Chapter 156

Jan 13, 2024

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“This is ridiculous.”

“What’s so ridiculous about it?”

An hour later, the room was filled with sneers and laughter from the Black clan siblings as they laid their cards on the table.

“I told you all. We let them make the rules, pick the seating arrangement, and even randomized the drawing order, yet it still turned out this way. The game couldn’t have been any fairer. Isn’t that right?”

“You Fipellions ought to learn to accept defeat with some humility. There really isn’t any clan as clean and honorable as ours.”

“Hey, go easy on them. If I lost nine rounds in a row like they did, I’d be pouting about it as well.”

The White clan members couldn’t do anything except grit their teeth as the siblings continued to taunt them.

This was a setup! I’m sure these dirty Agrece bastards tricked us somehow!

However, there wasn’t so much as a hint to indicate that any form of trickery had been used during a single round of the game.

“Anyway... It looks like we won again.”

“Seriously, they should’ve just quit while they were ahe— Ah... I guess you three were technically behind the whole time, so never mind.”

As if they were being controlled by an invisible puppeteer, the Agrece siblings ceased laughing in instant unison and stared coldly at the three blue-haired men. The heavy, daunting air that had filled the room when they had first opened the lounge door suddenly came over them again.

“Now let’s see... If my calculations are correct, you fellows only have one fingernail left to bet each, yes?”

“Well, if that’s the case, shall we get on with the final round? You guys are welcome to pay up all at once after this one’s over.”

One of their half-sisters had been sharpening the letter opener ever since the game started and had begun to hum to herself as she admired her work. Each stroke against the metallic edge seemed to make a deeper and deeper imaginary gash in the Fipellions’ eardrums.

“Yeah, I think we should save that for the end.”

“Good call. I mean, if we peeled their nails off now, their bloody fingers would mess up the playing cards.”

The suffocating tension that had filled the room suddenly erupted.

Crash!

“Screw you lot! You think we’d actually accept defeat from the likes of y—?!”

As soon as Duran shot up from his seat and slammed his hands down onto the table, something zipped past his cheek and slashed the skin as it flew by. The stinging sensation was almost immediately overwhelmed by the dread he felt as he stood frozen in place.

“D-Duran!”

He then looked down to see that several of the cards that had been piled at the center of the table were standing on their edges in between each of his fingers with the utmost precision. Beads of blood slowly swelled up, then fell from the thin skin that had been sliced by each of the cards. To his utter horror, each card had also sliced nine of his nail beds before piercing the table.

Just as it had before the start of the game, the now finely sharpened letter opener was lodged back into the center of the table.

“Like we said. This is the last round. Either we deal you in or cash you out.”

The Fipellion raised his head as both terror and confusion swam together in his eyes. Then like a pack of wild animals ready for the kill, a dozen pairs of eyes glared straight through him.

“We’re ready to collect those nine fingernails we were promised now.”

As the grim, merciless voice echoed in their ears, the Fipellions abandoned all composure and bolted from their seats.

“Aaaaah!”

Clatter!

The Agrece siblings remained in their seats as they watched the White clan members scurry out of the room screaming, shoving, and toppling over one another. Some of the siblings clicked their tongues in disappointment, while others reeled with laughter.

“Well, damn... The sight of a little blood and they ran away with their tails between their asses, huh? How pathetic.”

“Bwahahaha! Look, look! The way they’re running is like their asses are on fire!”

As much as the Black clan despised the Fipellions, even they had no true intention of peeling off their fingernails. Instead, they simply reveled in their small victory as they watched their vanquished foes scamper away.

“Ahaha! Haha. Ha...”

Their ecstasy was short-lived, however, as an unnatural silence soon filled the lounge.

“Hey, uh... If Jeremy finds out about this, are we all... screwed?”

The jovial temperature in the room dropped drastically.

“Ahem! Um... What do you mean? It’s not like we actually tore their nails off. Plus, we didn’t even bet on limbs like we normally would’ve.”

“Yeah, right! All we did was scare off those cheeky bastards.”

“Sure, but... You don’t think those cowards would actually tell the White Master what we did, do you?”

The siblings stared at each other for a moment while searching for a sliver of hope. Then all at once, the same grim thought flashed across their eyes. They began to argue in an almost comedic fashion, as if they were pigeons squabbling over discarded bread crumbs.

“I call dibs on keeping an eye on them!”

“No way, I better do it!”

“All of you, back off! Those jerks are all mine!”

It was similar to the sort of scene that would unfold at the Black mansion whenever a new toy arrived, yet it looked incredibly out of place within the walls of Yggdrasil castle.

“Move, move! Those twerps are mi— Aaah!”

As they were all darting out of the half-open door, they collectively halted from the shock of who stood just beyond the threshold. The one man whose very presence was enough to stop them dead in their tracks stared at them through narrowed, golden eyes. He then glanced in the direction the Fipellions had fled in, then back toward the Agrece siblings. The mere movement of his eyes was enough to make the siblings flinch in unison.

Flutter.

One of Roxana’s butterflies suddenly appeared next to the lounge door. The group was too busy staring at Cassis to notice it hovering right above them, but he caught sight of it immediately.

