"How about some tea?" The Manager poured some fragrant green liquid for his visitors.
By now, the man had regained his calm. So what if the youngster was tricky? He still had the advantage with the Golden Dice Conglomerate backing him.
This tea was his opening move: it just happened to be the demon's favorite beverage. The demon was already turning white, knowing he had never told anyone.
How would the youngster counter this?
Jack casually picked his own cup, elegantly drinking the content— or so it seemed. In fact, he was pouring the entirety of it down his inventory.
This simple task of storing liquid without a container actually required an incredibly high system mastery. It was even deemed impossible.
Funnily, that simple gesture was enough to utterly destroy the calm the Manager had finally regained.
"?!?"
He hadn't hesitated in the least: this meant he was either stupid, confident the tea wasn't poisoned, or unafraid even if it was.
Stupid —> His Casino Analysis, even if bullshit proved he wasn't.
Confident —> This would mean he knew about him and his organization
Utterly Fearless —> There were so many poisons in this world, and only the strongest of beings could resist them all.
Which was it? Even now, he wasn't sure which one was preferable…
"Are you alright, Mister Manager? You seem slightly pale? You should drink. I'm sure you'll feel better." Jack considerately handed him a teacup.
"T-thank you." The Manager had no choice but to accept it with shaking hands as he started drinking it, only to freeze.
!?!
What the hell was that?! Demonic Energy suddenly invaded his body, trying to corrupt and devour it. This was the weaker application of Ghoulish Touch, except utterly raw.
This was definitely an assassination attempt! The Manager reacted instantly.
— Swoosh! —
Invisible threads of death suddenly enveloped the guests, a millimeter away from removing their heads. As for the poison, his internal energy had already cleared it all!
"You dare!" The Manager thundered.
The demon stared wide-eyed at the situation. What had his Boss done?! Had he really tried to assassinate this extremely powerful human executive?! Was he mad?!
He glanced at Jack, confused, but the latter adorned an even more confused expression.
"Dare? What happened?" He looked utterly innocent.
"Hehe, are you going to deny your silly assassination attempt?" The man's patience was growing thin.
"Assassination? What assassination?" He asked, confused.
"The poison! The magic you somehow added to my tea, crazy bastard!" He spat out, enraged.
"Oops, my bad! It seems like I did it again. Emitting magic by mistake happens, you know." The youngster retorted, glossing over the incident entirely.
"…."
"…."
"Woo!" (It's the magic trick again!)
The little wolf's exclamation felt especially loud in the awkward silence. This power seemed so cool!!!
"So this is an accident?! Do you think I'll believe you!" The exasperated Manager spat out.
What was up with this guy, and what was up with his pet?! Why were both of them completely relaxed and one even clearly entertained?!
The demon was about to shit himself. This was the natural reaction one should have! Maybe they were Braves? No, this didn't make sense. They didn't fit the mold: loud quest seekers.
Jack simply gave him a playful look as if he was looking at a young child.
"Pfft— If you consider this an assassination attempt, then you better not walk outside. The very world would try to assassinate you: rain, wind, mosquitoes, etc."
"T-that's not—"
"As a manager, you should show more poise than this. Losing your calm for such a little incident, really?"
"W-what are you—"
"Besides, you should be more careful. I'm fairly good-natured, but what if you chance upon someone ill-tempered in the future? You'd be in deep trouble, wouldn't you?"
"T-that—"
"Plus, you wasted so much time. If you want to kill someone, just kill them. So wishy-washy! Don't be like that Moon Moon. Do you understand?" Jack addressed his pet at the end.
"Woo!" (Understood master!)
The two's interaction finally pushed the other down a mental breakdown. Who the fuck talked like that?! Did none of them fear death?!
The Manager was slowly getting dragged into their pace. Why was he starting to feel like it might actually simply be an accident? But then he came back to his senses.
"WAIT, that's bullshit! There's no way anyone can bypass the mana disruptor by MISTAKE!" He screamed, incensed.
"Why not?"
"BECAUSE!"
"Do you know how many times people have tried scheming against me with those? I've seen it all: sealing attempts, failed assassinations, shitty prank even."
"?!?"
"At some point, it kinda loses its novelty and effectiveness." Jack sighed with melancholy, seemingly reminiscing.
That's when the Manager plopped back in his chair, his arms lying lifelessly on his office table. How had he gone from fuming to being chastised for his inexperience?
Over the length of his career, he had seen plenty of people. He had seen them at their highest from winning the jackpot and at their lowest from losing it all.
But, never had he seen someone like this youngster nor his wolf. All the experience he had accumulated during his entire life was now proving misleading.
[Successfully Made an NPC Doubt the World!]
[Acquired Skill: Art of Bullshit!]
[Is this Negotiating?!]
Oh? Didn't he already have that? Also, the last part about the mana disruptors was totally legit. This was slandering!
In any case, this concluded this slight disturbance. The Manager was finally open to dialogue. Thus they negotiated while Moon Moon munched on a bone it had found somewhere.
- The Moon Elf was hidden and under the Conglomerate's protection.
- Given proper incentives, they could hand him over.
- But, they had a troublesome request.
"Bring me a commerce guild A-Rank Certificate, and we'll give you the guy on a silver platter, no, a gold platter even!"
"?!?"
At that moment, it was Jack's turn to stare blankly. Was there even a point in asking him for that?! The worst was that the Manager was even giving him an encouraging thumb up!
"If it's you, you can do it!"
The Party soon left the premises, the demon looking utterly lifeless as he glanced at the man beside him. He had successfully scammed one Manager. Could he do the same to the entire commerce organization?
The answer was obviously a resounding no, and yet….
