"Yep…. They are. Do you think you could tell me which families are participating? I'm quite interested in this meeting,"
He stared at me long and hard, weighing the pros and cons but to be honest, I think he already knew that I was talking with other people.
If he didn't get on my good side now, he might not even have a sliver of a chance to do it in the future… so of course, he sighed and then spoke up.
"I'm only gonna say this once, so take note… Bonebloom, Humblecrest, Lunascar, Challac, Boisgeze… and something you're already familiar with, the Wony family,"
Upon hearing those final words, I couldn't suppress the large grin that quickly slipped onto my expression.
"You're gonna make me shit my pants if you keep smiling like that," The boy muttered, and I chuckled a bit before standing up and tossing him a gold coin.
"Thank you for your service,"
"H-Hey! Wait! I thought you were trying to make an alliance with me!" The boy shouted as his one chance to make it big in the world was walking away.
That's right… come crawling back to me.
"Oh my, really? I thought we just wanted to exchange some information?" I muttered with a large smile, and as the boy wasn't stupid, he could tell what I was doing.
"Please stop playing with me. I'm not like the other heirs you're talking to. I have the power, assets, and skills to support you,"
The boy looked a bit humble now, and his pride burst out with absolutely no arrogance, causing me to smile a bit as it was a bit impressive.
I wasn't expecting him to act like this… but at least it would quicken the pace of my plan.
"Oh really? Mr. Boisgeze… Are you really stronger than the Bonebloom family?" I asked with a large, arrogant smile in order to taunt the boy.
He grits his teeth, thinking back to the humiliating defeat that he and his brother had suffered at the hands of the heir.
"I am. I have tons of alliances and partners that will allow me to destroy that kid… no, that family, so if you just give me sufficient information, I'll be able to prove it to you,"
"Oh… fine," I said as I picked up my empty mug and refilled it with some coffee on the vacant and unattended counter.
"Then, please tell me if they have any alliances I should be worried about,"
"Well, there are the obvious ones, such as the Montallard and Duthier, but they are just alliances, and if the Bonebloom family is at the brink of destruction, I doubt they'll dip their hands into the melting pot. So, you only have to look out for a subsidiary which has a strong prospect and the Lunascar family,"
"Huh? LS is allied with the Bonebloom?" He muttered with a drop of sweat running down his cheek.
"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to,"
"No, I do believe you… well, I have no choice but to believe you," He muttered while biting his fingernail.
"Then, tell me which families your Boisgeze family is close with," I demanded, and it was only fair for him to return some information.
"There are some we are allied with, but just like with the Bonebloom, I doubt they would come running to save us if we were on the brink of destruction. This means there is only Humblecrest on our side,"
"Oho, four of the families are against each other on opposing sides… I'm interested as to see what the result will be,"
I finished drinking my coffee before slipping the boy a paper since I could feel somebody watching us.
It happened only a few seconds ago, and even though they aren't that strong, if somebody heard our conversation, I'm sure they would try and sell that information.
As I left the store, I tracked down the presence all the way until they ran into a dark alleyway where they cornered themselves.
"Findir, why are you watching me?" I asked the dark elf boy.
"I'm sorry, I was genuinely worried that you got ambushed by these guys. You can't be so trusting that they'll have a genuine conversation with you. You need to always be ready for some of them to attack," He said as he walked out of the shadows and tossed his sickles made black wind into the air.
They dispersed upon hitting their peak, and as he began to crack and stretch his body, I punched him in the stomach.
"Hey, don't think I'm that stupid… Lunascar scum," I muttered with a large smile and then grabbed the back of the boy's head.
I pulled his face into my knee, causing his face to crumple in and the illusion to immediately break as he was sent flying back.
A boy with long, light pink hair, pale white skin, and soft purple eyes held his broken nose.
He was a bit shorter than me, and he was very, very skin… but not unhealthy skinny. In fact, he was so pretty you could maybe call him a model.
"So, what's your reason for tracking me? I've felt your eyes all over my skin since that day Cy's mom left,"
I picked the boy up by his hair and punched him in the liver, causing him to scream… into my hand, which cupped his mouth shut.
"*cough* *cough* *cough* *cough* Wait, wait, I can explain-"
BAM
I kicked the boy in the face as he looked up at me from his kneeled position, whiplashing his head back and forth before lying flat on his back.
"Were you the one behind that attack? Was that all part of your plan? Did you get your lackeys to freeze my friends and me in order to watch Cy suffer?" I asked before stepping onto his stomach and pressing my foot so far in that you could hear his organs grumble in protest.
"P-Please… *gasp*... Mercy,"
"Tch… You have one minute to explain yourself,"