A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 165 The Pizza Girl's Arcane Festival Dream (The End)

The lights suddenly went out, and the sounds of people in the airport, rising from a clamor to a quiet anticipation amidst the interplay of light and shadow, were amplified infinitely by the arcane matrix set up at the bottom of the stage, echoing in the ears of the more than three thousand audience members.

The speaker on stage was Valen Vladimir, Speaker of the Eswell Parliament.

No matter how much the council dislikes this middle-aged man who has the title but no real power, as long as the academy still adheres to the separation agreement with the empire from a thousand years ago, the highest leader of Eswell in name will still be this governor dispatched by the empire.

"Welcome, citizens, guests, and friends, to the Arcane Festival of Axwell 1454. We hope the carefully prepared evening by the Council and the performers will be a splendid finale to this wonderful day. Before the evening begins, please join us in offering our allegiance to the masters of Axwell, the eternal Philippian Empire—"

The venue adopted a concert-like layout, with tiered seating surrounding the main stage. Due to the limitations of the times, although there was the counterintuitive power of arcane magic to act as the sound system, it was ultimately impossible to broadcast to everyone on a large screen like a concert on Earth. Those seats further away from the stage could only observe the performance through binoculars.

Few, if any, cared about Valen's loyalist pronouncements. The citizens of Eswell, self-proclaimed free men, took the protection of the Academy for granted; the Empire? Better to be a country bumpkin. The other guests were even less interested. The nobles of the Southern Continent generally harbored hostility towards the Northern Empire, and upon seeing the Emperor's portrait, they wished they had more to say.

Quinn was hearing about it for the first time, but he was quite interested in the Empire because of the clues left by the fortune teller's fellow countryman. However, now was not the time to appreciate the cultural aspects, so he went to the back of the audience seats and went up the wide staircase.

Quinn had memorized the vast and complex airport route map by heart. The airport section where the airships were repaired had been converted into a stage, while the main building behind it housed numerous warehouses. Steam-hydraulic elevators transported goods from all over the world up and down, creating a noisy clattering sound of chains rolling.

If you look closely, you'll notice that although the company names in front of these warehouses are different, their brand logos are all the same. If you've ever been to the famous new casino in Seaville, you'll recognize it as the Golden Wind logo.

This place is densely packed with smuggling warehouses belonging to Golden Wind.

Upon reaching the tenth floor, near the top of the tower where the airship docks, Quinn saw the black man dressed entirely in white.

He held two glasses of red wine, and judging from his warm smile, no one would guess that this young-looking, non-threatening man was the most powerful gang leader in Eswell. Ike opened his arms, holding the glasses of red wine, as if to give him a distant embrace.

"My friend, we've finally met."

Quinn remained expressionless, embodying the impression he had left on Golden Wind.

He nodded in response, his attitude only slightly better than when he was with Bonner, and he did not take the wine glass.

"Borner should have told you the price. The usual, three flowers, three hundred and ninety gold pounds."

"Heh, just as the rumors say, they're cautious." Ike opened his mouth wide, poured both glasses of red wine down in one go, his throat bobbing, and finally turned the two glasses upside down. His smile was hard to tell whether it meant there wasn't a drop left or that there was nothing wrong with the wine.

He leaned against the fence, listening to Speaker Valen's loud, loyal voice in the distance. There was no one around within Quinn's perception range. Ike didn't put on airs like a boss, nor did he, like Borna, prevent his subordinates from seeing Quinn. Golden Wind's way of handling things was indeed very pleasing.

“No drinking, but we can at least chat, right?” Ike made room for him. “You know I’ve always had great respect for the wondrous knowledge of arcane magic, whether it’s the arcane mages who work with our gang, the teachers at the academy, or even you, who are both.”

Quinn frowned.

"I don't have much time."

"Let's have a brief chat then."

Ike continued, "I saw you at the dinner party yesterday. But you had a different hairstyle, and well... you seemed to be quite popular with women, which was very different from the image Bonner described to me, so I didn't dare to recognize you. Heh, now it seems that we two people of the same age might be able to become friends."

"Same age?" Quinn stood a meter away from him, his gaze sweeping across the audience below. "How do you know how old I am?"

“I don’t know.” Ike pointed to himself. “I don’t even know how old I am. I grew up on the battlefield; as far back as I can remember, I was already scavenging for meat among piles of corpses. But my gut feeling tells me we might be the same age.”

Quinn glanced at him. Ike gave off a gentlemanly air, a quality that was especially rare among Black people. It was hard to believe he came from such a pitiful background.

