亚洲综合中美

“We’re not,” returned Igna, “-Loftha has expressed her emotions sternly. I was ready to commit myself to her and the Alphian family for the sake of the continent, seems my advances were too curt. I’m baffled, to be honest,” a jestful expression escaped, “-I was shot down without so much as adding another word in,” shoulders relaxed and head facing the emperor, “-I’ve brought your little sister as asked. My duty has been complete, I’ll be off.”

“Wait a moment!” fired Amber, “-Igna, about the fight against the big five, can you win it?”

“Alone? No, an army is needed to rival another army. My force, rather, my mother’s and aunt’s army are in Hidros, waiting to pounce. Consider me the vanguard, once the tide of war changes, trust in us to invade without hassle.”

“Literally?” pondered the embarrassed Loftha.

“No, figuratively. I should get going. Take care from here on, don’t cause the imperial family trouble. Lord Emperor, if a problem ever strikes up, please do not forget about the support from the Haggards. I’ll aid in any way shape or form.”

“Igna Haggard.”

.....

“Third time you’ve uttered my name,” returned an impatient remark, “-tell me, lady Amber, is there perhaps something I can do for thee?”

“You said you had a company; might I know what’s the name and purpose?”

“Now you’ve gone and done it,” he blinked to her back, “-I’d really appreciate not digging further into my personal endeavors. I hate people who meddle – want to hear more, join me, tis the only way forth.”

“What sort of dark plot...”

“My lady,” he blew softly, “-you who bare a majestic figure, pretty facial features, and a complex yet entertaining personality, needs to let loose. A bit of advice from an unknown, forcing thy way forth isn’t the best course of action. Take a break once in a while.”

“Excuse you?” she spun, he vanished.

“Over here.”

“Stop teleporting around,” her cheeks flushed, “-such insolence in my presence,” the shoulders rose, “-whatever,” it halted midway through, “-a complex personality,” she grinned, “-tis the nicest thing someone has ever said to me. I’m either referred to as a tyrant or a sadist. Very good first impression, Igna Haggard, I grant permission to refer to me as big sister or sister for short. We’re tied by family.”

“Understood,” he nodded, “-big sister Amber. Time’s running late, good luck on your work,” the persona sparkled in an illusionary bring light-filled in glitter and stars, her mien melted in respace – the rectangle of a room quieted.

“Big sister,” said the Emperor, “-this is the first time I’ve seen you not get angry at someone so...”

“First time?” resettled on her chair, “-he knows more than he lets on. The ability to hide his abilities, a very fascinating young man. My gut and mind immediately said to be wary, after a while, it swapped to trust, I can’t explain it, there’s a certain allure to his mannerism.”

“I see,” paused he. The scattered thoughts landed atop a disgruntled Loftha, “-what’s the matter?” he inquired.

Head to her knees, “-I blew it...”

“Rejection,” said lady Amber, “-he rejected you, and you rejected him, I don’t care for the origins nor how the story went along, he won’t come back, I’m sure of it now.”

“What do you mean?” teary cheeks lifted to her big sister, the eyelashes were messy and defiled by the makeup, “-why won’t he come back?”

“The persona changed the instant you said no. I get it, what you said was the correct choice, even mentioned the Imperial family being good citizens. Sadly, I feel as if that was the only chance you had to get a commitment out of him. He saw an opportunity, a greater landscape, and you said no – tis akin to throwing oil atop a beautifully painted piece, no matter the effort, the piece is damaged, and there’s no turning back.”

“Sister, I think...”

“Who gave you permission to stand, Markus.”

*Gulp,* ‘-oh god.’

‘I’ve blown it?’ her eyes widened, ‘-please don’t tell me it’s true...’

The lift arrived at the parking lot, a press of a button lit the car and toggled the engine, “-master, were you serious about getting married?”

“Yes, for a fraction of a second I was. The bond would have been a springboard for our advancement in the land of Alphia. Think about it, two marriages between the same families aren’t unheard of. No matter, I’ve returned to my senses, part of me knew she would reject said proposition, in a way, it played how I wanted it to play out. We met Amber Sultria, forced Loftha in a vulnerable position, the guilt of the rejection will wane heavy – and for the emperor, he thinks me to be a saint. We ought to gain favor from Amber, Loftha’s basically under my spell,” the car pulled forward, “-see, look to the lift,” purposefully slowed to a walking pace, “-she returned for the last chance. Too bad,” it accelerated, “-I’ve lost interest,” up the ramp and off into the 11 o’clock skyscape. From the center of Stanley’s Homage, of which a ten-minute ride to the east would bring to the manor of the prior overtaken gang. The traffic towards the south gradually intensified, the De Cospel stripe, also nicknamed the Rainbow Road(a name given because of the light display at night), or Highway to Heaven(those who lose money often have suicidal tendencies), stretched from the Stanley’s homage’s southern border and into Fulha’s district.

