318 Chapter 318: Return to Southampton City (2/2)
”Uh…”
Dudes…aren't you guys overreacting? Who the hell cares?
”Please forgive our rudeness!” A middle-aged staff with a fancy mustache, who probably was the manager, rushed forward and bowed frantically. ”This way, please! Miss Stuart has reserved a private room for your meeting, Distinguished Guest!”
…say what? Distinguished Guest? What the fuck was this bullshit? They were getting so overly formal that I was getting crept out. I had never been treated like a VIP before, and I honestly thought I never wanted to be treated as such again.
Repressing my unease, I followed them toward a relatively extravagant ballroom on the second floor. The heck? Cecilia booked an entire reception room for our meeting?! And that was my reaction even before I stepped through the opulent doors.
My amazement increased several fold after I stepped through the ridiculously expensive mahogany double doors. They had a golden chandelier hanging from the ceiling, and dozens of portraits hanging on the luxuriously furnished walls. This wasn't the first time I had seen such indulgence, however – I was immediately reminded of my earlier visit to the now demolished Stuart Corporation Building a few months ago.
Welcome to the world of the rich, I thought cynically to myself again. Bloody hell, I could think of a thousand different ways to better spend such an enormous sum of money…though, admittedly, I would waste a good chunk of that cash buying several Forge World Titans so that I could play Apocalypse games.
”You're finally here, Richard.”
Cecilia was seated in one of those massive, opulently decorated, but comfortable couches in the center of the room, calmly sipping from her cup of tea. I bowed my head slightly.
”It's been a while, Miss Cecilia.”
When she beckoned me over to take a seat, I approached warily, feeling a little nervous and intimidated by the whole…rich and powerful thing. Dude, this entire room alone was probably worth five times the price of my dad's house.
”What's up? Why did you call me?”
”Big Brother Richard!”
Adrian popped his head up and waved at me. Pushing himself off the couch, he excitedly ran toward me.
”It really has been a while!”
”Oh, yeah, hey, Adrian. How have you been?”
Cecilia watched the exchange in amusement, before taking another sip from her small teacup.
”When Adrian heard that you were coming, he pestered me to arrange a meeting with you. And he begged to join the discussion.”
”I see.” Actually, I didn't. ”What discussion?”
”No need to be so nervous.” This time, it was another voice, from the opposite couch. As this particular fancy and huge chair was facing away from me, I couldn't see the occupant, but I found the voice oddly familiar. Yet, I couldn't place my finger on who it belonged to. Fortunately, I wasn't kept in suspense for too long, because I was already on my way there, with Adrian in tow. Reaching the super-long couch in the middle, I turned around.
”Miss Kureha.” I cocked my head politely.
Kureha Franklin tilted her head in return, and beamed. ”As I said, no need to be so formal. We're all friends here. Come, have a seat.”
”Yeah!” Adrian didn't need any further invitation and plopped down on the couch in the same fashion that kids did. I nodded and took a seat beside him.
”If I remember correctly, you prefer Eastern Tea, right?” Cecilia lowered her teacup and gestured for one of the hotel staff. He nodded and produced a tray, upon which an oriental teapot and small China cups lay.
With a flourish, he poured steaming green tea into my cup and gently placed it in front of me. I nodded my thanks.
”Thanks.”
”You're welcome.”
The staff nodded back, and withdrew. I noticed that Adrian was drinking some sort of frappe cappuccino, topped with lots of cream. I didn't know they served that in such a high-end hotel.
”How did you know that?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at Cecilia, before accepting the cup of green tea.
”You're always drinking green tea,” Adrian pointed out. Oh, right. I hung out a lot with him, so he roughly knew my tastes, especially since I treated him to drinks most of the time whenever I went to get my own.
”Yeah, thanks.” I sipped the tea, and then almost jolted upright the moment my tongue buzzed pleasantly. ”Holy c…! This tea is delicious!”
Both Kureha and Cecilia giggled when they saw my reaction. They both were obviously thinking that I hadn't seen much of the world or something. So what? It wasn't as if I was from a wealthy or powerful family, so what were they expecting?
Speaking of which…
”Why have you called me here today?” I asked, glancing from one of them to the other. The both of them exchanged glances.
”First, allow me to apologize for some trouble that I may have caused.” Cecilia lowered her head, much to my surprise. I raised both of my hands frantically and shook my head.
”What trouble? I didn't get into any trouble…I think.”
”Apparently some idiot tried to hire Assassins to kill you,” Adrian explained as he sucked on his straw. He grinned. ”He completely failed, and his parents were so horrified they sent him for counseling at a psychiatric ward.”
”Thanks to his stupidity, he was forced to pull out of the tournament,” Kureha muttered.
I stared at them blankly. At that time, I had no idea what they were talking about, and it was only after I ran into Zhao Zi Jun that I was able to build the whole picture.
”Well, honestly, that's not the main reason why we called you here today,” Kureha continued, and she sent Cecilia a glance. The black-haired beauty nodded her head and straightened up.
”We're actually here to offer you a high-tier mission,” she revealed with a smile. ”Considering your experience in fighting the professional killers of the Assassin Guild, we thought that you would be the one who is most appropriate for the job.”