Promised Bonus chapter 2
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Ruzen walked with a bounce in his steps as he took in the colorful crowd, there were so many people on the street, and all of them were dressed beautifully. Most of them were meandering around the long line of street hawkers at the edge of the wide street, all of them selling something or the other, mostly food and essentials.
There were surely a lot of groups on the move, but everyone appeared to be local compared to Ruzen and his master who were the odd one out due to their formal appearance and curious eyes.
An outsider was easy to recognize, let alone a Cursed One and an older male with a shabby straw hat.
Looking at himself with a slight pout on his face, Ruzen tried not to feel left out. Although he wore no jewelry and his dress was minimalistic, there was still some ardor to him because he was a cursed one and when one noticed his markings, they would take a double look out of curiosity.
“Sure enough, you stand out even now,” his master teased him, when he saw the crowd becoming thinner as more and more people paid attention to Ruzen because of less hindrances.
“Is that because I am a cursed one?” He didn’t think the gazes were malicious, but the inquisitive glances made him fidgety for no reason. It wasn’t like they would look at him for anything else.
“Yes. A cursed one is still a minority in Manjo, so don’t mind the stares, they are just trying to see what is special about you. Some cursed ones have strange features, it creates a spectacle.”
Ruzen hummed, walking along in large strides as his master picked up the pace, their goal was to reach the end of the wide central street and enter the huge compound sitting in the middle. According to He’Da, the central compound was actually just a massive platform surrounded by rectangular complexes. And these complexes were the buildings where registration took place whenever any competition was organized.
Large scale competitions often required more booths, so these complexes were a good choice to manage staff and resources according to adequate needs.
About two hours into walking were they able to see the edge of the walls that surrounded the compound.
Three entry gates, more like tori gates sat in front, as waves of people, mostly people with some sort of markings on their forehead would enter through. This alone was an indication that they were all here for the competition and surprisingly they were all cursed ones.
But their markings weren’t the only unique feature they had.
And all of them were extremely exotic, with jewels and ornaments sparkling on their bodies, some were delicate, some were masculine, but overall, they were a collection from the batch of finest pieces. Ruzen had never seen such people before, they were almost dazzling to the point that even the richest of garbs did them no good. Their innate beauty was what attracted his attention the most.
“Aren’t they too beautiful?” he asked skeptically, not really knowing how to feel about it. Was he also expected to dress up like that?
Master He’Da laughed when he heard Ruzen complaining, “You are an oddball, others would want to wear unique styles and look their best, while you are complaining.”
“Master,” Ruzen pouted, “Not everyone wishes to prance around in riches, I don’t think I am suitable for such practices.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Tbe mjc jikjsr bqa bea lo sbe kjca~”
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Vfflcu cb fcagjcmf mtfmx qbra, Eehfc jcv tlr wjrafg fcafgfv atf mbwqbecv’r lccfg qijaobgw, ktlmt kjr ja j tfluta bo 1w, jcv kfca ab ajxf j ibbx ja atf mgbkvfv mierafg ktfgf rfnfgji boolmljir rja lc rwjiifg ybbatr, lcafgjmalcu klat bcf qjgalmlqjca ja j alwf. Vfnfc defefr ilcfv eq klat 20-30 qfbqif kjlalcu obg atflg aegc, jcv jii bo atfw kfgf megrfv bcfr, rb la kjr j ulnfc atja atflg vfilmjaf jcv olcf yfjeas kjr mgfjalcu j rqfmajmif jwbcu atf ibmjir ktb ilcufgfv jgbecv ab tjnf j ibbx. Ktfrf megrfv bcfr, kfgf cba bcis wjif, yea la rffwfv ilxf rfnfgji ofwjifr kfgf jirb jgbecv, wlzlcu klat atflg bkc ugbeqr.
Female or male, each and every one of them were attractive and refined, as if aristocrats and enchantresses.
If Ruzen was self-conscious he didn’t look so, and the master also didn’t want to embarrass his disciple. “I will stand at the back with the other guests, you stay in line and wait for your chance to come. Whatever they ask you, you just answer, I have already told you the requirements.”
Ruzen nodded, watching his master leave as a few more participants lined up behind him.
Now that he was alone, he curiously watched others, paying more attention to them, their behavior and their speech pattern, how they talked, how they stood, it was necessary for him to grab this opportunity to learn more about his rivals.
A young woman in particular grabbed his attention, she had short cherry red hair, and a short stature. But her slim figure and gentle smiles could be passed as attractive. Out of all the other females, Ruzen found her subtle gentleness, charming. Her plus point wasn’t her style or beauty, she was pretty but not as pretty as the rest, he thought so, but her aura was impressive, and she didn’t talk much, just smiled and remained grounded. According to his assessment, such people were good to become friends with.
About being more than friends… that was just out of question, he was a faithful man, and there was a heaven and hell difference between her and his King. If you can hug a God, why focus on the mortal woman?
His reasoning was practical, he knew this, he never had been much emotionally invested. So he didn’t mind making friends for his own benefits. Still, having friends was nice, and if she wasn’t arrogant and hateful, he could always talk to her.
He had also wanted to meet Za’Jin again, since this was for cursed ones, he had thought that man would be around, but since he wasn’t his hopes were dashed. It hadn’t been too long ago that he had suddenly left with the king, but he did want to meet them again, even if it was just to say hello. After the interval his hatred had vanished, and whatever dispute he had with Za’Jin had been internally resolved. Now he just missed company.
