Cherry on top

People were laughing and shouting, waiting for the end. The others filed in front of the counter and registered their points.

Born sneered at Hex when it was his turn. He didn't hide his contempt for Hex. 

The rankings on the banners continued to change. Aside from the top three, the top ten were filled with Squires from Grindeston. 

Seeing this, the crowd went ballistic. After hearing the taunts of the outsiders for so long they felt a stone being lifted from their chest. 

Soon, the Silver Serpents below the top three got pushed to the bottom. The positions between the ten and twenty were filled with Squires from the Viscount's team. The twins took the fourth and fifth place.

Hex had been observing them for a while. Once again he felt like they were just on a vacation, having fun with each other. They didn't seem to care about the rankings itself. 

'It must be nice to have a rich uncle,' Hex mused. He stopped worrying about them as the final person lined up at the counter.

"Are you ready?" Clannad asked with a cold smile that didn't reach his eyes. 

Hex replied by picking up his bag and putting it on the counter. "I was ready all along. You guys were stopping me."

His casualness irked Clannad. Hex felt the air turn chillier as his old rival put his bag on the counter. 

They looked at each other as they turned and dumped their bags on the counter. Clannad's pile looked smaller but people trusted its quality. Hex was the only one who looked worried at the size of his rival's pile.

'He is hiding something.'

Everyone awaited the count to finish. At some point, the place had become very quiet. Nothing else seemed to matter more than the final of the rankings. 

Buzz.

The lights flickered once more. The crowd turned as one towards the ranking. 

1. Baron's Hex Darkenmane 4200 points

2. Northern Hawk's Althea Thunderspear 4000 points

3. Silver Serpents' Sterling Poundersire 3000 points

4. Silver Serpents' Ella Moneiwell 2500 points

5. Grindeston's Clannad Glaciaborn 2000 points

An uproar broke out. People assumed that Clannad would at least reach the same amount of points as Althea if not more. 

They all looked stunned, unsure how to react. It was hard to believe that after being absent for two days Clannad only managed to reach fifth place. 

On the platform, the old and prominent folk turned towards Conrad. 

"What the heck, old goat? What is this?" Tholmund's fat cheeks trembled as he roared at the calmly sitting Conrad. 

No one else said anything, but their faces betrayed their thoughts. They all wished for some explanation.

Unlike the crowd, they didn't care about the town's honor. All that mattered to them was the huge amount of coins they had betted on Clannad. 

"Please continue to watch." Conrad's nasty smile calmed them down. It seemed the show hadn't finished yet. 

Down at the counter, Hex looked suspiciously at Clannad. He knew the boy long enough to know that there was more to come.

The old man at the checkpoint scraped his throat and continued. "If there is nothing more, we can conclude the r…"

"Please wait!" As Hex expected, Clannad stopped the old man with a smile plastered on his face. 

"I forgot. I have one more thing to register." 

His voice was loud and clear. The murmurs in the crowd died once more. Smiles appeared once more on their faces. 

Hex watched with great focus as Clannad pulled a pouch and placed it on the counter. He pointed at the sand timer. A thin stream of sand still flowed downward.

"I hope you don't mind but there is still some time, which means I can declare this also, right?" 

Clannad was saying it to the old man at the counter but his cold eyes never left Hex. Seeing no objection from Hex, the old man opened the pouch and dumped the content. 

"HEAVENS!"

The old man's scream traveled through the air. A single crystal fell out. But it was enough to shock everyone. Even Hex stared in disbelief at the crystal.

'Is that? But how?' Hex couldn't phantom how Clannad got the crystal. He had never seen such a brightly glowing blue crystal but he could guess. 

The old man picked up the blue crystal with trembling hands and spoke.

"A- a Disaster grade crystal. Young master Clannad brought us a Disaster-grade crystal!" His shout echoed through the crowd.

Murmurs and cries erupted. Even the people on the platform looked shocked. 

It wasn't impossible to get such a crystal. But to let a Squire claim it was unheard of. Even Knights enslaved by stringent contracts wouldn't allow it easily.

Hex's eyes narrowed. Having faced a Disaster beast, he knew how dangerous they were. It was not a question of numbers. 

'Even if the six Knights teamed up to help, it wouldn't matter. They would have been wiped out.' Hex knew that even three teams combined hadn't been able to kill the Disaster during his Mission. 

The old man registered the crystal, shaking in happiness. Soon the new ranking on the banner appeared.

1. Grindeston's Clannad Glaciaborn 7000 points

2. Baron's Hex Darkenmane 4200 points

3. Northern Hawk's Althea Thunderspear 4000 points

4. Silver Serpents' Sterling Poundersire 3000 points

5. Silver Serpents' Ella Moneiwell 2500 points

A Disaster-stage crystal was beyond valuable. In the world of the Blessed, most people were stuck at the Knight stage.

