Chapter 35: Chapter 35 : Shocking Accounts

“What are you planning to buy with your share?”

“Probably a new gun. I’m thinking a rifle. I've been itching to put down a few monsters. What about you?”

“Me, I’ve been saving for a car. Greg connected me to his buddy in Popleigh and I’m going to buy it through him. Just a bit away, so I'll use my share for that.”

“Oh, nice. I’ve thought about getting one myself, but there's hardly enough well-made roads to justify the purpose."

"That's why I'm getting an off-roader."

"That would solve it. Haha.”

In Golden Jug, the crowd of well-offs were jubilantly discussing their future plans regarding their winning shares. They couldn’t conceive of any other future.

Knowing they had to wait, they got comfortable, eating snacks, drinking liquor, and playing card games.

Jeff watched them from the counter with a smirk on his face. ‘These idiots have no idea. I can’t wait for - ah, they’ve arrived.’

After Jeff did, the others too registered Greg and Moriya’s arrival.

Taking in the two’s postures at the doorway, Jeff frowned. ‘Huh, did Ralf not win? No way.’

This was the natural conclusion from the body language exuded by the two. The crowd of wealthy Ganurgians read it clearly; wide smiles bloomed on each of their faces.

At the front, Moriya stood. Chest out, a slight smile on his face and nose tilted up; there was an unbridled smugness radiating off him. Meanwhile, Greg a few steps back seemed to be experiencing double the gravity of everyone else. He was the picture of gloom, shoulders dropped and head hung low. Just looking at him, one could imagine a regretful sigh being yawned at any second.

After lingering at the entrance for a moment, the two moved. A confident stride was taken by one, whereas a trudge was taken by the other. The despondency on display by Greg only furthered the joy in the crowd’s heart, with some already chuckling to themselves.

Joan saw this as well. Seeing Greg’s especially sad face, she decided to hold back on her usual biting remarks. “I’ll give you one bottle on the house, what will it be?”

Hearing Joan’s words, Greg's face flickered with life. “Ah, thanks Joan. I’ll have a Mirage then.”

“Coming up champ,” she said with a nod.

Moriya saw this and smiled wryly.

On the carriage ride over, Greg had told him to play along. Moriya usually wasn’t one for pranks, but this time was different. Despite his dress sense, he was far from graceful. If he was getting salt poured into his wounds, then so were others. With this in mind, he played along.

‘Hmm, they fell for it, now it's time for the twist.’

At the thought, the melancholy on his face faded away and a delightful glee surfaced.

Turning away from the counter, he faced the crowd. Instantly, faces flickered. His expression was unbecoming of a loser. Before they could question this, his words sounded out.

“It's time to pay up.”

A spell of confused silence followed the words.

The crowd agreed with his words but found Greg’s expression while saying these words very strange.

“Yes…now would be the time to pay up. So, go ahead,” Markus, the first to recover, said.

Greg’s smile widened.

“I meant you guys.”

“What!?”

A string of exclamations sounded from the crowd in response. Greg’s words coloured each face thick with incredulity. The crowd snapped their necks to Moriya in questioning.

“What’s Greg talking about?"

“Moriya, you won right?”

Moriya's proud expression from a second ago crumbled at their questions. Turning bitter, he shook his head.

“Nope, I lost, and terribly at that.”

“Impossible.”

“There’s no way!”

“I don’t believe it, a random kid beat you, impossible.”

Moriya sighed. “It's true. I wouldn’t lie to you, would I”

His words silenced the crowd. Moriya and Greg’s dispositions were well known. They wouldn’t run a scam, and with their wealth, they didn’t need to either. But even if they did, using the setting of a random kid showing up and winning didn’t make sense.

“It is hard to believe that some random kid just popped up and beat Moriya like that," Greg paused for emphasis, "until you know his full name, that is.”

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“Full name? What’s his full name?” Markus questioned with a wrinkled forehead.

Greg smiled and said, “Ralf…Fawkes, that is his full name.”

Hearing the surname, everyone except Jeff, had the light of understanding visit them. The incomprehensibility of the situation was resolved in an instant. It wasn’t as prodigious as the Astor bloodline, but the Fawkes bloodline had produced quite a few aberrants.

