Villain: The Play of Destiny

“That was reckless, Keith!” Rebecca told him as soon they they entered their suite. “There was no need to make an enemy out of that man!”

“Is that so?” He chuckled and carefreely sprawled on the couch after taking off his jacket. “We were his enemies ever since I joined the fray over Ingrid. It was inevitable.”

“You said it yourself that he’s the head of the World’s third most Powerful Mercenary Organization!” She was agitated at his lack of worry about this matter.

“His Organization primarily operates in the Kingdom of Iraq. They have substantial influence in other Middle Eastern Countries, Africa, as well as Southeastern and Central Europen Countries, but here in the Pacific Ocean, they have no real power. Not to forget, the Organizations that holds these Auctions won’t allow even a man as powerful as him to do as he pleases inside their premises.” He lightly smiled and said. “Once we are back inside the Netherian Territory, we will be out of the reach of any Mercenary Organization. There’s nothing to worry about his Organization.”

“If that is the case, why were so many people in the Hall scared of him?” She clearly remembered the fear in the eyes of the people who had recognised Erra when he appeared on the Balcony.

“That’s because he is a Powerful man. Very Powerful, and he is infamous for his cruelty.” He smiled. “By the way, if we stay in Fiji for another day, he will visit us.”

“We are leaving in the morning!” She declared.

“No, we are staying.” He smirked and shook his head.

“Are you mad?!” She looked at him in disbelief.

“The meeting will be very beneficial to me.” He simply said and stood up before looking right into her beautiful eyes. “And I need to make him understand that he must not hold any ill-tentions towards my people.”

Rebecca frowned at his words and averted her eyes.

“He’s going to come after Ingrid and will try to harm you?”

“And you.” Keith lightly smiled. “You have earned yourself a very dangerous admirer, Miss Grayson.”

“He gives me creeps! There’s just something off about him.” She trembled a little and said.

Keith found her words very amusing and smiled inwardly. She had no idea how right she was about Erra. He really wanted to see what her reaction would be when she finds out that the Underworld did not have any fetish for Godly names, rather these Mortals indeed possessed the power of Gods.

“Young Master!” Caesar entered the suite and bowed to him.

“Please lead them inside.” He smiled and nodded to him before walking towards the blonde girl who was still frowing. “Ready to meet your Shadow?”

His words broke her train of thoughts, and a light smile adorned her face.

“Yes.” She said locked her arm with his. “Let’s go!”

The two of them walked over to the door to greet their guests.

“Mr Wednesday!” Keith brightly smiled at the Hearld of Sin.

“Mr Demiliore!” The old man with the rimmed glasses smiled back at him and enthusiastically shook his hand. “I am glad we got to do business with each other tonight.”

“The sentiment is mutual, Mr Wednesday.” He nodded and then invited them to the lounge.

The team of Wednesday took their positions behind him, and both Marianne and Ingrid stood behind their new Masters together with Ryouta and Yingying.

They two parties succesfully completed the financial transaction, and Rebecca was a little displeased that Keith did not take her loan but borrowed 300 Million Neris from Caesar. She just pouted and did not say anything about it, but in her mind she had made a note that she would one day make him owe her something.

“Do you need us to cooperate with their Identity Verifications with the Netherian Authorities?” A man from Wednesday’s team politely asked.

“There’s no need for it. They will be Netherian Citizens by tomorrow morning.” Keith said as he went through the official files of both Ingrid and Marianne before handing them to Caesar. “Congratulations on making a fortune tonight!”

Wednesday laughed at his words and his team smiled as well. Yes, they had made a fortune tonight, and their profits were far greater than they had been in the last few decades.

“It’s all thanks to the French Royal Family. They were adamant on getting all the Espers at the Auction.”

“Indeed.” Keith smiled and then looked Wednesday in the eyes. “Do you not wonder why they did it?”

Wednesday looked at him in surpise and then turned solemn.

“I don’t.” He truthfully said.

“I see.” The light smile on his face broadened. “I believe you do the Business of Intelligence as well, Herald of Sin.”

“Do you intend to sell us some information, Mr Demiliore?” He already had a hunch about it, but he still needed to confirm it.

“Yes, it’s an S-Class secret. Something that will prove to be very beneficial to you and your City of Sin, both in terms of financial and power dynamics.” He lightly but intently said, and Wednesday felt his heart skip a beat. “Do you want it?”

Keith made it easy for him and straightforwardly asked.

