Chapter 11: Madam, let's make a bet

「300 Gold Ogre, the salary for ten years of employment, sounds really nice. 」

In the Spiritual Whisper, Selena had a sarcastic look.

But she then added a sentence.

「However, speaking only of the price, it's still fairly reasonable. 」

「In Dawn City, the price to buy out twenty years of service for attendants from good families is as low as 200 Ogre. 」

On Earth, that's equivalent to buying twenty years of service for 300,000, which is only slightly better than slavery.

Luosen, however, had a different idea; he put so much effort into setting this up, not wanting to reap only 300 Ogre.

With such a small sum, he might as well find a place to open another civilian brothel.

「Madam, what do you think is the most he could offer? 」

「Mm~~ I estimate 500. After all, he wants not only a servant but also an unspeakable evil habit. 」

Luosen grinned: "I think it's 1000. Or rather, I plan to pull at least 1000 Ogre from his pocket."

Selena blinked slightly, shaking her head repeatedly: "That's too high, impossible."

「Shall we make a bet? 」

「If we bet, we bet. What is the stake? 」

「Whoever wins can ask the loser to do a small, harmless thing, like dancing a dance, singing a song, or giving a kiss. 」

Selena immediately understood Luosen's intention upon hearing it.

「Heh~~ Luosen, don't treat me like an ignorant young lady. This kind of flirtatious trick used by playboys, I've seen plenty. 」

Luosen naturally knew this.

The Dawn Princess is the dream lover of countless noble sons, and those noble sons' tactics for flirting with women are exhaustive; if you can't think of it, there's nothing they can't do.

He slightly provoked: "Don't you dare, madam?"

Selena gave a light smile: "You don't need to provoke me; it's useless on me. Still, I will accept your bet."

「I'm sure to win this bet, hehe~」

Next, Luosen didn't rush to take Yadan to find Dalete; instead, he waited patiently.

After an hour, Selena couldn't wait any longer: "When are we going to act?"

「After dinner. 」

「Ah~ any particulars? 」

「After dinner, when night falls, it's precisely when Dalete's evil desire is at its peak. 」

Having said that, Luosen turned his head to look at Selena: "Madam, desire is the greatest driving force pushing the world forward."

Selena immediately continued: "But excessive desire is a dark cloud that obscures the light of wisdom."

After saying that, she couldn't help covering her mouth and chuckling: "The ancient Holy Emperor Hegel's 'Meditations' is a book for self-reflection, yet you wouldn't use it as a preface for deceit."

Luosen also laughed: "Swindlers also need self-reflection, even more so, because once a scam is exposed, the outcome is often terribly miserable, right?"

「Ugh~ what you say also makes sense. 」

As they chatted and laughed, the sun silently swept across the sky and sank below the horizon, and amid the grand timekeeping bell of the Temple, the decadent nightlife of the Harbor District was officially announced to have begun.

「Almost there. 」

Luosen took Yadan's hand and turned to leave the room.

Knock knock knock~

Soon, the door of a certain VIP room on the fourth floor of the Jinqiangyu Lvdian was knocked on.

The door immediately opened, and Dalete stood behind it, smiling at the man at the doorway: "Mr. Luobin, it's a pleasure to see you again, please come inside."

He stepped aside, making an inviting gesture. Luosen's face showed 'nervous', his lips tightly pressed, his right hand firmly gripping Yadan's hand, as he silently entered the spacious, bright VIP room.

After passing through the vestibule, there was a reception hall of about fifty square meters.

The outer wall of the reception hall was fitted with a row of long rectangular windows; by the window stood a man in a gray cloth short robe, whose face looked to be in his early thirties, but his hair was completely white.

On his waist hung a blue sapphire mithril staff; in his right hand he held a crystal goblet, swaying it gently, the clear, transparent liquor inside also rippling like flowing amber.

Luosen had investigated this guy.

White-haired mage Beierkan, with mid-stage peak magical power, fifteen-star casting ability, and a full set of excellent battle magical equipment.

This is someone the Fude family, to which Dalete belongs, has heavily invested in cultivating, and also Dalete's most relied-upon magical consultant.

He is loyal and shrewd, also particularly capable in combat; any plot or scheme against Dalete must get past him.

When Luosen entered the reception hall, this white-haired mage narrowed his eyes, his gray-brown eyes fixed unblinkingly on Luosen.

After a few seconds, he turned his head to look at the little boy Luosen was holding, and then continued staring.

Being stared at by such a person, Luosen really felt a bit guilty.

But he had previously conducted thorough investigations, gathered a lot of relevant information, and in terms of magic, he was completely unafraid of being seen through by the other party.

Soon his mood eased, but he still kept his lips tightly pressed, letting his face show a hint of 'vigilance and unease' upon entering unfamiliar territory.

「Please sit, Mr. Luobin, let's have a good talk. 」

Dalete extended a warm invitation.

Luosen nodded, sat down in the leather chair, his demeanor 'awkward and uneasy', his right hand continually gripping Yadan's hand.

Dalete sat opposite Luosen, and the white-haired mage came over and sat beside Dalete, his eyes still fixed on Yadan.

Luosen felt a bit 'afraid': "Mr. Dalete, who is this person?"

Oh, this is my assistant, Mage Beierkan; he heard about your affairs and is also very interested.

Saying that, he turned his head and asked: "Beierkan, what do you think?"

Beierkan gave a noncommittal response, reached into his pocket, pulled out a light purple rhombus magical device, stood up, walked to Yadan's side, and moved the device around Yadan's body a few times.

The device instantly changed; the gem set at the rhombus tip emitted a faint glow, dimming when moved away from Yadan and brightening when brought closer.

Beierkan gave a cold smile: "Knight, this is the latest product from the Blue Rose Tower, the transformation detection artifact 'Quilin's Eye', extremely sharp, able to sense the subtle transformation energy that has been carefully concealed."

It's obvious that this little boy possesses transformation energy; he is the transformation construct!

Dalete jumped in shock, his face instantly turning cold: "Mr. Luobin, speak up—what's going on?!"

Luosen secretly marveled: "The Quilin mage of the Blue Rose Tower who made the Quilin's Eye is truly talented—actually rolled out a new-generation product so quickly."

He had never been to Kao, naturally never seen Quilin, but he had dismantled many of the artifacts she crafted, which counts as a long-standing spiritual communion.

According to his knowledge, Quilin is a senior Artificer, deeply obsessed with detection-type spells; in some aspects, she can even represent the highest level of this field.

What's more frightening is that this person not only is immensely talented himself, but has also taken on a bunch of equally talented apprentices, and there are many other talented Artificer colleagues in the Blue Rose Tower.

A large group of geniuses closely collaborate and exchange ideas, their magical progress advancing by leaps and bounds.

Therefore, speaking solely of expertise in the detection field, Luosen feels inferior.

But only half of a spell's power comes from spellcraft; the other half comes from the mana itself.

Even if low-level spells are played with tricks, they cannot break the trap set by high-level spells.

Therefore, the real deception has only just begun.

On the other side, Dalete saw Luosen's face show surprise and remain silent for a long time, assuming it was the shock of having the deception exposed, and his gaze also turned cold.

He leaned hard against the chair back and let out a soft, contemptuous snort from his nose.

"Then should I continue to call you Mr. Luobin, or Mr. Deceiver?"

(End of chapter)