Chapter 101

Blaine didn’t immediately grasp what he had just heard. He stood there blankly for a moment before tilting his head and asking back, “Pardon?” Daize tugged on his arm as if to lead him away.

“Shall we go somewhere to talk? I don’t think this is a conversation to have here or at the guild house.”

He was being reckless. Startled, Blaine was dragged along for a few steps, but he soon violently shook off Daize’s hand.

“What are you doing?”

Blaine’s strength was apparently greater than expected, as Daize stumbled significantly. Daize reached out with an exaggerated gesture as if asking to be caught, crying out, “Whoa, whoa!” but Blaine didn’t even blink.

Eventually, Daize regained his balance on his own and tried to act as if he were fine, but he couldn’t hide his cheeks, which were flushed with embarrassment. An even more awkward atmosphere settled between the two, who were already on uncomfortable terms.

Since they were in front of the warp point, numerous passing players glanced their way, forcing the two to move to the edge of the street to continue their conversation.

“Why are you suddenly asking me to lend you money?”

The tone Blaine used was harder than expected. A look of frustration crossed Daize’s face. Seeing how Blaine acted around Theo—smiling and acting like a pushover—Daize thought he would be easy to manipulate, but he was colder than he had anticipated.

After a moment’s hesitation, Daize began to speak haltingly with a more pitiful expression.

“I’m sorry. I know it’s shameless to ask such a favor from someone I haven’t known for very long, but I really have nowhere else to ask… I’m… a bit short on next month’s town maintenance fees…”

Blaine’s eyes filled with even more incomprehension. So, what exactly am I supposed to do about that?

“…If that’s the problem, try asking the Guild Master.”

“Hey… no matter how you look at it, how can I ask the Guild Master for money?”

“…?”

“Blaine-nim, it’s not like you… don’t have money.”

“Excuse me?”

“I know you use the Via Lactea weapon and all your other gear is high-end… you even have an Eternal.”

Blaine’s brow crumpled harshly.

“What does my gear being good have to do with anything? Is everyone with good equipment supposed to lend you money, Daize-nim?”

“No, you’re twisting my words again… It’s not like that. It’s obvious that in a few days, Theo-nim will ask to borrow money too, so I figured I’d ask you to lend some to me while you’re at it.”

“Why would Theo hyung borrow money?”

“Isn’t Theo-nim’s town maintenance fee at risk too? You said he went fishing yesterday because he needs to make money. How much can you really make from fishing? Mark my words, come the end of the month, he’ll be asking Blaine-nim to lend him some gold.”

Daize shrugged as if he knew everything. Blaine felt a surge of anger at his “I told you so” attitude. What do you know about him…!

Gritting his teeth, Blaine glared at Daize and clenched his fists so hard his knuckles turned white.

“Theo hyung isn’t like that. Don’t speak about him so carelessly.”

“He isn’t…?”

Daize actually snorted. Then he added:

“Then, want to make a bet?”

“What?”

“On whether Theo-nim borrows money from Blaine-nim or not.”

“What’s the point of betting on that?”

“Just for fun. If Theo-nim borrows it, I win. If he doesn’t, Blaine-nim wins.”

“…….”

“How about we wager 300 million gold?”

300 million gold. It was the exact amount needed to exchange for one month’s town maintenance fees. Blaine narrowed his eyes. So money is the goal after all. He didn’t want to deal with this person any longer.

Blaine strode past Daize as if he had no further business with him. Then, he spoke like a warning.

“I’m going straight to the guild house to tell the Guild Master and Theo hyung everything.”

“Huh? What?! W-wait a minute!”

Daize hurriedly grabbed him.

“No, if you tell them, the bet is off!”

“I never said I would bet. Especially not using Theo hyung as the subject…”

“I told you, it’s just for fun. Why are you being so serious?”

“I don’t find it even a little bit fun.”

Blaine’s reply was cold, bordering on offended. Faced with a brick wall of a rejection that left no room for compromise, Daize narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

“Man, I didn’t think you’d be such a bore…”

Daize muttered as he ruffled his hair in feigned disappointment, then pointedly added, “Theo-nim must be exhausted dealing with you.”

Blaine’s eyes flew wide at that single sentence. Frozen as if struck, his expression crumpled in shock, and he quickly began to walk away as if fleeing, his face looking like he might burst into tears at any second.

But Daize had no intention of letting him go. He chased after him and grabbed him once more.

“You can’t just leave! We aren’t finished talking.”

“I have nothing more to say to you.”

Blaine turned his head away to avoid looking at Daize while shaking his arm off, but Daize, his face now twisted with irritation, snatched the edge of Blaine’s cloak.

“Fine, forget the bet. But you can still lend me some money, right? I’ll pay you back once the reinforcement alert is lifted.”

“No.”

“Oh, for heaven’s sake! Blaine-nim!”

Daize pulled the cloak back with a frustrated jerk, causing Blaine to stumble backward. From a distance, it looked like one-sided harassment.

“What’s going on?”

At that moment, a flat, toneless voice cut through the air between the two men who were scuffling over a piece of cloth. Both froze instantly and turned toward the source of the voice.

