Chapter 89: Colossia's Banquet - First Part
Two hours passed by while Sila talked to the others about his match against Francine. Sila inquired about what had happened, which Burapha explained it to him with Bow trying to mime the descriptions to make the explanation more dramatic.
"The banquet in the city is about to start. Would everyone like to move there?" Sebastian came and reminded them. Sila opened his system window to check the time. It was almost 8 pm now.
"Big Brother Sila, when do you plan to log out?" Burapha asked.
"I had planned to do that in two or three days, but I changed my mind. I think I might log out tonight."
Burapha opened his system window to check the time. "You might as well log out at one at night, Big Brother. That's eight in the morning in real life."
"So, you are attending the banquet, right? That's sweet!" Bluebird exclaimed happily.
"Let's go, Big Brother Sila. You can't miss this banquet."
Soon, everyone teleported to the center of the city. Colossia City was full of decorations. Balloons, colorful fabrics, and western outdoor lanterns were floating all over the city. This sight reminded Sila of Beginning Town during the night after the event Seeking for Beginning Town's Best Couple.
Though, the distinctive difference was that during that night in Beginning Town, it was only him and Varee being together. However, at this moment, there were many players on the streets. It could even be said that the city was overcrowded with people.
There were two main reasons why the number of people was high. The first was, everybody had died at the same time, so their revival time was naturally the same moment. The latter was, these players were completely broke, without even a single silver. They could only stay on the streets without being able to enter restaurants or hotels.
Many of them had already contacted their friends for help. However, it should take some time before they could get their hands on the money. Now, the bank was full of people. To make things worse, the monsters around Colossia City were too strong for them to fight with no gear. Thus, only a handful of players had left the city.
In addition, there was a big stage located in the center of the main street. Many of the restaurants were booked. They weren't even allowed to take a seat. Many people began to feel upset.
"Let's go onto the stage," Burapha said. All the players in Sila's group were not ordinary players. Once the signal was given, they all jumped onto the stage. Only Bow was being held in Poluk's hand.
All the gazes fell on the stage. Many of the players here could recognize Lone Wolf, Varee, and Sila. Meanwhile, the rest of the member in Sila's team stayed slightly behind three of them.
Noppakorn stepped forward. The reason why Noppakorn was the one who was asked to announce the news instead of Bluebird was because players knew him. Despite how Bluebird had a lot of connections with influential people, Bluebird's reputation was not well known among ordinary players.
"Hello, everyone. You all must be tired because of what happened today, so I will cut to the chase." Noppakorn took a glance at the note he had gotten from Bluebird. "Since today is a good day, the winner of Colossia's battle tournament, Mister Sila, seizes this chance to hold a banquet to celebrate his victory tonight. Everyone is welcomed to join in. We have already booked most of the restaurants. As for any of you who want to rest, we have also booked a hotel room for you. We wish you all enjoy your time during the banquet. Oh, more importantly, everything is free. This is all thanks to Mister Sila."
Everyone had been waiting for this word: free. Presently, they had no money, so free food and free accommodations were more than welcomed. Many people cheered, praising Sila.
There were some people who looked at Sila with hostility. They didn't make a fuss, however, since they knew their place and that they would lose if they got into a fight with him. No, they didn't even dare to curse at him. Doing so would surely let them experience lynching.
Now, in the game forum, the news of Sila's victory was spreading around. Another topic that was equally popular was about demanding the Royal Armament Guild take responsibility for the mass death event that had happened. The latter topic was by no means negligible. Too many spectators had died. Despite how they belonged to small groups or guilds, their combined influence was even greater than that of a large guild's.
Unavoidably, Cross was responsible for this. He couldn't accept such a demand for compensation, nor could he reject that he wasn't responsible for it since no one would believe him.
The lucky ones that avoided facing the loss of this event were the tournament's participators who died in the quarterfinals. Since the Royal Armament Guild wanted to rush Sila to battle without having a break, these people fortunately still hadn't revived when Francine activated the Sinful Oath ability.
