Two weeks after Miko arrived at Grim City.
He was currently in an apartment in the 5th District. This district was one of the district designed to accommodate normal citizens who weren't directly involved in military affairs.
Two weeks ago after he questioned the men and “borrowed” some money from them, Miko used [Rule] to have them kill themselves in areas without surveillance.
Miko then turned their bodies to ashes to get rid of the evidence.
He found out from the men that he couldn't leave the city without an exit key.
Apparently this exit key wasn't an actually key, but a code imprinted on your palms. The thugs didn't know the method of how the key was imprinted, but apparently only the Four Pillars can give someone the exit key.
When Miko heard that, he immediately thought of when Sapphire placed her palm on the black walls protecting the city, and opened the passage to let them in.
At that time she openly spoke her code, but she must've done that because Miko didn't have an Exit Key to use with the code.
There was also a high chance that each Exit Key was unique to each individual, so you'll not only need the key you'll need to a proof identity like DNA or fingerprints. Both of these could've been checked by Gaia when Sapphire had placed her hand on the wall.
Another thing Miko learned was that there were four gates that you could use to enter or exit the city. Each gate apparently fell under one of the Four Pillars.
The gate Miko came through was located at the 1st District and was under the jurisdiction of one of the pillars, Jun Mizune.
Miko was surprised to hear that he controlled the academy, and was also responsible for all of the foreign students.
He deduced that he was most likely the one who sent Sapphire to recruit him.
Miko learnt a lot of things from the thugs, and even took an apartment they were using.
Apparently the four of them were small time thugs who were still trying to make a name for themselves. Unfortunately, they met a crime lord/king and had to disappear.
“I'm bored.”
Ishma complained.
Miko who was lazing around watching tv silently used [Dragon’s Rage] to create an arm and took out a box of donuts from the fridge, a couple meters away, and threw it towards Ishma.
Ishma eyes sparkled when she saw the box of donuts heading towards her and jumped and caught it.
She then ran into a corner and ate the donuts with a smile on her face.
Regis who saw that couldn't help but wonder if Ishma had any dignity as a person.
“Are we going out tonight?”
She asked.
“I'm kind of bored, so yeah. Also I need a bit more information about the inner workings of the city.”
Miko said as he used his aura to take out his favorite grape soda to drink.
“?!”
However, when he felt the soda with his actually hand, it was oddly light.
“Who drank my soda?”
Regis immediately turned her face from his gaze and acted like she was busy doing something else.
When Miko saw that he sighed and thought himself.
‘How did I go from a king managing his country to a single father with two troublesome daughters?’
He had completely forgotten that the two troublesome girls were his two most powerful weapons.
He got up from his seat.
“Okay. Since I don't have any soda, let's go out.”
11th District, 9:45PM.
Even among all the districts, the 11th District has a particular nickname. The “Lawless District” was what they called it.
It was a district, that was known for harboring all kinds of illegal activities, like: Drugs dealing, weapons dealing, human trafficking, just to name a few. In other words, the 11th district was one of the districts that you should avoid at all cost.
In this district, there were several hotels where the residents could go when seeking pleasure. In the city these hotels were called Getaway Hotels.
These hotels were common in a big city like this one. However, there was a specific Getaway Hotel that was different from the rest. The name of that hotel was “Le Nuit”. Unlike normal Getaway Hotels, Le Nuit was heavily guarded, and only certain individuals can enter it. It was rather high class for a Getaway Hotel, it wouldn't be strange if someone mistook it for a 5 star hotel. But in this district there was no such thing.
On the highest floor, there was a certain room. This room had no numbers on its door like the other rooms, instead it had the word “Monsieur” on it.
There were currently 12 persons inside this room, 5 women and 7 men. Two of the men were sitting in the middle of room, facing other. The remaining 5 men were standing directly behind the younger of the two men, near the wall. As for the women…
“Ah, Monsieur~ come on, let's play~”
“Yeah, Monsieur~ how long will this boring meeting last?”
