Chapter 451: The Dice Has Been Cast [Part 1]

"He did what?!" Conner slammed his fist on the table as he looked at a certain Parrot Monkey with bloodshot eyes. "Oliver, we've known each other for a while. Are you telling me that Floyd tried to kidnap William's family members in order to coerce Celine and make him submit? Are you telling me the truth, or are you just spouting bullsh*t?"

"So, you didn't order him to do anything of the sort?" Oliver asked back. He eyed Conner and used his Special Eye that could see through all things to know whether the Leader of Deus was lying or not.

"I didn't order such a thing." Conner denied firmly. "What I asked Floyd to do was to pass a message to Celine that I want to talk to her Disciple William. I didn't instigate him to kidnap his family members because I don't want to make Celine my enemy."

Oliver appraised Conner's soul and found out that he wasn't lying. This proved that what Floyd did was an unauthorized action on his part without the consent from the Leader of Deus. 

"Then tell me, Conner, why do you want to meet William?" Oliver asked. 

"I will only tell the boy the reason when I meet him," Conner replied. "Time is of the essence, Oliver. The sooner I talk to the boy, the sooner we can come to an agreement. I will give you the freedom to choose the time and place for our meeting. You can bring Celine or whoever else you want to bring along, but the boy must be there, period."

Oliver eyed Conner one last time before flying towards the window of his office.

"I will come to find you before this day is over," Oliver stated as flew past the window. "I will relay the boy's answer to you then."

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Inside the Martial Division of the Royal Academy…

"So this is the Head Prefect's room," Celine nodded her head in appreciation. "Not bad."

The beautiful Elf sat on William's king sized bed as she scanned the room with an appraising glance. 

"It's quite unfortunate that I wasn't able to use it for a year," William commented as he dragged a chair to sit in front of his Master. "I thought that I was going to have a happy academy life. I didn't expect that I would find myself in the front row seat of one problem after another."

Celine chuckled as she looked at the red-headed boy, who was looking back at her with a face filled with injustice.

"You are a magnet for trouble, aren't you?" Celine asked with a smug expression.

"Master, that is slander," William replied with a righteous tone. "Just look at how handsome your Disciple is. A magnet for trouble? No. I am a magnet for beautiful girls. Ah, I forgot to tell you, Master, I now have three girlfriends. Not bad, right?"

Celine snorted after hearing William's snarky reply. "Three girlfriends? What's so good about having three girlfriends? You can't even do anything to them with your small…"

The beautiful Elf covered her lips as she looked down on William's… before giggling.

"Master, you shouldn't underestimate your disciple," William raised his head in arrogance. "For your information I am no longer…"

William wasn't able to continue his words because he would sound like a loser if he told Celine that he had crossed the line and into adulthood in his dreams. If that counted then nearly all of the teenagers on Earth would have lost their V-Cards, right?

"You're no longer?"

"I-I am no longer the child that you know. I am very capable now."

"Right." Celine nodded. "I admit that you are now more capable."

William didn't want to continue the conversation because his lovers were currently inside his Thousand Beast Domain. Although they couldn't hear their conversation, he was afraid that Ashe would somehow be able to eavesdrop using the gem embedded on his chest.

The Half-Elf didn't want to take any risks because he had just suffered a beating due to the two blabbermouth Angry Birds who dropped a bomb when his lovers were around him.

William was about to change the topic when Oliver entered the room through William's window and relayed the discussion he had with Conner.

"Just as we suspected, Mistress. Conner wasn't involved in Floyd's attack in Lont," Oliver explained. 

"Are you certain?" 

"Yes."

"I see. Well then, Will, what will you do?" Celine shifted her attention to the Half-Elf who seemed to be deep in thought.

William didn't take long to give an answer because he had already decided to meet Conner the moment he headed to the Royal Academy. 

"I want to meet him," William stated. "Master, make it happen."

Celine nodded. There was no need to prolong the issue because time wasn't on their side. 

Five minutes later, Oliver flew out of the window to relay William's words to Conner. William decided to meet Conner inside the Royal Academy accompanied by Celine and Jekyll. He didn't fully trust the Leader of Deus and having his Master and the Dentist of Lont would ensure his safety.

-----

An hour before sunset, Conner arrived at the First Year Martial Division. He came alone because he didn't want to sabotage this meeting with William. 

Floyd had already made things difficult for him, so he didn't want to take any more chances and decided to show William and his Master, Celine, his sincerity.

They met in the conference room of the Solaris Dormitory. 

William was surprised to find out that the Leader of Deus was a Half-Elf just like him. 

Conner had short, dark brown, hair and green eyes that were not as clear as William's. Clearly, he had seen and done things that the boy had never experienced before. Although both of them were Half-Elves, the paths they chose were different from each other.

"Before we start this meeting, I would like to apologize for what my subordinate, Floyd, attempted to do," Conner said in an apologetic tone. "It was never my intention to kidnap your family members to be used  as hostages."

William nodded because Oliver had already told him this. Still, he gave Conner ten out of ten for his acting skills because his words and actions clearly showed that he felt bad about what happened back in Lont.

'He sure knows how to take the lead in a conversation,' William praised the leader of Deus for his ability to make himself look like the victim.

Seeing William's acknowledgement, Conner decided to get straight to the point. He didn't plan to use flowery words to butter up the red-headed boy because Conner could clearly see the hidden dislike in William's eyes.

Although the boy tried his best to hide it, Conner was someone who specialized in dealing with people. He could read the body language of people. Conner knew when to advance and when to take a step back, which earned him the leadership role for the branch of Deus in the Southern Continent.

Right now, they were at the negotiation table. The Leader of Deus wanted to gauge William's character to see if he would be an ally or not. If this negotiation failed, he would contact Princess Sidonie again and try to negotiate other terms.

He didn't believe for a moment that he would lose in a battle of wits against a boy who had yet to reach adulthood. 

Conner would open his cards one by one and make sure that William understood that his only chance of survival was to work with him in order to deal with the current threats that they were facing.