Chapter 486: Mayumi
Over the last few days, Mayumi had been absolutely fuming.
She had worked so hard to break through to the Advanced Stage over the past few months, and when she finally succeeded, earning herself a spot among the talents chosen by the organization’s higher-ups to enter the hidden Legacy World, she was suddenly told that if she wanted to keep her place, she would have to duel some newbie who had recently been scouted.
What did they mean some newcomer wanted to take away the spot she had earned through her own blood, sweat, and tears!?
After throwing a tantrum in Marilyn’s office that day, she had spent the following week dreading the moment when the duel would finally happen.
She knew there was nothing she could do about it, no matter how much she complained, so she had spent most of that time sulking.
The worst part was that she had gone looking for the bastard who dared to use connections to make it so far in life, only to discover that he had vanished.
After screaming in frustration inside her room at the Alliance-owned dormitory, she eventually decided to train even harder in preparation for the duel. It had become clear that neither her sulking nor her tantrums would convince Marilyn to overturn the decision.
However, right now, as she left Marilyn’s office once again on the day of the duel, she wore perhaps the brightest smile one could ever see on a pretty young lady like herself.
The bastard had not shown up, and the day was almost over!
Mayumi scoffed.
"In the end, the bastard must have done some research on the person he was supposed to fight. He probably pissed his pants and decided to run away," she muttered under her breath.
"Oh, it is Big Sis Yumi. How are you doing today?"
"Hmmm?"
Mayumi looked back and spotted Yaana standing on one foot with her arms held behind her back as though she was stretching, a bright smile on her face.
"Oh, Yaana... and Uta." She gave the brother a friendly nod as well, which he returned with a simple nod of his own.
"I have not seen you two lately. Where have you been?" That was the understatement of the century: She had not seen the twins for the past two months.
"Oh, you know," Yaana said lightly. "Training, preparing for the big event, and so on."
"Of course. That is understandable." Mayumi nodded. "Do you want to catch up over lunch?"
"Definitely!"
Yaana accepted almost immediately, looking visibly excited.
Uta began walking forward. "I will let you girls catch up. I have things to do," he said as he passed Mayumi.
"See you later!"
Yaana waved energetically as he left. Mayumi watched him from the corner of her eye as she and Yaana began walking.
Honestly, she held nothing against either of them. In fact, she could not help feeling sorry for them.
Who in the organization did not know what their adoptive father had put them through, all for the sake of power?
She could not even understand how Yaana remained so happy and vibrant after suffering so much at such a young age.
Uta’s actions and personality were far more understandable. He usually frowned whenever anyone tried to talk to him, apart from his sister and Manfred, who was tasked with watching over them; he barely interacted with anyone at all.
But no one faulted him. The young boy had experienced a great deal of pain, and it showed in the way he carried himself.
Sure, the twins were stronger than every single person around their age, and even a large portion of people older than them, including her, but in Mayumi’s opinion, the strength they had gained was not worth whatever price they had paid.
Power could be gained over time.
It was no secret that shortcuts never worked.
One only needed to look at the rumors surrounding that boy from the academy. He had supposedly used demonic methods to gain a massive increase in power, and now an actual duke was hunting him.
’What’s his name again? Eliot?’
Anyway, the two girls decided to visit a nearby inn rather than eat at the mess hall inside the Alliance headquarters.
Mayumi was tired of the food there.
She had every right to be after eating it almost every day to save some money.
’Gotta spoil myself once in a while.’
Before she knew it, she was venting to Yaana, telling her about all the trouble she had endured over the past week and explaining her theory about why the man she was supposed to fight had failed to appear.
However, Yaana’s response shocked her.
"So you were the one chosen to fight Big Brother Elion in the end?" Yaana asked. "Well, that sucks for you."
Mayumi’s smile stiffened.
Yaana continued before she could respond.
"But you are wrong about him. He is not weak at all. I do not know why he suddenly disappeared or why he decided not to show up today, but Big Brother is very strong!"
She formed a small fist with the hand holding her fork, as though to punctuate her point, before shoving the piece of cake into her mouth.
"Mmmph... dish ish weally good!" she muttered, her words muffled by the food filling her cheeks.
Mayumi frowned. "You know this guy?"
"Of course I know Big Brother Elion! I met him in the tria—" Yaana suddenly stopped herself. "I mean, I met him while we were training in... uh... another city!"
"Hmmm." Mayumi’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. "How strong is he?"
Yaana poked at her cheek with one finger while chewing, putting on a thoughtful expression. "Me, Uta, Manfred, and Big Sis Maya all fought him and still lost."
Mayumi’s jaw dropped. "Every single one of you fought him one-on-one and lost?"
"No..." Yaana said, looking confused. "Where did you get that idea?"
Mayumi breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, of course not. There is no way. I must have misunderstood—"
"We fought him four against one," Yaana interrupted. "And he absolutely destroyed us."
"PFFFT!"
Mayumi had been just about to take a sip of her gin, only to spit everything in her mouth across the table.
Most of it sprayed directly onto poor Yaana and her slice of cake. Yaana froze with wide eyes, her fork still held in front of her mouth.
Mayumi stared at her for a moment before realizing what she had done. "Ah! I am so sorry!"
She quickly grabbed a cloth and helped Yaana clean her face and clothes, apologizing repeatedly while Yaana looked mournfully at her ruined cake.
"My cake..." Yaana muttered.
"I will buy you another one!"
"Two."
Mayumi blinked.
"What?"
"Two cakes," Yaana said seriously. "One to replace this one, and another for emotional damages."
Mayumi stared at her. Then she sighed. "Fine. Two cakes."
Yaana’s bright smile returned to her cute face.
After the little mishap had been dealt with and two fresh slices of cake were ordered, Mayumi leaned closer across the table.
"Repeat what you said."
Yaana tilted her head. "Which part?"
"The part about the four of you fighting Elion."
"Oh."
Yaana swallowed another mouthful of cake. "Me, Uta, Manfred, and Big Sis Maya fought him together, and he beat all of us."