"Is it resolved?"
Yugen took the card deck handed over by Silence and stuffed it into an empty card box hanging inside his jacket.
Whenever he goes out, he usually carries a few card boxes with different decks, one box for the SIDE, and a few extra spots reserved specifically for storing the spoils he acquires.
Mitsuzawa typically has six card boxes hanging on his chest, while Judai usually carries two behind him. So generally speaking, counting the card deck housed in the Duel Disc, carrying nine decks when going out without a backpack is completely feasible.
Yugen accepted the card deck and quickly browsed through it.
After all, this Duelist named Titan was just a con artist, a charlatan who didn't even bother playing a card game in the anime. Instead, he ambushed Asuka from behind and kidnapped her, forcing Judai to duel him.
He wasn't serious about the duel either, relying on hypnotic tricks to deceive his opponent. And once Judai saw through his ruse, he immediately stopped playing and tried to flee.
Lacking both sportsmanship and skills, dealing with such a second-rate player requires no subtlety. The Elf can just beat them physically, problem solved.
This is called confiscating crime tools.
As expected, the Duelist named Titan used a Demon Card Deck. Although it at least had a theme, there wasn't any card that seemed particularly powerful to Yugen.
However, even if it can't be used, selling it for a good price isn't bad either.
Yugen had already sold quite a few cards he couldn't use from the decks he previously picked up. He found that just collecting decks and selling cards could be a lucrative income source. Up until now, the extra cards and Duel Discs he had found were still enough to support him for a while...
"Good job, well done!"
Yugen smiled and patted Silence on the head.
Silence, who had been sulking, was suddenly taken aback, staring blankly at his master as he received a head pat. His shy nature kicked in, and his cheeks subtly reddened.
In a flash, he turned into a white light and disappeared into the card deck.
Yugen looked at his hand hovering in the air and couldn't help but reflect.
Why did it feel like that response was a bit disdainful...?
In the hallway outside, Judai's voice could be heard: "There's nothing in this room either. Yugen, did you find anything over there... huh!?"
He seemed to catch a glimpse of that white silhouette just as he walked in and blinked twice, rubbing his eyes forcefully.
"Did I see it wrong? Yugen, was that...?"
The Feathered Chestnut Ball fluttered its little wings and flew to Judai's side: "Kurikuri~!"
"Ah, so that's it! I wasn't wrong after all!" Judai exclaimed with joy, "You have a spirit too, don't you?"
The Feathered Chestnut Ball nodded vigorously—even though its whole body looked like just a head, so it seemed like it was fluttering its wings in excitement: "Kuri! Kurikuri!"
Judai nodded: "Yes, I know, partner."
Yugen: "..."
Honestly, he had always been curious about how they could understand what the Chestnut Ball was saying...
He mused that every syllable sounded exactly the same...
Having rarely encountered kindred spirits, Judai excitedly took his hand: "I've been hearing strange voices since I was little.
At first, I would often feel like someone was calling my name in my dreams late at night, and then I couldn't help but get up to check my card deck..."
"And that's when the spirit appeared?"
"Nope, nothing happened." Judai scratched his head, embarrassed, "Haha, I guess it's not that easy to see a spirit. For a long time after that, I couldn't hear the spirit's voice.
But recently, I've started hearing it again."
He glanced at Feathered Chestnut Ball. The little Chestnut Ball squinted happily and snuggled against his face: "Kurikuri~!"
Yugen understood more or less. Indeed, although Judai vaguely remembered hearing the spirit's voice as a child, he seemed to have completely forgotten about his first spirit.
Poor Sister Yubel...
Judai's first spirit should have been Yubel, a spirit that had reincarnated with him from past lives, vowed to protect him for eternity.
But infatuated Sister Yubel had been overzealous in her protection back then, turning all friends who defeated Judai in card games into vegetative states. She was later deemed a cursed card and launched into space by the Kaiba Company's rocket.
After that, Judai was plagued by nightmares related to Yubel and suffered greatly, so his parents had his memories erased. Now, Sister Yubel was completely forgotten...
"Yugen, your spirit seems pretty powerful!" Judai exclaimed enthusiastically, "Can you summon it to take a look?"
"Uh, about that..." Yugen hesitated, "She's shy."
Judai: "?"
Just then, a scream echoed from a nearby room: "Whoa!"
Judai was startled: "That was Hayato and Sho's voices!"
He hurriedly dashed out the door, running down the hall to the room.
"What happened?"
"Just now... something! Something went past!" Sho was incoherent, "This place really is haunted!"
Yugen walked more slowly, catching a glimpse of a strange little green thing flying swiftly down the hallway and disappearing behind a door.
And he felt like he had seen it before...
Judai puzzled: "I didn't see anything, you must've been mistaken."
"No way! Hayato and I both saw it!" Sho insisted.
Yugen: "Don't be afraid, it's just a ghost."
Everyone: "???"
Don't you think there's something wrong with what you just said?
But Yugen wasn't joking. He remembered; it seemed to be a Mortal Monster Card. An obscure Mortal, even he had never seen in his past life, identified during previous Duel Academy exam reviews.
[Ghost, 2 stars, Attack Power 600, Defense Power 800]
Described as a Resentful Spirit formed from souls unable to find peace in death, it was a bona fide ghost.
However, in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, even ghosts couldn't escape becoming cards. Thus, although a Resentful Spirit sounds formidable, as a Mortal with only 600 attack power, it was easily defeated by either the Great Opening or Silence.
Indeed, in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh!, even ghosts aren't scary.
Yet, Yugen was curious, why did Monster Spirits suddenly start appearing in this abandoned dormitory?
"Kuri!"
The Feathered Chestnut Ball fluttered into the air, seemingly urging its owner to follow.
"Feathered Chestnut Ball, wait!"
Judai hurriedly followed, and the others followed suit.
Walking through the hallway, they followed the Chestnut Ball into an old, eerie room.
The floor was inscribed with unknown arrays, suggesting ceremonial use. The walls were covered in intricate writings and drawings, even featuring motifs of some Thousand-Year Divine Artifacts long lost to the world.
Judai approached one stone slab, gently brushing away the dust.
"Thousand-Year Divine Artifacts... Someone had studied Dark Game here?"
"Kuri!"
The Feathered Chestnut Ball hovered beside him, its tone more serious this time.
At this moment, the Chaos Warrior suddenly appeared beside Yugen, cautioning in a deep voice: "Be careful. The space in this place is strange..."
Before he could finish, the array on the ground suddenly lit up.
A burst of intense light erupted, enveloping Yugen and Judai together. Suddenly, they both felt the ground beneath them vanish, like the world was spinning, as if they were about to fall into another world.
Yugen had experienced something like this once before.
It felt exactly like when he accidentally fell into the Elf Realm last time.