Reading settings
Chapter 734: I Don't Want to Be Too Rude, You Should Just Give Up
Skipping the process, which held no suspense, Seto, who had proactively sought out Hayato for a Duel, was, as expected, still defeated.
Watching Seto recall the Millennium Stone Spirits he had been defeated by, Hayato also raised his hand, and the **Stardust Dragon** behind him immediately dispersed without lingering, as if afraid Hayato would toy with it like last time.
"So this is the level of power comparable to the gods." Recalling the details of the battle just now, Seto's face didn't show frustration from the defeat. Instead, he wore a confident smile, quite excited about finding his goal. "Compared to last time, I can see the direction I need to become stronger much more clearly. From now on, I just need to ignore the obstructions on the path and move forward."
As long as he became stronger, he would possess the power to protect everything. For this, making some sacrifice was naturally not a problem.
Just as their battle ended, someone walked towards them from nearby, calling out as he approached, "Priest Seto!"
Hearing this, Seto turned his head and saw a shiny bald head. "Shada? Why are you here?"
The newcomer was none other than Shada Sin, one of the five priests currently holding the Millennium Items. After Priest Seto and Priest Karim had a dispute in the Royal Palace earlier, Dark Yugi, to temporarily appease them, arranged for Shada and Seto to be responsible for the Royal City's security work together.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, Priest Seto?" Unlike his usual silence and restraint in the Royal Palace, Shada was slightly more relaxed when not in front of the Pharaoh but in front of Seto. He said casually, "You said you were going to gather the Troops and told me to wait for you, but then you left and didn't come back. That's why I came here to see what was going on with you."
"And when I got here, I saw you got defeated again." Shada said, paused for a moment.
Huh? Why did I say "again"?
"Heh, this isn't a defeat. It's just necessary tempering that must be experienced to gain experience." Even though he clearly lost, the reason Seto came up with sounded quite plausible. Hearing this, Shada just shrugged and didn't say anything.
Because there are a total of six Millennium Items besides the Millennium Rod, which is a symbol of royal authority, the Priest Set holding the Millennium Items also consists of only six people. However, even though there are only six Priests, they are still divided into two factions for their own reasons.
Mahad was Isis's friend, so she would naturally side with Mahad on general matters. Seto was almost entirely promoted by Aknadin from the lower ranks, so he naturally stood on his side. Thus, because Seto always caused trouble for Mahad, two factions naturally formed.
Among the remaining two Priests, Karim disliked Seto's arrogant and overbearing attitude and admired Mahad, who was practical and straightforward in his work. Shada, on the other hand, admired Aknadin, who was a priest to the Previous Pharaoh, and was closer to Seto's side.
Seto and Mahad, the leaders of the two factions, actually didn't consciously draw lines within the Priest Set themselves. Seto purely wanted to prove that he was stronger than Mahad, and Mahad only wanted to be loyal to the Pharaoh and do work for the Pharaoh. However, it was an undeniable fact that the Priests were divided into camps because of the two of them.
While Mahad was alive, everything was fine, and this potential division didn't surface. But after Mahad sacrificed himself yesterday, leaving one less person in the Priest Set, the undercurrents that had never subsided came to the surface.
Among the Priests, the eldest, Priest Aknadin, had no great ambition and, as expected, still simply supported Seto. However, Priest Karim, the second eldest, had his own idea. He had admired Mahad's character before, so even though Mahad had the title of "Strongest Priest" and was implicitly considered their leader, he had no problem with it.
But now, after Mahad's death, Seto seemed to have the plan of becoming the "Strongest Priest" and leader, which made Karim somewhat annoyed. In terms of seniority, if Priest Aknadin wasn't counted, then it should be his turn, Karim's. How could it be Seto's turn, a kid?
This led to the dispute in the Royal Palace. While it was true that Karim himself didn't support Seto's idea, there was inevitably a deeper motive of disliking Seto and wanting to cause him trouble.
