Chapter 2765 Destroyer of Atmosphere <TOC> Chapter 2767 What Shrew Ponders
Translator: SumTLMan
The Gray Merchant also knew what their attitude was for, he now also regretted it very much, after the formal wizards’ duel earlier, the apprentices’ duel should have been abandoned, it would not have blown up like this.
What the White Merchant said was quite right, the situation shown by the other side was without malice；on their side they had clearly received benefit, yet Shrew, out of selfishness, pushed Eremy and the others to the opposite side, to a certain extent this could already be called repaying kindness with enmity.
Precisely because of this, facing the mocking look of Angel and the others, the Gray Merchant could only pretend not to see it.
No one on Angel’s side opened their mouth, they gazed at the Gray Merchant with cold eyes, waiting for him to speak first.
The Gray Merchant lightly sighed in his heart, then took out a space pouch from his breast and handed it toward Vai.
Vai did not take it, but looked at the Gray Merchant in puzzlement：「This is……」
「An apology gift.」The Gray Merchant’s expression was sincere, full of apology as he said：「For the sake of victory, Mammoth used the Eye of Arcana by any means necessary；as his mentor, this is a problem with my instruction. I am truly ashamed, and can only present a thin gift.」
「A mere apology gift, I also know is not enough. Therefore, I especially brought Mammoth over to confess his fault this time；no matter what you want him to do, so long as it can dispel resentment, even if you want him to bury his bones here, we will accept it calmly.」
When he finished speaking, the Gray Merchant dragged Mammoth out from behind him, pressed his head, and signaled him to apologize to Vai.
Mammoth also obediently apologized, although his responses were still a little sluggish, but clearly much better than before.
Looking at the posture of the Gray Merchant and Mammoth, Vai’s brows knitted tightly；he too did not know how to handle the present situation, and subconsciously wanted to seek advice from the Black Count, but when he turned back he discovered that whether it was the Black Count, or Angel, both had retreated to the Sovereign of Wisdom’s side, seeming to be whispering about something, and were not paying attention to the situation here at all.
Only Daus kept throwing glances at Vai at the side, with an eager look.
Vai knew Daus too well；one look at Daus’ expression, and he knew that he was hinting for him to first take the single-use space pouch and see if there was anything good inside.
This is exactly Daus’ character；although he would not abandon principle for profit, his eyes lighting up at the sight of money is a common thing.
Vai did not heed Daus’ hint；compared to these so-called benefits, what he cared more about now was how to handle the present situation.
His ancestor and Lord Super Dimensional were not at his side, and Daus was an unreliable fellow……
While Vai hesitated, Kael’s voice came through the mental connection.
「When the lord left just now, he said to let you make the decision yourself. Whatever decision you make, they will support it.」
Vai froze for a moment：「My ancestor said that？」
Kael：「No, the Black Count said nothing at all and just left.」
Then the one who said this was Lord Super Dimensional. Since the Black Count did not deny it in the mental connection, it could basically be taken as the Black Count’s intention as well.
Which is to say, it was now up to him to decide how to deal with Mammoth？
At this thought, a slight strangeness and doubt arose in Vai’s heart.
Although the Gray Merchant said with his mouth that even if Mammoth were to bury his bones here there would be no complaints, who knew how much of that was sincere？Perhaps a slightly overdone Handling Approach would be tantamount to completely falling out with the Traveling Merchants Organization.
Although falling out would be nothing；the Noah family is not afraid of the Traveling Merchants Organization at all, nor of the Bylron Family behind them. However, this after all was the first time Vai himself was handling a matter involving an 「external」 relationship；he hoped to find a balance point.
The time Vai pondered was not long, because the Gray Merchant had already been holding out his hand for quite a while；a few more seconds and it would be a bit awkward.
Whatever one says, the Gray Merchant was a formal wizard；Vai did not feel he had the standing to put on airs before the other party.
In the end, Vai still took the space pouch the Gray Merchant held out.
Seeing this, the Gray Merchant’s expression relaxed slightly；only, before he had relaxed for long, he saw that Vai did not even look, and directly passed the space pouch to Daus.
Instead, it was Daus at the side playing with the space pouch.
Was this an on-the-spot transfer to the Red Sword Wizard？Or was it that he was letting the Red Sword Wizard check what was in the space pouch for him？
If it was the former, then handing it over to Daus before the Gray Merchant’s face was actually a bit discourteous, even rude. If it was the latter…… it could barely be accepted.