“Wait, is he even related? The Fawkes family is based in Astana, why would any be in Zudrad?”

Greg shrugged. “Beats me. He doesn’t have red hair either, but he said he was a descendant of the Fire Spirit, and I believe him. His talent is proof enough.”

The crowd agreed. Gloom followed. The realization that they were on the losing side of the bet sunk in, causing the crowd’s faces to collectively scrunch up.

Amidst the crowd’s descent into sorrow, Greg’s beard jiggled as his laughs bellied out.

“Hahahaha…”

The sight of their sorrowful faces only provided fuel for his laughter. It was a long laugh, one only the victor could laugh.

“Hahaha…what’s with those expressions. Don’t worry, your buddy Greg ain’t stingy. Drink your sorrows away, the tab is on me,” he announced.

“Whoa!”

“As expected of old Greg”

Hearing his words, the crowd's mood picked up. And in an immediate act of revenge, they started ordering plenty of expensive alcohol and snacks at Greg’s expense.

Greg read their intentions, but let it be.

Joan, who had been a bit peeved after finding out she fell for Greg’s trickery lightened up as well. The number of orders quickly brought a smile to her face.

Jeff came rolling into the fray. “Looks like we chose correctly Greg. Here’s to Ralf", he said while lifting his drink. Greg did the same, and the two clacked their mugs before downing a portion.

Finishing first, Jeff asked, “So, what was the end result? You said 'terribly', so what? Five two? Five one?”

“Five zero.”

Both Jeff and the crowd listening in were taken aback by the result.

Greg smiled. “Don’t be too surprised yet. Moriya, do you want to tell them or should I?”

“You do it. Saying it myself will cause my tongue to fall off.” Moriya grabbed his mug’s handle and downed a mouthful of liquor, strong liquor, and swallowed, hoping that the memories currently circulating his head would see themselves out and never return.

Greg patted his friend on the shoulder, then turned to the crowd. “I’ll do the honours then. To begin, let's go back in time. Yesterday, I was at this very bar, drinking away the previous day’s defeat. After pulling myself up by the bootstraps, I headed out. While walking, I thought to visit the Fountain of Luck, and that's where it all started...”

Greg proceeded to go through everything in great and flowery detail. From their initial meeting to the match’s conclusion only minutes ago.

When he stopped, nearly ten minutes later, all around him were wide-eyed.

“He managed to instantly memorize the newspaper, are you for real?” Moriya asked, baffled. This detail was the one that stuck out the most to him.

Greg nodded. “The kid’s a natural Natural. When he shows up later, you can ask him to show you. As soon as I saw that, I knew he would win.”

“He has Natural level aptitude, that makes sense.”

“Hmm, Jeff, I’ve been meaning to ask. Why did you also go for Ralf? Also, what’s with the wheelchair?”

“Yeah, what’s with the wheelchair?”

As soon as Greg brought it up, others jumped in as well.

Jeff smiled. The stage has been set. It was now finally time.

“Guess it’s my turn. Everybody listen up.”

When everyone’s attention gathered around him, he began his tale. Just like Greg’s account, Jeff's story caused great shock to unfold in the minds of his audience.

The happenings in the training hall were run through, from Ralf defeating the Psi monsters to the sparring match with Rei. The former was a cool story but the latter was the one that stuck out in people's minds. To aid his explanation, he used his Psi to create figures which he used to illustrate the battle. Also, despite recounting his defeat, not a hint of shame could be detected from him, only vigour and excitement, which naturally rubbed off on the crowd.

Seeing their reactions scratched an itch inside the young man. He wasn’t the most skilled storyteller around, but with the story in question, he didn’t need to be.

“Smart and skilled in combat. Another Fawkes prodigy. I’ll have to share some words.”

“Me too. Greg can’t hog such a golden goose.”

By the end, ‘Ralf Fawkes’ was the name on everyone’s tongue. The discussions held in Golden Jug at this very moment would soon ripple out to the rest of Ganurg…and then beyond.

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