There stood Theo, a few feet away, squinting one eye in confusion as he watched them. A brief silence followed. Theo’s gaze dropped to Blaine’s cloak. Daize was clutching a handful of the fabric as if trying to rip it away, and Blaine was holding onto it desperately, looking miserable as if he were trying to keep it from being stolen.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Theo’s voice, as he pointed at the cloak, was frighteningly stern. Daize looked back and forth between Theo and Blaine in a panic, stammering, “Ah, no, it’s not what it looks like…” but he couldn’t finish his sentence.

Because Blaine had started to wail.

“Hyung…!”

Theo and Daize were both jolted by the sudden outburst as Blaine began to sob sorrowfully, tears pouring down as if a faucet had been turned on. Daize reflexively let go of the cloak, and Theo, with a look of alarm, pulled Blaine into a protective embrace while snapping at Daize.

“What do you think you’re doing to him in a place like this?! What did you do to make him cry?”

“What? No! I didn’t do anything! We were just talking, okay?”

“If you were just talking, why is he crying?!”

“I’m serious! Bl—Blaine-nim, tell him! We were just talking, weren’t we?”

Daize flailed his arms behind Blaine, desperately demanding an explanation as if he were the victim of an injustice. But Blaine just shook his head, burying his face deeper into Theo’s shoulder as if he couldn’t even bear to speak. The sound of his sobbing and the way his shoulders heaved was enough to make anyone’s heart ache.

Theo patted Blaine’s back comfortingly and glared at Daize. His eyes seemed to scream, “He said no, didn’t he!”

Flinching under that icy gaze, Daize spoke up as if he had no other choice.

“I-I’m sorry…. It wasn’t my intention, but if I said something wrong, I apologize….”

When Daize offered a hesitant apology in a dejected voice with his head bowed low, Theo asked sharply.

“What exactly did you say to make the kid act like this?”

Daize hesitated for a moment, his head still down. Blaine would surely tell Father or Theo that he had tried to make a bet or demanded money. It was better to confess just enough to minimize the damage before things escalated.

Having made up his mind, Daize swallowed hard and spoke in a trembling voice.

“Well…. I thought I might be short on the town maintenance fee for next month… so I was trying to borrow some money from Blaine-nim….”

“What?”

“I’m sorry…. I can’t go hunting, and I don’t have any savings… I know it’s shameless… but I didn’t have anyone else to ask besides Blaine-nim….”

Theo looked utterly appalled. Since when did they know each other well enough to borrow money?

“If you’re that desperate for cash, go sell your equipment instead of making ridiculous demands of a kid. Or sell your residence and stay in the guild dormitory for a while.”

“Y-yes…. You’re right…. I’m so sorry for being so shameless…. I’ve caused trouble for Blaine-nim, too…. If you could just let this go, I’ll reflect on my actions.”

Daize appeared genuinely repentant, but even that seemed suspicious. Theo glanced sideways at Blaine, who was clinging to his shoulder. Surely, the kid wouldn’t be sobbing this hard just because of a request for a loan…. He wanted to press for more details, but since Blaine showed no signs of stopping, it seemed best to ask later once he calmed down. Theo opened his inventory and handed a flat cake box to Daize as if tossing it.

“? What is this….”

“Give this to Father at the guild house. I’m taking Blaine straight back to Ratteon.”

“What?”

Daize blinked in confusion, but Theo used the warp and vanished with Blaine. Standing alone, Daize stared blankly at the spot where they had been. He looked ready to scream and hurl the cake box, but he quickly caught his breath and smoothed out his clothes. He then headed toward the guild house with a bright smile, clutching the box carefully. He couldn’t afford to be disliked any further.

Early the next morning, Theo and Blaine left the house and headed for the village of Nellavia in the Shekinah region. It was the place Theo had scouted for fishing while Blaine was away for his data backup.

Shekinah was a region where snow fell all year round. Nellavia was a spectacular sight with its thick blankets of snow; in this stark white village, the trees laden with red berries stood out like beacons.

The two arrived in Nellavia to the sound of snow crunching under their boots, their breath coming out in white puffs as they surveyed the quiet town.

Perhaps due to the cold, NPCs were rarely seen wandering about. Dark clouds hung low, threatening to dump a heavy snowfall at any moment, and the passing wind was bone-chillingly sharp.

“Blaine, this way.”

Blaine, who had been looking around with a flushed face, hurried toward Theo at the sound of his voice. A small valley stream ran through the center of Nellavia. In the heart of the village, the stream widened into a large pond-like area with a circular plaza in the middle, connected by four arched bridges. Theo was heading there.

As Theo crossed the bridge, Blaine followed close behind. They reached the circular plaza and took up a spot at the very edge.

“Are we doing it here?”

Blaine looked around the plaza with curiosity.

“Yeah.”

Theo gave a short reply and pulled out his fishing rod. Blaine looked at the valley stream with a worried expression.

“But isn’t this just a creek?”

Indeed, the stream in Nellavia was a mere trickle compared to a river or the sea. However, Theo had a specific reason for choosing this spot. He cast his line with a forceful swing.

“Arowana are caught here.”

“Arowanas?”

“Yeah. You can think of them as being on the same level as Coelacanths.”