Chapter 110: The Great Banquet (2)
Moonlight shone through the window, illuminating The Shadow's face.
Vikir loosened his grip on her throat.
The face beneath the golden-blonde bob was revealed.
Sindhiwendi. She had come in person when she heard of Vikir's return.
She winked at Vikir.
"Why don't you just stick to what you're doing, you aren't bad at it."
"Cut the crap and tell me what you're here for."
Vikir slid off of Sindhiwendi's body and sat on the edge of the bed.
She rubbed the back of her neck, which had been so tight just moments before, and smirked.
"Still living without a shoulder. Don't you ever get bored of going in a straight line like that?"
"Before I slap your ass and kick you out. Quick."
"Wow, he's a big boy. Are you sure you're seventeen? You look like you're forty... or fifty."
She lay on the bed at an angle, raising only her upper body as if she owned it.
She squinted up at Vikir.
"By the way. You sent a minion after me. How did you know where I was?"
"From the way you've acted in the past. Going to a crooked capitalist, building up trust by telling him of his wealth, and then stealing it all away."
"Excuse me. I'm a financial planner, and I get paid for my work."
A flower girl who had once amassed a great deal of wealth thanks to Vikir's special laws.
Thanks to Vikir's protection, which included a bodyguard, she was able to keep her money and lead a safe life.
But it's not just about keeping the money. She didn't know how to spend it or what to call it.
Sindhiwendi took advantage of that and approached the girl to work as a financial planner.
"She's doing well as a big sister now, and I've already given her a lot of money. Maybe it's because she's so nice and innocent, but she would have been scammed if it was just anyone but me."
"I've even given him a bodyguard to protect him."
"Bodyguards? Aren't they just there to protect people? Do they weed out scammers?"
"The bodyguards included financial experts, and I had ordered them to weed out the scammers."
At that, Shindywendy looked puzzled.
"Those bodyguards... didn't touch anything, so I thought you were completely out of touch with finance. What?"
At her words, Vikir nodded.
"You're right. I even ordered them to let you get close."
Vikir had thought that if word got out that the flower girl had ten billion, Sindhiwendi would be the first to approach her.
That was Vikir's bait and switch to lure her in, to locate her.
In the end, the 10 billion dollar bait didn't work out, as Vikir caught her right away at the slave auction, but it did help him locate her later.
After realizing all of this, Sindiwendy flopped down on the bed with a dejected look on her face.
"No way. I was wondering how that Chihuahua guy knew where I was and sent the telegram, but I've been playing right into your hands the whole time. I'm dumbfounded."
"Again."
"...You're such an as*hole."
Sindiwendy grumbled for a moment, then slipped her hand inside her chest.
A wad of crumpled paper emerged from her chest.
She tossed the stack of papers at Vikir.
"These are the materials you asked for."
"...Hmm. Next time, put them in the folder."
Vikir opened the stack of papers from Xin Diwendi.
It was a list of people who would be honored at the Great Banquet tomorrow.
"I knew I'd be invited to the great feast after all my hard work. It's a good thing I did my research beforehand.
It was to Vikir's credit that Sindiwendy had come the night before the Great Banquet.
But.
"But that's only half of it."
Sindiwendy opened her mouth.
When Vikir looked up, Sindiwendi pointed to her other breast.
"I'll give you the rest after you pay the information fee."
"An information fee?"
"Did you think you were going to get it for free?"
At that, Vikir nodded silently.
Then. Vikir pulled something out of his pocket and tossed it to Sindiwendi.
...With a pop!
Cindy Wendy's eyes widened as she caught it.
What landed in her palm was a white, pointed tooth. It was the fang of an oxbear.
She stared at Vikir in disbelief.
"That's it? Are you kidding me?"
Of course, an oxbear's tooth is priceless. They could fetch millions of gold if they were carved into chess pieces.
But if it's an information fee, it's too cheap.
Sindiwendy was about to complain, but Vikir cut her short.
"There are thousands, tens of thousands more like it."
"...?"
Sindhiwendi stopped what she was about to say and pricked up her ears.
Vikir spoke again.
"If you listen to me, you can get a cartload of them every year."
He was talking about trade with all the natives of the entire jungle, including the Balak.
Vikir is now a hero to his enemies and to all the natives who live in the depht of the Black Mountain.
In such a Vikir-led trade, the natives would gladly give up their antlers, gums, shells, truffles, and other precious forest products.
From the Empire's point of view, the trade could not be more beneficial, and the Hierarchy or Guild that would oversee this massive trade would be thrilled.
Mega deal.
