At those words, Captain Planck's wrist went slack as he held his wineglass, and it slipped from his grasp. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, catching it securely with the top of his foot before it hit the floor. He then carefully lifted it back onto the table.
He had no idea whether Tom the Third had been joking or serious just now. If that guy really charged in with fifty-odd gunmen and started spraying bullets, wouldn't that be terribly awkward?
"Oh, oh, oh! What a splendid acrobatic trick. Were you trying to lighten the mood?" the Great Khan began to applaud.
Captain Planck felt even more awkward, but as a highly trained, aristocratic-style, top-tier male escort, his smile was even more genial than Queen Ero's. He replied with a straight face, "Hahaha, yes. That's one of my special tricks. I only did it to make the troubled lady smile."
The Great Khan nodded. "You're a thoughtful man, Captain Planck. I really am troubled right now, but I really am smiling. The sadder you are, the more you need to laugh, don't you? Otherwise, you might never get another chance."
Planck listened with a pounding heart, and nearly dropped his glass again. But after that little interruption, the atmosphere of mutual probing couldn't be sustained.
"I know you received many great gifts from the Enlighteners in the Silver Heart, and that you have plenty of their relics. But even without those, I would still get you somewhere safe," Captain Planck said. "That's our promise. The World Serpent aren't good people, but we take our contracts more seriously than the rulers of the Empire or the Alliance!"
"I know. It's the World Serpent's promise. But aren't they in trouble themselves?"
Captain Planck exclaimed, "You've heard about that here, too?"
"So it's true—they really