Among the current five Priests, Priest Aknadin is severely injured and has not yet recovered, Priest Isis's Millennium Necklace has somehow lost its future sight power, and she has no heart to do anything because of Mahad's death. The only active Priests are actually Karim, Seto, and Shada.
At that time, among the four young people in the Priest Set, Shada's ability was inferior to Mahad and Seto but stronger than Isis, which made him the most inconspicuous and mediocre among the Priests. Coupled with his own peaceful personality and lack of desire to compete, he has now become a buffer between Karim and Seto after Mahad's death.
Although he didn't know Seto's personality too well, Dark Yugi used the personality of Kaiba Seto, whom he knew, as a reference. Although he knew there were significant differences between the two—for example, that Tsundere Kaiba would never thank anyone—their overall personalities shouldn't be vastly different.
Worried that Seto's attitude would be too tough while responsible for the Royal City's security work, causing trouble for the people, Dark Yugi arranged Shada to be with Seto at the same time he paired Isis and Karim together, to help him with the Royal City's security work and neutralize any potential trouble.
Actually, Dark Yugi's judgment was indeed quite accurate. Today was only the first day they were responsible for the Royal City's security work, and the specific work hadn't even officially begun. Yet, Shada saw that Seto, who had promised to dispatch the Troops and left him waiting anxiously, had actually encountered someone by the roadside and dragged the opponent into a Duel Ritual. He was simply too willful.
Sizing up Hayato, Shada also greeted him, "Hello, if I remember correctly, you should be Hayato Kobayashi. We met the day before yesterday."
Hayato naturally remembered Shada. On the night Bakura attacked the Royal Palace the day before yesterday, after Aknadin fell unconscious, it was Karim and Shada who carried him back to the Royal Palace. The two had met then, but hadn't had much communication.
However, although they hadn't exchanged more than a couple of words, actually, for Hayato, it wasn't Karim or Aknadin, but the Shada before him who left the deepest impression.
———No way, although it was night, under the firelight around them at that time, Shada's bald head shone like a light bulb. It was hard for Hayato not to be impressed.
"Hearing your conversation just now, Priest Shada and Seto, are you two going to be responsible for the City's security work next?" Hayato asked with some curiosity. The answer to this question actually also related to his next plan.
Shada didn't shy away and nodded frankly. "That's right. Our initial discussion, Priest Seto and I, is that I will be responsible for the smaller area around the Royal Palace and Temple, which requires strict supervision, while Priest Seto will dispatch the Troops to be responsible for the larger area within the City, such as the Residential Area."
"The matter of Thief Bakura appearing once is already a humiliation for us Priests, so next, we must be more careful and responsible and absolutely not let the bandit break into the Royal City a second time." Paused, Shada said with a hint of sadness, "This way, we won't let Priest Mahad's sacrifice be wasted."
As young people, actually, besides Seto, Shada's relationship with Mahad was also quite good. Mahad's death also made Shada very sad.
"Regarding this, do you think just watching over the City means Priest Mahad's sacrifice wasn't wasted, Shada?"
After hearing Shada's last sentence, as if he remembered something, Seto suddenly said to him, "No matter how tightly we guard the City, that's just inheriting Mahad's original responsibility and not failing in our duty. How does that make his sacrifice not wasted?"
To truly give Mahad's sacrifice the greatest value, shouldn't we be taking the offensive and eliminate that Bakura, whose life and death are unknown!?"
"This matter is useless even if you tell me, Seto." Looking at the somewhat excited Seto, Shada wore a helpless expression and tried to reason with him. "You already argued with Priest Karim about this before. The reason the Pharaoh decided to postpone making a decision is because he has his concerns."
Paused, Shada glanced at the Millennium Key in his hand. "Moreover, if that Bakura is still alive, it means he must have also obtained Mahad's Millennium Ring. Originally, we couldn't contend with him, and now we probably won't be his opponent even more."