However, Quinn didn't want to talk to him much; now was not the time for a heart-to-heart talk about life.

His gaze returned to the stands. Even amidst the dense sea of ​​people, the thief's eyesight quickly locked onto Lin, who sat obediently in her chair. The little girl seemed to be being approached—which was quite normal; passersby wouldn't dare mess with Grindelwald students, but these were all privileged individuals, and a few were bound to be bold. However, their attempts to strike seemed to have hit a brick wall. No matter what they said, the impossibly beautiful girl ignored them, as if they were invisible. In the end, they could only leave sheepishly.

Seeing that he wasn't interested in opening up, Ike changed the subject: "Why did you choose to trade here?"

“You suggested we meet, it was just on the way.” Quinn opened his briefcase and took out three Grindelwald storage jars, inside which the starflowers were quietly blooming.

"If you have nothing to say, then hurry up."

With a wry smile, Ike took out a check, the kind issued by Clock Tower Bank as a bearer check.

"I should have said that it was cash on delivery."

“Do you really think I, Ike Capone, would give you counterfeit money?” He then suddenly laughed. “However, our gang does have a counterfeit money business, mixing water into gold coins to steal their weight. Heh, if you’re interested, I can give you a tour.”

"."

Quinn seemed to hesitate for a moment, but ultimately decided to give his boss face and accept the check.

In truth, whether it was true or false was no longer important to Quinn.

All his assets are in this suitcase. He'll use it when he runs away, and if he can't, he'll throw it away at a suitable time.

The Demon King promised him an endless mountain of gold after the mission was completed. It was nothing special; it would be nice to bring it back to Earth, but Quinn couldn't think of a way to do so.

Ike took the glass jar, his gaze lingering on Grindelwald's school emblem at the bottom. After a moment, he casually asked, "In previous transactions, it seems like there were only flowers involved."

“Borner kept complaining to me,” Quinn replied calmly. “So I brought the jar with me. The flowers won’t wilt this week if the jar isn’t opened.”

"Oh? Thank you very much."

"That's settled then. I'll contact you the same way next time I get the flowers."

Quinn turned to leave, but Ike called him back: "Mr. Quinn, we've been working together for so long, are you interested in discussing a new project?"

"I won't do anything dangerous, nor do I intend to get too involved with your gang," Quinn replied cautiously as always.

"Hmm, your attitude really intrigues me. What is your purpose in contacting the Golden Wind?" Ike's voice was no longer that of a friend chatting. "As far as I know, you seemed to have accomplished something great in the past two months, obtaining research privileges within the academy that exceeded the authority of a teaching assistant. You shouldn't need money so much anymore."

"Oh? My meritorious service was reported in the newspaper?" Quinn asked coldly. "Golden Wind's information network is really impressive."

"That's ridiculous."

Ike toyed with the wine glass in his hand. "Actually, I'd be happy to maintain a good relationship with a rising star of the academy, but... the jewelry store robbery happened so long ago, and the academy is still fixated on Golden Wind. Isn't that a bit much?"

Quinn's eyes narrowed slightly.

“I’m a professor in the divination department. I’ve never heard of what you’re talking about.”

"Your friend Ankuya must have heard of it, right?" Ike's voice was full of regret: "After all, he was in charge of this matter."

".friend?"

“Mr. Quinn, let’s be frank.” Ike placed his glass on the railing, making a crisp clinking sound. “I don’t want to keep bringing up people’s weaknesses, but I think the academy’s superiors are definitely unaware of what happened at the police station on March 15th. Do I need to repeat how Commissioner Ankuya rescued you?”

After a moment of silence, Quinn laughed instead: "If I remember correctly, your promise should have ended the investigation into me long ago. That's a prerequisite for cooperation, right?"

"Of course, Mr. Quinn. But unfortunately, Commissioner Ankuya has been keeping a close eye on us."

Ike's tone sounded distressed, but his expression was icy cold.

"He thought he was being careful, but he seriously underestimated our Golden Wind's control over Sewell. After all, the woman next to him is so beautiful, she'll attract attention wherever she goes."

“You know, there are always things in our line of work that can easily lead to misunderstandings. He’s investigating our casinos, accounts, distribution channels, and business associates.” “It’s hard not to think the wrong thing. He can’t be paying attention to us just because he’s curious about how a gang operates, can he?”

Quinn agreed, saying, "No wonder your Golden Winds have risen to prominence in just a few years; they truly have something special."

