Kai found himself sitting on a bench when he came to himself.
He was wearing a long black overcoat over black pants and black shoes.
There was a bowler hat on his head, and in his hands was a newspaper. He looked up and saw the mist receding as the sun rose, hidden behind the buildings which were bustling with grump-faced workers.
"Good Morning."
Kai adjusted his head and found an almost similarly dressed bearded man nodding at him, holding the tip of his hat as he passed by. A sense of wild exuberance danced on his face as if Kai and he were long-lost friends, and he would do anything if Kai just asked him.
"Good Morning to you too." Kai nodded back, smiling. Well, the Charisma is working as it's intended, I guess.
As per his routine, Kai checked the armor, which was hidden well under his plain white shirt. Then he checked his Inventory, making sure he could access everything. The Iron Coin was also there, secured in a tiny case within his MRB.
Kai brought his gaze back to the newspaper.
He hadn't checked it before for the date and place because… it was blank.
Kai wasn't sure if the passersby could see this oddity or not. He certainly could.
When the morning breeze brought with it a lingering scent of soot and mud, the words appeared on the vast white blankness.
…
[
November 3, 1981
London
The one who-must-not-be-named has fallen.
The wizarding world has been in an uproar for the last 2 days.
Wizards, witches, and creatures alike are celebrating, forgetting themselves, and bringing unwanted attention from the muggles.
The ministry has begun the hunt for escaped Death Eaters at their full capacity. Hidden wizards are coming out daily, bringing with them the dark tales of the cruelty of these darker wizards. But most of them are looking forward to resurrecting their ordinary lives, as it was before the time of the Dark Lord.
Chaos welcomes you to the Magical World of Harry Potter again, but in a new time, and a new light.
]
…
You want me to turn this light into dark, don't you? Kai jested, grinning.
He couldn't dwell on the thought for long. Another notification was appeared below the first one like a fresh article.
…
[
Congratulations Contestant Kai Stormborn
You have triggered a Side Mission
…
Main Mission: Three heads of the Targaryen Dragon
Side Mission: Snaglok's delusion
Side Mission Summary: Snaglok, a goblin, works at the Gringotts Wizarding Bank as a Bank Clerk.
Like his brethren, Snaglok is greedy of nature and distrusts wizards. He cherishes his ordinary life, but the hubbub in the wizarding world has created an opportunity that he can scarcely ignore.
The goblin needs skilled thieves, preferably out of the wizard circle.
You are to meet him at Room No. 209, Leaky Cauldron, a popular wizarding pub and inn in London after three days at 03:00 pm.
Side Mission Objective: Get chosen by Snaglok for his plan
Side Mission Time Limit: Not Applicable
…
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Do you accept the side-mission?
]
…
This again, Kai reflected, accepting the mission with a hard face. Don't tell me I will have to wait for three days before the triggering of the Main Mission. Tch!
…
[
You have accepted the Side Mission
As a starter, you are given a sum of 1 galleon and 10 sickles.
]
…
Kai was eager for the Main Mission. But his eagerness for the Initiation of the Battle Sequence was more than that. He couldn't afford to waste a single day, let alone three days.
I must use these three days to my advantage, Kai thought. I also need to locate Order's Contestants.
Kai direly needed counsel. So he called out his counselor.
The colors of the rainbow flashed, and a white glob left the book.
Petyr walked out of the smoky veil, wearing almost the same clothing as Kai. The people were in such rush they hardly noticed another man walking out of thin air and sitting on the bench.
Petyr looked down at himself, nodding at his strange attire, and then his eyes wandered at the many motor vehicles, people with briefcases, and tall, bright buildings. "How extraordinary!" the character exclaimed aloud.
Kai noticed the excitement in his tone, but he was in no mood to call out these little things.
"Look at this," he said, handing over the newspaper to Petyr. "Can you see the words written over it?"
Petyr took the newspaper and his eyebrows rose as he read the contents within. "I can," he said, a hint of a smile appearing on his face. "What is the mission?"
Kai filled Petyr in on the mission Chaos had given him. He also told him about the answer to the second question they had asked and the Kill Count he now must complete within this mission.
Unexpected to Kai, Petyr guffawed, hearing the last piece of information.
"What is it?" Kai asked. "What have you inferred from it that makes you laugh so?"
Kai considered himself a cunning man. But he would be a fool to not accept that compared to the character Petyr, he lacked wit in this game of cunningness. The simple truth would have wounded his pride, scarring him for life. Only if he had some pride left.
Kai was shameless, through and through.