“How secret is the information?” Wednesday asked the most important question.

“I doubt there’s any force in the Underworld that is aware of it.”

“And what do you want for payment?”

“We will talk about it after you have determined how valuable this information would be to you.” He said and then glanced at the Team of Wednesday.

“They are my most trusted.” The Herald of Sin understood his unvoiced question and asked the same by glancing towards Rebecca, who was silently listening their conversation.

However, Keith did not answer him and just nodded back, assuring him that it was fine.

“The Royal Five of European Union are planning to revive the long forgotten Esper Association. It will be called Royal Esper Association, and it will be a Mix of a Military Unit and a Secret Force for these Kingdoms. ” He smiled and said. “The new base will be in Canton of Valais, and they plan on officially announcing it next year, spring-time. And… I have the list of key figures who would head the Organization in the future.”

His words shocked Wednesday and his team, and they unbelievably looked at him.

They knew that he would not lie about such a thing as it would not be beneficial to him in the future, and so, the news was definitely true. And it was something of supreme importance to the Underworld.

For the Royal Houses of France, Spain, Italy, Austria, and Netherlands to make such a move was akin to changing the Power Dynamics of the World.

“They also want to put an end to the Underworld influence in their Kingdoms?” The old man guessed.

“Indeed.” Keith nodded. “Only a select few will be able to operate in their Kingdoms in the future, and the new Royal Esper Association will serve as their Guardians.”

They all now understood why the French Prince had bought nearly all of the Espers in tonight’s Auction.

These Royal Five of Europe founded the European Union after the end of the World War, which ended in the defeat of the Great Britain, Germany, United States of America and their allies, but also left the Western and Central Europe in ruins that needed decades to recover.

Their move to form a Union had sent alarms all over the world, making many believe that another War was about to break out as they were now going to retaliate against the Western Alliance. But for the last 99 years, the European Union had been nothing more than a Political and Economic Union. However, now, they were finally going to make a move for a Military Alliance when the world was calm and the prospect of a World War was desirable to none. Of course, it was a Secret Military Alliance and the masses would not even learn about the existence of an Esper Association disguised as the Military Headquarters of the European Union.

This new Military Alliance was going to be a direct counter to the Eastern Military Axis of Russia, Netheria, China, and the Japanese and Korean Kingdoms, as well as a counter to the Western Military Alliance of USA, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, Germany, Poland, and the Kingdoms of Denmark and Britain.

The Geopolitical Dynamics of the world mattered little to the Underworld. Their main concern was going to be their banishment from these five Kingdoms. And it was also an opportunity for a few to get more freedom to operate in these Kingdoms by the permission of The Royal Five.

Wednesday realized the true importance of this news, and his nerves were already quite agitated to get to work as soon as possible.

“Your City of Sin could be amongst those forces freely operating in the new Royal Union. You could even become the Representative of the Underworld in their territory by forming mutually beneficial relations with the Esper Association.” Keith smiled when he saw the sparkle in the eyes of Wednesday.

“What do you want in return for this information, Mr Demiliore?” Wednesday smiled and asked.

“What do you offer?” He lightly asked.

“8 Billion Euros.” He took his time to think over the monetary value of this information, and named a price.

“6 Billion.” Keith shook his head and said. “And you, Mr Wednesday, personally owe me a favor that I can cash in any time I want. Of course, I would not make you do something that would be harmful to you and your City of Sin.”

The old man frowned when he heard his words, and kept looking in his eyes to try to see through him. But Keith was like a mystery he could never read through, and the more he looked in those deep brown eyes, the more his heart grew agitated with an unknown suppression weighing on it.

“I agree.” He finally nodded his head. ｏｖ𝚕．ｃｏ𝚖

“Pleasure doing business with you, Mr Wednesday!” Keith delightedly laughed and stood up to shake hands with the old man.

“The pleasure is all mine, Mr Demiliore!” Wednesday shook his hand with a bright smile and then instructed his team to transfer the money to Keith’s account. And in return, Keith gave him the list of key people he talked about.

Rebecca watched in awe at how Keith managed to make 2.4 Billion Neris out of nowhere. A sum that took a lifetime for even the most brilliant to accumulate, and it fell into his hands just after a conversation that lasted five minutes.

The Pretty Boy she had never paid much attention to was suddenly her one of the most favourite subjects. He was full of surprises! A mystery she found herself helplessly attracted to and wanted to explore all its secrets. And all it had taken Keith was a day to have such an effect on her.