“Hahaha! Ladies, ladies. I’m really sorry, but work is calling!”
They surrounded the other man, who was sitting.
“Boo~! Come on~!”
“Hahaha!”
“Cough! So, what do you think of my offer, Monsieur Blanche?”
The younger of the two men got annoyed by the public display of affections, and asked the older man in irritated tone.
He was a young man, who looked like he was in his early twenties. He wore a black suit with a red tie. He had a fairly handsome face. His name was Kei Hanazawa and he was a sub-leader of a large criminal organization.
“Hahaha! Ah, sorry sorry. But 2,000 gold for my entire hotel? You don't think too highly of me don’t you, Monsieur Hanazawa?”
Replied, the older man. He looked like he was in his late forties. He wore an expensive looking white suit, and had an excited expression on his face. His name was Jeane-Pierre Blanche, and he was the owner of the hotel.
“That's not true at all, Monsieur Blanche. I think very highly of you. After all, rumors have it that you're a very wise, but perverted man. And I believe that to be true.”
Said Kei.
"Oh why thank you! But I'm not that wise.”
‘So you're not going to deny the perverted part?!’
Thought Kei.
“What are you talking about, Monsieur?! You're the wisest person I know!”
Said one of the girls.
“That's right! Monsieur is so smart and handsome!”
“Monsieur is the best!”
The girls were cheering on Blanche, while surrounding him.
Kei on the other hand…
‘Showing off?! Is he showing off?! Is it because I came here with a group of husky grown men?! Is he mocking me?! It's not like I don't want women all over me too you know?!’
He was irritated for all the wrong reasons.
“Now, now ladies. I'm grateful for the encouragement. But, you're making our guests uncomfortable with your compassion towards me.”
‘Shut up, you perverted old man! What do you know about my feelings?! You're subliminally showing off just by saying that!’
Monsieur words just irritated Hanazawa, even more.
“Cough. Now, Monsieur Blanche. I would like to hear your response, if you please.”
Kei Hanazawa was trying to set back the mood in a business-like manner.
“My response, huh.”
Blanche, who had been smiling since the meeting with him and Kei Hanazawa begun, had a serious expression on his face. He gaze in to Kei’s eyes and said-
“Say, what happen would if I refused your offer, Monsieur Hanazawa?”
“Nothing really. It's just that some of your regulars might go missing, that's all. And you wouldn't want that since it would be bad for business, would you?”
Kei leaned forward in his chair and met his gaze with his own.
Tension filled the air, and silence spread for quite sometime. And then-
“….I see.”
Said Blanche.
He then started to smile once again and-
“Say, Monsieur Hanazawa. Have you ever heard the story about the king and fool?”
“….The king and the fool? ….I can't say I have.”
Kei Hanazawa answered, with a confused expression on his face.
“Then would you like to hear it?”
Asked, the smiling Blanche.
“Quit stalling! Just hurry and sign over your hotel to the young master!”
One of Hanazawa’s subordinates got impatient, and shouted at Blanche.
Blanche smiled in response and said-
“That's no good, Monsieur Hanazawa. You must learn how to control your dogs…”
He stopped smiling and looked directly at the subordinate, who shouted at him.
“Or else, they might get put down.”
He said in a cold tone.
“What was-!”
The subordinate was about to pull out his magic gun, but was stopped by Hanazawa simply raising his hand.
Seeing his boss interjection, the subordinate closed his mouth and returned to his original position.
“I'm extremely sorry about my subordinate’s outburst. I hope you can forgive him, and proceed to tell your story.”
Said Hanazawa, with a clearly fake smile.
"All is forgiven. We all get a little hothead from time to time.”
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Blanche took up a glass that was in front of him, and took a drink of champagne.
“Now then. Let's begin the story.”
‘Sly old man. What is he planning by telling me a story? Could it be a coded message to his men, who are listening in? If that's the case, then I should prepare another counter ahead of time, along with the other ones.’
Thought Kei Hanazawa.
