Refusal

Delicate sunlight streamed through the window, refracting through a glass into a dazzling spot of light.

"Such a young child, and already so skilled at using Ten?"

Pike Cake stood in the dining room doorway, the scorpion tattoo on his neck rising and falling with his Adam's apple.

He narrowed his one eye and watched the golden glow flickering in and out of sight at Carl's collar. It was a trace of Ten. Though her control was still a little unrefined, the youngster was clearly capable of maintaining it around the clock.

He hadn't expected a genius like this to emerge in Meteor City!

Pike marveled as he recalled the information he had received that morning.

"Mind if I pull up a chair?"

Pike dragged over an oak chair from the wall, its legs plowing deep furrows through the brownish-yellow carpet.

The five Keike girls instantly sat up straight, their glasses trembling faintly against the tabletop.

Rachel, the youngest, shook so badly that orange-yellow juice splashed onto her lace cuff, spreading into a spiderweb-shaped stain.

"A bunch of useless trash!"

Pike glanced at the girls, a cold glint flashing in his eye.

Luona had a good idea, but she was only an ordinary person in the end. She didn't understand what the title "Nen user" meant.

According to the information he had compiled, fewer than a hundred Nen users had emerged from Meteor City's population of eight million over the past thirty years.

Of those fewer than a hundred, half had died, and others had left.

The Nen users still in Meteor City could be counted on one hand.

I have to make him stay. Failing that, I at least have to make him think well of the Keike Family!

Having weighed his options, Pike put on an even broader smile.

"Pike, what brings you here?"

Coming to her senses, Luona gave her husband a helpless look.

The moment her husband sat down, she knew the game she had carefully set up had been thrown into disarray. The blood-soaked man had no idea how to deal with children.

"I'm leaving. If any news comes in, send it to the church in the North District."

A glass thumped heavily against the dining table as Luona watched her friend spring to her feet.

Lianke had originally wanted to catch up with Luona, but with a viper suddenly beside her, she could do without it!

She had always loathed Meteor City's elders. Otherwise, she wouldn't have gone out of her way to move outside the city!

With that, Lianke ignored the smile frozen on Pike's face and headed straight for the door.

"Master, wait for me!"

At her words, Carl's eyes lit up. She had long been itching to leave, and she hurriedly got up and followed.

She had spent the entire morning feeling awkward and couldn't wait to get out of there!

"Lianke..."

Luona opened her mouth to ask her to stay. Her plan hadn't even begun; how could she let her leave just like that?

But when she thought of Pike's infamy in Meteor City, she didn't know how to persuade her friend to stay.

"Sister Luona, thank you for your hospitality."

The youngster paused at the door and turned back, golden light flowing along the side of her neck.

Lianke's sudden departure didn't stop her from saying goodbye to Luona.

After all, Luona had put them up for the night and done her best to help them find someone. By any measure, she owed her thanks.

Bang!

The muffled thud of the oak door closing echoed beneath the dome.

Luona stared at the glass on the tablecloth, then suddenly chuckled. "You scared away my most treasured guest."

She gently picked up the glass and took a sip of the sweet, fresh juice.

It had been freshly squeezed that morning. All her careful preparations had gone to waste.

Pike loosened his tie, his bulging chest muscles nearly bursting out of his shirt. "Is that kid worth betting the Keike girls on?"

He pulled a cigarette case from inside his clothes, but his wife snatched the cigarette away the moment it touched his lips.

"Ten years ago, when you hanged the previous elder's daughter," Luona said, idly playing with the cigarette in her hand,

"you didn't ask whether it was worth it."

All her painstaking efforts had come to nothing because of this man...

"I didn't do anything to her. How is this my fault?"

Pike gave Luona a wry smile.

He had only said two sentences since coming in...

If anyone else dared treat him so coldly, he could guarantee they would never make it out of the casino.

But Lianke was not only a Nen user, she was also his wife's friend. How could he make a move against her?

He had strength to spare, but nowhere to use it!

How frustrating!

A little later, Lianke and Carl reached the casino's front entrance.

Seeing the rings on their hands, the two guards didn't dare delay and hurriedly pushed the doors open.

The blazing sun scorched the bluestone road, every trace of last night's downpour long since evaporated.

Lianke's parasol cast a swaying shadow on the stone road. Carl followed behind her in silence.

"Aren't you curious why your master suddenly decided to leave?"

Lianke reached out and pinched the soft flesh of Carl's cheek, her tone teasing.

"Ss..."

Carl rubbed her aching cheek, the midday sun so bright she could barely open her eyes.

Under the tin eaves on either side of the street, several shirtless men squatted in the shade, smoking. Their murky gazes swept over master and disciple.

"Speak!"

Lianke glanced at the distracted Carl and made a gesture with her hand, smiling without warmth.

She hadn't gone out of her way to bring her disciple along just to have her tag behind.

If all she wanted was to seek help, why would she deliberately bring a burden?

"...I'm not curious."

Carl blinked and answered honestly.

She wasn't really a child. How could she have that much curiosity?

"Hmm?"

A fair hand settled on Carl's shoulder, its five slender fingers itching to move.

"I am! I'm actually very curious!"

Feeling the hand on her shoulder grow heavier, Carl promptly changed her answer.

"Very good. Then your master will explain why."

Lianke nodded in satisfaction and immediately began explaining:

"First, the corpses in the church haven't been treated to prevent decay. If we don't deal with them in time, it won't do for them to rot and grow maggots."

"Mm."

Carl nodded, her expression calm.

Knock!

With a sharp crack, a large red bump appeared on the youngster's head.

"As expected of you, Master! Your devotion to your duties is something your disciple should learn from for the rest of her life!"

"That's the right attitude, Carl!"

Lianke blew on the nonexistent swelling on her fist and praised her with a smile.

Eating, sleeping, and training her disciple could be summed up in one word: bliss!

"Second, do you know why the Keike Family pushed those girls in front of you?"

Lianke suddenly stopped. The edge of her parasol brushed a rusty barrel by the roadside, startling away the death birds pecking at the scraps.

Carl nearly bumped into her back, catching the faint scent of irises on her master.

Lianke turned and looked at her conveniently acquired disciple.

"A marriage alliance?"

Carl had begun to catch on.

"You're sharp, I'll give you that."

Covering the slightly upturned corners of her mouth, Lianke nodded with satisfaction:

"Of the five girls at the table just now, three were Pike's nieces and two were cousins. The Keike Family showed considerable sincerity. Well? Did any of them catch your eye?"

Watching Carl's expression, Lianke probed, "The Keike Family controls seventy percent of Meteor City's casinos and freight routes. If you married one of their descendants, you might even become an elder of Meteor City someday~"

A chance to leap across social classes in a single bound was rare. She was genuinely curious what choice Carl would make.

"Master!" Carl suddenly interrupted, asking helplessly:

"Have you forgotten I'm only eleven this year?!"

In her previous life, she had been an orphan, nearly thirty and still had no one pressuring her to marry. Now, before she was even an adult, someone had set their sights on her...

"Besides, if I don't marry one of their descendants, does that mean I can't become an elder of Meteor City?"

As a transmigrator with a cheat, she had at least that much confidence!

"Pfft~"

Lianke burst out laughing, her parasol shaking with her shoulders. "What's the rush? I meant future partners."

As expected of her disciple. The brat had quite a bit of backbone~

With that, she reached out and poked the big bump on Carl's head.

"Ss..."

The youngster sucked in a sharp breath, her face twisting.