137 - 24 Hearts

**Chapter 137: The 'Black Tree' Tribe** Yuda, who had been sleeping soundly from exhaustion, suddenly opened his eyes. Despite feeling like he hadn't slept much, it was already dark outside. It seemed that only a few hours had passed since he fell asleep. He looked for Isabel, who should have been sleeping next to him, but she was nowhere to be found. Instead, a long, elaborate mask was lying where she had been, as if she had left it for him. "A souvenir, perhaps." The mask, with its intricate and elongated design, was strikingly unique and seemed far too stylish to be just for women. Yuda liked it. He pondered over whether it had any special features but soon dismissed the thought and placed it in his [Bag]. It was merely a gift close to a keepsake, and there was no need to check its attributes. 'Ah, speaking of which... I left Arhil and Jeanne behind.' With a jolt of concern, Yuda quickly rose from his seat to search for Arhil and Jeanne. By now, they had been passed out drunk for quite some time. Isabel had explained to the tribe members that they were with her, so no one had dared to approach them so far. However, being drunk and helpless, anything could happen. As he hastily opened the sliding doors and came out of the room, he heard a belated sound of snoring. For a moment, he felt foolish for worrying so much that it had made his heart skip a beat. "Sigh." Yuda let out a dry laugh and looked down at them from where he stood. Isabel must have moved them because Arhil and Jeanne were asleep in the living room, wrapped haphazardly in blankets, and snoring softly. They seemed to be in a very deep sleep, showing no signs of waking even when Yuda recklessly opened the door. Carefully, he moved them to the room, washed the body he hadn't managed to clean the night before, and then returned. Though the sky was still dark and dawn was a little while away, sleep eluded him. He decided to prepare breakfast. With the amount of drinking done the previous night, he thought a refreshing soup might be pleasant, so he prepared a spicy stew. The subspace of the [Bag] functioned as a separate dimension where time stopped for the items stored within, preserving them perfectly without any risk of spoilage. This meant that food ingredients stayed fresh indefinitely. Utilizing the vegetables and meat he had bought at Serenia Castle, along with other ingredients acquired from the guild, he made a stew. When breakfast was ready, he woke Arhil and Jeanne, still groggy from the alcohol, and sat them at the living room table. "…Ugh, Yuda, are you okay?" Jeanne squinted and asked. Surprisingly, he was fine. While the shard had indeed enhanced his recovery rate, he hadn't drunk enough to get completely drunk. Just a bit of fatigue, nothing more. "Yes, I'm fine. How about you, Arhil?" "Ugh... My head hurts..." Appearing to suffer from a hangover, Arhil replied in a voice on the verge of tears, banging her forehead against the table. Her disheveled hair fell to the side. Smiling at the sight, Yuda urged them to eat despite their discomfort and served them the stew he had simmered since dawn. Fortunately, even though she complained of a headache, Arhil managed to eat the spicy beef stew bit by bit. 'We can't leave today after all.' He thought they hadn't drunk that much last night... But then he realized he had survived the drinking game, whereas they had consumed an enormous amount. Resigning himself, he decided they would have to rest today and leave Rijin tomorrow. There wasn't any issue with staying longer, but having obtained the shard, they had no more business here. Like the [Requiem] in the southern forest of Serenia Castle, there were several formidable bosses in Rijin offering rewarding experiences and valuable items. However, capturing them wasn't easy. These bosses only appeared in specific weather conditions and were challenging to capture without a wizard. Even in the game, the bosses had annoying patterns that made one question why they were designed that way, and it was easy to imagine how aggravating it would be in this world. After instructing the still-hungover women to rest at home, Yuda ventured outside to find goods unique to the tribe. Though they were willing to offer him whatever items he wanted, he felt guilty accepting them without exchange. Thus, he traded them with black wolf pelts and fangs unavailable in this region. Metal currency like gold, silver, and copper coins held no value to them. Once he stored the traded items in his [Bag], he went to find Isabel. "Hmm? You're here?" Isabel greeted him with a casual nonchalance, as if last night's events were nothing out of the ordinary. "Yes, I'm planning to leave tomorrow, so I'm here to say my farewells." "Ah... So you're leaving?" Yuda nodded. "Do you not wish to stay here with me?” "An enticing offer, but as I said before, I have things to do. Thank you for the offer, but I must politely decline." "Well, if that's the case, I