Chapter 104: A Dog Must Wag Its Tail and Watch Its Master to Eat

Chapter 104: Chapter 104: A Dog Must Wag Its Tail and Watch Its Master to Eat

Rian Sinclair nodded, not even lifting her head as she continued to eat her snacks.

"What did they say?"

"Mr. Sutton has finalized the time and location. We just need to go pick it up when the time comes."

Quentin Sinclair’s fingertips paused briefly on his keyboard before he added, "Miss Sinclair, someone from Sakuran wants to meet with you."

Rian paused in her eating. The reason for this meeting was obvious to everyone. Now that she had the land deeds to the Shrine, they naturally had to find a way to get them back.

"Where?"

"Six o’clock this evening at the Allengale Restaurant in Seido City."

Rian nodded. Shortly after, the plane finished taxiing. After disembarking, she was in no rush. She headed to her hotel to freshen up and eat a meal before slowly making her way to the restaurant.

Upon arriving at her destination, Rian only took Quentin inside with her, leaving the rest of her personnel scattered around the vicinity. Quentin had booked a private room by the window on the first floor. Before they arrived, they had received intel that several Sakuran plainclothes agents were hiding in the surrounding area. It wasn’t just their side—The Sunken Isles had also arranged for backup. Quentin had already dispatched people to pick up Scott Sutton’s goods, meaning they had their own trump cards in play.

As the two of them entered the restaurant, Rian sensed something was off from the very first step. Her gaze casually swept over the crowd in the main hall. She looked up at the man beside her. Quentin didn’t say a word, only giving a subtle nod. She let out a soft scoff. The other side was certainly being cautious.

However, Rian also spotted a few familiar faces. After a brief appraisal, she withdrew her gaze. Quentin walked up to the private room and opened the door. "Miss Sinclair."

The private room was currently empty. After sitting down, Rian checked the time: it was three minutes to six. Yet the Sakurans, who had initiated the invitation, were nowhere to be seen. Even after the clock struck six, there wasn’t the slightest stir. She wasn’t angry. This was a blatant attempt to establish dominance and show her who was boss. Still, such an arrogant attitude from someone asking for a favor was something she rarely saw.

Rian sipped her hot tea, tilting her head to admire the scenery outside the window, not the least bit annoyed by the other party’s lack of punctuality.

About ten minutes later, the door to the private room was pushed open, followed by a man’s voice. "I’m truly sorry, Miss Sinclair, Mr. Sinclair. I was delayed by some matters. Please forgive us for being late."

The two men who entered the room were dressed in traditional kimonos. Their mouths spoke apologies, but there was not a trace of sincerity in their eyes—in fact, their gazes carried a hint of contempt.

Rian didn’t reply, and Quentin remained silent as well. The smile on the man’s face froze in the awkward atmosphere of their unresponsiveness. Then, he pulled out a chair and sat down on his own accord.

The other man spoke up, "Veridians truly live up to their reputation as representatives of the nation of etiquette. How incredibly polite."

Hearing the man’s words, Rian couldn’t help but laugh aloud. "True to form for people from a small country. Every word and action reeks of pettiness. Even a dog knows to wag its tail at its master when begging for food, yet here you are, pretending to be the big boss."

Since their attitude was so poor, she, not exactly someone with a mild temper, certainly wouldn’t greet them with a smile.

The smile on the first man’s face stiffened, and his tone grew impatient. "Name your price, Miss Sinclair. That land belongs to Sakuran. Please return it to us as soon as possible."

Rian chuckled. "You must be joking, sir. I won this land in an auction at The Undercity. What? Should we invite the boss of The Undercity over to verify it?"

The moment he heard "The Undercity," the man’s expression changed instantly. He became exceedingly respectful, his face full of sycophancy. "My apologies, Miss Sinclair, we were in the wrong. I am Kensei Aoyama, and this is my assistant, Numa Aoshi. We came today to discuss the land deeds with you. The Shrine is a representative landmark of Sakuran. Could you be magnanimous enough to voluntarily return it to us? Or, we would be willing to purchase it from you."

Rian looked at the man’s sickeningly obsequious face and smiled. "Mr. Aoyama, I previously sent word telling you to quickly vacate my land. I see the terrain there is quite excellent; I think I could build a public facility there to serve the community."

Her words caused Kensei Aoyama’s expression to freeze. However, remembering that she had been invited to a second-floor VIP box, it was obvious how important she was to The Undercity. Furthermore, this auction had been hosted by the Brown Family, the head of Meridia’s Five Great Families. If he forced her to return the deeds against her will, it would mean making enemies of both The Undercity and the Brown Family.

That was not what they wanted. So, faced with Rian’s mockery, Kensei Aoyama could only grit his teeth and swallow his anger. The Brown Family was simply too formidable of a mountain to cross.

Rian didn’t care about them. After all, no matter what they said, she was dead set on blowing up that Shrine.

Kensei Aoyama lowered his status to the absolute minimum. "Miss Sinclair, if you could sell the land deeds to our country, we will definitely treat you as an honored guest."

Rian nearly burst out laughing when she heard his words. Where on earth did they get their confidence? Was The Sunken Isles really that great? Was it bigger than Veridia? Did it have more cultural heritage than Veridia? Was it more magnificent than Veridia?

"What do you mean, Mr. Aoyama?"

Seeing Rian’s expression, Kensei Aoyama thought she was wavering and had been moved by his promise. He glanced at Quentin, then looked back at Rian. "How about we step aside to discuss this in detail, Miss Sinclair?"

Rian noticed his subtle movements. She wanted to see exactly what kind of tricks this old geezer had up his sleeve, so she stood up. "Lead the way, Mr. Aoyama."

Kensei Aoyama stood up with a smile, inviting Rian to walk further inside to a smaller partitioned area within the private room. As she got up to go, Quentin was just about to rise as well, but Rian rested a finger lightly on his shoulder. Pressing down gently, she met his eyes. Forced back into his seat by her strength, Quentin looked up at Rian and whispered in a muffled voice, "Be careful."

Rian nodded, smoothed out her skirt, and stepped forward to follow Kensei Aoyama. The man didn’t have his assistant follow them either. Once they reached the partitioned room, he invited Rian to sit down.

Rian looked at Kensei Aoyama. She simply couldn’t understand the seating customs of The Sunken Isles, so she pulled over a nearby chair and sat on it instead. Kensei Aoyama had already knelt down on a cushion. Watching Rian sit tall on a chair right in front of him, he suddenly felt as though he were kneeling before an emperor.

Rian looked down at Kensei Aoyama kneeling on the mat and said, feigning a bit of embarrassment, "Mr. Aoyama, I’m not quite used to your lifestyle, so I’ll just sit on the chair. You can do as you please, though I think you look quite good sitting like that. Anyway, let’s talk about what you just mentioned."

Drawn in by the latter half of her statement, Kensei Aoyama stopped caring about the awkwardness of his seating posture. He looked at Rian and said, "Miss Sinclair, our Emperor has decreed that if you take the initiative to return the land deeds, you will become an honored guest of our nation. You will enjoy every privilege when you visit, possessing supreme authority, and you could even be granted Sakuran citizenship."

As he spoke, Kensei Aoyama’s face filled with haughtiness. He looked incredibly self-important, putting on airs as if he were looking down his nose at her.