OLD-WORLD EXTRA-Chapter 506: Dimensional Ring II

Emir lowered his head.

"That's a steep price for a guy like me... I'll meet you at two fifty."

Mr. King tutted, wagging his finger.

"Two fifty for a piece of this quality? It has memories embedded in it! Imagine the knowledge

it holds. Let's say... three hundred, final offer."

After a moment's thought, Emir nodded.

"Three hundred it is, then."

They shook on it, sealing the deal.

Mr. King's grin widened, satisfied at getting his price, while Emir, who allowed him to get that price, felt a thrill at acquiring something of such potential value.

He already knew what he was going to do with it, or rather, who he was going to give it to. Though he previously planned to have Mr. Player transfer the dimensional item's properties into his shades, the quality he was presented with changed everything.

It simply was too good to destroy, its purpose beyond being a convenient storage room.

"Ye can't be merging that one ye hear?"

Ms. Knight, whose opinion wasn't at all needed, seemed to agree.

Emir chuckled and nodded at her.

"Yeah, yeah, I know; don't worry."

She "humphed" and looked away, a protest to him shooing her off. That only made him laugh more, and most of the others joined him, except Mr. Board and Mr. Bishop, who hadn't said a word since the greeting way earlier.

"Alright, alright, stop laughing at me ye bastards!"

After a few coughs and whistles, the room gradually quieted down. Giving Emir a moment to say:

"Alright, now that we're in the business of expensive-ass purchases, I want a Holy Relic."

Mr. King raised an eyebrow, smirking.

"Oh? And what kind of Holy Relic are we talkin' here?"

"A weapon. Something that can do both melee and long range-shoot Aether or whatever else, but also be sharp enough to cut through the usual nasties. Preferably a dagger, sword, or spear-nothing weird like a whip or gauntlet."

Mr. Player let out a low whistle, but Emir wasn't done.

"It also has to anchor Corruption. No unstable ticking time bombs-I need control. And before you ask, the flaw better not be some bullshit like 'use it too much and you die in five

minutes.' I want something manageable. A few hours of side effects? Fine. Organ failure? Not fine."

The room was quiet for a beat. Then Mr. King leaned back.

"That's one hell of a shopping list, Pawn."

Emir shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I like my arms and legs attached to me, you know?"

Mr. King chuckled.

"It'll cost you."

"Yeah, yeah. Just ask around; I'll save up."

"Sure."

He nodded, as did the others, though... they didn't have much hope of finding what Emir wanted before Mr. King could; his network was on another level.

Either way, after that, all eyes turned to Mr. Player, signaling that no one had any more transactions to partake in.

He gave a single wave of his hand, moving them to the last part of the gathering- discussions. But they'd already covered most topics during the reports, so the group fell into a brief silence, broken only by the curious Ms. Queen.

As observant as ever, she had noticed that, besides his few quips during the deal, Emir had been unusually quiet today. Of course, Mr. Bishop was the same, though they were used to his silence. Rather, it might've been a surprise for them to see him talk so much in the earlier weeks, especially with that discussion of theirs. But Emir? It felt a little off.

"Mr. Pawn... It's not like you to sit back this much. Care to speak up?"

Emir shifted in his throne, and the weight of their gazes settled on him. He didn't mind-he was used to the attention here. But something about the way Ms. Queen asked pulled a small response from him.

"Not much to say. Just the usual. Though if you really want to know, then... it's been hell, plain and simple. Not exactly in a cheery mood."

"Hell?"

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Ms. Knight, ever the curious one, didn't miss a beat.

"Now that's interesting. What happened, Pawn? You look like someone dragged your soul through another dimension."

Her voice was gentle but inquisitive, genuinely interested. However, her question made Mr. Rook and Mr. Board exchange a look of resignation, both almost facepalming at her nosiness.

It was classic Ms. Knight-always prying, whether welcome or not.

Still, no one interrupted.

Emir was, after all, entitled to his privacy if he wanted it.

But he didn't appear to mind.

"Ran into Templar."

He leaned forward slightly, his arms resting on the table.

"Or I guess they ran into me..."

Interest passed through the group, and he continued, meeting their eyes.

"Things got ugly. Blood spilled on both sides. They killed a lot of my people, and, well, I returned the favor."

A pause hung in the air as the others processed his words.

The mention of Templar was enough to send a ripple of recognition through the group. But as

his statement hung there, the others began to make an assumption they hadn't fully clarified

yet.

"Templar? Are you saying you fought Bishops?"

Mr. Board was the first to ask, as even he grew curious, despite his urgency.

'Hm...'

A faint smile crossed Emir's face.

He could almost feel the gears turning in their heads, drawing conclusions on their own, assuming that he could take care of many higher Bishop-level threats on his own. He let them believe what they wanted.

"Yeah... Bishops were a large part of it. But there were also plenty of priests."

The room grew even quieter as they took in what he'd said. Eyes scanned his face, searching

for a hint of doubt, but Emir just held their gazes, letting them buy into the image he wanted

them to see.

A formidable force, one not to be trifled with, even when against galactic forces as big as

Templar.

He made sure that none of his words were lies, not exactly at least, and it had allowed him easy passage. They all truly believed him, and though they wanted to ask further questions,

none dared to, knowing that it would be too risky for him to reveal.

So, as if on cue, the conversation quickly drifted to other, lighter topics.

But Ms. Knight, Mr. King, and even Mr. Board kept glancing at him from time to time.

His carefully constructed act from the last gathering was holding strong, and that was exactly

what he wanted.

That was when Mr. Bishop unexpectedly spoke, his voice cutting in coldly:

"Alright, enough chatter. We've spent more than enough time here. Would it be fine to end

the gathering now, Mr. Player?"

"Wasted time?"

Ms. Queen's smooth, silky voice shot back, and she raised an eyebrow.

"Some of us were actually enjoying ourselves."

Mr. Bishop met her gaze with a hardened expression, the two of them staring each other

down. Meanwhile, Mr. King leaned back, chuckling before his face turned serious again.

"Enough, you two. Let's just go gamble, for fuck's sake."

He threw a quick look at Mr. Player, and he gave him a slight nod in response.

"Today's gathering ends here."

Mr. Player's voice boomed out above them all, echoing through the chamber.

"May you all have a pleasurable time..."

With that, the organizer left, his fog settling on everyone like a shroud, as did Mr. Board, Mr. Bishop, and Mr. Rook, leaving only Emir, Mr. King, and the two ladies behind.

That was when, with the others gone, Ms. Knight finally found it appropriate to ask the

question she had been dying to ask a while back:

"I ain't insensitive enough to ask why you fought, but still, I'm interested. Ye think ye'll be

fighting them again?"

Emir paused, then slowly shook his head.

"No... we won't be fighting again for some time... things will be quiet for a while. At least I

hope."