As for the round-robin, the system had set players to revive immediately after dying so that matches can take place continuously. Thus, the unluckiest one was Venom. As for Fargo, he had kept the promise with Sila by forfeiting and leaving immediately after the fight against Sila. Thus, Fargo had avoided the loss of this event.
After being upset by a bad day, people could finally manage to smile. They began to enter the restaurants in the city. They were very thankful to Sila.
Honestly, Bluebird didn't expect this banquet to have that much of an effect. However, during our darkest times, if someone comes to help us, even if they don't do much, we are bound to feel very grateful toward them. This concept applied.
Bluebird's plan to make a good reputation for Sila was more successful than he had ever anticipated. This was the synergy effect of Francine, Sebastian, and Bluebird, joining forces.
"What's next?" Noppakorn asked Bluebird.
"The singer will soon come to sing on the stage. As for us, I have already booked an entire floor of the best restaurant in the city. It's the top floor with a panoramic view. You can enjoy looking at the entire city there."
"You booked the entire floor? You're shameless to say that, Big Brother, you know? It's Big Brother Sila's money that you're using," Burapha made a sarcastic comment.
"Don't sweat the small stuff. The important thing is that we can celebrate together," replied Bluebird.
"Why don't we just celebrate in the mansion, then? Why do we have to waste money on booking the entire top floor?"
"The environment is just not right. Damnit, stop arguing with me. This is the best course of action." Bluebird began to ignore Burapha as he hurriedly led the group to the booked floor.
At that moment, the system alerted Sila that he was being contacted by someone else.
Player Sila is being contacted by Player Ginny.
Sila opened his system window. An image of Ginny appeared on the screen. She was still wearing the same equipment. There was a sword on her back.
"Where are you?" Ginny was still as curtly as before.
"Hello, Miss Ginny, how are you?"
"Where - are - you?" She wasn't interested in chitchatting.
"Still in Colossia City."
"Where exactly?"
"Umm, let's meet in the restaurant in front of the Colosseum, then. I can't remember its name but it's the restaurant with a big fork and big knife on the sign in front of it. If you arrive there, just tell the employee there that you want to go to the top floor."
"See you." She abruptly cut the system connection.
Sila scratched his head. 'Well, we will see each other soon.'
"Big Brother Sila, is that person Ginny?" Burapha asked. His eyes were widened in misbelieve.
"Yeah, that's right. Hm? I thought you must have already seen her in her match against Venom during the quarterfinals."
"About that, I was looking at another match at that time. Venom isn't as scary as Fargo so I was more interested in Fargo's match."
"Although Miss Ginny lost, one of the reasons behind her loss was because Venom cheated," Noppakorn began to explain Ginny's match and the ugly truth behind it.
"By the way, Burapha, do you know her?" Sila asked.
"Oh, not really, it's just that…" Burapha faltered.
"It's just what? Is it important?" Everybody was silent, waiting for the reply.
"It's just that she is quite cute. Hahaha," Burapha covered up the topic by laughing it off.
Everyone sighed. Burapha really had made a fuss over this small stuff.
"Is she the one who owns the Solaria Sword?" Varee asked.
"That's right. Ah, her reason for coming here must be about this matter. We should go now, otherwise, she will be there before us."
Hearing that, they began to walk to the restaurant that Bluebird booked. Since it wasn't far from the stage, they only took five minutes to arrive there.
Upon entering the top floor, they saw that the food was already prepared on the table. Most of them were Italian dishes such as pasta. Everyone sat down on chairs, except for Bow who sat on the table.
Ginny hadn't arrived yet. Ratri seized this chance to ask, "By the Solaria Sword, do you mean the sword that drops from the Hellfire Dragon Solaria?"
Burapha was deep in thought so he didn't hear Ratri's question. So, it was Sila who answered this question.
"I'm not sure, but it's very likely since the name of the sword is similar to the dragon's name."
Soon, the door of the lift was opened. Ginny walked closer to Sila and immediately handed her sword to him.
"Here is the sword, as promised."
Sila looked at the high-grade sword in Ginny's hand. The sword seemed to be made of a precious material. The blade was glowing orange and seemed to be semi-transparent. Just being near it caused people to feel the heat emanating from the sword.
