Chapter 43: Killing Time

Chapter 43: Killing Time

Shortly after departing the girl's bathroom, Thomas found himself nearly face-to-face with a glowering Igaram. The misshapen man was just over 7'1''(218cm), so they were roughly eye-level as he gestured towards the back house of the tavern, asking, "Care to see some of our finer brews...?"

"Sure, why not?" replied Thomas. He imagined Igaram was thinking he was attempting to take advantage of Vivi and Alabasta's predicament for personal gain. However, as their nation was doomed without external aid, they didn't have much choice but to rely on outsiders.

After passing through a kitchen area and descending a flight of stairs to a large wine cellar, Igaram turned to Thomas, staring daggers at him as he asked, "Who are you? What are your intentions toward our Princess...?"

Hardening his gaze, Thomas replied, "If I had any 'intentions' toward her, I would have acted upon them last night. Now, before you ask any other stupid questions, know I don't appreciate being interrogated by someone I'm trying to help..."

Narrowing his eyes, Igaram reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of iron-rich red sand, demanding, "Then show me you have the power you profess. If you truly possess the ability to make Alabasta's land arable, I'll have nothing else to say on the matter..."

Inserting his finger into the clump of sand, Thomas used Reinforcement Magecraft to convert it to rich, mulchy soil in less than a second. Igaram's eyes widened as he did so, a subdued, "Remarkable..." emanating from his throat before he coughed a few times to cover it up. Then, with a serious countenance, he declared, "I will defer to the Princess's judgment on this matter. Tell me what you require."

As he had already formulated a plan with Vivi, Thomas replied, "For now, you should continue to act as a member of Baroque Works. We'll pretend to tap out prematurely tonight, so you can order your men to attack once night falls. Once the dust settles, we'll oust the Millions and Billions from the city while taking you and the other Frontier Agents hostage. Once the higher-ups learn we're occupying the city, they'll invariably send someone to 'deal' with us. Depending on who they send, we can drastically reduce the strength of Crocodile's executive forces."

Nodding his head in approval, Igaram remarked, "It's a sound plan. That is, assuming you and your ilk are as capable as you purport them to be..."

Shrugging his shoulders, Thomas left Igaram at a loss for words as he replied, "The strongest people in Baroque Works are Sir Crocodile and Daz Bonez. We already know the weakness of the former, and the latter is no match for our crew's First Mate, Roronora Zoro. As for Miss All Sunday, you can just leave her to me. Anyone ranked lower than them barely even qualifies as fodder."

"..."

Though he felt Thomas was being a little presumptuous, Igaram decided to trust in the former's assertion, responding, "Very well. Just know that I won't be pulling my punches. We need to make things convincing, just in case things go South and you're not nearly as powerful as you claim..."

Understanding that Igaram just wanted to punch or shoot him with his shotgun saxophone, Thomas resisted the urge to roll his eyes, narrowing them as he stated, "I give at least as good as I get. Be careful you don't hurt yourself..."

"Hmph...!" nove(l)bi(n.)com

After snorting through his nose, Igaram walked past Thomas, stating, "I hope you know what you're doing..." before making his way up the stairs, leaving the latter alone in the wine cellar. Thomas eventually followed suit but not before picking up a large keg to justify his visit to the underground storage area. It weighed close to 300kgs, but he was able to heft it onto his shoulder without straining himself in the slightest...

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Understanding Thomas's concerns, Astolfo's smile became even more radiant as she replied, "We'll have Benienma act as an impartial 'dealer.' Since each of us has quantifiable Luck Parameters, it wouldn't be fair if we took turns rolling dice or playing cards. We also know she won't cheat, so she's the best person to play the part. You can always reward her by letting her wash your back or something later."

Though she initially wasn't interested in Astolfo's proposition, Benienma's eyes lit up at the prospect of washing Thomas's back. One of the official duties of a Kosho was cleansing their Lord's back, so his refusal to let her do so caused her a considerable amount of frustration. She even offered to violate bathroom etiquette by wearing a swimsuit, but her Master was obstinate over the most insensible things...

Seeing Benienma 'glaring' at him, Thomas nearly refused to participate on the spot. The petite sparrow was the one who undressed and cleaned his body when he lost consciousness, but he still wasn't comfortable with the idea of letting her join him in the bath. He might relent if she 'only' washed his back, but his instincts told him she would want to ensure every part of his body was squeaky clean...

Not wanting to waste Atalanta's kindness or quash Astolfo's excitement, Thomas exhaled a faint, ostensibly defeated sigh through his nose as he replied, "Fine. But if things get out of hand, this is the last time we play a drinking game for the foreseeable future. Now-"

Before Thomas could ask what the rules were a second time, Astolfo pounced on him, throwing her arms around his neck as she exclaimed, "Yay~! Thank you, thank you, thank you~!" before pressing a prolonged and somewhat sloppy kiss on his cheek. Then, after alighting from the sofa, she excitedly explained, "The rules are simple! Benienma will roll dice within a cup, and everyone will guess whether the total value is odd or even. If you guess correctly, you get to move on. If there are only two people left, the first person to state their guess gets priority. The last man or woman standing becomes the Master and gets to command two of the eliminated players to engage in an 'activity' for between 3-7 minutes. Any questions~?"

Raising her hand, Caenis adopted a cheeky grin as she asked, "What are the limits as far as orders are concerned? I'm down for anything goes, but Atalanta might get butthurt if I ask her to sit on our Master's cock."

Furrowing her brows, Atalanta asserted, "I will only offer my virginity to the one who defeats me in a footrace without relying on external aid or underhanded means..."

Rolling her eyes, Caenis maintained her smile as she retorted, "We both know the Priestesses of Artemis were into pegging. Taking it up the butt isn't the same as relinquishing your chastity."

"..."

Instead of refuting Caenis's words, Atalanta turned her attention to Astolfo to see what she had to say. She would never admit it, but the thought of doing 'butt stuff' had crossed her mind a few times over the past year. Thomas was kind and considerate, so she sometimes felt she owed him more than just permitting him to touch her ears.

Unfortunately, while she was the closest thing Atalanta had to a friend within the group, Astolfo wasn't aware of the dichromatic cat girl's desire to repay Thomas's 'kindness.' She was ultimately just using the game as an excuse to expose her 'secret' to Thomas, so she raised her finger and assured, "Though stripping is allowed, let's limit touching to over the clothes, or, at the very least, panties. If the game proves enjoyable, we can always play with fewer restrictions in the future. Now, unless there are more questions, shall we begin~?"

With no one else having anything to ask, Astolfo whipped out the cup of dice she had prepared in advance, entrusting it to Benienama. Then, with bated breath, everyone watched intently as Benienma gave the tiny cup a good shake, covering the top with her hand as she asked, "Odds or even? No changing your minds once you decide..."

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(A/N: A variation of the King's Game, a common theme within my novels xD...)