Chapter 1363 – [Abeth’s Dream]

We decided to finish our work at the Storm Zone Sanctuary and return to the capital of Abes Kingdom. Fulstead gave off a look of regret, but this time breaking up wasn’t the end, so I decided to see him next time.

Of course, the next one wasn’t too far off. At most, it would be the day the windmill festival ended.

[Then see you next time. I’ll be looking forward to it]

“We’re not even participating in the windmill festival?”

[Still, isn’t there a reason you’ve come this far? Well, you’ll know when you see it.]

Contrary to his personality, he was quick-witted. Even if we came to meet him because of the contract, the reason we asked about the Pungnyeong Festival was because we thought of Johnny rather than King Abes. Fulstead noticed that and said that.

This baby is really similar to Eden. He usually looks light while playing dog drip, but he is smart.

Anyway, we promised to see each other later and left the Stormfield Sanctuary. Yessto also had a somewhat relieved face after meeting a friend after a long absence.

[It still looks the same]

“The spirit doesn’t change easily, so what?”

[If you think so, am I not a spirit?]

“You have a unique environment in our house. We lived the same time, but only a few years apart, aren’t you and the owners of other sanctuaries quite different?”

[That’s right]

“Change is good. Change can be good or bad, but in the end, change is better than no change.”

He returned to the Abes palace, but there was no good news. It was because I hadn’t heard Fulstead’s definite answer.

But he agreed to let me know what Fulstead said he had a good feeling about. There must be at least one piece of good news. That’s how we stand on the name we’ve been to.

“Hmm… I’m sure Fulstead-sama did it because he had something on his mind. Anyway, thank you.

“Yes, thank you”

And tell the story to Johnny. Of course, she didn’t know much in the first place to tell us deeply, but at least Eden was able to convey the realizations she had learned.

“Johnny, if you have any hesitation, stop flying. So the wind’s path will never open.”

“Ah yes”

“No, why are you talking about real stand awakening?!?!?!”

“Finally, his name is Johnny, so why not!!!”

“So it’s more scary?!”

Besides, the one who informs you is flagged for death!!!!

Well, to be honest, it would be nice if Johnny won, not anyone else, but… No, wait a minute. Didn’t the main character win the race even in Part 7 in the first place?

Anyway, Eden taught Johnny a lot like that. I don’t know how Johnny took it, but I think he understood at least a lot of it.

Our trip this time wasn’t that long, but on the other hand, Johnny’s passion and training helped. And on the other hand, that’s what Johnny’s qualities are like.

Spend a few days waiting for the full-scale windmill festival. Perhaps because it was the capital of the Abes kingdom, there were quite a few things to see here, so it wasn’t too boring to stay there.

“Huh? Do you sell windmills here in the market too?”

“You mean the one I drank as tea the other day? It was delicious.”

“Because it’s a herb, there are many uses for it, and it seems like it’s used well here too.”

[By the way, since I have already memorized all the seed information, you can grow it in the Garden of Eden]

“Wow!!! My house plant, Dr. Chuck Cheok!!!!”

[I think I said that a while ago. Not just plants, but biology and natural sciences can earn several PhDs.]

“How many graduate schools…?”

[Is that a problem?!]

“No graduate school!!!!! That’s hanging!!!!”

“The professor who was hanged would not be that professor.”

And the day of the windmill festival dawns.

The atmosphere of the city, which was usually hectic, feels tense today. It meant that it was such an important day.

Get ready to be busy in the morning. Eden prepared a special dish for her Johnny. Of course, even if it was decorated grandiosely, it was just inconvenient for me to fly, and I cooked porridge using dried fish along with grains.

It is the only rice to eat before the race. When the race started, I could only eat insects or food, so I had to eat something that was healthy but also easy to digest and not burdensome to the body.

That’s why Eden also made porridge. Dried fish goes in and the flavor is good.

“Eat well and work hard”

“Yeah!!!! Uh…… But isn’t it a little too much? I can’t eat all of this.”

“I’m going to eat what’s left”

“I thought so”

Johnny also had a hearty breakfast… No, he ate slightly less. Because if you eat too much, your body will eventually become sluggish. It is easier to move around by filling only about 80% of the stomach.

In addition to that, it takes some time to digest, but it doesn’t take that long to digest because it’s porridge anyway.

Right before the race, Eden gave Johnny one last piece of advice. I wanted something, but it was Eden’s down-to-earth advice until the end.