His master was good, but he was still a master, and Ruzen couldn’t just say whatever he wanted to. And the King… his story was just another struggle. The King and him needed more time to come to terms with their relationship, that he knew.
“Friend,” a certain call distracted him and he turned slightly to see a smiling young man around his age, looking at him with expectations. He had a clean look to him, with a soft pair of eyes, and was dressed in extravagant garbs, with sparkling threadwork on his sleeves and skirt pants. He was bright.
“Yes?”
“Have we met before?”
Blinking, Ruzen was startled, “…no?”
The young man tensed and laughed, “I apologize then, I am Ra’Ga, from warrior division. I often travel around so I thought I had met you before, but it seems I am mistaken.”
Ruzen’s eyes flickered towards the marking on his forehead and noticed that the marking was more elaborate and wide. Seems like the man had been using his powers a bit too willfully… just like he had done earlier. Because with each curse, the markings had a tendency to spread, and because Ruzen wasn’t aware, he had cursed in his anger back then.
The participants here were all cursed ones, but they weren’t like him, their marking was still small and miniscule.
“I came in this world not long before, so I am not aware where you could have seen me…” Ruzen seemed to have forgotten for a minute that he was a different case altogether, he had transmigrated and his own body had a different history. So he changed his tone, “It could have been someone like me, were you in the desert area then.”
Ra’Ga was thoughtful, “I was somewhere else… anyway, pleasure to meet you. You are here for which part of the competition? Warrior division? Scholar Division? Blue Brigade?”
“Keeper Division.”
Ra’Ga seem to pause, his eyes shifting towards Ruzen’s forehead intentionally, “Have you thought it through? Keeper are not people like you and me. They are more like those,” he pointed towards a bunch of females in line chatting with delicate male beauties. They were especially sparkling under the sun, full of pride and arrogant air. “They are more to taste from what I have seen.”
“Keepers have a standard here?”
“They do.”
The two young males stared at the giggling girls who blushed and mewled under the gazes of the locals who had come to watch the registration.
“I am still running for the Keeper division.” Ruzen didn’t have much of a choice, and he was too lazy to wonder in his insecurities again.
“That is also good, you are decided.”
Ruzen nodded, he wasn’t familiar with the other but Ra’Ga seemed to be an honest person with no nonsense attitude. “Your warrior division is a tough one.”
“Nah, not really, we are just folks with more brawn than brain, we love to fight, so it is just like a hobby to me.”
Ruzen smiled, “I see.”
“What about you? I don’t think you are from around Manjo.” Ra’Ga looked interested in what Ruzen had to say, his eyes were gleaming.
“I am… not really sure, but I live nearby… and I really am going for the keeper division, I mean… I want to try it I think.”
Ra’Ga raised his eyebrows, “…okay.”
Ruzen flushed, embarrassed, “I don’t have much aspirations, I just chose to be a Keeper because it sounded a safer option for me.”
“Oh, that is true,” Ra’Ga agreed, “Many think being a keeper is better than other options, depends on their scenario I concur.”
Their queue moved ahead and both Ruzen and Ra’Ga made small talks to pass time. By the time it was their chance, a sudden disruption caused them to halt their progress.
It was an older male with greying hair, who came barging in towards their booth and flipped over the table in anger, startling the official who sat there. “How dare you reject my grandson? Who gave you the permission to select candidates when you are just here to fill the application.”
A chorus of ‘Lord Di’An’ ‘please calm down’ came from behind, as three to four men in brown robes came to appease the older male into calming down. This disruption wasn’t small, even the other officials from other booths had stopped their work and were now looking over, concerned.
“Is this how the King’s men treat their upcoming generation?”
Unknown to Ruzen himself, he frowned at the older man. But his mood couldn’t create any ripple in their situation and the old man was already spouting curses at the quivering official who was now pressured into submission by the other’s angry aura.
“Lord Di’An, y-your grandson is still a minor, he can’t register here for warrior division.”
The old man only glared at the official, “Minor? He is far better than anyone here at present!”
The words were callous and caused a few bystanders to glare at the man, but the old man didn’t seem to mind them, his fury was inevitably stronger and more resilient.
“Bring out the Blue Robes, I wish to get an explanation from them.”
The official was reluctant, but he agreed, leaving the booth to go and call his superior.
Ruzen heard Ra’Ga sigh behind him. Saying, “This old man is so blind.”
Curious, Ruzen asked, “Why?”
Ra’Ga chuckled satirically, “That grandson he talked about is a bully, an adopted cursed one who knows how to weep false tears to cause drama. Since Lord Di’An’s son died together with his wife and unborn child, this Cursed one became his only support. I pity the old man, but either he is truly blind or wants to be blind on purpose.”
Ruzen understood, it seems the drama was not going to end anytime soon.
I like Ruzen the way he is. I also think that showing riches doesnt suit him.
Thanks for the chapter
Keeper competition or model competition? 😳 Can already imagine the drama once the competition starts. Oh, wait we have already drama even thought the competition hasn’t even started yet. 🤭
thanks so much for the bonus chapters!! I am excited for the competition 🙂
Thank you for the bonus chapter❤❤
thanks for the chapter <3