Moreover, if he could distort the Book's Skill Primordial Theater to converse with the Characters, why wouldn't he?
"This is the most wonderful thing that has happened to you, master," Petyr whispered slyly. "What happens to the Contestants when you kill them in the Primordial Tower?"
Kai narrowed his eyes, hearing the question.
It took him a second to realize what the question meant. Then his eyes bulged up like a frog, an unprecedented smile appearing on his face.
"Haha!" Kai laughed. "Oh, how could have I missed that? Yes. This is nothing but a fantastic opportunity if I can find them all."
Petyr nodded. "Loot," he uttered the word like chanting a spell. "But it isn't the time for thinking about it before the Main Mission."
Kai agreed. He looked at the Side Mission and discussed what was going on in his mind. "Three days," eh mentioned. "I must get my Elementary Magical Aptitude within that time. Who knows if I will get the opportunity after that or not?"
Petyr chuckled, his finger pointing at a line on the Mission Summary, mentioning Snaglok's greedy nature and his distrust for wizards. "I think you can get more out of this mission than a simple dragon egg, my lord," he said.
"More, you say," Kai muttered, still thinking of the two things Petyr had pointed at. "How?" He asked, but by then he already knew what he must do. It was just that Kai felt disgusted at the idea he had concluded.
The Character, though, was blunter with his words.
"Give up," Petyr suggested. "Give up on getting the Ability for now."
*
*
November 3, 1981
Evening, Leaky Cauldron
Room No. 208
Kai slumped down into the chair, letting out a heavy but relaxing sigh.
"Close the doors, Petyr," he said, opening a water bottle. "I am afraid someone has noticed us down there."
From the data given to him by Arlen, Kai already knew that to even see the Leaky Cauldron, a Contestant must have over 10 Intelligence. Then one must stir his Mana upon reaching the location. Only then would the pub present itself to a Contestant who didn’t have the Magical Aptitude Ability.
"What did you feel, master?" Petyr asked, taking off his hat and his overcoat.
Gulp! Gulp!
"Too much!" Kai said, panting, sweat dripping down his chin. "The Mana was suffocating me too much."
Kai could scarcely believe what monsters were dining down there, drinking merrily and chatting like everything was normal.
The Mana within the small pub was so much that it had made him shiver. So Kai had to go out before coming back with Petyr as his companion. Being a character from the book, Petyr wasn't subjected to the Mana fluctuations as Kai had.
"How much did the innkeeper take?" Kai asked. "Can we stay here for three days?"
Petyr shook his head. "Tom is his name," he told Kai. "The money was only good enough for two nights. I paid him for one."
"Why?" Kai asked, not unkindly. He had already given Petyr full access to his funds, in-world money and Mission Credits both. They were external things to Kai. He liked them, but not enough to not gamble them by trusting a being who was the product of an Item that belonged to himself.
"The Mission Summary…" Petyr said, leisurely taking a place on another chair. "We can't go empty-handed to a greedy person. Never. Even if you are formidable, master, in this Magical World, it won't be enough. So I have a plan."
Kai stood up. He approached the window, looked out at the darkening sky, and closed the shutters. "What plan?" he asked, returning to his seat. "I hope you are not thinking that I would rob a bank or something."
This was another thing that the data had mentioned.
Do nothing stupid that would seem out of the norm at a glance. The wizards of Magical Law Enforcement would be upon you in no time. A Contestant of Kai's level could never hide from them anyway.
"Haha!" Petyr chuckled, a low derisive laugh. "I was indeed thinking of robbing the bank (-Kai raised his eyebrows-), but in the same way, all banks rob the commoners. Loan. We will rob the bank, but officially."
"Explain," Kai demanded, closing his eyes.
"Give me one HP capsule," Petyr explained. "I heard many wizards talking about potions down there. I will approach one of them and present the capsule as the new drug I am working on in the muggles' way, but with better results.
“Then, with the help of that wizard, we will go to the bank and take a heavy loan for further research. No matter how tedious the process would be, I am sure with the help of a wizard it can be easily done within time."
"Easily?" Kai mocked. "Aren't you overestimating it by quite a lot? Why do you think any wizard would be interested in it? Why do you think any wizard would even give us a chance to explain? And why do you think any wizard would help us get a loan from a wizarding bank?"
Petyr smiled. "It's not that I am overestimating, master," he said, "but it's you who are underestimating two things."
"What two things?" Kai asked, narrowing his eyes.
"Your face," Petyr said, a small smile dwindling on his face, "and my tongue."