Chapter 161: Proposal
"I have a proposal... I want to help your sister."
Cassius’s words lingered in the air, and the uneasiness surrounding their encounter was enough to catch the attention of the two customers at the far edge of the room.
Leomaris was confused, and Charlotte’s thoughts weren’t in the dark either. Moments ago, Cassius had radiated a suffocating presence, and now he wanted to help his rival?
While they stood there perplexed, Cassius, his smile undisturbed, sauntered to a table and grabbed a chair, attempting to haul it over, but a worker approached him almost instantly. His little antics were disrupting the café’s order, and he was well aware of it.
"I’d suggest you put it back, Calamity. We only have a table for two," the café staff said with a polite nod.
Cassius never met her eyes, choosing instead to sit down regardless. The staff’s pride was clearly wounded, and she attempted to prevent Cassius from taking the seat, but before she could, something in him seemed to snap. He paused, an awkward smile creeping onto his face.
"Oh, my bad..."
He put the chair back where he’d taken it from and bowed slightly to the staff. "I’m sorry for the inconvenience."
The staff was equally as perplexed as Leomaris and Charlotte, but she managed to keep her smile regardless and excused herself.
Cassius looked at Leomaris. "Can I take your seat?"
Leomaris said nothing, taking the seat all the same. Charlotte, meanwhile, got to her feet and handed her seat over to Leomaris.
"This doesn’t seem to concern me. I will take my leave."
Before she could rise fully, Leomaris forced her back into her seat. "He interrupted us. If anyone has to leave, it’s him. You’re not leaving, Charlotte."
Charlotte didn’t bother resisting; she knew there was no way she’d talk her way out of this.
’I don’t know what is going on, but from what I’ve seen so far, I believe this dude is no different from Rosay. He is some kind of bipolar.’
He’d first crossed paths with Cassius the same day he met Charlotte, and since then, they’d worked on one more mission together through his sister, Rosay.
They had no reason to be allies at this point, and as far as he knew, Cassius had no reason to help Rosay at all. He wanted to know Cassius’s motives, but being alone with him could prove dangerous.
"Don’t look at me like that. I’m sorry for what I did earlier... I wasn’t myself."
He grabbed a coin from the table and began deftly flicking it between his fingers. Through this process, his smile finally settled, and his expression darkened.
"I know who has been sabotaging Rosalith. I cannot say with certainty, but this is information you will likely find relevant. Furthermore, I would also prefer that our conversation proceed in a more coherent manner."
He reached into his overcoat, pulling out a newspaper dating back three years, and dropped it on the table. Leomaris’s and Charlotte’s eyes were quick to find the headline: Dunvol, the War God, Had Survived a Ruthless Assassination.
Beneath was an image of someone clad in strange, gilded armour that covered them from head to toe, not even their eyes left bare. It seemed simultaneously solid and liquid, flowing over their imposing muscles and broad, powerful shoulders.
Dunvol, the War God.
Leomaris knew him well enough. Dunvol was one of the Seven Royal Knights sworn to protect the royal family. Though he wasn’t necessarily the strongest among them, he was an Archmage, potentially a Philosopher, and had raided a number of citadels, eliminated numerous assassins after the royal family, and clashed repeatedly with the Braek Kingdom. But Leomaris couldn’t fathom what any of this had to do with his sister.
"As a nemesis, I made it my mission to watch Rosalith, so don’t worry, I know everything she’s been doing. Still, I won’t say more... in case the walls have ears."
Cassius braced himself.
"Your sister crossed a threshold she should not have. I acknowledge she can be overly confident, but this time she has exceeded acceptable limits. She is already aware that the individual pursuing her is one of Dunvol’s lieutenants, yet she still believes she can mitigate the risk by eliminating Dunvol’s link within the academy."
He let out a foul sigh.
"Dunvol controls the illegal distributions, registrations, tariffs, and tolls, and potentially even tax evasion. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination. Her goods were taken down as punishment, but it is clear that resistance means death."
Cassius reached into his pocket and pulled out a cigarette, but the stare from Charlotte was enough for him to put it away, even though it was obvious he wasn’t threatened at all, merely obeying out of politeness.
Leomaris, however, mulled over everything he’d said. He couldn’t help but wonder what exactly he factored into that, but more importantly...
"Are you telling me all this because you want to help Rosay?"
For a second, confusion flashed across Cassius’s face before it dissolved into soft laughter.
"What? Rosay? Rosalith? Why would I do that?"
Once satisfied with his amusement, he stopped laughing and shifted his attention to more pressing matters.
"I simply want Dunvol removed. He controls two-thirds of the southern territories of this kingdom, including Chatenham, Bronzeville, Socrates City, and portions of San Paulette.
"He continues to increase the charges imposed on weaker individuals such as myself, and Rosalith’s have risen by another ten percent, bringing them to eighteen.
"That is beyond my ability to manage. However, you are affiliated with the Laughing End, are you not? Use this opportunity to save your sister by eliminating Dunvol as a threat."
Leomaris shook his head, disbelief mingling with disappointment. There was no way the Laughing End could defeat Dunvol.
The man was essentially armour given form, and how he’d managed to survive a hundred years and counting, still fighting, was anyone’s guess. He loved Rosay, sure, but that was her fight, not his.
Not a word left Leomaris before Cassius got to his feet. Before he left, he spoke a few words, almost like a quiet warning to Leomaris.
"This is more dangerous than it seems. I would suggest you do not dismiss this lightly. When we meet again, I hope it will be to discuss an alliance."
The words stuck with Leomaris longer than he wanted, even moments after Cassius had left. When he finally came to, his eyes found Charlotte first, and strangely, she seemed remarkably taken aback by Cassius’s words too.
