Chapter 147: [147] I Will Handle Him

"Master Cain, you look as pleasant as the summer breeze. Handsomeness, strength and valor in one human, or should I say demon..."

A young man walked forward. He was in a dark blue suit fitted with a crimson-red tie. Although he was not quite at the level of Cain, he was quite a fetching young man as well.

He had straw blond hair that was combed back, hazel eyes with a myriad of colours within them, and a strong jaw.

"And they say the gods do not play favourites." He placed his wine goblet on the table and smiled.

Cain was seated in front of a large mirror in his room, being attended to by two maids. One of the women was styling his hair, while the other arranged his cufflinks...

"That tongue of yours will lead you to trouble one day, Francis."

The young man smiled and pulled out a chair to sit down next to him.

"So what is the agenda for today?" He smiled lecherously, just before he grabbed the maid’s butt, squeezing it softly.

The maid tried her best to hide the smile that was about to appear on her face, but failed miserably.

"You man whore." Cain shook his head. "Don’t you grow tired of enchanting every girl you see?"

Francis shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Do you get tired of eating?"

Cain sighed. Francis had been his friend since they were children, but his insufferable personality had not faded once in the sixteen years they had known each other.

’Well, at least he is not weak...’ Francis was dear to him, but even Cain did not know what he would do if his friend had turned out to be a failure.

Although his race was pitifully common, a human, Francis had awakened a powerful class, Holy Knight.

Not only that, he was also the prodigy of their vassal Guild, Lancelot.

"By the way..." Francis’ eyes seemed to darken. "What about your brother, Ares?"

The room went silent.

"I think you have done enough. You may both leave."

The two maids bowed and turned around to leave the room. Francis winked at one of them, and her face blushed red as she scurried out.

For a few seconds, Cain was silent, before he spun his chair around to face his friend.

"He has calmed down a little, but he left me with a rather troublesome task."

"Which is?" Francis raised a brow.

"He wants him dead."

"..."

After a short pause, Francis suddenly burst out into laughter. "Is that why you have such a gloomy look on your face?"

He grabbed his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.

"You should be celebrating, brother! Ares has given you such a simple task, maybe he has even grown a soft spot for you!"

Cain frowned. "You can only say this because you haven’t met him. Even back in the academy, the fool was trouble."

He paused briefly.

"I thought his race would mellow him down a bit, but—"

Something flickered across his features.

Bang!

Cain slammed his fist on the table, his voice transforming into a low growl. "He seems to have even grown stronger!"

Francis crossed his legs. "Pfft. Are you talking about that nonsense rumour about facing the Vice Commander head on?"

He suddenly burst into laughter.

"I thought you were smarter than this, Cain! Even Ares will struggle against that horrid man."

But when he saw the look on Cain’s face, he sighed and sat up straight, all mirth vanishing from his features.

The humour in his eyes disappeared, replaced by a cold, murderous gaze worthy of a knight.

He smiled.

"Don’t worry about it, Cain." He placed his hand on his chest.

"As your vassal, it is my responsibility to get rid of troublesome entities. I will personally take care of this mad skeleton."

Cain stared at him for a moment, before a dark smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

"That is what I like to hear, Francis."

He stood up and adjusted his clothing. "Let’s go, it would be unbecoming of us if we were to arrive late."

<•••>

Ark was leaning by the window, watching as the buildings blurred past. Satella was a rather talented driver; she was so good that it almost felt as if they were flying.

He glanced at his side and frowned at Soo-jin. There was enough room at the back for four people, and yet she chose to sit right next to him.

She cocked her head to the side. "Hmm?"

"Where are we going?"

"Oh." She tapped her fan on her chin. "Have you heard of the Year of the Dragon?"

Ark nodded. Although it was called the Year of the Dragon, it actually referred to a single day, the day when the Hellfire Dragon cleared the tenth floor of the tower that had proved impossible.

It was a landmark period in humanity’s ascent of the tower, and so the day was declared a public holiday.

"What about it?" Ark asked.

"Every year, the player’s association holds a party to commemorate this event. It is a social gathering where all the top guilds, and highly ranked players get to meet."

Soo-jin smiled. "That is where we are headed."

’A social gathering filled with all the top guilds in Eden...’ Ark mused.

Although all players frequented Eden, unless you had the right connections, it would be nearly impossible to meet those at the very top.

This was because they were usually in regions regular players like him could not dare enter at his level.

Forests filled with diamond-ranked monsters, or dungeons of the mythril rank...

Ark felt his heart rate pick up as a small smile appeared on his face.

From already established players, to the rising stars in the world of Eden—

"It is practically a meeting filled with monsters..."

Ark had made it his goal to surpass every single one of them, but apart from Tristan, he had no idea how powerful the other top players were.

But today... he would finally get to meet them in person.

"You seem excited. I know you will like the idea~" Soo-jin smirked.

Ark’s smile vanished from his face. "Excited? Who would be excited after being kidnapped from his own home?"

"Hmm... is that so?" Soo-jin hummed with amusement before leaning back on her chair.

"Well, we aren’t going there directly." Her eyes roamed over his body. "First, we need to get you some new clothes."

Ark stared at his body. He was in his favourite pair of baggy joggers, an oversized black shirt and his dogtag necklace...

He raised a brow. "What is wrong with my clothes?"

Soo-jin’s ears twitched as she pinched at his shirt, then her ears fell flat on her skull.

"Everything."