He tapped his index finger on his temple, three times. It was a message to his men, telling them to be on high alert. And his men in return, had understood the message and readied themselves.
Blanch who was ignorant (?) of this, smiled and started to tell his story.
Once in a far away kingdom, there was a king. This King had everything he could ever wanted; wealth, fame, women, good looks, everything a man could ever want. But even so, the king was never truly happy. In fact, he was bored to death. He excelled in everything, and nothing was truly entertaining to him anymore.
So one day, the king announced a competition. A competition to see who can make him laugh or smile. The winner will receive a huge amount of gold.
And so, thousands of persons came from all over the kingdom, with the aim of winning the gold. Clowns, swordsmen, magicians, dancers, etc. all kinds of persons came, and tried to entertain the king; but none were successful.
The king got depressed, and started to wonder if nothing in the world could entertain him anymore. Just as he was about to end the competition, a man with jester’s mask came in front of the king. This man was the first person in months to make the king laugh.
The king was overwhelmed with joy. He had forgotten how it felt to laugh. Feeling grateful towards the fool, the king asked him to show him his face.
“Now, Monsieur Hanazawa. What do you think the king saw?”
Blanche interrupted his story to ask Hanazawa a question.
“...The king saw his own face.”
Hanazawa responded.
“Wonderful! Wonderful Monsieur Hanazawa! How did you know?”
Blanche was clearly overreacting, which made Hanazawa question if he was being mocked.
"…It wasn't that difficult, since it's a cliché story. The king will probably ask the fool to exchange places with him.”
“Oh! Excellent, you're right!”
Said, the overly excited Blanche.
‘As I thought, he is mocking me!’
Hanazawa was losing his patience when-
“But..”
Blanche started to say something.
"But even cliché stories have their twists and turns.”
Saying so, Monsieur continued the story.
And so, just like Hanazawa said. The fool and the King had identical faces. At first the king was shocked; but after a few moments he came up with an idea. He asked the fool to trade places with him, so that he could see things in a different light. And then the world won't look so dull to him.
At first, the fool hesitated but after some more persuasion from the king, he decided to grant the king’s wish.
At their agreement, the king and the fool swapped clothing. The king put on the fool’s mask and the fool put on the king’s crown.
“And so, the king became a fool, and a fool became the king. Well, I don't really see the differences between the titles.”
Said Blanche, as he laughed. He drank some more champagne and continued.
The king, who was now dressed up as the fool, left the castle undetected.
The king felt excited about his new adventure, and raced into town like a young boy. He expected his new life to be filled with new and wonderful experiences.
“But as fate would have it, that wasn't the case.”
Said Monsieur, with meaningful smile.
Shortly after the king entered the town, he was greeted by an arrow to the leg. The king screamed out in pain. He quickly searched for who had shot the arrow.
Surprisingly, he found himself being surrounded by his own Knights and people. He wanted to ask what was going on, but he was beaten by the mob before he could say a word. The king lost consciousness.
The next time he came to, the king was back in the palace, and looking up at his own face; more specifically the fool’s face.
He heard one of his Knights, informing the fool that they had captured the criminal that they had been searching for.
Apparently, the fool’s real identity was that of a notorious thief, who robs and kill anyone he wants, while wearing a jester’s mask.
“Just imagine the king’s face when he found out that he traded places with a criminal, that he himself had ordered to be killed on sight!”
Blanche laughed loudly.
“But that's not all! You know what the fool said when the king was brought before him?!”
“….No, I don't…”
Hanazawa answered.
Hearing his answer, Blanche jumped out of his seat, and grabbed the hand of one of girls, and started to dance in a ball room like manner.
“Well, let me tell you!”
It was a really bizarre scene.
“The fool looked into the king’d eyes and with a smile, ordered that the king was to be stoned to death by the towns people!”
He released the girl hand and grabbed another one, and began to dance with her.
“And so, the king was tied to a post in the middle of town, and was stone by his own people! The pathetic king screamed out that he was really the king, and not the thief! But that only made the people angrier! Eventually, even his Knights joined in!”