Disaster crystals helped them cultivate faster. Contrary to Demons and Fiends, Disasters were rarer to catch in time.

"All hail young master Clannad!" 

Born's shout ignited the joy the crowd felt even more. They joined in chanting Clannad's name.

"Hex." Hestia stood behind Hex and patted his shoulder. She was worried Hex would feel down. She knew young people placed too much focus on small wins and losses. 

But she didn't know that Hex was not thinking about his loss. His mind was on something else. 

'Clannad took a Disaster down or at least his Knights did. But they have suffered zero casualties?'

On his first mission, seven teams were wiped out when the Disaster struck. He didn't think Clannad's team was so much superior to those seven teams. 

'Something strange is going on. Didn't they have Dawnbringers among them? If so, why were they not targeted?'

The more he thought, the stranger Clannad's achievement seemed. He couldn't help but suspect something deeper beneath it. 

'They want to win, right? Let's see what happens when they don't.' The wheels in his mind turned rapidly. 

The old man was about to clear the checkpoint when Hex turned to him.

Pointing at the last few specks of sand in the timer, he said, "Old man, seeing there is time, I too am allowed to register a few things or not?"

He turned towards Clannad whose smile had disappeared. 

"Or do you mind?"

"Go ahead," Clannad sneered. It was not easy to pull almost three thousand points out of nowhere.

Hex pulled a pouch from his belt. It was the pouch he won from the Squire in the cavern. Althea had given him before they returned. 

Just as he put the pouch on the counter, the last speck of sand fell. Time was officially up.

The crowd had noticed the development at the counter. Some sneered, some shouted curses, but most awaited the final result.

Soon, the old man finished the count. The ranking on the banner was updated once more.

1. Grindeston's Clannad Glaciaborn 7000 points

2. Baron's Hex Darkenmane 6600 points

3. Northern Hawk's Althea Thunderspear 4000 points

4. Silver Serpents' Sterling Poundersire 3000 points

5. Silver Serpents' Ella Moneiwell 2500 points

"Haha, and here I thought you were up to something. Learn to accept the loss, Hex."

Born's laughter broke out once more.

He knew how much they needed Clannad to be the best at each stage. A major part of their follow-up plans rested on it. 

"Are you done?" Clannad asked coldly, looking at Hex with a smirk on his face. 

"Not quite," Hex smiled in response.

"Young master Hex, time is up." The old man reminded Hex as he pointed at the timer. 

Laughter and boos erupted. Only the Hawks and the baron's team looked silently at Hex. What was he planning?

"Don't worry old man. I won't declare new things. Just things already registered." Hex said with a smile. He looked at Clannad and continued.

"You see, as the vice-captain I am tasked with keeping my people in line. At the same time, I can declare whether their points were deserved or gained dishonestly. And it so happens that I have caught one person who gained his kills via killing his teammate. My team can testify. Heck, even the Hawks can testify."

Clannad's gaze turned colder as he glanced at the people behind Hex. Their faces were enough to know that they were supporting Hex. 

"Who was it?" The old man asked in a shaky voice. He was a regular person, who was tasked with the checkpoint.

He could feel the tension between the council and the baron through their young masters.

With how things were developing, he just wanted to finish his work and escape to his house. 

"Aran Kleinpie."

Barely anyone in the crowd remembered him but they spotted his name on the banner, at the low end.

Everyone went silent as they read the '400 points' beside his name. The points were tied!

"It seems we will have a shared number one," the old man chuckled nervously. Inside he was happy. This way, both young masters would be content and he could continue to live peacefully. 

"You got lucky!" Born shouted furiously at Hex.

"Congrats," Clannad hissed. He had nearly died, yet he couldn't get rid of this black-haired outsider from his mind.

More than anything, Clannad wished to prove that he was far better than Hex. 

"Ahm. Wait please."

Just as everyone thought it was over, Hex's voice sounded. 

"What? You can't declare anything or anyone anymore," Born shouted. "Or are you going to claim more points from traitorous teammates?" 

Technically Hex could do so but he didn't wish to. It would not look good if the baron's name was associated with so many killers. It could also alert the Dawnbringers.Luckily, he didn't have to. 

"No, I won't. I just want him to count everything."

The old man looked at Hex in confusion.

"What did I miss?"

Everyone looked at Hex. Born was even ready to discredit anything he would say. 

"That," Hex said as he pointed at a red cherry sitting at the counter, hidden in the corner. 

"A gift from an old but true friend."

Thud.

They turned to see Born fainting with blood flowing out of his mouth.