“Yes!” Duke exclaimed excitedly, throwing his arms around Sameer in a hug.
Thankfully, he still had enough self-control not to kiss him.
“Thank you! Thank you!”
The sudden embrace left Sameer completely bewildered.
Is this guy… gay?
Diana: “???”
Du Chen Carlos: “…”
Steve: “O.O?”
“Thank you, Sameer. Thank you so much!” Duke said again as he released him with a smile and patted him on the shoulder.
Diana was still confused, but then realization dawned on her.
Her brows knitted together, and a chill spread across her face.
“Wait… you can speak English?”
What a day.
First one liar, now another.
“No,” Duke replied matter-of-factly.
“I just learned it.”
He shrugged.
“It’s a kind of magic called Talent Plunder. It lets me take other people’s talents and use them myself.”
Then he looked toward Du Chen Carlos.
“Carlos, remember how you wondered why I insisted on shaking everyone’s hand back on Paradise Island? That was me using Talent Plunder. Unfortunately, the success rate is very low. But luckily, I finally obtained a language talent.”
He let out a relieved sigh.
“Damn… being able to understand what people are saying feels amazing.”
“Oh!” Carlos suddenly remembered.
“That’s right. He really did go around shaking hands with almost everyone on the island.”
He nodded toward Diana.
“At first I thought he was just trying to take advantage of people.”
“So that’s what it was.”
To prove his point, Duke repeated the phrase “I like you” in English, French, German, Spanish, and several African languages.
Only then did Diana finally believe him.
Though…
Why did he say that to me in every language?
“Alright!” Steve interrupted.
“To celebrate Duke finally being able to talk with us, let’s have a drink!”
Although inside, he felt rather depressed.
Great… now I can’t secretly badmouth him anymore.
Then again, even before this he hadn’t dared say much, since Carlos had always been translating beside them.
Everyone took their seats.
As he sipped his drink, Sameer asked curiously,
“Magic… Does magic really exist in this world?”
“Of course.”
Duke dipped a finger into his wine and casually drew several strange symbols across the wooden table.
“There.”
“Try it.”
“Try what?”
Sameer looked confused.
Duke placed an empty wine glass in front of the symbols.
“Push it.”
“Huh?”
Sameer casually pushed the glass forward.
The instant it reached the symbols…
It stopped.
It felt as though an invisible wall had appeared.
His eyes widened.
He pushed harder.
“Ugh…!”
His face turned bright red.
Sweat poured down his forehead.
Even after using every ounce of strength he had, the glass refused to move another inch.
Panting heavily, he grabbed his drink and emptied half the glass before finally calming down.
Now…
He truly believed.
Magic actually existed.
“I have a question,” Sameer said.
“If it’s called Talent Plunder… doesn’t that mean I lost my talent?”
Duke laughed.
“I only chose that name because it sounds cool.”
“So don’t worry.”
“You still have your talent.”
He smiled and patted Sameer on the shoulder.
Nearby, Charlie—who had been drinking nonstop—seemed to sober up for a moment.
He reached over and tried pushing the glass himself.
It wouldn’t budge.
“Magic…”
His eyes lit up with amazement.
Diana simply rolled her eyes.
‘Talent Plunder’…
Sounds cool?
Really?
Still…
This man continued to surprise her more and more.
“Steve,” Charlie suddenly said, raising his cup.
“May God bless you. It’s good to see you again.”
Steve blinked.
Why does that sound like you’re giving my funeral speech?
“That doesn’t sound lucky at all…”
“So,” Sameer asked, “what’s the job this time, boss?”
Honestly…
His instincts told him to run.
Now that a real mage had appeared, this mission probably carried a very high chance of getting everyone killed.
But at the same time…
The existence of magic had opened an entirely new world before his eyes.
He was frightened…
Yet excited.
He wanted to discover the truth.
“To explore magic itself…”
Steve scratched his head awkwardly.
“Uh… We’ll leave in about two days.”
“We need supplies and travel permits.”
“We’re heading to Belgium.”
Charlie asked the most important question.
“How much are we getting paid?”
Steve froze.
“Well…”
“The trip isn’t very long.”
“And… you’ll gain a lot from it.”
“So… it’s for a noble cause.”
“Freedom… friendship…”
“And… ending the war.”
“Right.”
Sameer nodded seriously.
“So… you’re broke.”
“No!”
“Oh, come on, Steve.”
“You think I’m a three-year-old?”
He pointed toward Duke.
“This gentleman is an actual mage.”
“We’re not going to hunt werewolves, are we?”
“Or vampires?”
“Or… the Headless Horseman?”
He shrugged.
“Honestly, I’m both terrified and excited.”
Steve scratched his head again, his eyes wandering.
Compared to Ares, werewolves and vampires are nothing…
“Of course not!”
“You think I’m powerful enough to hunt—”
At that moment, the tavern door opened.
A plump secretary hurried inside.
“There you are.”
“Sorry I’m late.”
“Sir Patrick?”
Diana immediately recognized him.
“Sit down, gentlemen.”
“I imagine you’re planning something.”
“Something that could either get you court-martialed…”
“Or killed.”
Steve smiled helplessly.
“So you’re here to stop us?”
“No.”
“Quite the opposite.”
“I was young once.”
“If my body were still capable, I’d be doing exactly the same thing.”
“What you’re about to do is honorable.”
“So I’m here to help.”
“Privately.”
Sir Patrick produced a rather thick envelope and placed it on the table.
“This should be enough to cover your expenses for a few days.”
“Thank you, sir!”
“My pleasure.”
“Take care of yourselves.”
“And good luck.”
With that, Sir Patrick turned and left the tavern.
His secretary quickly followed.
“He’s a good man,” Diana said with a smile.
Duke, who had been savoring his gin, suddenly laughed.
“A good man?”
He set his glass down.
“Diana.”
“Here’s one rule for surviving in the human world.”
“Never trust someone so easily.”
“Especially don’t let first impressions fool you.”
She frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“You’re always contradicting me.”
“Just now…”
“My magic flow perception was blocked.”
Duke slowly placed his glass on the table.
“Do you know what that means?”
Diana’s expression grew serious.
“Magic flow?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means…”
“His strength is far beyond mine.”
“And I couldn’t see through what he really is.”
Diana froze.
She knew Duke wasn’t the type to say things without reason.
Could Sir Patrick really have been hiding something?
Steve was equally shocked.
“You mean…”
“Sir Patrick is a mage too?”
“I never said that.”
Duke calmly picked up his glass again.
“I only said…”
“His strength is greater than mine.”
He took another sip.
Just then—
The tavern door opened once more.
Two familiar figures walked in side by side.
Duke stared.
He rubbed his eyes.
Looked again.
Then—
“Pfft—!”
He spat his mouthful of wine all over Charlie’s face.
“What are those two doing here?”
Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!Guys,
(End of Chapter)