If the trade actually takes place, it will open up the distribution of luxury goods on a scale never before seen in history.
Fund managers, financial planners, and others would be dazzled.
Especially for the likes of Sindhiwendy, a gold-digger, it was an investment he couldn't pass up.
Her mouth is watering and her eyes are glistening.
With a gleam in her eye, she pulled out the rest of the materials and thrust them in Vikir's direction.
"Do you think the barbarians will open up trade?"
"Of course."
With the support of all the tribes, Vikir could pull off this megadeal of epic proportions.
It was the seed of a storm that could end the war and create countless other economic phenomena.
And right now, there are only two people who know about it, Vikir and Sindhiwendi, who has just heard about it.
Sindhiwendi picked herself up in a polite manner and sat down on her knees with her legs crossed in front of each other, showing Vikir the two documents.
"I guess I'll have to call you boss from now on."
"As you wish."
Vikir didn't seem to care about the title and went straight to the papers.
First came the first and most curious document.
It was about Pomeranian's identity.
<Pomeranian La Baskerville>
First granddaughter of Hugo Les Baskervilles, head of the Baskervilles family.
Estimated age is 5 years old. It is a known fact that Hugo and his first wife, Roxana, are Penelope's children.
.
.
Vikir's interpretation was based on what he had heard from Butler Barrymore earlier.
Upon closer examination, the Pomeranian proved to be a direct descendant of Hugo.
Hugo had married a woman named Roxana when he was twenty years old.
She had given birth to Penelope La Baskerville while with Hugo and died in battle.
Later, Penelope La Baskerville died in an unexplained accident and was captured by hunters from the Rococo tribe.
She gave birth to a daughter, Pomerian, and died.
"There's something about this unexplained accident, too."
Vikir thought as he looked at the bottom of the document.
Well, whatever.
Hugo's first daughter, Penelope, had disappeared about a year before Vikir was born.
Hugo was about forty-one at the time, so the timeline seemed to fit.
The fact that it was true was a relief. Vikir flipped to the next chapter of the book.
The next page detailed the official list of people scheduled to attend the dinner tomorrow.
<Hugo le Baskerville>
Rank: Patriarch
Title: Marquis
Title: Swordmaster
Other: Hugo Les Baskerville has a total of ... children, including direct descendants, illegitimate children, and adopted children outside of his lineage or bloodline. ...
(omitted below)
.
.
It's no surprise that Hugo, the patriarch, is at the top of the list.
It was the next one that mattered.
<Boston Terrier Les Baskervilles>.
Ranks: Knights of the Pit Bull – Knight Commander, Senator
Title: Count
Title: Graduator Supreme
Other: Half-brother of the Baskerville family patriarch, Hugo Les Baskervilles.
Very belligerent and temperamental, hating to be tied down.
.
.
A Boston Terrier, a Knight Commander of the Knights of the Pitbull, is somehow present at the Great Banquet.
He is one of the elite of the elite, leading one of the seven Knights of the House of Baskerville, and is also one of the "Seven Counts," representing the family's military might.
"For someone who normally dislikes formal and formal occasions like the Great Banquet,... why is he attending?"
Vikir scratched his head and flipped to the next page.
As expected, he sees an unexpected name.
<Great Dane Les Baskerville>.
Rank: Knights of the Mastiff – Knight Commander, Senator
Title: Count
Title: Graduator Supreme
Other: Half-brother of the Baskerville family patriarch, Hugo Les Baskervilles.
He is reserved and reticent, unwilling to pretend to be anything but, and has a particularly bad relationship with the Count of Boston Terrier.
.
.
The Great Dane, leader of the Mastiff Knights, is also officially confirmed to attend the Great Banquet.
He is also a member of the Seventh Count, one of the pillars of Baskerville's military backbone.
They don't usually attend events within the family, so why are they attending the Great Banquet?
Especially when it's being hosted by their half-brother, who's a bit of a pain in the ass to look at.
When Vikir scratched his head, Sindiwendy smirked.
"Are you even thinking about why they're coming?"
"Yes."
"You really don't know, do you?"
Sindhiwendi pointed an index finger at Vikir in disbelief.
"It's because of you, I don't know why!"
"...?"
Vikir frowned, and Shindiwendi explained.
"Normally, the Senators, including the Seventh Count, don't interfere in the family's internal affairs, so why would they come to the Urrrr Great Banquet all at once? They're coming to see you, the young legend of the Baskerville family who returned alive!"
"Urrr? Are there others coming?"
"Don't be alarmed, all seven counts have requested to attend this great banquet."
Vikir was a little surprised at that.