Actually, Ginny could choose to ignore the promise and leave without saying anything, but she didn't do so. This fact alone told Sila that Ginny was a person who keeps her promises. This kind of person could not be a bad person.
"Please sit down first," Sila invited her.
Ginny frowned. She placed her sword next to Sila as she asked, "How much do you plan to sell it for?"
At that time, Burapha stood up and walked to Sila. He said, "You're Miss Ginny, correct?"
"Who are you?"
"I'm Burapha. I'm responsible for handling Big Brother Sila's items. You could say that I'm his private wealth manager."
Everybody in the room was confused. Even Sila himself was confused when Burapha announced this.
"You have a private wealth manager?" Ginny turned her head to ask Sila.
"Umm, err, about this…" Since Sila didn't concoct with Burapha beforehand, he was at loss for word. He wasn't good at lying.
Burapha was quick to act, "Big Brother Sila, you don't need to explain, I will take it for you. We should be talking about the matter of the sword first. Miss Ginny, did you promise to Big Brother Sila that you would buy the dual swords back with double the price?"
"Yes."
"Two million gold, then." Burapha opened the palm of his hand.
Everybody was confused at what Burapha was doing. It seemed only Bluebird and Varee could manage to smile knowingly.
Sila was about to argue at Burapha about the seemingly too high of the price, but Bluebird stopped him and whispered Sila to wait and see.
"Two million? Isn't that too expensive? These swords aren't worth that much."
"You're right. If we are talking about them separately, one of them could only sell at ten thousand at most. Despite them being a high-grade equipment, their individual ability is useless. However, the story change when they are together. Wielding both of them, the downside of S-grade item is completely gone. Thus, their combined price shouldn't be less than a million gold. Since you promise to buy them back at double the price, you need to pay us two million gold," Burapha said, which shocked Ginny. She was fully aware that Burapha's statement was not a lie.
"But… but I don't have two million." Her voice trembled like she was about to cry. "I-I really need these dual swords."
"Too bad for you. No money, no swords. Anyway, I plan to sell them in an auction tomorrow morning. They could easily give us over a million. Anyone would love to get their hand on such high-grade magical swords."
Ginny was agape. "Wait, I, err…"
"Don't do this, Burapha. They are just swords. You don't have to go that far," Sila tried to stop Burapha.
"Big Brother Sila, you're too kind. You can't be a good merchant this way. Just leave this matter to me."
Ginny fell into silence for a moment. "I really need both of these swords. What can I do for you in exchange? Anything is fine." Ginny tone was desperate, completely different than her usual curtly tone.
"Anything is fine? Are you sure?" Burapha made a serious expression.
Ginny nodded.
Burapha grinned. The fish had taken the bait. "Then, you can borrow them for the time being. However, Ginny has to go out with me until you pay off the money. Deal?"
Everyone in the room was shocked, except for Bluebird and Varee who were able to predict this outcome.
"You… what are you saying?" Ginny's face reddened for a brief moment.
"For the start, just have dinner with me tonight. We can talk about the details later," Burapha ended his sentence by giving both swords to Ginny. He then placed an empty chair right next to him as he said, "Please sit down here."
Ginny looked at the swords in her hand. "Aren't you afraid of me breaking the promise?"
"You are free to do so. I can guarantee you that no one will chase you to take back the swords."
Ginny furrowed her brows while deciding. Soon, she pulled a sullen face and obediently sat on the chair next to Burapha. She was really in need of these swords but she wouldn't allow herself to break the promise. Well, Burapha could see through her nature since she came to this room to give her sword to Sila. He just made use of this fact.
"What's wrong with you?" Sila said, "Why didn't you just give them to her at the start?"
Bluebird looked at Sila's confused expression. He patted Sila's shoulder and said, "You are a stone like your name, man."
Bluebird laughed out loud, causing the rest of the people to laugh too. Sebastian, Lone Wolf, and Poluk just smiled gently. The people that weren't laughing in the room were only Varee, Ginny, Sila, and Bow.
Especially the latter two, who couldn't understand what was so funny.