“Johnny, do you want to win the race or do you want to become a spirit?”

“Yes? That…Isn’t that the same thing?”

“It’s the same but different. It’s different but it’s the same. If all the spirits were created because they won in the first place, there’s no way spirits couldn’t be born at the last Pungnyeong Festival.”

“……That’s right.”

“Don’t try to win. That’s fine. But you have to be the fastest.”

“If you’re the fastest, won’t you eventually win?”

“It’s a little different. And Johnny… The fastest way is rather to give up everything and not get caught up in anything. And this is 『Lesson 5』.”

“Yes?”

“When it really comes to an end, win or whatever, give up, okay?”

“I’m not sure what that means. Didn’t you say before that if you give up, it’s over?”

“Just remember. The time will come when you realize that.”

Afterwards, Johnny, who finished his preparations, moved to the participant waiting area to participate in the race in earnest.

As this festival is a festival, there are also Abbes who participate sincerely or simply for the sake of completion, so the total number exceeds 10,000. Thanks to that, even a single word can make a mess, so it’s incredibly noisy.

“Dad, Dad. I heard you can follow me?”

“What?”

“They say you can follow the players as long as they don’t hinder or help them. However, if you do something even a little, even that player will be disqualified and the person who helped or hindered them will be sentenced to death.”

“It’s strict. Who judges that?”

“The spirits of the wind”

“Oh, then that might be fair”

Originally, corruption would occur in a match where such a right was staked, but if the opponent was a spirit, there would be no such thing in the first place. That’s because you can’t appease the spirits or anything like that.

“But it’s usually dangerous, so they only follow until the Sanctuary of the Stormzone… We have Yesto, so can’t we go in together?”

“Do you intend to follow me?”

“Fuck carrots, Shiva!!!!”

“Yeah, I knew that. Then I’ll follow you and prepare something to eat.”

“Five!!!!!”

Of course, I have no intention of helping. Before putting us to death, it’s either going to ruin Johnny’s efforts so far or he shouldn’t be helping in the first place.

Our help so far is enough. The rest depends on Johnny’s efforts.

Soon we could see the athletes standing at the starting line. Johnny was the last to participate, so he was at the back, but there are only a few Aves who can enter the goal score anyway, so that doesn’t matter. It’s not a sprint race, it’s a long run, so you don’t have to worry about being behind.

However… There was one guy who stood out among the participants.

“Dad, he’s so big”

[Looks like a mixture of an eagle and an albatross?]

“No, it’s perfect, what is it?”

The front row at the starting line of the race, he is big enough to be incomparable to other Abes, and his muscles are developed as if he had trained for a long time.

It looks like he prepared a lot for today’s race, but it feels like it’s not easy. Furthermore, the spirit’s contractor felt the energy of the wind spirit quite strongly.

“I think there are fewer people stronger than him among the knights in the palace.”

“Is he a strong candidate for this championship?”

I was curious about what kind of guy it was, so I asked around separately. Since he was an abbess the size of me, most of the people here knew him, so it wasn’t hard to hear him.

“You mean Thiago? A strong candidate for this championship. He comes from a family so famous that one of his ancestors even won the Pungnyeong Festival.”

“I have speed, stamina, and even being a contractor of spirits. A player like him is rarely strong.”

“The dividend is that low, so it won’t be fun to bet on.”

“Wait, dividends? Horse racing, no, did you have congratulations or condolences? Dad!!!! I’ll bet you some money for a second!!!!!”

“Uh huh, if you gamble, you can’t use it!!!!!!”

“It’s okay because I’m going to use the money I received!”

[Oh, me too!!! Me too!!!!!]

By the way, in Abeth Kingdom, crop seeds are used as currency, similar to Kartsi Kingdom. So I use something mixed with walnuts and peanuts. They say the name is Tak-Kong.

It’s a name that sounds like something raw when you hit it, but anyway, ttak beans are nuts that are harder and thicker than peanuts, but surrounded by a thinner and less hard shell than walnuts, and Abes loved it very much.

But why didn’t you mention it? That’s because we didn’t like the taste. Even though our Eden, who eats well, cooks well, he says it tastes fishy, ​​so you know how tasteless it is?

Anyway, there was money from killing animals and selling skins and bones here, so I had enough money for travel, so there was a bean that Eden gave me to buy what I wanted……. Eden and Keter went all-in.