He began to approach them, but with each step, they flinched instinctively. While some of the Agreces actually revered the Blue Heir, seeing him in person was a bit much for any one of them to handle calmly.

Their sixth senses had been honed since they were born and were collectively causing the hairs on the backs of their necks to stand on end. They seemed to know instinctively that the man standing before them was overwhelmingly superior in power and strength.

“Ha... Haha... I guess we could have just opened the windows if we wanted some fresh air in here.”

“Y-Yeah, right. I mean, we wouldn’t wanna stink up the hallway with all this smoke from those cigarettes. Let’s hurry up and shut the door.”

“Yup! H-Hurry and get back inside. Go on! We still have that, uh... unfinished business to discuss anyway.”

Having fun at the Fipellions’ expense was one thing, but to start trouble with the Pedelians would undoubtedly send Jeremy into a blood frenzy.

It’s not like we’re afraid of a Pedelian! This is simply a... a strategic withdrawal! The half-siblings exchanged awkward glances with one another as they hurried back into the lounge.

They chose to lock the door behind them for good measure on the off chance that the Blue Heir thought to invite himself inside. To their dismay, his footsteps echoed throughout the hallway and all the way to the back of the lounge.

Cassis had indeed started for the door, but with a blank expression turned and walked past it. The butterfly that was hovering beside it followed along behind him. As he turned to raise his head in acknowledgment of its continued presence, the butterfly flew closer, then gently tickled his cheek with its wings.

“I don’t intend to meddle in Agrece matters.”

It was obvious from the way the Fipellions had run off that the Black clan siblings had been up to no good, but with their sister’s butterfly keeping close watch over them, he knew it definitely was not his place to intervene. Had they stepped too far out of line, it went without saying that Roxana would curtail them. And if she didn’t, it would simply mean that she found no fault in their actions to begin with.

Instead, Deon Agrece was the only one he felt the need to be on the lookout for. Cassis raised his hands to gently slide his finger over the butterfly as it continued to brush its wings against his cheek.

“There’s no need to worry about me. You can go back now. Oh, and don’t forget to tell your master that I miss her.”

The little, winged demon lingered on his fingertip for a brief moment as if it was reluctant to leave him already, but then finally fluttered away. He also turned and proceeded to walk toward his original destination. While doing so, he abruptly encountered one of the other men at the castle he had been watching out for.

“Well, well, well! Look who it is. The man of the hour and my dear old friend, the Blue Heir himself!”

Orka had been walking through the halls out of boredom and immediately lit up as his eyes caught sight of Cassis.

A sudden spark alit in the Pedelian’s eyes. Despite his desire to clock the White Heir square across his jaw, the two faced each other and exchanged their usual greetings.

“White Demon Tamer... It appears you’ve just come from fulfilling your role of storyteller yet again.”

“Well, you know there are some here at the castle who just can’t seem to get enough of me. I suppose it could be considered a gift... Or a curse, if you’d prefer.”

As he had suspected, Orka had just come from one of the many small social events organized for the overall gathering. As the acclaimed demon tamer who had traveled to so many different areas throughout the various lands, the Fipellion’s tales were often quite popular among many of the different clan members.

So despite his aimless wandering that night, he had only come into the hallway after enjoying being the center of attention for several hours. Of course, his expression would change as soon as he was before his admirers again.

Tch. I should be out hunting demons instead of playing jester for these imbeciles. Then a wave of frustration swept Orka as he recalled all his trinkets that had been confiscated upon arriving in Yggdrasil. The magic circles and barriers surrounding the neutral territory were expressly meant to restrain the White clan over all the others.

Of course, it was reasonable given that their maniacal ancestor had stormed the territory on the back of a demon monster, but it wasn’t as if his descendants were nearly as reckless. An insidious look reflected off of Orka’s eyes as he remembered the sight of seeing Roxana Agrece from across the banquet hall the first night his clan had arrived. Since then, he had intentionally avoided her, but that wasn’t an indication that he had lost interest in her.

“Anyway, my dear Blue Heir, were you on your way to the conference room?”

His question was a thinly veiled attempt at concealing his maliciously sharp tone. After all, standing before him was the very man who was responsible for destroying all of his demon-monster trinkets just outside of the Pedelian border not all that long ago. But even though he was armed with that knowledge, Cassis was no ordinary foe Orka could confront without any substantial evidence.

The Blue Heir simply nodded slightly. “It seems we’re heading in the same direction.”

“Yes, I was actually on my way there as well. These things bore me, but as heirs, I trust you can relate to how little choice we have in these matters.” The White Heir scratched his head as he responded.

The meeting they were heading to was exclusively for each clan master and their respective heirs. As it was set to commence shortly, both Cassis and Orka set out toward the conference room side by side. Before they had walked very far, the silver-haired man addressed the other.

“I hadn’t actually expected to see you at this gathering. To be honest, it came as quite a surprise.”

The blue-haired man frowned slightly at the offhand remark.

“Hmm... Now, what would have made you think that?”

He couldn’t be sure, but something told him that Cassis might actually be alluding to the ambush he had inflicted on Orka just outside of the Blue territory.