get it?"
"I'll explain later. Follow me." Queen took Olion's cloak and covered her entire body before walking out.
After a while, they arrived at their destination. Vinceris was lying on the ground, suffering from serious wounds. Vinceris saw two girls approaching.
Queen stopped in front of Vinceris. "How long do you think you'll last?" [Vinceris is in critical condition. There's a high chance of death. If we don't quickly find a high-level healing potion, this child will surely die. I want to use this magical cloak, but I probably won't be able to. If I could use this cloak, I'd make a lot of money. But right now, I need the money. The problem is where will I find a buyer? The chance of death increases even more if they start investigating the cloak's origins. Olion will be affected too. Think about it, Queen. The best way to speed up the process of earning money to buy medicine.]
Queen looked at the cloak, thinking of Zero's face. [If you think it's better to sell it, is that person trying to change me?
My own destiny. Perhaps that person is watching from somewhere, and has chosen me with a high probability. The little money in my pocket and the fifth-level cloak, telling me to become stronger? Using the cloak, surely someone so great must have unseen healing medicine because they wanted to see me decide. If they could get the money by selling the cloak, or using the money in this bag to buy energy crystals to train to become a first-class martial artist, perhaps they'd give me this blue cloak to choose which path I'd choose.] Queen took a deep breath.
"Vinceris, how long do you think you can last?"
Vinceris nodded, her bleeding and breathing heavily. "Don't worry about it. It's just a minor injury."
Olion walked over and sat beside Vinceris. "So, what's next, boss?" This is the right time to steal money.
Queen shook her head in denial. "If you try to steal again, we'll both end up in jail, and Vinceris will die here. So, I plan to rise to the level of a first-class warrior. If I can use this cloak, my strength will increase. This cloak is a fifth-level magical item, and selling it will likely be rejected. Anyone who knows about it will come and steal it. We'll all die. Vinceris, can you endure two days?"
Vinceris nodded. "Of course, two days is possible. Do your best. Do what you think is possible. This is what I've followed you for, and this is the risk."
Olion looked at Queen. "Go all out. I'm on your side. The world doesn't care about us. This is your chance to challenge your life."
Queen nodded, changing clothes and wiping the blood off. Queen ran at full speed. Time passed quickly. Queen arrived at a shop, a recovery drugstore. An old woman smiled. "What do you want, little warrior? What do you want from this shop?"
The Queen took a deep breath. "I want to exchange for a level five magical item and a healing potion."
The old woman looked at the Queen. [With such old clothes, you can even exchange for a level five magical item? And you're trading at a potion shop? This kid is really good at tricking old people.] "This kid isn't a toy shop."
The Queen placed a blue cloak on the table. "Here, this magical cloak can be inspected."
The old woman picked up the cloak and examined it, her disdainful expression changing. [Awesome, awesome! This is a level five magical item.] "Ahem. Then let's negotiate a price. You stole it! We have to buy it cheap because we have to bear the risk. The price is um, um, um."
The Queen opened her mouth to speak.
"I'll take one bottle of advanced healing potion, please." And three high-level energy crystals to become a first-rank martial artist. That's all I need. The rest, I won't take, as payment for keeping my mouth shut.
"Okay, three crystals for becoming a first-rank martial artist and an advanced healing pill, a third-rank healing pill. You've come to the right place." The old woman handed the items to the Queen. The Queen took them and ran away.
The old woman stared at the girl's back and wounded face. "Looks like you have a bright future ahead of you. At this age, you can even possess a fifth-rank magical cloak. You're quite capable. Interesting. Whatever. This business is 90% profitable, so I don't want to bother this kid anymore. Speaking of which, there must be a source. Don't keep this magical resource to yourself.
Queen ran to her destination and handed Vinceris a bottle of advanced healing potion. "This is advanced healing potion, please take it."
"What have you been up to?" Olion asked, as Vinceris couldn't speak.
"Exchange a level five magical cloak for healing potion and three training crystals to advance to level one."
"What a crazy thing to do. I accept your command." Olion took the bottle of healing potion and gave it to the unconscious, exhausted Vinceris.
"What's your next target? You've probably already thought about it."
"We'll flee the city. After we reach level one, I'll take this to the pharmacy to sell to a potentially weak martial artist. At least from what I've read in books, there's not much of a gap between early-stage martial artists. If the three of us reach level one, we'll be able to hunt magical beasts. That cloak is too dangerous for us to keep. So, this is the decision. We'll rise to the top of the ranks of martial arts. We'll set out to attend academies to train. Each school, if we get good grades, offers free tuition. Experience alone won't do. We need to learn more to increase our wisdom.
"By the Queen's orders. No, should I be the Queen? After all, your name is the same as the Queen's." And so, the group of three children, led by the Queen, decided to leave the city.