Blanche grabbed the arm of another girl, and started to dance with two girls at once.
“So, the foolish king was killed by the life he discarded, while the fool laughed and enjoyed his new life!”
“I see. What nice story, Monsieur Blanche. Now about we get down to-”
“What are you talking about, Monsieur Hanazawa? The story isn't finished yet.”
Believing that Blanche was finished telling his story, Hanazawa wanted to hurry up finished their previous conversation but he was interrupted by Blanche himself.
“After all, I still have two more girls; who I haven't shared a dance with yet!”
Saying so, Blanche let go of the girls, who he had been dancing with hands, and grabbed the hands of the two other girls.
“How can the fool have a happy ending?! It would be boring if he did!”
Blanche started to dance happily with the two remaining girls.
“It's true that the fool receive everything that the king had; his women, his money, his fame! But, he had also receive the bad things! For example, the king’s evil brother!”
“Eh?”
Hanazawa, who found himself strangely engrossed into the story, was caught off guard by the fact that king had a brother. Blanche ignored him and continued.
“You see, the king had an evil little brother who was always aiming after the king's life! But, the king was too smart for his brother to be killed! So, even that became a boring activity for the king!”
Blanche stopped dancing and signaled that all the girls should dance together, while he finished the story.
“This is where it really gets fun!”
He said.
“The fool who believed that he had successfully tricked the entire kingdom, threw one hell of a party to celebrate the thief’s (king’s) execution! He had dancers, jesters, magicians, all forms of entertainers at his party! He ate and drank all he could, while laughing merrily! And then it happened!”
Blanche smiled, and looked at the disturbed faces of Hanazawa and his men.
“The fool tumbled off the throne! His body went numbed, and he was unable to move a muscle! The fool was confused and shocked, because he didn't know what was happening! He looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him, and laughing! That further confused him!”
Blanche took a final mouthful of champagne to finished the all the champagne in his glass.
“And then the confused fool was greeted by the king's brother's smiling face! He looked at the fool, and thanked him for getting rid of his brother for him! The fool who was unable to speak, could only listen as the brother speak, with terrified eyes! The brother told him that a filthy thief like him doesn’t deserve to sit on the throne! And that he deserve to die surrounded by laughter like the fool he was!”
Blanche began to laugh.
“And so, the fool died looking at the disgusting faces of people laughing at him without being able to say a word! The last thing he saw was the brother looking down on him from the throne with a malevolent smile, before saying goodbye fool!”
Blanche started to laugh uncontrollably and held his stomach. The scene irritated Hanazawa to the point he couldn't take it anymore.
“Enough! What's the point of you telling me this story?! Are you mocking me?! Are you calling me a fool?!”
He shouted angrily.
Hearing Hanazawa's shouts, Blanche stopped laughing, and the girls stopped dancing and looked at him.
“My apologizes if it seemed like I was mocking you, Monsieur Hanazawa.Trust me, that wasn't my intention.”
Said Blanche, with a wry smile.
“Then, what was the purpose of telling me this story?!”
“Oh, trust me. The moral of this story will become clear to you soon.”
Blanche displayed a mischievous smile
Seeing that, Hanazawa signaled his men to draw their weapons.
All of Hanazawa's subordinates pointed their weapons at Blanche.
In response-
“Sigh”
Blanche displayed a disappointed look on his face, and then waved his hand. A holographic window appeared shortly after.
“It seems that you don't realize the situation that you're in, Blanche.”
Hanazawa’s subordinates didn't pay Blanche’s odd behavior any mind, and smiled confidently.
“Do you realize what is being pointed at you?”
Asked a subordinate
“MYTH’s Shiva Series Trident, right? I know a few guys from the factory who helped designing them.”
Answered Blanche, who was now sitting in his chair, and operating the hologram with a bored expression.
“That's right. So, you should hurry and sign over your hotel.”
Said another subordinate.
“Sigh.”
However, Blanche didn't look interested. Or better yet, he looked really disappointed as he operated the holographic window.
