3 bar menu

Last Embryo Volume 3 Chapter 8 Part 4

Translator: DarkHeartedAlchemist

Feeling the gentle tap on his shoulder, quite different from the sudden sensation of the sharp horn poking him, Homura turned around once more. The one who called out to him this time was not an Eudemon or the member of any of the fantastical races, but someone who looked like a regular human just like Homura. He was taller than him, but aside from that, they looked to be of similar age. Even though the stranger had long bangs that were hiding most of his face from view, the one thing that could be seen from under them was a smile that looked somewhat unreliable. However, just the fact that he was able to call out to a total stranger in a place like this like it was something perfectly natural and obvious was a testament to him actually having some serious balls.

「Yes, of course you are, that much should have been obvious just by looking at you. In that case, why don’t I show you around this place? Having someone accompany you should be an infinitely better option than wondering around the place aimlessly with all those Eudemons around, especially if you can never be too sure about how are they going to act when there is a defenseless human near them, wouldn’t you agree?」

「That would certainly be a big help, so if you’re offering to be my guide then I will gladly take you up on that offer. To tell you the truth, I just arrived here from the Outer World, so admittedly I am still not used to Little Garden and the way things are handled in here. Anyway, mind telling me what is the deal with this bath? I knew it would be enormous, but looking at it now it is way bigger than it appears. What’s up with that?」

「Well, as much as I would like to explain to you how this bathhouse works in every possible detail, I am afraid that I do not know a thing about its inner workings. If anyone could shed some light onto that matter it would probably have to be Queen Halloween, since this type of special manipulation seems like something that would be just up her alley… oh, but where are my manners. Please forgive me, but I got so engrossed in the subject that I forgot to introduce myself, so allow me to fix that real quick. My name is Jin Russel. I am a Player participating in the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority much like yourself, though I feel compelled to add that I am nowhere near as important as you.」

The young man calling himself Jin Russell scratched his head with a helpless smile. Feeling strangely encouraged by this friendly gesture, Homura felt the need to respond in kind and so he introduced himself to him properly as well.

「The name’s Saigo Homura, though I suppose you would already know that if you watched the Exhibition Matches today. Anyway, let’s get along with each other.」

「Likewise, I am very pleased to meet you. While we are walking, would you mind telling me about your Exhibition Match in more details? For starters, hmm, let’s see… oh! The prize! 200,000 「Thousand Eyes’」 gold coins sure is a pretty hefty sum, huh?」

「Ah, so it came down to that after all, huh? Well, essentially you are right, that is quite a sum alright. If only I could actually claim at least some of it for myself though… ahh, you know what, screw it! I wanted to complain about it to someone so much that it was driving me crazy, so now that the opportunity has presented itself to me, I guess I will simply have to vent all of my frustrations while my anger and irritation are still going strong. This will probably turn into a huge rant on my part, but please bear with me, okay? I need this more than anything now.」

Having given Jin a fair bit of warning beforehand, Homura agreed to tell him about the Exhibition Match itself and the circumstances surrounding it as they proceeded to their destined bath. In the meantime, Jin listened attentively to everything Homura was willing to say about his situation in regards to the huge debt that Mikado Tokuteru made and then roped him and his friends into helping him repay it. He heard about how a young man named Arjuna made the debt in the first place, and that he turned out to be Tokuteru’s own flesh and blood son, and that as a result of that, Tokuteru tried to help him, which ended up backfiring terribly and caused him to steal the money that rightfully belonged to Homura. And to top it off, he even had the audacity to request his help with the repayment of the debt that was not even his to begin with by leaving him with no choice but to participate in every single Exhibition Match from today onwards. Conveniently enough, Homura’s little rant finished exactly in the moment when they have reached the particular bath that the strange Unicorn indicated to him before he happened upon Jin. When Homura finished talking, he placed a hand on his chin and began thinking about everything he had heard.

「…Heh. So, I think it is safe to say that rather than taking part in the 2^nd War for the Sun’s Authority of your own free will, you have been forced to participate, right?」

「Well, it’s more like my participation in this event has already been decided for me without me having anything to say in the matter. However, I can only have myself to blame for it. No matter how dire my situation was, I was the one who accepted the Queen’s invitation to Little Garden, so I guess that makes me the biggest fool of all.」

「I wouldn’t be so hasty with jumping to such conclusions if I were you. Thanks to that you managed to save both your own life and the lives of your friends, and as long as there is life, there is also hope, so be a little more proud of yourself for your quick judgement, okay? But enough about that for now. Let us switch to Arjuna for a bit, if you don’t mind of course. Think everything will go smoothly in regards to him?」

「Who knows? I haven’t really talked to the guy that much, so it’s hard for me to judge. Not to mention that I know very little about the legend that describes his achievements.」

「…I see. In that case you might want to be careful around him. He is not called the Oathbreaking Hero for nothing. If push ever comes to shove, rejecting him, even by using force, might be a valid option for you.」

「You might have a point there.」

Homura mumbled to himself while soaking in the bath all the way to his neck. Whatever his reasons for doing so might have been, Jin kept Arjuna as the main subject of their talk.

「If you want, I could recount his legend to you.」

「You know it, Jin?」

「It is a pretty famous one after all, so yes, I do know a thing or two about it. It even revolves around the theme of debt, much like your current predicament. In this story, he lost his entire country because he was bested at the game of dice.」

Hearing such a shocking fact completely out of the blue shocked Homura so much that he jumped back onto his legs in one swift motion.

「A c-country?! He lost an entire country because of gambling?!」

「That he did. Because he is what you might call a gambling addict. Because of his desire to win no matter the cost, he ended up losing everything he had after going one step too far. In the end, not only his country which he was supposed to protect, but also his own wife has been snatched away from him because of something as stupid as a lost bet.」

「Are you serious with me right now!?」

With a difficult expression on his face, Homura sank back into the bath. If what Jin said was true, then he couldn’t understand at all what was Arjuna’s logic back then. At which point in his life did things went so wrong for him to end up like that? And more importantly, he was already married when he was Homura’s age?! Homura’s mind was in such a disarray that he couldn’t even process the new information he was receiving properly.

Jin simply averted his eyes and continued his tale.

「I wish I was not, but unfortunately that is the truth. If you want, I can also explain why and how he came to be known under the shameful name of Oathbreaking Hero. How about it?」