Seven counts.
Normally, they are rarely seen by the lesser hounds of Baskerville in their entire lives.
But the only two that had managed to make it onto the official list were a Boston Terrier and a Great Dane.
Sindiwendi chuckled.
"I heard that all the other Knights Templar leaders were deployed far away, so it would take them a long time to return home. Only the Boston Terrier and the Great Dane, who were sent out on missions closer to home, were able to make it in time, and even then, they'll be arriving in a hurry."
"Hmmm. I don't suppose they're just curious to see my face."
"Of course not. They're here because they want to take you into their order, to set their sights on a future knight, and they've heard that other than Boston Terriers and Great Danes, all the other knights are stomping their feet because of the distance."
The Great Banquet is a rare event that only direct blood relatives can attend, so they can't send a proxy.
So only two of the seven counts, who were relatively close by, rode through the night in good spirits to return home.
"We'll see tomorrow. I'll be bombarded with scouting offers for a while."
Sindiwendi giggled.
The pinnacle of two orders, the Pit Bull Knights and the Mastiff Knights, rumored to be at odds with each other.
And with a very tasty piece of meat between them.
Perhaps a Boston Terrier or a Great Dane, or both, will try to win Vikir over to their order.
" But Vikir's response is short.
" ... I'm not interested in either of them."
He just hopes it doesn't come to that.
Vikir read the following documents
At this point, important figures began to appear.
<Osiris Les Baskervilles>.
Rank: Member of the House of Representatives
Title: Viscount
Title: Graduator Supreme
Other: The eldest son of Hugo Les Baskervilles, the patriarch of House Baskerville. Currently first in line of succession.
.
.
The next generation of Baskervilles.
A cold, heartless genius. An ultra-elite who's growing up to be what Hugo once was.
He can already draw six teeth with the tip of his blade, and his swordsmanship is said to be on par with that of the Seven Counts.
Rumor has it that he will soon reach the rank of Swordmaster.
"...Osiris."
Vikir was silent for a moment.
Before his regression, Vikir had seen Osiris a few times as a child, at a distance.
He was extremely reticent and cold.
He never said hello to anyone, not even his own siblings, let alone those of his direct lineage.
But it wasn't as if he had brothers who could speak to him before his overwhelming skill and charisma.
So he was always alone. A solitary, tortured genius.
Sindiwendi looked at him and said.
"Aside from the Patriarch and the Seven Counts, he must be the strongest in the Baskerville Family, right?"
"...."
"No, maybe you're more...?"
Sindiwendi sneakily tried to gauge Vikir's combat strength.
Vikir shrugged it off and turned the page.
<Set Les Baskervilles>
Rank: Underdog City Magistrate-Councilor
Title: Viscount
Rank: Intermediate Graduator
Other: Second son of Hugo Les Baskervilles, the patriarch of House Baskerville. Currently second in line of succession.
.
.
The next presence was one that was still vivid in Vikir's memory.
Set Baskerville.
His talent for swordsmanship was far inferior to his older brother's, and he had been particularly sickly from an early age.
So even when his brother Osiris was knighted for his prowess in battle against demons, he was only given the honorary title of Viscount.
His personality was unusually gentle and affectionate for a Baskerville, but this only made him appear weak and withdrawn to Hugo.
Hugo was especially cold and strict with his second son, Set.
Set, however, never lost his gentle nature.
He was the only one in the family to shed a tear for the hounds dying like garbage.
Vikir had seen Set lay chrysanthemums at the memorial more than once.
"Hmph. I heard you were in training for the closing ceremony... but you must have stepped out to attend the great banquet."
Vikir flipped through the information.
As he read slowly, his expression became more and more expressionless.
Then.
Vikir spotted a familiar name at the bottom of the document.
<Highbro Les Baskervilles>
Rank: Academy Candidate
Title: Young Master (Shadow)
Rank: Sword Expert Advanced
Other: Direct descendant of Hugo Les Baskervilles, patriarch of House Baskerville.
.
.
<Midbro Les Baskerville>
Rank: Academy Candidate
Title: Young Master (Shadow)
Rank: Sword Expert Advanced
Other: Direct descendant of Hugo Les Baskervilles, patriarch of House Baskerville.
.
.
<Loubro Les Baskervilles
Rank: Academy Candidate
Title: Young Master (Shadow)
Rank: Sword Expert Advanced
Other: Direct descendant of Hugo Les Baskervilles, patriarch of House Baskerville.
.
.
"Another set of unexpected names."
Vikir closed the file with a dry chuckle.
He was beginning to look forward to tomorrow's great banquet.
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