‘…Something isn't right. Why does he looks so calm, considering the situation he is in?’
Hanazawa thought. Unlike his subordinates, he found Blanche’s odd behavior disturbing.
‘Not to mention…’
He glanced at the girls behind Blanche.
They all looked calm and a few of them were giggling, under their breath. This caused him to worry even more, especially since he couldn't read their [Class]. He decided to take immediate action.
“Men, shoot Jeane-Pierre Blanche! Don't worry about what happens afterwards, just kill him now!”
“Yes, Young Master!”
At Hanazawa’s orders, the subordinates aimed their guns at Blanche and squeeze the trigger. But-
“Huh? The trigger won't budge!”
Screamed, one of the subordinate.
The men tried the squeeze the trigger with all of their strength, but trigger just wouldn't budge.
“Don't tell me. It's locked!”
“Didn’t I just tell you?”
A voice interrupted the confused men. They turned their attention to where it came from. It was Blanche, who was still operating the holographic window.
“I know one of the guys who designed the Trident. And, he told me a lot of secrets about it.”
He looked Hanazawa in the eyes and displayed a mischievous smile.
“That includes the code to overwrite the safe locks.”
“!”
At Blanche’s words, Hanazawa and his men suddenly found themselves in a desperate situation.
“What did you think I was doing? Playing games? Please don't underestimate m-”
“Level clear! New achievement unlocked! You are the Dungeon Master!”
Blanche was interrupted by an electronic voice, that came from the holographic window.
“……………….”
The room was covered with an awkward silence, for quite sometime. And then-
“….D-don't mess with me! W-what do you mean that you overwrote the safety locks?!”
Said Hanazawa, as if it took his all to keep a serious tone. But-
“Oh! What a good guy! He's trying to ignore the fact that Monsieur is playing games, at his age!”
“And you just ruined it!”
One of the girls, pointed out something that everyone was trying to avoid, and Blanche retorted her.
“Sapphire! You can't talk about Monsieur’s age!”
“Ah, my bad, Ruby.”
One of the girls, Ruby, also reprimanded Sapphire.
“I understand how you feel, but you can't go waving your elders ages around like that. No matter how pathetic it makes them look. That's bad manners.”
Said Ruby.
“That's bad manners right there!”
Said Blanche.
“Ruby, you can't do that. Calling your employer pathetic, is rude.”
Another girl joined the convo.
“Call him vintage or a classic, instead. That's more appropriate.”
“What am I, an old car?!”
Said Blanche.
“Oh, that's a good idea, Gem! Vintage sounds better than pathetic old man!”
Said Sapphire.
"Ah, I get it! You girls have a grudge against me don't you?!”
A big vein was pulsing on Blanche’s head, it looked like it was going to burst at any moment.
“In the first place, who are you calling old man?! I just turned 30, last month!”
Blanche, who was fed up of being called old, revealed his true age.
“EHHHHHHHHHHHHH?!”
And it shocked everyone in the room, including Hanazawa and his men.
“Why are you girls surprised?! We celebrated my birthday together! There was even a huge cake with the number 30 on it!”
“I thought that you were just going through a midlife crisis, or something.”
“Me too.”
“Me too.”
Ruby expressed her honest thoughts, and Sapphire and Gem agreed with her.
“I thought, that he was just trying to look young. What about you, Amber?”
“Yeah, me too, Jade. I even refered to him as Wannabe 30 behind his back.”
The remaining two girls also expressed their disbelief.
“Is that what you all really think of me?! An old pathetic man, who is desperately trying to cling to his youth?!”
“Yup.”
“At least try to deny it!”
Cried Blanche. The girls gave Blanche an instant reply to his question without an hint of hesitant.
“I mean, you always make us wear those skimpy outfits.”
Said Gem.
“Yeah, that's right. Only a perverted old man would do that, you Wannabe 30!”
Added Amber.
“I'm just a normal, 30 year old pervert!”
“So, you admit the pervert part.”
Said Sapphire.