Actually, you shouldn’t make a habit of gambling, but on the other hand, it’s not gambling to the extent that you can’t even live on it. It’ll be okay because there’s only a little bit of regret from losing it anyway.

“I bet on you!!!!”

“Yeah, did you bet Johnny?”

“Of course!!! If you don’t bet on Johnny, who are you betting on?”

“There are so many participants, how can you manage to bet?”

“So it took a while, but I could bet because I was on the list. I bet all my pocket money with Keter.”

[If we win, we’ll be rich!!!!]

“How much is the dividend?”

“If Johnny wins, it’s about 10,000 times.”

“No, it’s a single win, but the level of odds?!”

“That’s why the chances of winning are low. Even if you’re in the top 100, the odds are thousands of times worse.”

The higher the odds in gambling, the less likely the player is to win. If you win that much, the money you get is big, but on the other hand, you’re not stupid, so you deliberately set the dividend like that to eat blind money.

Honestly, if the dividend is high, don’t you bet at least once as a joke? It is all the more so because the idea that the jackpot can hit after that is the basis of gambling.

It’s a bet because we know each other personally, but……. If Johnny wins, I think there will be money.

However, it is difficult to receive as much as the amount. Originally, such a gamble becomes a problem as soon as it is won. Wouldn’t the gambling house look good on the guy who won a lot of money?

“Eden, if you win money, tell your dad. He’ll go and get it for you.”

“Ah, I don’t think there’s anything to worry about. They said that running a casino is relatively fair because it’s run directly by the kingdom.”

“In the country? Ah… Well, in races like this, there are always bettors, but rather than giving up or blocking the interest, it would be better to run it in the country and clean it up.”

[It’s similar to the government’s lottery business on Earth]

Anyway, everything is ready.

The departure time was gradually approaching, and King Abes stood on the podium to announce the start of the departure.

His voice, amplified by the wind spirit, is heard by both the athletes at the starting line and the people in the stands.

-Thank you to my fellow tribesmen and other races who gathered to celebrate the Pungnyeong Festival and to support the players today. Also, I hope that the players who have made a lot of effort for today also have the blessings of the wind on their way forward.

If the story had been a little longer, I would have thought of the principal’s instruction, but the good words weren’t that long.

Had it been longer, it would have been a bit annoying. It’s a bit windy, but the sun is out, so it’s a little hot.

[I’ll make the crow into a bald eagle if you talk longer]

“Hate bald head again!!!!”

“Come to think of it, Keter, when I was training my elementary school principal back in the day, I made my bald head shiny.”

[That was a fun memory]

“Wouldn’t that principal remain as a nightmare rather than a memory?”

Soon, King Abes spread his wings and exclaimed majestically.

-From now on, I will start the wind rite!!!!! All players, stand in your seats!!!!!

Numerous abbesses prepare to take flight. There is quite a sense of tension as each prepares to spread their wings or stretch their legs.

Soon after, King Abes announced the start of the race in earnest.

-Then let’s go!!!!!

With his declaration, numerous Abbes began to take flight. Similarly, Johnny also flew quickly.

Because of his small size, even in the crowd of players, Johnny was able to quickly break through and take the lead. Being big has its advantages, but on the other hand, being small also has its advantages.

“Oh, Dad, over there!!! Look over there!!!!”

“Yes?”

At the forefront of the starting point, as soon as it started, there was a huge gust of wind. It was not an ordinary wind, but a gust of wind using the wind spirit.

But with that, ordinary Abeths were pushed and stumbled or fell to the ground. I wanted something, but Thiego, who I had been eyeing through such a gust of wind, flew up quickly and took the lead.

[He interfered with the others with that young wind spirit, and he accelerated and flew up!!!!!]

“Ah!!!!! Isn’t that a foul?!”

“Well…….”

I looked around. The reaction of the other Abes was that even if they were irritated and cursed while grinding their teeth, at least the public power and the knights of the Abes Kingdom were not thinking about moving.

This means that it is a disqualification for anyone other than the athlete to help or hinder, but it is not a disqualification for the athlete to interfere with the athlete.

I thought it was a simple race, but on the other hand, it seems that there was such a violent side. It feels pretty strange.

[It’s an attitude that doesn’t matter what the process or method is!]

“What a sickening evil is…!!!!!”

Why are you two playing jojo drip!?

But on the other hand, that Thiego stands out even more. And I knew it instinctively.

That Thiego was Johnny’s ordeal.