While the Gray Merchant mulled over Vai’s thinking, Vai spoke：「In truth I do not want to accept a so-called apology gift；not because I slight Lord Gray Merchant, but because I do not feel Mammoth’s actions were so greatly wrong. At least, during the duel, he did not violate the rules.」
「If you didn’t even feel it violated the rules, then you still……」A voice from Pink Jasmine at the side came, but before Pink Jasmine could finish, she was silenced by the Gray Merchant’s cold face.
If it had been some other occasion, a few extra words from Pink Jasmine would have been fine；but now it was clearly they who were in the wrong. The rules of dueling are the rules of dueling, but the tacit understanding in a duel and the morality in the course of a duel are another matter. In this, they obviously did not do right.
Shrew had not spoken, which meant she herself knew they were in the wrong；Pink Jasmine, however, was muttering at the side, and this was why the Gray Merchant suddenly put on a cold face.
「Miss Pink Jasmine’s unspoken words, I naturally understand.」Vai：「I have accepted this apology gift；later I will give an explanation. Before that, I wonder if Lord Gray Merchant can answer a question for me？」
Gray Merchant：「Please speak.」
At this moment Vai’s expression became solemn：「In the earlier duel, the question I cared about most…… why precisely the Eye of Arcana?」
Angel also lent Kael some out-of-bounds methods, but all of them were controllable and defensive in nature. Such means were more for securing victory in the contest, not aimed at killing.
And the Eye of Arcana was precisely the opposite；Mammoth could not control it at all, and its damage was terrifying to the extreme, , was this ultimately for the sake of victory, or for the sake of killing？
One must know that when Vai performed his sacrificial talent, it was tantamount to forcibly operating his bloodline to the extreme；at such a time, his defense could at least withstand the full-force strike of a formal wizard. Yet Vai still failed to withstand the Death Light of the Eye of Arcana, and only barely snatched back a small life.
To hand such a terrifying attack method to Mammoth to use, , if one explained it as 「purely to secure victory」, who would believe it？
After Vai asked this question, the Gray Merchant and the others looked at one another, but fell into silence.
After quite a while, it was still silent on the Gray Merchant’s side, and no one gave an answer.
At this time, Vai spoke again；this time his gaze turned to Pink Jasmine：「The reason I accepted this apology gift is because I know you cannot, and are embarrassed to, explain the truth of this matter. Since that is so, then there is no need to explain；let this so-called apology gift be the 『hush money』.」
Pausing, under the Gray Merchant’s complicated gaze, Vai continued：「I have accepted hush money, which means I will not pursue this question any further…… but it does not mean I will forget this matter.」
Vai looked at Mammoth：「We will surely meet again；next time, I hope we can duel open and upright.」
Vai knew that this matter had little to do with Mammoth, but after all it was Mammoth who performed the Eye of Arcana. Even if he wanted to get his footing back, he would begin with Mammoth.
Next, Vai turned his gaze to…… Shrew.
「As for the true owner of the Eye of Arcana, there must also be an account given to me. If you do not give it now, in the future I will personally go to demand it.」
Though Vai did not name names, from the fact that he kept staring at Shrew it was clear that he had already locked onto Shrew as the true owner of the Eye of Arcana.
Shrew originally wanted to say something, but a single look from the Gray Merchant pressed her back. In the end, Shrew only fixed Vai with a gloomy gaze, with a trace of provocation in her eyes, as if to say to Vai: always ready to accompany.
Vai merely gave a cold laugh, and said no more.
This matter could be considered temporarily concluded.
In Daus’ view, Vai’s handling had a little bit of 「acting on impulse」.
The Black Count and Angel were both here, and moreover had indicated their support for all the decisions he made；which meant that, even if they started a fight with the Gray Merchant and the others now and left them here once and for all, the Black Count and Angel would give support.
Vai was not unaware of this point, but he chose a more roundabout method——
He accepted the apology gift, but did not accept the apology. He would, in his own way, seek back 「justice」 from Mammoth and from Shrew.
This was rather like a scene in the most popular play in the Laxum Duchy, 《The Princess’ Revenge》；summed up, it is: bully not the young.
The young are a group very prone to bearing grudges and to impulsiveness；when you bully the young now, you rely on the advantage of being an adult. But the young will always grow up, and time will also urge you to grow old；by then, the cause once sown may become your fatal calamity.
Placed within a play, this is a classic plot of growth and revenge, and audiences buy this kind of plot the most.