Hearing Shada's words, Seto's expression became somewhat unpleasant because the fact he had been avoiding thinking about was exposed. Even his prideful self had to acknowledge that Shada was right. Even though he had seen the location of even greater power with Hayato's help, without a method to improve, he was still not that Bakura's opponent.
Unless...
An idea he had once abandoned resurfaced. Thinking that he now had the authority to manage the City's security under the Pharaoh's authorization, Seto found it difficult to restrain the idea of implementing the thought in his heart into reality. He couldn't help but say to Shada, "Speaking of which, Shada, your Millennium Key has the power to see the spirit in people's hearts, right?"
"That's right." Shada nodded, not knowing why Seto would suddenly ask him this question. "The desire and malice in the human heart can turn into monsters, driving them to commit crimes. The power of the Millennium Key can open a person's heart and see the situation inside, so naturally, it can see if there are monsters entangled in a person's heart."
Seto heard Shada's words, turned his head, and looked towards the City in the distance. "Then Shada, I would like to ask you to use the Millennium Key to explore the hearts of the people in the City and find people among them who have powerful spirits in their hearts."
"What?! Don't talk nonsense, Seto!"
Shada was stunned for a moment after hearing Seto's words, then said nervously and anxiously, "Do you know what you're saying? As Priests, we should be using the power of the Millennium Items to protect the people. How can we use power against innocent people!"
"Hmph, then I ask you, are we just going to watch Bakura use the Millennium Ring to boost his malice and become even stronger and harder to contend with? Or do you want to rely on the Pharaoh to call upon the Power of the Gods again and put himself in danger to quell the riot?"
Facing Shada's question, Seto also refused to yield and argued, asking in return, "Which way do you think makes Mahad's sacrifice wasted?"
Shada was speechless. Which choice was correct: letting the Pharaoh be in danger, or using the power of the Millennium Key on the people? He couldn't answer Seto's question. In his distress, his gaze couldn't help but shift to Hayato beside him.
"I, I don't know."
Hayato watched Shada rendered speechless by Seto's question and shook his head. In his view, while Seto's starting point of using power against the people to protect them was good, and his concerns were correct, the method of use was wrong and completely putting the cart before the horse. In this respect, it was so similar to a certain person who created the Millennium Items.
"You've got one thing wrong, Seto."
Hearing Hayato speak, Seto also turned his head to see what Hayato wanted to say.
"You said you want to use the power of the Millennium Key on the people to see if there are powerful spirits. That's too foolish. Do you think you can find an existence in just anyone's heart that is more powerful than the spirits in the hearts of you Priests, who have undergone long training and whose will far surpasses ordinary people?"
Hayato crossed his arms over his chest and spoke eloquently, "No possibility, right? Finding some Small Fry-like monsters in the hearts of ordinary people is already the limit. It's a problem just to contend with the powerful Millennium Stone Spirits collected by you Priests, let alone engaging in battle with **Diabound Kernel**, whose power is close to a god. Blindly using the Millennium Key on the people will only be a waste of time and a waste of Priest Shada's energy."
"I don't want to be too rude, you should just give up."
Hearing Hayato's words, Seto didn't say anything but showed a thoughtful expression, as if he was somewhat convinced. Before Hayato mentioned it, he really hadn't thought of this point at all, completely blinded by his obsession with power. Thinking about it now, Hayato Kobayashi is right. How could he have thought of using the power of the Millennium Key on the people?
"That's what I meant, yes." Seeing that Seto seemed somewhat convinced by Hayato, Shada quickly agreed with Hayato. However, he also wanted to ask Hayato, "But, if we don't use the Millennium Key, won't we be unable to become stronger and only be able to rely on the Pharaoh to put himself in danger again?"
"I didn't say Seto was wrong. Of course, the Millennium Key still has to be used." Hayato said, pointing to himself. "Instead of wasting time on ordinary people who are destined to yield no gains, it's better to directly select some people with potential to attempt."
"I've long wanted to know what kind of spirit I can awaken in my heart. Hurry up and bring it on, I can't wait."