"So what? What does he want to do? Or rather, what do you want to do?" Ike narrowed his eyes. "Aren't you going to explain? The things he can find might make us bleed a little, but these few flowers in my hand could kill Golden Wind."

Quinn never expected things to turn out this way tonight.

What a perceptive guy!

But none of the Golden Wind's people appeared around. It seems this guy still wants to negotiate.
“You’ve misunderstood.” Quinn finally lowered his tone, his voice no longer so cold. “He was investigating the Yangen government-in-exile. Somehow he got involved with you. Don’t look at me like that; I don’t know much more about it.”

"Is it?"

Ike's eyes narrowed further and further.

But he didn't see any change in Quinn's face.

"Believe it or not. I'm not going to play along with how you deal with the investigation." Quinn left without lingering.

"The deal ends here. You broke the contract first, and whether you report it to the academy is your business. If the academy investigates me because of the Holy See or Star Flower, then we might as well die together."

"."

Ike's expression changed repeatedly, as if he was making a decision.

Quinn's voice came from behind just as he was about to go downstairs—

"Ten thousand gold pounds, this is the offer to formally join the Golden Wind. Ten thousand pounds a year, this amount is enough to cover the expenses of a medium-sized arcane laboratory for a whole year."

Quinn stopped in his tracks.

"so?"

"Help us settle this matter and get your friend to stop eyeing Golden Wind."

“I can’t. He’s investigating for the college, and I can’t interfere in this kind of thing.”

Quinn did not agree immediately. "He must produce results that satisfy the academy."

Ike finally smiled, and his gaze toward Quinn softened.

"At the latest, within three months—I will hand over all members of the exiled government, including Prince Yengen, is that alright?"

"."

I thought for about ten seconds.

I will give you an answer within a week.

This time, Ike didn't call out to him again.

Only after Quinn had walked away did the young leader of the Golden Wind begin to mutter to himself in the darkness—

"Of course I know he has problems, but I'm not his mother. Why pry into an arcanist's affairs? Who cares what he's up to? He has no grudge against the Golden Wind. I'm just warning him that if anything happens to us, he won't get away with it either."

"He's telling the truth. He probably really doesn't know why Ankuya is investigating us. This guy's life is very routine; he's either in class or in the library, maybe flirting with female students at most."

"The murders that have occurred every Thursday for the past two months were likely committed by him and Ankuya. Although there's no evidence, it coincides with his days off. He didn't target the Golden Wind's superhumans, so let's not meddle."

"Ha. If these Star Flowers were something else, if they were deliberately used to lure me in, he'd be dead by now. Don't worry, at least that much is certain; he did indeed secretly obtain these Star Flowers."

After a while, Ike reluctantly placed his left hand on one of the bottles.

"Don't treat me like a child. After all these years, I've grown up. Of course I'm cautious about this little thing. He's someone I can cooperate with long-term. What is the incantation to activate the Eye of Grindelwald?"

Ike's expression gradually became serious.

His hands moved with lightning speed, forming hand seals hundreds of times in just a few seconds. His fingers danced like a butterfly's afterimage, and then his eyes became blurry.

"Borner, go find those old men from the government-in-exile in Engen and see if they're in the meeting room."

After a long time.

Ike took a deep breath, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.

Something's happened.

Inside the airport tower beneath the giant floating stone sphere at the top of Grindelwald's Eye.

After bypassing the corpses lying on the ground as if asleep, Quinn came to Ankuya.

He carried a box, just like Quinn, and stood in front of a crystal ball that served as the control center.

The crystal ball, which should have been radiating a deep blue light, was now behaving strangely. The blue mana had turned into a shocking black under extreme overload, and a rumbling sound came from all directions.

"You're three minutes late. Elon has already taken the stage."

"There was a slight mishap; that guy is incredibly cunning, but things went relatively smoothly."

Ankuya nodded slightly.

He gently pressed the crystal ball, and then with a "crack," the surface of the crystal ball was instantly covered with cracks, and the mana began to flow chaotically.

"Let's go."

"Shall I take you to find Lin?"

“The Eye of Grindelwald has been activated,” Ankuya said calmly. “The space has been locked. In fifteen seconds, the hero will disappear from this world.”

Quinn was slightly stunned.

"So decisive! I thought you were going to persuade me to make up my mind or something." His voice was a little dry.

“Well done, Quinn.”

Ankuya patted him on the shoulder.

"There's no need to watch anymore, let's run."

The deafening roar was like the collapse of heaven and earth, drowning out everything else—

(End of this chapter)