won't stop you. I'll never forget our meeting. If you ever find yourself with nowhere else to go in the outside world, come back here. Even if the Empire chases you, I'll protect you." She bid farewell in a rather tough manner. "Would you care to join me instead?" "Ha, of course not. Just as you have things you need to do, I have mine. I'll make the Black Tree Tribe the best in Rijin. My dream is to unite Rijin under one tribe, like your dream to travel the world—create a kingdom." As expected, Yuda nodded in agreement the instant he heard her words. By using the twenty-fourth shard, Carpe Diem's [Subordinate], he could summon her with the [Doppelganger] skill whenever necessary. Although this would prevent the original from using their full potential due to shared magical energy, having a swordmaster like her would still be a great asset. However, it seemed unlikely that Isabel would accept the [Subordinate] ability, as submission meant to serve under someone else. Yuda considered whether he had any suitable gift for her, someone he might not meet again, but nothing came to mind. If she wielded greatswords, he could gift her the bastard sword received from the lord of Serenia Castle, but she specialized in bows and daggers, making it unusable for her. After a brief pause, Yuda took out the unique-grade [Code] he obtained from Quake and placed it before her. "What’s this?" "It's the code we acquired after defeating Quake." "I know that. It's an orb that grants special powers, right? What I mean is, why are you giving it to me?" "It's a gift." "A gift?" She asked, seemingly puzzled. "I'm leaving now, and I have nothing suitable to offer. Thanks to you, I gained priceless items, had enriching experiences and created lovely memories with you, Isabel. Leaving with just your help would feel shameless, so I'm giving this to you. Upon checking, I found it boosts weapon performance; perhaps you could imbue it into your bow." After a brief silence, she shook her head. "...No, it's okay. Keep it." "Really? Why? Do you perhaps have a code already embedded in your bow?" "No, our tribe lacks a shaman capable of embedding purple orbs. There are some in other tribes, but I don't trust them enough to ask for their help." "Hmm, then could you give me your bow for a moment?" "What do you plan to do?" "Rather than explain, I believe showing you will be quicker." After a moment's hesitation, Isabel stood up and retrieved her bow hanging on the wall. As soon as Yuda picked up the [Code] and brought it towards the bow, a message popped up before his eyes. [Would you like to imbue the effect of "Code Pre: Destructive Power" into "The Treasure of the Black Tree _ Adukenna's Bow’s Inner Eye"?] Fortunately, the only code imbued in the bow was a suffix. Without hesitation, Yuda pressed yes, and the string of characters trapped within the code unraveled like a thread and seeped into the bow. [Upon successful coding, the item's name will change from "The Treasure of the Black Tree _ Adukenna's Bow’s Inner Eye" to "The Treasure of the Black Tree _ Adukenna's Bow with Destructive Power’s Inner Eye."] Items with prefixes and suffixes often ended up with bizarre names. As Yuda handed the now-enhanced bow back to her, her eyes widened in surprise. Testing the bowstring with a single twang, Isabel couldn’t hide her admiration as a powerful crack resonated in the air. "My! The more I see you, the more I wonder if you're not a spirit yourself. I initially tried not to get too attached to a transient outsider passing through Rijin, but... letting you depart feels too much of a loss." Setting the bow aside, Isabel leaned forward and suddenly embraced Yuda. Alarmed, he attempted to evade her, but escaping the deliberate actions of a swordmaster was futile. "You mentioned leaving tomorrow, right? Before you go, there's one more gift I’d like from you..." She chuckled softly and kissed him. Having done it once before, doing it again hardly felt challenging to her—she quickly overtook him, her warm breaths mingling with impassioned cries. Once their fervent intimacy concluded, Isabel, catching her breath with a face full of contentment, spoke. "I promise I'll take good care of the spirit’s child. Our tribe doesn’t use surnames, but out of respect, I'll add Arshe—your surname—to the child's name." They talked a bit more over dinner that evening before parting ways. The day passed swiftly, and by the next dawn, Yuda's party bid farewell to the Black Tree Tribe. --- **Author's Note** --- 1) Planning to update continuously tomorrow... How many updates would you like? Personally, I'm leaning towards two. 2) My phone is a Galaxy Note 4! Thankfully, I fixed the screen. When the screen broke, what worried me the most was the "Memo" app containing the scene with Isabel. Luckily, my pen still worked, so I managed to transfer it to Messenger before deleting it. Whew, if a service center technician had seen that, I might've died of embarrassment!