(End of Chapter)
Skipping the process, which held no suspense, Seto, who had proactively sought out Hayato for a Duel, was, as expected, still defeated.
Watching Seto recall the Millennium Stone Spirits he had been defeated by, Hayato also raised his hand, and the **Stardust Dragon** behind him immediately dispersed without lingering, as if afraid Hayato would toy with it like last time.
"So this is the level of power comparable to the gods." Recalling the details of the battle just now, Seto's face didn't show frustration from the defeat. Instead, he wore a confident smile, quite excited about finding his goal. "Compared to last time, I can see the direction I need to become stronger much more clearly. From now on, I just need to ignore the obstructions on the path and move forward."
As long as he became stronger, he would possess the power to protect everything. For this, making some sacrifice was naturally not a problem.
Just as their battle ended, someone walked towards them from nearby, calling out as he approached, "Priest Seto!"
Hearing this, Seto turned his head and saw a shiny bald head. "Shada? Why are you here?"
The newcomer was none other than Shada Sin, one of the five priests currently holding the Millennium Items. After Priest Seto and Priest Karim had a dispute in the Royal Palace earlier, Dark Yugi, to temporarily appease them, arranged for Shada and Seto to be responsible for the Royal City's security work together.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that, Priest Seto?" Unlike his usual silence and restraint in the Royal Palace, Shada was slightly more relaxed when not in front of the Pharaoh but in front of Seto. He said casually, "You said you were going to gather the Troops and told me to wait for you, but then you left and didn't come back. That's why I came here to see what was going on with you."
"And when I got here, I saw you got defeated again." Shada said, paused for a moment.
Huh? Why did I say "again"?
"Heh, this isn't a defeat. It's just necessary tempering that must be experienced to gain experience." Even though he clearly lost, the reason Seto came up with sounded quite plausible. Hearing this, Shada just shrugged and didn't say anything.
Because there are a total of six Millennium Items besides the Millennium Rod, which is a symbol of royal authority, the Priest Set holding the Millennium Items also consists of only six people. However, even though there are only six Priests, they are still divided into two factions for their own reasons.
Mahad was Isis's friend, so she would naturally side with Mahad on general matters. Seto was almost entirely promoted by Aknadin from the lower ranks, so he naturally stood on his side. Thus, because Seto always caused trouble for Mahad, two factions naturally formed.
Among the remaining two Priests, Karim disliked Seto's arrogant and overbearing attitude and admired Mahad, who was practical and straightforward in his work. Shada, on the other hand, admired Aknadin, who was a priest to the Previous Pharaoh, and was closer to Seto's side.
Seto and Mahad, the leaders of the two factions, actually didn't consciously draw lines within the Priest Set themselves. Seto purely wanted to prove that he was stronger than Mahad, and Mahad only wanted to be loyal to the Pharaoh and do work for the Pharaoh. However, it was an undeniable fact that the Priests were divided into camps because of the two of them.
While Mahad was alive, everything was fine, and this potential division didn't surface. But after Mahad sacrificed himself yesterday, leaving one less person in the Priest Set, the undercurrents that had never subsided came to the surface.
Among the Priests, the eldest, Priest Aknadin, had no great ambition and, as expected, still simply supported Seto. However, Priest Karim, the second eldest, had his own idea. He had admired Mahad's character before, so even though Mahad had the title of "Strongest Priest" and was implicitly considered their leader, he had no problem with it.
But now, after Mahad's death, Seto seemed to have the plan of becoming the "Strongest Priest" and leader, which made Karim somewhat annoyed. In terms of seniority, if Priest Aknadin wasn't counted, then it should be his turn, Karim's. How could it be Seto's turn, a kid?
This led to the dispute in the Royal Palace. While it was true that Karim himself didn't support Seto's idea, there was inevitably a deeper motive of disliking Seto and wanting to cause him trouble.