Aside from the growing market of show business, focused on the north-eastern side of the town, comes the gambling market. De Cospel, a four-lane highway goes across Fulha’s district to the southern expressway around the town. The main characteristic of the unique highway is being lower to the ground compared to the natural land. The banks are steep, countless bridges span from one end to another. An unlucky revelation during construction brought about said change, a massive tunnel was found underground, and thus, it was eradicated and replaced by the dip in the land (almost like a river and the adjacent banks). Once on the stripe, countless street climbs up and towards the Neon district, also known as the gambling district. The drive at night is a scene to behold, the lowered perspective onto the tall buildings of various shapes, sizes, color, and architecture, fills the mind and heart with questions, ‘-did humans really built those?’ Slowly but surely, after an infamous mobster known as Little Nick, built the River Fall, the oldest casino, others followed. Around said time, the gamble paid off, the world of cinema began to propagate, filmmakers and actors wanted a town of theirs to settle, thus, the rich and famous for said time period embarked. Over decades, casinos, hotels, apartments, and malls were erected along the De Cospel stripe. Nowadays, the land around the highway has been claimed and built upon. The constant fight to be brazen and showy to draw people’s attention birthed into a modern marvel of Alphian architecture.

‘Here we are,’ he pulled onto the main road, ‘-location should be around here,’ the flatness dipped into the stripe, a few minutes drive and he exited onto the road up, the building in question stood on high to the right, a behemoth of a structure. ‘-I never thought this place to be so beautiful,’ ample space moved from the structure outwards to a wall adorned with trees and plants. ‘Oathtall,’ wrote on the side in blocky characters, ‘-how very original,’ the gates opened to a very empty outside. The security guard, a man in his late thirties, firmly stared at the screen. Easily pulled into the first slot, “-Master, welcome,” said a distant voice. Starix stood in company of Asmodeus, éclair, and Kul.

“Good afternoon,” he replied and walked to their group.

“Good afternoon, master,” they replied.

“Master, the deal’s been confirmed, from today forth, everything the Count owned is now yours.”

“Everything?”

“Yes,” said éclair very happily, “-apparently, the emperor and his team of lawyers found hidden assets obtained through dubious channels.”

“The mob?”

“Yes. To not cause a scandal, everything was transferred to us, everything is clear. We’re exempt from property tax, however, must pay around 15% of the profits from gambling to the emperor directly.”

“A soft-spoken politician.”

“Master, éclair, pardon my intrusion,” voiced Starix, “-I’ve received an urgent call from Esvalo. The count’s conviction hasn’t reflected nicely on the mobsters who’d invested in the man. They want their money.”

“Asmodeus, Kul, please escort Starix. Kill anyone who gets in the way, keep the slaughter at a minimum.”

“Understood,” they nodded, jumped into a four-seat high-end car, and recklessly drove out.

“Look at them,” he commented, “-the nonchalant attitude towards money,” walk and talk, the vicinity of the construction stretched from one end to another, “-Oathtall, innocent or not, had a lot at stakes,” said éclair, “-we were very lucky he got on our bad side. Feels like we’ve hit the lottery,” the casted shadow gave a chilly breeze. From the asphalted road and onto the stone-bricked sidewalk, “-the investment costs us a pretty penny.”

“How’s the account holding?”

“We have around thirty million remaining.”

“Refurbishing and remodeling are going to cost money, isn’t it.”

“Yes, however, we need not worry, we acquired everything, therefore, the machines, employees, are all ours. We can resume the business without worry.” It took a few minutes to reach the side facing Stanley’s homage, “-the casino’s very big.”

“Yes, it encompasses a very large area, he must have had a lot of investors behind the construction. I mean,” few knocks on the wall, “-the building material would have cost a fortune.”

“I have to ask, how much land do we own?”

“Look here, master,” he summoned a map, “-the layout of the area is done in cells, each of which is somewhat different. Here,” he pointed forward to a side-road beyond the walls, “-and all the way to the back, across the parking lot, we basically this block of land, and the one immediately across the highway.”

“Too much,” he smiled, “-we own so much, I can’t believe it.”

“I know,” smiled he childishly, “-which is why I’m so excited. To put into perspective, the manor at Eldow’s high including the land inside the walls is one-quarter of this particular block.” To the side arrived another building of the same length but half the width, after an immaculately clean road, “-this is?”

“Rented office space. Here’s the list of the current clients.”

“Some recognizable names in there. Oathtall sure loved nature.”

“Yes, plants and greenery scatter the land.” They continued the walk around.

“What about the employees, I doubt such a casino will run on a few staff members.”

“Currently, two hundred are under contract. Termination isn’t an option.”

“No, don’t worry about them, we’ll transfer a few to the apartment and hotel across the street.”

“Might I ask why?”

“Asmodeus will supervise the casino, the prince of lust and gambling should know his way around. Besides, isn’t that a love hotel? He knew what he was doing.”

“Prostitution?”

“Such a foul word,” he coughed, “-tis not illegal. I view it as a humble profession; besides, does it even count when the ladies are succubae?

“Fair point, I still recommend for it to be kept silent.”

“Yeah, I suppose,” they reached the entrance, “-the towering open building, parking lot?”

“Yes.”

“Fair,” they entered the building, “-we’ll decide what is to happen tonight. Take me to the office, has it been readied?”

“Yes, master,” *incoming transmission,* he stopped.

“Something the matter?” inquired Igna.

“éclair, we need backup; Kul’s been hit by a holy spell, demons are falling one by one, my undead army isn’t responding either.”

“Master,” shuddered éclair, “-ambush...”

“Again?” he stormed out, ‘-holy magic in this day and age. I thought the arts died after the war against gods and demons. If an angel is involved, they might be in trouble, holy magic always has the advantage over the darker side.’

“-Master!”

“Send me the location,” he exclaimed, “-whoever dared attack us will pay,” wings sprouted, the stare glazed in a murderous hue, ‘-I’ll kill them.’