However, reality and drama have a gap.
Especially the reality of the Wizarding World, which has a vast chasm from the plotlines of artistic creation.
In the play, a dozen years later the princess can go to take revenge upon the king already showing signs of age；but in the Wizarding World, a dozen years is but an instant, and it is hard to bridge the chasm in between.
Of course, a situation like Angel’s, becoming a wizard in a few years, is an exception.
Putting aside the digression and speaking only of Vai’s handling approach, Daus personally felt it was a little immature. However, Daus did not dislike this handling method.
Because in Vai he saw the long-lost 「vigorous morning sun」.
In the past few decades, although Vai was clearly very young, he made himself like a dying elder close to rotting wood；lazing in spring、holing up in summer、weary in autumn、huddling in winter. Daus had said this many times, and in the end it all became wind in his ears.
Now, Daus finally saw the sunset fall and the morning sun born anew；even if Vai’s handling method was overly impulsive and willful, so what?
Are not the young always paired with willfulness?
……
After stating his stance, Vai no longer made a sound, and completely ignored the Gray Merchant and the others；instead, within the mental series, he began to confer with Daus about what was inside the space pouch.
The Gray Merchant, however, let out a light sigh；knowing that it would be hard to continue to smooth things over, then…… so be it.
At least, from the surface, Vai seemed not to intend to use the power of the Noah family to press them.
If Vai truly chose to seek back justice in his own way…… then matters of the future, let them be handed to the future.
The Gray Merchant shook his head and turned to leave.
Because during the previous duel Shrew’s self-assertive conduct had left the Gray Merchant too embarrassed to open his mouth to inquire again about the shard and the memory. Now, Vai had also shown obvious hostility and opposition；to continue asking would likely be to court humiliation, so he might as well leave then and there.
At worst, that segment of memory would be given up.
However, just as the Gray Merchant was about to follow the passage opened by the Sovereign of Wisdom and choose to leave this place, the voice of 「Eremy」 the wizard suddenly came to his ear.
「What, are you not planning to want your memory？」
The Gray Merchant’s steps halted, his eyes shone slightly, but very soon his eyes dimmed again；with some bitterness he said：「I really do not have the face to discuss a deal with sir again.」
Angel slowly walked over and stood before the Gray Merchant.
「A deal is a deal, unrelated to feelings. Even if you were my enemy, as long as a deal has already been agreed upon, then I will continue the deal. Moreover, you do not count as my enemy.」
These words of Angel rekindled bright color in the Gray Merchant’s dim expression.
「I do not know, Mr. Eremy, how do you want to trade?」The Gray Merchant paused, then added a sentence：「What I said earlier about owing a favor counts as my extra payment, and also counts as an apology for our irrationality in this duel. This favor is not counted within this deal.」
Angel：「The specifics of how to trade, we will speak later.」
「Later?」The Gray Merchant asked in puzzlement.
Angel：「For certain special reasons, I cannot for the time being extract your memory inside the shard. However, when we leave the underground sewer, the timing then should be fine. Therefore, the deal can only be placed when we depart.」
Angel was not deliberately stalling time.
To extract the memory inside the shard, one must follow the principle of 「inside delivers、outside receives」；Angel had already fulfilled the condition of 「outside receives」, so only the condition of 「inside delivers」 remained.
According to the Sovereign of Wisdom, the One-Eyed Big Treasure could help them deliver out the Gray Merchant’s memory；but all of it had to be after they passed the Younus checkpoint, , only then would the One-Eyed Big Treasure help.
This could be counted as the One-Eyed Big Treasure’s little calculation, thereby reminding Angel and the others that Younus was the key, and it would be best not to harm Younus.
Therefore, even if Angel wanted to extract the memory, he could only do so after passing the Younus checkpoint. And since the Gray Merchant and the others had to leave at this moment, the time and place they could trade would only be after Angel left the underground sewer.
Although the Gray Merchant did not understand the reason, earlier or later made no difference, so he did not think much of it and nodded in agreement.
No sooner had he agreed than Angel heard a skewed female voice.
「Are you willing to trade anything？」
Angel turned his head toward the source of the voice；the one speaking…… was precisely Shrew.
Indifference flashed in Angel’s eyes：「What do you want to trade？」
Shrew：「I just now saw…… the apprentice hand to you the garment made of that Seamus’ hide；is that your thing？Might I trade with you?」
Chapter 2765 Destroyer of Atmosphere <TOC> Chapter 2767 What Shrew Ponders