19 Bold

After insulting Gial one last time, Dred brought down the head of his halberd on Gial's face, stabbing him and splitting his skull open like a melon.

An expression of rage and surprise on what remained of his face, Gial's grip on the sword loosened, and he crumpled to the ground.

"Kugh!"

Dred coughed up blood and dropped the halberd. He looked at the sword lodged in his stomach.

'Well, that's not good.'

It was painful. That it was. But more than that, it was dangerous.

Dred had taken the strike so that he could land a sure blow on Gial. It had worked. But that didn't change the fact that the sword had torn asunder a lot of what lay within his body.

"Shit."

Dred sank to his knees as his body lost strength. He knew better than to pull out the sword. If he did, he would die of blood loss before he could get any chance of help.

But Gial or the one behind him had made sure that Gial's attempt at taking Dred's place as number Hundred in the Battle would go undisturbed.

Dred glared at Gial's corpse.

Since Gial would have been fine if he won, there also wasn't a need for the one behind him to prepare anyone on standby.

With a soft grunt, Dred fell to the side. It took all he had left to stay on his side so that neither the sword's tip jutting out of his back nor the handle in front touched the ground. His injury was already bad enough. He didn't need to worsen it by having the sword twisted and jerked around while still lodged inside him.

Blood slowly pooled and sank into the dirt beneath him.

Dred tried to stay conscious. He had a lot of experience with that sort of effort thanks to his training so far.

But it didn't work.

Darkness enveloped Dred in a warm embrace.

Dred floated in the darkness. He wasn't conscious. He didn't have any thoughts. He barely even felt anything. If there was one thing he did feel, however, it was the fact that he wasn't alone.

Dred woke up.

Dred's eyes flashed open to the familiar ceiling of his room. He gently turned his head from side to side. Yep. It was his room. The flower that received the antidote still had the same strange color. It had been a gentle yellow at first, but now it was a dark purple. Supposedly, it was a flower that helped a person sleep better.

Dred raised and looked under the quilt covering his body.

White bandage wrapped around his torso.

"Phew~"

Dred was alive. Since it barely hurt even when Dred sat up, it didn't seem like he was in life-threatening danger anymore, either. It was a relief. That was so long he didn't die of hunger.

Painstakingly slow since he could feel his wound about to open every time he moved, Dred got dressed. When he was halfway done with his shirt, the door opened, and Nara entered.

"Mister Hundred."

Dred continued buttoning his shirt.

"Nara."

"The Master requires your presence."

Dred nodded and finished buttoning his shirt.

"Sure. Lead the way."

Nara gave a slight bow before turning around and leading the way to Crowl's office.

'Looks like breakfast will have to wait.'

Dred was still hungry. But he had killed one of the guards in Crowl Jowon's employ. It would be strange if nothing were to happen.

'Maybe this is part of the plan.'

Dred wasn't sure how long it took until someone discovered him. But he knew Gial didn't have enough sway to clear the grounds. He wasn't that strong, after all. He was also shortsighted.

The person behind him might have anticipated Gial's loss. Depending on Crowl's stance, this could be a scheme to boot him from the Manor.

Dred carried a solemn expression as he thought about it. He didn't have any connections or influence, so it would be difficult to fight back right now. The only thing he had was the faint hope that Crowl would take his side.

Crowl had shown interest and appreciation for Dred and his strange magic talent.

But based on Liyo's memories and what he heard from Liyter, Dred didn't put much faith in that plan. Instead, he started thinking about the arguments he could make, the foremost being self-defense.

Eventually, Nara and Dred arrived at Crowl Jowon's office. Nara knocked before opening the door.

Dred scanned the faces aside from Crowl before bowing in greeting. He recognized most of them. Five of the younger ones were from the dining hall. The other three, he had never seen before. But they weren't servants.

Dred's first idea was that they were the holders of the regularly empty seats in the dining hall.

None of the children and disciples Dred was familiar with were present. Not even Yowe.

"Up and about already, huh, Hundred? How are you feeling?"

Dred met Crowl's gaze. He couldn't tell if the concern was sincere or superficial.

"I'm doing just fine. It's better than Cocktail One."

"Hah! That's true. So, Hundred, any idea why I asked you to come here as soon as you woke up?"

Crowl's demeanor went from light to serious as he leaned forward and rested his elbows on his desk with his hands in front of his chin.

"It's because I killed Gial."

Crowl nodded.

"That's right. You killed one of the guards working for me. What do you have to say for yourself?"

Dred took a deep breath. Crowl knew what had gone down. He might not know all the details, but he knew why Dred and Gial had fought to the death. It was obvious. Dred was a Number. Any fight to the death with a Number was for that spot.

Commonly, duels between Numbers and those who sought their spots in the Battle were excluded from rules and laws. After all, Numbers and their Battle For The Throne were as much a part of the way of the world as weather and natural disasters.

Punishing a Number for defending themselves or the new Number for killing the old one and taking their place was like trying to punish a raindrop for ruining a piece of garment.

But there were ways to hold raindrops accountable. And it was even easier to do so with people, even if they were Numbers.

"Me?"

Dred realized that he couldn't play the safe self-defense card.

"What do 'I' have to say for myself?"

He had to be bold.

"What do 'you' have to say for yourself?" 

Dred pointed at Crowl.

"I'm here to learn and train as per our agreement. I consented to the poison and the brutal training. But I did not agree to forfeit my life. Fuck out of here with trying to blame me. We all know Gial tried to kill me and become my Number. Gial, your subordinate, tried to kill me. He would have succeeded, too, if he wasn't shit at his job."