Among the current five Priests, Priest Aknadin is severely injured and has not yet recovered, Priest Isis's Millennium Necklace has somehow lost its future sight power, and she has no heart to do anything because of Mahad's death. The only active Priests are actually Karim, Seto, and Shada.
At that time, among the four young people in the Priest Set, Shada's ability was inferior to Mahad and Seto but stronger than Isis, which made him the most inconspicuous and mediocre among the Priests. Coupled with his own peaceful personality and lack of desire to compete, he has now become a buffer between Karim and Seto after Mahad's death.
Although he didn't know Seto's personality too well, Dark Yugi used the personality of Kaiba Seto, whom he knew, as a reference. Although he knew there were significant differences between the two—for example, that Tsundere Kaiba would never thank anyone—their overall personalities shouldn't be vastly different.
Worried that Seto's attitude would be too tough while responsible for the Royal City's security work, causing trouble for the people, Dark Yugi arranged Shada to be with Seto at the same time he paired Isis and Karim together, to help him with the Royal City's security work and neutralize any potential trouble.
Actually, Dark Yugi's judgment was indeed quite accurate. Today was only the first day they were responsible for the Royal City's security work, and the specific work hadn't even officially begun. Yet, Shada saw that Seto, who had promised to dispatch the Troops and left him waiting anxiously, had actually encountered someone by the roadside and dragged the opponent into a Duel Ritual. He was simply too willful.
Sizing up Hayato, Shada also greeted him, "Hello, if I remember correctly, you should be Hayato Kobayashi. We met the day before yesterday."
Hayato naturally remembered Shada. On the night Bakura attacked the Royal Palace the day before yesterday, after Aknadin fell unconscious, it was Karim and Shada who carried him back to the Royal Palace. The two had met then, but hadn't had much communication.
However, although they hadn't exchanged more than a couple of words, actually, for Hayato, it wasn't Karim or Aknadin, but the Shada before him who left the deepest impression.
———No way, although it was night, under the firelight around them at that time, Shada's bald head shone like a light bulb. It was hard for Hayato not to be impressed.
"Hearing your conversation just now, Priest Shada and Seto, are you two going to be responsible for the City's security work next?" Hayato asked with some curiosity. The answer to this question actually also related to his next plan.
Shada didn't shy away and nodded frankly. "That's right. Our initial discussion, Priest Seto and I, is that I will be responsible for the smaller area around the Royal Palace and Temple, which requires strict supervision, while Priest Seto will dispatch the Troops to be responsible for the larger area within the City, such as the Residential Area."
"The matter of Thief Bakura appearing once is already a humiliation for us Priests, so next, we must be more careful and responsible and absolutely not let the bandit break into the Royal City a second time." Paused, Shada said with a hint of sadness, "This way, we won't let Priest Mahad's sacrifice be wasted."
As young people, actually, besides Seto, Shada's relationship with Mahad was also quite good. Mahad's death also made Shada very sad.
"Regarding this, do you think just watching over the City means Priest Mahad's sacrifice wasn't wasted, Shada?"
After hearing Shada's last sentence, as if he remembered something, Seto suddenly said to him, "No matter how tightly we guard the City, that's just inheriting Mahad's original responsibility and not failing in our duty. How does that make his sacrifice not wasted?"
To truly give Mahad's sacrifice the greatest value, shouldn't we be taking the offensive and eliminate that Bakura, whose life and death are unknown!?"
"This matter is useless even if you tell me, Seto." Looking at the somewhat excited Seto, Shada wore a helpless expression and tried to reason with him. "You already argued with Priest Karim about this before. The reason the Pharaoh decided to postpone making a decision is because he has his concerns."
Paused, Shada glanced at the Millennium Key in his hand. "Moreover, if that Bakura is still alive, it means he must have also obtained Mahad's Millennium Ring. Originally, we couldn't contend with him, and now we probably won't be his opponent even more."
