Black Tea and Popcorn
The world has always been filled with fools who believe that the majority’s choice is right.
The gallery’s betting board had already tilted completely to one side.
I still couldn’t understand how this kind of gambling was even legal in this empire.
It was an insider pool on the survival of Beatrice Conti, last survivor of the Conti family.
Of the enormous sum gathered there, ninety-nine percent had been bet on the Bell family’s hounds.
The prevailing opinion held that an incompetent young lady’s chances of surviving against the Bell family’s elite hounds were close to zero.
But these people had no idea where the real money was made.
I lightly wiped the screen with a silk handkerchief and fixed my gaze on the remaining one-percent corner.
Beatrice Conti — All-in on solo annihilation of the Bell family’s lower organization.
Wait. How much gold did I even have left?
When I first opened the shop I’d been given a base of ten million gold, so after setting aside tomorrow’s electricity bill, remodeling costs, and the rest—
Geez. Only one-point-five million gold?
I hesitated for a moment.
Should I try submitting a loan request through the system window?
No.
Never gamble on borrowed money, Celia.
Even back when I was still Hunter Go In-heon, I’d gotten burned badly betting with debt.
I decided to keep it modest and simply stake my entire fortune of one-point-five million gold.
“Preparations are complete.”
After a deep breath I typed one million five hundred thousand gold into the number field digit by digit and pressed the Bet button.
Click—.
Your wager has been locked in.
“Alright. Time to pop some popcorn.”
I set down my teacup and looked toward the counter.
Kkamagi, who had been preening its black feathers with its beak, sensed my gaze and jerked its head up. The mana antenna of the silly feather sticking out of its head was already sparking with bluish light as it collected external frequencies.
“Kkamagi, get out there and relay the young lady’s revenge drama from the best possible angle. Don’t miss a single second.”
The moment the order left my lips, Kkamagi spread its wings wide.
“Caw—!”
With that cry it shot like an arrow through the open window into the night air.
The instant it vanished into the sky, a real-time streaming feed synchronized with Kkamagi’s vision appeared on my smartphone.
That’s me, you bastards!
Beyond the screen, past the outskirts landscape where rain had begun to fall, the abandoned fortress the hounds used as their headquarters came into view.
A figure stood tall before the iron gates of Drebos Fortress.
It was Beatrice, wearing the maid uniform I had given her.
These absolute bastards!
What was wrong with the maid uniform I prepared for her?
I’d specially designed it for mobility and stealth so her identity wouldn’t be exposed from travel all the way through infiltration!
That was exactly why she made it there safely!
My mood soured a little.
Beatrice’s rain-soaked apron and slender over-the-knee-sock silhouette formed a strangely poignant contrast against the desolate night scenery.
But the true majesty poured from the heirloom sword in her grip.
Hwaaaaak—!
The moment Beatrice drew a breath, crimson mist-like mana exploded along the blade.
S-class Skill: Murderous Aura
Ohhh. Finally, it’s starting!
I set a frying pan over the flame, then scattered corn kernels and salted butter across it.
“…In the name of the Conti family.”
Beatrice’s quiet voice rode Kkamagi’s audio sensors and reached my little corner of the room with perfect clarity. On the screen her eyes burned with seething hatred.
The next instant the iron gate tore apart like paper.
Kugugugung—!
With a tremendous blast, scarlet sword qi carved a great arc through the air and sliced the space open.
The hound sentries standing guard never even managed a scream.
Their prized magic armor and expensive defensive artifacts were nothing more than scraps of paper before the overwhelming firepower of an S-class authority.
“Our young lady’s doing great, isn’t she?”
I couldn’t tear my eyes from the smartphone screen.
Popcorn began to pop and dance in the pan.
“Wh-what the hell! Intruder! All hounds, assemble—now…!”
“Wasn’t she supposed to be incompetent?! What is this?!”
The fortress interior instantly became pandemonium.
Beatrice advanced without taking a single step back, swinging her sword.
A destructive aura no one would believe could erupt from such a slender body dyed the gray space crimson.
Every time she cut down another hound, the [Mana Reverse Transmission] gauge displayed in the upper-right corner of my phone began climbing vertically.
Debtor’s skill experience — 50% remotely withheld at source.
Shop Main Power Charge Rate: 95%
Debtor’s combat experience feedback permanently binding…
“Fifty percent? Better than I expected! She’s a high-performance generator!”
I sat in my chair and popped a perfectly toasted kernel into my mouth.
Every time she smashed through her enemies and advanced, my level and mana-stone balance rose in real time.
This thrill of watching the broadcast from the safety of my room while stacking experience at the same time!
It was so sweet my teeth were going to rot.
I probably wouldn’t need caramel popcorn ever again.
Having crushed the gate guards, Beatrice’s blade tip now pointed in a straight line toward the executive wing.
The gallery servers were already on the verge of crashing.
Screams from the gallery users who had bet on the hounds’ victory were refreshing by the hundreds every second.
“Ugh, idiots. That’s why you never bet on the low-odds side…”
Then it happened.
Kuuuuung—!
The screen shook violently.
Kkamagi urgently gained altitude and switched the camera to a wide angle.
From the deep darkness inside Drebos Fortress, black mana of a density completely different from the lower-rank members began to pour out.
Beatrice’s relentless advance halted for the first time.
A terrifying pressure that refused to yield even when it collided head-on with the S-class Murderous Aura.
Stepping out of the darkness was a direct high-ranking hunter of the Bell family—the veteran hound who had led the dawn raid that annihilated the Conti family: Butcher Graul.
Graul dragged his massive greatsword along the ground and smiled grotesquely.
“Looks like the Conti family rat picked up some strange skill somewhere.”
The mana form unfurling behind him was at least A-class ranker level or higher.
Beatrice’s S-class skill was certainly broken, but her body was still only F-class.
She held the advantage in instantaneous firepower, yet if a prolonged one-on-one against Graul dragged on, the outcome would become hard to predict.
Graul pounded the floor, leapt into the air, and brought his sword down on Beatrice.
She hastily raised her blade to defend, but with a sound like the atmosphere itself being torn, her slender body was blasted backward and slammed into a concrete wall.
“Keuhk…!”
Fresh blood burst from Beatrice’s lips on the screen.
The lace of her black maid uniform tore pitifully, and red blood soaked into the white apron.
The S-class crimson aura wrapping the blade began to flicker unsteadily—proof that her body had reached its limit.
Graul did not miss the opening. He mercilessly drove his enormous greatsword down toward her nape.
Kwaaaaang—!
The screen shook violently as thick dust swallowed the view.
The mana reverse-transmission numbers in the upper-right corner of the screen flickered unstably.
My mood soured. I tore my eyes from the smartphone.
Hmph. I would not tolerate anyone trying to smash my honey pot.
“Kkamagi! Where are you? Send me the coordinates of Drebos Fortress right this second!”
I dumped the remaining popcorn into my mouth and slowly rose from my seat.