Bab 192: Viscount's Assassination - Setting the Stage!
"Who are you… my lord?" Viscount Lucas asked, at last, shocking the woman beside him and the three guards.
Kai smiled. "You wouldn't want to know," he said airily. "I just like to attend flashy functions and make friends."
"Elenora," Viscount said, gesturing at the woman. "My lady wife."
Kai bowed courteously at her, smiling. The woman nodded in return.
"Sonia," Kai said, introducing Meg. "She's whatever I want her to be."
Kai's words bordered on blasphemy, considering Meg's beauty. But there was no sign of taking offense on her face, and following his words, she just smiled as if all that was being said about her was true.
Viscount Lucas gulped audibly.
"Lord Arbuthnot." A man in a black-colored formal suit came running toward them. "The auction is about to start. Please come. We have already arranged the topmost chamber for you."
"Oh!" Kai exclaimed, approaching the three, holding Meg's hand. "Why not share this chamber then, Viscount Lucas? The more the merrier."
"Eh…" the third man licked his lips, fumbling for words. "You need a token for that, good sir. I…"
His words got caught in his throat. Meg took out a platinum-colored card and threw it at him as if it was a spare change. Once again the Viscount stared at Kai and her awkwardly, and even the woman looked taken aback.
That was the token of 50000 Mission Credits. Who could just throw that much money like that? Who were these two? They must have been thinking of these questions when Kai laughed. "What?" he asked, jesting. "You don't like my company, my lord."
Viscount Lucas came to his senses. "No, no," he said, smiling back at Kai. "Please. We will be honored to have you with us."
"Yes," Elenora Arbuthnot said, nodding, her voice sweet like honey. "Mr. Black Rose, please make the arrangements."
The man in the black suit nodded and led the way into the City Hall.
They took the four of them to a spacious chamber on the topmost section of the hall with windows as walls.
The hall had a semicircular arrangement, with three sections, layered in a stepped arrangement one over the other. Kai could see a sea of people gathered around an enormous dais, way down from his elevation. A gigantic screen was hung over the dais at the eye level of the upper two sections on which a rose with seven-colored petals kept flashing in and out.
"The windows of this chamber have all manners of defenses placed over them, my lords," Mr. Black Rose said. "The uppermost section is reserved for the 6th-floor Contestants or those who have the token for it, and the middle section is reserved for the Presidents and upper bureaucrats. The rest are on the third and the lowermost section. Generally, other Contestants don't come on the last day, and we have yet to release the info that you are among us, Lord Lucas."
Kai ignored all this conversation as if he had nothing to worry about. In the chamber, there were two sofas placed near each other, pointed at the screen, and in front of them was a table with flagons of wine, baskets of fruits, and other snacks placed over it.
Kai slumped down on one of the sofas with Meg, as the rest of the three stared at him incredulously.
"Ahem!" Mr. Black Rose cleared his throat. "I will send two waiters to attend you, my lords…"
"No need!" Kai said loudly, looking over his shoulder. "We have two beautiful ladies with us. Surely we don't need anymore."
Lady Elenora furrowed at the remark, but one glance from the Viscount made her bury her retort.
Kai sneered inwardly. "And please send us your most exquisite collection of cigars, Mr. Black Rose," he said, looking at the third man. "And whiskey. Not this garbage."
"Yes… yes, of course," the man said, sweating.
When the waiters had come and gone, and the Viscount and his wife had settled down as well, Kai cut the cigar's tip, blazed it, and handed it over to the man sitting next to him on the other sofa. He then lit one for himself, and soon the chamber was covered in thin smoke, smelling of fresh flowers after the first rain.
"I have yet to be honored by your name, my lord," Lucas said, blowing out a long trail of smoke. "Are you from…"
"Doesn't matter," Kai said impatiently, flicking his hand. "You can't comprehend where I am from. Let's enjoy ourselves. They are starting, I guess."
The husband and wife shared a terrified glance, Kai noticed.
Suddenly, the rose on the screen vanished, and in its place appeared a beautiful woman in her thirties dressed in a rippling black gown, along with Mr. Black Rose and a female attendant.
"Good evening," she said, her voice magically booming to the farthest corner of the city hall. "Before we start, let me welcome an esteemed guest present amidst us, Viscount Lucas Arbuthnot, Set Lord of the 2nd Set."
The entire hall buzzed up with incomprehensible murmurs and thundering claps.
"You butter the loaves of their bread efficiently, eh?" Kai quipped, smoke twisting out of his mouth.
Viscount Lucas laughed. "A bunch of hungry dogs, my lord," he replied. "Not something to be mentioned in your presence."
"Well said," Kai nodded. "Sonia, be a good lady, and serve our Viscount a glass of whiskey."
"No…" Lucas tried to reject, but the moment Meg left her seat, his words got caught in his throat.
Kai eyed Lady Elenora mischievously. She sighed, left her seat, and poured him a drink as Meg poured one for Viscount Lucas. Elenora turned to leave, but Meg sat down in her place, a half-full glass of whiskey in her hand.
"Please, my lady," Kai said, patting the sofa on his side. "How can we become friends without knowing each other?"
Lady Elenora shot Kai a look that could have meant anything and walked around the table to sit beside him, her eyes now glued to the screen.
Kai chuckled under his breath, sipped the disgusting whiskey, and smoked the repulsive cigar, his attention now landing on the screen as well.
They had already brought out the first item of the auction.
"Tonight, the Seven Mystic Flowers will auction 100 Items," the auctioneer said, smiling lavishly. "Our first Item is a map of a newly explored sea route from the One Piece Random World with a 10% chance of encountering an unclaimed Devil Fruit. The starting bid is 10,000 Mission Credits with a minimum increment of 500 MCs."
The young female attendant came forward and lifted a cloth covering the tray, and all got to see a rolled piece of old, flaky paper. The very first item caught the crowd by surprise, and one after another the biddings came pouring in like a tide.
"Not interested in adventure, my lord?" lady Elenora asked, sloshing wine in her cup.
From the corner of his eyes, Kai saw Viscount Lucas and Meg engaged deeply in some discussion already. "I am," Kai said, offhandedly. "But I have unique tastes."
The map was sold at 35,000 MC in the end.
But this was just the start!
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