“That's not the point! The point is-”
“SHUT UP!”
Blanche and the girls antics, were interrupted by a loud roar.
They looked at the source of the roar. There they saw an angry Kei Hanazawa.
“Listen here, you Wannabe 30!”
“Who are you calling Wannabe 30?!”
In the end, even Hanazawa called him by that name; which annoyed Blanche, but Hanazawa ignored him.
“Don't think that the tables have turned, just because you overwrote the Trident’s safety locks! I still have a back up plan!”
Hanazawa smirked.
“In case something like this happened, I had this hotel rigid with over fifty heat bombs. One wrong move and I can melt this building and everyone in it, like ice cream in the summer!”
Heat bombs were a new type of bomb that was introduced by a mysterious organization known only as Genesis. Even though it's a bomb, it doesn't explode. Instead it releases an intense amount of heat, that can easily melt even the hardest metal.
It was a very lethal weapon, but was ban because it dubbed too inhuman for military use. This was because the victims of the bomb were turned into a gruesome puddle of flesh, bones and blood; that would make even a veteran soldier throw up.
“Heat bombs, huh? That reminds me.”
Blanche, who didn't seemed unfazed by Hanazawa’s threats, tapped the “watch” on his left wrist, and a small hologram screen pop up.
Blanche brought the watch and the hologram close to his face.
“It’s me. Did you do what I told you, earlier?”
He spoke into the watch.
“Ah, yes Monsieur. We found 56 bombs in total. They were all in the locations you told us to check.”
A voice came from the watch, and responded to Blanche.
Blanche tapped the watch again, and the hologram disappeared. He then looked towards Hanazawa and his men.
“Well, there you have it.”
“…56…. That's all the bombs. But how?”
Hanazawa was greatly shocked, and confused at the sametime.
“How? Only an idiot would try to negotiate a deal without a few back up plans.”
Said Blanche, with an “Isn't that obvious” face.
“You may be naïve, but I don't think you're an idiot. If you were, you wouldn't be one of Twin Headed Dragon’s Sub-Division leaders.”
“!”
Hanazawa was surprise to hear the name “Twin Headed Dragon Syndicate” from Blanche’s mouth.
“H-how did you know, that I'm from the syndicate? I didn't tell you which organization I belong to.”
Hearing Hanazawa’s question, Blanche began to laugh for a little while.
“As I thought.”
He looked the confused Hanazawa in his eyes and said-
“You don't know who I am, do you?”
“Who you are? What are you talking about? Aren't you Jeane-Pierre Blanche, the owner of this hotel?”
Hearing Hanazawa’s answer, not only Blanche but even the girls were laughing.
“Monsieur, it isn't good to tease others.”
Said Sapphire.
“Sapphire’s right. I'm starting to feel sorry for him.”
Said Ruby, who was still laughing.
“But still, is this guy really a higher up in the Twin Headed Dragons Syndicate? He hasn't even realized that he dug his own grave, the moment he stepped foot into this hotel.”
Said Gem.
“Don't be rude girls. He's just inexperience that's all. After all, he's only been a sub-leader for a year. If you include the fact that he's only 23, it couldn't be helped.”
Hearing Blanche's comment, made Hanazawa extremely impatient.
“Men! Draw your back up weapons, and kill that bastard and his bitches!”
Hanazawa gave the order in a fit of rage.
His subordinates threw the useless Tridents to the side, and held their secondary weapons.
Some had guns, other had swords and even bombs.
“Hahaha! These men are [Upper A Class] combat specialists! They’ve killed hundreds of people in their own [Class]; so it won't take long for them to rip you apart!”
Shouted, the overconfident Hanazawa.
It was clear that he had lose what composure he had left, and was just being reckless.
Seeing such a Hanazawa-
“You made an amateur’s mistake, Monsieur Hanazawa.”
Blanche was clearly disappointed to see him act like this.
“Very well. If it's meaningless bloodshed you want…”
Blanche took a seat in his chair, and pour himself a glass of champagne.
“Then it's bloodshed you get.”