Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn! 84 Charley and the Money Factor ies

'Next steps... Retrieve Charley. Go to collect the promise from Natalie Sarouneh. And while waiting for the finals of the selection tournament to start, maybe I'll drop by Astrid Estreya's place for that quest...' Lars thought as he walked with even paced behind the servant Duke Leanne had assigned to lead him to where Charley was resting.

Once Lars/ Mikael recovered, he thanked the confused Duke Leanne and acted as if nothing had happened. Then he quickly excused himself, finished off the drinks and swallowed it half-choking when he realised just how much he hated the terribly caustic mead of some sort.

"T-this way, please f-follow this servant, Great Lord..." Mabu, the palace worker assigned by Duke Leanne, led the way to Charley's chambers. He was shaking with every step but trying his best to rein in his fearful reaction.

Lars nodded and waved for him to hurry up - as planned to quickly leave with the boy he planned to recruit as his agent. All the while, he was shaking his head and sighing, two tissues stuffed up his nostrils until the flow from the ruptured blood vessels in his nose stopped!

'T-too embarrassing... I'm t-too weak to lust... Lust for money...'

'OF COURSE YOU IDIOT! BUFFOON!!! WHY CAN'T YOU BE STRONGER WILLED LIKE ME HUH??? EVERY SINGLE TIME A PALTRY SUM OF MONEY GETS MENTIONED, YOU CAN'T STAND IT AND LITERALLY BLOW YOUR LOAD FROM YOUR BLOODY NOSE!'

At those words, Lars frowned in irritation. Who was this gambling addict penguin to speak about self-control and being strong-willed? But he didn't speak that out exactly...

No, those words were letting the furry little rascal off far too easily!

So he snapped back mentally at his "buddy", no longer with any sign of respect or courtesy for the demon, not like when he had first started!

'Shut up!!! Who do you think you are!!! Do you think you could retain consciousness at the prospect of scammin-- I mean, legitimately winning a competition for kids-- I mean, people my age and earning a sh*tload of money???'

'Hmmph!!! YOU SHUT UP!!! Who cares about some useless pieces of metal! It has no value! Worthless! And who are you calling a gambling addict???'

'.....I didn't call you a gambling addict, isn't that your own guilty conscience speaking??? Whatever DID happen to the almost 30,000 AP you earned, huh? Your commission and portion of the sacrifice? And how about the AP we earned from killing those Devil Lords...? When are you going to cough that up? Or are you planning to embezzle that as well???'

'WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT THERE'S NO WAY I'D EMBEZZLE THAT AS WELL!!! I WAS JUST, JUST, JUST... Just waiting for a chance like right now to tell you about your earnings!!!' Then the penguin was stunned and realised what he had just admitted and protested loudly.

'WHAT DO YOU MEAN AS WELL!!!! SINCE WHEN HAVE I EVER EMBEZZLED ANYTHING??!?!?!' The penguin rabidly frothed at the mouth and tried to assault the boy in his mental world.

But it was literally like a harmless penguin trying to assault a grown man, so Lars merely chuckled and followed the skinny and short Mabu through the long and winding passageways to meet with his first recruit into his team.

Once he had Charley on his team, he would then look for suitable investments. Given how shrewd the boy was, he just needed some backing and some capital to strike it rich!

'Of course, he probably needs to be bound by a soul-slavery contract first, heh heh heh... Else knowing him, he'll probably rob me blind in less time than it takes to say his name!' He cackled evilly, not realising that the man who was leading him was already sweating profusely in fear - he was dreading this experience of leading the insane, dirty and gaunt looking madman behind him!

He could already imagine it - Lars & Co, the richest and most influential company in the entire cosmos! At that stage, who was there who could stand against him...? What All-Heaven Divine Empire, what Universe Alliance? He could just throw money at them until they drowned in coins!

Oh, and he would remember to give some allowance to Moira, probably 2 platinum coins a week. That should be enough for her to spend right? He couldn't give her too much, lest he spoil her... Thought the man who planned to swim in an ocean of glittering coins...

"G-great Lord... Y-y-your servant, I mean, your man! Your man is here..." The pasty skinned Mabu bowed so low that Lars could see the back of his neck - his body was bent almost in an "A" shape! And the poor man was trembling in fear, afraid that he would somehow or other incur the wrath of the lunatic devil-slayer before him!

"Thank you, good man. Here's a tip for you." Lars tossed out a bag that clinked heavily as it hit the floor, then dismissed the man as he walked in to retrieve Charley.

Behind the middle-aged Lars who had already entered the room, the servant suddenly tumbled to the floor, legs turned to jelly in fear and now relief at his life being spared! What an ordeal!

Hurriedly, he picked up the bag of coins and ran back to his normal duty post, ran all the way without looking back, left or right a single time through it all!

And by the time he realised where he was, he was back in the servants' quarters, panting and sweating in gratitude - he was alive!

