When Shuri asked the question on point, with a blunt tone coloring her voice, silence greeted her from the other end of the call for some time.
This was a tactic she was used to since the start in her career and one she had used against Adam last time.
During a discussion, the more you turned around the more time you gave to the other party to actually formulate an excuse and get away.
Point blank questions like this had the advantage of blindsiding the opponent and leaving him hesitating.
"Before you answer me, you need to know that I hate lies above everything else. You two already kinda lied to me about the things with Adam but I can let that pass since I am aware of your circumstances.
But this right here is a totally different matter altogether. This is a matter that concerns me and my family"
This was another tactic. Giving more rope for them to hang themselves with. After such words, any future lies will be even more impactful once discovered.
A small laugh leaked out from the other side of the call, followed by the calm and serene voice of Yui, [You are feisty as always, I see…]
'She is stalling for time.'
The intermittent laughs soon calmed down and Yui answered back in a serious voice, "I did not know that your brother-in-law died until a few moments ago and I have nothing to do with it. After all, I had already promised to let you deal with him. I am serious about keeping my promises. Especially to my friends."
Shuri listened carefully. Ideally, she would have rather had this conversation face to face in order to better observe her reactions, but from the little bit of time she spent with Yui, and got to know about her as a result, she knew that the woman wouldn't risk breaking their relationship because of a worthless man like Williams.
But….Even though she was not lying, she was definitely hiding something.
"Very well. I will believe in those words. The words of a friend."
The tension lowered after those words had been spoken. Shuri had no intention in prying more into this. Some boundaries shouldn't be broken.
[I am happy for the trust you have in me. But now, what are you going to do?]
Shuri was a little lost. Indeed. It was truly a shitty feeling that she lost her prey but at least she didn't have to kill someone any longer.
"Well. I guess I will just ask for your continued protection for a month or two… then we will see what the future holds for me."
[Very well. Happy to be cooperating with you.]
"Same here."
—and with that, the two hung up the call.
Looking at her phone in silence, Shuri scrolled down her list of contacts before finally landing on Adam's number.
Lights containing a myriad of emotions flickered in her eyes for a short while before she shook her head and chose against calling him right now.
The truth did not matter to her.
How he died, why he died, or anything of the sort did not matter to her any longer.
Williams was dead.
This was all that mattered.
Once she understood the simple and straightforward truth, a weight left her shoulder and she scrolled past Adam's name until she reached the number of her husband.
This was a number she had not called in a very long time. But it was necessary for her to contact him now and so she did.
[Hello…]
His voice sounded in her ear like she remembered,
"I want a divorce."
Another straight ball.
Sometimes, it was necessary to be as direct and blunt as possible.
.
.
.
On the other side of the phone, back in her office inside the Wild Hunt, as Yui hung up the phone she sighed out loud and looked at Adam who was playing and juggling with miniature golden balls in his Princely attire.
"Each of those pearls is made from pure gold, you know that right?"
"Oh…"
Adam obediently caught them in the air with 'The World' and placed them back in their rightful position with slow and meticulous care.
He didn't need to pile up more debt than what he already had.
"So. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"What do you mean?"
Yui served herself and Adam a glass of wine before speaking further,
"Don't play dumb. Even though Hacker refused to say anything, I know you commissioned her. Now, I have already lied to Shuri."
"You didn't lie. You didn't know about his death until a few moments ago and you have nothing to do with it. Your decision and mine are separate and I am not your subordinate."
Yui looked deeply at Adam, "Your lies are becoming more and more sophisticated by the day."
"Well. Let's just say I have the tongue of a snake."
He shrugged while feeling a little fidgety in his seat. He wanted to juggle those pearls once again. He could really use those actions as a coping mechanism. Either way, with the power of 'The World' there was no way they would fall.
Right?
Chuckling to himself, he ignored his intrusive thoughts before speaking to Yui once more, "Still, I underestimated Shuri. Or perhaps I overestimated myself. I didn't think she would catch on so easily."
"For someone who does not have all the information, stopping at the idea of suicide is indeed the most likely. But for those in the know, the timing was too awkward for it to be feasible."
"I see. Grow and learn from your mistakes and ignorance, I guess. I wanted to disguise it as an accident initially. But I feel like it would be too blatant."
"You are right and this is exactly why you should have chosen that option."
Yui tapped the table, "See, schemers and intelligent guys like Shuri cannot think of other people as dumb. The smarter you make something look the more suspicious they will be to them."
It was a simple example of reverse psychology but this was also a rather easy trap to fall into.
Smart people had a hard time rationalizing stupid decisions and trying to look at the logic behind every action.
Suicide was a plan so elaborate that it would immediately catch their attention.
"You could have also organized a fake mugging using your illusion or simply a drug overdose. While those would still get attention, people would be less interested in them than an out-of-the-blue thing like suicide."
After all, suicide always made people think… Why did the individual suicide?
But no such wonder existed in a robbery going bad, an accident, or vestiges of a drug addict overdose.
The more mundane the cause of death was… the less interested people actually were in the cause. It was as simple as that.
As sad as the truth was, this was the best thing for people like them who had to make enemies 'vanish' on the regular.
"I never thought that I would receive a class in how to make people vanish quietly."
"Well. This is something you will learn alone while stumbling. But gotta share the wisdom, right?"
"Heh…"
Adam drank his wine before asking, "Could you lend me a room tonight?"
"Hmm? Well obviously. You can take whichever room you want."
"Thanks."
"So. Needing a room aside. What are you going to say to Shuri when you see her?"
"Nothing. A lowlife died. Nothing more, nothing less."
This was all there was to Williams' death for him. A man he would not even try remembering despite having an eidetic memory.
Something so unimportant in the grand scheme of things that he would have never even cared about him for a split second if the bloke hadn't made the mistake of attacking Shuri.
"Rather than talking about that insignificant man, why not talk about the plans for the future?"
"Such as?"
"What do you say we try expanding a little in Las Vegas?"
"Oh? Las Vegas is different from Los Angeles."
In LA, all the major forces were neatly divided between four factions of different origins. Creating a sort of balance that was easy to maintain due to the cooperation of all forces.
But Las Vegas was more xenophobic since the majority of the forces were werewolves or Native Americans.
Only very few gangs were able to have a seat there as even the locals didn't let anyone else take control.
"Well… Gotta start somewhere, right?"
Adam was thirsty. If he had to start his empire, obtaining one of the wealthiest cities such as Las Vegas would be incredibly useful in achieving the goal and hastening the process.
Just imagining the amount of money he would have once he obtained Sin City was enough to make him drool.
He just needed to have a good understanding of the strengths that the factions of the city wielded.
"Adam, be careful. Las Vegas is currently a true cesspool where many forces are fighting for control. It doesn't really have a full order like here."
"I like it. The more chaotic it is… The better."
"I see. Very well then. You will have the full help of Wild Hunt."
"...Thanks."
"There is no need for words of gratitude between us. Just be sure to pay something nice for me later."
Adam laughed as he stood up and walked towards the bedroom assigned to him.
It was time to meet her.
As for why he came here?
He had used his first free past here one month ago and his destination had been the bronze section.
It was logical and poetic to use the last Bronze free pass here as well.
It was always best to go full circle.
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