"You don't mind that I came uninvited, do you, Austin?"
In the office on the hotel's top floor, Uncle Rayleigh casually poured himself a drink, already having gone through half the fine wine from the Kingdom of Wine that Austin had Sammy acquire.
Austin's lips twitched, and in the end, he could only shake his head.
"You really know how to fleece me, Uncle Rayleigh. How much free booze have you mooched off me over the years...?"
"Uh... Hahahaha, don't sweat the details, Austin.
You've got more money than you could ever spend anyway."
Rayleigh laughed awkwardly. Living off the former apprentice brat from his old crew was still a tiny bit embarrassing, even for Dark King Rayleigh.
But there was nothing he could do about it.
At the rate he earned money coating ships, even if he worked for many more years, he probably still wouldn't be able to drink such exorbitantly expensive wine so freely.
He was already half-retired. If Austin did not subsidize him a little, he would probably have to auction himself off for drinking money.
Of course, Austin did not care about such a trivial amount.
Not to mention that Rayleigh had remained in the Sabaody Archipelago over the years and helped Sammy intimidate quite a few people looking to pull something while Austin was away.
Whether for public or private reasons, there was nothing wrong with Austin supporting Rayleigh in his old age.
"Lord Austin,"
Sammy entered at that moment. After greeting Rayleigh, she reported to Austin,
"Sea Transport King Umit and Heavenly Yaksha Doflamingo wish to meet with you. They said...
they have gifts for you."
Hearing that, the corners of Austin's lips slowly rose.
Because he vaguely knew what gifts those two would bring—or rather, he had played a part in instructing