Akira Mitarai and his Spirit-branded Retainer left.
Only Seiji was left sitting alone in the private room, facing the three cups of coffee that hadn't been touched yet as he watched them cool.
His cell phone rang.
Seiji took it out and saw that it was indeed Summer Night.
"Hey, Seiji! Are you alright!? "
Grand Mistress Natsuya's voice immediately sounded the moment he picked up the call.
She felt nervous and worried when she saw his message, so she immediately contacted him.
"I'm fine, Summer Night …" Seiji replied, but he realized that his tone was rather grim, so he coughed.
"Akira Mitarai has already left. He only said a few words to me." His tone returned to normal.
"… What did he say?"
"'Take the money and scram; don't block my way.'"
"Eh?"
"That's roughly what he said to me." Seiji chuckled.
Summer Night remained silent.
"He must be afraid of the Haruta Family, and felt that it would be too risky to directly kill me, so he did this." Seiji paused for a moment. "It seems that even though I'm exiled, I'm still under my family's protection."
"Seiji …"
"I was too arrogant, Summer Night." Seiji leaned back against the sofa and turned to look outside. "Even though I'm clearly lacking in power, I still feel so good about myself that I can do something. What an idiot."
Summer Night didn't know what to say.
"I'm sorry, I wasn't able to stop that guy from calling you by your name, nor was I able to beat him up on the spot."
"What?"
"I really wanted to punch his face! Just like during the Winter Snow Festival, but his Spirit-branded Retainer was right next to me … so I could only endure it. "Seiji's voice was filled with reluctance.
Summer Night was rendered speechless.
The Grand Mistress didn't know what expression she was wearing right now.
"I'm currently far too weak. Although I'm steadily increasing my power level, it's still not enough. I need to increase my power level even faster," Seiji said in a serious tone.
"Summer Night, is there a place where I can cultivate in seclusion? It's the kind that can absorb natural energy and transform after staying in there for a while. "
"Transform my ass! No. "
"A place where I can obtain powerful summoned beasts is fine too."
"Nope!"
"I can also try the sealed Ancient Treasured Artifacts."
"Even if there is, I can't let you go!"
There really is?
"I'm serious. Is there really no way to increase your strength in a short period of time?" Seiji asked seriously.
"This isn't a shonen manga …" Summer Night sighed. "Seriously speaking, there are ways to do that, but most of them do more harm than good …"
Suddenly, she paused, as if she had thought of something.
"Have you thought of a good way?"
"No … nothing."
"I don't think it's nothing. You must have thought of something. Please tell me what it is," Seiji pursued.
"… I don't want to tell you." Summer Night softly refused.
"Then I'll have to ask Grand Mistress Fujiwara. If she can't give me a good way, I'll have to ask Grand Mistress Haruta … although I don't know if I'll be able to ask her."
"… Are you serious?"
"I've already said that I'm serious."
Wanhua Grand Mistress fell silent.
Then she sighed.
"You're already improving very quickly. There's no need to force yourself. Seiji … Just quit …"
"I really don't like that guy! I want to beat him up and smash that stinky face of his. " Seiji interrupted her and said in a deep voice, "Don't ask me to do as that guy says, Summer Night."
'I won't leave you!'
Natsuya felt as if she could hear Seiji's words clearly.
Warmth surged in her heart, giving her an indescribable feeling.
"Tell me, just what method is it?" Seiji asked again.
"I won't be impulsive. I'll make my own decisions. You don't need to worry that I'll blindly do something foolish." He even promised.
Summer Night almost laughed out loud.
'You're doing something foolish right now! Idiot!! ' She viciously retorted in her mind.
It was truly impossible to reason with idiots.
That was why she could only go along with his wishes.
"… Challenger's Bloodwine."
"What?"
"I was just participating in a family meeting. During the meeting, I learned this information," Summer Night explained.
"The Kurosaki Family, one of the seven major families, and the Himiki Family have jointly researched the Challenger's Bloodwine for many years. It's basically completed.
"So-called 'Challenger's Bloodwine.' Simply speaking, it's a 'wine' that many Spiritual Ability users sign a contract and then battle against each other. The loser pays up their Spiritual Blood to create a 'wine' that can increase one's Spiritual Power and Mana. Only the winner can drink it.
Basically, this is a ritual that sacrifices the loser in order to increase the winner's power level. If enough Spiritual Ability users participate in the battle, then the winner will be able to greatly increase his or her power level. "
Seiji was rendered speechless.
There was a subtle sense of déjà vu here.
Multiple participants fighting, with the loser sacrificing himself and the winner benefiting … wasn't this just like the Saint Battle!?
It really did seem quite similar. If all the participants were Yin-Yang Masters and Spirit-branded Retainers, that would be the equivalent of a master and heroic spirits. And the Bloodwine that could increase one's power would be the equivalent of the Holy Grail, a perfect copy of the Saint Battle!
No … he couldn't say it like that. In the end, the Saint Battle was nothing more than a "martial arts competition". It was the same for the Challenger's Bloodwine ritual. They were both similar events, so there was no such thing as a copy.
"It's said that the loser who gives up their Spiritual Blood will receive damage to their body or soul, but it's not impossible to recover. It'll take anywhere from one month to half a year for them to fully recover. And, the winner who drinks the Bloodwine won't suffer any side effects.
"If this is true, then this ritual has tremendous value. However, only the Kurosaki Family and the Himiki Family have secretly tested it. It hasn't been publicly tested yet.
Right now, they're currently preparing for the first public ritual. It's tentatively scheduled to be held in January of next year. They'll invite representatives from all the major families and factions to witness the ritual. They'll also allow a certain degree of inspection or verification. "
"Without actually witnessing the ritual, even if one of the Seven Great Families guarantees the ritual, people will still have their doubts, right?" Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation.
"Yes. Increasing one's power level without any side effects is quite attractive to Spiritual Ability users. But that's precisely why we need to be especially cautious," Summer Night told him in a heavy tone.
"Even if the Challenger's Bloodwine truly has no side effects like they say, participating in the battle itself is a highly risky action. It's possible to be seriously injured, defeated, or even killed."
A moment of silence fell between them.
"If you want to become stronger in a short period of time, you'll need to take such a risk. As the saying goes, there's no such thing as a free lunch in this world," Seiji stated calmly.
"Seiji …"
"Thank you for telling me all this. I'll carefully consider it. I won't impulsively participate just like this." Seiji chuckled.
"… I'll try my best to obtain more detailed information about this ritual. I'll show it to you when the time comes." Summer Night sighed.
"That's good. Thank you so much."
"Don't say that … I'm the one who's …"
She wanted to say something, but was unable to say anything else.
She then hung up on him.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