Hearing Shada's words, Seto's expression became somewhat unpleasant because the fact he had been avoiding thinking about was exposed. Even his prideful self had to acknowledge that Shada was right. Even though he had seen the location of even greater power with Hayato's help, without a method to improve, he was still not that Bakura's opponent.
Unless...
An idea he had once abandoned resurfaced. Thinking that he now had the authority to manage the City's security under the Pharaoh's authorization, Seto found it difficult to restrain the idea of implementing the thought in his heart into reality. He couldn't help but say to Shada, "Speaking of which, Shada, your Millennium Key has the power to see the spirit in people's hearts, right?"
"That's right." Shada nodded, not knowing why Seto would suddenly ask him this question. "The desire and malice in the human heart can turn into monsters, driving them to commit crimes. The power of the Millennium Key can open a person's heart and see the situation inside, so naturally, it can see if there are monsters entangled in a person's heart."
Seto heard Shada's words, turned his head, and looked towards the City in the distance. "Then Shada, I would like to ask you to use the Millennium Key to explore the hearts of the people in the City and find people among them who have powerful spirits in their hearts."
"What?! Don't talk nonsense, Seto!"
Shada was stunned for a moment after hearing Seto's words, then said nervously and anxiously, "Do you know what you're saying? As Priests, we should be using the power of the Millennium Items to protect the people. How can we use power against innocent people!"
"Hmph, then I ask you, are we just going to watch Bakura use the Millennium Ring to boost his malice and become even stronger and harder to contend with? Or do you want to rely on the Pharaoh to call upon the Power of the Gods again and put himself in danger to quell the riot?"
Facing Shada's question, Seto also refused to yield and argued, asking in return, "Which way do you think makes Mahad's sacrifice wasted?"
Shada was speechless. Which choice was correct: letting the Pharaoh be in danger, or using the power of the Millennium Key on the people? He couldn't answer Seto's question. In his distress, his gaze couldn't help but shift to Hayato beside him.
"I, I don't know."
Hayato watched Shada rendered speechless by Seto's question and shook his head. In his view, while Seto's starting point of using power against the people to protect them was good, and his concerns were correct, the method of use was wrong and completely putting the cart before the horse. In this respect, it was so similar to a certain person who created the Millennium Items.
"You've got one thing wrong, Seto."
Hearing Hayato speak, Seto also turned his head to see what Hayato wanted to say.
"You said you want to use the power of the Millennium Key on the people to see if there are powerful spirits. That's too foolish. Do you think you can find an existence in just anyone's heart that is more powerful than the spirits in the hearts of you Priests, who have undergone long training and whose will far surpasses ordinary people?"
Hayato crossed his arms over his chest and spoke eloquently, "No possibility, right? Finding some Small Fry-like monsters in the hearts of ordinary people is already the limit. It's a problem just to contend with the powerful Millennium Stone Spirits collected by you Priests, let alone engaging in battle with **Diabound Kernel**, whose power is close to a god. Blindly using the Millennium Key on the people will only be a waste of time and a waste of Priest Shada's energy."
"I don't want to be too rude, you should just give up."
Hearing Hayato's words, Seto didn't say anything but showed a thoughtful expression, as if he was somewhat convinced. Before Hayato mentioned it, he really hadn't thought of this point at all, completely blinded by his obsession with power. Thinking about it now, Hayato Kobayashi is right. How could he have thought of using the power of the Millennium Key on the people?
"That's what I meant, yes." Seeing that Seto seemed somewhat convinced by Hayato, Shada quickly agreed with Hayato. However, he also wanted to ask Hayato, "But, if we don't use the Millennium Key, won't we be unable to become stronger and only be able to rely on the Pharaoh to put himself in danger again?"
"I didn't say Seto was wrong. Of course, the Millennium Key still has to be used." Hayato said, pointing to himself. "Instead of wasting time on ordinary people who are destined to yield no gains, it's better to directly select some people with potential to attempt."
"I've long wanted to know what kind of spirit I can awaken in my heart. Hurry up and bring it on, I can't wait."
(End of Chapter)
