"Grandfather." Hana walked down the hallway, finding an old man sitting in the garden near the window, so she couldn't help but greet him.
"Oh, Hana?" Her grandfather turned his head around.
"How are you doing, Grandfather? Have you seen the video?" Hana asked with a big smile.
"Indeed. The video is interesting."
"To think that he would end up defeating a Tier 4 explorer after I told him that it would be hard to even fight someone one tier above him in the future…" Hana sighed. "He made me swallow my words."
"Hahaha. It can't be helped. After all, he has the quality to become a Tier 9. And now, I'm fully convinced of what the old master said regarding him."
"Quality?" Hana raised her eyebrows.
"What? You didn't notice it?" He chuckled. "Then again, I can't blame you. You haven't seen what it means to have the 'quality' to become Tier 9 after all."
"Ha…" Hana tilted her head in confusion.
"In the last few seconds of the match, you will find out about that quality."
"Now that I think about it, I feel like he was able to follow his opponent's movements."
"Not only that, the strength exceeded what he had shown during the entire competition… and I'm not very sure about it, but the wounds closed on their own. I'm not sure about the speed, but it's extremely fast."
"What?" Hana dropped her jaw to the ground. She looked down, falling into deep thought. "The quality of Tier 9, huh?"
"Yeah. Each Tier 9 has a certain quality unique to them. Some are easily noticeable, while some are hard to find. However, when you fight them, you will suddenly feel the vast difference, as if showing you the gap between Heaven and Earth. Unfortunately, I don't have such a quality."
"Grandfather…" Hana looked sad. However, she soon recovered and said, "Even then, I don't care if I have the quality or not. My ambition is in business. Even if I don't become a Tier 9, my goal is to have enough money to rival a Tier 9's fighting prowess."
"Is that so?" Her grandfather smiled, satisfied with her answer.
"Then again, what can I say? The path to my goal is actually funded by a future Tier 9. It's kind of ironic." Hana sighed.
"Hahaha. In that case, all you can do is surpass everyone's imagination to win. Show the world that you are able to reach a height that nobody can imagine, even with the help of a Tier 9. By that time, I'm sure that your name will be recognized by the whole world."
Hana smiled as she clenched her hands into fists. "Yes, definitely."
"Now that I think about it, where is he right now? The tournament has ended, right?"
"Indeed. And of course, with such a result, there is only one thing he must be doing right now." Hana raised her head, looking at the clear blue sky.
As Hana expected, Clovis returned to their city with the mayor. Of course, they changed their vehicles.
The citizens were standing on the side of the roads, cheering. Clovis and the others were on top of the car while waving their hands, while the mayor and Vania remained inside.
There was only one thing to do, and it was none other than a victory parade.
"Good job, Libation Fiesta."
"Congratulations for winning the Shining Star Competition."
The people shouted at the top of their lungs. Still, Clovis and Jay's names were called the most due to the fact that they were able to defeat a Tier 4.
Of course, they also gave Ragna the warmest welcome. As for Melody and Kanaria, they were already treated like idols.
They also acknowledged the fact that the mayor had done a fantastic job of recognizing talent. It would be troublesome if they were suppressed by a major exploration group like the Drake Group and went to another city.
The parade continued toward the mayor's office so that they could handle some paperwork. After that, Vania took this time to drive them to their own destination.
Clovis and Kanaria had to settle Ragna down first. He needed a place to live after all. Clovis thought it was fine to live in his house, considering he still had some spare rooms. Then again, Kanaria would definitely not like it.
Hence, they rented a house for Ragna. It was only temporary, so it wasn't that big. It was close to Clovis' place as well, so if Ragna needed something, he could easily come over. However, Clovis was a bit worried about the security, especially since Ivan would become desperate soon.
That was why Clovis had told Jay to watch over Melody while he took care of Kanaria and Ragna.
Still, he was wondering if Ivan was coming to kill them, would the assassins stop him? This was a threat directly to his life, so if he somehow died, they would receive the repercussions from his grandfather.
He asked Vania to keep the Drake Group in check and monitor their movements. And with Ivan gone, the Rusth family might be trying to do whatever is needed to remove Clovis so that Kanaria's family can't take advantage of it to suppress them.
The situation had become extremely complicated, as they were simply not his grandfather's enemies anymore. The Rusth family and the Drake Group were genuinely Clovis' enemies.
While he indeed had a lot of thoughts in mind, there was one thing that he needed to do first.
The competition gave him two million, while the mayor handed him five million. Although seven million wasn't enough to upgrade his Another World Mall to open up a new store, he could still buy a lot of things.
That was why, after settling Ragna down, he hurried back to his bedroom to buy some items again.
Clovis didn't realize yet that his prediction was actually wrong. Ivan's desperation was actually much more sinister than he originally thought. And that the assassins didn't plan to stop him—not because they weren't afraid of the consequences but because they wouldn't be blamed for what was about to happen.