"Hohh~!! Mabu! You're back! How did it go! I see you got a hefty tip over there...!" His servant buddies, his good brothers saw him arrive and laughed happily when they saw the fist-sized bag jingling in his hands.

"Ohh!!! Come on, come on! Open it up! That guy must have been pretty generous!"

"Naww!! He looks like a miser, that one! Still, that's really generous of him to give you a whole bag..."

*PIAK!* A sound of a tight slap ringing across flesh was heard as a roar of outrage was heard, followed by a scuffle.

"YOU JUST REPEATED EXACTLY WHAT I SAID! DIDN'T I JUST SAY HE'S GENEROUS??"

"MOTHER F***ER THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU GOTTA SLAP ME!!"

At that, the first speaker who looked to be the oldest among the male servants shushed them and calmed them down, saying, "It doesn't matter who's right! What matters is... Mabu is buying us drinks tonight!!!"

"HO!!!!!" "YEA!!!!" "FABULOUS!!!"

At those words and the comforting thought of drink, the band of servant brothers raised their voices in loud support and began to settle down. With all the mayhem in the city and the heart-breaking events hitting countless of their homes and families, the men needed something, anything to take their minds off the tragedy they were facing. Even if they didn't know whether there would still be any bars or inns still open in this chaos, they tried not to think about it.

And so the crowd of servants quickly gathered around the still blur and confused Mabu who looked left and right in shock.

It was only then that he remembered the bag he was holding. Excited and eyes flashing with expectation, he opened the bag...

Only to find pieces of scrap metal piled up - and one bronze coin swimming in the chunks of metal.

"S-so stingy...!!!!" Unlucky Mabu cried as his servant friends laughed at him.

* * * * *

"Charley! Charley! Wake up, Charley!"

The aforementioned boy opened his eyes groggily, rubbing them to clear his vision.

He hadn't realised just how exhausted he was - in fact he had regained consciousness some time ago but collapsed back in fatigue on the impossibly soft and comfortable bed. Even if it were just a low-grade guest room, it was still leaps and bounds better than what he was used to nowadays. Often he would end up just sleeping on wooden boards or crates! The mere fact that he could lie in a downy bed...

'What a luxury...' He yawned and turned over onto his right side, eyes closing once again comfortably as he buried his face in the pillow and began to doze off again.

"Comfy...? How long more do you plan to slee--"

Charley's eyes snapped open as he heard the voice whispering sinisterly in his ear and shot up out of bed... And his head slammed right into Lars' nose and face!

Normally if Lars were ready and circulating his mana to protect his body, the merely Adept-level boy's head would not even shake him a single millimetre - but this was such an unexpected move that he had no time to do so. And his physical body was still only at the lower Elite-level, the minotaur bloodline not yet fully developed to its full Legendary potential!

As a result, his not-yet-recovered still-bleeding nose was smashed right into, knocking out the tissues and causing a new gush of blood to rush out - right onto Charley's face!

".....!!!!!"

"!!!!!!!"

"IDIOT!!!!"

"YOU ARE THE IDIOT YOU SMELLY OLD MAN! WHAT KIND OF PERVERT SNEAKS INTO A GUY'S BEDROOM TO WHISPER IN THEIR EAR WHILE THEY SLEEP!!! PERVERT!!!!! PAEDOPHILE!!!!!"

Lars was speechless and had no retort for those words as the blood dripped down his chin.

* * * * *

Once they were both cleaned up of blood and Lars dug around and found new tissues for his nostrils, he rapped his knuckles on Charley's head heavily with a firm *BOP* sound, leaving a swollen bump on the top of boy's head.

"Follow me!" Lars stormed off quickly, not bothering to wait for the boy.

Charley followed behind at some distance, reeling from equal parts trepidation and confusion.

What did this smelly old man want from him?

Whilst Lars' mind was racing with evil intents in mind.

Just how should he punish this boy whose mouth was too sharp for his own good...?

'Heh heh heh... I'll make sure you regret the day you ever crossed me, Charley!!!'

'...' Kizorik facepalmed. What a bunch of kids.

* * * * *

One thing had to be mentioned.

Due to the chaos of the devil invasion, the news of the mighty contestant #777 Lars had not spread out to the city.

As a result, there were still three pathetic groups of people preparing to track down the boy who had somehow or other crossed them...

Hunter Karel and the crime ring under the "Blacksword" Susano; of the Four Lords of Underworld serving the Laughing Man.

The hapless bumbling Masra and Captain Eniev of the city guard working under Gaius Trenel.

And the high-and-mighty mere Grandmaster raider, Sand Crab Byrus, a raider of the northern beastmen tribes, striving to expand their influence.

Three pitiful groups of big-headed show-offs who would stir up a hornet's nest...

And in the next few days, end up causing their faction to deliver over all their possessions, power, influence and MONEY of their factions on a silver platter to their target, Lars...

Fools seeking their own doom... Money factories!

Chapter end